Chapter 162: Confession

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

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

Pan Yun, thinking 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 Wang 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 gesturing enthusiastically, Zhou Wang's smile suddenly froze—he pulled his upper body back inside, leaving only his head tilted upward to look at Pan Yun, winking at her frantically.

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 chatting nicely."

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 let you cultivate such a vast Inner Sleeve Realm, or did Mount Sanqing really give you such a large Spatial Artifact? How could you fit so many things—and such huge buckets—inside?"

Pan Yun obviously couldn't tell him 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 Inner Sleeve Realm only needs to fit one large wooden bucket. Everything else can be stored inside the bucket."

Cheng Lingzi didn't know she'd had extra water these past few days; he glanced at the large wooden bucket in the corner of her outer cave and nodded. "That's actually 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 her hand.

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

Pan Yun returned yesterday's empty jar to him.

Cheng Lingzi caught it—the jar vanished.

Pan Yun knew he'd stored it in his own Inner Sleeve Realm; otherwise, with so many jars on this mountain, how long would he have to carry them by hand?

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

Zhou Wang hugged the jar and said, "Brother, can I keep one jar for another day and return it tomorrow?"

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

Cheng Lingzi tossed him a steamed bun and left.

After that, every morning when Cheng Lingzi went down 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 as she pulled them up, with Pan Xiaohei by her side, no one could snatch her water away.

After two days like this, Pan Yun gradually noticed something odd and asked Cheng Lingzi, "They don't seem to be trying to steal 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 Pan Xiaohei: if they try to steal water, just let them have a jar or two."

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

She'd only just moved in and already uncovered many secrets; those below had lived here longer—they must have discovered even more.

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

Yet they wouldn't accept even a single olive branch I offered—they wanted to cut down the whole olive tree. That was just too much.

I'm willing to give them some branches, but I won't give them the entire tree.

So she firmly defended her rights, letting Pan Xiaohei scratch every hand that reached out—everyone ended up injured, to varying degrees.

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

Pan Yun: … This was the first time anyone had called her simple-minded.

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

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

Pan Yun smiled at him.

Cheng Lingzi explained: "You only have one and a half months left… of your sentence, so you've never thought of escaping. But if you'd been sentenced to Si Guo Cliff for one and a half years, constantly terrified of losing your Qi and internal strength every day—would you rather stay put, or try to escape?"

Pan Yun thought deeply. "You mean… they're stealing 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 silence made it clear. Pan Yun pointed down at 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 high as the mountain's waist; no heads had ever emerged below that. Was it because no one was there… or because they couldn't 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, ready to investigate further.

Seeing her so excited, Cheng Lingzi didn't grow angry—he nodded with satisfaction. "Good, good. My lineage has an heir. 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, then said: "Now I understand why you were imprisoned for such a bizarre reason. You're too simple-minded. You should keep such thoughts to yourself—why did you say them out loud?"

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Pan Yun nodded: "I've realized my mistake."

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

Pan Yun: "That's because you're not just anyone—you're one of us. I trust you, so I'm telling you the truth."

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

Pan Yun nodded solemnly.

Cheng Lingzi fell silent for a moment, perhaps feeling he couldn't betray her trust. "Child, don't trust people so easily in the future—it's not good. One must be more reserved."

He paused, then continued: "No matter what mountain you're from, the Thought-Reflection Cliff concerns the safety of all under heaven. It is the duty of every Dao cultivator. When it's your turn, you must step forward."

Pan Yun widened her eyes. "Can the Thought-Reflection Cliff really concern the safety of all under heaven?"

Cheng Lingzi glanced at her. "What did you think? In the previous dynasty, the Dao was corrupt, and demons and monsters ran rampant. Why did they gradually subside after our dynasty was founded? Where do all these demons and monsters go?"

Pan Yun's eyes grew even wider. "Wait a minute, Brother Cheng Lingzi—you're just telling me this huge secret?"

Cheng Lingzi looked puzzled. "Is this a big secret? Don't all students take Dao History class?"

"Oh," Pan Yun sat back down. "Our Dao History teacher was assigned Master Zhang Liuzhen, but he got injured a while back and hasn't come to class since. The academy hasn't replaced him, so we haven't had the lesson."

Cheng Lingzi nodded. "It's an open secret: the great demons and monsters are imprisoned in the Thought-Reflection Cliff of Long Hushan. Every Dao cultivator in the world knows it—and so do the demons and monsters. Otherwise, why would the Celestial Master's Mansion never have moved in a hundred years?"

True, the land here has decent mountains and rivers, but in terms of development, it's nowhere near other parts of Jiangnan. The Zhang family has guarded this place for generations—not only to preserve the Dao lineage, but also to watch over these demons and monsters.

"Though the Zhang family has shouldered great burdens, we cannot place all the pressure on them. Every Dao cultivator in the world bears the duty to guard it."

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 meant as mockery?"

"No, it's admiration," Pan Yun said. "Though I said I'm not from Long Hushan, I agree with you. As human beings, we have human responsibilities. After cultivating the Dao, we take on an additional duty. Since these are great demons and monsters that plague humanity, I do bear a responsibility here."

Cheng Lingzi nodded approvingly.

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

"Confess what?"

Pan Yun's face twisted in sorrow. "I… a few days ago, while practicing fist techniques in the cave, I accidentally smashed the stone wall—and it revealed a big hole. I don't know… does this affect the protection of all living beings?"

Cheng Lingzi's smile slowly faded.

For the first time, Cheng Lingzi entered the cave of a prisoner while the prisoner was not inside.

As soon as Cheng Lingzi 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, cups, and such.

Along the shelf, ahead, stood a large covered wooden tub. Beside it was a natural water channel connecting two pools—but both pools were dry.

A mattress lay spread over the stone platform, topped with brightly colored quilts, two pillows neatly arranged. Beside them stood 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 could wash her clothes inside the cave.

Cheng Lingzi gave her a silent look, then turned forward—and saw a large hole broken into the side rear of the stone platform. The piled boulders had been smashed and collapsed by her, at some unknown time.

(End of Chapter)