Here is a carefully crafted English translation preserving the original nuances and literary essence:
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A single thought arises, and eight-directional spirits lean to listen.
A thousand tangled thoughts bloom and perish like knotted thread - this is the mortal realm.
"Where is she heading?" The hand holding a pipe leaned sideways on a wicker chair. Before him hovered a scroll sparsely marked with locations.
The white jade tracking Shuichan's movements had been secretly enchanted. The Pavilion Master frowned - the spell-bound stone gradually eroded its bearer's willpower. This was the price paid for the girl's window-smashing mischief.
"Diting!"
The ocarina's melody echoed through the valley, a "Spirit Summoning" song resonating between cliffs. Moonlight grass rustled as "Diting, answer my call!" materialized.
A white lion stood half-human height, growling low. Its spiraled horn pierced through parting reeds, whip-like tail twitching, golden eyes blazing with primordial authority.
Once Guanyin's mount, this ancient beast had been found injured, its body invaded by evil spirits. Endowed with a thousand ears to hear all thoughts, it now displayed unprecedented agitation. For the first time, Shuichan saw fear in Diting's demeanor - its tail swished unnaturally, forepaws retreating.
"What troubles you?" The spirit beast avoided her gaze, nostrils flaring as it retreated.
Shuichan chuckled bitterly, mistaking its reaction for detecting the dark energy in her wounds. "You never miss anything, old friend. Just chronic ailments." Diting shook its massive head, backing further.
Could it be... the thoughts?
Though renowned for acute hearing, Diting's true power lay in discerning mental energies. Under its guidance, Shuichan had learned to distinguish benevolent from malicious intent.
Thoughts were formidable forces. Yet Shuichan in her temporal entrapment remained like a child at ocean's edge, mistaking cosmic tides for mere deep waters. She comprehended nothing of thought's cataclysmic power - how it could overturn destiny's predetermined course.
A bomb casually held in infant hands. A butterfly's wingbeat completing universe-shattering storms.
"Would you still be born if life's conclusion were predetermined?"
Bai Changming's wine cup paused mid-air, suspended by Shuichan's interruption.
"For me, this is already fate's endpoint." In her dream, his pale sleeve swept over divination papers: "For them too. We're trapped, Shuichan. Only rage lets me taste life's familiar breath now."
Neither knew thought's power would soon upend all destinies. Nor could Bai foresee how within months, the once-smiling girl would turn rage's blade against him.
What thoughts could frighten even Diting?
Alertness surged through Shuichan. As she approached, the beast growled low, retreating. Dizziness struck - tracking spells, alcohol's aftermath, weakened defenses, festering wounds, and chaotic mental energies overwhelmed her.
Mist clouded her vision. Collapsing to her knees, Shuichan found herself bombarded by demonic thoughts - tangible whispers inducing nausea. Her magic failed as serpentine stench intensified.
"D-Diting..." Vision blurring, arms leaden.
A muscle-memory arrow flew from her bow before consciousness faded. Diting's roar echoed as darkness claimed her.
She awoke in a dry well carpeted with autumn leaves. The bloodied spirit beast lay dying beside her. Though weak, her magic had returned. Accessing Diting's memories revealed their desperate battle - the guardian fighting alone, shielding her unconscious form until their final retreat into this stone prison.
Instinct warned Diting's life force was fading.
Will to fight remained; power to act did not.
Gazing upward through the well's circular window to distant skies, Shuichan understood. Beyond this unreachable azure disc, no escape existed.