Chapter 205

Miao Zhen and Miao He bought exactly enough for three people, so each got a share.

The three placed their necessary luggage into their respective spaces, then took a cloth bundle and put two sets of clothes inside, just for show.

The results were posted only after noon the next day.

After the comprehensive exam, on the first-year notice board, Pan Yun's name stood at the top.

Pan Yun stood before the crowd, holding her cat, while classmates looked at her with envy and admiration.

The gap was too great; no one could even summon envy.

Pan Yun stroked the cat's head and sighed, "Too bad there's no individual score sheet, or a camera or anything—otherwise I'd definitely bring it back to Mount Sanqing to show Senior Brother and the others."

Miao Zhen and Miao He's scores were close, one ranked fifth, the other seventh.

And this is the overall ranking.

Pan Yun's lips curled slightly as she turned and said, "Let's go."

As soon as the three left, the others crowded forward to find their own names.

"Of the top ten, Mount Sanqing Temple holds three spots…"

"Mount Sanqing Temple has few people; Pan Yun and the others are its youngest. Once they graduate, no one will come from Mount Sanqing anymore."

With this conclusion, everyone finally breathed easier, hoping Pan Yun and the other two would graduate and leave soon.

Although Zhang Ziwang said the eighth day of the month was ideal for departure, after receiving her scores, Pan Yun felt no need to stay at the academy.

So she led Miao Zhen and Miao He on a detour to Bixi Academy to bid farewell to Zhang Liuzhen.

Zhang Liuzhen did not meet them; Si Dao blocked them at the gate, "Our Young Master is in seclusion and receiving no visitors."

This excuse had been used too many times.

Pan Yun nodded, "Tell Senior Brother goodbye for us. Say we're going on a study tour and will see him again next year."

Si Dao: "... Understood. I will report it exactly as you say. May the three young immortals travel slowly."

Pan Yun nodded, stepped past him, glanced at the second floor behind him, and bowed respectfully toward the interior.

Miao Zhen and Miao He stood beside her and bowed in unison.

They all knew Zhang Liuzhen had secluded himself these past two days to cover for Pan Yun—this favor, they acknowledged.

After bidding farewell, the three returned to Fengqi Academy, slung their bundles, and left—more eagerly than Zhang Weiyi, who had already graduated.

As the three passed before them, Pan Yun clasped her fists, "Senior Brothers, see you next year—oh, Senior Brother Zhang might not be around, farewell for now."

Miao Zhen and Miao He clasped their fists, "Farewell for now."

Zhang Weiyi:...

Deng Ziyu and Xue Hua clasped their fists, "Farewell for now."

Before the words faded, the three had already happily dashed out the door, heading straight for the Great Shangqing Palace's main gate.

They hurried down the mountain, stood at the entrance of Shangqing Town, conferred briefly, then decided not to enter the town and turned south instead.

Miao He had medicine, she had talismans, and even weather-reading was Miao Zhen's domain—what did they need to buy in town?

The three strode southward, bold and spirited.

Other students weren't so decisive: first, they still had to pack; second, Academy Director Zhang had said the eighth day was the most auspicious for departure, so they'd wait until tomorrow.

Thus, the road was completely empty.

The three stood side by side at the road's fork, gazing ahead—endless dirt path ahead, blocked by dense forest.

Pan Yun exhaled, feeling refreshed, and waved her hand, "Let's go!"

Miao Zhen and Miao He lifted their chins and followed her.

The road held no people, no villages—only thick forests on either side. The three walked tirelessly, joyfully forward.

Only when the sun neared setting did they begin to notice the trees around them.

Pan Yun tossed the black cat in her arms into the forest and urged, "Go find a good spot to camp for the night."

Pan Xiaohei turned and glared at her, but still leapt into the forest, scrambling up trees, then leaping swiftly from one to another.

Miao Zhen and Miao He looked up, amazed, "Like a squirrel."

Pan Yun: "This is a cat. Cats are very capable too. I heard they're the ancestors of tigers."

Miao Zhen and Miao He looked baffled, "Who said that? Can a cat teach a tiger? Won't the tiger just eat it in one bite?"

Pan Yun spread her hands, "I don't know—I read it in some obscure book. Maybe because whatever a tiger can do, a cat can do too, but not everything a cat can do, a tiger can. So some think the cat is the tiger's master. Humans always judge by intelligence, not size."

"Meow—" A cat's cry came from afar.

Pan Yun heard it and said, "It found a good spot. Let's go."

Following the cat's call, they walked a stretch before entering the woods, then went forty or fifty steps deeper to find a shallow mountain stream, with a relatively open area beside it.

Pan Xiaohei stood by the stream, lowering its head to drink.

Pan Yun quickened her pace, bent down, saw the water was crystal clear, and nodded, "Good water. We'll camp here tonight."

Miao Zhen and Miao He agreed, hung their bundle on a tree branch, and began bustling about.

Miao Zhen took out a stove, a kettle, a wooden basin, and a bamboo tube from her space.

She filled a basin with water to let it settle, then kept pulling out items.

Miao He took out medicinal powder and began drawing circles with it, enclosing them within. Pan Yun walked aside, gathering fallen wood and dry grass, plucking edible wild greens and scallions when she saw them, and also checked for droppings around.

