Beauty Snake - Chapter 64

Chapter 64: Lovers Who Kiss at the Peak of a Ferris Wheel Will Never Be Parted.

The vendor was exceptionally energetic, gesturing wildly for Ji Yunfei and Xie Yin to come over.

Confused, Ji Yunfei turned to Xie Yin. The two exchanged a glance, nodded in silent agreement, and walked over to the stall.

“You called for us…?”

“Oh, I saw the two of you and thought you had such extraordinary auras! You look so well-matched, you really caught my eye! Look, my stall is a shooting gallery game. How about I let you two play a round for free?” Seeing Ji Yunfei’s slight frown and wary expression, the vendor hurried to introduce his game.

Hearing his words, Ji Yunfei shifted her gaze to the items behind him. It was a wall of brightly colored, neatly arranged balloons. In front of them sat several toy guns.

“Give it a try?” the vendor spoke again, picking up a toy gun and offering it to Ji Yunfei.

Seeing how enthusiastic he was, Ji Yunfei found it hard to refuse. She thought to herself that since it was free, there was no harm in trying. She happened to have her eye on a small cat plushie hanging on the wall; it would be perfect to win it for Xie Yin.

With that thought, she reached out and took the gun. At that moment, she unexpectedly locked eyes with the vendor.

They were silver eyes—strangely familiar. She scanned the man again and said, “You… look very familiar.”

The moment she said this, the vendor froze, and even Xie Yin’s expression beside her became momentarily unnatural.

Did she recognize me? Or not? Though I’d be happy if you recognized me, Master, the current situation isn’t right…

So please, don’t recognize me…

Boss—save me—!

“Are you the NPC who played the serpent demon in the haunted house…?”

“Whew—” The hanging heart landed safely. Glasses-Ge put on his trademark polite, customer-service smile. “Good eye! we work on a shift system. My shift ended over there, so I came here for the next one.”

“What a coincidence.” Ji Yunfei didn’t suspect a thing. She pursed her lips, raised the toy gun, closed one eye, and carefully aimed at the balloons.

Seeing her focus on aiming, Glasses-Ge finally breathed a sigh of relief. He shared an imperceptible glance with Xie Yin before stepping aside.

Master is living well. That’s good. With the Boss around, she’ll definitely be taken care of…

We can focus on our cultivation now.

Bang! Bang! Bang! The gunshots rang out in succession. Balloons on the wall popped one after another, and colorful fragments rained down.

Once the twenty bullets were spent, Ji Yunfei counted her results. She narrowed her eyes at the gaps on the wall.

“One, two, three…”

Before she could finish counting, she was interrupted by Glasses-Ge. Clap, clap, clap! He stepped forward, applauding. “Impressive! Fifteen balloons! You can pick any plushie from this section to take home.” He pointed to the row where the cat plushie was.

Without hesitation, Ji Yunfei pointed at the tuxedo cat plushie. “I want that one.”

The cat was taken down and handed to her. She used the plushie to hide her face and turned to Xie Yin. “Give me a name, Mommy~”

The plushie was gently pulled from her hands. Xie Yin looked down, smiling at the “tuxedo cat” and said softly, “You shall be called Milk.”

“That’s so casual?” Ji Yunfei teased, arching an eyebrow.

“It’s not casual. It’s a cute name and suits it perfectly.”

“Alright, alright, you’re right.”

“Ahem, since this lady has finished, would the other lady like to try?” Glasses-Ge cleared his throat, interrupting their “lovey-dovey” moment, and immediately received a very “pointed” look from Xie Yin.

Braving that “kind” gaze, he gritted his teeth and offered a reloaded gun to Xie Yin.

Xie Yin didn’t speak. She silently took the gun and fired a rapid, decisive volley.

Bang, bang, bang! The sound was constant. In an instant, the air was filled with balloon fragments and rising dust.

When the noise stopped, half the balloons on the wall were gone. Glasses-Ge stepped forward to count, then covered his mouth theatrically. “There’s always someone better! Twenty out of twenty! A perfect score!”

“You may choose any plushie in the house, Miss.”

The moment he finished, Xie Yin turned to Ji Yunfei. “A-Fei, is there one you like?”

“You choose. Whatever you pick is what I like.”

