Darkness had already fallen on the small courtyard in the north city.
Song You had long finished writing his letter, folded it, and placed it on the table. He sat facing the Three Flower Lady, who had transformed back into her human form, and the quilt on the bed was folded neatly and placed on the inner side.
An oil lamp was lit in the room, its light and shadows flickering.
Just then, Song You asked:
"Does the Three Flower Lady know any spells?"
"The Three Flower Lady knows how to catch mice."
"That is the Three Flower Lady's skill, but it cannot be counted as a spell." Song You shook his head.
"The Three Flower Lady knows how to receive incense, can remember everyone who has ever offered incense to her, and can find them," the Three Flower Lady immediately said again.
"That is the Three Flower Lady's divine power, and it still cannot be counted as a spell," Song You shook his head once more. "Besides, the Three Flower Lady has already distanced herself from the Divine Path now. If you do not absorb incense and fire for long, your divine power will naturally dissipate bit by bit."
"The Three Flower Lady is very smart."
"That is also the Three Flower Lady's skill."
"Then I don't know any..."
The Three Flower Lady's tone inevitably carried a trace of dejection.
"Now that the Three Flower Lady has already taken human form, why don't I teach the Three Flower Lady how to learn spells? How about that?"
"Good, good!"
"What does the Three Flower Lady want to learn?"
"I want to learn everything!"
"You can only choose one."
"Why?"
"Learning spells is not something accomplished in a single morning or evening. Even mice must be eaten one bite at a time. Moreover, many recluses and masters with true Dao attainment in this world only know one or two spells in their entire lives, yet that is enough for them to roam the realm freely, and some even have statues erected for them by people to be worshipped as local deities." Song You looked at her calmly. "This path values mastery, not quantity."
"Then what do you know?"
"I have the Fire Element Technique. Below, it can burn yin ghosts; in the middle, it can burn evil beings; above, it can burn gods and devils. When pushed to the extreme, just like True Lord Huoyang, reducing a city or state to ashes is not out of the question."
"This one is good! This one is powerful!"
"Want to learn it?"
"If I learn it, will I not be afraid of the cold anymore?"
"Do you see me looking afraid of the cold?"
"Then I won't learn it! I'll learn something else!"
"I have the Water Element Technique. According to the depth of one's cultivation, one can breathe freely in the water, whip up billows, and bring down rain and snow. When pushed to the extreme, just like True Lord Sea Splitter, one can force great rivers to change their courses and make the four seas change color."
"If I learn this, can I go into the water to catch fish?"
"Catching fish does not require this method. Mortals can catch fish without going into the water," Song You said. "They can catch a lot of them, too."
"Then I'll learn something else!"
"I have the Earth element method. Again, according to the depth of one's cultivation, one can raise dirt into walls, Turn Stone into Soldiers, and sit upon a mountain as a deity. When pushed to the extreme, just like Heavenly Venerate Thick Earth, one can raise mountains and sink valleys."
"Is this hard or not?"
"You can master the basics in a few years."
"Is your cultivation of it powerful?"
"I have only dabbled slightly, not as good as my fire."
"Then I'll pick again."
"I have the Wood element method, which can aid all things in growth, urge flowers to bloom and bear fruit out of season, and make withered branches sprout. When pushed to the extreme, just like Immortal Elder Evergreen, one can bring the dead back to life, keep youth undying, and attain eternal life."
"The monkey would definitely like this one!"
"I also have the Metal element method, which can swallow blades and snap swords, Turn Stone into Gold, and Pointing Ground into Steel. When pushed to the extreme, just like Spirit Officer Gold, one is immune to blades and spears, and invincible in destruction."
"How do you swallow a sword?"
"Swallowing the blade into your belly without it scratching you either."
"Why eat blades?"
The little girl opened her bewildered, wide eyes.
"If you don't like that, I also have the Talisman method, which can drive away ghosts and ward off demons, summon thunder and draw fire. There are millions of talismanic scripts, and their marvelous uses are endless."
"I am a demon myself."
"I have the Spirit communication technique, which allows one to converse with ghosts and gods."
"The Three Flower Lady does not like to talk to gods."
"Do not feel inferior."
"What is feeling inferior?"
