"One, two, three... nineteen, twenty... thirty."

  I squatted outside the cave, carefully counting the neat scratches on the rock wall.

  Beneath the scratches, there was a pnt about a foot tall, with seven leaves, a transparent green color, growing comfortably between the jagged rocks.

  He said this flower was called "Colorless," blooming once a year for a single day.

  Afterward, one petal would fall off every sixty days, repeating in a cycle. It was a small trinket he had gotten from the Hundred Flowers Deity on the Boming Cliff. That night, he pnted the flower, telling me that when it bloomed, I was to return to my true form without dey.

  It turned out this flower was pnted for me. I felt inexplicably happy.

  And with the "colorless" flower, I gained an accurate sense of time. Each time it bloomed, I would mark a line on the rock wall, month after month, year after year.

  Unknowingly, there were already thirty lines.

  These thirty years passed in a fulfilling way.

  As for him, my nominal master, he spent most of his time on Mount Fulong, leaving only three times during this period.

  Every time he left, it was during heavy rainstorms, with mountain floods raging. I would hide in the cave, watching him leave through the dense rain. Over the years of living together, I gradually learned that the "Water Lord of the Four Directions" was the water god of the celestial realm, in charge of all the rivers, kes, and seas in the world.

  Choosing such days to leave must have been a matter of duty.

  However, this third departure was an exception.

  At that time, it had just turned autumn, and the mountain was filled with ndscapes of golden and green winding together. The sun was neither too hot nor too cold, the mountain breeze neither too light nor too strong, and both the sky and the earth were fresh and clean.

  He didn't ride a cloud but held my hand, walking step by step down Mount Fulong.

  We came to a nearby small town. The strange buildings, the bustling markets, and the crowds of people suddenly unfolded before my eyes, overwhelming my nearly regressed vision.

  So this is how colorful the human world is!

  I pulled my hand away from his and excitedly darted between the various stalls and shops along the street, touching this and poking that. After leaving my footprints in most of the town, the sky had only a faint pinkish hue remaining.

  He called out to me and led me into a small building outside the city that had a sign hanging above it.

  Inside, there were rows of identical tables and chairs, all neatly arranged. Many people sat around with cups and bowls stacked in front of them.

  He expined that this was a pce to eat. We picked a seat by the window, and before long, an array of fragrant dishes was brought to our table. Everything was vegetarian—he said that those who walked the path of cultivation must not touch meat.

  He pointed to various dishes: "This is eight-treasure porridge, this is glutinous rice cake, and this is thousand-yered pastry." He introduced these unfamiliar foods to me one by one. In the end, he said, "It is said that the celestial nectar and fruits are the finest, but the most delicious food, after all, still comes from the human world."

  I believed every word he said.

  My lips barely parted before half a bowl of steaming eight-treasure porridge was instantly sucked into my mouth. So sweet, so smooth, and sticky—it was absolutely delicious! Before I had even swallowed my first mouthful, I eagerly inhaled the rest of the bowl the same way.

  But I ate too fast. Not only did I choke, but I also startled the entire table of diners next to us, sending them fleeing in shock.

  He stifled his ughter as he patted my back, helping me recover from my coughing fit. Then, he pced a small handled object and two long, slender wooden sticks in front of me, expining that humans used these tools to assist with eating—and that my usual way of "sucking up" food was likely to frighten them.

  So that's how it was. I licked the st bit of sweetness from my lips, finally understanding.

  After that meal, not only had I tasted food a hundred times more delicious than any bird or beast I had ever eaten, but I had also learned how to use those sticks called "chopsticks" to eat. In just a single day, I had gained so much.

  Even after reluctantly returning to Fulong Mountain, I kept having the same dream for a long time—I dreamt of visiting many different pces, each one unique, with breathtaking ndscapes and elegant houses. In my dreams, he was always there too, smiling beside me, never more than a step away.

  "Sha Luo." His voice came from the cave.

  I was startled, suddenly snapping out of the distant memory. Hurriedly, I picked up the wild fruits I had gathered and walked inside.

  The cave was always cool and refreshing, unchanged even in winter. The once dry and barren rock walls were now covered in a faint mist of moisture, and in many pces, lush green moss had begun to grow, damp and vibrant.

  I reached out and touched a tiny droplet of water resting on the moss, then curiously pced it on my tongue, savoring it with my eyes closed. A smile spread across my face—the droplet was sweet.

  Someone once said that without water, there is no life. His presence had nourished everything here.

  Feeling as if I had just made the most exciting discovery, I turned and bounded toward the only stone chamber on the left, leaping with joy.