Ya Ya

That had been reckless.

He regretted it somewhat. A turtle's greatest strength was endurance; he should have competed with the wolf pack in patience by the pond. He wasn't a Honey Badger—why was he charging in so recklessly?!

Su He stretched out his neck and hurriedly surveyed his surroundings.

One li northwest lay Listening Sea Lake, but crocodiles blocked the way. Two li east was the little pond where he had been barely surviving, guarded by a wolf pack bristling with killing intent.

Less than a hundred meters southwest stood an abrupt stone mountain. It was not tall, only twenty or thirty zhang high, its strange rocks jagged and craggy.

Up the mountain!

Su He made his decision in an instant.

This was his only path. He had no ability to cross hundreds of crocodiles to reach Listening Sea Lake, nor could he defeat a pack of wolves. To the northeast was open grassland without even a place to hide. Going up the mountain was his only option.

He would quickly climb up, find a crevice, and wedge himself inside. As long as he found a suitable crack, he could tuck his body in and leave only his shell exposed. No one would be able to do anything to him.

With half a Watersnake in his mouth, surviving for a month or so would not be a problem. When the time arrived and the Slovenly Old Daoist did not see him at their appointment, he should come looking for him... right?

Su He clamped the half-eaten snake in his jaws and darted up the mountain, Extremely Fast—turtles could move countless times faster than people imagined.

Yet even so, before he had climbed ten zhang, a Wild Wolf had already pounced, snapping at Su He.

Su He withdrew into his shell, and the Wild Wolf bit empty air. Its teeth crashed together with a sharp crack. Its head rang with a stunned buzz, and then it saw the turtle's head shoot out like lightning, biting straight into its throat.

It was the first time it had seen a turtle dare to resist.

The turtle's mouth was like a beak. Its upper and lower jaws snapped shut, locking its throat tight. The Wild Wolf immediately could not breathe. It struggled, roared, leaped... but Su He kept Biting Tightly.

He put every ounce of strength in his body into his beak-like jaws and bit open the Wild Wolf's throat. Scalding blood flooded into his mouth and rolled down into his belly as the Wild Wolf dragged him through the dirt, rolling and struggling.

Gradually, its movements slowed. Gradually, it stopped moving altogether.

It was dead.

Su He released his numb jaw, laboriously turned himself over, raised his head high, and looked down.

Before the savage stone mountain stood more than twenty Wild Wolves and swathes of crocodiles. The two factions were clearly divided, facing a blood-soaked turtle whose black body had already been dyed red with wolf blood.

Su He slightly raised his head.

A single turtle had somehow assumed the bearing of an army of thousands.

Kill!

Which one of you dared fight me? Only one wolf had stepped forward all this time. Were these fellows afraid of him? He looked down and saw a Girl about Three to Four Years Old clutching the tail of a massive crocodile, swinging it in a full circle and smashing it into the wolf pack.

As she smashed them, she shouted in a Childish Voice, "Don't bully the turtle!"

More than twenty wolves had already had seven or eight of their number knocked down by her. She had beaten the beasts so thoroughly that none dared step forward.

Su He: "..."

Where had this little baby come from? She seemed to be helping him. Was she a beast of his kind that had gained intelligence? Could she not bear to see her own kind bullied? He Looked at the Wild Wolf he had exhausted all his strength to kill, then at the wolf pack and Crocodile Pack that the little baby had beaten into not daring to Approach.

A strange feeling inexplicably welled up inside him.

The little girl had fought wildly and driven back the crocodiles and Wild Wolves. She threw the crocodile in her arms onto the ground, clapped her hands, planted them on her hips, and glared at the Beast Horde.

"Don't bully the turtle!" she warned solemnly in her milky voice.

Only after confirming that the Beast Horde was fearful did she turn and walk over. She stroked Su He's turtle head and revealed an innocent smile. "Hehe, I found a pretty turtle too! It's much better than Grandpa Ge's turtle, and it even dared fight wolves!"

She crouched down and met Su He's gaze. "Right? I saw that you were very smart too. You knew how to use an eagle to fly, unlike that bad turtle Grandpa Ge met. It agreed to meet Grandpa Ge on the Seventh Day of the Seventh Month, but Grandpa Ge waited all night and it never showed up."

Su He blinked, utterly confused.

"Big Turtle, did you run here because you knew there was treasure on the mountain?" She carefully wiped the Bloodstains off Su He with a handkerchief, then picked him up and headed toward the summit. "The Spiritual Energy at the mountaintop is what Mother is using to regulate the climate!"

The Girl giggled. "Mother fought someone and messed up the weather. She just finished fixing it, and this time she's bathing on the mountain. I'll take you to see her, then give you a wash too. You stink!"

Su He: "???"

"!!!"

Mother? Bathing? Was that something a two-year-old turtle like him could watch?

Su He did not struggle. He let the little girl carry him up the mountain. After rounding a cluster of towering boulders, the scenery atop the mountain came fully into view.

