Chapter 74: Reunion Festival on Yunling Mountain

“Chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp!” the little sparrow shouted excitedly, flapping its wings. “Little Temple Master is here! Lord Hua Qi is here! Lord Xi Jue is here! Lord Dou Ming is here! Lord Xiao Cong is here! Lord Tuo Tuo is here! Chuyi and the little lamb are back too!”

The little deer and the little squirrel hurriedly began picking fresh flowers.

The monkey spirit touched the pomegranates, then looked at the grapes, along with all kinds of wild fruit the little animals had picked. They had also prepared a very generous spread of food.

Unlike the tree at Qiu Sheng’s house, which could only shade one corner of the little courtyard, the trees in the forest blotted out the sky.

Yun Shan opened his big eyes and looked up at the branches sweeping past overhead, waving his little hands happily.

Hua Qi had taken snake form. He had Yun Shan coiled on his tail and leisurely made his way up the mountain.

Tuo Tuo, with the flower bud atop his head, dove headfirst into the earth.

Xi Jue held the basket in his teeth and followed unhurriedly beside Hua Qi.

Xiao Cong turned into a pangolin and sprawled on Dou Ming’s back.

The little animals were all gathered in the forest halfway up the mountain. When they saw Hua Qi, they could not stop trembling, and could not help wanting to run into the woods behind them.

Hua Qi placed Yun Shan on the grass. His snake head rose upright, and he flicked his tongue as he said coolly, “Try running.”

Not a single little animal dared move. For a moment, the atmosphere froze.

“Ya.” Yun Shan’s cry broke the stiff silence. His little hand patted Hua Qi’s black scales, making a tiny “pat” sound.

Hua Qi immediately turned his head. Seeing the little human cub waving his small hands and grabbing at the air, he helplessly stretched out his tail and began teasing Yun Shan with it.

When the tail swept left, Yun Shan turned his head left with it. When the tail moved right, Yun Shan turned his head right. He babbled to himself, “Yi yi ya ya,” and had a very happy time playing.

Tuo Tuo emerged from the soil. “We brought you all something tasty—meatballs fried by Xiu Niang.”

The monkey spirit jumped up, took the flower crown the little deer was holding in its mouth, and bent at the waist before Hua Qi with a flattering smile. “Lord Hua Qi, this flower crown is for Little Temple Master.”

Hua Qi knew Yun Shan liked fresh flowers, so he placed the little flower crown on Yun Shan’s head.

Yun Shan’s attention was immediately caught. His eyes tilted upward as if he wanted to see the top of his own head.

“You can’t see it,” Hua Qi laughed at him. He plucked a fresh flower from the crown and tucked it into Yun Shan’s little hand.

“Ya ya, ya ya, ah.” Yun Shan clutched the flower, a blissful smile appearing on his chubby little face. He looked both silly and adorable.

Tuo Tuo shared the meatballs in the basket with the little spirits on the mountain.

The little squirrel held a meatball and hid beside the little deer’s leg, nibbling on the meatball while watching Hua Qi warily.

The monkey clutched a meatball and stood tightly beside Xiao Cong.

The little rabbit hopped far away and shrank behind a tree.

Hua Qi pretended not to see them. Flicking his snake tongue, he slowly slithered away. He wanted to return to the cave to take a look.

Xi Jue lay lazily under the shade of a tree, rested his head on his forepaws, and closed his eyes to feign sleep.

After the monkey spirit finished one meatball, he stretched out both oily hands and smiled ingratiatingly at Tuo Tuo. “Lord Tuo Tuo, give me another one. These meatballs are really delicious. Xiu Niang’s cooking is really good.”

“Right?” Being praised for the delicious meatballs made Tuo Tuo very happy. He placed the basket beside Yun Shan. “If you want some, take them yourselves.”

Xiao Cong crawled over to Yun Shan and lifted his nose to sniff him back and forth. Then he turned around, planted his forelimbs on the grass, and worked hard to raise his own tail, stuffing it into Yun Shan’s little hand.

A thick tail was suddenly stuffed into his hand. Yun Shan blinked and tried to pull Xiao Cong’s tail closer to look at it.

“Ah, ah, ya.” He gripped the thick tail. It felt different from the tails he usually played with. This one was hard and thick.

After only grabbing it curiously for a short while, Yun Shan released his little hand and went back to playing with the small flower, seemingly uninterested in that tail.

Xiao Cong turned around, somewhat downcast. His tail was not as flexible as Hua Qi’s, so he could not tease Little Temple Master into playing.

