Days crept nearer as the first snow began to fall. The nights grew longer and darker. Wildlife went into deep slumber and the forest trees were covered in layers of white. Of the routes that led down from the Bai village, snow began to accumulate, hindering access to the rest of the lower river basin area. Fortunately, further communication was conducted between YaoMing and GuoZhao. Attempts to build deeper ties started and developments were made for the past few weeks to organize efforts to remove excess snow from the central route that linked to Teacher Woo’s bungalow. Then, trade, initiated by ReZhui’s father, slowly made its way up the mountain with YaoMing as the merchant’s temporary checkpoint. Despite this, the dirt trail still was unused for most of the day and this has not stopped ReZhui and his friends from making regular trips both ways on foot in extreme weather. Rather, they saw it as an opportunity for conditioning the body and enhancing their breathing amidst this encompassing veil of thin air.

Up in the farmlands of Bai, the terraced paddy fields were a hard brown and individual storehouses sprouted about, filled with grains and salted meats and furs.

Down at the Donbu village, traffic in the streets trickled but vendors and rickshaws still resumed their businesses for it was their livelihood and kept the economy going. Store business, on the other hand, remained unaffected, albeit a lower customer flow. The Xu Pharmacy went about their services undeterred and witnessing the winter themed ice gardens was a new treat for ReZhui and Eddisson, as they progressed with their apprenticeship. As for their martial training, the trio managed to fabricate stories, paving their way out of suspicion which would lead to their parents discovering MianJu.

They found the manuals in a second-hand bookstore.

They blended in with the other kids as they waged their own plays of battles.

Those were some of the lies told to them.

And once in a while, cladded in thick layers of cloth and fur cloaks, the children would set out for the arduous trip across the mountains, trekking through hip deep snow in thick forestry. All to arrive at the lone, tranquil residence of the blacksmith MianJu, whose furnaces blasted with rage throughout the day, providing immeasurable warmth, complemented by his delicious tea, to the accomplished kids with flushed cheeks.

While there, MianJu corrected their martial arts and introduced some extra pointers too, particularly in mobility and situational awareness. Thanks to his efforts, the time taken to travel significantly decreased by the end and the children were able to reach home before evening even with this short daytime. Overall, the winter months were a peaceful and fulfilling period for everyone and ReZhui was steadily reaching his goals, working his gains little by little from everyone he knew fondly of to the best of his ability.

Winter lasted long, with the first sighting of budding flora only seen after another cold two months and a half. This finally signaled the start of spring and the awaited beginning of the new year, sending waves that the Spring Festival was just around the corner. GuoZhao and the villagers emerged from their dwellings and proceeded with routine like last year. Getting the paddy fields ready for the next harvest; the grazing of released goats and sheep; and the retracing of wild wolves. foxes and boars, there was a lot to do in this tiny village, alongside the upcoming preparations for their own Spring Festival. By that time, ReZhui was at home with his family, separated from ShiYan and Eddisson at his master’s estate.

He first thought of asking them to come along but it seemed that he didn't need to.

Unlike the years before, ReZhui wouldn’t be attending this year’s celebration with the villagers. From a bird sent by YaoMing and ShiYan, GuoZhao received the long anticipated invitation to attend this year’s Spring Festival Leader’s Gathering as the honored guest. Moreover, YaoMing also wrote about how GuoZhao’s family would also be welcomed to the festival as he guaranteed that it would be a fun experience, especially when it’s not too far away.

Once ReZhui and his brothers were told about this, they were surely thrilled and their mother simply complied with her husband.

The snow thawed, and the dirt road was smoothened and freshly caked in brown. A cart, loaded with the entire Zhang family raced down the trail, onwards towards the venue.

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The Spring Festival.

A tradition that dates back thousands of years and is celebrated by all citizens of the Middle Kingdom. For the expansive lands that the Xie resides across, each Spring Festival varies from region to region, and in the practices of the residents along the Bai river basin, it was one that the leaders took as a guise for appearances but for the general populace, it was the real deal and their largest yet.

A two day event of color and food.

Located at the outskirts of DongBu village, where the mighty Bai River flows once again after months of inactivity, a large portion of the banks on either side of the river had been tiled with brick and wood. Atop each of the two solid foundations, massive structures were built. Maroon pagodas outlined the border of these premises and makeshift roofed stalls sprouted around them like the spreading veins of a leaf midrib. The more these vendors and merchants rented these spots, the more these veins linked up with the other extensions. Eventually, they form quite the complex maze for people to wander into. However, consideration was always the priority at the event’s centers.