There was a pavilion, with a crescent pool before it and thin mist curling above the water.

There was no bathing woman.

"Ya Ya, where did you go?"

A Cool and Aloof Voice came from behind him. Su He craned his neck toward the sound, then froze.

The speaker was a Woman of twenty-six or twenty-seven. Dressed in white, she shone like an autumn moon. As her sleeves fluttered, her beauty was peerless and radiant. Most striking of all was her independent, otherworldly bearing, like a white lotus rising from the water—calm, elegant, clear as frost...

Especially since she had just finished bathing, her dark hair still damp and scattered over her chest, outlining its soft rises and falls.

"Mother!" the little baby cried happily. "I found a big turtle! It's even better than the turtle Grandpa Ge talked about! It can fly!"

At the sound of the child's voice, a few traces of a smile appeared on the Woman's cool face.

Children were children, innocent and adorable. Three days ago, they had encountered Elder Ge passing by with Sword Control. Elder Ge had said he was going to keep an appointment with a turtle, only to be stood up by it. Since then, the Little Girl had shown immense interest in intelligent turtles.

As if possessed by Demonization, she wanted a turtle too—not those exotic turtle beasts that could spit water and breathe fire, but an utterly ordinary little turtle of exceptional intelligence.

She had even begged her to restore the disturbed climate, hoping that the turtle Elder Ge had mentioned would see the Lotus Flower bloom and come to keep its appointment.

This girl was truly obsessed. Taking advantage of her bath, she had somehow brought back an Ink Turtle.

The Woman's soft hand lightly brushed the air, and a stream of clear water swept over Su He. The blood and grime on his body, along with the fishy stench from years of lurking in mud, were washed away completely.

"Mother, can I take it home and raise it?" The Girl blinked her large eyes.

The Woman shook her head. "A Demon Transformation Fruit only grew a few days ago. These hundred days are when the Hundred Beasts Contention for the chance to transform into demons. If you take it home, it will miss its opportunity."

Holding the turtle, the Girl's expression darkened. After A Long While, she suddenly looked up. "Then Mother, can you help Ya Ya see whether it has eaten a Demon Transformation Fruit? It was fighting wolves just now. Maybe it snatched one!"

So the little girl was called Ya Ya. Was that a childhood name? Su He wondered.

The Woman smiled and stroked her daughter's head. "Only Beasts can sense Demon Transformation Fruits. Mother does not have the Heavenly Mystery Mirror here, so I cannot tell."

Demon Transformation Fruits were opportunities meant for Beasts. Unless humans saw them with their own eyes, no matter how profound their cultivation, they could not sense the fruits' aura.

It was like in his previous life: no matter how learned one was, to observe sound waves or electromagnetic waves, one still needed special instruments and equipment. Humans themselves did not possess that ability.

Demon Transformation Fruits belonged to Beasts. Humans could not perceive them. This had nothing to do with cultivation; it was the Heaven and Earth Rules.

The Woman placed a bright red fruit in Ya Ya's arms. "Go play! Mother still needs to adjust the formation. We'll go back in a while."

"Okay!" Ya Ya answered, carrying Su He into the pavilion.

Her mood was a little low.

Su He raised a claw and pressed it against her chubby little cheek.

The Little Girl was not in high spirits. She pressed Su He's claw down. "Big Turtle, don't make trouble. You can't play with me. I'm afraid you'll fall in love with me. You have to go compete for the Demon Transformation Fruit, and you can't Follow Me..."

Her eyes suddenly lit up. "That's right! Once the fight for the Demon Transformation Fruit is over, you can come find me!"

She set Su He on the ground, formed hand seals with both hands, and condensed One Piece of talisman. With a press of her little hand, she stamped it onto Su He's forehead. "With this mark, you can go up Azure Origin Mountain! Then you can come play with me! Let's pinky promise—you're not allowed to break the appointment!"

Turtle claw and little hand hooked together. A Gentleman's pact was formed.

The Girl smiled happily. "I'll tell you, my name is Feng Ya Ya. My mother is Su Hua Nian, and my father is Feng... forget it, I won't talk about him. He isn't a good person. If he sees you, he'll definitely think about boiling you for meat. When you come to find me, remember to keep Avoiding him!"

"Ya Ya! You are not allowed to speak ill of your Father!" Mother's voice came from outside the pavilion. She did not object as she watched her daughter leave a mark on a turtle, but with a silent gesture from afar, she subtly altered her daughter's mark.

A mark was proof of identity. Could this silly girl just leave any sort of credential behind? This was a rune mark with the highest level of authority. If someone captured this turtle, they could use it to Entered her treasury directly.

That would not do.

Feng Ya Ya pouted and gave a snort. "Why can't I say bad things about Daddy? He wants to eat everything—he even wants to eat Ya Ya! Ya Ya would rather have a turtle for a Daddy!"