Lord of Mount Tai

All the candidates in the corridor had already left. Even Bai Lu had just finished her interview, and judging by her expression, it had gone pretty well. She had come out beaming.

Now only Wen Ning and Lu Ming remained, sitting side by side on the chairs outside the Thunder Department's interview room like two schoolchildren kept behind by their teacher.

Lu Ming's antlers had perked up again, probably because he knew his ancestor was coming. That meant he had a shot at passing this interview after all.

A little spark of hope had rekindled in his heart.

He swung his legs, chatting idly with Wen Ning.

"Do you think 'wait for notification' means we passed or failed?"

"How would I know?"

Wen Ning was quite relaxed now too, leaning against the back of his chair.

"This is my first Heavenly Court interview too."

"Mine too."

Lu Ming sighed and counted on his fingers. What a rotten start. He had messed up on his very first try and even needed his ancestor to step in.

"But I heard the shorter the interview, the better your chances. Think about it—if the interviewer isn't interested in you, why waste time on you? Look at the Yellow River's River Earl's nephew. He was in there for a whole hour before he came out, and his face was green. He said they asked him over two hundred questions. They even made him tell them how many big Yellow River carp there are in the river. He was practically floating when he came out."

Wen Ning thought about the state everyone else had been in after their interviews, then about his own advanced math question of three times seven. He decided it was better not to mention it. Someone might hit him.

Before Wen Ning could say anything,

heavy footsteps suddenly sounded at the end of the corridor.

The footsteps had a steady rhythm, each step scattering the clouds on the floor.

Wen Ning and Lu Ming turned at the same time and saw an absurdly burly figure approaching them.

The newcomer was a middle-aged man wearing a black official robe with mountain patterns embroidered along its hem.

The moment Lu Ming saw his face, he sprang out of his chair.

His antlers nearly jabbed Wen Ning in the chin.

He ran straight over and bowed respectfully, his voice turning sweet and obedient.

"Ancestor! Why did you come in person?"

The Lord of Mount Tai, a heavyweight among the mountain gods of the Three Realms, looked at Lu Ming with a gaze that was thirty percent disdain, thirty percent resignation, and forty percent affection he could not hide.

He reached out and flicked one of Lu Ming's antlers. Lu Ming clutched it and yelped.

"Could I afford not to come?"

The Lord of Mount Tai's voice was deep and rumbling, as heavy as thunder in the mountains.

"I heard you nearly cried during your interview? A deer over two hundred years old—aren't you ashamed?"

Clutching his antlers, Lu Ming said pitifully,

"They tested me on the appendix."

"What's wrong with the appendix? Shouldn't you memorize that too?"

The Lord of Mount Tai glared at him, but there was no anger in his eyes, only affection for a junior.

"All right, enough. Stop making a spectacle of yourself and come inside with me."

Lu Ming's eyes lit up, and even his antlers quivered.

"Ancestor, are you going to see the Thunder Department's Heavenly Official—"

"Shut up."

Seeing the little deer blurt it out so plainly, the Lord of Mount Tai cut him off.

"I'm merely going to catch up with Heavenly Venerable Wen and mention your situation in passing. Purely catching up, understand?"

"Yes! Yes! Just having a chat!"

Lu Ming nodded furiously, his grin nearly reaching his ears. With his ancestor here, this was probably in the bag.

The Lord of Mount Tai was about to head inside when his gaze fell on Wen Ning standing to one side.

He paused and looked Wen Ning up and down.

"You're Heavenly Venerable Wen's godson?"

When the Lord of Mount Tai addressed him, Wen Ning straightened and greeted him politely.

"Greetings, Lord of Mount Tai."

The Lord of Mount Tai waved a hand, his tone much gentler than when he spoke to Lu Ming.

"No need for formalities. Your godfather and I go way back."

Wen Ning opened his mouth, unsure what to say.

But the Lord of Mount Tai did not linger. If he delayed any longer, Wen Zhong would probably be off work.

He grabbed Lu Ming by the arm and headed inside, scolding him as he went.

"Look at Heavenly Venerable Wen's godson. He came out of his interview without even breaking a sweat. Now look at you—you nearly cried your antlers off. How embarrassing."

Lu Ming was dragged along with both feet scraping the floor.

