Born Divine
The Deception Rabbit was clever, but also very simple.
At the very least, far simpler than the modern humans Li Boyang had known in his previous life.
Once they established that neither side was hostile and that they could communicate, the Deception Rabbit quickly grew familiar with Big Girl.
In the process, the Deception Rabbit once again displayed its extremely severe tendency to chatter.
They were supposedly chatting.
In reality, most of the time, the Deception Rabbit was pouring out its thoughts and complaints one-sidedly.
Although Li Boyang noticed that the Deception Rabbit always maintained a safe distance, ready to turn and flee at any moment.
An initial trust had indeed formed between the Deception Rabbit and Big Girl.
According to the Deception Rabbit, it was a fairly well-known spirit creature in the Hundred Lands Mountain Range.
Its fame had nothing to do with how powerful it was.
Rather, it was because of its overfamiliar nature: once it started talking, it would ramble on without stopping.
And thanks to its innate shapeshifting Divine Ability, the Deception Rabbit could communicate smoothly with any species.
Over time, the spirit creatures in the mountains that could beat the Deception Rabbit grew so annoyed with it that they would attack and drive it away on sight.
As for those that could not beat it, they refused to meet it at all, taking a wide detour the moment they spotted it in the distance.
Well, that was all the Deception Rabbit's own account.
After translating and interpreting its words, Li Boyang arrived at a different picture.
Stripping away all the embellishments, Li Boyang believed that the Deception Rabbit was essentially a troublemaker.
Born in the mountain forests and possessing a Divine Ability of myriad transformations, the Deception Rabbit nevertheless rarely encountered anyone willing to communicate with it patiently as an equal.
This left its curiosity and desire to talk with little outlet.
Thus, whenever it encountered other spirit creatures unwilling to communicate, the Deception Rabbit would inevitably do things that exceeded the limits of their tolerance.
For instance, trailing behind spirit creatures and chattering endlessly while they lay in ambush for prey.
Or having no sense of boundaries whatsoever, delivering all manner of provocative "surprises" that it believed were well-intentioned.
Or habitually spinning exaggerated stories, and even outright lies.
This was on full display throughout its conversation with Big Girl.
Big Girl, who had seen little of the world, was thoroughly taken in by the Deception Rabbit's patter.
Li Boyang even suspected that its habit of always maintaining a safe distance had developed from getting beaten up too often by other spirit creatures.
A timid monster with boundless curiosity and a fondness for exaggeration?
That was Li Boyang's assessment of this peculiar spirit creature after summing everything up.
Li Boyang was not certain whether it was one of the monsters of legend.
Because, according to the Deception Rabbit itself, it had truly never encountered another spirit creature that could freely change its appearance the way it could.
This was an inborn gift.
Like the third eye between Li Boyang's brows, it could not be acquired through learning later in life.
At the very least, the Deception Rabbit did not know how to replicate this gift.
The other spirit creatures in the mountain forests also rarely displayed abilities beyond their innate gifts.
This made Li Boyang realize that the world he currently inhabited might not be the cultivation world he had imagined.
While Li Boyang listened intently to their conversation, the Deception Rabbit was also secretly observing this born-divine being.
On the surface, he seemed to be nothing more than an ordinary human infant.
But the Deception Rabbit could sense the Life Primordial Qi, which spirit creatures treasured like a priceless jewel, flowing endlessly out of his body.
The little human girl before it could run all over the mountains with a growing infant on her back.
A considerable part of the reason was that prolonged exposure to this Life Primordial Qi was causing her to undergo a transformation somewhat like that of a spirit creature.
Yet, strangely enough, that Life Primordial Qi was not pure, but mixed with some kind of terrifying Sha Qi.
Even though Li Boyang wore a red baby cap.
The Deception Rabbit could still tell at a glance that his hair was "burning" beneath it.
Of course, those fine crimson hairs merely radiated intense heat; they did not ignite the baby cap like real flames.
From this alone, the Deception Rabbit knew that this growing infant had already gained a preliminary grasp of his abilities and was no longer a piece of "Tang Monk meat" with little ability to defend himself.
Not only that, but the Deception Rabbit also noticed that Li Boyang's exposed skin looked much redder than that of an ordinary infant.
Humans really are terrifying creatures. They even dare to raise a freak like this.
With that inward reflection, the Deception Rabbit unobtrusively shifted another half step backward, always keeping a safe distance from Li Boyang.
"Anyway, that's how things stand. I mean you no harm."
"If the disturbance in the earth veins a while back hadn't caused such a huge commotion, I wouldn't have come this far to find food."
"Of course, the medicinal herbs you're holding are just ordinary ingredients to me. I can find more whenever I want!"
Li Boyang remained noncommittal about that claim.
Although the medicinal herbs he had asked Big Girl to dig up were no heavenly treasures, they were certainly not ordinary ingredients either.
Not only had Li Boyang seen that, but Big Girl had too.
"Liar. You're practically drooling..."
Suddenly pointing at the corner of the Deception Rabbit's mouth, Big Girl said with a quiet laugh.
"Huh?"
At her words, the Deception Rabbit froze, then instinctively reached up to wipe the corner of its mouth.
When it realized that Big Girl had bluffed it and that it had not been drooling at all, it immediately glared at her, its face full of embarrassment and annoyance.
"You're the liar!"
"You little liar!"
To tell the truth, perhaps because it was so used to acting with reckless audacity, this was the first time the Deception Rabbit had ever been fooled.
Whenever other mountain folk saw it, they would drop to their knees in terror and beg for mercy, giving it whatever it demanded.
None were like Big Girl, who not only showed no fear of it, but even dared to tease it.
"Bleh! You lied to me first!"
Whether it was simply her nature or because she had Li Boyang beside her.
Having seen through the Deception Rabbit's true nature, Big Girl playfully stuck out her tongue, paying no heed at all to its embarrassment and annoyance.
Smack!
Seeing this, Li Boyang immediately patted the carrying basket, not wanting the Deception Rabbit's embarrassment to turn into anger.
This formally interrupted the exchange between the human and the beast.
"Ah!"
The moment he noticed Big Girl looking at him, Li Boyang began waving his two little hands.
Thanks to the understanding they had developed over these past few months.
Big Girl quickly grasped Li Boyang's meaning, then turned to the still-bewildered Deception Rabbit and asked.
"Little Brother wants to know, what was that disturbance in the earth veins you just mentioned?"