Never Blooming

1,187 words

Lü Xiucai stood at the door, his mouth spewing an increasingly venomous stream of curses—yet he refused to take a single step inside. Watching him, Chun Xiaoman turned to Bai Lingmiao with a puzzled look.

“Miaomiao, did you already know he’d act like this?”

Bai Lingmiao watched Lü Xiucai’s tormented silhouette from a distance and let out a soft laugh. “What, you thought when I called him useless at everything I was just talking? He can’t be a good man, and he doesn’t even have what it takes to be a bad one. The best he can manage is being a piece of trash.”

Just then, Gouwa came down the stairs carrying a bowl of food.

When he saw Lü Xiucai ranting and raving, Gouwa’s face went pale with alarm. He set the bowl aside and rushed over to intervene. “Oh geez, Xiucai, what are you doing, what do you think you’re doing? It’s not worth it, really, it’s not worth it.”

Gouwa’s interference only made Lü Xiucai more agitated. He raised the short blade in his hand and tried to charge outside, but the skinny Gouwa barely managed to hold him back several times.

After Gouwa pleaded with him for a while, Lü Xiucai finally started to calm down. With Gouwa pulling him along, he crouched off to the side and began to eat. Between mouthfuls, he swore earnestly, “Gouwa, I’m telling you, this isn’t over! I remember everything that old bag of bones did to me! One of these days, I swear I’ll chop him to pieces!”

“Ah, you’ve been hungry all day. Just eat. You can chop up your old man any time. But cold food doesn’t taste good.”

Lü Xiucai wolfed down the food from the big bowl. As he ate, he suddenly realized the meal was a bit too generous today.

He picked up a greasy, egg-sized chunk of fatty pork with his chopsticks, dipped it in the rice, and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing with satisfaction.

As he savored the rich, oily meat, Lü Xiucai looked at Gouwa in surprise. “What’s going on? Is the village celebrating the New Year early?”

“Nah! Brother Li is back! So the village threw a feast to celebrate.”

“Oh?! Really?! Master has returned!?” Lü Xiucai was suddenly thrilled and nearly rushed out, but then he stopped himself, wondering if he should first report to his new mistress—the one who was teaching him his new divine abilities.

But when he looked toward Bai Lingmiao, he saw that the white-haired girl and the woman covered in black hair were both gone. A side door next to him stood open.

Walking through the dim corridor, Bai Lingmiao stumbled and nearly fell, clutching her knee as she complained. “This damn place. It’s so dark.”

Chun Xiaoman came over to support her and replied, “It’s not that dark. I’ll hang a few more oil lamps on the walls tomorrow. By the way, are you really not going to tell Brother Li about the divine powers and techniques from the White Lotus teachings?”

A flicker of impatience crossed Bai Lingmiao’s eyes. “What good would telling him do? You might think this Martial Possession skill is impressive, but in his eyes right now, it means nothing. He’s far stronger than you think.”

“Really? Brother Li is that strong now? That’s great news!” Chun Xiaoman couldn’t help but feel happy for Li Huowang.

“Great news? Do you really think it’s great news that a madman gets even more powerful? Think about what he’s done before.” As she spoke, Bai Lingmiao walked deeper inside, stopping only when she reached the innermost hidden chamber.

“But didn’t Brother Li tell you he wouldn’t go crazy anymore?”

“He said it, so you just believe him? Then you’re crazier than he is. I’m not so sure. Just now, when we were in bed, he changed the subject the moment I mentioned his hallucinations. Like he was hiding something.”

“Let’s wait and see. I don’t want to make him overthink things. He probably won’t run off for a while. Let’s just see what his condition really is, and then we’ll decide what to do.”

“Miaomiao, you’re so good to him.”

“What else can I do? A married chicken follows the wind, a married dog follows its master. Back then, he didn’t think I was a burden, so how could I abandon him now just because he’s lost his mind?”

“Since he’s that bad off, we’ll just have to find a way to cure him.”

The stone door opened, and Bai Lingmiao walked in. The white jade lotus on the cabinet emitted a soft, cool light, illuminating the entire space.

By that pale glow, Bai Lingmiao looked up at the mural on the wall, at the twin lotus blossom being pulled by six white donkeys.

Ever since that strange chanting had sounded, this twin lotus had appeared and never vanished. It was growing clearer by the day. She had no idea what it meant.

“Could this be connected to the Unborn Venerable Mother of the White Lotus?” Bai Lingmiao wondered, confused. But she had searched every book in this hidden chamber and found nothing related to twin lotuses.

So Bai Lingmiao had no way of knowing whether this development was good or bad for her.

Now that only she remained of the White Lotus, every change—good or ill—would directly determine the direction of her future power.

“If only I could find out where that strange chanting is coming from. Maybe it would give me some insight,” Bai Lingmiao murmured to herself.

But that was clearly very difficult. During this time, when she went out to perform her spirit-dances, she had specifically asked about the origin of the bizarre chanting. She had gotten no answers.

The only thing she could learn from her Immortal patrons was that the sound was chaotic and discordant. Although they didn’t say it outright, Bai Lingmiao could somehow sense that her Immortals were afraid of that chanting.

Bai Lingmiao thought for a moment, then picked up three incense sticks from beside her, bowed toward the twin lotus, and inserted them into a small censer.

She had no idea if it would work, but she figured she’d give it a try. At least according to the records in the books, the Unborn Venerable Mother did not object to offerings.

“Miaomiao, what should we do with the celestial texts about human sacrifice rituals piled up in the corner?”

