"Yellow essence?"
Qi WuHuo instinctively tugged at the basket on his back. "Did you plant all this yellow essence?"
The spotted deer shifted a hoof and said, aggrieved, "Of course we did!"
"You humans dug up all the yellow essence we'd planted on this mountain! It took us so long to plant it all again, and even longer for it to grow back. Why have you come to dig it up again?"
Qi WuHuo thought for a moment. "Then how can you prove these medicinal materials were planted by you?"
"And that they're not just native to this mountain?"
The deer was so flustered it stamped a hoof. "We definitely planted them! We even marked every spot. Look, if you don't believe me!" With a few nimble leaps, the deer sprang down from the rock wall and led Qi WuHuo to see.
Sure enough, every place where yellow essence grew had been marked.
Some were marked with little stones arranged in a pattern; others had a small stone tablet tucked behind a tree. Every last patch was accounted for. As the deer pointed them out, its face beamed with pride—a far cry from the man-eating monsters Qi WuHuo had encountered as a boy, when he'd fled famine and wandered into the Demon Kingdom.
Through his Primordial Spirit, he could see the clear, pure aura surrounding the deer.
Curious, Qi WuHuo asked, "Are you a deer demon?"
The deer corrected him. "I'm a Deer Spirit!"
"Ah, don't ask me about that. Look, we planted all of this ourselves, so you have to give it back to me!"
Qi WuHuo nodded. "If you planted it, then it should be yours."
As he spoke, he untied his basket and took out the yellow essence.
The deer counted out its share, then gave a small portion back to Qi WuHuo. "This is yours."
"Mine?"
"Yeah. You helped us dig it up, so it's your payment."
The little deer told Qi WuHuo to wrap the yellow essence in cloth. Once it had been bundled up and strapped onto the deer's back, the deer tied a knot and set off, swishing its little tail with satisfaction.
After a few hops, it paused, thought for a moment, then turned back to look at Qi WuHuo.
"But you're a good fellow."
"We're having a feast today. Do you want to come along?"
The boy in blue cloth thought for a moment, then pointed at himself and smiled. "Can I come too?"
"Of course!"
"It's a feast in the mountains, right?"
The mountains lay blanketed in white. A little deer bounded ahead while the blue-clad boy followed, his black hair neatly tied back and a basket on his back. In plain, cloth-soled shoes, he stepped through the snow, one step at a time, holding onto the basket straps. Curiously, he asked, "You can talk, but where did you learn?"
The deer lifted its head proudly. "Of course I can talk."
"Look, I've refined my crossbones, so I can speak now. And I've cultivated my primordial essence. Heh, an ordinary deer only lives for twenty years, but I can live for a hundred."
The boy carrying the basket asked, "After cultivating, you can only live a little over a hundred years?"
The deer snorted. "What, did you think all living beings were long-lived like humans?"
Qi WuHuo was puzzled. "Long-lived?"
"Humans only live to be seventy or eighty, don't they?"
The deer replied with the air of someone telling him he didn't know how lucky he was. "But a deer is old once it's fifteen!"
It leaped onto a rock and said, "My grandfather was taken in by a human Daoist. There was a forest fire, and the Daoist carried him home. When my grandfather was little, the Daoist looked just like this. When my grandfather grew up and could roam all over the mountains, the Daoist still looked the same. And when my grandfather died of old age, the Daoist still looked the same."
"Many wild beasts in the mountains live their entire lives without seeing much change in a human's appearance. Humans are strong and have such long lives—five times ours. Doesn't that make them long-lived?"
The little deer was full of confusion, then added, "If I can cultivate and live for more than a hundred years, that's already amazing!"
Qi WuHuo thought about it for a moment, then smiled. "That makes sense."
But in his heart, he reflected: It seemed that lifespan and longevity weren't so absolute. For a deer, with a new generation every five years, cultivating until it could reach the human limit of lifespan meant it could outlive twenty generations of deer. It was certainly worthy of being called an ancestor.
