Black Snake desperately wanted to return to the dull, repetitive life of before.
Thinking about everything that had happened lately left Black Snake bewildered. Some people seemed to have forgotten the very purpose of cultivation. If their bellies weren't empty, why insist on stirring up so much trouble? Cultivating toward immortality already meant a thousand hardships and ten thousand dangers. Why grow extra branches from the stem?
Apparently, some even enjoyed playing with bones.
Black Snake sank into deeper confusion. The original purpose of going beyond the mountains had been to fill what was missing, not to go mad. The problem was that Black Snake still hadn't figured out exactly what was missing.
Confused, lost, and thoroughly troubled.
If only the Abbot had explained in more detail. Once spring brought warmth next year, Black Snake would ask He Ning.
In the latter half of the night, Black Snake slithered out of the cave to drink at Spring Well.
Snow didn't linger on the southern slope, which saved a great deal of effort. Traveling through snow without claws was far too difficult.
Fallen leaves rustled beneath Black Snake's moving body, unusually clear in the silent winter night.
Spring Well was fed by flowing water and never froze over, even in the bitterest days of winter. Water splashed by the Daoists as they drew it had formed thick ice around the rim, so they had scattered dirt over it to prevent slipping.
Black Snake lowered that head close to the surface and quietly sipped.
As Black Snake's body grew, the amount of water needed had also increased far beyond before.
Then Black Snake raised that head, left Spring Well, and slithered toward the Stone Terrace, pale beneath the moonlight. The deep night belonged to Black Snake alone. The bustle and watching eyes