Chapter 162: Confession

Pan Yun filled both of her large wooden buckets with water, drew an extra bucket as backup, and immediately began heating the water over a stove, taking a refreshing hot bath during daylight and washing her hair as well.

When she returned to the cave entrance, Zhou Wangdao was still waiting there.

Pan Yun, remembering they were now fellow prisoners and that he had helped her considerably, opened her mouth wide and asked him slowly, word by word, "Do you need water?"

Zhou Wangdao understood, shook his head, then opened his mouth wide and asked her, "Sister, was it you yesterday?"

Afraid she wouldn't understand his lip movements, he pointed his finger toward the deep cave.

The two of them leaned forward, gesturing to each other across a distance of more than ten meters; fortunately, their cave entrances weren't directly facing each other but slanted, making it easier to see.

Just as they were enthusiastically gesturing, Zhou Wangdao's smile suddenly froze; his upper body retracted, leaving only his head tilted upward, staring at Pan Yun and repeatedly winking at her.

Pan Yun looked up and saw Cheng Lingzi hovering above her head, standing on a flying sword.

He said softly, "So you've finally found each other. You're having quite a chat."

Pan Yun smiled slightly. "Brother Cheng Lingzi, are you back on duty?"

Cheng Lingzi scanned Pan Yun from head to toe, his gaze lingering on her damp long hair before turning to her outer cave, pausing thoughtfully: "Is it your own skill that allowed you to cultivate such a vast sleeve-space, or is Mount Sanqing so generous as to have given you such a large spatial artifact? How did you manage to bring in so many items and such huge buckets?"

Pan Yun obviously couldn't tell him that her spiritual realm space had no visible end.

It was just not yet unsealed.

"Brother Cheng Lingzi, do you know of a kind of ability called a storage ability?"

Cheng Lingzi raised an eyebrow.

Pan Yun continued, "My sleeve-space only needs to fit one large wooden bucket; everything else can be stored inside the bucket."

Cheng Lingzi, unaware she had extra water in recent days, glanced at the large wooden bucket in the corner of her outer cave and nodded. "That's a decent method."

Pan Yun grinned at him.

Cheng Lingzi pulled out a clay jar and asked, "Then what about this jar of water..."

Pan Yun immediately sat up and reached out to him.

Cheng Lingzi clicked his tongue and tossed the jar to her.

Pan Yun returned yesterday's empty jar to him.

Cheng Lingzi caught it, and the jar vanished.

Pan Yun knew he had stored it in his own sleeve-space—otherwise, with so many jars on this mountain, how long would it take him to carry them by hand?

Cheng Lingzi flew toward Zhou Wangdao, tossed the jar to him, then extended his hand.

Zhou Wangdao hugged the jar and said, "Brother, can I keep one jar for another day before returning it?"

Cheng Lingzi stared at him for a moment, then nodded. "Fine."

Cheng Lingzi tossed him a steamed bun and left.

From then on, every morning when Cheng Lingzi descended the mountain to fetch water, he would pause to watch Pan Yun drawing water with her buckets.

Though she moved slowly and her buckets were tugged by others from nearby caves when lifted halfway, with Pan Xiaohei by her side, no one could wrest water away from her.

After two days like this, Pan Yun gradually noticed something odd and asked Cheng Lingzi, "They don't seem to be after my water—they want my buckets and ropes."

"When a full bucket passes near their caves, they can use their jars to snatch water. I've told my dear little Xiaohei to yield a little if they try to take water—let them have one or two jars."

After all, she truly wanted to get along with them, to learn more secrets about this mountain.

She'd only just arrived and already uncovered many secrets; those below must have lived here longer—they'd surely find even more.

You won't tell me, but maybe they will.

Yet they refused every olive branch I offered, instead trying to cut down the entire olive tree—that's going too far.

I'm willing to give them some branches, but not the whole tree.

So I had to firmly defend my rights, letting Pan Xiaohei scratch every hand that reached out—everyone ended up injured, to some degree.

Cheng Lingzi looked down at her, then sighed after a long pause: "You're still just a child. Your thoughts are so simple."

Pan Yun:... First time anyone ever called her thoughts simple.

Pan Yun straightened her back proudly. "I think so too—I'm a kind person, and kind people have simple thoughts."

Cheng Lingzi: "I've never heard anyone praise themselves so openly—it comes off as shamelessly brazen."

Pan Yun smiled at him.

Cheng Lingzi explained: "You only have one and a half months left in your sentence, so you've never considered escaping. But if you'd been sentenced to one and a half years on Si Guo Cliff, constantly fearing the loss of your spiritual and internal energy, would you rather stay quietly here—or think of escaping?"

Pan Yun thought. "You mean—they're after my buckets and ropes to escape?"

Cheng Lingzi nodded.

Pan Yun looked down at her hands, then raised an eyebrow. "So, if you don't use any power at all, you can leave the cave?"

