A Thousand Miles of Land, a Million Strong Nation, the Coastal Alliance Controlled by the Kingdom!

"Mm? So that's it! One stem, twin blossoms... mm?! What?!..."

Dawn broke, and clear light filled the side hall. Xolotl shot upright, waking from his intoxicated dream. He stared wide-eyed at the rising Morning Sun, while his mind was filled with a buzzing roar. He rubbed his aching brow, and those two unforgettable, silver-bell-clear calls still seemed to echo beside his ears. Only after a long while did he look around and see the two sisters sleeping tangled together, and his expression instantly turned marvelous.

"This is... the older sister? This is... the younger sister?..."

This time, even with both sisters' eyes closed and their expressions completely unreadable, Xolotl could still tell them apart with perfect clarity, as if it were some instinct carved into his very bones. He froze for a moment, and only then understood an old saying from the Celestial Empire.

"What comes from paper always feels shallow in the end; to truly know the matter, one must practice it in person..."

"No!... All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows; like dew, and also like lightning—thus should they be regarded..."

Xolotl stood up, narrowed his eyes, and looked at the dazzling Morning Sun. The dizziness after drunkenness and indulgence still left him a little dazed; even The Sun before his eyes seemed to waver into bubbles and shadows. He struggled to adjust for a while, then spoke to himself, though he had twisted the Buddhist scripture.

"Main God be my witness! This bone-deep, unforgettable delight, these gorgeous flower-shadows like a dream, this wonderful flower-dew, and the trembling lightning... let me experience them a few more times, and then try to comprehend liberation from the most difficult entanglements!..."

The sun rose and set; flowers bloomed without a trace. Such absurd and indulgent days passed for several