The Flower Had Accepted Her, but She Had Yet to Reach for It

The medicinal herb garden at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well is changing seasons.

Several kinds of grasses turned a darker color, and tiny new roots sprouted from the cracks in the rocks far from the spring. Dugu Bo heard the sound of the courtyard gate and came out to see who it was. When he saw Dong Jian and Li Man carrying toolboxes, his brows furrowed.

"What, you want to tear down and rebuild my entire herb garden again?"

Dong Jian put the box down. "This time I brought diagrams, I won't open them."

Li Man took out the bamboo frame repair diagram and showed him the position of the mortise and tenon joints. Dugu Bo reluctantly looked at it, but didn't find too many faults. He only told her to be careful in the future, as the moisture near the fire spring would cause the wood to warp.

"Is there anything else?" he asked.

Neither of them answered immediately. Dugu Bo looked at Dong Jian, then at Li Man, and suddenly snorted, "I know. It's still that flower."

"We just want to see it again," Li Man said.

"I told you last time, don't use it as a tool for testing people's minds. If you still want to test their reactions by gesturing with your hands or channeling your Soul Power, you'd better get out of here now."

"No," Li Man said.

Dong Jian added, "We wouldn't treat it as a medicine that would allow one to break through to a higher level simply by consuming it."

Dugu Bo looked at him and said, "This line is alright."

Dugu Yan did not accompany them this time. She kept records at the academy according to the new venom sac cycle, so she did not need to rely on external forces to adjust herself every few days. Dugu Bo asked about her recent situation and confirmed that there was nothing wrong before allowing the two of them to go to the vicinity of Black Perish Stone.

The white flowers are still there. The Black Perish Stone is smooth and glossy, clearly distinguishable from the color of the petals. Last time Dong Jian cut his hand here, when those red lines gently lit up, neither he nor Li Man dared to truly say what they were thinking.

Today, the two stood a few steps away and did not move forward immediately.

"Do you want to go there?" Dong Jian asked.

"Think."

"Then I'll wait here?"

You can come with me.

The two walked forward. Li Man squatted down beside the stone, carefully checking whether there were any protective restrictions set up by Dugu Bo around the Black Perish Stone. She did not release the Green Jade Dragon Bamboo, and her palm was clean.

Before approaching the flower, Li Man asked Dugu Bo if a regular herb garden recorder could observe from a distance. Dugu Bo refused, for a simple reason: the previous reactions of the Lovesick Heartbreak Red were all related to their private affairs, and there was no need to bring in the curiosity of others. Li Man accepted this arrangement, leaving the recording to herself.

Dong Jian first removed the extra metal buckles from his wristbands to avoid bumping into Black Perish Stone when turning around. Their position left enough room for a passage so that even if Hua suddenly reacted inexplicably, they could retreat without stepping on the medicinal grass. After completing these routine preparations, the two finally looked at Bai Hua.

"Are you nervous right now?" Dong Jian asked.

"A little."

You weren't this nervous when you were talking to me yesterday.

"I answered you last night," Li Man said, looking at the flowers. "I don't know if this thing will move today."

She didn't say anything more. The white flower's heart-shaped markings tinged with a faint red in the sunlight, initially remaining as quiet as the previous two times. After a while, subtle changes appeared at the edges of the innermost petals.

Dong Jian took a half step back, not reaching out to touch the flower for her. He saw Li Man's gaze linger on the center of the flower, her breathing gradually slowing. She didn't force herself to repeat her confession from last night, nor did she deliberately summon emotions; she was simply recalling many specific details.

The words spoken at night by the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well: "I will stand where I can catch you."

The moment when Dong Jian was first pulled out of his excessive burden.

During the finals, both players knew that the other still had hidden strength, but they preferred to rely on their teammates rather than let the wounds continue to fester.

And last night under the eaves, the two of them each had a route map, and even though they were going in different directions, they were still willing to discuss how to move forward.

Li Man didn't say any of this aloud. She reached out her hand, stopping a little distance from the petals.

The red veins in the center of the white flower gradually connect.

Dong Jian saw the thin roots clinging to the Black Perish Stone move slightly, as if they were gently loosening themselves from the stone surface. The flower stem lifted up a small section, more noticeably than before, but it was still holding onto the black stone below.

"Don't rush." Dugu Bo had appeared at the back at some point, his voice low, "Just because it's willing to respond doesn't mean you have to pick it now."

Li Man nodded and withdrew her hand. The red mark didn't disappear immediately. She looked at the flower for a long time before asking, "Senior, can I really take it off?"

Dugu Bo went around to the other side to check where the Black Perish Stone met the flower stem. "It's much looser than before; at least it no longer resists your approach. As for how to take it, I need to explain the rules first."

Dong Jian frowned. "There are still risks?"

