Chapter 104: The Ballad of Masked Rejection

Words : 1153 Updated : Sep 19th, 2025

Chapter 104: The Ballad of Masked Rejection Somewhere atop the floating isle of Peachblossom Ascension, petals danced in the wind, music floated like soft mist, and love was quite literally in the air. It was time for the Divine Matchmaking Festival—where cultivators from every sect, rank, and realm came together to forge fateful bonds, exchange heartfelt spiritual tokens... or simply flirt over mooncakes under moonlight. There were lanterns in the skies. Laughter in the air. And Lin Fan... in a bush. "I shouldn’t be here," he muttered, gripping a crumpled invitation he definitely stole from someone else. Beside him, the old man nodded solemnly. "Correct." "And yet... I must be here. For love. For justice. For—" "For stalking Hei Long and Yinyin again." Lin Fan put on his fake beard, love-themed talisman robe, and heart-shaped mask. He now looked like a creepy spirit uncle who’d forgotten what personal space was. "Time to become... Master Crimson Bloom, professional matchmaker and definitely not Lin Fan." "You know you look like someone whose love letters get reported to the Sect Elders, right?" But it was too late. Inside the festival courtyard, cultivators swirled in dances of light and sound. Matchmaking booths lined the edges, each hosted by a sect. A central pond shimmered with glowing lotus petals. Above it all floated the Mirror of Amorous Fate—an ancient relic said to show your destined partner... and your romantic ranking among all attendees. People lined up eagerly, laughing, blushing, cheering. Lin Fan swaggered into the queue, doing finger guns at a passing girl. She screamed and fled. "Perfect. They suspect nothing," he said confidently. The old man facepalmed so hard he left a bruise. As Lin Fan approached the Mirror, it pulsed with rose-colored light. "State thy name," it intoned in a regal, flirty voice. "Master Crimson Bloom," Lin Fan declared. "Famed alchemist of love and—" "Scanned. Identity detected: LIN FAN. Sect: Unwanted Flame. Romantic Record: 0 wins, 34 delusions." Lin Fan paled. The crowd whispered. "That’s Lin Fan?!" "Didn’t he try to break up a spiritual wedding with a chicken feather?" "Is he wearing a glue-on beard?!" "Did he just cry?" Lin Fan straightened up, sweat dripping under his mask. "Just—just show me my match." The Mirror shimmered. Then boomed: "NO MATCH FOUND.""BUT YOU HAVE BEEN AWARDED: MOST LIKELY TO DIE ALONE." Confetti exploded above his head. A crown of wilted rose stems appeared. The words "Forever Alone Emperor" lit up behind him in dancing flame letters. Children pointed and laughed. Even the love pigeons flew in a heart shape around him... then turned it into a question mark. Lin Fan screamed. Meanwhile, from a nearby pavilion, Hei Long and Lan Yinyin watched calmly as the scene unfolded. Lan Yinyin sipped spiritual punch. "He wore a fake beard again." Hei Long, stone-faced: "He used that same disguise to try to crash our engagement dinner." "...Do you think we’re enabling him?" "No. I think we’re watching karma in real time." She giggled. "I should thank that Mirror." Hei Long pulled out a tiny jade carving—an exact replica of the Mirror, smug expression and all. Lan Yinyin blinked. "You... made a statue of it?" "I respect its accuracy." Back in the courtyard, Lin Fan fled behind a dumpling stall, muttering darkly. "I will have my revenge. I will break that mirror. I will burn down the booth. I will—" The Mirror floated over and boomed gently: "You also scored second place in: ’Most Likely To Fall In Love With A Rock Out Of Desperation.’" "AAAAAAA!" Following the catastrophic Mirror Incident, Lin Fan returned to his makeshift alchemical hut behind the Sect Outhouses—also known as The Department of Forbidden Romance Artifacts and Regrettable Life Choices. He flung down an armful of rejected matchmaking tokens—small spiritual trinkets left behind by the heartbroken, the ghosted, and the "we were just sparring partners" types. "This," Lin Fan declared to the empty room (and a frog who looked deeply unimpressed), "is the key to destroying love itself." "Ribbit," said the frog. Lin Fan began drawing ancient anti-bonding runes across the floor using powdered heartbreak dust (which was mostly just chalk mixed with tearwater), and laid out the tokens in a circle. From his sleeve, he withdrew a scroll labeled "Reverse Love Curse: Plan D (For Divorce)". According to legend (probably made up by Lin Fan five minutes ago), if one gathered enough abandoned tokens and combined them with bitter intention under moonlight, one could forge a Rift in Romantic Fate. Unfortunately, the moon that night was a Spiraling Spirit Moon, known for twisting spell intent into chaotic mischief. Lin Fan struck the formation with spiritual lightning. The tokens glowed. The runes shimmered. The frog screamed. And then the ground exploded. When the smoke cleared, the only thing standing untouched in the center... was a tree. A beautiful tree. Glowing with spiritual light, radiant bark, leaves that shimmered in seven hues—it looked like a divine being had taken root. Lin Fan blinked. "...That’s not what I meant to summon." From around the forest clearing, people began to gather. The first was a disciple from Peach Valley Sect. "Whoa... this tree... she’s beautiful." Then came a rogue cultivator. "He. The tree has strong, stoic energy. Like a silent protector." More followed. By morning, thirty-one cultivators were camped around the tree, writing poetry, composing songs, offering fruit, reciting sonnets. Someone put a scarf on it. Another painted eyes and a smile on the bark. Someone built a swing. Hei Long received the report while sipping tea. He looked up from the scroll: "Lin Fan has created a love idol out of a tree. It’s... now the most eligible being in three provinces." He calmly packed a fruit basket. Yinyin blinked. "You’re sending a gift?" "Respect must be paid to the competition." "...You’re not worried it’ll replace you?" Hei Long looked at her. "It’s a tree." Yinyin: "A very attractive tree, apparently." Hei Long: "It doesn’t have legs. I win." Meanwhile, Lin Fan stared blankly at the crowd around his accidental love tree. "This was supposed to break love." Someone next to him sighed dreamily. "It broke the walls of my heart." Another disciple was painting "I <3 Leafy-sama" on a fan. "STOP WORSHIPPING THE TREE!" Lin Fan screamed. The crowd turned on him. "HOW DARE YOU SLANDER BARK-CHAN!" "BACK AWAY FROM SAP-DONO!" A cultivator gently pushed Lin Fan aside and whispered, "You’re coming off jealous, bro." The old man popped into Lin Fan’s soul space, laughing so hard he nearly evaporated."Even your curses are romantic disasters." "I’ll destroy it," Lin Fan muttered. "You can’t even get a restraining order against a plant." He pointed at a shrine someone had just built. It was titled: In Honor of Our Future Wedding: Me x Tree Lin Fan screamed into the sky. A branch fell and landed perfectly across his shoulders like a disappointed pat.

Chapter 104: The Ballad of Masked Rejection

Comments (0)