socalfunplaces Chapter 1057 It's colder outside the valley than inside.
Chapter 1057 It's colder outside the valley than inside.
She looked up at Su Wanwan.
"Only with a good foundation can a student be worth teaching."
Upon hearing this, Su Wanwan's throat suddenly tightened.
She had been waiting for those words for a long time.
She doesn't wait for others to praise her good qualities; she waits for someone to say, "You have value."
When Sanhu was out there, the words she heard most often were "Who do you think you are?", "You're no good enough", and "You're not worthy". She never admitted it verbally, but she knew in her heart that she took those words to heart. Once she took them to heart, they became a thorn stuck deep in her heart, causing her pain from time to time.
Some people now say she has teaching value.
She lowered her head, blinked a few times, and suppressed the inexplicable surge of heat.
"But I won't teach you for nothing." The woman in the blue robe's voice suddenly faded again.
Su Wanwan looked up: "What are the conditions?"
"No rush," said the woman in the blue robe. "You're discussing terms without even asking my name?"
Su Wanwan was taken aback, then realized that she hadn't asked the other person's name since she came in.
"...What's your name?" she asked.
The woman in the green robe leaned against the old tree, raised her hand to tuck a silver bead behind her ear, and slowly said, "My surname is Bai, and my given name is Xi. Bai tide."
"Bai tide." Su Wanwan repeated the name, feeling that it sounded like the wind blowing across the water.
"And you."
"Su Wanwan".
"Wanwan." Bai tide read it aloud, then nodded slightly. "The name sounds alright."
After she finished speaking, she suddenly raised her hand and waved it toward the entrance to the valley.
The thick fog receded like a tide.
Almost simultaneously, Sun Wukong's voice boomed in from outside: "I told you there was something strange about this fog, but you wouldn't let me sweep it away with my stick!"
"Master, slow down, there's moss on the ground—"
"Don't lead the donkey anymore, it knows to follow on its own—"
After a series of chaotic noises, Chu Yang was the first to squeeze out of the crack in the rocks. His hair was damp with mist, and his clothes were covered in stone dust, but he still maintained his unhurried demeanor. As soon as he came out, he saw Su Wanwan, glanced at her from head to toe to make sure she wasn't missing any parts, and then turned his gaze to Bai tide.
Sun Wukong was the second to emerge. He was quite relaxed; his golden cudgel shrank and he held it in his mouth. He gripped the sides of the crevice with both hands and flipped over with a light leap. As he landed, he casually pulled the white donkey's reins in from the outside, nearly causing the donkey to split in two and making it spit venom in anger.
Tang Sanzang was the last to emerge. When he came out, he was spotless, without a speck of stone dust on him; no one knew how he had managed that. He looked at the old tree and the stone platform, then at Bai tide, clasped his hands together, and nodded slightly.
Bai tide ignored them and said to Su Wanwan, "Your companions are all quite good at squeezing in."
Su Wanwan's lips twitched: "...Thank you for the compliment."
As soon as Sun Wukong entered, he looked around and his eyes lit up when he saw the lamp under the old tree: "This lamp is nice."
"Don't touch it," Bai tide said.
Sun Wukong had already extended his hand halfway, then abruptly pulled it back: "Why should I?"
"Because it's mine." Bai tide said this in a flat tone, but there was an inexplicable sense of pressure that said, "Try sticking your tongue out again."
Sun Wukong clicked his tongue and put his hands behind his back.
Chu Yang walked to Su Wanwan's side and whispered, "Are you alright?"
"It's nothing," Su Wanwan said in a low voice. "I just got lost in the fog and wandered around before finding this place."
"Did she test you?"
"Um."
"Did you pass?"
I guess so.
Chu Yang nodded and didn't ask any more questions.
Bai tide's gaze swept over them before finally settling on Su Wanwan: "I just said I wouldn't teach you for nothing."
Su Wanwan nodded.
"Qiyue Ridge is not a charity. This is not a place where everyone is entitled to education." Bai tide's voice was not loud, but it could be heard clearly in every corner of the valley. "If you want to learn from me, you have to abide by my rules."
"What are the rules?" Su Wanwan asked.
"First, you must rise at 5:00 AM and rest at 7:00 PM every day. No slacking off, no excuses, and no saying you can't do it."
Su Wanwan silently memorized it.
"Secondly, you will learn whatever I teach you, and you are not allowed to be picky. You are not allowed to ask about anything I don't teach, and if you do ask, I won't answer."
Su Wanwan's eyebrows twitched, but she held back.
"Third," Bai tide paused, "you are not allowed to pass on anything you learn here to any fox without my permission."
Su Wanwan was somewhat surprised: "That's it?"
