Up the Mountain

Tao Ji muttered, "So many apricots. I need to hide some away. Miao He doesn't know restraint—she'd better not eat herself sick."

Xuan Miao walked at the back, watching Pan Yun silently make her way between them with a basket on her back.

Come to think of it, she was even younger than Miao He. She was a child too.

Xuan Miao's heart softened, and she reached into Pan Yun's basket, pulling out a cloth bag filled with medicinal herbs.

Pan Yun turned around.

"I'll carry it," Xuan Miao said expressionlessly.

Pan Yun glanced at the bag she had taken and said nothing.

Neither Tao Ji nor Xuan Miao carried light loads, especially Tao Ji. He had put practically all the heavy things into his own basket.

They wound their way up the mountain path, sometimes entering the depths of the mountain, then emerging again to climb along its edge. At some point, the sun above was obscured. The sky darkened, as though rain might fall at any moment.

A wind rose in the mountains, making the trees rustle loudly. Clouds and mist rose from nowhere, rolling upward in the direction of the wind...

Moisture filled the air, and Pan Yun felt refreshed in both heart and spirit. Her cultivation technique began circulating of its own accord.

The black cat sprawled on her shoulder could not help lifting its head and meowing toward the valley beside them. "The spiritual energy here is so dense."

Pan Yun also felt that this trip had finally not been in vain.

The cat jumped into Pan Yun's basket and lay down comfortably, stretching its limbs as it muttered, "You should have found a place like this to cultivate long ago. You have memories of your past life. If you had found somewhere like this to cultivate the moment you were born, who knew how powerful you'd be by now?"

Pan Yun: The moment I was born? Was I supposed to crawl naked all the way from the Capital City to Mount Sanqing? Had I cultivated an indestructible diamond body? Did I not need food or water, only to open my mouth toward the northwest and catch the wind to survive?

The black cat immediately fell silent.

After a while, once it had replayed the matter in its mind, it started the conversation again. "What about when you were a little older? Your health was poor, but once you grew up and could speak, you could have talked to your parents and used becoming a Daoist as an excuse to come out and cultivate. It didn't even have to be Mount Sanqing. Since places as good as Mount Sanqing existed in this world, there must naturally be other blessed lands too.

"Maybe there was one in the Capital City. I think you were just too lazy, and too attached to your family."

Pan Yun sneered. Why should I work so hard? You ate all the spiritual energy from the past eight years, and I didn't get a single scrap. Was I supposed to be an orphan? I was an orphan in my past life, and now that I finally had both parents in this life, I was supposed to voluntarily make myself an orphan again?

The black cat did not dare speak again.

Tao Ji suddenly turned around, drew back his neck, and asked, "Why are you sneering?"

Xuan Miao, following behind them, studied Pan Yun and the black cat thoughtfully before telling Tao Ji, "Hurry up. It gets dark quickly in the mountains."

"Oh." Tao Ji looked back at Pan Yun several times. Seeing that she had returned to normal, he stopped paying attention.

His steps were light. Even carrying a heavy load up the mountain, he seemed to expend no effort at all.

As the three of them climbed higher and higher, the clouds and mist grew thicker. Dew and droplets formed on their hair and clothes.

Pan Yun followed closely behind Tao Ji, yet she could still only make out his hazy silhouette. The fog was clearly immense.

Amid the haze, Tao Ji suddenly gave a soft cough and began to sing, "That—traveler in the mountains—"

Pan Yun was startled by his sudden voice, only to hear him continue, "Encircled by mountains, clouds and mist arise..."

His voice struck the huge rocks at their sides. When it rebounded, it followed the slope upward, passing through moss, grass, and pines rooted in the rocks before echoing through the entire valley.

"How many cultivate in the land of clouds and mist? A hundred years opening mountains, bitterly passing on the crossing..."

The sound fell back around Pan Yun, lingering about her body. The spiritual energy within her suddenly surged. Not only through her mouth and nose—her hands, neck, every pore on her body opened, greedily absorbing the spiritual energy drifting around her.

Tao Ji sang in a gentle, tranquil tone, "When merit is fulfilled, the spirit journeys far and returns to the true path—"

Spiritual power flowed gently through her Mud Pill Palace. After leaving behind one-fiftieth within her spiritual realm, it followed the route of the Lesser Celestial Circuit and settled into her Dantian. The exhaustion from climbing vanished without a trace, and her slightly rapid heartbeat calmed. When she came back to herself, she discovered that she had already reached the mountainside near the summit.

She stopped in astonishment and looked down.

In the time it took to sing one song, she had traveled so far?

Xuan Miao stopped and waited for her without urging her on, allowing her to slowly comprehend it.

Pan Yun had never seen such a spell before. It could shorten distance for people without them noticing, and it could even... aid cultivation.

She asked Pan Little Black, who had lived longer, Was that Shrinking the Earth to an Inch?

Pan Little Black said, More or less. It's the same type.

Pan Yun was bewildered. Singing?

This was ten thousand miles apart from the spells she knew.

"Idiot," Pan Little Black said. "The one casting the spell for you wasn't Tao Ji. It was a god."

Pan Yun's eyes widened, and she could not help saying aloud, "A god?"

"Are you not coming?" Seeing that they remained where they were without moving, Tao Ji turned back and called out, "Hurry up. Sanqing Temple is just ahead."

Pan Yun gripped the straps of her basket and jogged after him. "Senior Brother Tao, sing that song again."

Tao Ji said proudly, "It sounds good, doesn't it? I sing this song better than anyone."

"It does, it does. Teach me too. I want to sing it."

