SERIES 1
Dreamyland
花都夢香
❝ 世上存在著這樣的一個地方，有道大門連接著一片仙土❞
大門後的世界佈滿奇珍異花，
充滿靈性的生物野獸，
一片人族朝思暮想去尋找的土地。
可惜呀，可惜呀，這是人族找不到地方，
因為這裡不屬於你們的維度。
"A place such as this does exist in the world, Where a grand gateway leads to hallowed ground."
Beyond the gateway, a world unfurls - Lavished with wondrous blooms, rare and curled,
Teeming with spirits, beasts of primal power,
A realm that mortals ever long to explore.
Alas, alas, it remains beyond their reach,
For this is not the dimension you can breach.
This is a land that does not truly belong
To the human world, where you all must throng.
- 霧花大門-
傳說中的大門，座落於幽暗的竹林之中。
幽閉竹林存活於人族和仙土的維度交界，
霧花時時濃罩著這道大門，門外有兩頭靈獸石雕守住。
每晚寅時，霧散開，門就會生出一條花道。
"A place such as this does exist in the world, Where a grand gateway leads to hallowed ground."
The fabled gate, it is said, stands amidst the shadowed bamboo grove -
A liminal space, where mortal realm and hallowed land entwine and rove.
The secluded bamboo forest clings to the borders of these worlds apart,
Where the Mist-Flower Gate is shrouded, guarded by spirits carved in stone's heart.
When the hour of the Tiger arrives each night, the fog begins to part,
And a flowered path unfurls outward, an invitation to depart.
- 花陸吾 -
進門前，要通過兩頭守門獸也不易。
每晚月光下，
靈獸會猙出石頭軀殼，檢視每道過門的光靈。
這邊虎面九尾的，名「陸吾」。
關於「陸吾」，人間存在著許多與牠有關的傳說，
有的說牠有九十丈高、有的說牠長得魁梧。
事實上，
陸吾獸有張虎面，長出了九條狐尾。
牠腳踏之處，都會生出一道花路，
因此靈獸們都戲稱牠為「花陸吾」，
一個沒甚麼霸氣的花名字。
所以有個說法，都說人間的傳說，都是牠自己編的，
好讓自己增添幾分靈氣。
不過，亦曾經有位遠在上古時期已存在的老樹精說過，
陸吾曾經有著九十丈高，渾身是勁，
九條的狐尾大得可以纏著一大片的竹林，
掌管著仙土的生靈和植物。
但後來發生了一宗事，
陸吾獸，變成了今天的花陸吾。
但年代久遠，固中原因就不得而知了。
註：陸吾原型為山海經神獸之一，
《山海經·西次三經》記載：「崑崙之丘，是實惟帝之下都。神陸吾司之。」是古代傳說中的崑崙山山神，守著山上的園圃。
The Lù Wú
At the threshold stood the two colossal guardian beasts,
their stone forms unfurling under the moonlight to scrutinize each soul that dared approach.
And at the heart of this mystical gateway was the mighty Lù Wú -
a hybrid entity of awe-inspiring legend. Bearing the fierce visage of a tiger and the nine tails of a fox,
this towering spirit was said to tower up to ninety feet in height,
commanding reverence and trepidation.
Mortal tongues had spun many tales of Lù Wú's appearance and power.
Some claimed it was a hulking brute, while others spoke of its regal bearing.
But the truth was more nuanced - for Lù Wú possessed a touch of whimsy,
causing the other guardians to dub it the "Floral Lù Wú."
This was due to the creature's ability to make flowers bloom in its footsteps.
Some claimed Lù Wú had fabricated its own grandiose legends to bolster its mystique.
Yet an ancient tree-spirit told of a time when Lù Wú was truly colossal,
its nine tails blanketing entire bamboo groves as it presided over the divine realm.
But at some point,
a great event had diminished Lù Wú's stature,
transforming the mighty guardian into the curious "Flower Lù Wú" that stood watch to this day,
its reasons for change shrouded in mystery.
- 開明獸 -
門獸，要成雙成對才守得穩。
門的另一端，是開明獸，
恰恰是陸吾獸的相反，集九頭於一身。
開明獸也是傳說中的靈獸，
九個頭九個腦袋，能洞察天地萬物、
預視未來之能力，守護門後的安寧。
註：《山海經圖贊·海內西經·開明》記載：「開明天獸，稟茲金精；虎身人面九首，表此桀形；瞪眎崑山 ，威懾百靈。
The Kāimíng
The guardian beasts that stood watch at the threshold were meant to work in pairs,
for only then could the gates be secured with steadfast vigilance.
And at the other end of this mystical portal stood the Kāimíng beast - the polar opposite of the fearsome Lù Wú.
