In the quiet mountain forest, a thin crescent moon hung in the sky, and the sudden cry of a gibbon echoed from the bamboo grove behind the mountain.
Xin Xiu had been caught for the fifth time.
For this operation, in order to streamline personnel and achieve a surprise infiltration, she only brought along The Second, who had insisted on coming and was quite agile. Both of them were captured. Sitting in place, they began to discuss where their tactics had gone wrong. First of all, this operation had gone according to plan - whoever was exposed first was supposed to create a disturbance to attract the full attention of the Senior Uncle Bamboo Poles, providing cover for the other person.
But they still failed. The biggest reason was probably that these Senior Uncles were too strong. No matter whether it was day or night, no matter what tricks they tried to use to deceive them, they would be immediately seen through.
This was the first insurmountable difficulty Xin Xiu had encountered at Shuling Mountain. The Senior Uncles taught her a lesson: in the face of absolute power, any cleverness is useless.
"There's no choice but to go back and practice hard. When we become powerful enough in the future, we'll come back to challenge the Senior Uncles again," Xin Xiu was forced to give up this method, patting The Second's shoulder to comfort her.
A Senior Uncle Bamboo Pole smiled coolly from the side, "When you become very powerful and come back, I won't stop you."
Xin Xiu: "?" This wasn't right, were the Senior Uncles really this afraid of the strong and bullying of the weak?
Xin Xiu: "But Senior Uncles, isn't your duty to guard the back mountain? How can you be like this? If bad people try to force their way in, will you just let them pass?"
Senior Uncle Bamboo Pole: "Of course not. We'll fight until our last breath before letting anyone pass."
Another Senior Uncle Bamboo Pole added: "After letting people in, the Founding Master is still inside. We just need to collect the bodies of those who tried to force their way in."
The last Senior Uncle Bamboo Pole said: "So our real duty should be to play with the young disciples of Shuling Mountain who like to challenge themselves."
They were actually joking now, definitely from chatting too much with her recently.
Xin Xiu got up, dusting off her bottom, and carrying the purple bamboo shoots she had just dug up, she bid farewell to the Senior Uncles. They were so familiar now that they didn't need to wait for the master to come and collect them. The Senior Uncle Bamboo Poles drew another mark on the bamboo tag representing their number of attempts to break in, right in front of them.
When Shentu Yu saw purple bamboo shoots in that day's food, he knew his disciple had gone to challenge the back mountain again.
Some masters didn't like their disciples going to challenge the back mountain, like Elder Master Han Fangzi, who didn't allow Little Ninth to join in their mischief; some masters really liked their disciples going to challenge the back mountain, like Senior Uncle Bo Luan, who encouraged The Second to go to the back mountain with her every day, and then listened to how they failed, finding amusement in it.
As for Shentu Yu, he didn't care either way. He only cared about—
"Is the back mountain really so fun? I see you've been there several times these past few days." Shentu Yu, who rarely came out to eat face to face with Xin Xiu, asked.
Xin Xiu had been waiting for him to ask. Hearing this, she deliberately let out a heavy sigh, "Master, I'm not going to the back mountain for fun. I have important business."
Shentu Yu: "Oh?"
Xin Xiu hurriedly explained: "Actually, Master, I haven't told you before, but I encountered a large Iron-Eating Spirit Beast on our Secluded Bamboo Mountain. I used to see her often, but recently I haven't seen her. I suspect she might have encountered some problem, so I wanted to go into the back mountain to look for her."
Shentu Yu stopped chewing. His disciple's attempts to break into the back mountain were not for fun, but for... him?
He looked at his disciple, then at the purple bamboo shoots in front of him, suddenly feeling guilty. Even the bamboo shoots he hadn't swallowed yet didn't taste good anymore.
Xin Xiu observed his expression and carefully asked: "Master, I see you've been very busy lately, often not seeing you even when you've returned."
Shentu Yu thought to himself, could it be that his disciple had guessed from the timing that the Iron-Eating Spirit Beast was actually him?
Xin Xiu said: "Master, if you're not busy one day, could you go to the back mountain and see how that large Iron-Eating Spirit Beast is doing for your disciple? I know you can enter the back mountain, so if it's not too much trouble, please do this favor for your disciple~"
If she really had no other choice, Xin Xiu wouldn't have asked this of her master when he was so busy. But she couldn't just leave the panda she had grown close to without news for so long. What if something had happened?
Shentu Yu tensely agreed, wearing his bear skin. With this worry on his mind, he couldn't focus on refining spiritual tools, so he had to temporarily set aside the spiritual tool in his hand and first change into his original form. But after changing into his original form, how could he let his disciple find him? Usually, he only needed to wait in place, and his disciple would pounce on him like a tiger.
