Chapter 14
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“Huangjing?”
Qi Wuhuo instinctively tugged at the basket on his back and asked: “These huangjing, you planted them?”
The spotted deer shifted its hooves and replied indignantly: “Of course!”
“You humans already dug up all the huangjing we had grown on this mountain before! We worked so hard to replant them, and just when they finally started growing again, you’re back again to take them!”
Qi Wuhuo thought for a moment and said:
“How can you prove these herbs were planted by you?”
“And that they’re not just wild plants unique to this mountain?”
The deer, now furious, exclaimed: “Of course they’re ours! We’ve already marked them. If you don’t believe me, look for yourself!” In a few swift leaps, the deer bounded down from the cliff with ease and led Qi Wuhuo to inspect the area.
Sure enough, every patch where huangjing grew had markings.
Some spots had small stones arranged in patterns, while others had hidden stone slabs behind trees, each corresponding to a specific patch. As the deer pointed these things out, its face was full of pride, completely different from the man-eating monsters that Qi Wuhuo encountered when he fled into the demon kingdom as a youth.
With his primordial spirit, he saw that the deer was surrounded by a pure and serene aura.
Curious, he asked, “Are you a deer demon?”
The deer emphasized: “I’m a deer spirit!”
“Ugh, don’t ask me any more questions! Look, we planted this ourselves, so you have to give it back to me!”
Qi Wuhuo nodded, saying: “Since they’re yours, they rightfully belong to you.”
With that, he untied his basket and began taking out the huangjing.
The deer counted some of the roots, but then, unexpectedly, gave a small portion back to Qi Wuhuo, saying: “This part is yours.”
“Mine?”
“Of course, you helped us dig them up, so consider it your reward.”
The little deer gestured for Qi Wuhuo to wrap the huangjing in cloth. It was tied into a neat bundle, which the deer then slung over its back, securing it with a knot. Only then did the deer, satisfied, wag its little tail and trot ahead.
After a few hops, it paused, seemingly in thought, and turned back to look at Qi Wuhuo.
“But you’re a good person.”
“We’re having a banquet tonight. Would you like to join us?”
The young man, dressed in simple blue cloth, thought for a moment, pointed to himself, and smiled:
“I can also join?”
“Of course you can.”
“It’s a banquet in the mountains!”
The mountain was wrapped in a blanket of silver snow, with the little deer bounding ahead. The young man, with his black hair tied up, and wearing plain shoes with stitched soles, walked step by step through the snow. He held onto the strap of his basket and asked curiously: “But how can you talk? Where did you learn that?”
Lu’er lifted its head proudly and said: “Of course I can talk.”
[TL_Note: Deer = Lu]
“See, I’ve already refined my transverse bone, so I can speak. I’ve even cultivated my Primordial Essence. Hmph, ordinary deer only live for twenty years, but I can live for a hundred.”
The young man with the basket on his back asked,
“So even after cultivation, you can only live a little over a hundred years?”
The deer snorted: “Do you think every living being is like humans, a long-lived species?”
Qi Wuhuo was puzzled: “Long-lived species?”
“Humans only live to seventy or eighty years, though.”
The deer responded with the air of someone who thought Qi Wuhuo was taking his good fortune for granted:
“But a deer becomes old after just fifteen years!”
It jumped onto a boulder and said,
“My grandfather was taken in by a Daoist priest among humans. There was a mountain fire at that time and that Daoist carried him back. When my grandfather was young, the Daoist was that big. My grandfather grew up and could come and go in the mountains, and the Daoist was like that. When my grandfather passed away of old age, the Daoist was still like that.”
“Many wild beasts in the mountains change little from birth to death. They have long lives, sometimes five times ours. Doesn’t that make them long-lived species?”
The young deer, puzzled, said:
“If I can cultivate until I live over a hundred years, that’s already quite impressive!”
Hearing this, Qi Wuhuo pondered for a moment and smiled: “That makes sense.”
In his heart, he reflected that lifespan and longevity aren’t so absolute after all. For deer, with a generation lasting five years, attaining a lifespan equivalent to that of humans means they can live through twenty generations, truly becoming an old ancestor.