Encircled by these bustling networks, a large pavilion was built at the central spot of the eastern river bank, raised upon multiple platforms with multiple stairways leading up to its grand entrance that faced the setting sun. Stone lion statues stood guard at every entrance on ground level, while carved dragon motifs were placed abundantly throughout every edge of this landmark. On the other hand, the western bank featured an even larger space where an unroofed semi circular stage stretched far and wide, facing out to an open concourse. Behind it, a blocky curtained metal framework served as the performers’ preparation center.

Connecting these two banks across the bisecting Bai River, an enormous, yet fanciful bridge of red, yellow, bronze and chalk white rose high above the surging water currents.

Additionally, from the nearby ox-box lake, which was the main reason this section of the meandering Bai River was chosen for DongBu’s site of hosting, streams of calm freshwater flowed into man made routes dug deep enough for koi fish to swim. As such, patches of small floral gardens with artificial ponds were randomly distributed throughout the premises. Small bridges were also constructed where these narrow rivers flowed underneath and the sight of these colorful fish was witnessed. Overall, these formed an extensive drainage network throughout the eastern bank for the added beauty of the scenery.

And, ReZhui was soon going to experience all of this, plus more, with his own eyes.

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The cart halted to a stop once they arrived at a roadblock, a tall wooden fence supported with stacks of sandbags. Like the other hundreds of wheeled vehicles parked messily around, GuoZhao pulled his cart to the side and leased his horses to the nearby keeper who was paid to ensure its safety. That young man of short stature had rows of wooden stables behind him, ready for service, and he guided them to a separate room in a swarm of hay and dust. Their cart was empty for the time being so GuoZhao and ReZhui paid no worry to someone possibly stealing an old transport.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

It took them all day to get here and the sun was already setting. However, that doesn’t mean they were late as the traffic of carriages and crowds all around them seemed like it was still at its peak. Sticking together, the family pushed through the crowd.

The last leg of the journey to the banks was a trip on foot. The road towards it was paved with stone and concrete, presenting a wide passageway for everyone to follow while protecting their festive outfits from the surrounding forestry and muddy swamp lands.

Slowly, the waves of people staggered forward and in a few claustrophobic minutes, ReZhui survived the cramped conditions and had finally reached past the last bottleneck, the inspection of the Police Guard.

He raised his arms wide and stretched his back, eyeing at the others who did the same or rushed in. His brothers later emerged, followed by his father and mother. They regrouped quickly and stood in front of the gateway. Raising their heads together in unison, the sight of the grand red triple arched entrance was reflected deeply in their black irises. Amidst the now dark, starless and cloudless night, numerous crackling bonfires were lit at the top in huge stone concave bowls. Large banners of red and yellow draped from high places, while lines of spherical paper lanterns hung across the distinctive upturned roofs. At its center, a large framed sign of polished wood faced downwards at an incline. In bold black ink, it said the name of this very place called ‘the Lungs of Bai’s Twin Breaths’.

After taking in more of that majestic architecture, ReZhui ran forward and under the archway.

“Wow!!!”

He immediately froze, once he reached the other side.

ReZhui saw a sea of red and gold. The dark maroon roofs of the stalls were also hung with rows of lanterns, but this time, they came in all shapes and sizes, ranging from animals to different fruits and vegetables. Colorful, patterned kites flew past him, soaring overhead by sprinting children while larger, more detailed ones appeared stationary, sparkling like stars at heights taller than the pagodas, whose edges of their roofs were also filled with similarly shaped lanterns from earlier. Further down the streets, he could make out the shape of the tall background of a stage and from the blocking stalls, a faraway acrobat rose high above the roofs; just enough for ReZhui to witness. Like him, those nearby saw it at a glance but still followed the cheers of the audience held further inward. The entire area erupted in applause, nearly shaking ReZhui off-balance. This was a first for him and his family. The amount of lights and fires, the clear variety of aromatic perfumes and smells of food gushing into his nostrils, and the amount of people that passed by him, shoving and pulling about. It was the most chaotic and fun that he has ever been too.

“REZHUI!”

A startling call from his father sounded, as he finally made eyesight of his location. Dragging the rest of the family along, he joined with ReZhui at the center.

“Father, this is awesome!”

“It truly is, right!?”

From the constant chattering corridors and screaming shopkeepers, it was a cacophony of noises, resulting in all of them shouting out at the top of their lungs to even make sense of each other. At this realization, the Zhang family had a good laugh before they questioned on following a line of people going into one of the many routes into this dense network of shops. But, they decided otherwise and slowly pushed their way to the side of the ongoing starting spot. As they readied themselves to truly explore further, ReZhui soon got a sharp tap on the shoulder, sending massive impulses all over his body and jerking around in instinct. Fear and surprise showed itself within his widened eyes in the presence of his best friend, ShiYan.