"That's it," Bai tide said. "Did you think I would make any difficult demands?"
"I thought you were going to make me stay and sweep the floors for ten or eight years or something..."
"Sweep?" Bai tide glanced at her. "This place is only so big, why would I sweep? Do you think I'm one of those old fogies from some sect?"
Sun Wukong burst out laughing from the side.
Bai tide glanced at him, ignored him, and continued to say to Su Wanwan, "But there's one condition: I am not your master."
Su Wanwan was taken aback.
"I don't accept disciples," Bai tide said calmly. "You can learn here, and then leave. What level you reach in your cultivation is your own business. Don't even mention that you left from here; I won't acknowledge you."
These words were so cold that they poured cold water on the warmth that had just begun to spread in Su Wanwan's heart.
But she did not refute it.
She was silent for a moment, then nodded: "Okay."
Bai tide looked at her, and a complex, unreadable light resurfaced in her light-colored eyes.
"Aren't you going to ask why?"
"Would you answer if I asked?" Su Wanwan asked.
Bai tide did not answer.
Su Wanwan then said to herself, "You have your reasons for not taking on disciples. It's enough for me to learn things here; there's no need to fight for a title."
The valley fell silent for a moment.
Bai tide lowered her eyes and slowly traced a line on the old tree's bark with her finger. A faint silver mark immediately appeared on the bark, as if it had been burned by moonlight.
"You're more sensible than I expected," she said softly.
Sun Wukong couldn't help but mutter, "She's not usually like this; she's just putting on a brave face today."
Su Wanwan almost couldn't help but glare fiercely at Sun Wukong.
Bai tide didn't seem to mind. She simply stood up, brushed off non-existent dust from her blue robe, and said to Su Wanwan, "You can stay here for the night. You can make a bed under that old tree, but there are no mattresses, so figure it out yourself. Your companions—they can camp outside the valley or they can walk. Qiyue Ridge doesn't allow outsiders to stay overnight."
"Why?" Su Wanwan asked.
"Because this is where I live," Bai tide said matter-of-factly. "I don't like crowds."
Chu Yang didn't object to this: "We can stay outside the valley. We're just here to accompany her, not to stay at an inn."
Sun Wukong, however, was somewhat displeased: "What if she gets bullied here?"
Bai tide glanced at him, her eyes conveying, "Do I look like someone who would bully a child?"
Sun Wukong stared at her for two seconds, then looked away: "Fine, anyway, my ears are good enough, I can hear everything outside."
Tang Sanzang remained calm, speaking gently to Su Wanwan, "Miss Su, since you're here, make yourself at home. If you need anything, just call us."
Su Wanwan responded, but felt a little uneasy inside.
She truly hadn't expected that she would have to part ways with Chu Yang and the others once they arrived at their destination.
It's not fear.
It's just a habit.
Ever since the day they rescued her from the hunters in the grove, she had been following them. After more than a month of walking, she had almost forgotten that she used to be a lone fox. Now, suddenly having to stay here alone, it would be a lie to say she wasn't panicked.
But she didn't say it.
She simply led the donkey to Chu Yang and said, "Take good care of it."
Chu Yang took the reins: "Just take care of yourself."
"I'm not a child."
"Yes, you're a fox," Chu Yang said. "Foxes are more troublesome than children."
Su Wanwan was taken aback by his retort. She wanted to talk back, but felt that it would be too childish to do so at this moment, so she had no choice but to hold back.
Chu Yang glanced at her, then suddenly reached out and gently patted her on the head.
"Come back when you're done studying," he said. "We still need to head west."
Su Wanwan paused for a moment, then said "Oh".
The sound was a bit muffled.
Sun Wukong was straightforward; he simply shouldered his golden cudgel and walked out, turning back as he went, saying, "Hey you, Bai something, if my disciple loses even a single hair here, I, Old Sun, will come and have tea with you."
"I don't drink tea," Bai tide said.
"Then drink the wind."
Bai tide didn't respond to that, but her lips twitched slightly.
Before leaving, Tang Sanzang put his palms together in a gesture of respect to Bai tide: "Thank you for your trouble, benefactor."
Bai tide looked at his monk's robes and prayer beads, and that complex expression resurfaced. She remained silent for a few moments before saying, "Monk, there's an aura about you that I'm not used to."
Tang Sanzang was slightly taken aback.
"But now that I'm this old, I don't hate things I'm not used to anymore." After she finished speaking, she turned and walked towards the old tree, no longer looking at him.
After the three of them had exited the crevice, Bai tide turned around and glanced at Su Wanwan.
"Reluctant to part with it?"
Su Wanwan stubbornly replied, "No."
