After the comet disappeared.

Everyone at the scene continued to observe the sky.

This scene, unprecedented in ancient Huaxia, genuinely sparked an intense interest among the crowd.

Even Old Li, Wang Hou, and Zhang Shuye couldn't help but step forward several times to take a look at the stars.

Of course.

While broadening their knowledge, there were also moments of conceptual upheaval.

Especially for Xiaoli.

It's uncertain if, after tonight.

This famous future Layman Yi'an will still write the "Fisherman's Pride" with lines like 'Could Nature be partial with intent, thus teaching the moon its pretty form.'

Or "A Cut of Plum" with 'When the geese return, the moon fills the west tower.'

Then another hour passed.

Near the end of the Hai hour... which is around eleven o'clock in the evening.

Everyone finally finished their night's observation.

After which, Old Su left Mr. Xie and the donkey in place, responsible for winding up the telescope back down the mountain.

He himself took Old Li, Wang Hou, and others down the mountain first—planning to spend the entire night recording everything observed tonight in writing.

Xu Yun, as a guest, naturally was among those descending the mountain, but compared to Old Su and others' excitement, he felt a subtle confusion:

Even though I invented the telescope, why hasn't the Halo indicated the task's completion?

Could it be that...

Old Su's so-called unfulfilled wish wasn't about observing the starry sky in person?

But then again, it makes sense.

Following the normal trajectory, without my appearance, Old Su clearly wouldn't think of or understand the concept of 'planet.'

That means he surely has some thoughts about the stars, but probably not an obsession to clearly see the stars' appearance in person.

At most, he'd doubt whether there were people gnawing on spicy rabbit heads on the moon or not.

The curiosity Old Su exhibited about the starry sky over this period is largely due to Xu Yun reopening a door for him.

So, unexpectedly...

Old Su's 'obsession' in his heart probably stems from other causes.

Then what exactly could it be?

Xu Yun slowly shook his head.

This matter can only be explored by finding opportunities to verify it with Old Su in the coming days.

Subsequently, the group descended the mountain guided by torches and returned to Bianjing by carriage—since the Song Dynasty didn't have a curfew, and Old Su had already informed the City Patrol Office before leaving, so there wasn't much difficulty returning to the city.

An uneventful night passed.

.....

"Dong dong dong——"

Early the next morning, Xu Yun was awakened by the knocking on the door:

"Brother Wang, Brother Wang, it's morning!"

Xu Yun rubbed his sleepy eyes, stretched lazily, and drowsily said:

"Who is it? Wait a minute....."

Ever since he moved to the East Wing reserved for guests, he generally woke up naturally each day; it was the first time someone called him to wake up.

Afterwards, he got dressed and yawned as he opened the door.

He saw standing outside the door was a familiar face:

Zhang San, Third Brother.

As expected.

Besides this lad, ordinary servants wouldn't dare knock on his door.

"Brother Wang."

Seeing Xu Yun looking half-awake, Zhang San quickly waved two tickets in his hand:

"Haven't you always wanted to watch a cuju match? There's a big game today, and I barely managed to snag two tickets.

You weren't around yesterday, so I hurried to find you this morning, do you want to go?"

"Cuju?"

Hearing this word, Xu Yun instantly shook off his sleepiness, coming alive with excitement:

"Where is it being played? How much time until it starts?"

"Outside Daxiangguo Temple at Ju City, it starts in about an hour."

Hearing this, Xu Yun tossed out a sentence and turned back into his room:

"Wait for me a moment, I'll change clothes and then we'll head out."

The so-called cuju is none other than the famous cuju.

Little known.

The birthplace of modern soccer is John Bull, but the birthplace of ancient soccer unequivocally belongs to Huaxia.

In fact.

If one were to talk about the history of ancient Huaxia's cuju, it can at least be traced back to the Warring States period.

For instance, in the "Records of the Grand Historian: Su Qin's Biography" it is recorded:

"Linzi is very wealthy and real, its people all play pipes, beat zithers, and tread cuju."

This is the earliest record of cuju in known history.

By the Tang Dynasty.

Cuju had further developed into a sport with detailed rules, and its popularity was evident in people's work.

That is to say, during the Tang Dynasty, cuju was not only a court entertainment activity but was also popular among the common people.

By the Song Dynasty, cuju had reached its historical peak.

It's no exaggeration to say.

Cuju was the national sport of the Song Dynasty.

The fervor of the Song people for cuju, and the popularity of cuju matches, was in no way inferior to the World Cup fever in the modern world.

From the emperor and noble officials down to the common people, everyone was a die-hard cuju fan.

Even young children had immense love for cuju, and they developed early football clubs, or rather, cuju teams.

There were many professional cuju performers at the time who earned their living by showcasing their cuju skills, even ascending to upper-class statuses.

For example, Gao Qiu in "Water Margin" rose to power through cuju and flattery.

In the future, Xu Yun was indeed a true old soccer fan, having witnessed the shamelessness of Korea in 02 and personally experienced the Istanbul miracle of 05.

But unfortunately.

In the future, although his country was powerful, it remained somewhat lackluster in football.

In the 02 World Cup, he couldn't attend in person, but on June 5, 2010, that vibrant red at Wembley originated from Xu Yun's hand—at that time, he was an exchange student in John Bull, so he specially went to the scene to support it once.