Er Ming learned to scroll through videos faster than Xiao Wu had expected.
Learning to tap the one he wanted to watch, however, took him longer than she had expected.
When one of his fingers came down, it covered half the screen. He meant to tap the heart, but tapped the profile picture instead. He finally got back, only to touch the screen again and swipe away the carpet-washing video he was halfway through.
Er Ming lowered his head, his expression growing more and more serious.
Xiao Wu held it in for a long time beside him, but finally couldn't resist.
"Be gentler."
"I already am."
Er Ming looked at his finger, then at the phone.
Why couldn't they make this thing bigger?
In the end, Xiao Wu found a thin twig and had him tap gently with its tip. Er Ming tried twice and finally hit the heart, immediately breaking into a grin.
Da Ming watched from the side without laughing at him.
The tip of his own tail wasn't much easier to use than that finger.
After a night had passed, the lakeside was much quieter than before.
It wasn't that there was no sound, but that no one was speaking.
The two phones took turns making noise as Da Ming and Er Ming each kept their heads down, neither paying Xiao Wu any attention.
Xiao Wu sat on a rock, looking from one to the other, and suddenly felt a little regretful.
Hadn't they promised to come back and play with me?
She reached out and tapped Er Ming's leg.
"What about the fruit you said you'd show me yesterday?"
"After this one."
That video ended, and another came on.
Xiao Wu took a deep breath, pulled out her own phone, and sat down too.
Fine. You watch, and I'll watch too.
The next day, however, Er Ming was no longer content just to watch.
If other people could put things on there, why couldn't he?
Xiao Wu taught him how to aim, record, and stop, then showed him how to cut the empty, shaky footage from the beginning. Er Ming studied with utmost seriousness, but got stuck for ages when it came to choosing a name.
Xiao Wu wouldn't let him put down his real name or the location of the lake.
He thought it over and finally wrote four characters.
A Stroll in the Mountains.
Once he had entered the name, he really did go for a stroll in the mountains.
He hadn't gone far when a noise came from the bushes ahead.
Two Soul Beasts of low ages, one feline and one canine, were facing off at opposite ends of a clearing. Dark markings covered the cat's body, its back was arched, and its front claws were slightly spread. The canine crouched low, a deep growl rumbling in its throat.
Er Ming watched from a distance without going over.
Fights like this were nothing unusual in the forest.
But it suddenly occurred to him that the people on the phone probably hadn't seen many.
Er Ming restrained his presence and wedged the phone into a low fork in a tree, its camera pointing at the clearing ahead. Then he withdrew to the rear.
He didn't grab either of them or drive either side away. He simply waited to see what they would do next.
The feline Soul Beast moved first.
The fine markings on its forehead suddenly lit up. Its front claws swept out in quick succession, sending two short bursts of force streaking from its claws to strike at its opponent in a crisscross.
The earth was sliced open, and thin branches snapped.
Seen through the screen, the attack looked even more formidable than its rather small body suggested.
The canine Soul Beast ducked to one side, evading the head-on strike. Rather than fleeing farther away, it used the dodge to lunge forward.
By the time the feline Soul Beast swiped again, it was already close.
It kicked off with its hind legs and sprang up, its front paws pressing down on its opponent. The feline Soul Beast turned sideways to claw at it but failed to force it back. Instead, the lunge had robbed it of the space it had used to swipe across the clearing.
Crouching behind the tree, Er Ming tilted his head slightly.
How had the one that looked so fierce just now been forced underneath so quickly?
The canine Soul Beast steadied itself, lowered its head, and bared its teeth. A burst of force erupted from its mouth at close range.
Before the feline Soul Beast could raise its claws, it was knocked backward and landed in the mud.
The canine Soul Beast remained standing.
The camera held on the scene, the victor already clear.
Er Ming retrieved the phone, watched the video himself, then showed it to Xiao Wu.
Xiao Wu's eyes lit up when she saw the first two bursts of force.
