eunoia | bl | tgcf

Chapter 5: Part One

Chapter 5
The Bride, the Ghost, and the Flower

Part One
"for 800 years, I searched high and low for you, shifu."

.

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"The xinlan flowers are withering!"

The immortal red orchids... are now dying?

This news quickly spreads and it arouses a new feeling of dread. The invulnerable flower withering must be a sign that something will happen.

Whether it is good or bad, this is something no one knows.

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.

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The eastern plains have become treasured lands. Although the xinlan flowers wilted, nature blooms in abundance. In place of the flowers that once brought everyone dread, the flora and fauna thrive like never before.

It returns back into a place that humans have never touched, a place where nature naturally flourished.

Medicinal plants that were once extinct sprout like weeds. Animals that were once in the brink of dying out reproduce like bunnies. However, no one dares to take too much that could ruin the balance of nature in the eastern plains.

It is because once someone grows too greedy of the resources, the xinlan flowers in Honglan Mountain, which remain lively and vibrant, would come to 'life' and kill whoever disturbs the balance in the Fallen God's Sanctum.

Various scholars, of course, studied this phenomena and could only reach one conclusion; Honglan Mountain is the 'protector' of the Fallen God's Sanctum, hence, the xinlan flowers remain alive. The immortal red orchids have become flowers that are coveted but cannot be obtained.

As long as one knows their boundary, the xinlan flowers will not aim to kill, instead, remain as the same beautiful flowers that occupy the mountain.

A flower out of reach from mortals and gods.

...

Hua Cheng's heart races in anticipation. The white scripts slowly recede, as if they are being written backwards. Once they disappear, the sound of locks being unlocked resounds against the wall of the cave. They echo in one's ears and they are followed by the sound of heavy metal falling to the ground.

Dusts are kicked up, a small dust cloud enveloping the small child. Hua Cheng wants to help Yun-ge back to his feet, only to remain in place when something tells him not to move.

The once weak and suppressed aura of Yun-ge suddenly bursts like a volcano, the level of his cultivation skyrocketing. This sudden increase of strength stuns Hua Cheng, who wants Yun-ge to stop before something irreparable happens. However, his voice does not come out and a force keeps his body in place.

At the same time this is happening, the xinlan flowers that buried the eastern plains started withering, leaving the ones in Honglan Mountain the remaining ones alive.

The dust cloud settles down and instead of a child, Hua Cheng almost chokes on air when he sees a naked man sitting on the ground. His hair is just as long as when he was in child form, covering most of his body. Through those long strands, Hua Cheng meets a pair of sun-like eyes that finally gain a bit of life.