Ling Ling is a snake, raised at the bottom of Menyuan Valley in the Hehuan Sect.
One day, her keeper said, "All the female snakes are trained. This is the only one left."
Ling Ling swished her tail and wondered if he meant her.
When the keeper learned that mating the female snakes with male snakes could speed up the process, he tossed a male snake onto Ling Ling.
Seven days and seven nights later, the keeper happily finished up.
The trained female and male snakes were all meant to be sent to the powerful and wealthy, to serve as their secret lovers and satisfy their desires.
Ling Ling was terrified. A fat man dressed in finery reached for her from beside the bed. She closed her eyes, but then heard a mighty roar.
Ling Ling seized the chance to escape. She heard the others say that a dragon was wreaking havoc.
The dragon clan, the dragons born immortal?
Ling Ling didn't waste a moment. She ran and ran, until at last she could go no farther. Hearing that Mount Buzhou was recruiting disciples, she decided to seek refuge there.
She met an immortal lord. The silver mark on his forehead looked so familiar, exactly like the one on the forehead of the snake who had once been her husband.
His eyes were green, full of sorrow, kindness, and compassion as he looked down upon all living things.
Ling Ling lost her nerve. She wanted to leave Mount Buzhou.
But the immortal lord who looked like her snake husband spoke up and took Ling Ling as his disciple.
Ling Ling spent every day in fear and unease, until one day she stumbled upon the immortal lord's tail sticking out.
It was a silver tail, just like her snake husband's...
She was on the verge of tears.
During those nights, Ling Ling had known that her snake husband had felt no love for her when he did those things to her. She had even been in pain. She thought that since her snake husband had been forced into it, he must hate her.
So why had he taken her as his disciple now? What was he after?
Smiling nervously, Ling Ling collapsed to the ground, her gaze vacant:
There are many flowers of the same color in this world, and many leaves of the same color. Naturally, there are many snakes of the same color, too.
The immortal lord surely isn't my snake husband.
Theme: Living each day with care
