Chapter 164: One Slap Awakens You

In the end, everyone followed Wang Feiyin's arrangement: the mysterious figure left to guard them stayed in the academy, while Tao Ji himself descended the mountain holding a sign reading "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, but everyone on Mount Sanqing might start suffering too.

The Long Hushan people likely knew something too; when he said he was leaving, though they regretted it, they didn't try to stop him—only escorted him with lingering glances to the mountain gate and watched him depart.

Zhang Liuzhen came personally to see him off.

As the heir to the Celestial Master's Mansion, his presence gave Mount Sanqing great face, greatly easing the tension between Mount Sanqing and Long Hushan during this period.

It allowed everyone in the academy to calm down and begin viewing Xuanmiao and the others with normal eyes.

Back at the Celestial Master's Mansion below the mountain, all their scheming ceased the moment they saw Xuanmiao remain in the academy.

When Xuanmiao went to the dining hall for meals, she faintly overheard someone say, "Why did Master Zhang and the others agree to let Xuanmiao stay in the academy? That's a madwoman."

Xuanmiao sharply turned her head, her gaze piercing.

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

Their clothing differed from that of the academy students.

Miaohé finished getting her meal and ran over cheerfully. "Xuanmiao, I got mine—let's go."

Xuanmiao grunted, then walked out with Miaohé.

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

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

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

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

Miaohé nodded. "I just learned that spell two days ago—perfect chance to try it."

As the two girls drew circles to curse people, Pan Yun sat in her medicinal bath, suffering agonizing pain.

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

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 practiced a set of fist forms every morning.

Pan Xiao saw with her own eyes how her fist techniques grew sharper, her fist winds fiercer—yet she never used her internal qi or true energy.

Siguai Cliff truly was an excellent place for body tempering; it forced Pan Yun to draw more deeply on her body's own strength, training her physical form itself.

After finishing her fist forms, she drank water, ate breakfast, then began reading. She had planned her schedule: which books to read at which hours—besides the Great Ming Code, she studied classics, histories, and the works of the hundred schools.

She needed this knowledge to clear her father's name.

When tired, she'd lean out the cave entrance and play "You Draw, I Draw" with Zhou Wangdao, gesticulating wildly—yet communication flowed smoothly.

By the way, her water-carrying speed had increased again, cutting the time spent nearly in half.

After communicating with Pan Yun, Zhou Wangdao stopped acting mad. He had no books or other entertainment; 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 Siguai Cliff. Slowly, he realized his master hadn't sent him here merely because he'd neglected his duty and overlooked the anomalies at Fengqi Courtyard.

But because, at the time, he had been weak toward the vulnerable and cruel toward the strong—losing the courage and fairness a cultivator should possess.

Pan Yun was different; she never dwelled on her own faults, living each day fully and busily.

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

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

She didn't know why she watched it; her sixth sense told her she must.

She knew a great demon or evil spirit lurked beneath the black hole—the very thing that had been struck by the stone earlier.

She felt a little sorry.

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

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

Pan Xiao sat beside her, watching too. As if sensing her thoughts, it suddenly spoke: "It's like me."

Pan Yun turned her head. "What?"

Pan Xiao looked 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 in thought. "Ancient arrays have common origins—it's not strange they share similarities. You say it's like you—or like the array that sealed you?"

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

Pan Yun: "No wonder whenever I stare at it, I feel a wave of nausea—as if my eyes are going black."

Pan Xiao: …

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

After an unknown length of time, Pan Yun noticed a different color appearing before her eyes.

In the void of the black hole, countless lines crisscrossed, slowly emerging before her, 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 complex; as she looked at each, her mind automatically revealed their array nodes, trajectories, and combined functions.

This was the accumulated knowledge from her past life's twenty years—her mind automatically recognized them, though mostly they merely reflected in her mind: she saw them, remembered them, yet couldn't yet decipher them.

All illusions vanished under her gaze; she saw everything—even if she couldn't yet understand it.

Pan Yun's heart beat faster, her eyes locked ahead, her face reddening.

Pan Xiao stood up. It sensed Pan Yun's condition was wrong, and cried out, "Miao—"

Pan Yun kept staring ahead, her fingers pressing harder against her chest. Pan Xiao, no longer hesitating, leapt up with a "miao!" and swiped her face with a claw.

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

The recoil sent Pan Xiao tumbling to the ground. Undeterred, it sprang onto the stone platform, preparing to leap again—when Pan Yun, clutching her face, turned toward it and held out her palm. "Enough. I'm awake!"

Pan Xiao's leap froze mid-air. Its arched back relaxed, its legs lost tension, and it cried out excitedly, "Miao miao miao! You scared me to death—I thought you were going qi-deviation and dying!"

Pan Yun didn't care about her bruised face; she touched her chest. "Something like that. Just now, I felt my heart… come alive again."

Pan Xiao: "Your heart was dead?"

