Flower Yet Not a Flower

What thing is Non-Thing?

Li Fan swallowed. All he could see were two bloody holes staring at him, veins and minced flesh still twitching.

Just as he had no idea how to answer, a streak of rainbow light flashed from behind him, and Thunder Roar erupted above his head.

The Old Taoist released him and tossed Li Fan back onto the prayer cushion. Though both his eyes had been gouged out, his movements were not hindered in the slightest. He walked past Li Fan, tucked the glowing crimson sword into his robes, formed a hand seal, bowed deeply, and prostrated himself.

"Mountain Lord."

Mountain Lord?

Li Fan craned his neck and turned to look.

He saw a man with a face like polished jade, lips like cinnabar, and a height of nine chi smiling at him. This was probably the so-called Mountain Lord.

He was not dressed like a Daoist. A red robe hung loose from his bare chest, and he wore neither headscarf nor crown, his hair simply spilling freely around him. Yet he did not look unkempt. Every gesture carried an air of dashing elegance and extraordinary bearing.

Yeah, when it came down to it, these things were mostly about the face.

"Qin Jianshi, what do you think?" the Mountain Lord asked the Old Taoist, still smiling at Li Fan as though he had not seen the bloody mess all over the ground.

"Mountain Lord," the Old Taoist said, pointing at Li Fan's nose as if lodging a complaint, "this boy is a Dao Seed."

What Dao Seed? Why did that sound like an insult?

Li Fan frowned and discreetly shifted to one side. The Old Taoist's finger followed his nose.

Damn it, hadn't you gouged out your own eyeballs? You could still see?

"This child observed the stars and moon, yet actually entered Abyss-Gazing in a dream! The baleful aura stirred when he entered meditation even nourished the Revered Heavenly Demon back to life! Yet his Dao body remained entirely unharmed, without the slightest trace of a Devil Form manifesting! Even his mind was as steady as an ordinary person's! Such calm courage is precisely the seed of one born to seek the Dao!"

You flatter me. I wouldn't call myself calm, but completely baffled was definitely accurate...

But as the Old Taoist spoke, he turned his face toward the Mountain Lord—and the sight made Li Fan, who had been complaining inwardly, nearly lose his soul in fright.

Because in the brief time it took the Old Taoist to turn and bow, two new eyeballs had grown inside his bloody, mangled eye sockets!

And they had clearly just grown out! Two mung-bean-sized little balls, sprouting from some vein or fleshy bud, tangled in pink and bluish-black nerve fibers, suspended in the middle of the sockets, jerking and twitching. It was especially... that kind of... terrifying, disgusting, and somehow just a tiny bit ridiculous... The feeling was strangely complicated...

Li Fan's mood decreased by 1 point. Warning! Li Fan's mood: 5/100. Extremely dangerous!

Li Fan ignored the system's shrieking and nervously sat properly on the prayer cushion.

Because that Mountain Lord—damn it, not mountain bamboo—the Mountain Lord had already swaggered over like a giant red crab, hands on his hips. He crouched before Li Fan, stared at him, then even leaned close and sniffed him like a dog.

"Mm! Entering meditation on his first Moon Worship—rare! Entering Abyss-Gazing the moment he meditates—rare indeed! And he didn't even scare himself into shitting and pissing! That is truly rare! He really is a Dao child born by nature!"

The Mountain Lord nodded at the Old Taoist with wholehearted approval, and the Old Taoist wore an expression of complete agreement.

Li Fan looked at them sideways. Was the standard for becoming a Dao child in this godforsaken place really just not losing control of your bowels? Wasn't that setting the bar a little low?

Then the Mountain Lord turned his head too. His eyes widened, and within the rolling whites, six pupils gathered, moving up and down before all crowding in front of Li Fan.

"What did you see? A thing, or Non-Thing?"

Li Fan's mood decreased by 1 point. Warning! Li Fan's mood: 4/100. Extremely dangerous!

At that instant, Li Fan truly pissed himself. Just a little.

No, were these people sick? Wouldn't it be better to just grow two eyes with two eyeballs and leave it at that? And stop changing faces every time you turn your head like some Sichuan opera trick! What normal person could take this?!

