Chapter 164: A Slap to Wake You Up

In the end, everyone followed Wang Feiyin's arrangement: Xuanmiao stayed behind at the academy to care for them, while Tao Ji descended the mountain holding a banner proclaiming him a divine physician to earn money.

Wang Feiyin wandered through the academy's dining hall, packed up plenty of food, then went home.

He had been away too long; if he didn't return soon, not only would he suffer misfortune, but everyone on Mount Sanqing might begin to suffer as well.

The people of Long Hushan likely knew something too; when he said he was leaving, though saddened, they made no effort to stop him—only accompanied him with lingering gazes to the mountain gate, watching him depart.

Zhang Liuzhen came personally to see him off.

As the heir to the Zhang Zhang Tian Shi's Mansion, his presence bestowed great honor upon Mount Sanqing and greatly eased the tension between Mount Sanqing and Long Hushan during this period.

It allowed everyone at the academy to calm their hearts and minds, beginning to view Seeing Miao Zhen and the others with normal eyes.

In the Zhang Zhang Tian Shi's Mansion below the mountain, all further scheming ceased the moment they saw Xuanmiao had remained at the academy.

While fetching food at the dining hall, Seeing Miao Zhen faintly overheard someone say, "Why did Director Zhang and the others agree to let Xuanmiao stay at the academy? That man's a lunatic."

Seeing Miao Zhen whirled around sharply, her gaze piercing.

The voice instantly stopped; she couldn't tell who spoke, but she knew it was someone from Da Shangqing Palace—those people either taught at the academy or were former instructors who had graduated.

Their robes differed from those of the academy students.

Miaohe fetched her food, then ran over cheerfully, "Miao Zhen, I got mine—let's go."

Seeing Miao Zhen murmured "Mm," and walked out with Miaohe.

Only after leaving the dining hall did Miaohe ask, "Why aren't you happy?"

"I just heard someone speaking ill of Fourth Master."

Miaohe: "Who's so disgusting, talking behind someone's back? May their tongue rot."

Seeing Miao Zhen nodded, "I can't tell who it was, but during evening prayers we'll curse them—no matter who it is, anyone who speaks ill of Fourth Master shall have their tongue rot."

Miaohe nodded, "I just learned that curse two days ago—perfect chance to try it."

As the two girls drew circles to curse people, Pan Yun sat in her medicinal bath, writhing in agony.

Once she endured the worst of the pain, she began consciously gathering the medicinal energy.

When she stepped out of the tub, her skin shimmered faintly; the next day, facing the morning sun, she practiced fist forms at the cave entrance.

Since taking the medicinal bath, Pan Yun had practiced a set of fist forms every morning.

Pan Xiaohei witnessed firsthand how her fists grew sharper, her strikes fiercer—even though she didn't channel any internal Qi or inner strength.

Sigu Cliff truly was an excellent place for body refinement; it forced Pan Yun to draw more deeply upon her body's own innate power, strengthening her flesh itself.

After her fist forms, she drank water, ate breakfast, then began reading—she had planned her schedule meticulously: which texts to read at which hours, including not only the Great Ming Code, but also classics, histories, and the works of the hundred schools.

She needed these knowledge to clear her father's name—these were indispensable.

When tired, she would lean over the cave's edge and play "You Draw, I Draw" with Zhou Wangdao, gesturing wildly—yet communication flowed perfectly.

By the way, her water-carrying speed had increased again, cutting the time spent by more than half.

After communicating with Pan Yun, Zhou Wangdao stopped acting mad; he had no books or other games, so when Pan Yun ignored him, he simply observed the wind and water, silently reciting Daoist scriptures he'd learned long ago, gradually gaining insight.

In quiet moments, he reflected on the offense that had led to his punishment on Sigu Cliff—he slowly realized his master hadn't merely punished him for negligence, for letting the anomalies in Fengqi Courtyard go unchecked.

But because, at that time, he had been cowardly toward the strong and cruel toward the weak, losing the courage and fairness a cultivator ought to possess.

Pan Yun was different—she never dwelled on her own faults; each day was full, busy.

After playing "You Draw, I Draw" with Zhou Wangdao, she reread some books, then went to crouch before the black hole.

Every day she sat, squatted, or stood before it—she simply had to stare at it.

She didn't know why she stared—her sixth sense told her she must.

She knew a great demon lurked beneath the black hole—the rock she'd thrown earlier had struck it.

She felt a little sorry.

Though curious, she was cowardly; after learning that, she never threw anything down again.

