When I was young, I did not recognize the moon, and called it a white jade plate.
I also suspected it was the mirror of the Jasper Terrace, flying high at the end of the azure clouds.
As Ye Qin gazed at the moon overhead, an ancient poem he had studied as a child in his previous life suddenly echoed through his mind. Back then, he had been young and ignorant, thinking only that the moon was far beyond reach.
More than once, he had asked the adults whether there really was a lonely rabbit on the moon, along with a solitary cassia tree.
He looked up at the moon, and the moon seemed to be looking back at him. When he ran, the moon moved along with him.
In truth, Ye Qin was not the only one. Even now, humanity's steps in exploring the moon had never stopped. Yet he was the only person capable of contemplating Lunar Yin and cultivating through it like this.
At the end of the day, both were forms of exploration. The only difference was that the former used science, while the latter used the "Dao."
There was a saying that the end of science was theology. Though that was merely marketing accounts spouting nonsense, perhaps there was still some truth to it.
Ye Qin gazed at Lunar Yin suspended in the firmament. It seemed lofty and far above all things, yet it knew the suffering of the mortal world. It cast down a veil of gentle radiance, smoothing the ravines between the mountains and soothing the wounds of the human world.
His gaze followed the path of the silvery radiance, treading across the entire landscape.
The moon's light was not as dazzling as the sun's and was often easily overlooked, yet it was a guiding beacon in the darkness. Without the moon, one could easily lose one's way.
Within his contemplation.
Under the moonlight's enveloping glow, a gigantic skeleton appeared in midair, shimmering with silvery-white light. Anyone unaware of the truth might have thought it was a piece of white jade that glowed all over.
Upon closer inspection, one would discover many spots of light growing across the skeleton, shaped like crescent moons.
Beneath the skeleton, Ye Qin also received the source's reciprocal nourishment. A halo of light descended onto his serpentine body.
It began at the tip of his tail, then moved to the middle of his body, then reached his head. In the end, it transformed entirely into a tiny point of light and merged into one of his snake pupils.
Every scale on Ye Qin's body opened, as though each possessed a life of its own. With every breath, he absorbed all the moonlight into his body.
The radiance did not last long. It soon gradually faded, but the snake scales still glimmered with rippling light, looking as though countless stars had fallen into them.
There was none of the terror usually associated with snakes. Instead, he resembled some kind of work of art.
Pure and divine.
Ye Qin seemed to have fallen asleep, but in truth, his mind was crystal clear.
Within his contemplation.
A bright moon hung in the heavens, while a chilly crescent moon also appeared behind the skeleton. Both moons shone brilliantly, and their appearances were indistinguishable from one another.
Under the silver moon's complement, the skeleton that served as the source object of his contemplation became even more sacred.
As Ye Qin's contemplation deepened, white mist once more surged from around him in reality, affecting the surrounding magnetic field. It was as though even the air had undergone some unfathomable change.
The nearby jungle rustled softly, as if some creature were approaching.
The beast's pupils gazed at the little snake in the distance. It inexplicably felt a sense of closeness, yet what it felt even more strongly was awe.
It did not know why it had come here. It seemed driven by some instinct. The beast's mind could not think through so many things, so it simply stared ahead without blinking.
Had a human been there at that moment, they would certainly have discovered something astonishing: within those beastly pupils was "devotion."
The surrounding environment was no different from anywhere else. The only difference was the green snake worshiping the moon.
It looked so strange, yet also perfectly harmonious.
On the grass a hundred meters away, a Field Mouse was searching for food. Suddenly, it glanced at the moon, dropped the wild fruit in its paws, and ran toward the southeast.
Owls were creatures that hid by day and emerged at night. This should have been their hunting time.
A pair of wings spread wide and swept through the sky. It precisely caught sight of the Field Mouse running across the ground, its sharp talons curling slightly as it clearly prepared to attack.
It dipped its body and plummeted at high speed, its movements smooth and effortless. The running Field Mouse was obviously unaware of anything. Death was approaching, yet it knew nothing and continued toward its destination.
The Field Mouse was about to be caught. The strong preyed on the weak—this was nature's fundamental law.
The moon in the firmament silently watched it all, illuminating two shadows.
The owl abruptly changed direction, then suddenly flew back into the sky and headed toward the highest point of the mountaintop, as though something had driven it to abandon its hunting instinct.
Animals had spirits, but they lacked wisdom. The mountaintop seemed to possess an immense, unseen attraction for them, even suppressing their desire to hunt.
And the direction in which they advanced was precisely where Ye Qin was!
By the time Ye Qin finished contemplating and opened his eyes again, it was already the latter half of the night. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a pair of beastly pupils glowing dimly in the distance, which then seemed to startle.
A flash of yellow light vanished in an instant as it swiftly fled into the bushes nearby.
Though it was extremely fast, Ye Qin's eyes were sharp. "So it was a weasel."
As for why there was a weasel nearby, Ye Qin simply assumed it had happened to pass by. After returning to the cave, he did not take the matter to heart.
Let alone a mere weasel—even if a large beast came now, with Ye Qin's current abilities, it probably would not be his match.
He was no longer the frail, pitiful little snake he had once been, whose life could be taken by any passing natural enemy.
He had thought it was an accident. Who could have expected that after Ye Qin finished cultivating the next day and opened his eyes again, there would this time be two pairs of eerily green eyes.
Good heavens. Besides a weasel, there was now also a little Field Mouse.
Ye Qin suddenly felt as though he were being watched intensely. When he looked up, he saw that there was also an owl perched on the treetop. It looked somewhat dull and wooden, as though it was not very bright.
If he remembered correctly, Field Mice and owls were natural enemies, and snakes were also part of an owl's diet.
Even if this were a coincidence, it was far too unusual. Besides, the weasel had already appeared here for the second time.
He remembered that before he began cultivating, none of these animals had been there. In other words, they had only gathered here after he began cultivating.
Once Ye Qin finished cultivating, these animals swiftly fled into the bushes nearby or vanished into the sky. They soon disappeared once more, leaving the ground empty, as though nothing had ever happened.
Only a strand of yellow fur drifted to the ground, especially conspicuous beneath the moonlight.
"It seems they were attracted here by me."
Ye Qin fell into thought. As he cultivated each day, more and more animals gathered, and there were all kinds of species.
Most of them were small animals, along with owls and the like. Later, he had grown completely accustomed to them.
As for why they were attracted to him, it might have been because he contemplated Lunar Yin and absorbed moonlight, thereby altering the surrounding magnetic field and producing some kind of special energy.
At first, these animals might have been afraid and dared not approach him too closely. They merely watched from afar. But after seeing that Ye Qin did not seem to react and would not harm them, they gradually grew bolder.
However, the patch of open ground around Ye Qin remained an absolute forbidden zone. Still, no animal dared to set foot there.