Frightened into rebellion, Li Fan had no patience left. "What thing or Non-Thing? I don't know. I only remember seeing what seemed like a vault of stars, with a string of purple bubbles floating in the sky..."

"Ah—! See not, hear not, speak not! Feel no joy, no anger, no sorrow! Know no terror, no fear, no dread!"

The Old Taoist suddenly roared, cutting Li Fan off. With a tap of his toe, he leaped three zhang away. His left toes landed steadily on a bamboo leaf, while his right leg folded beneath him. He stretched out hands to cover his mouth, hands to shut his eyes, hands to plug his ears—perfectly blocking all seven apertures of his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, leaving two more hands free to hold his sword...

Yeah, those extra six arms had grown out of his Daoist sleeves just now...

What the fuck... What were all these things...

Li Fan did not hear the system speak. Heh, perhaps his mind had already gone numb enough that even this scene no longer mattered...

The Mountain Lord, on the other hand, wore an expression of utter blissful satisfaction. The kind where you had held it in forever, then finally squatted on the toilet and let everything out—the supreme happiness of total bodily and spiritual release...

Fine. What was that saying again? There were only hosts who sought death, never systems that gave the wrong mission. Maybe most cultivators in this world had serious mental illnesses and psychological issues...

"To hear the Dao is to die content." The Mountain Lord covered his face, tears streaming down it. Literal tears streaming down his face: the six pupils within his whites shed three times as many bloody tears from the corners of his eyes, each drop clinking onto the ground and turning into a red pearl.

"Thank you, little friend, for aiding my cultivation. These shall be my gift in return."

As he spoke, he grabbed a handful of pearls condensed from bloody tears and stuffed them into Li Fan's arms.

Li Fan: "..."

Who the fuck wanted these?! But Li Fan did not dare court death. He vaguely recalled some masked man saying that failures would be sent to the Mountain Lord as drinking snacks. That probably meant this madman before him, so Li Fan could only hold them stiffly.

Then the Mountain Lord stood and smiled at Li Fan. "Little friend, you entered the Dao through Moon Worship and saw Abyss-Gazing to know your fate with your very first glance. You are indeed a Dao child born by nature, with limitless prospects ahead. Come, I shall treat you to wine."

With a flick of his sleeve, two streaks of golden light spilled from his red robe. They bounced and leaped, drawing two golden lines in the blink of an eye as they circled the pair like two long dragonflies.

Li Fan blinked and looked closely. They were actually two tiny golden swords, each four or five cun long, about the size of hairpins. His heart skipped a beat.

Right! Flying swords! One had even drilled into his palm! Yet there was no wound on his hand and no sensation either. He had nearly forgotten... Damn it, was this a dream, or was he really developing schizophrenia too...

At that moment, the bamboo grove rustled. The three masked cultivators ran out from the Ink Forest. Seeing the carnage before them, they clicked their tongues and bowed together. "Mountain Lord. Master."

The Old Taoist sat atop the bamboo leaf with his six senses sealed and did not respond.

The Mountain Lord did not even look at them, merely ordering casually,

"Qin Jianshi's Sitting in Oblivion is still lacking. He may not be able to suppress his true form later. I am treating this little friend to wine and have no time to watch over him. Stay nearby. If he cannot pull himself back before dawn, bring out the Black Sword and cut him down. Bring us his head as a drinking snack!"

Hiss... No need to be so hospitable. Could we have something lighter? I was feeling a little nauseous.

"We obey the decree." The three cultivators prostrated themselves in unison.

The Mountain Lord reached out and gripped Li Fan's right wrist, gently lifting his arm. "Golden Dragon White Star, fly."

The two hairpin-sized flying swords abruptly accelerated as they whirled around them. They moved so fast that Li Fan could no longer see their shadows, only rings of gold spinning around them like a storm.

At the same time, he felt his body grow light. The Mountain Lord clearly was not exerting any force, yet Li Fan was carried soaring upward. In a single breath, they rose on clouds into the clear sky. The bamboo grove and tiny altar beneath them rapidly shrank away. Looking down, Li Fan saw the black sea of bamboo swaying in the wind like surging waves beneath the night. Above them hung two bright moons, endless fluorescence pouring down from the clouds...

Whoa, this old man was taking off...

