The lanterns at Qingniu Medical Hall had just been lit when Huwa put on a glowing ox-horn headpiece, raised a garlic-shaped glow stick, and shouted, "Attention, everyone! Tonight we are holding the 'Epidemic Prevention Lantern Riddle Fair'! Guess correctly and win garlic-flavored tangyuan from Xiaotao Eatery!"
The Night Market instantly turned into a labyrinth of light and shadow. An apprentice from Tibet had his yak carry a prayer-wheel-shaped lantern, which scattered fluorescent powder scented with Tibetan medicine with every turn. A Silla apprentice strung an abacus-like lantern wall, with every Abacus Bead carved with an epidemic prevention math problem from The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art; slide the beads correctly, and garlic-flavored candies would pop out. Most ingenious of all was the "Garlic Mantou Lantern Array" from Xiaotao Eatery, where dozens of glowing mantou were hung on ropes, chanting in the breeze: "Guess me correctly, and illness stays away!"
The garlic mantou unlocked "glow-in-the-dark mode." Huwa equipped the mantou with fluorescent powder and mini speakers, and these "mantou lantern riddles" floated around in the night. One asked, "What does Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold say not to do everywhere?" Another shouted, "Why does garlic sterilize?" One mantou got too excited and drifted right into the Protagonist's medicine pot, making the Protagonist chase Huwa with a medicine spoon, yelling, "This is a medicine pot! Not a riddle p…
Chapter 540