Pan Yun glanced at it. "I mean—it felt like it wanted to break free from me and live on its own."

Pan Xiao opened its mouth in disbelief. "Can a heart become a spirit?" Pan Yun: "Because of my talent. This is the first time I've used it this way—it's the first time it's seen such a massive array. Last time, I used it to look at the sealing array on you."

But that was in my past life, with my masters guarding me—I suffered no ill effects.

She told Pan Xiao: "The array on Siguai Cliff is far stronger than the one sealing you."

Pan Xiao's face darkened, resentful yet forced to admit it.

It regretted having retracted its claws when it slapped her.

Pan Yun looked again at the black hole.

The lines had vanished—but she had found the feeling of seeing them. She was certain: 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 decipher this mountain's array myself."

Pan Xiao: "Seeing and understanding 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 accomplish?"

Pan Yun: "Why would I be stupid enough to break it open? This seals demons and evil spirits—better left sealed. I only want to learn, to borrow a part of it."

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

!. Read

She had no intention of breaking it open. Even if she did, she'd only do it in her mind—never write it down, never let it spread. If demons and spirits escaped because of her, how much karmic debt would she bear? Just thinking of it terrified her.

Only when she calmed down did she feel the pain on her face.

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

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

Her face was swollen and red—three distinct red stripes stood out clearly.

Pan Yun looked at Pan Xiao.

Pan Xiao, guilty: "You were possessed. I just wanted to snap you out of it—what did I do wrong?"

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

Pan Xiao's eyes widened. "Really?"

Pan Yun sighed. "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—but I can't deny you helped me."

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

Pan Yun snorted, then pulled rice from her spiritual realm to steam.

She'd been on Siguai Cliff so long she'd never cooked anything herself. Every day was packed with tasks; her appetite had dropped to near zero—she'd barely finished the steamed buns given by Cheng Lingzi.

Pan Xiao had long complained: every day, just chewing buns. Cheng Lingzi sometimes tossed one green vegetable dumpling into the cave—terrible, terrible dumplings.

She wouldn't eat them.

Pan Xiao always thought: even if Siguai Cliff lacked its void-like properties, no academy disciple would want to come here—it was just too unbearable.

Worse than being locked in a human prison.

Pan Yun lit charcoal to steam rice, then searched her spiritual realm for the small fish Miaohé had packed for her. She counted out three and placed them in a bowl for Pan Xiao.

Meeting its gaze, she paused, then added another fish. Then another. "Five for you."

Pan Xiao immediately stood, snatched the bowl, and waddled off.

It picked one fish to eat first, then sat down to wait 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 meat, cut off one-third to wash, and stashed the rest back in her realm.

Then she sliced the cured pork thinly, and after the rice was cooked, she added the pork to the pot, continuing to simmer it over charcoal.

Pan Yun continued searching in the space. "I remember Senior Brother gave me pickled vegetables before—where are they?"

Pan Xiao Black: "You've been eating steamed buns for so long, and now you finally remember you have pickled vegetables?"

Pan Yun: "This pork is so greasy—don't you need something spicy and salty to go with it? Steamed buns are clean and light; I don't see any problem."

Pan Yun finally found the pickled vegetables.

They were all already prepared and sealed in jars; clearly Wang Feiyin understood his junior sister's cooking habits—he'd given her only ready-made or semi-prepared items.

Even the chicken, duck, fish, and meat he bought were all pre-cooked and sealed for her, requiring only minor reheating.

He had no idea his junior sister was so lazy she wouldn't even bother with reheating—she even considered skipping meals entirely and practicing grain Grain Bigu.

Pan Yun truly wanted to practice grain Grain Bigu, but since she was still growing, she weighed the consequences and reluctantly went back to chewing steamed buns.

She didn't want to become a short, stumpy thing.

When there was nothing, Pan Yun truly didn't want to eat—but now the fragrant aroma of the rice mingled with the rich scent of the cured pork became overwhelming.

Pan Yun's stomach growled fiercely; it was the hungriest she'd been since arriving at Si Guo Cliff.

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

Pan Xiao Black couldn't take it anymore, pacing in circles. "I'm hungry—just eat already!"

Pan Yun swallowed hard. "Wait a little longer. Miaohe said to wait fifteen minutes after adding the pork—three more minutes."

Pan Xiao Black circled frantically. "It's done when it's cooked!"

"No—if you're going to do it, do it right. How can you just settle for 'done'?"

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

Pan Xiao Black leapt up, letting out an involuntary meow, reaching toward the pot.

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

Pan Yun took its bowl and scooped out a generous helping of rice.

Pan Xiao Black paced anxiously. "Meat! Meat!"

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

Pan Xiao Black growled, "Do you think I'm afraid of salt? Back on Mount Sanqing, what didn't I eat? You're just taking revenge."

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

Pan Xiao Black grumbled but gave in.

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

Pan Xiao Black glanced over.

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

She was lazy to the extreme.

(End of Chapter)