"No Immortal Herb is without risk," Dugu Bo said. "This one is especially troublesome. Its reaction is related to one's thoughts. Just because you see the flower move doesn't mean its medicinal properties allow you to treat it however you want. Rashly breaking off the roots could ruin the flower or even injure someone."

Li Man immediately stopped. "Then I won't touch it today."

Dong Jian looked at her. "Not disappointed?"

"A little. But I don't even know how this flower root is connected to the stone, so why can I just take it away like that?"

Dugu Bo stroked his beard, unusually without any sarcasm. He asked the two to sit down, retrieved some old records, and explained the precautions for caring for Lovesick Heartbreak Red and Black Perish Stone together. He didn't treat the records as ironclad rules applicable to everyone; he clearly distinguished between what he had personally witnessed and what were merely passed down sayings.

"You previously consumed the Aromatic Silk Beauty," he told Li Man. "Furthermore, you've undergone the evolution of the Dragon Bamboo and the change of your Fourth Soul Ring. Your mental strain has only just recovered from the competition. Even if this flower truly recognizes you, don't rush to add a second set of unknown medicinal power to your body."

"I wasn't planning on eating right now anyway," Li Man said.

"That's good."

Dong Jian raised his palm. The thin wound from the first time had long since healed. He glanced at Li Man: "Before, we always thought that to get it to agree, we had to do something."

"We haven't done anything yet," Li Man said.

"You don't keep your word?"

"Yes, but that's between us, not a question for it to answer."

Dugu Bo grew impatient and stood up to shoo him away. "Stop talking so rambling in my herb garden. Those who need to heal should heal, and those who want to admire the flowers should admire them. Don't waste your time with a bunch of pretty words."

Neither of them objected.

In the afternoon, Dugu Bo made a point of checking the protective barriers around the herb garden. He was worried that the recent changes in the Lovesick Heartbreak Red would affect the nearby herbs, so he had the two of them stand outside the stone platform and watch as he checked the location of the protective line section by section. Dong Jian wanted to ask Mountain Domain to help look at the cracks in the stone, Dugu Bo said that there was repeated interaction between hot and cold spring water here, and the ground feedback was very mixed. Besides, how the flower roots and stones became loose was not something that Mountain Domain could directly explain.

Li Man suggested comparing the results with past records: last time, the flower only left the stone surface by a thin line before quickly falling back; today, even though she stopped, the red veins remained for a long time. These phenomena could be recorded, but since she hadn't yet touched the roots, she shouldn't declare that she had completely mastered the harvesting method.

Dugu Bo watched her finish writing and said that when he was young, he had damaged the root of a medicinal herb in his eagerness to confirm its value, and later waited for many years but never found a second one. He spoke casually, but Li Man understood where this caution came from. Dong Jian also drew the mark of the stone platform in the diagram, preparing to use it when picking flowers tomorrow.

In the afternoon, Li Man went to see the flowers again. She changed her position so that she could see the roots below the petals. The pale red sheen was still there, but slightly weaker than in the morning. She did not try to connect the Ten Thousand Bamboos Return to the Veins to the flowers, nor did she consider the Dragon Bamboo Origin Return as a way to restore the flowers' vitality.

Dong Jian squatted down beside her to help her remember the location where the flower and the Black Perish Stone met, his strokes slow and deliberate. His back was still recovering, so he would get up and walk a few steps after squatting for a while. Li Man reminded him not to twist his waist too quickly when he stood up.

"You seem to be getting more and more used to controlling me," Dong Jian said.

"You wouldn't listen before, that's why I have to keep telling you."

What if I listen to it later?

"Then I'll say less."

In the evening Dugu Bo examined the flower again, using a thin leaf to probe the surrounding atmosphere without touching the flower stem. He discovered that the red markings were more stable when Li Man was near, and slowly faded after she left, but no longer completely disappeared as before.

"That's certainly a good sign," he admitted, "But seeing a path forward doesn't mean you have to rush towards it now."

Li Man asked, "When can we decide whether or not to take it?"

"Once you've figured out how to store and use it, you can stay here tonight, and we'll talk again tomorrow."

Looking at the now-quiet white flower, Dong Jian suddenly remembered that when he obtained the fourth ring of the Ten Thousand Years, Qin Ming had also made him calculate exactly how much his body could withstand. There was no need to repeat that near-accident lesson in another place.

Li Man stood up, brushed the dust off the hem of her skirt, and held out her hand to him. Dong Jian helped her up, supporting her palm. Dugu Bo walked past, deliberately coughing, without asking when they would finish their conversation.

Those words have already been spoken. The white flower on the Black Perish Stone remains in its original position, but its center shines even brighter and more steadily than before they left, as if waiting for Li Man to make her next decision.