The festival lights just came on, the stars shone splendidly.

Xu Xiaoyou stood in front of a stall surrounded by a dazzling array of goods, with the bustling market behind her. It was Dragonfly Town's liveliest time of the year, with ornately decorated palanquins and processions of colorfully adorned vehicles making their way up from the foot of the mountain. Looking around, the place was brightly lit and stretched endlessly. Girls in yukatas and platform sandals walked past her, their little fans waving, hiding the changes in their facial expressions.

She bent down at a stall and picked up a delicately carved doll. The doll resembled a young girl, dressed in a bright crimson skirt with a cinnabar adornment on her forehead, wearing a hairpin in her bun, wielding two long swords, and wearing a grim mask with fangs, resembling a red fish, yet also like an evil ghost.

Upon a closer look, the mask seemed like an invisible vortex, drawing her gaze into it. After a long while, Xu Xiaoyou snapped out of it, noticing many people's attention on her, thinking it was perhaps because of her incongruous attire. The residents of Dragonfly Town had changed into traditional clothing and were wearing thick platform sandals for the Luminous Lantern Festival; she stood out conspicuously in her daytime attire.

"Red God." Mori's voice came from behind her.

Xu Xiaoyou turned her head. Her companion, like her, wore a short jacket with Martin boots, holding a small lantern bought from a stall. As for the Red God in her words, it was probably the doll in her hand?

"You might recognize her by another name, Crimson Dancer."

Xu Xiaoyou understood instantly.

"The swords in her hands are Spider Gu Fang and Chichu Yun, the mask on her face is Angry Spider Face, and the hairpin in her bun is the Eight Spider Curved Jade, still adorably in a bun."

Mori's voice wasn't loud, nor did she deliberately mask it. Some elderly folks gave them strange looks, seemingly reproving the girl's irreverent attitude toward the gods.

Mori was indifferent: "Whether they're gods or not, they're all fake. The only real things people should revere are the true sources of all their suffering and pain. What are Ebisu, the Great Divine, Amaterasu, and the Moon Reading Dragon compared to those ethereal beings? This Red God is the most worthy of respect because she truly existed."

"A girl used her beauty to bewilder the Eight-Spider Nest Mother's watchful eyes, dispelling fear, seized its fangs, and forged the Spider Gu Fang, piercing its skull."

"The girl was as clear as a bright mirror, reflecting the great evil of the Eight-Spider Nest Mother, forming the Eight Spider Curved Jade, suppressing the Nest Mother's will, dissolving its malevolent thoughts."

"Embracing great justice, all the shackles, karma, and human flaws on her turned into the Angry Spider Face, stripping away the Eight-Spider Nest Mother's visage, unable to face the daylight, forever casting it into darkness."

"With wisdom and courage, she fought a three-day and three-night battle against the Eight-Spider Nest Mother in Yuyuan City, ultimately using Chichu Yun to slay the Nest Mother on the High Heaven Platform, cutting its soul, dismembering its body into eight parts for sealing one by one, distributing the Four Great Divine Artifacts to the four major city gods. The girl had since disappeared."

"The legend of the Crimson Dancer circulated for centuries, overly mythologized by later generations, joining the mythological system of Chichu Heaven as a Supreme God. This, I find quite annoying," Mori whispered to Xu Xiaoyou.

"It was clearly a story of a mortal raising a rebellious sword against the heavens, but it was spread as a divine war, stripping it of its original epic character; truly disappointing."

Xu Xiaoyou's thoughts weren't on the girl's complaints. Before coming to Chichu Heaven, she'd often heard rumors about the Eight-Spider Nest Mother. The association's concept of World-Ending Level anecdotes was very vague. She only knew that above the world level, perhaps the term itself perfectly explained this level.

Officially, the Crimson Dancer's final whereabouts were never specified. The general belief among the populace was that this legendary Prism Tier Cleaner ultimately perished in that human-god war, sealing the Eight-Spider Nest Mother while leaving a mess for future generations. Every year, the Chichu Family must invest troops and resources in the four major cities, searching for the Four Great Divine Artifacts and preventing the Eight-Spider Nest Mother's revival.

War within the city never ceases.

During the Octopus Tower City battle decades ago, one of the right limbs of the Eight-Spider Nest Mother made contact with its head, triggering a minor reawakening event. Countless association members sacrificed their lives as a result, with the entire Special Sixth Class perishing in action, leaving a shocking scar on the world.

Led by the hand of a girl, they weaved through the flowing crowd, traversing the winding mountain paths, following the long procession of palanquins and flower-decorated vehicles. To their sides were Imperial Guards clad in armor, escorting the Red God. Every three steps, they thudded, eyes level with their shoulders, glaring like brass bells, voices booming like a great bell, their armor clattering noisily, each resembling ominous specters with blue faces and fangs.

At the forefront, the priest chanted incessantly, draped in long sleeves of blue and red, holding a long scroll full of wishes unfurled upon the ground. As the palanquin passed, the murmuring turned into a loud call. Inside, the Red Goddess lightly lifted the palanquin curtain, revealing half her head, perusing the wish scroll in review for that deity's pleasure, followed by a silvery laughter. Legend says whenever the Red God is pleased, she emits a bell-like laughter, and afterward, she blesses a land with favorable weather and safety for years to come.

Looking back at the distant mountains, the starry lanterns floated to the sky, the night painted beautifully, like a flowing flame. They found a small hill to sit on in front of the worshipped shrine, where the procession behind them reached the mountaintop. The priest inserted a thick incense stick into the censer; the elders knelt before the incense table, with the temple yard thronging with visitors, a buzz of activity.

Infused by this lively atmosphere, one's heart couldn't help but calm. Under the ethereal night sky, the whole of Dragonfly Town shone brightly, the flowing people like a moving poem. The girl's calves bent the tender grass; she lay back with her body straight next to her, sharing sizzling skewered grilled birds.

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