Even then, he remembered to turn and wink at Wen Ning, mouthing, "Wait for my good news."

With Lu Ming, the only person he could chat with, gone inside too, Wen Ning took out his phone to play with it. Then he checked and realized even that was out of the question. There was no signal at all.

Wen Ning did not dare leave either. His godfather had told him to wait outside.

Only a few minutes passed before the interview room door opened again.

Lu Ming came out with his face crinkled into a chrysanthemum-like grin. At some point, a tiny bell had appeared on his antlers, and it jingled as he walked, looking ready to take flight.

He plopped down beside Wen Ning, let out a long breath, then slowly held up three fingers.

"Three questions."

Wen Ning looked at him, in no hurry to ask. After spending some time with him, he had realized Lu Ming was a little goofball who could not keep anything to himself.

"They only asked me three questions."

Seeing that Wen Ning was not going to ask, Lu Ming continued on his own.

"The first was my name, the second was my age, and the third was which month I shed my velvet every year."

Wen Ning fell silent for two seconds. Could connections really get you this far? But then he thought about himself, and it no longer seemed strange. I'm the biggest beneficiary of connections here.

"Uh... I'm actually a little curious about that too. Which month is it?"

"How would I know! I've never paid attention. What normal deer keeps track of when he sheds?"

Lu Ming was so worked up that his voice cracked.

"You should've seen what happened just now. My ancestor coughed once beside me, and the interviewer immediately said, 'It's fine, it's fine. If you don't know, you can learn gradually.' Then he told me to wait for notification."

Seeing Lu Ming alone, Wen Ning asked curiously,

"Where's the Lord of Mount Tai? Didn't he come out with you?"

At the mention of the Lord of Mount Tai, Lu Ming wilted again.

"No. My ancestor told me to come out. He's in there chatting with Heavenly Venerable Wen. I'm a mature deer already, but they still won't let me hear their conversation."

Wen Ning patted Lu Ming's shoulder and consoled him.

"You're practically overripe. For some things, being too mature isn't good."

Once his excitement wore off, Lu Ming grew a little embarrassed. He scratched his antlers, making the golden bell jingle.

"But don't worry. You're Heavenly Venerable Wen's godson, so you'll definitely be fine. Oh, right, didn't your godfather tell you to wait here? Why hasn't he called you yet?"

As Lu Ming spoke, the interview room door opened.

Wen Zhong and the Lord of Mount Tai walked out side by side.

The presence of the two walking together was frighteningly imposing.

But their expressions were completely different from the stern looks they had worn during the interviews—Wen Zhong had a smile at the corners of his mouth, while the Lord of Mount Tai was roaring with laughter.

"Old Wen, I have to say, that stern act you put on just now was terribly unconvincing. You nearly scared those Heavenly Officials into heart attacks."

The Lord of Mount Tai slapped Wen Zhong on the shoulder so hard that he swayed.

Wen Zhong did not get angry. He was used to it.

"You weren't any better. Who was pointing at the interviewer's nose and shouting at him in there?"

"That was because they had no sense! Testing a child from my deer family on questions from the appendix? Who reads the appendix?"

The Lord of Mount Tai was utterly unapologetic.

"Besides, I only raised my voice a little. It's not like I actually hit anyone."

The two heavyweights who could do as they pleased throughout the Three Realms stood in the corridor, bickering back and forth.

"All right, stop blustering," Wen Zhong interrupted the Lord of Mount Tai.

"Hurry up and take your little deer home. I have things to do."

The Lord of Mount Tai followed Wen Zhong's gaze to Wen Ning, then gave him a knowing look.

He reached out and pulled Lu Ming to his side, pressing his large hand onto Lu Ming's head. "Come on, you're going home with your ancestor. They don't even feed us here."

After being dragged a couple of steps, Lu Ming turned back and waved at Wen Ning.

"Wen Ning! Come visit me at Mount Tai when you have time! I'll take you around Mount Tai's immortal market. It's really lively!"

Wen Ning waved back, watching the chubby figure disappear down the corridor beside his mountain-wall of an ancestor, the bell on his antlers still jingling and clanging.

Wen Zhong stood before Wen Ning and gave him a curt instruction.

"Come with me."