Li Fan's mood increased by 1 point. Warning! Li Fan's mood: 5/100. Extremely dangerous!

"Little friend!" The Mountain Lord tugged Li Fan, breaking his daze. "When the False Moon hangs in the sky, cultivation is forbidden, or one risks qi deviation. Look there!"

The Mountain Lord led Li Fan through the wind at tremendous speed, golden light circling them. In mere moments, they had flown more than ten li. Far away, Li Fan saw two colossal beasts confronting each other on a mountain ridge. It looked like one of those browser game advertisements.

One was a golden-eyed brown ape a hundred chi tall, with crocodile armor and a scorpion tail. The other was a one-horned azure serpent forty zhang long, with four pairs of bird wings growing from its spine.

One blazed like the scorching sun, its heat filling the air. The other sent rolling frost forward, ice rain striking their faces. The two demonic winds collided, reeking gusts rising as demonic light shot into the heavens.

Yet the two giant demons did not seem like mere beasts. They possessed a distinctly human quality. Rather than fighting, both turned toward the golden light in the distance, lowered their heads, and saluted.

"See? Even with Golden Core Stage cultivation, practicing dual cultivation during the False Night can still make one lose control and reveal one's true form," the Mountain Lord said with a smile. "What a pity. I had meant to kill that husband and wife for drinking snacks. Another time, then."

Li Fan sweated. Could he stop constantly thinking about killing people for drinking snacks? And besides...

"Mountain Lord, Immortal, is your sect made up of demon... demon immortals?"

"Hahahahaha!" The Mountain Lord laughed heartily. "My mistake. Little friend, you have only just emerged from the Human Dao and know nothing of cultivation. No rush. Let us drink first!"

The Mountain Lord pointed his right hand toward the horizon. The golden swords noticeably accelerated, and the mountains and trees around them flew backward as if the world itself were shifting. Yet Li Fan did not feel any fierce wind against his face. After only a few breaths, the scene before him suddenly blurred, and then light broke through the darkness. It was as if he had leaped from the underworld into the mortal world, from False Night into daylight, as though someone had pulled open the curtains. Everything before him became much brighter.

Li Fan opened his eyes and saw a lush floating mountain suspended in the air. Immortal mist drifted around it, clouds and radiant haze winding between its peaks. Palaces and pavilions clustered together, waterside halls and terraces gleaming in abundance. Azure luans and cranes rode the wind as they rose and fell.

At first glance, it looked like a perfectly respectable immortal abode, an upright Daoist sect bathed in light. Nothing like the demonic winds and underworld gloom outside.

Li Fan's mood increased by 1 point.

Li Fan raised his head but saw no moon. Clouds and radiant haze rolled across the sky like an overturned canopy, concealing even the stars. This was probably the Mountain Lord's Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land, some sort of sealed space.

After passing through that layer of space, the golden rings around them gradually dispersed. The two golden swords slowly decelerated and slipped into the Mountain Lord's sleeve like swimming fish.

The Mountain Lord spread his robes and glided through the wind like a great roc, leading Li Fan down onto the summit of the cloud-sea immortal mountain, into a courtyard with winding streams and peach blossoms filling the garden. Fragrant scents filled the air, a gentle breeze drifted through the courtyard, and the scenery was elegant and refined. Merely standing there made one feel refreshed and at ease.

Li Fan's mood increased by 1 point.

"Little friend, sit for a moment. I shall return shortly."

The Mountain Lord released Li Fan's wrist, invited him to sit at the banquet table, then turned and called toward the courtyard entrance, "Come attend us!"

The Mountain Lord's figure immediately turned into a streak of rainbow light and vanished.

Then, beside the stream beyond the courtyard, a breeze swept past and scattered peach blossoms into the air, revealing three girls in the bloom of youth.

One wore rouge and powder, with brocade skirts. One was a beautiful maiden in celestial robes and rosy garments. The third was an exquisite immortal beauty, her dark hair winding around her body.

The three smiled sweetly and bowed together, their voices soft as orioles.

"Your servant girls greet the young master."

Li Fan swallowed.

Li Fan's mood greatly increased by 1 point.

Li Fan's mood greatly increased by 1 point.

Li Fan's mood greatly increased by 1 point.

Ahem! Men were this easy to please! What was wrong with keeping things simple?!