I am standing here again.
My birthplace, the peak of Fulong Mountain.
The scenery here is still magnificent; when looking up or down, all you see is clear skies and pristine waters. Every blade of grass, every tree, the birds and the beasts - everything is always a touch more beautiful than elsewhere.
This is my home, the place where my vitality was first marked.
My blood sang in joy as every inch of soil and every stone beneath my feet welcomed me home.
The Colorless flower is still here, blooming once a year without exception. It's just that I no longer need its reminder.
There are also too many memories here that I am unwilling to carry.
I only come back once a year, so I should thank Mu. If not for her "frankness," I wouldn't have made an exception and returned for the second time this year.
I am a tree demon with millennia of cultivation. My true body, the Sacred Tree of Fulong Mountain that was once firmly believed to be a god by countless people, stands before me at the summit.
Beautiful and tall, with lush branches and leaves, each translucent dark green leaf flowing with a marvelous five-colored radiance — this is my original appearance.
Ordinary people cannot see it because the man who once gave me my human form has concealed its traces in the human world, leaving behind only a five-color flower, only seeing to it that when the flower blooms every year, I must return to my true body for twelve hours. Only in this way can I maintain my human appearance and live peacefully.
I came back two months ago to fulfill this "practice."
I came back today to...take away my real body.
I haven't been angered to the point of madness by that cowardly Mu, and of course I know the importance of the real body to a demon. I know what I am doing.
Time is running out.
I stood in front of the real "me," forming a seal with one hand and holding the trunk of my real body with the other, chanting words.
A faint smoke spiraled up from the soil where the tree roots are buried, accompanied by green light shooting into the air like fine rain. There is a rumbling movement underground, as if something is rolling and twisting below. The entire peak of Fulong Mountain is trembling slightly due to a tremendous force.
My lips move faster and faster.
A dazzling pillar of light, several meters in diameter, shot straight up from the ground to the sky. It then transformed into irregular light patterns resembling clouds, gently falling back to envelop my real body. I could clearly feel it rapidly spinning, shrinking, and changing within this indescribable light structure.
The brightness before me was so intense that I had to close my eyes. All my vitality and spiritual power involuntarily flowed out of my palms.
I don't know how long it took, but the whizzing sound of air in my ears ceased and my closed eyes no longer felt any discomfort from the light. I opened my eyes in unparallelled silence.
Seeing what appeared before me, I breathed a sigh of relief.
A simple small wooden boat was quietly anchored in a patch of shallow sunlight.
Yes, I had transformed my real body into a boat.
This millenia-old tree demon's real body wouldn't just be a decoration for me to return and stay over for a while every year.
A boat made by transforming the millennia-old tree's wood can travel freely anywhere in the world — a close friend gave me a gift on one of my birthdays, writing these words on the birthday card. She said that this gift might come in handy someday and I'm the only demon with this gift.
She indeed has foresight.
Thanks to this gift, once I transform my real body into a boat, there is nowhere I cannot go, neither in the heavens nor on the earth, and no harmful force can affect me as long as I am on my boat.
Regardless of whether one is an immortal that can fly through the sky or a demon that can traverse the earth, it doesn't mean they can freely come and go in any space. The universe is too vast and filled with countless spaces of diverse natures. If bodies belonging to one space rashly enter another space without any precautions, they can easily be injured by forces of completely different natures. It's just like an ice cube; it remains intact and maintains its original state in the space called "freezer." But if you put it outdoors in the sun, it will quickly melt and evaporate. This is the consequence of differences in spatial forms. And human beings, like ice cubes, can only stay in the human world while they are alive. If they accidentally fall into the Underworld, their bodies cannot withstand the completely opposite power in that space, and the consequences can be imagined.
I understand that as a demon who has cultivated into a human form, wholly exposing my real body is an especially dangerous thing. If my real body sustains any damage, I could potentially vanish without a trace, beyond any saving.
However, this is the only way. Moreover, I believe that I am a great demon who knows my destiny. I must preserve this life to fulfill a certain wish.
I turned around and took another look at the scenery I had seen countless times before. The faces and voices from the past, the things I wanted to forget, and the things I couldn't forget gradually became clearer in my mind.
The bright and beautiful sunshine illuminated my boat with a lush green hue. I got in and sat down lightly, entering my real body.
Since I made the promise, I must bring them back!
I gripped the "Tower" card tightly in my hand...
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