Volume 2: Fuzhu Huodou
The Ao’an Mountain
You Yan said that they had a long way to go and needed to stock up on necessities before leaving Xi City.
The moment she finished speaking, Yi Qiu was dragged around by You Yan to act as a “little thief.”
In a fantastical world like this, having a high cultivation level really was something. No matter which shop’s door bolt it was, in front of You Yan, it was a simple matter of lifting a finger. The moment a shop door opened, something inside was bound to go missing.
The night-watchman1 on duty tonight must have been striking his clapper somewhere else. The street was completely deserted. Just like that, You Yan led Yi Qiu from one end of the street to the other, picking and choosing. Anything she saw that might be useful was tossed into her Spirit Pouch2, not considering it the least bit too much.
It turned out that this bird woman had dragged her out before dawn not just to leave quietly before Jiang Yuyao and the others woke up, but also to make it convenient to “steal” things.
But to call it stealing wasn’t entirely accurate.
Although You Yan took things as she went, she always left behind some silver taels according to the approximate price, and she didn’t forget to help lock the doors on her way out.
But even if she left money, it was still taking things in the dead of night without asking. How could Yi Qiu, who had never done such a thing in her life, dare to even let out a single fart? Her little legs trembled wherever she walked, and her eyes darted around from time to time, terrified of being discovered before she had a chance to hide.
She suddenly missed the good old days of being an alpaca.
Sometimes, you just had to admit that when you were an animal, your sense of shame was much weaker than when you were human—the kind of weakness where you could go five days without bathing and not even feel dirty.
To lessen her sense of guilt, Yi Qiu began to try and distract herself by “thinking.”
The first object of her thoughts was to figure out what kind of place “Ao’an Mountain”3 was, whether it had any connection to the original novel, and why You Yan thought she could find the Huodou there.
These were questions that couldn’t be answered by thinking alone, but there was one guy who should know.
“Genius System, get your dead ass out here!”
【I’m here.】
Yi Qiu couldn’t be bothered to waste words with the system, so she just opened the door to see the mountain4 and asked, “Do you know what kind of place Ao’an Mountain is?”
【Ao’an Mountain is an ancient immortal mountain in the world of 《Thin, Withered Branch》. Legend says it is located in the mortal realm, but hidden within a divine barrier, making it undiscoverable by ordinary people.】
【It was once recorded in the 《Classic of Mountains and Seas·Classic of the Central Mountains》5: “The first mountain of the third central mountain range is called the Mountain of Ao’an. Its southern slopes have an abundance of fu jade, while its northern slopes have an abundance of ochre and gold. The god Xunchi6 resides there. It often produces beauti…”】
“Stop! Speak human!” Yi Qiu’s head throbbed, and she unconsciously adopted You Yan’s tone.
Damn it, what the hell is any of this?
She graduated so many years ago; she had no desire to do reading comprehension on classical Chinese!
【Ao’an Mountain is very rich. The southern side has a lot of beautiful jade, the northern side has a lot of ochre and gold. A god named Xunchi lives on the mountain. He keeps a divine beast that looks like a white deer with four horns, named Fuzhu7. Wherever it goes, a flood will occur.】
“Why are you telling me all this useless crap?!”
【Whimper QAQ!】
Unbelievable. This Genius System actually dared to “whimper” at her. And if whimpering wasn’t enough, it even used “QAQ”?
“Speak properly, don’t act spoiled!” Yi Qiu fiercely nagged the system with a line You Yan often used on her, and then, without waiting for a response, she continued with her questions, “Do you know what relationship this place has with the original novel? Or rather, what does this place have to do with the Yi Bird and the Huodou?”
【This is an important plot point. The Host is requested to explore it on her own.】
That line again…
“You’re really fucking useless…”
【When the Host is beyond a certain range from the protagonist, I can help the Host remotely check the protagonist’s physical condition, which may help the Host prevent the protagonist from dying quietly.】
“What’s the use of that?” Yi Qiu flared up. “If they really do drop dead, am I supposed to stop it from a thousand li8 away?”