Having no choice, in order to put his little disciple's mind at ease as soon as possible, Shentu Yu simply sat on a large tree branch behind the bamboo house, directly facing his disciple's window, making the not particularly sturdy tree rustle under his weight.
Xin Xiu heard the sound of rustling leaves outside at night, at first thinking it was the wind, but upon listening carefully, she felt something was off. Curious, she ran to open the window and saw the familiar large panda at a glance.
With just one look, she could recognize this as the panda mother she was familiar with. Although all pandas look alike, and she had only seen three pandas, she was confident she could pick this one out from a group of large pandas. It was like when she used to keep dogs - even if more dogs with similar appearances were placed together, she could still spot her beloved pet at a glance.
Because their eyes were different from other unfamiliar furry beasts, that kind of affectionate and indulgent gaze set them apart from other furry beasts. The reason Xin Xiu took them to heart was because she was won over by this affectionate gaze.
The difference between beasts and humans is that their affection is purer and more obvious.
"Ah! You actually came to find me!" Xin Xiu was delighted, almost stepping onto the railing to jump onto the tree branch over there. But the creaking tree branch, unable to bear the weight, successfully stopped her.
Xin Xiu: "How did you climb to such a high place?" Her tone was light, intimate after a short separation.
"Wait a moment, I'll find a ladder to come over, and you can climb over to my side along it." Xin Xiu couldn't remember where she had seen it, but pandas seemed to not be good at climbing down trees? In any case, it would be too dangerous for her to climb down now, so it was better to have her climb directly into the room.
Shentu Yu, who had originally planned to just let his disciple see him and then leave, now found himself "stuck up a tree". His disciple had even set up a ladder for him and was eagerly reaching out her hands towards him. If he turned and left now, wouldn't his disciple be heartbroken?
He could only walk along the ladder.
When there was just a little bit left, Xin Xiu watched the slow-moving panda mother and wanted to help her, but when she tried to lift, she couldn't move her at all.
Xin Xiu: ... My hands can now lift two hundred jin, yet they can't move her at all under such monstrous strength.
Mom, may I ask how much you actually weigh?
The master, weighing nine hundred jin net, couldn't answer her, after all, he was now just a panda person pretending to be an ordinary panda. He was here to play with his disciple... no, he was here for his disciple to play with.
In the end, he couldn't escape the fate of being used as a cushion, and was forcibly dragged (pushed) onto the bed by Xin Xiu's wheedling and pestering.
Cuddling and hugging between parent and child pandas is very common, but Shentu Yu had never had the experience of playing with cubs before. He could only think to himself: "Never mind, just consider it as comforting my disciple to sleep. Never mind, it's not like I haven't had my fur pulled out before. Never mind."
But this time, his disciple didn't pull out his fur. She took out a clean brush and brushed his fur over and over again, very gently, chattering to him as if the one in front of her was really a person, not a fearsome Iron-Eating Spirit Beast that couldn't understand human speech.
Shentu Yu: "..."
"I've been quite worried about you all this time. After all, you're wild, and if you accidentally got sick, no one would take care of you. You might lie down in some corner of the mountain and never get up again."
"The Senior Uncle Bamboo Poles are responsible for watching over the back mountain, but they say they're not responsible for taking care of Iron-Eating Spirit Beasts. I wonder if there are other large carnivores in the back mountain besides you. There must be, right? Do you fight with them? But you look so big and strong, even if you fight, other animals definitely can't beat you."
Rain fell on Secluded Bamboo Mountain, pattering in the night, hitting the bamboo leaves and making the fragrance of bamboo even more pronounced.
Perhaps it was his disciple's words that unconsciously reminded Shentu Yu of something from the past. He wasn't always powerful; he too had experienced weakness. How difficult life could be for a young beast without a mother's care was obvious, especially for the cubs of Iron-Eating Spirit Beasts, who were particularly fragile and unlikely to survive compared to their adult counterparts.
Even among the same species, harmony wasn't guaranteed. Being different made one more likely to be ostracized. He was born understanding more than his peers, and while eating bamboo in the mountains, he would wonder why the others were content with just eating and drinking daily, unlike him who sought something more. But what exactly was he seeking?
As a cub, he would look up at the egrets in the sky and wish to soar among the clouds like them; look down at the fish in the water and desire to swim freely as they did; see the humans who came to Secluded Bamboo Mountain and long for their uniquely gifted bodies.