The tiger paced over, stuck out his tongue, and licked the scales on Xiao Cong’s back, as if comforting him. Xiao Cong lifted his head and rubbed against Dou Ming’s big head.

The tiger lay down beside Yun Shan. His long tail swept nimbly across Yun Shan’s chubby little face.

Yun Shan dropped the flower in his hand and reached toward his face with both little hands.

Dou Ming’s tail swept across Yun Shan’s face again. When it brushed over his eyes, Yun Shan immediately shut them tight. Only after the tail left his eyelids did he open his eyes again, spread both little hands beside his mouth, and say, “Ah.”

This time, Dou Ming did not sweep his face. He placed his tail by Yun Shan’s neck, tickling Yun Shan until he laughed, “Ge ge ge.”

The little human cub’s clear laughter echoed through the mountain forest, and the whole of Yunling Mountain gained a few more notes of joy because of that laughter.

Xi Jue lifted his head and glanced over. His gaze also grew softer and softer amid Yun Shan’s laughter.

The little spirits ran to Yun Shan’s side, and everyone leaned together to watch their laughing Little Temple Master.

Yun Shan was still laughing, but Dou Ming’s tail suddenly stopped in midair.

“Ya?” Yun Shan laughed and laughed, then stopped. The smile left his face, and he stared at Dou Ming’s tail in midair with his black-and-white eyes.

All of a sudden, the tail swept downward again. This time, it did not sweep Yun Shan’s little neck, but merely scratched back and forth in Yun Shan’s palm as if tickling him.

Yun Shan caught the tiger’s tail and gave a proud cry. “Ya!”

Tuo Tuo enviously touched his own bare little bottom. He had no tail, so he could not tease Little Temple Master either. But even without a tail, he had whiskers!

Tuo Tuo stretched out one arm and turned it into a whisker about as thick as Yun Shan’s finger.

He placed his whisker into Yun Shan’s other little hand.

“Yi ya?” Yun Shan pulled the whisker up and looked at it, then immediately let go without interest, using both hands together to grab Dou Ming’s tail.

Tuo Tuo felt crushed. He had not expected Little Temple Master to like tails and not whiskers, and it still had to be a flexible tail.

He squeezed sadly beside Xiao Cong. “Yun Shan doesn’t like my whiskers either.”

There was no expression at all on Xiao Cong’s little head, but he was secretly happy inside. At least Yun Shan held his tail for longer than he held Tuo Tuo’s whisker. Little Temple Master must like his tail more.

The little lamb followed beside Chuyi, eating grass. Seeing that all the little spirits had gathered around Yun Shan, he slowly moved closer. Yun Shan’s scent was not unfamiliar to him. It was a scent he could smell every day.

The little lamb had not yet awakened spiritual intelligence. This was the first time he had seen Yun Shan lying on the ground, so he approached curiously and tentatively stuck out his tongue to lick Yun Shan’s head.

He was not unfamiliar with Yun Shan, but Yun Shan was very unfamiliar with him. That lick left Yun Shan a little stunned. He turned his head toward Tuo Tuo and pulled down the corners of his mouth.

Tuo Tuo immediately picked him up, gently patted him, and coaxed him. “Good little Yun Shan, don’t be scared. Tuo Tuo is here. The little lamb licked Yun Shan. Aiya, Yun Shan’s whiskers are all wet from his licking.”

Back in a familiar embrace, the uneasy Yun Shan immediately settled down. The drooping corners of his mouth returned to a faint upward curve.

Tuo Tuo reached out to smooth Yun Shan’s soft baby hair and felt that his whiskers had grown longer again. He immediately pulled a little red cord out of his bellyband. All his treasures were hidden inside his bellyband.

He placed Yun Shan beside Dou Ming, then lay by Yun Shan’s head and tied a little braid for him.

Yun Shan’s little hands were not idle either. He groped all over Dou Ming, grabbed a handful of fur, and tugged hard backward.

The tiny infant had little strength and only grabbed some loose fur. He raised his hand to look at it, then stuffed it toward his mouth.

“You can’t eat that.” Quick-eyed and quick-handed, Tuo Tuo caught Yun Shan’s little hand, used a bit of force to pry it open, and blew away the tiger fur on it. “Little Temple Master, you can’t eat fur. Who eats fur? Everyone eats meat.”

Dou Ming’s huge tiger head instantly pressed against Tuo Tuo’s shoulder. He opened his mouth wide and let out a low roar. The tiger’s roar exploded beside Tuo Tuo’s ear. “Are you encouraging Little Temple Master to eat me?”

