“I have not brought swords, Master Fahai. I have brought fifty taels of silver for temple incense, and I ask only to see my husband's face and hear his own voice.”
The Golden Mountain Temple
Before a single drop of floodwater rises, Bai Suzhen travels to Zhenjiang and petitions Abbot Fahai through civil law and religious respect. Kneeling upon cold granite steps while guarding her pregnant abdomen, she offers compensation and pleads for Xu Xian to be allowed to speak for himself. Fahai's absolute refusal closes all peaceful paths.
Proves that she exhausted every legal, peaceful, and submissive avenue before resorting to catastrophic supernatural force.
- Wet grey granite steps reflecting gloomy storm clouds, contrasting with the warm cinnabar lacquer box of silver.
- Bai Suzhen wears a crimson wool pregnancy support band beneath rain-soaked white linen travel robes.
- Fahai stands framed by high vermilion temple doors, casting an unyielding vertical shadow downward.
Experience this scene and the complete 48,000-word adult mythic fantasy in Book 02 on Amazon Kindle.
Order Novel on Amazon KindleRelated Visual Exhibits
The Thousand-Year Serpent
High above the bamboo sea of Mount Emei, Bai Suzhen rests in ancient sovereignty before descending to the human world.
The Borrowed Umbrella
The first physical token shared between mortal and spirit—an uncalculated courtesy passed across a rain-lashed counter.
A Mortal Life at Baohe Tang
In the working rhythm of Baohe Tang, Bai Suzhen and Xu Xian build an honest clinic through rent ledgers, dry roots, and late fevers.