"That one's fierce."
Er Ming immediately grinned, but didn't tell her what came afterward.
When she saw the feline Soul Beast fall, Xiao Wu paused, then reached out and slapped his leg.
"You knew all along and didn't tell me on purpose!"
Er Ming's grin grew even more smug.
So this was what it felt like to know something someone else didn't.
After he posted it, the comments came even faster than he had expected.
Someone watched only the beginning and left a comment: the cat had ranged attacks, so the dog probably wouldn't be able to get close.
A little while later, the same name appeared below.
"I take back what I just said."
Er Ming stared at it, laughing so hard his chest shook.
"Didn't you just say it was strong?"
Xiao Wu held back her laughter and scrolled down for him.
"Don't just look at that first move. The other's already right in front of it, and you're still waiting for its next swipe."
"I just want to know, how close was the person filming to them?"
Er Ming looked at himself, then at the phone.
There really wasn't much to say in answer to that question.
He had been crouching behind the tree, and the two little fellows had been too busy fighting to look his way.
He wanted to read a few more, but Xiao Wu had already raised her hand.
"Laugh a little more quietly! You've scared all the birds away!"
He was just about to quiet down when his smile suddenly froze.
A black-clad man had appeared by the lake at some point.
Da Ming was the first to raise his head, his gaze turning solemn as well.
"Di Tian."
Xiao Wu's grip on her phone tightened slightly.
Deeper beneath the lake were beings more powerful than Da Ming and Er Ming. She knew that, but rarely saw them come out.
Di Tian didn't ask why she had returned. He only looked at the phone, which was still making noise.
"Is this what you've been watching these past two days?"
Er Ming moved the phone closer to himself.
It wasn't a big movement, but Di Tian noticed it all the same.
Di Tian reached out and picked up the phone.
On the screen, the feline and canine Soul Beasts were still fighting. In the lines of human comments below, people favored one side one moment, then changed their minds the next. Di Tian watched it twice and listened as Xiao Wu explained how to use the phone. His expression gradually changed.
"People far away can see what you film too?"
"They can once you post it. If you don't want people to see it, just keep it on your own phone."
"There's no need to draw them here?"
"No need."
Di Tian said nothing more and watched it again.
Er Ming finally couldn't hold back. He extended the tip of the twig and pointed at the phone.
"That's mine."
Di Tian looked at him.
"I'll borrow it for a bit."
With that, he started toward the lake.
Er Ming's mouth hung open, but for a long while he couldn't find the words to continue.
If you're borrowing it, at least say when you'll return it!
Xiao Wu hurriedly called Di Tian back and first logged Er Ming out of his account, lest he take it to someone else and anything they happened to say be attributed to Er Ming.
Di Tian understood and waited until she had finished. Only then did he shield the phone with Soul Power, keeping the water away, and head for the bottom of the lake.
Er Ming watched the lake's surface grow calm again, then slowly turned his head.
Da Ming had already used the tip of his tail to push his own phone farther in.
"You've watched for so long too. It's time you took a break."
Er Ming stared at him.
Da Ming didn't look at him. He lowered his head and continued scrolling.
Deep at the bottom of the lake, a faint light fell across Di Tian's palm.
The Silver Dragon King did not leave her place of slumber. She merely drew a strand of consciousness awake from the long silence.
"Was this newly made by humans?"
"It was bought at a human shop."
Once Di Tian had told her what he knew, the phone floated gently up and stopped before the silver light.
A dance went by, then a Bone Dragon spreading its wings, and then an old carpet laid out on a light-colored floor.
The silver light stopped.
The person in the video was washing the carpet, but the lines of text below were more impatient than the worker, urging him to clean the edges and corners too.
"These words were also left by people outside?"
"Yes. People who have watched can write them."
The Silver Dragon King continued watching.
An old carpet was neither a weapon nor a hiding place for any rare treasure, yet so many people had gathered around it, waiting for an ordinary person to finish the work in his hands.