Yet to humans, that was merely the Complete Three Talents realm.
And to mayflies, life began at dawn and ended at dusk.
Even a deer's lifespan must seem impossibly long to them.
The boy's thoughts were clear as he murmured to himself:
"Though the years stretch long, a human lives a hundred years between heaven and earth."
"Yet compared to heaven and earth, we are but mayflies."
"Born at dawn, dead by dusk."
The Deer Spirit bounded along ahead and heard what the person behind it had said.
It found it so strange.
Humans could live for seventy or eighty years—seventy or eighty years! How could they say they were like mayflies? And what was a mayfly, anyway?
What a strange person. So strange.
Suddenly, a booming laugh rang out ahead. "Ha ha ha! 'Compared to heaven and earth, we are but mayflies'—what a fine saying. All things are born between heaven and earth, and who among them is any different?"
"Looks like this little deer has found herself an extraordinary guest."
"Friend, come on in!"
The hearty voice shook the trees ahead. The Deer Spirit bounded through a gap in the woods, then stopped and turned around. Its bright black eyes watched Qi WuHuo, as if inviting him in.
The boy smiled, raised a hand to push aside a pine branch blocking his way, and ducked under it. The branch trembled, scattering snow onto his blue robe. His clothes were clean, his eyes bright as morning stars. He stepped through, saying, "Pardon the intrusion," and the view suddenly opened up.
It was a broad, level clearing. The snow had yet to melt, and in the middle lay a wide spread of banana leaves, still green despite the winter. Various fruits and medicinal materials covered them. On a stone platform ahead, a white-fronted tiger with round pupils lay sprawled.
At a glance, it was more than ten feet long. Its tail swayed lazily, stirring the air. When it stood, its head nearly reached Qi WuHuo's height. Its amber eyes watched the boy in blue with a calm, quiet gaze.
Seeing the tiger, Qi WuHuo's body stiffened instinctively.
Then he sensed the clear, pure aura around it, and his tension eased. The tiger recognized Qi WuHuo as the boy who had carried that unfathomable old man down the mountain some time ago. Though it hadn't gone close to listen to the old man's teaching, other tigers had mentioned the boy afterward.
The tiger thought that the old man had indeed chosen well. Anyone who could say such things deserved his attention. In a booming voice, he said, "Young friend, I am the Mountain God of this mountain. Today is our year-end feast, and you've arrived at just the right time."
Qi WuHuo cupped his hands. "It seems I've come at an opportune moment."
Then he noticed a Bronze Cauldron beside the tiger. The little deer jumped over, untied the bundle on its back, and poured all the yellow essence inside into the cauldron.
After the little deer stepped aside, one monkey after another swung over.
They placed all kinds of large, plump fruits into the cauldron.
Then a fox brought Spirit Grass in its mouth, and a white snake carried ginseng. They added everything to the cauldron. At the little deer's prompting, Qi WuHuo also put the yellow essence from his bundle inside.
As the tiger spoke, his words rumbled with a low growl.
"This is my treasure."
"At the year-end gathering, we put various spirit fruits inside to refine them into a spirit liquid. Drinking it can extend one's life by a year, temper the body, and purify primordial essence. It greatly benefits cultivation. Through this, I became the Mountain Lord."
"We gather at year's end to make the spirit liquid."
"Every three years, we gather to discuss the Dao."
Qi WuHuo asked, "Purify primordial essence?"
The tiger nodded. The other spirits had no idea what primordial essence meant, so he'd mentioned it casually. Seeing Qi WuHuo's reaction, he seemed to understand, and the tiger asked with a smile, "Do you know the method for cultivating primordial essence?"
Qi WuHuo shook his head.
"I don't know the method. I only know of primordial essence."
The tiger nodded slightly.
Then he asked, "In that case, would you be willing to hear my Dao?"
Before you continue