Just as Yi Qiu was losing her temper with the system, she felt a tap on the back of her head from You Yan and was abruptly snapped back to reality.
You Yan: “Let’s go.”
Yi Qiu: “…Huh?”
You Yan: “Hold on tight.”
Yi Qiu: “Eh?”
Yi Qiu, who had just come to her senses, subconsciously tilted her head. Before her brain could even react, the person beside her wrapped an arm around her waist.
The next second, she only heard the sound of wings unfurling sharply behind her. With a momentary feeling of weightlessness, her feet instantly left the ground.
She screamed in panic and threw herself into You Yan’s arms, her trembling hands subconsciously hooking around You Yan’s neck.
When traveling, using movement arts was the fastest method, but it consumed a lot of spiritual energy and wasn’t suitable for long journeys. Flying with wings, while not as fast as movement arts, was much faster than walking—undoubtedly, it was the best way to travel.
They say that when you look down from a high place, your field of vision becomes incredibly wide, allowing you to see scenery you normally couldn’t.
But how could Yi Qiu dare to open her eyes!
The giant red wings flapped once, then again, behind her. The wind rushed against her face, making her feel cold all over. The feeling of her feet not touching the ground made her heart pound wildly, and her entire mind went blank.
She squeezed her eyes shut, her pale little face seemingly inscribed with the four large words “My life is over,” her whole body nearly stiff as an icicle.
“What are you afraid of? It’s not like I’m going to drop you, am I?” You Yan said with a frown.
“Huh? What did you say?” The wind was too loud; she couldn’t hear clearly!
“It’s not like I’m going to let you fall, am I?” You Yan repeated.
Yi Qiu heard clearly this time, but that didn’t stop her from being afraid.
She was wrong, so very wrong.
Back when she left the Demon Realm, she had resented You Yan for not being willing to give her a ride. Now that she was finally getting one, she was so scared her soul was flying out of her body, wishing she could just die on the spot.
“You’re such a coward.”
You Yan’s voice came softly from beside her ear.
Yi Qiu shrank back, neither opening her eyes nor retorting, only hugging You Yan even tighter.
You Yan: “…Are you trying to strangle me?”
Yi Qiu: “…”
You Yan: “It’ll take at least a full day and night to get to Ao’an Mountain from here. Are you planning to keep your eyes closed the whole time?”
Yi Qiu couldn’t help but tremble slightly.
You Yan smiled and said, “What are you afraid of? I won’t let you fall.”
That day, You Yan coaxed Yi Qiu softly in her ear. In a tone she rarely used, she spoke gently to the little coward, saying, “Open your eyes and look. The sky is about to brighten.”
Suddenly, a flock of wild geese seemed to fly past in the distance, their calls riding the morning breeze, waking the short summer night.
Yi Qiu didn’t know why, but it was as if a place deep in her heart had been touched. Courage suddenly surged like a tide, inch by inch, driving out the terror that had consumed her entire body.
She swallowed hard, and with trembling arms still wrapped around You Yan, she slightly opened her twitching eyelids.
The next second, her eyes opened wide in a daze.
She saw that the night had not yet fully receded. In the distance, a sliver of dawn pierced the darkness, setting the layers of clouds ablaze.
The morning glow seemed to be rimmed with gold. Capped by a line of fish-belly white9, it slowly propped up a deep blue expanse in the dim world, its colors then fading bit by bit.
And when she looked down, there were also layers of clouds beneath her feet, light and untouchable, seeming to carry a hint of chill.
Just as fear began to creep in again, her waist was suddenly bound tightly by Chuixue, the other end of which was tied around You Yan’s own waist.
“You won’t fall now, right?” You Yan looked down at the little demon in her arms, a faint smile in her eyes.
Yi Qiu didn’t speak, only subconsciously avoiding You Yan’s gaze.
Her heart was beating so fast—it must be because the bird woman was flying too high and scared her. She clearly knew she was afraid of heights, yet she still flew above the clouds.
The tips of her ears felt a little hot—it was all this bird woman’s fault for laughing at her for being a coward. Even though it was all true, didn’t she have face to consider?
