Demons in Jinling (Transmigrating into a Book)

Xie Liao'an transmigrated into a book. While everyone else became rich young heirs, members of illustrious families, or scions of the Wang and Xie clans, she became a flower bud, not even a background character.

This tiny bud sulked in a pond, with nothing for company but the chanting in the Buddhist temple and the morning bells and evening drums.

Her neighbor was a thousand-year-old Buddhist cultivator appointed by the Emperor. Xie Liao'an swayed in the breeze, often seeing him in his plain white robes, his aloof figure untouched by worldly concerns, sandalwood prayer beads dangling one by one from his wrist.

She thought she would spend her whole life as a plant. Then a night of a hundred ghosts and a struggle among the clans erupted, and lightning made the water beneath the red lotus pond tremble.

Among demons, humans, gods, and ghosts, Xie Liao'an shivered in fright, her petals quivering.

The white-robed man, serene and detached from the world, suddenly reached out to shield the tiny bud.

And then... she bloomed.

The thousand-year-old Buddhist cultivator, Nan Yi, had ended the feud between the three families of Xingkong Mountain. He closed his eyes and murmured a prayer: "All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows, like dew and lightning."

As the world grew clear and still, a ripple spread across the pond.

Amid the water-clear pond, where lotus leaves bloomed, a pair of eyes appeared.

A red lotus surged into view. A beauty in drenched clothes, with black hair and a face like an enchanting ghost, wore a cinnabar mark between her brows like a drop of blood. She was bewitching and breathtaking.

As the storm passed, Nan Yi stared coldly at her. "Demon."

The beauty looked vulnerable and pitiful, her long, slender fingers lightly clutching his spotless white robe.

The demon suddenly smiled at him, and all the light in the pond paled beside her.

Nan Yi had intended to subdue the demon.

But who could have guessed that the demon would suddenly turn into a child? The little flower bud had become a tiny three-headed-and-bodied child. She gazed up at Nan Yi's demon-subduing bowl with tear-filled eyes and burst into tears.

Nan Yi was at a loss. The child seized her chance to hug his leg, pouting as she leaned against him as if she'd been wronged. "Waaah, why do I have hands and feet now? It's all your fault. You have to take responsibility!"

Nan Yi laughed. "I did this to you?"

Xie Liao'an: "Waaah, Mother, I'm not a pure little flower bud anymore! Waaah, this Buddhist scoundrel is trying to subdue me too. What happened to the compassion of a thousand-year-old Buddhist cultivator? Mother, look at him!"

The Buddhist cultivator stared at her before turning and walking away, his golden bowl humming.

Xie Liao'an had escaped disaster. She was overjoyed.

Xie Liao'an had long been smitten with Nan Yi, so elegant in his white robes. She often pestered him while he meditated and chanted, disturbing his Buddhist composure.

One day, Xie Liao'an finally returned to her original form. Nan Yi was going to send her away. Reluctant to leave, she reached up to wrap her arms around his neck in the night and spoke softly: "You save the people of the world. Why not save me too?"

He pushed away her bonelessly soft hands. "Humans and demons walk different paths. Miss, please show some restraint."

Xie Liao'an stormed off.

Word spread that an immortal had come down from the mountain.

Those of the time remarked that the rivers and mountains were filled with grace, and the world was transformed beneath the sun and moon.

There was a demon in Jinling.

Xie Liao'an thought Nan Yi had come down the mountain to subdue her. But when he turned around, he cast aside the precepts as if they were dust, and in the blink of an eye, the once otherworldly monk became a ruthless Imperial prince who wielded political power.

Before the ancient Buddha beneath the green lantern, Xie Liao'an was forced back step by step until her back hit the prayer seat. Above them, the Buddha gazed down with compassionate eyes.

The white-robed young man's clear eyes had lost all control. His desire was insatiable, and she trembled beneath him, even at her fingertips.

The sandalwood prayer beads shook against her palm, each one slipping away as his grip tightened. Tears filled Xie Liao'an's eyes as she cried out in pain, her voice trembling: "What happened to your path, monk?"

He gripped her chin, his voice cool and husky as he murmured by her ear: "For you, why shouldn't I enter the world?"

Before the Bodhi throne, he turned the world upside down.

At last, the long night gave way to dawn.

A wicked beauty x a Buddhist cultivator

A sweet, silly, bewitching flower sprite x a former Buddhist cultivator who becomes a ruthless Emperor

Excerpt concluded on March 11, 2023

Theme: Scattering into the sun, moon, and a tiny world of one's own