Xuan Miao silently followed behind them.

The road ahead grew wider, broad enough for two people to walk side by side with room to spare. Pan Yun squeezed forward to walk beside Tao Ji, but he picked her up and placed her on the inner side while he walked along the mountain edge. "You actually like singing? I'll teach you once we return to the Taoist temple."

"Can't you teach me while we walk?" Pan Yun asked. "Walking only uses your legs, not your mouth."

"I'm afraid you won't remember."

"I have a very good memory."

It was the first time Pan Yun had treated him so well. Tao Ji did not want to keep refusing her, so he nodded. "All right. I'll teach you from the first line."

Xuan Miao silently followed behind the two of them, listening as Tao Ji taught Pan Yun over and over. She turned to look at the utterly still valley.

Pan Yun learned it twice and sang it herself once, but nothing changed. The spiritual energy in her body did not increase either. Her heart felt as though cat claws were scratching at it. "Senior Brother Tao, why is it that when you sing this song, I feel something mysterious beyond mystery, as though my cultivation doubles?"

Tao Ji laughed heartily. He first stopped and bowed in all directions before saying, "Because the mountain god likes it."

Pan Yun asked, "The mountain god?"

"That's right, the mountain god. Come on, the Taoist temple is here."

Pan Yun looked up and saw a flat stretch of land slightly higher ahead. Through the thick mist, a building emerged faintly. As they drew closer, she saw that it was a Taoist temple built of stone.

The Taoist temple had two stories. Incense still stood in the censer out front, burned only halfway down. Pan Yun was about to ask more about the mountain god when someone burst out of the temple with a loud cry, charging straight at Tao Ji like a little cannonball.

Tao Ji held out a finger and pressed it against her forehead, stopping her before scolding, "What are you running for?"

Pan Yun recognized her at a glance. This had to be Miao He, because she truly was round and plump, with baby fat still on her face, a sturdy little body, and large sparkling eyes fixed on them in longing. "Master, did you bring me anything tasty?"

Tao Ji answered helplessly, "I did. Go greet your Martial Uncle first."

Miao He immediately stood properly, put on a serious little face, and bowed to Xuan Miao. "Martial Uncle."

Xuan Miao nodded and asked, "Where is your First Martial Uncle?"

"In the back!" Miao He spotted Pan Yun standing nearby, her eyes full of curiosity. "Master, who is this?"

For a moment, Tao Ji did not know how to introduce Pan Yun. Though he had told her to call him Martial Uncle all along the way, taking a master was something that truly required willingness from both sides.

Whether it was Junior Sister or Pan Yun herself, neither seemed particularly willing.

Then... "This is the new little sister at the temple. She's even younger than you, so you must take good care of her."

Miao He nodded repeatedly. "Okay, okay."

She immediately grabbed Pan Yun's hand. "Junior Sister, come live with me. Here, I'll help you carry it."

As she spoke, she warmly helped Pan Yun take off her basket. The moment she turned sideways, her eyes met those of the black cat inside.

She fell quiet at once, her mouth slightly open. After a long moment, she slowly let out a soft, "Wow—" Then she released the basket and carefully reached out to pick up the black cat.

"Meow—" Pan Little Black sprang down directly to the ground, stretched its body, then swaggered toward the Taoist temple.

Miao He took off after it at once. "A cat—"

Tao Ji wanted to stop her. That was Pan Yun's treasure. Aside from letting him and Xuan Miao hold it, Pan Yun had not allowed anyone else to touch it along the way.

But Pan Yun did not care. She grabbed Tao Ji and asked, "Senior Brother Tao, is the mountain god you mentioned a real mountain god?"

"It's a real mountain god," Tao Ji said, somewhat confused. "This is the mountains. Would anything dare impersonate a mountain god here?"

"No..." Pan Yun's face reddened. After considering her words, she finally asked, "Are there really gods in this world?"

Tao Ji said, "...You cultivate the Dao, yet you ask whether gods exist? If there were no gods, how would you draw talismans? How would you use them?"

"That is formed by condensing spiritual power..."

"No." Tao Ji's face was solemn. "It is formed by invoking divine power.

"Whether talismans or registers, if they are effective, it is because they have invoked divine power. Qi has only its form, not its spirit. What use is the spiritual power you speak of when condensed upon it?"

He looked at Xuan Miao beside him. "Junior Sister, you are most skilled in the path of talismans. This child has gone astray. You must teach her."

Xuan Miao had noticed it long ago. That was why, at Prince Zhou's Mansion, she had advised Pan Yun not to cultivate and to wait until they returned to Sanqing Temple.

Because she could not make sense of Pan Yun's cultivation technique either. She could only hope that Senior Brother could solve Pan Yun's problem.

"There is plenty of time ahead of us. Let's go find Senior Brother first."

Their Senior Brother was sitting on a rock in the rear courtyard with a basin in his hands, eating while admiring the sea of clouds.

When he saw Tao Ji and Xuan Miao leading a child over, he happily waved. "You two are back? Is this the Pan family's child?"

He looked Pan Yun up and down, and the smile on his face gradually faded. He gave a surprised "Eh," becoming much more serious. "How could this child possess such cultivation at such a young age?"

Tao Ji said, "Senior Brother, she's amazing. She can even use a spell to hide within plum trees, and she knows formations too. It's just that no one knows who taught her cultivation technique. It feels strange, as though she has cultivated the wrong path."

He laughed, stroking his beard. "I think her temperament is quite good. Even if her cultivation technique has flaws, she cannot go too far astray."

Pan Yun immediately took a liking to him and bowed directly. "Daoist priest."