Aoyang: The Reborn Alchemist Seeks Knowledge [Xianxia]

A common misconception amongst mortals was that spirit beasts were demons, and it wasn't rare for them to be called demonic beasts.The truth however was often the simplest explanation.

Most spirit beasts were merely ordinary animals that stepped upon the path of cultivation one way or another, often through innate techniques. Advancement in cultivation led to enlightenment, and with enlightenment came intellect. The rulers of beasts would dominate with both mind and might.

But humans were a rare exception. They would gain enlightenment merely with age, without even requiring cultivation, a strange trait that inspired many tales. Though, the fastest would be still be mythical beasts like dragons and phoenixes, possessing human intellect from birth.

Dots that weren't there were connected, and storytellers began to tell tales of humans having dragon bloodlines. This however was dismissed as nonsense and greatly offended the dragon clans, leading to pointless wars and mountains of corpses.

Baiyun had no why that tale came to mind as he stared at the rabbit. This creature certainly did not have the dragon bloodline. But to think a spirit rabbit of such low cultivation was somehow already enlightened!

It was usually only spirit apes that could enlighten during Qi Gathering, and even then, they usually only fully awakened during the Foundational stage. This wasn't good however. If it could use soulsense, it could immediately report him to the spirits!

"Little rabbit. Did someone teach you about soulsense?" Baiyun asked through the thread with a forced smile.

The rabbit raised its head and sniffed the air.

"Oh. Us rabbits were always given snacks by weird small humans. But one day, the human didn't give me any snacks! So I gave the human a big kick!" it nodded proudly. "Haha, stupid human went flying and cried!"

Baiyun frowned. What in the world did this have to do with the questions he asked? Perhaps this rabbit wasn't as bright as he thought.

"Temple spirit was very angry and scolded me! It said I can't attack humans! It talked into my head like you!" the rabbit nodded. "I was shocked! I kept asking it how it talked, and it told me it was soulsense!"

"I see..." Baiyun was speechless.

He had a feeling the spirit only explained what soulsense was because the rabbit kept pestering it relentlessly.

"Hmph. Temple spirit didn't want to talk to me again. I couldn't talk to anyone for very long... years! Talking is fun. Talk to me and don't run away!"

Baiyun quickly began to get a picture of the situation. It seemed the rabbit had no actual capabilities for soulsense, and that lessened his tension slightly. But this didn't mean he was safe.

The temple spirit might be ignoring the rabbit right now, but if it caused trouble again, they would have another face to face. No, that was almost inevitable. He could already tell this rabbit was the type that would never learn to behave.

It was only a matter of time before it caused enough chaos for the temple spirit to intervene with a scolding. And when that day came, he knew it would tattle about the strange servant who could use soulsense. He would have to contract it no matter what, even if it was only to keep it silent!

The rabbit stared at him happily, unaware it had somehow his triggered the fight or flight response merely by existing.

"Talk to me! Talk to me!"

"Okay, okay!"

Baiyun felt like he was about to have a migraine. He began to wish he had picked a different rabbit instead so he wouldn't be forced to defuse this time-bomb. An enlightened beast was useful, but if it was going to be this annoying, he would take a mute rabbit in a heartbeat.

The lantern spirit watched the kid and the rabbit nod to each other back and forth, ignoring the swarm of angry rabbits gnawing at robes. It could only shake its lantern in bafflement, wondering what in the world Baiyun was doing.

Baiyun had to listen to a bunch of nonsensical stories and pretend he was interested. This rabbit... it had kicked and attacked a lot of disciples it seemed. And from how it described one of the humans... Mohei was its favourite victim?!

Of course it wouldn't only be a single incident. He shook his head and began to feel bad for the temple spirit.

He suddenly had a strange thought. It didn't make much sense for a rabbit to be enlightened so easily, but if the temple spirit had been trying to communicate with the rabbit for many years, this repeated exposure would drastically speed up enlightenment. For this reason, many pet manuals would advice owners to use soulsense on their beasts as often as possible.

Baiyun rubbed his temple. Gaining such a reward through tyranny... the heavens truly only rewarded the wicked. He didn't know if he should laugh or let out a deep sigh.

Either way, he was starting to get tired of entertaining the rabbit with endless talk. He waited right until the rabbit had finished another of its tales before cutting to the chase, figuring it had been buttered up enough.

"Hey. Why don't we make a contract?"

"Contract? What is contract?" the rabbit tilted its head.

"Think of it as a deal." Baiyun smiled. "I'll ask you to do little things, and in return, I'll give you snacks!"

"Oh, easy! Sounds fun!"

It seemed excited at the very thought of more food as its ears perked up.

Baiyun glanced at the other rabbits below anxiously however. It seemed they had barely enough restraint to not destroy his robes, but he was still not keen on having his clothing nibbled.

"Do you have any way to shoo them away?" he asked.

There was no specification, but the rabbit sensed his intent through the divine thread.

"They can't talk like me. And they won't listen when there's food!"

