I became the new mountain god of Welcoming Moon Mountain.
One hundred years, two hundred years, I was slow to the flow of time. I spent my days in the mountains, either sitting quietly or in slumber[1].
A certain wound was gradually scabbing.
Yes, I only got rid of an evil-doer who killed my shifu and harmed my fellow disciples, nothing more. There was sadness, and there was also longing that haunted me in my midnight dreams. But everything quieted down in the flow of time, hidden away in the deepest recesses of my being.
Everything here flourished and thrived because of my spiritual energy. The mountains were lush, and the waters were clear. However, the weather always remained overcast, and the sunlight from the sky never touched the land here.
"The mood of the mountain god can influence the weather," a woman woke me up one spring afternoon as I dozed under a tree by the river.
"You appear to be such a melancholic fox," she crouched beside me, dressed in black with black hair, almond-shaped eyes, and red lips, smiling heartlessly.
"You're such a boring tree demon," I glanced at her and put the lotus leaf back on my face.
I've known this female demon named Shaluo for nearly ten years. She comes to the mountains every spring to gather a very sour wild fruit, claiming it's for someone to make wine. Occasionally we would chat, and over time, she came to know my story and I learned a part of hers. This tree demon's cultivation and spiritual attainment are far above mine, yet she always likes to adopt the innocence and ignorance of a junior demon, and deliberately makes some off-color jokes, which is quite irritating.
"Hey, I came today to bring you some good news," she took away my lotus leaf. I sat up impatiently and was about to get angry, but was interrupted by a childish and urgent voice—
"Shifu, Shifu, Snow Leopard Martial Uncle has woken up!!!" A chubby child, my white rabbit apprentice, ran urgently towards me from the forest.
I was shocked. I swiftly got up, flying back on the wind. It was only just now that I realized, subconsciously, I had been waiting for this awakening...
I walked out of Snow Leopard's room late at night and lifted my head, seeing a full moon in the sky.
Many years ago, on a night like this, I had broken free from the deepest depths.
I took a deep breath and turned to head into the mountains.
On the silvery mountaintop, the shadows of the tree demon and I stretched long under the moonlight.
"Have you made your decision?" she raised an elegant eyebrow.
"Please look after Welcoming Moon Mountain while I'm away."
"You can't leave for too long. I am not the mountain god here, and my spiritual energy cannot fully oversee this place."
"Let's make it a hundred years then. On this day a hundred years from now, I will return," I looked at her with an unprecedented seriousness, "I hope you'll help me."
"Give me a lot of gold as payment, and I'll help you," she shrugged with curled lips.
"It's a deal!"
[1] The words used here are jìng zuò(to sit quietly; to meditate) and chén shuì(fast asleep; figuratively: to lie dormant). So the sentence can be interpreted as: I spent my days in the mountains, either in meditation or lying dormant.
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