Guardians of Mountain and Sea - Chapter 4

Apu stood where she was, recalling the etiquette she had learned from Priestess Granny, and offered a stiff, formal bow.

The woman in yellow paused slightly, a look of doubt crossing her face. “You already have a master?”

The girl shook her head. “No, this is the etiquette the priestess in our town taught me.”

“No wonder. Although divine priesthood has withered and is rarely seen now, she could vaguely be considered one of our kind.”

Having said that, the woman in yellow asked again, “Are you willing to enter my sect?”

Apu was a bit dazed. Was she like Wang Musheng? Had an immortal destiny just fallen into her lap?

She had heard that immortals loved quiet cultivation and were ignorant of mundane chores. To recruit someone so casually, she wondered if this was a minor sect looking for a handyman.

Despite these thoughts, she answered hesitantly, “This junior, this junior is willing.”

Seeing her apprehension, the woman in yellow smiled. “You needn’t be afraid. If you are unwilling, you may leave on your own. Your skeletal structure is excellent; even other sects would be willing to take you in.”

Hearing the woman say this, Apu instead made up her mind. Her knees bent, intending to kowtow.

“This disciple is willing. I pay my respects to Master.”

But she could not kneel down.

The woman in yellow chuckled softly. “You truly have only learned some superficial etiquette. Slow down; bringing you into the sect does not mean I am taking you as my personal disciple.”

As it turned out, according to the rules of the cultivation world, a cultivator traveling abroad who encounters a talented candidate can recruit them for the sect. Upon entering, they are first taught by senior brothers and sisters and must undergo examinations. Only after rising from the outer sect to the inner sect is a formal master-disciple relationship established.

Cases like the Wang family, who boasted loudly about being favored by an immortal master, were actually just blind bragging among neighbors. A truly valued good seed would be taken back to the sect immediately. Even if given time to pack and say goodbye, they would be protected by a sect elder.

The woman in yellow was willing to enroll Apu into her sect and would give her a few days to bid farewell to the mortal world. Afterward, she would take her to a sect liaison point in a major city, where a dedicated supervisor would bring her back.

Apu understood now. The woman in yellow was either out on business or wandering; she was simply recruiting a disciple for her sect in passing. It was even possible she did not think Apu was good enough to be her own student.

Apu thought to herself, who did she think she was anyway?

Thinking this way actually put her at ease. The girl scratched her head and stepped forward sheepishly with a bow. “Even if Senior has not taken me as a disciple, the debt of saving my life is worth a bow.”

She had only a vague impression that the God-Bone Grass and Priestess Granny had helped her gain her spiritual foundation. However, even if she had not died in the serpent’s belly, she would have suffocated underwater. Ultimately, it was the woman in yellow who had pulled her from the pool.

The woman in yellow accepted the bow graciously. After a moment of thought, she reached out. A handful of clear water rose from the pool, shifting and changing. By the time it landed in her hand, it had condensed into an icy jade plaque. She handed it to Apu.

The plaque felt warm to the touch, without a trace of coldness. Inside, there was a vivid, rotating longsword with a gold-trimmed red ribbon tied to the hilt. It felt like a piece of high-quality warm jade.

Of course, a country bumpkin like Apu had never seen warm jade before.

“I see that cultivators from other houses have been here. Since you are willing to join my宗门 (sect), take this as proof of identity to avoid unnecessary trouble.”

After bidding farewell to the woman in yellow, Apu ran to the central ritual grounds of the Nineteenth Town to find Priestess Granny. Despite running several miles, she felt as light as a swallow and did not shed a single drop of sweat.

She pushed open the door, but before she could speak her mind, her nose tickled and tears began to fall.

“What is this? When your flesh was rotting and your bones dissolving in that serpent’s belly, you only wailed in pain without a single tear. Why are you crying now?”

The hunchbacked, silver-haired old woman, her face lined with wrinkles and dressed in solemn ceremonial robes, sat on a recliner smiling lovingly at her.

Apu rushed forward, gently clutching the granny’s withered, wrinkled hand, sobbing uncontrollably.

“I knew it, I knew it! It was you helping me, Granny. It was always you. Granny, what is wrong with you? How can I make you better?”

The old woman pulled her into her arms.

“Good child, do not overthink it. This is the path I was meant to walk. When you found your way to me at seven years old, I knew you were a good child. You chose this path yourself; I merely gave you a push. The cultivation world is not necessarily brighter than the mortal one.”

The girl wiped her tears and looked up, asking through sobs, “Granny, what do you need me to do?”