But… but in the days to come, there would probably be many situations that required flying to get around. It wasn’t like she couldn’t try to overcome it…
Thinking this, Yi Qiu timidly raised her eyes to look at You Yan.
At this moment, You Yan was no longer looking at her as she had been just now, which gave her the courage to gaze back.
The wind rushing past them stirred You Yan’s long hair.
Her nose, her eyes, her lips, and that perfect profile—every part of her was breathtaking.
Yi Qiu couldn’t help but think, how could someone like this not be loved by anyone?
A person like this…
Deserved to be embraced by all the beauty in the world.
Of course, all of this was on the condition that she didn’t have that mouth of hers.
…
Yi Qiu wasn’t someone who particularly loved experiencing nature. In the past, she liked to sleep when she took airplanes. After all, no matter how beautiful the scenery along the way was, you couldn’t eat it, right?
Because of this, after gradually getting used to the height, she began to doze on and off amidst the whistling wind, not very comfortably catching up on the sleep she had missed last night.
It was frigid at high altitudes. At some point, she groggily opened her eyes and found a red feathered cloak covering her. The cloak was very light and thin, yet incredibly warm. It must have been imbued with a lot of spiritual energy, as even the strong wind couldn’t blow it away.
It was said that when immortals, demons, gods, or devils transformed into human form, if they had nothing to wear, their own fur or feathers would turn into clothing. And such clothing would carry a certain amount of spiritual power. As the owner’s original body grew stronger, it would also possess a considerable defensive strength.
Is this bird woman…
Giving me her own bird feathers to wear?
As Yi Qiu thought this, she couldn’t help but curl her lips into a secret smile. She rubbed her chin against the cloak, then closed her eyes and went back to sleep.
That day, she had no idea how many times she had dozed off in bits and pieces. She only knew that they were in a hurry. Aside from necessary breaks, even eating and drinking were handled in the sky. A few pieces of dry rations and a few sips of water were enough to get by.
Yi Qiu suddenly felt a special admiration for these winged bird-people. They flew around so often without getting tired. Not like her, who, after being carried for a whole day, felt like her brain had been blown numb by the wind.
When they landed, the night was deep, and they were surrounded by a deserted mountain forest.
After flying for so long, she was finally back on the ground. Yi Qiu instantly jumped out of You Yan’s arms. Just as she was about to walk around, she was pulled back by Chuixue.
Yi Qiu: “…”
You Yan: “Don’t run off.”
You Yan said, pulling Yi Qiu back to her side.
She suddenly closed her eyes and formed a hand seal10 in front of her. As her spiritual energy surged, she pressed her left hand down, while her right hand lifted up and pushed forward. A dark green spiritual light instantly slammed into a spiritual wall that rippled like ink in water.
The next second, You Yan opened her eyes. Her dark gold pupils turned abruptly cold, and the ink-like spiritual wall shattered with a boom.
In that instant, the mountain forest trembled, startling countless birds into flight.
You Yan retracted her spiritual energy and walked toward the spot where the barrier had shattered. Yi Qiu tilted her head in a daze for a moment, then suddenly felt a force pull at her waist, causing her to stumble forward with a cry of “Hey, hey!”
After passing through the barrier, the surrounding scenery changed dramatically.
Within the immortal mountain, there was a natural spiritual energy. Specks of spiritual light, like fireflies, lingered in the dense forest. The arrival of outsiders awakened the sleeping insects and birds. They took flight, circling in the night sky, a beauty not of the mortal world.
This is Ao’an Mountain?
Why did the bird woman come here to find the Huodou? If that big fire dog came, wouldn’t it burn this beautiful place to the ground?
The author has something to say:
I feel like my liver has had enough rest. I plan to work hard and start slowly paying back the extra chapters I owe.
✨ Unlock Early Access to Chapters! ✨
Choose your perfect membership at bamboopandatl.net:
📚 Full Access ($4.99)
• Advanced chapters of ALL ongoing novels
• Access to complete finished novels
• Ad-free reading experience
📖 Single Novel Access ($1.49)
• Advanced chapters of ONE specific novel
• Ad-free reading for chosen novel
PayPal is the only current payment option!