Chapter [Start Book Four] 283. Wandering Lotus

Chapter [Start Book Four] 283. Wandering Lotus

The sun shone overhead. Clear skies stretched in all directions. Heat wavered off the stony path and shimmered on the surface of the pond. A single lotus bloomed among the reeds and pondgrass, delicate white petals spreading wide.

A few moments later, the lotus dropped its petals. A fat seed sat in the seed pod. The seed pod dried, and the seed began to fall out.

Lucky!

Kneeling, a young woman plucked the lotus pod and stuck it in her sack with a few other lotus pods. Humming to herself, she peered around the pond, but found no other lotuses. She sighed. Oh well. Its better than none.

She turned and headed back up the small tributary stream, heading toward the bigger lake upstream. The lotus pods bumped around in her sack. One, a little larger than the others, smacked hard against the sack, and its single seed tumbled out.

Life qi glowed in the seed. It cracked open, and a small Hui tumbled out. He fell into the sack and laid there, eyes shut. After a few seconds, Hui shook himself and looked around, confused. He raised his hands. Pure white this time, instead of green? My skin matches my robes. This is awkward.

Wait, thats not it. Why am I small again? Where am I? Last thing I remember, I was sitting in the cave, contemplating a solution to the slowly-decaying spell formation

He frowned around at his strange surroundings, the cloth bag and the other seeds, then startled. Did the lotus bloom? It bloomed, and my soul immediately got sucked into the new lotus body? Is this going to happen every time? Or is it just because I was so close to it?

Loud humming startled him. Hui stared around, then reached out with his mental energy. A mortal girl? I wonder why she well, she probably saw my seed pod and got hungry. Its understandable.

But what do I do about this situation? I wanted to blend in with the mortal world as a human, not make my debut as a tiny vegetation spirit!

Hui took a deep breath. He calmed down and circulated his breathing and qi. I have life qi. I can grow back to human size without too much effort. Its just to do so in her bag well, itd be better if I snuck out first.

What do I do, what do I do? Run? Too obvious! Play dead? No, Ill get eaten! Nooo, theres got to be a way! My life as an ordinary mortal! My future of peacefully buying ink and paper! He wiggled in the seed, frustrated.

Hui hesitated, thinking, then suddenly rocked in his shell, bucking against the girls fingers. Her fingers slipped, and with a little cry, she dropped the lotus seed.

Yes! Freedom! Hui went to leap out of the seed.

A hand scooped him out of the air, closing the shell back around him. The girl clutched him to her chest and sighed. Phew. I cant afford to lose one. I only have a few, after all. I hope Fu Liyu doesnt mind

A shiver ran through her, and she looked at the seed, suddenly hesitant.

Eh? Whats this? Did she decide she doesnt want lotus seeds, after all? Hui thought hopefully.

Her stomach grumbled. The girl glanced around, then reached up to peel the seed again. Fu Liyu wont miss one little seed, surely ah, she never even knew this seed existed! Itll be the same beating either way. Grit your teeth and bear it, Ying Lin!

The seed rocked again. This time, she clenched her hand around the seed. Ying Lin frowned at the seed. Is there some kind of bug in here? Is that why its so big?

Hui rocked the seed yet again, his eyes glittering. Yes! A bug! Throw me away, Im no good to eat! You dont want to eat this seed!

Oh, well. This Ying Lin has peeled bugs off seeds before. Im not proud. This one isnt for Fu Liyu, so she doesnt need to be worried about it. Ying Lin dug her rails into the seeds husk and peeled the seed open.

A very small man laid there where the seeds meat should have been, curled up very tightly and completely pure white, from the tip of his ponytail to his tiny, soft-looking boots. Sheepishly, he smiled at her. Ah hello?

Ying Lin screamed and threw the seed away from her with all her might.