"Long, long ago, a dragon suddenly appeared, brought disaster, took the princess, and then disappeared..." Huh, the lyrics to this song sound pretty normal, don’t they? ’Except we actually have a real princess here! I wonder what Sylvie’s reaction will be when she hears this song?’

As he listened, Shen Yibin was rendered speechless. The lyrics, which had started out so normally, suddenly took a bizarre turn. Sylvie, dancing at the very front, heard it and was laughing so hard she couldn’t stand up straight, making it impossible for her to keep dancing.

The song told the following story: a hero with an absurdly long and unpronounceable name resolutely took up his sword and headed for the mountains to save the princess captured by the dragon. He crossed mountains and rivers, fighting monsters and leveling up along the way.

Finally, he reached the evil dragon, Kuntukutakatikot-suwasirasong. After a vicious battle, the hero finally slew the dragon and rescued the princess. When the King saw that the princess had been saved by this hero, he prepared to marry her off to him.

But unfortunately, the King misremembered the hero’s name. He mistakenly married the princess to someone with a nearly identical, absurdly long name—the only difference being a single character. After the princess married the wrong man, she gave birth to a child. To keep the child’s name from being too hard to pronounce, they named him: Wang Haoran. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

’Damn it, what kind of grudge does the songwriter have against this Wang Haoran? Why write such a ridiculous song just to mock the guy? Also, what’s his connection to the proverbial "Old Wang next door"? And how on earth did the hero and the guy who married the princess get through elementary school without their teacher making them write their names out a hundred times as punishment?’

"That poor princess!" Sakai Kaori couldn’t help but sigh. She was completely exasperated. ’Just what kind of formidable being wrote the lyrics to this song?’

’Mrs. Wang, just go back to playing "The Tears of Ximen Qing." I think I could barely handle that one. This song, though... I just can’t take it.’

Egg, however, couldn’t comprehend the lyricist’s sinister intentions. It just thought the song’s melody and rhythm were cheerful and lively, and with such musical accompaniment, it danced with even more vigor.

It patted its belly and danced joyfully to the rhythm of the music. Below, the middle-aged aunties seemed to be energized by its vitality, feeling a good ten years younger. Everyone was immersed in the music, following Egg’s rhythm and starting a brand-new dance.

It was just that these youthful moves, while they would look wonderful on young girls, were a rather tragic sight when performed by the middle-aged aunties. Shen Yibin watched for a moment before involuntarily taking a few steps back, trying to look like he had no idea who these people were.

"Um... Sakai, don’t you want to join them?" After a little while, Shen Yibin had calmed down a bit and could just about accept this cruel reality. He looked at the motionless Sakai Kaori beside him and asked.

"Um, do I have to dance?" She had performed dances before, during various ceremonies at the shrine, but those solemn performances were nothing like... well, she didn’t even know what to call this dance! ’This is just too humiliating! I’m blushing just from watching. To actually do it myself...’ Sakai Kaori couldn’t accept it.

"Look how happy Egg is." The goofy creature was completely unaware that anything was amiss. In fact, it was getting more and more into it, even waving to Sylvie down below from time to time. "Sylvie’s dancing just fine, isn’t she? And Egg seems to really like her dancing. I think if you went to the front and danced along, Egg would be really happy."

’I don’t know if Egg will be happy or not, but I’d really love to see what the prim-and-proper shrine maiden looks like doing such an incredibly awkward dance!’ A wicked thought crossed Shen Yibin’s mind.

"Eh? Is that really true?" Sakai Kaori hesitated. Although she wasn’t used to this kind of dancing, if she could use this opportunity to gain Lord Raccoon Cat’s approval, maybe a little embarrassment was worth it.

"Of course it is. Think about it, back at the store, is Egg more friendly with you or with Sylvie?" Shen Yibin coaxed.

"But... but as the shrine maiden of Honjin Raccoon Shrine, isn’t doing something like this too... undignified?" Sakai Kaori was still hesitant.

But Shen Yibin could see that her hesitation was limited. She just needed a little push and she would give in. So, Shen Yibin pointed at Sylvie and said, "You should know this, right? Sylvie is the princess of Sokovia. A princess’s status should be much more dignified than a shrine maiden’s, right? If she can do it, why can’t you?"

"Besides, can’t you see this is the happiest Egg has been? If you go up there now, you’re sure to win its favor. Go on, for the future of Honjin Raccoon Shrine, you have to do your best!" With that, Shen Yibin gave her a push on the back, and the unprepared Sakai Kaori stumbled right into the crowd of plaza dancers.

’Mr. Shopkeeper, how could you do that! I wasn’t ready!’ Sakai Kaori stood dazedly in the middle of the crowd, completely at a loss.

"Don’t just stand there, young lady! Come on, dance with us! If us old folks don’t care, what are you so shy about? Quick, left hand up first, then right hand, now step forward and backward." Mrs. Wang thought Sakai Kaori had come to dance voluntarily, so she called out to her as she danced.

"Yes! I understand." ’For the future of Honjin Raccoon Shrine, and to bring Lord Raccoon Cat back to Japan as soon as possible, what’s a small difficulty like this?’

Watching the joyfully dancing Egg in front of her, Sakai Kaori felt her body fill with Chakra as her inner cosmos began to burn. Besides, the music and dance were just too infectious; her own hands and feet felt like they were moving on their own. For the moment, Sakai Kaori cast aside her shyness and reservation, and began to follow Egg’s example—raising her arms and legs, twisting her waist and hips, and starting to dance.

’Now that’s more like it! With a creature like Egg, if you’re always so prim and proper, it’ll never accept you. Your affinity rating will only get lower and lower. You have to be silly, just like Egg and Hah’Er!’

"Hm?" As Shen Yibin was gloating over her predicament, he failed to notice that Hah’Er, beside him, was staring at the dancers with gleaming eyes. It suddenly stretched out its paws, gave him a hard shove, and pushed Shen Yibin into the dancing crowd as well, before jumping in itself.