Xie Yin pursed her lips and looked at the wall. After a moment of consideration, she pointed to a spotted puppy. “That one.”

Once she had the puppy, Xie Yin imitated Ji Yunfei, holding it in front of her face and shaking it while using a high-pitched voice: “I’m a spotted puppy, and I want a name too~”

“Pfft—” Seeing Xie Yin being so childish, Ji Yunfei couldn’t hold it in and laughed. “You’re being silly too?” She tapped the puppy’s head mischievously. “Flower.”

The puppy stopped shaking and stayed in mid-air before being pulled away to reveal Xie Yin’s stunning face. She pouted slightly. “You called my naming casual, but who is the casual one here?”

Ji Yunfei heard the mumble and rubbed her cat plushie against Xie Yin’s puppy. “Fine, fine. We’re both casual, which makes us a perfect match.”

Xie Yin was instantly cheered up, her lips curling into a smile she couldn’t hide. She looked away and tugged at Ji Yunfei’s sleeve. “Shall we explore somewhere else?”

“Okay.”

“Wait, wait—you two!” Glasses-Ge called out before they could turn away.

“?” Ji Yunfei raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Glasses-Ge pulled a pale pink silk pouch from under the table and handed it to Ji Yunfei. “This is for you both. Wishing you a long and happy life together.”

Ji Yunfei took the pouch and examined it, murmuring, “Why does everyone like giving out silk pouches lately…?”

“From what you’re saying, someone else gave you one?”

At Xie Yin’s question, Ji Yunfei nodded. “Yeah, when I went to Qingshan Temple with Chi Chang, the abbot there gave me one.”

“Then… where did you put that pouch? I thought maybe this new one could be kept with the old one.” Xie Yin’s heart raced as she suppressed her excitement, trying to fish for information.

“Hmm—that’s a good question. Where did I put it…?” Ji Yunfei looked troubled, her expression complicated.

Ever since the “Snake Beauty” stopped appearing in her dreams, her worries had faded. Naturally, the abbot and the pouch had slipped her mind. Now that it was mentioned, she had zero memory of it.

“I vaguely remember stuffing it under something, but I really can’t remember specifically where.”

Seeing Ji Yunfei’s troubled face, Xie Yin felt helpless but couldn’t force it. She pointed to the pink pouch in Ji Yunfei’s hand. “It’s fine. If you can’t remember, you can’t remember. So, where are you putting this one?”

Ji Yunfei puffed out her cheeks, looked at the long drawstring on the pouch, then at the “Milk” cat in Xie Yin’s hand. She tied the pouch around the cat’s neck.

She admired her handiwork, her eyes crinkling into crescent moons. “This one hangs on Milk. As for the other one, when I find it, I’ll hang it on Flower.”

“Okay.” Xie Yin patted Ji Yunfei’s head with a doting smile. She held Milk in one hand and took Ji Yunfei’s hand with the other. “Let’s go see what else is around.”

They wandered through the market, and soon their hands were full of bags and souvenirs. After finding a place to temporarily store their things, they unknowingly walked toward the “Ghost Market” lottery station mentioned by the staff earlier.

A worker wearing a bull mask and a long black robe was standing by a giant wheel, banging a gong and shouting: “Ghost Market Lottery! 100% win rate! Don’t miss out—”

“How do you play?” A crowd had gathered. A tourist stepped up to ask the “Bull-Head.”

“One lottery ticket gets you one spin! Tickets are distributed randomly by our staff during the various attractions!” The Bull-Head pulled out a card to show the crowd.

Ji Yunfei quietly pulled her ticket from her pocket. She exchanged a look with Xie Yin, pushed through the crowd, and walked up to the Bull-Head.

“Is it this one?”

“Yes, yes! Come on, spin the wheel!” The Bull-Head took the ticket and led her to the wheel.

Ji Yunfei looked up. The wheel was divided into five colors: red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. Red took up the smallest sliver, while blue occupied the most. Naturally, red was the grand prize.

As a self-proclaimed “unlucky person,” Ji Yunfei didn’t have high hopes, but she secretly really wanted to see what the grand prize was.

Taking a deep breath, she glanced at Xie Yin in the crowd, pursed her lips, and spun the wheel.