She didn't have Di Tian skip to the end. Only after watching it through did she move on to the next one.
Again, there were unfamiliar people doing their own ordinary things.
Yet these were not things she had been able to see at any time while she remained in the silence before.
Di Tian stood to one side, waiting for her questions.
After a while, she finally asked, "Are there more?"
"There are many more videos. Swipe up..."
"I mean phones."
Di Tian paused.
So she hadn't finished watching; she didn't want to watch on just this one.
"Xiao Wu said they're already on sale in a town on the outskirts."
"Go buy a few."
The silver light shifted gently, and the borrowed phone moved a little deeper along with it.
Watching this, Di Tian knew that Er Ming probably wouldn't be getting his original phone back.
"Yes."
The next day, a black-clad customer entered a shop on the outskirts of the forest just as it opened.
"Four phones."
The shop assistant's sleepiness vanished the moment he heard that.
"Have a look first, sir. This thing..."
"I know."
"That's good, then. Eight Gold Soul Coins in all."
Di Tian put down the money.
It wasn't as though they had never dealt with humans. The gold coins left from years ago were enough to pay for this small purchase. He was merely a little surprised that something capable of bringing distant sights before one's eyes was sitting beneath such an unremarkable counter.
The assistant packed up the boxes and brought out a leather case.
"If you're often out and about, get one of these. Then you won't have to worry when it gets knocked around."
Di Tian thought of Er Ming's finger and fell silent for a moment.
"Is it sturdy?"
"Very!"
Di Tian glanced at the layer of leather and ultimately asked no more.
Whether it could withstand a squeeze from a Titan Giant Ape was probably not something a leather case was meant to account for.
When he returned to the lake with four new phones, Er Ming was indeed squeezed up beside Da Ming, extending the tip of his twig and trying to swipe away the video Da Ming was watching.
"We've seen this one."
"I haven't."
"I'll tell you about it."
"No need."
A new phone was placed in front of Er Ming.
He immediately fell silent.
Xiao Wu logged him into his old account. His old videos, comments, and hearts were still there. Er Ming went through them and found that not a single one was missing. Only then was he completely reassured.
Di Tian kept one for himself and gave the other two to Bi Ji and Xiong Jun, who had come after hearing the news. Xiao Wu's original three phones, plus the four newly bought ones, made seven in all. Now, not one sat idle.
The Silver Dragon King used her own account on hers. She only watched and never posted any images of the lakebed publicly.
After Bi Ji learned to film, her first question was not which video was funniest.
"Can I film young beasts too?"
Xiao Wu nodded.
"Of course. Out there, some people watch nothing but kittens and puppies."
She handed over her own camera and showed Bi Ji how to use it. Xiong Jun grew impatient watching from the side and reached out to touch it. All that remained on the screen was black.
"Is it broken?"
"You're covering the lens!"
Laughter rang out by the lake once more.
When Xiao Wu packed her things, though, it was even quieter than when she had arrived.
"I'm going back to Nuoding."
Er Ming hurriedly looked up, and Da Ming put down his phone too.
This time, neither said anything about finishing the current video first.
She still had a return journey of more than ten days ahead of her, then she had to meet up with Tang San and head to the next academy. She couldn't forget all about the date they had agreed on before she left.
Er Ming brought her some fruit. Xiao Wu picked out a few and packed them away, then looked back at the little screens glowing on the stone platform and suddenly smiled.
"Next time you want to talk, you don't have to wait until I come back."
Da Ming nodded gently.
She waved to them, turned, and walked into the forest.
Far away, outside Suotuo City, Lu Ye was gathering up the reins and looking toward the city gate ahead.
The local distributor had already sent word.
The young lady from the Ning Family had arrived and found a clean inn. She had suffered no hardship, nor had she told anyone the name of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
It was just that Shrek's official enrollment was still some way off.
Lu Ye swung down from his horse.
In that case, he would first see what the people of Soto were watching after buying their phones.