Two days later.
Just as Bai Ruxue had said, that Daoist Priest came calling again.
Xiao Mo looked at the Daoist Priest. She merely stood there, yet gave off an air of transcendent purity.
Though she was incomparably beautiful, you still couldn't entertain a single improper thought about her.
It was as if, instinctively, you knew there was an impassable gulf between you.
When Bai Ruxue saw the Daoist Priest, she hurriedly hid behind Xiao Mo.
As if she were afraid the Daoist Priest would whisk her away.
"This poor Daoist is Fuchen. Greetings, Young Master." Fuchen brought her hands together in a salute.
"I am Xiao Mo. Greetings, immortal lady." Xiao Mo returned the salute with cupped hands.
"May I ask what your relationship is to this young lady?" Fuchen asked.
"We're friends," Xiao Mo replied.
Fuchen nodded, then looked at Bai Ruxue, who was hiding behind Xiao Mo. "Have you decided what you want to do?"
Bai Ruxue timidly peered out from behind Xiao Mo, her little hands clutching the hem of his robe. "I-I don't want to cultivate immortality! I don't want to go with you!"
Fuchen looked at Xiao Mo.
Xiao Mo could only smile helplessly. "I tried to persuade Ruxue yesterday, but she wouldn't leave no matter what."
Fuchen gazed calmly at Bai Ruxue and nodded. "This poor Daoist understands. It seems our fated meeting has not yet come."
Fuchen took a jade pendant from her robes. "If Miss Ruxue changes her mind, she can take this pendant to Tian Xuan Sect and find me at any time."
Bai Ruxue glanced at Xiao Mo, who nodded.
Only then did Bai Ruxue cautiously reach out and accept the pendant.
"Then this poor Daoist will take her leave. I'm sorry for the trouble."
"I'll see you out of the village, immortal lady."
Just as Fuchen was about to leave, Xiao Mo spoke.
Fuchen turned around and looked directly into Xiao Mo's eyes. Then she nodded. "Then I'll have to trouble you, Young Master."
"Please."
After telling Bai Ruxue to watch the house, Xiao Mo escorted Fuchen toward the edge of the village.
"Is there something you wish to ask me, Young Master?"
Once the two had walked some distance, Fuchen asked the man beside her.
When Xiao Mo had offered to see her out, Fuchen had guessed he wanted to ask her something—and that he didn't want Bai Ruxue to know.
"You really can't be fooled, immortal lady. I do have some questions. May I ask you to enlighten me?"
"Go ahead."
"I'd like to ask about snakes transforming into dragons."
A hint of surprise appeared in Fuchen's eyes. "So the Young Master already knows."
"How could I not?"
Xiao Mo shook his head with a smile.
"When I was young, I saved a little white snake. Three years later, a little girl in a white dress came looking for me.
"She had no fixed abode, and disappeared every winter. At first, she wasn't very skilled at taking human form, either. Her tail even showed a few times.
"Perhaps she was the only one in the dark.
"But since she chose not to tell me, I didn't ask."
"Are you not afraid?"
"She's never harmed anyone. What is there to fear?"
"Good." Fuchen looked at Xiao Mo with approval. "You have a Dao Heart, but unfortunately, you lack the Root Bone needed to cultivate the Dao."
"Everyone has their own way of living. If I can't cultivate the Dao, I'll just live as an ordinary person." Xiao Mo smiled. "I imagine you came for Ruxue, too?"
"Indeed."
Fuchen made no attempt to hide it.
"When I passed through this village, I noticed a courtyard with a trace of demonic energy. Yet that energy was as clear and pure as the light of the sun and moon.
"That meant she had never harmed anyone and was simply cultivating with the help of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy.
"Curious, I came to take a look. I saw that the white serpent in the Young Master's courtyard had an exceptional Root Bone and extraordinary talent, so I wanted to take her as my disciple.
"I concealed the truth from you before. I hope you'll forgive me."
"You're too kind, immortal lady." A trace of dejection colored Xiao Mo's expression. "Actually, she shouldn't be here. I'm the one who kept her tied down."
Fuchen smiled. "Whether human or demon, each has their own fate. If she wants to stay by your side, then you are her 'Dao.' How could that be called keeping her tied down?"
Xiao Mo fell into thought.
Fuchen continued, "To answer your earlier question: a snake's transformation into a dragon is indeed no easy feat.
"First, a snake must transform into a python. This is the most basic stage. It must evade predators, including hunters, find a suitable spiritual land, withstand disease and disaster, and, most importantly, overcome the instincts and laziness of a lowly creature and persevere in cultivation.
"She had a tribulation to overcome, but you saved her. Now she has become a white python.
"She has already passed that trial."
"After that, a python transforms into a boa. As well as avoiding being hunted by mortals, it must also contend with cultivators who would hunt it.
"This poor Daoist sees signs of Ancestral Return in Miss Ruxue, and the potential for Dragon Transformation. That makes her more likely to attract the attention of cultivators. Young Master, be sure to tell Miss Bai to be careful."
Xiao Mo nodded. "I'll remember."
Fuchen continued, "After becoming a boa, the next stage is transforming into a flood dragon. This is the most crucial stage for the snake race.
"Transforming into a flood dragon means making the flood run. Usually, this happens during torrential rains, when mountain torrents erupt and rivers swell.
"The snake race uses the flood's immense force to travel downstream and charge toward the sea. The journey is extraordinarily dangerous. They must break through or circle around natural obstacles in the river, such as giant rocks and mountains.
"There are also obstacles built by humans: 'Dragon Slaying Swords' hanging beneath bridges, bridge piers carved with talismans, dams, and chains for locking dragons.
"When a flood dragon makes its run, violent winds and rain, lightning and thunder are sure to follow.
"Lightning strikes the snakes charging along the floodway with tremendous force. Many are reduced to dust and bone during the tribulation of thunder."
"Finally, there is Dragon Transformation.
"Once the snake race enters the sea, they are called hidden flood dragons. At this point, they need only devote themselves to cultivation.
"When they reach a certain level, nine bolts of supreme yang golden lightning will descend.
"If they fail, their bodies will perish, their Dao will be destroyed, and their souls will scatter.
"If they succeed, they will become true dragons."
"..." As he listened to Fuchen, Xiao Mo furrowed his brows.
"This poor Daoist knows what you're worried about."
At the village entrance, Fuchen stopped and turned to look at Xiao Mo.
"You're worried that Dragon Transformation is so perilous that staying by your side will hold her back, and that she'd be better off coming up the mountain with me, where someone can protect her.
"You were even thinking, back in the courtyard, that though Miss Ruxue hadn't come up the mountain with me this time, you could persuade her little by little in the future and change her mind."
"..." Xiao Mo said nothing.
His silence was as good as an admission.
Fuchen shook her head.
"Young Master, everyone in this world has their own fate.
"You think that if she comes up the mountain with me, she'll have a better chance when she eventually transforms into a dragon.
"You think you'll only hold back her path to the Dao.
"But is that really the case?"
Fuchen raised her head. Though it was daytime, the stars and cosmos seemed to shimmer in her eyes, as if she were divining the secrets of fate.
"Who says that braving the mortal world is any worse than secluded cultivation on the mountain?
"Though you're mortal, who says you can do less than we cultivators?"
Xiao Mo looked up. "What do you mean, immortal lady?"
Fuchen lowered her gaze. The stars in her eyes gradually faded, leaving ordinary black pupils.
The woman smiled at the man before her.
"Just follow your heart."
"Young Master, you are her good fortune."
"And her fate."
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