Baiyun sighed before placing the rabbit on his shoulder to free his hand, passing it a grain ball and letting it sniff the treat. The creature had no interest in such frivolities and immediately snatched the ball away, nibbling on the individual grains furiously.

The rabbits below began to grow agitated, tearing even harder at his robes. Baiyun had a feeling this would happen, so he already taken out a handful of grain balls and chucked them into the distance.

Immediately, the creatures grew silent, their eyes laser-focused on the airborne projectiles. Several loud thumps struck the earth around him, the dead leaves of the forest floor exploding into the air as the rabbits went flying like cannonballs!

The faster rabbits rotated their bodies mid air, deftly catching grain balls in their paws. They immediately lost all sense of self preservation and wrapped all 4 limbs around the treat, crashing into tree trunks and boulders before tumbling to the ground unharmed.

But Baiyun's enhanced strength meant quite a few of the grain balls were still faster, striking the branches of distant trees and tumbling down leaves. The remaining rabbits spun in the air and shot towards the trees, leaping from branch to branch with no less agility than apes!

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Baiyun could not witness the sight, but his ears gave him an idea of the chaos happening. He sweated, wondering if these were really prey animals.

He felt the rabbit on his shoulder grow restless, and he hurriedly held it down before it could jump. It was still so greedy despite only eating a quarter of its food...

"I'm just distracting them, I still have more in my bag!" he said.

"Oh. Haha, stupid rabbits!"

Baiyun decided not to comment.

"Hold on tight to my shoulder."

He took off running with all his might while the rabbits were still distracted. The lantern spirit didn't really understand what was going on, but it still chuckled as it followed. Baiyun took the chance to continue the discussion with the rabbit.

"Remember the contract I told you about earlier? Here's what I want you to do."

Baiyun waited for a response, but somehow the rabbit managed to ignore a voice directly speaking into its mind. Its full focus was on gnawing the grain ball into a million wet crumbs that exploded all over his robes.

Quite a few of the crumbs landing on the grass as well, leaving a dotted trail behind him. Baiyun sighed. This was why he didn't like dealing with small animals.

"I want more! More! More!"

The moment the last of the ball was demolished, the rabbit began pestering Baiyun by gnawing at his shoulder.

"Okay, then listen to me. Remember how I told you about contracts earlier?"

"Contract? Oh, you said they were deals!"

"Good, you remember after all." Baiyun nodded. "Later tonight, I want you to follow the stream down the mountain and meet me there. Think of it as a contract."

It was a bit heavy-handed, but he was tricking it into thinking contracts were simple to let its guard down.

"The water worm? Why?" the rabbit sniffed.

"I'll be able to give you more snacks there!"

"Oh! Okay, easy!"

Baiyun gave the rabbit another grain ball as encouragement, and it snatched the treat away and began to whittle it down in a frenzy.

"More!"

Baiyun stared at the creature in shock as it obliterated the ball instantly. He began to grow concerned, wondering if the rabbit was going to become obese under his care.

"No more snacks for now," he told it sternly. "If you want more, follow the stream down the mountain later."

"I remember! You'll give me lots of snacks when I meet you there, right?"

"Yes, yes."

"Okay! Easy!"

Just as Baiyun was about to feel relief, the rabbit leapt out of his hands and bolted down the mountain in a blur! Each leap shot it forward a metre into the air, and it zigzagged left to right along the sides of the stream playfully.

"Ah!" he shouted.

But the rabbit wasn't listening and swiftly vanished into the horizon. It forgot they were supposed to meet tonight, not now! Baiyun covered his face with a hand and sighed deeply.

"Hah, don't look so glum, kid." the lantern suddenly chimed in. "Wild animals are skittish like that, you never know what they're thinking."

Baiyun didn't bother to reply and immediately gave chase, kicking off the ground and rushing down the mountain as fast as he could. His walking stick dragged along the dirt and left small grooves, a trail far more conspicuous than the rabbit's crumbs but necessary for vision.

The deer that had wandered off from before soon came into sight, washing themselves in the stream. They stared in bafflement as he rushed past them, leaving clouds of dust in his wake.

Baiyun huffed as he did his best to follow the stream, but to call it a winding path was an understatement. It was as if the stream was intentionally trying to be as annoying as possible, curving at random around trees and taking long detours down the mountain.

It wouldn't be hard to take a shortcut if he could see with his eyes, but the limited range of divine touch forced him to follow the whims of the stream.

A good few minutes passed when he finally reached the bottom of the mountain, panting as he tried to catch his breath. He sensed his surroundings and realised he was back on the other side of the mountain. It was a good distance from the original spot the carriage took him to, but the thought of going back to square one was still mildly annoying.

Baiyun followed the sound of trickling water and soon found himself by another lake. Large lily pads as tall as grown men adorned the water, with blossoming lotuses as tall as he was.

He heard nibbling from one of the lily pads, on which the rabbit laid with a bored demeanour. It had mindlessly gnawed massive holes all over the pad, and was now even chewing at the middle where the stem was. It was almost as if the rabbit was trying to kill off the leaf despite being unable to eat the entire thing.

"So slow. Hmph." the rabbit huffed.