He then stumbled onto the path of cultivation. Hundreds of years had passed, during which mortals had seen the rise and fall of over a dozen dynasties. The sheer number of experiences he had accumulated was beyond the imagination of his still-young disciple.
Such was the nature of a prolonged cultivation journey. By now, he hadn't thought about wanting anything for a very long time.
But on this cool bamboo-scented night, his little disciple's chatter was endearing, stirring up some old memories.
"I've learned a few new minor spells. Although I couldn't break into the back mountain, I've become much more proficient with these spells. It's clear that real combat is the only shortcut to improvement. The Senior Uncle Bamboo Poles on the back mountain look stern, but they actually take good care of us, specially accompanying us for practice. Still, being stopped every time is so frustrating!"
"Does our Shuling Mountain specialize in producing people who look fierce and unapproachable but are actually very soft-hearted? When you come to Secluded Bamboo Mountain, do they pretend not to see you and let you pass?"
Xin Xiu sat next to the giant panda, combing its fur while sharing thoughts she wouldn't normally express to others.
"I feel like you're very spiritually aware, as if you knew I was looking for you and came specially to see me and put my mind at ease... Next time, if you need my help with anything, you can come find me directly. Don't stay away for too long."
Xin Xiu thought of her dog as she leaned against the panda's fluffy belly and stroked its paw.
Her gentle demeanor was quite different from her usual lively and cheerful self as a young disciple. Watching her, Shentu Yu almost felt as if she wasn't the same child he knew.
The panda mother stopped disappearing and began appearing regularly every three days. However, Xin Xiu's attempts to trick her onto her bed as a cushion were never successful again. She suspected at times that this spiritually aware panda could understand what she was saying but was simply pretending not to when she didn't want to do something.
But even if she guessed correctly that the panda was feigning ignorance, Xin Xiu couldn't do anything about it. After all, she couldn't move this solid, weighty panda.
At the repeated requests of several children, Xin Xiu secretly brought them to see the panda mother. The panda mother was gracious enough not to lose her temper and allowed each child to pet her once. However, that was the limit; when they tried for a second pat, she got up and left.
Xin Xiu always felt that the panda's departing figure had a hint of fleeing in panic, reminiscent of her master who avoided Little Ninth as if dodging landmines.
However, her younger brothers and sisters weren't particularly interested in the Iron-Eating Spirit Beast. Once their curiosity was satisfied after seeing it, even The Second sighed that the legendary Iron-Eating Spirit Beast wasn't as terrifying as he had imagined.
Xin Xiu: "..." Well, not understanding the cuteness of national treasures could only be attributed to being born in different eras and worlds. This was a filter enhanced by sentiment!
Life in Shuling Mountain was peaceful yet interesting. By the time Xin Xiu had learned the art of lightness, able to leap up to the third floor with a single bound - reaching the level of martial arts masters she had read about in novels - it had been about three years since they had emerged from the World in a Basin.
That year, Xin Xiu was approaching twenty. In modern times, it would be the age of a sophomore in college, but in Shuling Mountain, it was still an age where all senior brothers and sisters would pat her head and call her a child.
"To celebrate the third anniversary of your formal initiation, let's have a group dinner, Junior Sister Xiu. It's been a month since we last had one," Senior Brother Cai Xing said, patting Xin Xiu's head.
Xin Xiu: "Senior Brother, you just want to freeload a meal, don't you?"
Senior Brother Cai Xing chuckled, then looked up suddenly as two small white birds flew towards them.
"Huh, what kind of birds are these? I've never seen them before," The Second wondered aloud. His master's cave dwelling didn't have much, but it was full of birds, so he considered himself quite knowledgeable about them.
Xin Xiu recognized them: "Aren't these the little white birds I see every morning on the back mountain of Secluded Bamboo Mountain? Strange, I've never seen them anywhere else. How did they fly all the way here to the Cloud Path Sect?"
Senior Brother Cai Xing's expression turned a bit odd. "These are the Founding Master's cloud larks. They don't exist anywhere else and usually stay only around the back mountain and Secluded Bamboo Mountain. If they fly to other parts of Shuling Mountain, it generally means only one thing."
"They're delivering the Founding Master's triennial punishment methods for disciples who tried to sneak into the back mountain."
Xin Xiu and The Second: "..." They had completely forgotten about this.
The little white bird landed on Xin Xiu's hand. It seemed to recognize her and tilted its small head to nuzzle her palm before spitting out a small bubble containing a rolled-up note.
Senior Brother Cai Xing was surprised: "In the past, these little birds would directly convey messages through voice. Why have they switched to written notes this time?"