By the time she dragged back a pile of wood and dry grass, she had mapped out everything within two hundred paces.

"There are many animals coming here to drink. I even saw wolf droppings—there might be wolves tonight."

Miao Zhen: "Should we avoid it?"

Pan Yun: "I checked—any place near water has animals. There aren't many wolf droppings or footprints. After we light a fire, they'll probably avoid us. If they don't, wolf pelts make decent mats—you don't think Mount Sanqing gets freezing cold in winter? Imagine a wolf pelt under a cold, icy chair…"

Miao Zhen and Miao He's eyes lit up with delight.

Miao Zhen: "Actually, this place is quite good—water for washing and drinking is always available."

Miao He: "There aren't many poisonous bugs either. I walked around and only pinched two centipedes. Other things like ants aren't worth mentioning at all, and there isn't even a single venomous snake. This is a good place."

Pan Yun: "Then it's decided. We'll stay here tonight."

Miao Zhen: "I wonder if there will be one wolf, or three wolves?"

Miao He: "Three would be better. One for each of us."

!. Read

Pan Yun: "Don't overthink it. What if none come at all?"

Miao Zhen poured the settled water from a bamboo tube into a kettle, then set it on the stove to boil.

She also had Miao He take out the stove from her spatial storage, set up a pot on it, placed a bamboo rack inside, put their packed steamed buns on the rack, then took out a pile of vegetables and asked, "Little Xiao Shishu, what vegetables should we have for dinner?"

Pan Yun said: "Roast chicken. We'll reheat it ourselves, and make a wild vegetable soup to go with it."

Roast chicken with wild vegetable soup, steamed buns as the staple. The three of them had walked for half a day and were already starving; just thinking about it made them feel these things would be incredibly delicious.

Pan Yun and Miao Zhen turned to look at Miao He. "The wild vegetable soup is up to you."

Miao He thumped her chest and said: "You'll be satisfied, guaranteed."

Miao He said cheerfully: "I'll go wash the wild vegetables and wild scallions. It's just that there are no chicken eggs, otherwise the wild vegetable soup would taste even better."

Pan Yun asked: "Would bird eggs do?"

Miao He nodded rapidly. "Of course! Does Little Xiao Shishu have bird eggs?"

Pan Yun grinned, turned, and walked off. Arriving at a tree, she leaped straight up, stepping on two branches in succession to land on the third.

She stood on the branch and carefully pushed aside the leaves in front of her. The bird nesting inside saw her, let out a shriek, and flapped its wings and clawed frantically at her face. Pan Yun grabbed it by the neck in one swift motion.

She didn't use force, just held its neck and pinned its wings. But the bird simply rolled its eyes back, let its head droop, and went limp in her palm, playing dead.

Pan Yun: …

She shook it and said: "Stop pretending. I only want a few of your eggs. Don't worry, I won't take the ones you're already incubating."

The bird ignored her and continued to lie limp in her palm, playing dead.

Pan Yun casually set it back on the branch and began picking up the eggs in its nest.

Some eggs were already being incubated, while others had clearly only been laid recently. Pan Yun's innate ability let her see the truth, so she picked out only the fresh eggs laid in the past few days.

The bird's eyeballs shifted slightly. Seeing her clumsily gathering the eggs, it couldn't help but lift its head, and its wings twitched once.

Pan Yun turned to look. The bird's head dropped back onto the branch with a thump, and its wings went still again.

Pan Yun looked at the eggs cradled in her arms, thought for a moment, then put two back. "Fine, I'll only take six eggs. The rest are yours."

Saying so, Pan Yun flew down from the tree with three bird eggs in one hand.

The bird hopped up on the spot, fluttered its wings to the edge of the nest to check its eggs, saw that the five being incubated were all fine, then turned toward Pan Yun below and began chirping angrily.

Pan Yun looked up at the branch and saw the bird spreading its wings and shouting at her—"Bad person! Scoundrel! Egg thief!"—cycling through those three phrases. She couldn't help but look at it with a touch of sympathy. "You can't even curse viciously. How will that do?"

Pan Yun said: "Let me teach you. You should curse with a curse attached, so that anyone who understands will actually get angry. For example: 'You stole my eggs, may you choke to death eating eggs, choke to death drinking water, choke to death even while walking.'"

The bird on the branch, the moment she looked up, went as silent as if someone had grabbed its throat. It didn't dare make another sound, and its wings drooped down.

Hearing Pan Yun's words, the bird opened its beak several times, but didn't dare curse out loud.

Pan Yun shook her head and headed back with the bird eggs.

The bird on the tree muttered its curses at her in a small voice, "Choke to death eating eggs, choke to death drinking water, choke to death even while walking…"

Pan Yun's sharp ears caught it, and she couldn't help but narrow her eyes in amusement.

Pan Xiaohei looked down on her. "What's so fun about teasing a bird?"

"What teasing? This is teaching, understand?" Pan Yun said. "Later I'll boil one bird egg for you. Do you want it?"

Pan Xiaohei immediately fell silent.

Miao He used three bird eggs to make soup, and put the other three into the hot water with the steamed buns to boil. Before long, they became boiled eggs.

Pan Yun peeled the shell and gave it to Pan Xiaohei to eat.

After it finished eating, Pan Yun said leisurely: "See, most of the sin is on you."

Pan Xiaohei: …