She had watched for many days, yet still saw nothing in that dark expanse—but she felt the space was strange, strangely familiar yet utterly alien.

Pan Xiaohei crouched beside her, watching—seemingly sensing her thoughts, it suddenly spoke: "It's like me."

Pan Yun turned her head. "What?"

Pan Xiaohei's face was solemn. "Its space is expanding—inside the mountain, it's far larger than it appears externally. There are folded dimensions here. And don't you think it's like me?"

Pan Yun lowered her gaze, thinking. "Ancient arrays have been passed down for ages—shared traits aren't surprising. You say it's like you—or like the array that sealed you?"

Pan Xiaohei: "Aren't they all part of me now?"

Pan Yun: "No wonder whenever I stare at it, I get this overwhelming sense of disgust—like my eyes are going black."

Pan Xiaohei: …

The girl and the cat fell silent again, both quietly staring at the darkness before them.

After an indeterminate time, Pan Yun noticed a different color emerging before her eyes.

In the void of the black hole, countless lines crisscrossed—slowly appearing, then vanishing.

Pan Yun blinked, fearing she was hallucinating.

But after blinking, the lines remained—and as her heartbeat quickened, they grew clearer.

She placed her hand over her left chest and whispered, "It's my talent…"

The lines before her grew increasingly intricate; as she gazed at each, her mind automatically revealed their array nodes, trajectories, and combined functions.

This was the automatic recognition born of her twenty years of past-life knowledge—mostly, they were array nodes and lines she had seen, remembered, but never solved.

All illusions vanished under her gaze—she saw them all, even if she couldn't yet understand them.

Pan Yun's heartbeat accelerated; her eyes locked on the horizon, her face flushing deeper.

Pan Xiaohei stood up—it sensed Pan Yun's condition was wrong, and let out a sharp cry: "Miao—"

Pan Yun kept staring ahead, her fingers pressing harder against her left chest. Pan Xiaohei saw this, no longer hesitating—leapt up with a "Miao!" and swiped a claw across her face.

A sharp crack echoed through the cave—Pan Yun's head was knocked crooked.

Pan Xiaohei was thrown to the ground by the recoil, but it refused to give up, leaping onto the stone platform to try again—Pan Yun had already covered her face and looked over, extending her palm: "Enough, I'm awake!"

Pan Xiaohei's leap froze mid-motion; its arched back relaxed, its legs lost strength, and it cried out excitedly: "Meow meow meow, you scared me to death! I thought you were going to qi deviation and die!"

Pan Yun paid no mind to the wounds on her face, touching her chest: "Something like that. Just now, I felt like my heart had come back to life."

Pan Xiaohei: "Your heart was still dead?"

Pan Yun glanced at it: "I mean, it felt like it wanted to, like you, live apart from me."

Pan Xiaohei opened its mouth wide in disbelief. "Can a heart become a spirit?" Pan Yun: "It's due to my talent. This is the first time I've used it this way—it's the first time it's been able to see through such a large array. Last time, it was just to see the sealing array on you."

But that was in her past life, when her teachers were beside her to guard her, so nothing happened.

She told Pan Xiaohei: "The array on Sigu Cliff is far stronger than the sealing array on you."

Pan Xiaohei's face darkened with exasperation; it resented the truth but had to accept it.

It regretted slightly—not having retracted its claws when it slapped her just now.

Pan Yun looked again at the black hole.

The lines had vanished, but she had found the feeling of seeing them—she was certain that next time, if she willed it, she could see them again.

Pan Yun murmured: "Maybe I won't even need him to teach me—I can figure out this mountain's array myself."

Pan Xiaohei: "Seeing through and knowing how to dismantle are two different things. Didn't you see through the array on me in your past life? You spent three years studying it—what did you end up accomplishing?"

Pan Yun: "Why would I go out of my way to break it? It seals demons and monsters—better left sealed. I just want to learn, to borrow a bit of it."

"This array is too big. I only want to shrink it—or take just a part to use."

!. Read

She had no intention of breaking it. Even if she did, she'd only dismantle it in her mind—never write it down so it could spread. If demons and monsters escaped because of her, how much karmic debt would she bear? Just thinking of it was terrifying.

Only when she grew quiet did she feel the pain on her face.

She touched her cheek, glanced at Pan Xiaohei, then turned and walked out.

The outer cave was still lit; she stood at the brightest entrance and pulled out a bronze mirror to examine her face.

Her face was swollen and red, three distinct red stripes starkly visible.

Pan Yun looked at Pan Xiaohei.

Pan Xiaohei, guilty: "You were in qi deviation—I just wanted to wake you up! What did I do wrong?"