But for humans, that was merely the realm of [Three Talents Complete].
For mayflies, life is fleeting—born in the morning, dead by nightfall.
Even the lifespan of deer must seem astonishingly long to them.
With a clear mind, the young man murmured,
“Time is vast, in the span of life between heaven and earth, one enjoys a hundred years of life”
“But compared to heaven and earth, we are but mayflies.”
“Born in the morning, dead by night.”
The deer spirit leaped ahead, curious about what the young man had said.
It found it strange.
Humans can live seventy or eighty years! How could they compare themselves to mayflies? But what even is a mayfly?
Strange human, very strange
Suddenly, a loud, hearty laugh rang out ahead: “Hahaha, well said! Compared to heaven and earth, we are but mayflies. All things born between heaven and earth—who isn’t the same?”
“It seems this little deer has found an extraordinary guest!”
“Friend, please come in!”
The booming voice resonated, causing the trees in front to tremble. The deer spirit jumped a few times and squeezed through the gaps in the forest, then paused, turning its bright black eyes back to Qi Wuhuo as if inviting him to enter.
The young man smiled, raised his hand to brush aside the pine branches blocking his path, and bent down. The branches shook, causing snow to fall onto his blue robes. He stepped in, his clothes clean and his eyes as bright as morning stars, and said, “Pardon the intrusion,” as his gaze suddenly broadened.
Before him lay a spacious, flat area where the fallen snow had yet to melt. In the center, vibrant green banana leaves thrived even in winter, covered with an array of fruits and medicinal herbs. At the front, a massive tiger with distinct white markings lay sprawled on a stone platform.
From a glance, the tiger seemed to stretch over ten feet in length, its tail languidly swaying. It rose, and from its forehead to the ground, he was about Qi Wuhuo’s height, its amber eyes radiating a sense of tranquility as they regarded the young man in blue.
Qi Wuhuo’s body instinctively froze at the sight of the fierce tiger.
But feeling the serene aura emanating from it, his tension eased. The tiger recognized Qi Wuhuo as the young man who had carried the enigmatic elder down the mountain a few days prior. Although he hadn’t approached to listen closely, he had heard other beasts mention him.
It thought to itself that this young man was indeed worthy of the elder’s attention, especially after articulating such profound thoughts. It spoke with a bold voice:
“Little brother, I am the Mountain God of this range. Today is the end of the year banquet, and your arrival is quite timely.”
Qi Wuhuo cupped his hands and replied: “It seems I have come at just the right moment.”
Then Qi Wuhuo noticed a bronze cauldron beside the tiger. The little deer jumped over, untying the bundle on its back, and poured all the huangjing into the cauldron.
After the deer stepped back, monkeys began to swing in from the trees
Bringing all kinds of various large and ripe fruits and placing them into the cauldron.
Next came a fox carrying spiritual herbs in its mouth and a white snake bringing ginseng, all of which were added to the mix. Following the deer’s gaze, Qi Wuhuo also contributed the huangjing from his own basket.
As the tiger spoke, its voice was deep and resonant, echoing like a tiger’s roar:
“This is my treasure.”
“At the end of the year banquet, various spiritual fruits are added to refine spiritual liquid. Consuming it can extend one’s lifespan by a year, temper the body, and purify one’s Primordial Essence. It greatly benefits cultivation, and I aim to become a Mountain Lord through this.”
“The end of the year gathering is for creating spiritual liquid.”
“Every three years, we gather to discuss the Dao.”
Qi Wuhuo asked: “Purifying the Primordial Essence?”
The tiger nodded. The surrounding spirits were unfamiliar with the term “Primordial Essence” so it spoke casually, but noticing Qi Wuhuo’s reaction, it smiled and asked: “Do you know the ways of Primordial Essence?”
Qi Wuhuo shook his head, saying:
“I don’t know the method, only the Primordial Essence.”
The tiger nodded slightly:
Then it continued:
“In that case, are you willing to hear my Dao?”