The old woman smiled. “Apu, you are even smarter than I imagined.”

Regardless of Priestess Granny’s motives, Apu’s own initial intentions had not been entirely pure. It should be said that Apu had never been a simple child; she possessed animal-like instincts and premonitions.

At home, when she saw the result of her older sister’s submissive attempts to please, being traded away like an object of equal value to benefit her brothers and the family, she quickly changed her attitude. She turned herself into a mischievous, troublemaking child.

Naughty children always draw more gaze and attention, and people always value the things they focus on most.

However, when she realized that being a troublemaker only increased her visibility at home without changing her status or future, she turned her gaze outward.

In short, she was the one who chose the Mang Mountain Priestess as her backer.

Like a fierce but defenseless cub, she used her instincts to find the most supreme and transcendent presence in the entire Great Mang Mountain, then huddled under her wing.

The latter saw through everything, scrutinizing yet seemingly casually protecting the child.

No one can predict everything perfectly. These two people, each with their own hidden thoughts and neither being simple, had slowly developed a bond that neither had ever possessed before.

Apu did indeed want to cultivate, but the path she stepped onto was perhaps not just her own active choice. She had sensed that Priestess Granny was waiting for such a person to appear, and she was willing to become that special person for her sake.

The white-haired woman had her own goals as well. She was selecting and waiting for someone who could carry her expectations onto the treacherous and dangerous path of cultivation.

Apu was the right fit.

Had the Priestess of Mang Mountain simply stood by, given the girl’s personality and circumstances, she could have waited for the environment to force this bulrush-like girl into the position she desired.

But she had been hesitating. She could not bear to do it. She provided a warm home and allowed the girl to grow up and choose for herself whether to stay in the secular world or become a cultivator.

Today, the girl had made her choice.

The old woman reached into her ceremonial robes and pulled out a golden safety lock. The front was inscribed with “Peace,” and the back with “Lin Pu.” She carefully hung it around the girl’s neck. The style of the lock was just like the ones worn by small children in the countryside, common, gaudy, and ordinary.

“Apu was just a nickname used casually. According to town custom, a girl is only given a formal name by her father or brothers when she marries. In my capacity as the Chief Priestess of Mang Mountain, I shall name you Pu. Lin Pu, unpolished jade, is bound to become a great vessel.”

Priestess Granny then took the cloak draped over the back of the recliner and placed it over the girl’s shoulders. The silver-white cloak followed its master’s will, automatically transforming into a simplified black-and-red version of the Chief Priestess’s robes. At a glance, it was clearly the same style as the one worn by the Priestess of Mang Mountain.

The white-haired woman did not know whether to laugh or cry. “You child, the priestly robes are heavy and wide; what do you look like wearing that?”

After her gentle scolding, she tapped her finger. The color shifted to a light blue, and the priestly patterns faded, turning the garment into a stylishly modern dress.

“This outer robe is a dharma garment. It has little function other than being dirt-resistant, and it can change shape or repair itself at will. Take it as a memento. I have not been out in the world for a long time and no longer understand it. But observing that woman in yellow, her spiritual power is vast and her cultivation profound. She must be a peak figure of a modern righteous sect. The sect she belongs to should not be underestimated; you can follow her with peace of mind.”

Priestess Granny took a breath to suppress a cough rising in her throat, then continued, “In the future, you must not describe me in detail to others. I am just an ordinary ritual medium and granny from your hometown, do you understand?”

Apu nodded obediently, rubbing the safety lock around her neck in silence.

“You sly little thing,” the old woman laughed. “This indeed is no ordinary safety lock. When you reach, well, I do not quite understand the cultivation levels of this era. When you reach a level just one step below that woman in yellow, you will be able to unlock the secrets within. Only then will you know what I need you to do.”

“Granny, I will do it!” Apu promised seriously, hugging the priestess’s neck.

The old woman held the girl in her arms and patted her back gently.

“Alright, go back now. Settle all your karma in the town. The sect that Wang boy is going to is third-rate; handle that yourself. You do not need to come back here when you leave.

Finally, remember one thing: the Priestess of the Nineteenth Town of Mang Mountain is the last divine priest in this world. If you encounter other priests in the future, do not be close to them, do not trust them, and stay far away from them. Until your cultivation is high enough to unlock the safety lock, do not provoke them.”

Only after the girl nodded in agreement and walked away, reluctantly turning back every three steps, did the white-haired woman heave a sigh of relief. She turned to support herself against the table and coughed up a large handful of flying ash, the cinders of her internal organs being burned away.

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