Chapter 345: My Master Lives Here
The heavy rain fell, lashing at Lu Shan Jun’s face and clothes before slipping to the ground. The entire platform was quickly soaked, washing away the remaining grime and bloodstains.
Hu Yun watched all this from a distance, noticing that Lu Shan Jun just stood motionless in the rain, staring up at the sky, seemingly making no attempt to seek shelter.
As the rain washed over the giant stone platform, the stone grew increasingly clear and its color seemed to grow more and more translucent, like a bright polished disk, drawing Hu Yun’s attention to the promontory.
Seemingly drawn to the platform as well, Lu Shan Jun finally lowered his head, looking at the platform beneath his feet, then at Hu Yun to the side, and asked with a smile.
“What, aren’t you going to congratulate me?”
Hu Yun snapped out of his reverie and quickly bowed to Lu Shan Jun with both paws cupped together.
“Congratulations, Shan Jun, on your successful transformation! From now on, you are free to roam across this vast world!”
“Haha, indeed!”
Lu Shan Jun laughed loudly, leaped off the giant rock on the platform, and landed steadily on the hillside. He then strode towards his cave.
The entire mountainside had been scorched in a number of places due to the lightning strikes, and many trees had been set aflame, but the heavy rain quickly extinguished the fires. Without lightning, and with the torrential rain and the dark clouds now obscuring the sky, visibility in the mountains was now extremely low. However, this did not have much impact on Lu Shan Jun and Hu Yun.
Soon, Lu Shan Jun arrived at his cave. As he continued to walk inside, some stalactites appeared overhead.
Lu Shanjun pointed a finger at the stalactites above, and a fluorescent glow appeared on each one, quickly illuminating the cave.
Beneath his feet lay a clear little pool of water, the dark background of the rocks allowing it reflect the light like a smooth mirror.
Although Lu Shan Jun already knew his appearance after successfully transforming, he still had a distinct feeling about his current appearance when he looked in the mirror.
“It feels like something’s missing.”
After looking for a long time, Lu Shanjun touched the top of his head and finally realized what was missing: when he had transformed his fur into his garments, he hadn’t created a hairpin.
After thinking for a moment, Lu Shanjun flicked his little finger, and a claw about the length of a forearm fell off. Then, using his index finger as a carving knife, he quickly began to work on the slightly curved claw.
Before long, a slightly curved white hairpin appeared in Lu Shanjun’s hand, its material resembling both white jade and ivory.
Then Lu Shan Jun tied a portion of her long hair into a bun and secured it with the hairpin.
“That’s about right!”
Hu Yun had continued to observe Lu Shan Jun’s new form carefully. Perhaps because of his human form, Lu Shan Jun did not give Hu Yun the same sense of oppression as usual.
“Lu Shan Jun, now that you’ve successfully transformed into human form, are you about to leave Niu Kui Mountain?”
Hearing Hu Yun’s question, Lu Shan Jun replied with a sigh.
“Yes, I have been trapped in Niu Kui Mountain for so many years. Now that we’ve transformed into human form, I naturally wish to go out and see the world, and also fulfill the promise I made all those years ago…”
At this moment, Lu Shan Jun looked down at the red fox.
“However, I won’t leave immediately. I will consolidate my cultivation and mental state for a while. The injuries from the lightning tribulation won’t heal immediately either. I will only set off when I am in the best condition.”
Lu Shan Jun knew very well what the fox was worried about, but this something that was bound to happen eventually.
Hearing this answer, the red fox visibly breathed a sigh of relief. Mr. Ji was gone, and no one knew when he would return. Yin Qing was gone and had not returned since. Even Lu Shan Jun was leaving. He felt a pang of sadness in his heart.
“Alright, let’s cultivate together first.”
After Lu Shan Jun finished speaking, he turned around and strode towards the first half of the cave. He arrived at the dry grass where he used to lie down, and sat cross-legged. He began to regulate his breathing in the posture of a human cultivator.
Hu Yun leaped over, arriving at that section of the cave to see Lu Shan Jun meditating with his eyes closed. Behind him, he noticed a niche in the cave wall, in which lay the calligraphy scroll that Ji Yuan had given Lu Shan Jun, bearing the four large characters that read “Fundamental Rebirth.”1
‘I’ll cultivate too!’
With this thought in mind, Hu Yun lay down beside Lu Shan Jun, summoned his divine sense, and began to inhale and exhale the surrounding spiritual energy.
The heavy rain outside continued to pour down, making the entire Niu Kui Mountain and its surrounding area unusually quiet. No one knew why the thunder had been so loud in the first half of the night, nor what had happened deep in the mountains.
Spring was the season of rejuvenation and rebirth. After a thunderstorm, the mountains were nourished, and everything seemed even more vibrant.
In the following period of time, the ashes left by the trees destroyed by the lightning around the boulder platform became nutrients. New vegetation sprouted and grew, while new branches grew from the stumps of some of the trees.
The original charred black color was gradually replaced by new green.
Lu Shan Jun’s injuries from the lightning tribulation were like the revived vegetation, gradually healing completely. His cultivation level since his transformation was also gradually consolidated, and his cultivation reached its peak in just one or two months.
Finally, on this day, Lu Shan Jun, who had been cultivating with his eyes closed, opened them, and a glint of divine light flashed in his eyes.
Looking around, the red fox wasn’t nearby. However, not long after, Hu Yun leaped in from outside. Lu Shan Jun smelled a faint scent of blood, indicating that the fox had just returned from hunting.
Lu Shan Jun stood up and spoke to the red fox.
“Hu Yun, take me to Mr. Ji’s residence.”