"..." Song You shook his head. "I also have the Summon and dismiss method, which can retrieve objects across a distance and also put them back in their original places—much like drawing water into an empty cup or raising a goblet to drain the wine."
"If I learn this, can I call the mice over by themselves?"
"If you excel at this path, of course you can."
"Then I want to learn this!"
"Then the Three Flower Lady must have patience. Ordinary people take several years just to master the basics of this method. At first, you can only retrieve things that are not far apart, things you know and that belong to you. When your attainment deepens, you can also retrieve other people's things. When pushed to the extreme, even things from a thousand miles away can be retrieved and put back freely as long as you know the place."
"How long does it take to catch mice?"
"For ordinary people, as short as a dozen years, or as long as several decades."
Can you catch mice?
"I have only learned the basics."
"Then..."
The Three Flower Lady tilted her head and thought about it:
"Then I'll listen some more."
"Very well, listening more and choosing more without making rash decisions is a good thing," Song You praised. "The Three Flower Lady is indeed exceptionally wise."
"Keep talking."
"I have the Beast gathering and bird taming method. Once you master the basics, you can make wild beasts and mountain birds feel close to you, and make them understand your meaning while you can also comprehend theirs. As your attainment progresses, you can even command wild beasts, mountain birds, and even the rare beasts and exotic birds of this world to serve your purposes."
"Mmm..."
The Three Flower Lady tilted her head and thought: "Can this finally make the mice come over by themselves?"
"That it can."
"Then I'll learn this!"
Song You smiled, but then said, "However, worldly affairs are never complete, and all methods have restrictions. If not, there would be flaws, defects, or things that counteract them. Take this Beast gathering and bird taming method, for instance: when practitioners execute the spell, their hearts must be completely untroubled and filled with kindness. They cannot harbor even the tiniest shred of guilt or apology—not even a trace so microscopic that even they themselves cannot perceive it."
"I don't understand."
"That is to say, this spell is a mental technique. Anyone who learns this method, regardless of the depth of their attainment, must first cultivate their mind," Song You paused. "As for achieving complete untroubledness without a shred of guilt or indebtedness, that depends on a person's cultivation of moral character. Some people must be vegetarians for life, while others merely need to refrain from using it to harm animals. Only a very, very small number of extraordinary people in heaven and earth can use it to deceive and harm living creatures."
"I don't understand."
"The Three Flower Lady can use it to call mice over, but if you use it to catch and eat the mice, the spell will fail, and you may even lose the ability to use it forever, destroying years of cultivation in this path in an instant."
"Cats are supposed to eat mice anyway."
"That is different."
"Why?"
"Take me, for example. Every time I cast a spell, I am actually facing those animals with a purely benevolent heart. Thus, the animals are infected by this, and with the spell's mediation, they also hold a purely benevolent heart toward me. But if one day I were to rely on this method and exploit their pure benevolence to deceive and harm them, I would never be able to produce this purely benevolent heart again from then on," Song You paused. "Even if the Three Flower Lady could now manage what only that tiny handful of extraordinary worldly beings can do—believing that doing so is entirely justified and feeling not the slightest bit of guilt or indebtedness—as the Three Flower Lady studies and cultivates it for a long time, you would gradually come to understand the difference. By that time, years of bitter cultivation would have gone down the drain."
"I don't understand."
"You'll slowly understand in the future."
"Oh."
The Three Flower Lady continued to look at him with eager eyes.
"I also have the Dream weaving method, which below can enter and bestow dreams, in the middle can trap people in manufactured dreams, and above can weave dreams across heaven and earth, with ordinary people living within them without ever knowing."
"The Three Flower Lady dreams by herself, why go into other people's dreams? Is it a lot of fun?"
"Does the Three Flower Lady still remember the first spell I mentioned?"
"I forgot."
"..."
"It's your fault for saying too much."
"Perhaps."
"Why do you know so much?"
"I just dabble in all of them."
"That's still a lot."
"I am very powerful."
"Oh."
"What does the Three Flower Lady want to learn? Have you decided?"
"The Three Flower Lady doesn't know."
"Then does the Three Flower Lady remember anything else?"
"Eternal youth."
"Haha..."
Song You could not help letting out a soft laugh.
It seemed that eternal youth was not only the ultimate pursuit of human beings, but also the ultimate pursuit of other living creatures.
What a pity, what a pity...