For where Lù Wú bore the visage of a tiger with nine tails,
the Kāimíng was a nine-headed entity,
each cranium possessing the keen insight to perceive the secrets of heaven, earth, and all creation.
This legendary guardian spirit was said to wield the power of foresight,
granting it the ability to sense the ebbs and flows of the future.
Thus, it was entrusted with the sacred duty of safeguarding the tranquility that lay beyond the threshold.
As the ancient texts described, the Kāimíng was a celestial beast that embodied the essence of golden purity.
With its tiger-like form and its nine penetrating gazes,
it radiated an aura of awe-inspiring authority,
capable of cowing even the mightiest of spirits that dared to approach the hallowed gates.
Together, the dual guardians of the Lù Wú and the Kāimíng,
ensured that none could trespass upon the sanctum without their vigilant oversight -
a testament to the timeless traditions that governed
the realms beyond the mortal veil.
- 別有洞天 -
越過大門，穿過茂密盛放的花道，
是一番新景色。
仙土上住了各樣的奇花靈獸，
十丈高的、袖珍的、飛天的，遁地的...
大概每隻靈獸，
是紙醉金迷的現世中，每個人族靈魂的一部份。
那個最根本，最純粹，與生俱來的一部份。
a Hidden Paradise
Beyond the grand gates lay a verdant world,
the pathway lined with blooming flowers in every hue.
This was the realm of the immortals,
home to a menagerie of fantastical spirit-beasts -
towering giants, diminutive sprites, airborne creatures, and subterranean denizens.
Each of these guardians was said to embody a fundamental aspect of the human soul,
a tangible manifestation of the primal, divine essence that lay dormant within every mortal being.
To commune with these transcendent entities was to glimpse the luminous kernel of one's own existence,
untainted by earthly trappings.
For in this sanctuary beyond the threshold,
the soul could shed its mortal constraints and commune with the very forces that had forged it.
The guardian spirits that presided over this domain were the sentinels of that profound, unvarnished truth.
- 樹谷川 -
森林那邊，是個神秘又潔靈的土地。
河川將森林隔開兩邊，
這片地住上了老老嫩嫩的樹精。
樹精沒有固定的形態，
這族群，是仙土中任性又重要的存在。
有的老樹精存活了幾千年，
年輕的也十餘百歲，
它們懂得花語，又聽懂鳥獸歌唱，
穿梭於人間仙土，
見證著世間上的瞬息萬變。
人間中，許多失落的靈魂，
也喜歡對着樹精耳語。
它們守住了許多許多的秘密。
仙土中年資尚淺的靈獸，
總愛到森林碰碰運氣，
偶遇一個半個的善良樹精，解解困擾。
然後靈獸又能重返自己的天職，
守護牽絆着自己的靈魂，
偶爾給現世中的他們，
指點一下迷津。
The Tree-Sprite Valley
Beyond the river that divided the verdant realms,
there dwelled an ancient grove of tree-spirits -
an ageless congregation of capricious yet vital entities that bore no fixed form.
The eldest among them had persisted for millennia,
while the younger were still mere saplings of a century or two.
These tree-spirits were versed in the languages of flowers and beasts,
their ethereal forms drifting between the mortal and immortal worlds, bearing witness to the fleeting changes that took place.
Many lost souls from the earthly realm sought out these wise guardians,
entrusting them with their secrets.
And the fledgling spirits of the immortal realm would often venture to the forest,
seeking counsel from the kindly tree-spirits when their celestial duties proved perplexing.
Thus did the tree-spirits preserve the mysteries of both worlds,
while occasionally offering guidance to their mortal kin beyond the river's edge.
- 繁 花 -
人活着，本來就是進入凡塵大門，
獨個兒遊歷着人間各種的善惡與美。
頓悟之時，再打開內心大門，
竹林的風，河川的漣漪。
在這片不再孤單的仙土中，
迎面而來都是靈獸的擁抱，
遍地又開滿奇珍異花，
於花海中，與精靈耳語着各種遊歷奇遇。
世間中的紛紛擾擾，
在你找到內心門匙的一瞬間，
一切蕩氣回腸，也歸於寧靜。
Blooming
In the course of human life,
one enters the mortal realm to embark on a journey through
the myriad shades of good and evil, beauty and ugliness.
But when the moment of enlightenment arrives, the inner gates swing open -
to the caress of the bamboo-grove winds, the ripples of the flowing river.
And in this realm beyond solitude,
the embrace of guardian spirits greets the traveler, as fantastical blooms carpet the ground.
Amidst the flower-sea,
one communes with the whispering sprites, sharing the tales of one's earthly odyssey.
For in the very moment that the key to one's inner sanctum is found,
the tumult of the mortal world fades away,
subsumed by a profound and tranquil stillness.