Baiyun's eye twitched as he grabbed the rabbit off its raft.

"You were supposed to go down at night!"

"Oh!"

"Forget it," Baiyun sighed, "This works too."

His original plan was flawed to begin with. Even if the rabbit realised it was supposed to head down at night, it would probably be distracted by mountain vegetables and forget long before the sun set. He placed the rabbit back onto the lily pad before tossing it a few grain balls, and it began to nibble excitedly. With assurance that Baiyun had more in stock, it did not hold back and demolished them in an instant.

"More. Give more." the rabbit demanded.

"Sure," Baiyun nodded. "But you need to sign a contract first, okay? I'll tell you what I want you to do, and you just need to agree. If you forget, I'll remind you later."

"Oh, a deal like before! Easy!" the rabbit looked pleased.

This gluttonous creature was far too easy... Baiyun finally transmitted an actual contract to the rabbit, cramming hundreds of words into its little skull in seconds.

"Wha... It's too much, too much!" the rabbit covered its eyes, dizzy. "What does all this mean?"

"It's simple, I'll give you food when you make deals. It's just a contract like before."

"Fine!"

Baiyun almost sighed as the rabbit simply accepted without understanding the contract. An invisible link formed between the two of them as he thought about how naive it was. But he hid those thoughts and passed it a large bowl of grain balls with a smile.

With how brazenly the rabbit flaunted its aura without the slightest restraint, he could now piggyback off its qi sense to communicate with it within a meter's distance. It was far more convenient than the mole that always hid its aura due to natural instincts.

"Hey. Don't you think you're feeding it a little too much?" the lantern spirit asked. "I don't think rabbits are supposed to eat grain balls to begin with."

Baiyun nodded speechlessly.

How much of the small creature was pure stomach, for it to be able to eat that much? Even with the fist-sized grain balls he stocked up from Ying Shi's mansion, he was going to run out before the week passed! He might have to pass it some techniques that turned food into qi, to prevent it from gaining weight.

It took a few minutes, but the rabbit polished off the entire bowl. It dipped its paws into the lake and washed the crumbs off its mouth. Then it dived into the water, kicking the crumb-covered lily pad from below, sending it flying out onto shore with a massive splash.

Baiyun quickly dodged and somehow avoided getting drenched. He watched as the rabbit bit the edge of the oversized leaf before jumping to the other side, rapidly folding it multiple times until it became a small bundle.

It was going for takeaway!

"Okay human." it said. "I'm full now, so bye bye!"

With the bundled lily pad clutched in its mouth, it wiggled its ears happily before hopping away. But its departure was quickly halted as it hit an invisible barrier, freezing in place.

"Huh? What's happening?" the rabbit seemed confused.

Baiyun sighed as he walked up to the rabbit.

"You can't leave more than 5 metres away from me without my permission. It's stated in the contract."

"What?"

The rabbit leapt around in a panic, circling Baiyun over and over as if trying to find a hole in the barrier. But a wall that did not exist could not be circumvented. Panicked and angry, the rabbit turned its fury towards him and charged!

But it could not even muster up the strength in its legs the moment it thought of attacking.

"What did you do! What did you do?" the rabbit cried. "I'm going to tell the spirits what you did to me! Help! Help!"

"You can't. The contract stops you from telling others about my secrets."

"Huh? Evil! You evil monster! What are you going to do to me?" the rabbit seemed on the verge of tears. "Help... help!"

"Order: Sleep."

Baiyun shook his head and sighed inwardly as the rabbit fell asleep involuntarily. After how he rebuked Laohe for trying to drug and trick him, he had now done much worse.

What a hypocrite he was.

He looked to the ground silently, but it wasn't because he felt guilt. Even as he tried to, he could not find a single speck of remorse in his heart.

Baiyun silently thought back to his immense conflict before Jingfeng's death. Even if the rabbit was a time bomb, he wouldn't have captured it so harshly if it was his past self. He wondered if a long repressed part of himself from centuries before had resurfaced.

It was true the rabbit would play a huge role in his survival at the border, and he could not let it run free after it knew of his secret. But how far would he go to survive? Jingfeng had already been sacrificed to save him.

Baiyun clenched his fist. He did not like how calm and undisturbed his heart was.

If he continued to do do such acts... Right now, it was just a spirit animal forced into a manipulative contract. But if he went further into this path, he could foresee himself doing far worse to even humans.

He did not want to become like his father. He refused to accept that.

The rabbit laid beneath him and slept peacefully with its ears tucked in. What terror it showed mere moments ago was nowhere to be seen.

Perhaps he had been too hasty. He was sure if he had a little more patience, he could have given it a contract as lenient as the mole's. But if the rabbit wasn't forced, would it truly have the courage to follow him into war?

No. He could not risk it fleeing; he would be as good as dead if his senses ran away mid-battle. Subconsciously, he knew he could not be as kind with a contract that concerned his survival.

...

"Hah, what a strange little rabbit! Running around in circles after a meal and immediately falling asleep." the lantern spirit mused. "Must be nice to be so carefree and without worries."

Baiyun remained silent.