"You didn't do wrong. You did well. Tonight, you get dried fish as a reward."

Pan Xiaohei stared wide-eyed. "Really?"

Pan Yun grumbled: "Even though my face hurts, do you think I'm the kind who can't tell good from bad? Of course, I still suspect you meant to do it on purpose—but I can't deny you helped me."

Pan Xiaohei grinned. "No intent at all! No intent at all!"

Pan Yun snorted and began pulling rice from her Spirit Realm to steam it.

She'd been on Sigu Cliff so long she'd never cooked for herself—there was always something to do, her appetite had dropped to near zero, and she'd barely finished the steamed buns given by Cheng Lingzi.

Pan Xiaohei had long complained: daily buns, and Cheng Lingzi sometimes tossed a green vegetable dumpling into the cave—terrible, terrible dumplings.

It refused to eat them.

Pan Xiaohei always thought that even if Sigu Cliff lacked the Void trait, no disciple of the Academy would want to come here—it was just too, too, too miserable.

Worse than sitting in a human prison.

Pan Yun lit charcoal to steam the rice, then searched her Spirit Realm for the small fish packets Ma He had packed for her. She counted out three and placed them in a bowl for it.

Meeting its gaze, she paused, then added another fish, then another: "Five for you as a reward."

Pan Xiaohei immediately stood, snatched the bowl, and waddled off to the side.

It picked one fish to eat first, then sat down waiting for the rice to cook.

It wanted to eat too—it never wanted to eat buns again!!

Pan Yun pulled out a strip of cured pork, washed off one-third, and stored the rest in her Spirit Realm.

Then she sliced the pork thinly and added it to the pot once the rice was cooked, continuing to steam it over charcoal.

Pan Yun kept searching her Spirit Realm: "I remember Big Brother gave me pickled vegetables—where are they?"

Pan Xiaohei: "After eating buns for so long, you only now remember you had pickled vegetables?"

Pan Yun: "Cured pork is so greasy—don't you need spicy pickled vegetables to go with it? Buns are clean and simple—no problem there."

Pan Yun finally found the pickled vegetables.

All were sealed in jars, already prepared—Wang Feiyin clearly understood his little sister's cooking habits; he'd given only finished or Semi-finished products.

Even the chicken, duck, and fish he bought were already cooked, sealed, and ready for just a little reprocessing.

He had no idea his little sister was too lazy to even reprocess—she'd even considered skipping meals entirely to achieve fasting.

Pan Yun truly wanted to achieve fasting, but since she was still growing, she weighed the consequences and reluctantly stuck to eating buns.

She didn't want to become a squat dwarf.

When there was nothing, she truly didn't want to eat—but now, the fragrance of the rice mingled with the rich scent of the pork was overwhelming.

Pan Yun's stomach growled fiercely—this was the hungriest she'd been since arriving on Sigu Cliff.

"The smell of food triggers hunger," Pan Yun murmured. "I wasn't hungry just a moment ago…"

Pan Xiaohei couldn't take it anymore, pacing in circles: "I'm hungry! Just eat already!"

Pan Yun swallowed hard, insisting: "Wait a little longer. Ma He said to wait fifteen minutes after adding the pork—three more minutes."

Pan Xiaohei circled frantically: "It's done when it's cooked!"

"No—if you're going to do it, do it right. How can you just 'get by'?"

Though hungry, constantly swallowing saliva, Pan Yun stubbornly waited the full fifteen minutes. The moment the time ended, she yanked open the lid—the aroma surged forth.

Pan Xiaohei leapt up, unable to resist letting out a meow, reaching toward the pot.

Pan Yun swatted its paw with chopsticks: "Don't move—I'll serve it."

Pan Yun took its bowl and scooped a large helping of rice into it.

Pan Xiaohei paced in circles, frantic: "Meat! Meat!"

"What meat? This is cured meat—full of salt. You can't eat it."

Pan Xiaohei growled, "Do you think I'm afraid of salt? When I was on Mount Sanqing, what dishes didn't I eat? You're just settling a personal grudge."

Pan Yun clicked her tongue, picked out two pieces of meat for it, and warned, "If you make another sound, I'll take even these two away. Do you want this body to live a long time or not?"

Pan Xiaohei muttered under its breath and surrendered.

Pan Yun handed it the bowl, then picked up the pot and ate straight from it.

Pan Xiaohei glanced over.

Pan Yun explained, "That way, I only have to wash one bowl."

It was outright laziness taken to the extreme.

(End of Chapter)