That night, the dark void of space around Planet Canglan and its nine neighbor worlds turned brighter than noon.
It was the night of the First Annual Ten-World Harvest & Lantern Festival.
Along the twelve-million-mile Ten-World Circular High-Speed Sky-Rail, ten million glowing red-and-gold spirit lanterns hung from the Moon-Spider cables, transforming the space railway into a glittering necklace of fire and gold draped across the stars.
On every single world, the celebration was in full swing:
In the original oasis square of Dry-Well Central City on Planet Canglan, three hundred thousand long banquet tables stretched down the avenues from the Sweet-Spring Spirit Well. Old Guo stood atop a floating kitchen platform, wielding his hundred-foot iron ladle to stir ten volcanic cauldrons of Nine-Treasure Dragon-Marrow Stew at once, while Hong Ling handed out red festival envelopes containing ten shiny copper coins and a candy coupon to every child in line.
On World #1 (Dust-Rock Moon), a hundred thousand Long-Eared Moon-Rabbits performed a synchronized lantern dance in low gravity, tossing glowing moon-cakes up to passing commuter trains.
On World #2 (Green-Sprout Star), the three million newly settled former pirate families sat outside their warm white-brick farmhouses alongside fifty million farmers, roasting whole spirit-lambs under the branches of the Ancient Banyan Tree-King while Ao Ming wove shapes of golden dragons and wheat stalks out of rainbow clouds in the night sky.