"That's good," Bai tide said. "The first thing in cultivation is learning to be alone. You've been a loner for so many years, how come you've become so spoiled after just a few days with them?"
Su Wanwan felt her face flush from what she said, so she lowered her head and pretended to straighten her clothes.
Bai tide didn't say anything more. She walked to the old tree, picked up an old futon from next to the lamp, and casually tossed it to Su Wanwan.
"Sit on a cushion. The ground is cold."
Su Wanwan caught the futon. The futon was old, with frayed edges, but it was very clean and had a faint grassy smell, as if it had been sun-dried many times.
She hugged the prayer mat and suddenly asked, "Senior, how long have you been living here alone?"
Bai tide sat down on the stone platform, gathered her loose hair to one side, and slowly began to braid it.
"I don't remember."
"A very long time?"
"So long that I've forgotten the years." Bai tide braided her hair slowly, one stroke at a time, as if she were doing something that required a lot of patience. "So long that I eventually got too lazy to count. Anyway, it's no use counting. Nobody comes here, nobody leaves, who would I count the days for?"
As Su Wanwan listened, she suddenly felt that although the valley was beautiful, it was indeed too quiet.
It was as still as a deep well.
"Your old aunt, Hu San Niang," Bai tide suddenly said.
Su Wanwan was taken aback: "You know her?"
"She came here," Bai tide said calmly. "She walked to the edge of the fog but didn't come in."
"You know?"
"Of course I know." Bai Xi tightened the silver bead at the end of her braid. "I'm not staying here for nothing. Wu is mine. I know who has come and who has left. She stood outside all night and left at dawn. Before she left, she said something to Wu."
Su Wanwan held her breath: "What did you say?"
Bai tide looked up at her, her light-colored eyes reflecting the drooping branches of the old tree.
She said, "Hey you inside, if you hear this, and a little fox named Su Wanwan comes looking for you, don't chase her away."
Su Wanwan was stunned.
After Bai tide finished speaking, she lowered her eyes and continued braiding her hair, her tone as calm as if she were just saying that the weather was nice today.
"I didn't agree to her at the time. Because I wasn't sure if she was worth making an exception for."
"And now?" Su Wanwan's voice was a little hoarse.
"Now?" Bai tide finished braiding her hair, draped the ends over her shoulder, and looked up at her. "Now you have to prove it yourself."
Su Wanwan sat under the old tree for a long time, hugging a futon.
Bai tide didn't urge her, nor did she speak again. She leaned against the stone platform, closed her eyes, as if dozing off, or as if listening to some very distant sound. In the valley, only the soft rustling of the wind through the branches of the Moon-Shining Tree and the occasional very faint hum of the runes beneath the extinguished lamp stand could be heard.
Su Wanwan looked down at the futon in her hand and suddenly felt a lump in her throat.
It's not because I feel wronged.
It's because of Hu Sanniang.
The old aunt who only spoke the truth when she was drunk, the Hu San Niang who never hesitated to curse, the Hu San Niang who disappeared in the end leaving behind only an empty wine gourd and half a string of dried fish—she had pleaded a way for her long ago.
And today, she has finally arrived on this path.
She took a deep breath, placed the cushion on the ground, and sat up straight.
"Senior," she said.
Bai tide didn't open her eyes: "Mmm."
"I'm ready."
Bai tide's eyelashes trembled, and she slowly opened her eyes. Her light-colored eyes shone brightly in the twilight, like two lamps yet to be lit.
"Then let's start tomorrow," she said. "Today, you should first learn how to stay warm under the old tree."
Su Wanwan was stunned for a moment, then looked down and saw that there was an old blanket on the stone platform, neatly folded, with frayed edges.
She reached for the blanket, unfolded it, and discovered a tiny fox embroidered on it, the silver thread shimmering faintly in the twilight.
Bai tide had closed her eyes, as if she were asleep.
Su Wanwan wrapped the blanket around herself, leaned against the old tree, looked up at the sky, and couldn't help but smile slightly.
It's colder outside the valley than inside.
When Chu Yang led the white donkey out of the crevice, a mountain breeze was blowing in from the north, carrying a dry, cool feeling that made people's clothes flutter. The white donkey was startled by the wind, snorted, and nuzzled its head against Chu Yang's arm.
"Stop rubbing against me." Chu Yang pushed its head away. "You chose the north yourself, so who's to blame?"
The white donkey's ears twitched, its face showing complete disbelief.
Sun Wukong was the last to emerge. He casually tapped the edge of the crevice in the rock twice, as if testing its sturdiness. After tapping, he clicked his tongue and said, "This place is quite interesting. The stone even contains vital energy, neither dissipating nor leaking out, like it's alive." (End of Chapter)