Tuo Tuo covered his ears and jumped away. “I’m not. I’m saying fur can’t be eaten. When you eat, do you not eat meat and only eat fur?”

“Hmph.” Dou Ming’s head pushed closer again. “Ginseng spirit, I think you have bad intentions.”

“Who has bad intentions?” Tuo Tuo pouted. “You’re misunderstanding me.”

“Hmph.” Dou Ming turned away and ignored Tuo Tuo.

Yun Shan smacked his lips. His belly was hungry.

He turned his little head to look for Hua Qi, but could not find him no matter how he searched. Then he looked everywhere for Xiu Niang, but Xiu Niang was not there either.

“Ah!” Yun Shan shouted, then began fussing and whining.

Hearing that sound, Xiao Cong knew he must be hungry. He hurriedly changed into human form, took out the jade bottle, ran to Chuyi to milk her, and quickly fed Yun Shan milk with a small spoon.

The sun by the mountain edge sank in the west.

Dou Ming felt that the red sun looked just like an oily salted duck egg yolk pickled by Xiu Niang. Just looking at it made a demon greedy. He wondered when they would be able to eat the duck eggs they had brought back last time.

The sun set behind the western mountains and slowly sank below the horizon. A pale moon appeared in the east. The sky gradually darkened.

Hua Qi also slithered down from the mountaintop.

After not seeing Hua Qi for half the afternoon, Yun Shan became especially excited when he heard Hua Qi’s voice. He stared in Hua Qi’s direction and shouted, “Ya! Ya! Ah!”

Hua Qi picked him up, and Yun Shan immediately rested his little face quietly against Hua Qi’s chest, looking obedient with boundless attachment.

Some place in the depths of Hua Qi’s heart slowly softened. He lovingly touched the little braid on top of Yun Shan’s head and asked softly, “Did Yun Shan miss me?”

Yun Shan looked at him with open eyes and revealed a cheerful smile.

Hua Qi said quietly, “I missed Yun Shan too.”

The moon at the edge of the sky rose into midair, growing brighter and brighter.

Moonlight spilled over the mountain forest. Yunling Mountain was not as fresh and vivid as it was by day, but it gained a layer of tranquil beauty, still and quiet as a maiden.

Together, the demons solemnly bowed three times to the moon in the sky.

After bowing, everyone took out mooncakes one after another and began celebrating the human custom.

One demon looked left and right. Discovering that all the other demons had mooncakes, he lowered his big head in vexation.

On the day Dou Ming had received his mooncakes, he had been curious about how they tasted and had eaten them all. Now he was the only one with empty hands, and could only watch the other demons eat mooncakes.

Tuo Tuo’s mooncake was also missing a piece. It did not look like tonight’s moon, but rather like the moon from a few days ago.

Seeing that Dou Ming had no mooncake to eat, Tuo Tuo generously broke off a piece. While biting the mooncake in his hand, he handed the remaining piece to Dou Ming. “Here.”

A little small. That was Dou Ming’s first thought when he saw the mooncake Tuo Tuo handed over. But he did not hesitate in the slightest. He stretched out his big tongue, curled up the mooncake in Tuo Tuo’s hand, and ate it.

Xiao Cong had only eaten half of his piece. He gave the rest to Dou Ming too.

“Human mooncakes are very tasty,” Xiao Cong said. “Better than steamed buns, but not as good as stuffed buns.”

“The moon tonight really is beautiful,” the little squirrel could not help sighing. “This is the most beautiful moon I’ve ever seen.”

Tuo Tuo and Xiao Cong leaned against Dou Ming on either side, their mouths hanging open as they stared blankly at the moon in the sky. The moon tonight did seem a little different. It was just especially beautiful!

Yun Shan lay on the grass. Hua Qi, Dou Ming, Tuo Tuo, Xiao Cong, and Xi Jue surrounded him in the middle, and beyond them were the little spirits of Yunling Mountain. However, all of them kept far away from Hua Qi.

Everyone lay on the grass and quietly admired the moon in the sky.

The sound of insects in the mountains never stopped, yet everyone felt their ears were very peaceful. As they watched and watched, their eyelids slowly drooped.

“Pff—pff pff.”

The spreading sour stench made Tuo Tuo open his eyes, immediately get up, and run far away. “Yun Shan, you pooped again!”

The little spirits also smelled it and ran away.

Yun Shan innocently kicked his little feet. “Ya?”

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