While the wheel spun, Xie Yin, standing in the crowd, put her hands behind her back. Her fingers moved slightly, a faint smile remaining on her face.

The wheel slowed down. The blurred colors began to separate. Finally, the pointer landed squarely on the small red triangle.

Clang! Clang! Clang! The Bull-Head banged his gong, announcing loudly: “Congratulations—the Grand Prize!!”

The crowd erupted. People with tickets behind her became eager and spontaneously formed an orderly line.

“Here, take this. This is the grand prize.” The Bull-Head handed a gift bag to Ji Yunfei, then rummaged in his satchel to hand her a gold card. “And this—a Ferris Wheel VIP pass. Usually, the Ferris wheel costs extra, but with this, you can go right in.”

The Bull-Head winked and whispered, “Have a wonderful time, you two!” before banging his gong again to attend to other guests.

Ji Yunfei opened the gift bag and found various Halloween souvenirs from the park. Most eye-catching was a jewelry box with “Fushengsheng” printed on top.

She opened the lid to find a gold necklace with a small golden pumpkin pendant. Under the lights, the gold was almost blinding.

“This… this is a huge prize…” Ji Yunfei snapped the box shut, her eyes wide as she looked at Xie Yin.

“It’s an amusement park; giving out some gold is normal. Why so surprised?” Seeing her disbelief, Xie Yin chuckled and pinched her cheek.

“I’m genuinely shocked… My lifelong bad luck turned around today. Xie Yin, are you my lucky star? Whenever you’re around, my luck is always amazing.”

“If thinking that makes you like me more, then I’m very happy.”

Her face flushing at Xie Yin’s constant flirting, Ji Yunfei coughed twice, took her hand, and pulled out the gold card. “Let’s not talk about that. The Ferris wheel—want to go?”

The Ferris wheel climbed slowly. A slight swaying sensation rose from beneath their feet. Ji Yunfei looked out the glass window. The ground below looked like a flowing river of stars; colorful lights outlined the paths and rides. The crowds with their pumpkin lanterns and costumes looked like shimmering specks of light.

She breathed out softly against the glass, creating a small patch of mist that blurred the kaleidoscopic world outside. She turned to look at Xie Yin. Her exquisite side profile, under the dim cabin light, looked like a beautiful silhouette. Her eyes were lowered, full of contentment.

Suddenly, the cabin jolted. Ji Yunfei instinctively gripped the handrail, her heart racing as they reached a greater height. A wave of warmth covered her hand—Xie Yin had reached out, the heat from her fingertips dispelling Ji Yunfei’s nerves.

“Xie Yin.” As the cabin approached the peak, Ji Yunfei whispered her name.

“Hmm?” The person looking down turned her gaze to Ji Yunfei’s face. Her eyes were gentle, like a deep, bottomless spring; once you fell in, there was no coming back.

“Have you heard? Lovers who kiss at the peak of a Ferris wheel will never be parted.” Ji Yunfei’s pupils reflected the lights, sparkling. Xie Yin could clearly see her own reflection in them.

Xie Yin’s free hand instinctively clenched into a fist. Her voice was low and raspy: “Yes, I’ve heard.”

Before she could say more, the hand beneath hers pulled away. Her face was then cupped by Ji Yunfei’s cool hands.

“We’re almost at the top… Xie Yin…” Ji Yunfei’s voice was soft, her words a bit muddled, but they made Xie Yin’s heart beat faster.

“The color on your lips has faded… you should fix it…”

“How do I fix it…?” Xie Yin asked, knowing the answer.

Ji Yunfei replaced words with actions. Their lips met. The warm, soft touch made Xie Yin’s legs go weak, her body pressing firmly against the glass wall of the cabin.

The timing was perfect. As their lips touched, the cabin reached the very peak.

They would be together for a lifetime, but even a lifetime felt far too short…

In this moment, both were greedy, wanting the time at the peak to last a little longer, just a little longer.

Their lips separated gently. The color of their lips had become identical, and their faces were flushed deep red. This kiss wasn’t intense; it was the rhythmic thumping of two hearts drawing closer.

“A-Fei… I really like you…”

And I really, really love you…

“I do too. So, we must, must walk this path well together.”

You walked toward me with such determination; I won’t let you down…

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