“...!”

“...?”

Instantly, she gave up holding it in, and then unleashed an awful lot of laughter until her stomach hurt. Behind her, ReZhui turned to find Eddisson speechless. Despite the lack of screams, Mr Zhang and the others quickly figured out what just happened and got their share of humor into it as well. Once everything settled down from that awkward encounter, ReZhui opened first.

“ShiYan, I nearly saw my soul fly away! Don’t ever do that again!” He whined in vain.

“Come on, ReZhui, I thought you said you already gained greater situational awareness! Well, isn’t that a lie?!” She smirked away.

“N-no…Well, not in this scenario. I am completely overwhelmed! Just look at this many people, ShiYan! This was my first!”

“If so, it looks like you better get used to it! Over here, thousands of people have gathered from all of the other villages, just to celebrate the Spring Festival together as the people of the proud Bai river basin!”

ShiYan spread her arms out and twirled gracefully on the spot.

“...!”

ReZhui then recalled that story his father told him months back.

“What a great purpose this is!”

“I can say the same, ReZhui.” came the words of his father. Perhaps he thought of the same as well.

“Pa…”

Crouching down to ShiYan’s level, Mr Zhang scanned her and Eddisson from head to toe.

ShiYan had her shiny long black hair tied up in a ponytail using a flower patterned bronze fastener of cylindrical shape. Her lips had a touch of red paint, and hung loosely from her black sash, a red pouch filled with scented powders and flowers covered her in a wondrous scent. She donned silky red robes with golden highlights and a yellow-brown inner layer. Newly sewn cloth sandals of black and light pink further completed her already stunning beauty.

Onto Eddisson, his combed hair, that parted at the middle, itself was already a lucky symbol of fortune, being maintained well over the past months from neglect, it now shone brightly like a lit torch and constantly brought curious stares from passers-by who had never seen a blonde person before. He wore a maroon tunic of shimmering silk with bright red patterns near the sleeves and lower torso, and fastened with golden knot buttons that ran down the center. His pants were also dyed in a dark red with his new black leather wrapped boots.

In comparison, ReZhui, with the allowance earned from his master and his father having taken part in significant trade exchanges last winter, was able to buy the materials needed for a new set for this Spring Festival. His mother had given him a distinctive golden-yellow collared shirt that has dragon illustrations sewn in with white tread. Similar scarlet knot buttons secured his fit at the side of his left shoulder. Silky black pants touched his ankles and he wore newly bought white cloth sandals with bright red outlines. Finally, his hair which has grown significantly longer was cleanly tied into a bun and fastened with a red ribbon and covered by a white cloth.

ReZhui’s father, on the other hand, wore a similar outfit to his son, while MeiYue and the other brothers also wore robes and tunics of red and yellow but significantly different and older. The baby, wide awake from the noises, smiled around, covered tightly with the usual white wrappings and a golden outer layer.

“ShiYan, you look incredibly beautiful today! This uncle approves of it!” Mr Zhang smiled at the young girl.

“Thank you, Mr Zhang!”

He then turned to Eddisson and said the same, “You may have the auspicious hair, Eddisson, but my son’s charm knows no boundaries!” He proudly teased him. In response, Eddisson simply bowed and nodded with joyous eyes.

Suddenly, he got a slap on the back.

“Pa, please…”

“Hmph!”

Patting ReZhui on the head, he inquired ShiYan about the venue.

“Say, ShiYan, do you happen to know where your father is? I would like to be as early as possible!”

“Oh, father!? He knew that you would be here around this time so he told me this!” She pointed to one of the many openings.

“Follow down that route and head for the bridge on the other side! Cross over that and head for that massive pavilion at the center! That’s where Father and the others are in attendance!”

Mr Zhang retraced her directions and clenched his fist. He was ready for this.

“MeiYue, please take care of the kids while I’m gone.”

“...!”

He then embraced her for a much needed hug.

“It may take me a long night to sort this out and I apologize once again for not being able to fully accompany you all for this new Spring Festival experience, but…this is for our village’s sake. So please-”

His lips were halted by her index finger. Once smooth like milk, it was now coarse and sandy, but he still smiled at her gesture.

“Dear, you don’t have to say much more. ReZhui and the others would be fine, and I am just here for the ride. After all, I am quite old to be enjoying all of this new stuff. Haha…”

“...”

“I pray for your success, GuoZhao.” She smiled back. “Make sure you come back with the good news.”

“I will.”

With that, he also said his farewells to ReZhui and the others before disappearing off into the growing crowds. His massive back was soon nowhere to be seen in the sea of scarlet and gold.