Chapter 134

Chapter 134: It Turns Out to Be the Mountain God

Upstairs, the Old Shaman tensed and quickly changed his plan. He had woken up early today just to show off in front of everyone, but the sudden appearance of that Little Ancestor forced him to end things ahead of time.

He waved his hand, pointed toward Shen Sang Ruo, and spoke in a voice that did not sound old at all: “You, enter the Floating Cloud Tower.”

Everyone was shocked that the Old Shaman picked someone so fast. They all looked at Shen Sang Ruo, envying her luck. After a brief slump, they pulled themselves together. Maybe the Old Shaman would choose more people. They might still have a chance.

Fang Yu was unusually happy and said: “Sang Ruo, we got picked. This Old Shaman has good taste.”

Shen Sang Ruo felt something was off, but she decided to enter the Floating Cloud Tower first and talk later.

At the door, the guards looked troubled when they saw the two of them. The Old Shaman had only said the woman could go in, not the man. They blocked Fang Yu outside until Shen Sang Ruo asked if he could come with her.

Someone went to report to the Old Shaman. Inside, he sat straight with a serious air, rubbed his brow, and waved his hand: “Let them both in.”

They entered the Floating Cloud Tower and went up to the second floor. Hearing footsteps, the Old Shaman hurried to put on his mask.

Keeping a calm face and looking straight ahead, Shen Sang Ruo said: “Junior greets Old Shaman.”

Fang Yu glanced around the room first, then followed her lead and said: “Junior greets Old Shaman.”

The Old Shaman pointed to some stools and said: “Sit over there,” but his gaze never left the small Bamboo Bear in her arms. Behind the mask, his eyes looked surprised by how well behaved the little Bamboo Bear was.

Shen Sang Ruo noticed this at once. She became even more sure that the Old Shaman had not picked her, but the Bamboo Bear she was carrying.

She hid the doubt in her eyes and sat down as if nothing was wrong: “Yes.”

Once they were seated, the Old Shaman spoke first: “How did this little one end up with you?”

In the same room, his voice was clear. It did not sound like an old man’s voice; it sounded more like a young man’s. Just as Shen Sang Ruo guessed, his question was about the Bamboo Bear.

She answered honestly: “I met it deep in the Phantom Mirage Domain, and then it stuck to me.”

The Old Shaman’s surprise turned to pure shock as he said: “It stuck to you???”

[Since when does that Mountain God Little Ancestor cling to people?]

Fang Yu backed her up and said: “Yeah. Sang Ruo tried many times to shake it off and couldn’t. It even gave up the Bloodtear Jade Bamboo grove. It only wanted to follow her. We had no choice but to bring it along.”

Hearing this, the look in the Old Shaman’s eyes grew even more colorful, as if he had just learned something huge. Even the Bloodtear Jade Bamboo grove did not tempt it? [Did I mishear?]

Shen Sang Ruo followed his lead and asked: “Why ask about this Bamboo Bear? Does it have something special?”

The Old Shaman pressed down his feelings and said: “No. I was just curious.”

He did not know Shen Sang Ruo’s character or intent, and the Bamboo Bear relied on her so much that he could not tell her its true identity. He watched the little Bamboo Bear with puffed cheeks chewing and chewing. Its look overlapped with the one he met a thousand years ago.

[It has been a thousand years, and it still looks like this.] He grumbled to himself. But it was the Mountain God, after all. Growing slowly made sense.

His eyes turned distant as he remembered: [A thousand years ago, I was still a little me.]

Back then, he was a young shaman searching for the ruins of an ancient Grand Adept inside the Phantom Mirage Domain. Halfway in, he ran into this same little Bamboo Bear. He did not know it was the Mountain God and got chased around the Phantom Mirage Domain in a sorry state. He could not figure out why a tiny puffball could fight like that. Later he learned it was the legendary Mountain God. He felt so mad he wanted to report the Mountain God to the Heavenly Dao for beating up its own people.

That was why he always thought of the little Bamboo Bear as hot tempered and hard to handle. But in Shen Sang Ruo’s arms it was this gentle, even clingy. To him, that sounded impossible. He could not help wondering what special charm this woman had. It made him feel very unbalanced inside. If he knew she had also stumbled into the Grand Adept ruins he searched for years ago, he would be even more upset.

He straightened up and asked: “Have you thought about sending it to the Conservation Office?”

Although he and the Bamboo Bear had history, it was the Mountain God. As the highest authority in the Phantom Mirage Domain, he had to think of everyone there. He could not allow Shen Sang Ruo to keep it for herself.

Shen Sang Ruo was about to say that after leaving the Floating Cloud Tower she would send the Bamboo Bear to the Conservation Office, but before she could speak, the little Bamboo Bear seemed to get angry. Its beady eyes glared at the Old Shaman, and his mask shattered at once.

[You talk too much!]

It had finally found its warm treasure, and he still wanted her to send it away? [Looks like I did not beat him hard enough a thousand years ago!]

A powerful strike stopped just a finger’s width in front of the Old Shaman’s face, and the old fear of being ruled by the Bamboo Bear came back to him. This was a warning.

Shen Sang Ruo and Fang Yu jumped at the sudden change. This was their first time seeing the Bamboo Bear make a move. It was shockingly fierce.

With the mask broken, the Old Shaman’s true face showed. He was indeed a handsome young man. If they did not know he had lived over a thousand years, they would think he was just past twenty.

Fang Yu clicked his tongue and thought: [Who said the Old Shaman is old? He looks way too young.] Why was he called the Old Shaman then? If Fang Yu asked, the Old Shaman would answer: being called Old Shaman sounds more like a worldly expert. It has more style.

With his face exposed, the Old Shaman did not get angry. Mainly, he did not dare. He quietly took a new mask from his chest and put it on.

Fang Yu stared blankly and thought: [Is there any point in wearing it now? We already saw him.]

Shen Sang Ruo smoothed the Bamboo Bear’s fur, and it went back to nibbling bamboo.

She said: “Back at the inn, when I said I would send it to the Conservation Office, it also resisted, though not as fiercely as just now. I am surprised.”

Then she added: “I ask Old Shaman’s forgiveness.”

The Old Shaman said: “It is fine, it is fine,” but his eyes drifted, full of gloom. [Has it really latched on to her? That will be hard to handle.]

Shen Sang Ruo asked: “If it refuses to go to the Conservation Office, does Old Shaman have a way to make it stay here?”

The Bamboo Bear was not simple. She could not keep carrying this chubby pendant around, and she could not take it out of the Phantom Mirage Domain. She had to ask the Old Shaman for help.

The Bamboo Bear slowly lifted its head. Its look toward the Old Shaman was like a death stare, as if the moment he said one word, it would help him remember the old days.