Chapter 13: Heavenly Flower, Rain Down (天花乱坠)

Daiwen woke to bright, leafy green. They raised their head in confusion. Their hand pushed through a ropey hole into thin air. Daiwen squeaked and fell.

Thick, fibrous vines caught their shoulder. The yaoguai's cum slopped out from their holes and splattered onto a carpet of star-like green leaves. The leaves layered over the walls and ceiling as well. The green room was otherwise identical to the small, cramped attic room.

Daiwen hung below the ceiling in a net of vines. Much to their surprise, their punching doll backpack had followed them through the gate. It hung from a similar, smaller net in the corner.

The leaves rustled all through the room at a wind that never touched Daiwen. The floor peeled open. A white chrysanthemum as large as a cartwheel bloomed from the leafy maw. The petals opened around a warrior in armor made of bamboo slats and spider silk at the heart of the flower. Silk strands wrapped the large serpent's skull that they wore as a helm.

They looked up at Daiwen from directly below. Four glowing pink pits burned from the back of their skull.

"I am Mushenmen (木神門), guardian of the wooden gate," they hissed. "What are you doing in my wall?"

"My name is Daiwen, and I just want to go home."

"The vines do not trap the innocent."

"I'm a necromancer."

"You are an abomination. You cannot be allowed to return to the Mortal Realm."

"I didn't choose to become a necromancer!"

"You choose to continue using necromancy."

"To save lives!" Daiwen shouted, vision blurring with angry, exhausted tears.

The living net pulled apart into hissing vines. Daiwen screamed and fell head-first to the floor. They jerked to a stop right in front of Mushenmen's glowing eyes, vines coiled tight around their lower legs.

Daiwen panted, barely able to catch their breath. The last of the yaoguai's cum sank like lead against Daiwen's gut. The discomfort only made them more aware of the tickle of fear in their bladder.

Mushenmen grabbed their hair and pulled Daiwen's face to their half-skull, half-human snarl.

"You save lives by stealing the life spans of the living and the energy of the restful dead."

"Yes, ok, I do," they croaked, tears falling up their bared forehead. "I care more about the lives of the people around me than others. Is that so wrong?"

"You will rot here."

Mushenmen let go of Daiwen's hair. Daiwen swung like a pendulum. The chrysanthemum petals rose up to the guardian's sides.

"No, no, no, wait!"

Daiwen flailed at the guardian for a hold as they swung by. Their fingertips brushed the spirit's burning neck. Mushenmen stiffened.

The rustling vines jerked Daiwen to a stop. Their palm pressed flat against the smooth length of their neck. Mushenmen said nothing, but their glowing pits stretched as long as four pink gashes.

Daiwen's hand trembled in anger at a realization, but they didn't pull away. Just like Tushenmen, this spirit could condemn a necromancer as much as they wanted, but they'd never felt one in person. Daiwen's breath steadied. They had to remind the spirit how it felt to be alive, or they would die here.

Mushenmen broke the silence with a breathless hiss.

"What spell is this?"

"No spells. No tricks. I want a trade, spirit. I'll make you an offering and you give me passage. That's how it's done, right?"

"You have nothing to offer."

Daiwen removed their hand. Mushenmen started forward, crushing petals underfoot. A heady, floral scent rose up between Daiwen and the guardian.

"Show me. Show me what you have to offer."

"Take off your armor."

The spirit hissed, but they obeyed. The chrysanthemum petals closed over the pieces of armor where they fell. Only the serpent's skull remained. The character for 'wood' (木) had been inked in green over Mushenmen's olive-skinned chest. Smaller, more fluid character in the same ancient script as on Tushenmen whorled out from 'wood' and down the guardian's limbs, not unlike the vines coiled around Daiwen's legs.

The white petals parted for the guardian's bared feet. Unlike Tushenmen, this spirit stepped right up onto the bruised petals and into Daiwen's face. The heady, floral scent grew strong enough that Daiwen could taste a honeyed tang in the air.

"Where should I touch you first?"

Mushenmen's glowing pink eyes blinked several times.

"My...my chest."

"I need to come down."

Instead of releasing Daiwen, the vines only lowered them until their head was level with Mushenmen's breasts. Daiwen raised one hand to their skin. They pulled the fleshy, cupped weight to their mouth. Their tongued raked over the brown nipple until it stood quivering and erect. Only then did they flick and suck.

The leaves of the green room rustled in time with the guardian's shallow breath. Daiwen lowered their other hand to Mushenmen's tattooed thigh. The guardian shivered as they stroked the vulnerable softness inches from their slit. Their lips watered.

-/-

Explicit encounter on AO3