'These seekers of the Way are truly damnable.'
'This little sister is so beautiful, so beautiful, the Prince is yours, I'm taking the bootleg.'
'Good heavens, the way that keyboard is being played, I can hear it all the way in Jinghai City!'
'A sad story, the worm-raising reminds me of Chen Duo.'
'I am the lowest of the low, to even have thoughts about the little sister.'
...
Good heavens, bootleg, is it?
Chun Hei was shocked. He had underestimated the allure of immortality to ordinary people.
These cultivators pursuing immortality were truly mad, even wanting to replicate the one-of-a-kind Dragon's Bloodline, leading to the creation of numerous Variegated Princes.
The maiden before him was likely the sole surviving Variegated Prince, raised like a worm in a pit.
Who knew how many innocent lives were lost behind this. Thinking back to the numerous nameless female corpses found in the sewers on the way to Senpo Temple, it seemed all mysteries were solved.
"Yes."
The Variegated Prince sighed. "Only I was able to grow to maturity. Everyone else... has fallen asleep here."
"Alas!" Chun Hei sighed heavily.
"I don't know if severing immortality is the right thing to do," her earnest eyes held a deep obsession. "But the Dragon's Bloodline leads people astray, and I am weary of it too."
"Warrior of the Prince, I will lend you my aid. Give me your hand."
"What is it?"
Despite his confusion, Chun Hei offered his hand.
Whoosh!
The Variegated Prince took out a handful of sparkling white rice from her embrace and let it fall into Chun Hei's hand from her fingers.
[Acquired: Rice]
[Rice that fell from the hand of the Variegated Prince]
[Gradually restores HP significantly for a period of time.]
[Even the false Dragon's Bloodline can bring gifts. The rice is precious, and the more you chew, the sweeter it becomes, also replenishing energy.]
"Whoa!"
Chun Hei took the rice and his gaze wandered over the Variegated Prince, somewhat puzzled. "Where did she get this rice from? It actually has the effect of replenishing energy."
HP recovery potions were plentiful, but energy recovery potions were only available in this single instance so far.
Energy was different from HP; it gradually decreased as the player fought and required rest in reality to recover. To a certain extent, it was linked to anti-addiction measures.
If energy was insufficient, the player would be forcibly logged out of the game even if their anti-addiction time had not expired.
It felt similar to stamina in DNF. If Tencent operated "Sekiro," they might have introduced energy-restoring potions.
"Rice is very precious."
The Variegated Prince patiently explained. "The more you chew, the sweeter it becomes, and it also replenishes energy."
"Warrior of the Prince can come back periodically to collect rice."
"Farewell, may your journey's end be filled with abundant harvest."
"This statement conveys a lot of information."
Chun Hei put the rice into his pocket. "This rice is likely not the kind circulating in the market, but rice produced solely by the Rice Maiden herself, similar to divine fruits like the Senzu Bean."
"A very nice young lady. I'll call her the Rice Maiden from now on."
"After all, with milk comes motherhood. The preciousness of this rice might require her to produce it with something even more precious than milk."
After searching the temple, Chun Hei figured the rice would be ripe again soon.
"White flower?"
Just as Chun Hei was about to harvest the rice, he discovered a white flower. This reminded him of his promise to the little fatty.
So, he teleported to the Great Serpent Shrine's Sculptor's Idol and found the little fatty, who was still crying there.
"Waaahhh~~ Everyone left me behind. I need to find the [Pure White Flower]. Where could it be?"
"Ta-da! Is this it?" Chun Hei took out the white flower and waved it in front of the little fatty monk.
"Ah... ah...!! That's...!"
The little fatty immediately perked up. "Oh oh oh... I remember... Everyone... [Everyone] were the Variegated Princes... I see, I wanted to get a pure white pinwheel, to help that child, to get a pinwheel for them too."
He looked up, earnestly gazing at Chun Hei. "Um... can I ask you for a favor?"
"What is it?"
"Can you please make me disappear?"
"What?"
"I know, if you can get the flower, you will be able to make me disappear."
The little fatty was right. The Guardian Ape fight required the use of Divine Absence, a technique that could suppress one's breath. It was rarely used but extremely effective in certain situations.