Cheng Lingzi smiled at her but didn't answer—yet his meaning was clear. Pan Yun pointed to the lower caves. "Then why don't those living at the very bottom just jump? We're higher up—jumping might kill us—but they'd be fine."

Cheng Lingzi: "What do you think they don't jump?"

Pan Yun's heart skipped—she couldn't guess the exact reason, but she knew they couldn't jump.

Right—only heads reaching up to draw water appeared as far as the mid-slope; no heads had ever emerged below. Was there no one there—or were they unable to surface?

Pan Yun recalled the roars that had risen after stones were thrown down, and fell into thought.

This truly was a miraculous mountain, a miraculous array.

Pan Yun rubbed her hands together, eager to investigate further.

Seeing her excitement, Cheng Lingzi didn't frown—he nodded approvingly. "Good, good. My sect has a worthy successor. Your fascination with arrays may mean you'll one day take my place, guarding Si Guo Cliff."

Pan Yun froze, pointing at herself. "Me? No, no—I'm not from Long Hushan. I'm from Mount Sanqing."

Cheng Lingzi studied her carefully. "Now I understand why you were imprisoned for such a bizarre reason—you're too simple-minded. You should think such things privately, not say them aloud."

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Pan Yun nodded. "I realize my mistake."

Cheng Lingzi: "But you haven't changed yet."

Pan Yun: "Because you're not someone else—you're one of us. I trust you, so I told you the truth."

Cheng Lingzi stared at her. "You... you're serious?"

Pan Yun nodded solemnly.

Cheng Lingzi fell silent. Perhaps unwilling to betray her trust, he said: "Child, don't trust people so easily. It's not good. People should be more reserved."

He paused, then continued: "No matter which mountain you belong to, Si Guo Cliff concerns the safety of the world. It's the duty of every cultivator. When it's your turn, you must step up."

Pan Yun's eyes widened. "Can Si Guo Cliff really affect the world's safety?"

Cheng Lingzi glanced at her. "What did you think? When the previous dynasty fell into corruption, demons and monsters ran rampant. Why did things gradually calm after our dynasty was founded? Where did all the demons and monsters go?"

Pan Yun's eyes widened further. "Wait—Brother Cheng Lingzi, you're telling me such a huge secret so casually?"

Cheng Lingzi looked puzzled. "Is this a big secret? Don't all students study Dao history?"

"Oh," Pan Yun sat back. "Our Dao history teacher assigned Master Zhang Liuzhen, but he was injured recently and hasn't taught since. The academy hasn't replaced him, so we haven't had class."

Cheng Lingzi nodded. "It's an open secret. All Dao cultivators know the great demons and monsters are imprisoned here on Long Hushan's Si Guo Cliff—and so do the demons and monsters themselves. Otherwise, why would the Celestial Master's Mansion never relocate in a hundred years?"

True, the scenery here is decent, but in terms of development, it's far inferior to other southern regions. The Zhang family has guarded this place for generations—not only to preserve their Dao lineage, but to watch over these demons and monsters.

"Though the Zhang family bears great burden, we cannot place all pressure on them. Every Dao cultivator in the world shares the duty of guarding this place."

Pan Yun: "What's your real surname?"

Cheng Lingzi grinned. "Zhang."

Pan Yun:...

Pan Yun gave him a thumbs-up.

Cheng Lingzi eyed her suspiciously. "Is that thumbs-up mocking me?"

"No, it's admiration," Pan Yun said. "Though I say I'm not from Long Hushan, I agree with you. As humans, we have human responsibilities; after cultivation, we gain even more. Since this place holds great demons and monsters who plague humanity, I do bear a responsibility."

Cheng Lingzi nodded approvingly.

Pan Yun paused, then said: "So I must confess to you."

"Confess what?"

Pan Yun's face turned sorrowful. "A few days ago, while practicing boxing in my cave, I accidentally broke the stone wall and revealed a large hole. I don't know—if this affects the protection of all living beings?"

Cheng Lingzi's smile slowly faded.

For the first time, Cheng Lingzi entered another prisoner's cave while they were still outside.

As soon as he stepped into the inner cave, he was stunned by its arrangement.

Standing upright, he saw a shelf on his right, holding a wooden basin with neatly hung towels; the next shelf held toothbrushes and cups.

Along the shelf ahead lay a large covered wooden barrel, beside which ran a natural water channel connecting two pools—though both pools were dry.

A layer of bedding covered the stone platform, topped with brightly colored quilts, two pillows neatly arranged, and beside them a row of shelves holding clothes.

Cheng Lingzi suddenly realized—yes, she had changed clothes; though all were Dao robes, they were clearly different.

So while others couldn't even wash their faces, she washed her clothes inside the cave.

Cheng Lingzi gave her a silent look, then turned forward—there, behind the stone platform, a large hole had been smashed open, the piled boulders collapsed by her hand.

(End of Chapter)