Volume One: All Things Awaken, Every Season is Spring Chapter Forty-Four: I, Mo Wen, Shall Never Enter the Buddhist Order!

Place of beginning. Facing the man he once thought a benefactor, Mo Wen felt a strange calm after exposing the Buddhist sect’s conspiracy.

“So, from the moment the flight left the city, everything was part of the Buddhist order’s plan?”

Master Wuxin smiled gently, nodding in appreciation at Mo Wen’s belated clarity. “Correct. Yet your arrival here was outside our calculations. No matter, soon you shall become a true disciple of the Buddhist order.”

Though Master Wuxin’s demeanor was like a spring breeze, Mo Wen felt a chill to his bones. He had believed himself to be a prodigy born for greatness, only to discover he was merely a pawn.

“You may scheme against me, but what you should never have done is abduct Mother Zhao! She’s just an ordinary woman—what could she possibly be worth to you?”

Mo Wen’s anger surged, his heart still aching from this secret grievance.

“Ordinary? The woman surnamed Zhao raised you from childhood and knows your origins. How could she be ordinary?”

Mo Wen was stunned. His origins? It must have something to do with the so-called Child of the Domain.

“What is the Child of the Domain? You know my origins?”

Only two questions remained. If he could not uncover the truth, Mo Wen would rather die than accept it.

Master Wuxin was neither hurried nor agitated. He smiled faintly, offering no answer. “It is time. Do not resist. From this day forth, you are my sole disciple.”

With these words, Master Wuxin pressed his palms together in prayer, chanting softly. Mo Wen felt the Buddhist energy within him stir violently; he could neither speak nor move.

The Buddhist verses flashed as Master Wuxin intoned them, each syllable echoing like sacred music in Mo Wen’s ears. In his heart, a voice arose—irresistible.

“Take refuge. Take refuge in the Buddha!”

As the chanting continued, Mo Wen’s legs folded themselves, seating him cross-legged upon the ground. His hands pressed together, and his lips recited the Buddhist name.

“Boy, wake up! Wake up!” Sword Dog, already hiding within the coal sphere, transmitted its anxious voice through divine sense, hoping to rouse Mo Wen. Yet Mo Wen ignored Sword Dog, reciting the sutras as Buddhist light blossomed around him.

“From this moment, I grant you a Dharma name: True Self!” Wuxin watched Mo Wen, now filled with faith, and nodded in satisfaction.

“Thank you, Master, for bestowing the name. But this is not my true self!” Mo Wen bowed meekly in apparent submission, but as he uttered “but,” his eyes blazed anew.

“I am Mo Wen! I will never join the Buddhist order!”

With a thunderous shout, Mo Wen leapt up. The coal sphere was summoned, its brilliance dazzling. An unmatched force swept toward Master Wuxin. He dissolved into black mist, instantly absorbed by the coal sphere.

“Phew!” Mo Wen exhaled deeply—what luck! Had the coal sphere not awakened at that critical moment, his mind would have fallen into the Buddhist path, lost forever.

Holding the coal sphere in his palm, Mo Wen stroked it gently, gratitude rising from his heart. “Coal sphere, thank you.”

---

“The mist here is unlike any outside—it’s the initial form of strange matter. I was born from such mist; to me, this is the very source of life! Once I’ve had my fill, I’ll watch over you from now on!”

The coal sphere girl’s youthful voice was full of disdain, but also delight. Mo Wen pondered: the wonders of the world are endlessly mysterious. The coal sphere, born of strangeness, was its natural nemesis.

“What about Master Wuxin?” Mo Wen was still concerned, fearing the Buddhist energy might harm the coal sphere.

“That old monk has been suppressed. His Buddhist energy was already impure, fused with strange matter. It’s nothing to worry about—he’ll soon vanish into dust!”

The coal sphere bounced up and down, circling Sword Dog, who was now in a manic state, grinning widely—the licking dog of old had returned!

Soon, a brown bone token shot out from the coal sphere, landing in Mo Wen’s hand.

Number: 06!

“This came from that old monk’s body. He’s not dead yet, but his token came out first!” The coal sphere’s voice was clear and youthful as a lark. Mo Wen couldn’t help but wonder what she’d be like after taking human form.

Seeing the bone token, Mo Wen finally recalled his original purpose here—to collect tokens!

Now that the coal sphere had awakened, it was time to gather those strange beings within the earthen city.

Returning once more, black mist rose in programmed waves from the ground, and countless mist-formed figures began their relentless assault.

“It’s up to you, coal sphere!” Mo Wen smiled, summoning the coal sphere, while he and Sword Dog watched from the sidelines.

“A trifling matter, no challenge at all—these things are nothing compared to that old monk!”

The coal sphere soared, radiating dazzling light that illuminated the city. The land became bright as day. The light touched the mist-formed people, instantly sucking them into the coal sphere’s body.

In a flash, the city’s black mist was absorbed. The coal sphere cried joyfully, “This place is paradise! I’m off to digest—don’t bother me unless it’s urgent!”

The coal sphere returned to Mo Wen’s body. Seeing the countless bone tokens scattered across the ground, Mo Wen and Sword Dog became scavengers.

It took nearly an hour to collect them all—over thirty thousand tokens!

With the city cleansed, silence deepened. Sword Dog, impatient, rushed back into the coal sphere to resume his old ways.

To Mo Wen’s surprise, he had yet to see any other people or demon clans. Moreover, since this was the second trial, how was he to leave this space?

Mo Wen wandered aimlessly for a day, finding no trace of others, not even the strange black mist—only a few black crows flying back and forth.

Finally, behind a hill, Mo Wen sensed a fluctuation in space.

Following it, he found a swirling vortex of black mist—the only possible exit from this realm.

After a brief hesitation, Mo Wen slipped inside.

---

On the other side of the vortex, a figure emerged—it was Mo Wen!

Looking up, the blood moon still hung above; yellow sand and mist spread everywhere, identical to before.

Did I just travel in vain?

Mo Wen suspected he hadn’t moved at all. Walking forward, he found the same earthen city, the same dried-up river.

As he brooded, a weak voice called out from the ruins.

“Brother Mo? Is it really you?”

That voice! It was Zhuo Xin, the little chubby boy from the Zhuo family!

Looking over, Zhuo Xin was curled outside the city walls, trembling, unable to believe his eyes when he saw Mo Wen, but overjoyed.

“Waa—” Zhuo Xin rushed to Mo Wen, bursting into tears. Fear had clearly been bottled up for a long time.

“Brother Mo, this place is terrifying! There are so many ghosts in the ruins—I nearly got trapped!”

Wiping tears, the chubby boy clung tightly to Mo Wen’s leg, peering nervously at the city ruins.

Seeing Zhuo Xin, Mo Wen understood the rules of this realm.

This world contained countless mirror spaces. After entering through the yin-yang fish, each person is placed into their own mirror space.

After comforting the chubby boy, Mo Wen called upon the coal sphere.

“Coal sphere, time to work—come out and greet the guests!”

Following the previous method, the coal sphere absorbed all the mist-formed figures in the city, leaving the bone tokens scattered. Zhuo Xin gleefully gathered them, stuffing his bag to the brim.

“Brother Mo, these are all yours—I’ll just take a few!”

Mo Wen patted Zhuo Xin’s head, but his mind was on something else: was there also a Master Wuxin in this space?

With this in mind, he went to the dried riverbed. Standing there for a long time, nothing unusual happened. It seemed that Master Wuxin’s appearance in his mirror space was pure coincidence.

Taking Zhuo Xin through the vortex of mist, a tiger’s roar echoed across the sky.

This mirror space belonged to a tiger demon!