Chapter 138: The Goddess of Mount Wu

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At that time, Yang Jian, a disciple of the Jade Cauldron Immortal of the Clarifying Sect, had just descended from the mountain. The two met by chance and felt an instant affinity, so they agreed to travel together.

Before long, they reached a valley. Everywhere the eye could see was lush green, and Li You could not help feeling delighted.

Yang Jian, however, knitted his brows slightly. Something seemed amiss.

“Don’t you think it’s strangely quiet here? There isn’t even a birdcall.”

“Now that you mention it, it really is.” Li You looked around as well and gave a slight nod.

A moment later, after sensing his surroundings, he heard a faint sound coming from nearby and frowned.

“Did you hear that snoring sound?”

Li You had inherited a trace of Li Tian’s divinity. Thus, although his cultivation was not particularly high, his sight and hearing were far beyond those of ordinary people—nearly on par with those of an ordinary Golden Immortal.

“I think I did.”

Yang Jian frowned as well. Concentrating, he too seemed to hear a faint noise.

The two exchanged a glance and walked toward its source. Before long, they arrived outside a gigantic cave.

The snoring had grown increasingly clear. There was no doubt that it was coming from within.

“Shall we go in and take a look?” Li You suggested, glancing at Yang Jian.

Both were young and fearless. Without a moment’s hesitation, Yang Jian nodded.

He was deeply curious about such an unknown and wondrous phenomenon.

The two entered the cave side by side. Soon, deep within its passages, they discovered the source of the snoring: a gigantic blue-green beast, fast asleep and snoring loudly.

“What kind of monster is that?” they both exclaimed, shocked by the creature’s enormous size.

Yang Jian had studied under the Jade Cauldron Immortal for several years. Once he recovered from his surprise, he realized that this was no place to linger. He hurriedly whispered to Li You, “Be careful. Don’t wake the beast.”

Li You immediately grew more cautious and began retreating toward the cave entrance with Yang Jian.

At that moment, a drop of dew fell from the stone ceiling and landed squarely in one of the beast’s upturned nostrils.

The creature twitched its nose, seemingly on the verge of waking. Both men’s hearts tightened. Fortunately, the beast merely sneezed and continued sleeping.

Before they could breathe a sigh of relief, a tremendous force swept toward them. The beast’s sneeze had produced a violent gale!

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At that time, Yang Jian had only cultivated under the Jade Cauldron Immortal for a few years and was merely a Heavenly Immortal. Li You’s cultivation was even lower, only at the middle stage of the Earthly Immortal realm. Faced with a sneeze from a beast that appeared to be a Great Golden Immortal, they had no power to resist and were blown out of the valley.

They drifted through the air for a long while before finally falling into a vast mountain range stretching hundreds of thousands of miles. There, they lost consciousness.

In a haze, Li You saw a strange beast—part dragon, part tiger—walking toward him. Sensing no malice from it, Li You relaxed and slipped back into unconsciousness.

“Dragon-whisker Tiger, what are you doing now?”

At that moment, a girl in feathered robes slowly descended from the sky. Her light, graceful voice carried from afar.

“Master.”

Dragon-whisker Tiger turned at once. A humanlike expression appeared on his face as he placed one paw against his head, looking utterly helpless.

“Oh? Why are there two people here?”

The girl walked over and finally noticed Yang Jian and Li You, who had been hidden behind Dragon-whisker Tiger’s enormous body. Feeling the vitality radiating from them, she—kind by nature—could not simply leave them unattended. She therefore instructed Dragon-whisker Tiger,

“Carry them both back at once!”

“Me?”

Dragon-whisker Tiger pointed a claw at his own face, clearly unwilling.

“Hmph. If you won’t carry them, do you expect me to?”

The girl gave a soft snort and turned away. A pair of dreamlike, elfin wings appeared behind her, lifting her into the air. Moments later, she vanished without a trace.

Seeing this, Dragon-whisker Tiger could only turn helplessly toward the two men on the ground. He used both claws to place them on his back. Fortunately, he was large enough that carrying two people was no trouble at all.

…

Amid verdant mountains and flowing waters stood a green karst cavern.

Li You felt cool spring water trickling down his throat and slowly opened his eyes. In his daze, he seemed to see a beautiful young girl smiling down at him.

Thinking it was an illusion, he rubbed his eyes and sat upright. Once he could clearly see his surroundings, he was left somewhat bewildered.

“You’re awake.”

The girl in green held a cup fashioned from a fresh green leaf. When she saw Li You regain consciousness, a sweet smile spread across her face.

“Where is this?”

Li You looked at the girl and asked instinctively. Then, remembering what had happened before he passed out, he continued, “Were you the one who saved me?”

“This is Mount Wu.” The girl in green smiled faintly. “Dragon-whisker Tiger carried you here. He also spent the entire morning collecting dew for you.”

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“Yes, that’s right! Hurry up and thank me!”

At once, Dragon-whisker Tiger came bounding over from the side. His enormous face nearly pressed against Li You’s, and he looked extremely expectant.

“Thank you, Dragon-whisker Tiger.”

Remembering the face he had seen before losing consciousness, Li You smiled faintly and offered his thanks.

“Master, Master, did you hear that? He thanked me!”

Dragon-whisker Tiger leaped excitedly into the air. An intensely humanlike grin spread across his tiger’s face as he bounded around the cavern like a child who had just received praise.

“All right, all right.”

The girl in green stopped him with considerable exasperation, then gave Li You an apologetic smile.

“Please don’t take it amiss. Dragon-whisker Tiger has always been like this. He’s actually very easy to get along with.”

“Of course.”

Li You smiled and nodded. In truth, watching a giant talking tiger leap about so exuberantly struck him as rather amusing.

Then he remembered Yang Jian and looked to the side. Seeing that Yang Jian was still unconscious, he could not help worrying.

“My friend—is he all right?”

“Don’t worry.” The girl in green smiled. “He should wake up soon.”

“I see.”

Hearing this, Li You finally relaxed.

“By the way, my name is Li You, and this is my friend, Yang Jian. May I ask your name?”

“My name? Hmm…”

The girl in green rested a finger beneath her chin and thought for a moment before speaking.

“I am a spirit of Mount Wu. I don’t seem to have a name. You may call me the Mountain Ghost.”

(The Mountain Ghost originates from the Goddess of Mount Wu in Qu Yuan’s Nine Songs of the Songs of Chu. Some elements here are borrowed from the setting of an animated series.)