Although Song You was not sure whether the Wood element method could truly achieve undying youth and eternal life when pushed to the extreme, even if it truly could, the only one in this world who could reach the extreme of this path was probably Immortal Elder Evergreen alone.
As for whether Immortal Elder Evergreen remained young through the power of vows and belief, or through magical power, or even whether Immortal Elder Evergreen was real or fake, and whether he was still around—who could know?
"Daoist."
"Hmm?"
"Why did you stop talking?"
"Has the Three Flower Lady ever heard of Dao rhythm?"
"No."
"There is a verse of Dao rhythm that goes quite well..."
Prefect Yu sat at the head of the table as a subordinate entered the door.
"Prefect, this humble subordinate has returned."
"Did the master accept it?"
"The master accepted it."
"Sending you was indeed the right choice."
"You flatter me, Prefect."
"As long as he accepted it..."
Prefect Yu waved his hand to dismiss him, then sank into deep thought.
In this day and age, the Immortal Path was just like the bright moon overhead—inherently mysterious and utterly out of reach, yet coated with an extraordinary layer of color by the brilliant works of successive generations of scholars. It was common for literati and refined scholars to yearn for the Immortal Path. Some great talents even boldly styled themselves as banished or mortal immortals, often dreaming that they could be like the poets of ancient times: lifting their heads to gaze at the moon all of a sudden one day, or composing poetry after getting drunk, or encountering some fortuitous catalyst that brought sudden enlightenment, whereupon they would cast aside this mortal coil, drift away gracefully to become immortals, and thereby attain eternal life and carefree ease.
When he was young, Prefect Yu had yearned for immortal longevity, and had even invited three or five friends to visit famous mountains in search of immortals, though unfortunately to no avail. Now nearing fifty, he still frequently searched for pill recipes to refine pills for himself to eat.
Every single pill he consumed drifted him a little further away from the mortal world.
That master today might not be an immortal, but he was indeed one of the rare high masters he had ever encountered in his life. It was only a pity that conversing with him had failed to yield the answers he desired.
Perhaps his acquaintance with the master was too shallow, and deep words spoken across a shallow bond naturally made the master unwilling to say much to him.
Yet what could be done?
Who could guess the thoughts and preferences of these reclusive masters? Hearing previously that the master liked listening to the zither, he had been full of confidence, hoping to draw closer to the master through Yang Jinsheng. But how could he have ever imagined that the master only wanted to listen to the zither and had zero interest in the zither player just a wall away? Being able to accidentally catch sight of the master toying with an inkstick was already a stroke of good fortune.
Besides, he ought to be content—
Just the few words exchanged today were already astonishing enough.
Prefect Yu could not help sinking into deep contemplation.
Did heaven and earth truly have no immortals when they first opened?
Did the sun and moon have no immortals when they were first born?
Then how on earth does one become an immortal?
Immortals ought to be able to attain longevity, right?
Could it be that they cannot?
Sitting there like this, time gradually drifted toward late evening. He kept pondering, fantasizing, and indulging in it.
Until his wife came to tell him to blow out the lamp and go to sleep, and even after lying down in bed, he still kept his eyes wide open, staring into the formless darkness. With the faint moonlight outside the window, he began to ponder the immortals in the Moon Palace once again. If he were to become an immortal, he would certainly fly up to the Moon Palace to roam often.
Drifting off to sleep without knowing how, he suddenly heard someone singing amidst his drowsy haze. The lyrics were profound, the voice sounded half-aged, and the vocal delivery was rough, yet it carried a natural and unpretentious charm. It was leisurely and carefree, reminding him of an old Daoist priest, and this voice naturally seemed to drift from a Daoist temple nestled deep in the mountains, naturally bearing the fragrance of joss sticks.
"Since ancient times, flowers have no lasting beauty; "From of old, the moon rarely stays full. "Let you pile up gold and accumulate jade, "It is hard to buy eternal life and cheat death. "Can flying birds find a thousand-year crane? "In this world, a centenarian is rarely met. "Life is a hustle and bustle, death is vast and vague. "When will you awaken if you want to awaken? "How can you make a wish for length last long? "..." "Where do the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors return? "In which direction are the successive ministers and lords? "Just look in the green history books— "Who can ever escape impermanence? "..."
Before you continue