“Oh, now?”
“Yes, now.”
The red fox nodded, then leaped out of the cave again, looking back at Lu Shan Jun.
“Then follow me!”
With that, the red fox began to leap quickly through the mountains, occasionally looking back from time to time. However, Lu Shan Jun followed behind at a leisurely pace, so soon the red fox stopped slowing down to glance back and began to run at full speed.
Although Lu Shan Jun has always held Ji Yuan in high esteem over the years, for well-known reasons, he couldn’t easily go down the mountain to visit his mentor. Each time, he had to wait for his mentor to come to the mountain to see him in person.
So among Lu Shan Jun’s many wishes, was a small desire: he hoped to visit his mentor’s home in person.
The figures of the man and the fox moved with incredible speed, traversing the dense and rugged mountains as if walking on flat ground. After more than an hour of traveling through Niu Kui Mountain, they had already reached the outskirts of the mountain area and would soon be leaving the Niu Kui Mountain Range.
At this moment, Lu Shan Jun felt a rare sense of trepidation. He could have ridden the wind out of the mountain, but he preferred to walk step by step to Ning’an County.
Finally, Lu Shan Jun stepped out of Niu Kui Mountain for the first time, descending the hill and onto the road outside.
They could see the village, not too far away from the spot where Hu Yun often descended the mountain. At this moment, Lu Shanjun, with his keen eyesight, could see the children playing in the village, furs drying in the sun, and wisps of smoke rising from the chimneys of each household. This feeling was a truly novel experience.
Ning’an County was only a few dozen li away down the road. And since it was all flat terrain, it didn’t take long for the man and the fox to reach the outskirts of the county.
Ning’an County, which had produced the literary giant Yin Zhaoxian, now boasted a strong academic atmosphere. Students from other counties even come to this county’s middle school to study, so it was not uncommon to see scholars traveling here.
However, Lu Shan Jun’s clothes were primarily colored a light yellow, which would stand out too much.2 Before entering the city, he dusted off his sleeves a few times, naturally changing the color of his clothes to a pale blue. Aside from some fine black cloud patterns on the sleeves, it was quite in line with the image of a scholar in blue robes.
Ning’an County had always been a quietly bustling place.
Upon entering the city, the sounds of people walking around, the chatter in restaurants and teahouses, and the hawking of vendors created a noisy yet vibrant atmosphere.
This was a completely different environment from the mountains. On the surface, Lu Shanjun appeared calm, but in his heart he was filled with excitement and curiosity as he tried his best to adapt.
Hu Yun had already activated his illusionary magic upon entering the city and carefully led the way, glancing left and right.
“Hu Yun, what are you looking at? Is someone here trying to harm you?”
Lu Shan Jun finally realized that the red fox was acting strangely, being overly cautious. But as far as he knew, even the City God of the county wouldn’t do anything to Hu Yun.
“Hey, Shan Jun, you don’t understand. I have some ‘sworn enemies’ in the county.3 Although I don’t really care about them, it would be troublesome if I ran into them. It’s best to be careful. Let’s hurry while they’re not around. Tian Niu Lane is in that direction!”
Sworn enemies?
Lu Shanjun was slightly puzzled, but he didn’t ask any more questions. Instead, he understandingly quickened his pace.
“Selling braised pork noodles~! Delicious braised pork noodles, and lamb offal soup~!”
Outside Tian Niu Lane, someone was calling out to customers at Sun’s Noodle Stall. Lu Shan Jun glanced over there subconsciously, then turned on to Tian Niu Lane.
‘I wonder if Master has ever eaten noodles here.’
Along the way, whenever he encountered someone, they would subconsciously glance at him a few more times, seeing as he was a stranger. Lu Shanjun would occasionally smile and bow with clasped his hands in greeting. He could even imagine these people greeting his master with, “Hello, Mr. Ji.”
Soon, the man and the fox arrived at a small courtyard in the innermost secluded corner of the lane. The verdant canopy of the large jujube tree in the courtyard covered the small pavilion.
Lu Shan Jun looked at the old copper lock on the courtyard gate, the peeling paint on the door, and then looked up at the plaque hanging high above them that bore the four characters “Ju’an Pavilion.” The calligraphy was unremarkable, not having been written y his master, and was similarly faded, with some characters even missing strokes.
Looking around to make sure no one was watching, he imitated Hu Yun and leapt over the wall.
A well covered with a stone slab, a stone table and four stone stools, simple courtyard and some houses, a large vat with a wooden lid outside the kitchen, and a thick and lush jujube tree in the center of the courtyard…
This was Ju’an Pavilion, the home of his master.
Even after being away for such a long time, the air was still filled with Ji Yuan’s presence, and Lu Shanjun was filled with emotion.
“Who among the common people of this world could have imagined that someone like my Master lives here!”
T/n: There’s something really moving about the fact that LSJ, whom JY has claimed as his first (and so far only) disciple, has grown enough to gain the same outlook and wonder at this world as his master. The first thing HY congratulates him on is the ability to roam the world, because that is what is most important to him now; the first thing LSJ does is physically walk to Ning’an County instead of flying, just like JY who wanted to see the world and travel it with his own feet; the first place LSJ visits is JY’s home, and he finds wonder at the way people live. It really shows just how much of an impact JY has had on the lives of those around him, and how far LSJ especially has come.
- See chapter 250
- Yellow is a color reserved for royalty in Ancient China. LSH is a Lord/King of beasts and a tiger spirit, so technically it’s appropriate for his station, but you can’t just walk into a town wearing yellow and expect it not to attract attention
- T/n: LOL RIP HY’s dog trauma