Chun Xiaoman’s words brought Bai Lingmiao back to reality. She glanced at the books she had selected over the past few days in the corner. “What else? Burn them.”

“Really burn them?”

Bai Lingmiao’s voice was filled with disgust. “Burn them. Seeing something that disgusting just pisses me off. I said what I meant.”

A glob of lamp oil arced through the air and splashed onto the books. In an instant, the flames roared to life.

In the flickering orange firelight, a form, twisted and inverted—its inside and outside swapped—flickered faintly within the twin lotus on the wall.

Neither Bai Lingmiao nor Chun Xiaoman noticed this ghastly, uncanny sight.

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Reading Guide Decoding

Bai Lingmiao's Pragmatism, the Twin Lotus Horror, and the Man Who Hides His Madness

Cultural / Xianxia Notes

Get ready for a cultural deep dive. First up: that “married chicken follows the wind, married dog follows its master” line that Bai Lingmiao drops. This is a direct pull from the Chinese folk saying 嫁鸡随鸡，嫁狗随狗 (jià jī suí jī, jià gǒu suí gǒu). In traditional Chinese society, this reflected the idea that a woman’s fate was tied to her husband’s, no matter what. Bai Lingmiao uses it here to express a kind of resigned loyalty—but she twists it into something more active: since he didn’t abandon me when I was the burden, I won’t abandon him now. It’s a declaration of commitment, not subservience.

Then there’s the twin lotus (并蒂莲, bìngdì lián). This is a classic symbol in Chinese art and literature, representing a pair of lotuses growing from a single stem. It’s deeply associated with love, marriage, and inseparable union. You see it in poetry, embroidery, and wedding decorations. In a typical romance novel, it’s a cute symbol of eternal love. Here? It’s a creepy, unexplained tattoo on a wall that appeared after haunted chanting started, and now it’s flickering with something physically wrong inside it. Talk about subverting expectations.

Also, for the Xianxia crowd: Martial Possession (Wu Ji, 武乩) is a specific type of spirit mediumship. Unlike the more passive “divination” style of spirit possession (Wen Ji), Martial Possession causes the medium to manifest superhuman combat abilities—often strength, speed, and skill they don’t naturally possess. Chun Xiaoman’s excitement about this technique makes sense; it’s a serious combat power-up. But Bai Lingmiao’s dismissal of it (“in his eyes it means nothing”) really sells how terrifyingly strong Li Huowang has become.

Native Land of True Emptiness (真空家乡, Zhēnkōng Jiāxiāng)

The ultimate salvation-realm in White Lotus theology, where believers return to the Unborn Venerable Mother, free from worldly suffering and reincarnation.

Chapter Overview

Ah, look at that. We finally get to spend some quality time with the ladies, and it’s… not a spa day. Bai Lingmiao is done playing. She’s tired, she’s patient, but she’s also watching Li Huowang with the clinical suspicion of a woman who has been burned by “I’m fine” one too many times. Lü Xiucai provides some darkly comedic contrast—a coward trying on villainy like a cheap coat—before Bai Lingmiao retreats to her secret White Lotus cave to deal with her own growing power and the unsettling mystery of that six-donkey twin lotus mural. And just when you think the chapter is about to wrap up with a cozy book-burning session… something wrong is already staring right at them from the walls. This is the calm, pragmatic, and quietly ominous breathing space before the storm.

Key Plot Points

Lü Xiucai rages outside the door, brandishing a blade he has no intention of using. Bai Lingmiao dismisses him as too weak to be either good or evil, only a “piece of trash.”
Gouwa defuses the situation with a bowl of food, revealing that there’s a feast tonight because “Brother Li” (Li Huowang) has returned.
Bai Lingmiao and Chun Xiaoman discuss Li Huowang’s true mental state. Bai Lingmiao is skeptical of his reassurances and notices he dodged questions about his hallucinations.
Chun Xiaoman asks if Bai Lingmiao will tell Li Huowang about the White Lotus divine skills she’s been learning. Bai Lingmiao refuses, seeing his power as already beyond her—and seeing him as a madman whose power has only grown more dangerous.
Bai Lingmiao enters the secret chamber and contemplates the twin lotus mural, which has been appearing ever since the strange chanting began. She has no explanation for it.
She searches for clues about the chanting’s origin among the locals and even her spirit-patrons, but finds nothing—only that her immortals seem afraid of it.
She burns the stash of human-sacrifice rituals from the White Lotus materials, calling them “disgusting.”
In the last moment, the narrative reveals that a strange, inverted form has begun to flicker inside the twin lotus mural—unnoticed by either woman.

Reading Guide

This is a character development / atmospheric horror chapter. If you came here expecting Li Huowang to fight a giant pocket-watch monster, turn back. This is the aftermath of all that violence, and the real battle is happening in Bai Lingmiao’s head. She’s gone from the shy, crying girl who couldn’t say a word to a sharp-tongued pragmatist who openly judges a man’s character and talks about “married chickens.” That’s growth, folks.

The central tension here isn’t monsters—it’s the question of what Li Huowang is hiding. Bai Lingmiao knows he’s deflecting, and she’s not buying his “I’m fine” routine. This sets up a fantastic psychological undercurrent for the next arc: is their trust going to break before the supernatural threats even arrive?

And the book-burning scene is a wonderful thematic beat. Bai Lingmiao is trying to close the door on the worst of the White Lotus legacy. She wants to be something cleaner. But the novel reminds us (with that final, chilling image) that the past doesn’t just burn away so easily. The “inside-out thing” in the lotus is a great horror punchline—it says we’re not done with you yet. Absorb the character dynamics here, because they’re going to matter when things explode.