"Why do you want to do this?"
"After disappearing... I will definitely see everyone. I must be by their side, after all, I am responsible for taking care of the Princes. Can you please do this for me?"
[Refuse]
However, the prompt that appeared offered only one choice.
Wolf: "Cannot do it."
It turned out that Divine Absence required an item. Chun Hei currently did not possess any item that could assist others with Divine Absence, so it was impossible for now.
"Is that so... If you change your mind, please ask again."
After bidding farewell to the chubby monk, Chun Hei encountered an old shaman on the cliff who kept muttering 'Agijak'.
The shaman pointed to the rushing river below and murmured, "Follow the cliff face, pass through the cave... bring back fresh persimmons—"
"Fresh persimmons?"
"Hmm? Is something troubling you?" the Agijak shaman clasped her hands. "If you are troubled, bring that rice."
"Rice?"
Chun Hei looked at the shaman thoughtfully. He had just obtained the rice, and this person was actively asking for it. It was not simple.
"Please give me some rice—if you are troubled."
"Here."
Chun Hei gave her some of the rice. The shaman immediately quieted down. "Oh, oh oh... it really is the Prince's rice!"
"Thank you, thank you."
"Chew... Chew chew... Chew chew... Hoo ah... Hmm... Hmm..."
Saying this, she began to chew heartily.
"If you wish to obtain fresh persimmons... use a kite... control a puppet... fly a kite... Hmm... Meow... Delicious..."
Fresh persimmons, kites, puppet mastery?
Were these all prerequisites for severing immortality?
"But... what does puppet mastery refer to?"
"......" The shaman, fully engrossed in eating the rice, did not provide a satisfactory answer.
Helpless, Chun Hei had to return to the Variegated Prince. She might know more.
Returning to the beautiful but dilapidated temple.
Chun Hei harvested another batch of precious rice and chatted with the Rice Maiden again.
From her, he learned clues about the Incense of Origin.
To light the Incense of Origin, three spices were needed: [Flower], [Stone], and [Cherry Branch], all of which were indispensable.
The [Flower] was held by the Guardian Ape in the Fallen Great Serpent's Canyon.
The [Stone] was controlled by the Phantom of the Water Stage in the Water-Bound Village.
Judging by their names, these two did not seem easy to deal with. According to the laws of novels, powerful demonic beasts would guard any secret realms or treasures of heaven and earth.
These demonic beasts would be blessed by the natural treasures, becoming stronger than ordinary demonic beasts. Therefore, the demonic beasts would cherish the treasures as their lives, and players would need to kill monsters to obtain them.
It was likely that two difficult boss battles were unavoidable.
As for the [Cherry Branch], the Rice Maiden had no clues about it. He would probably have to ask the old master Sword Saint again.
Besides these, Chun Hei also inquired about persimmons and puppet mastery.
According to the Rice Maiden's hints, "persimmon" did not refer to food, but to the pericardium of a white snake god shaped like a red persimmon.
Persimmons were divided into dried and fresh. Dried persimmons were the dried product of the white snake god's pericardium, while fresh persimmons required finding the white snake and killing it on the spot to obtain.
However, thinking of that white snake made Chun Hei's skin crawl, and he temporarily set aside the idea of searching for fresh persimmons.
All of these were related to severing immortality, and he speculated they were even linked to the game's final ending.
As for puppet mastery, it was in the previous illusion. Chun Hei had not fully explored it and planned to teleport back to the illusion via the Sculptor's Idol later.
Any point marked by the Sculptor's Idol could be teleported to at any time, just as convenient as bonfires in "Dark Souls."
After successfully learning puppet mastery, Chun Hei fell into hesitation.
[Persimmon], [Flower], [Stone], [Cherry Branch] – three of the four required quest items had known locations. Which one should he collect first?
"Are there any tree branches?"
"Never mind, let's decide by drawing straws. I'll use the branches!"
Chun Hei sat on the ground, found three similar branches, and carved one, two, and three stripes on them to represent the persimmon, flower, and stone respectively.
"Amitabha, mummy, point at the soldiers, point at the generals, whoever is pointed at is the one!"
"Two stripes, I'll go find the flower first. Alright, it's you, Guardian Ape!"