Don't Mess with that Turtle

I was too reckless.

Feeling a bit of regret, the turtle was best at contesting endurance. He should have been comparing perseverance with the wolf pack in the pond. It's not like he was a bulldog, so what was he rushing for!

Qing stretched his neck, hastily observing his surroundings.

To the northwest at a distance of one li was Tinghai Lake, but the path was blocked by crocodiles. To the east, two li away, was a small pond where the atmosphere was thick with the murderous intent of the wolf pack.

To the southwest, less than a hundred meters away, there was the abrupt Stone Mountain. The mountain wasn't tall, only about twenty to thirty-odd zhang, with rugged rocks all around.

Up the mountain!

In a split second, Su He made his decision.

It was the only path left. He lacked the ability to cut through the hundred or so crocodiles to reach Tinghai Lake, nor could he fight off the wolf pack. The grassland to the northeast offered no cover at all, leaving only the path up the mountain as an option.

He would quickly climb up the mountain and find a crack in the rocks to wedge himself into. As long as he could find a suitable crack, he could slide in with only his turtle shell sticking out, making him untouchable by anyone.

With the half snake he held in his mouth, surviving for a month or so would be no problem. By then, the sloppy Taoist who was supposed to meet him wouldn't see him there and should come looking for him... right?

Clutching the snake's body, Su He leapt and started climbing up the mountain with astonishing speed—the speed of a turtle can be many times faster than people imagine.

But even so, having barely climbed ten zhang, a wild wolf pounced on him, biting at Su He.

Su He retracted into his shell in an instant, and the wild wolf's bite hit empty air, its teeth clashing with a crisp sound. A buzzing shock went through his mind, and then he saw the turtle's head shoot out like lightning, biting the wolf's throat.

It was the first time they saw a turtle that dared to fight back.

The turtle's beak-like mouth clamped down, locking onto the wolf's throat. The wolf instantly struggled to breathe, thrashing, roaring, and jumping… Su He held on tightly.

Pouring all his strength into his beak, he bit through the wolf's throat. Hot blood rushed into his mouth and into his belly as the wolf rolled and struggled with him.

Gradually, its movements slowed, until it lay still.

It was dead.

Su He let go of his numb jaw, struggling to turn his body around and lift his head to look down.

In front of the sinister Stone Mountain, more than twenty wild wolves and a swarm of crocodiles were arrayed before him, the two forces clearly divided. Across from them was a blood-bathed turtle, its dark body now stained red with wolf blood.

Su He lifted his head slightly.

One turtle had single-handedly assumed the posture of an army of thousands.

Fight!

Which one dares to battle with me? Only one wolf had approached throughout this time. Are these creatures afraid of me? Looking down, he saw a girl of about three or four years old, clutching the tail of a huge crocodile, swinging it round and smashing it into the pack of wolves.

While throwing, she shouted in a babyish voice, "Don't bully the turtle!"

The twenty or so wolves had been knocked down by her, seven or eight at least, none of the beasts dared to approach further.

Su He: "..."

Where did this little one come from? She seemed to be helping him. Did her kind become spirits? Did she not tolerate the bullying of her own kind?

He looked at the wild wolf he had barely managed to kill after exhausting all his strength, then at the wolf and crocodile packs that didn't dare to approach because of the little girl.

A strange feeling inexplicably arose within him.

After her wild rampage, the little girl managed to drive off the crocodiles and wolves, dropping the crocodile she had held in her arms to the ground, she patted her hands, stood with akimbo, and glared at the animals.

"Don't bully the turtle!" she warned solemnly in her childish voice.

Once she confirmed that the beasts were cowed, she turned and walked over, patting Su He's turtle head and smiling innocently, "Hehe, I also found a pretty turtle, much better than Grandpa Ge's turtle. It even dares to fight wolves!"

She squatted down to look eye to eye with Su He, "Right? I saw you're really smart and used the eagles to fly. Not like the bad turtle Grandpa Ge met, who had agreed to meet him on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month and then Grandpa Ge waited all night but he never showed up."

Su He blinked, not understanding.

"Big Turtle, did you come here because you knew there were treasures on the mountain?" She carefully wiped the blood off Su He with a handkerchief, picked him up, and walked toward the mountaintop, "The spiritual energy at the top of the mountain is controlled by my mother to adjust the climate."

The girl giggled, "Mother had messed up the climate while fighting with someone, and just settled it. Now she's having a bath on the mountain. I'll take you to see then give you a bath too, you smell so bad!"

Su He: "???"

"!!"

Mom? Bathing? Is this something for a two-year-old turtle like me to see?

Su He didn't struggle, letting the little girl carry him up the mountain, and after turning past a rugged stone, the mountaintop scenery lay completely in view.

An arbor stood there, with a pool of water in front of it, and a thin mist floating above the surface.

There was no woman bathing.

"Ya Ya, where have you been?"

A chilly voice floated from behind. Su He craned his neck to look in the direction of the voice and suddenly froze in shock.

The person speaking was a woman in her mid-twenties, clad in white clothes as bright as the autumn moon. Her dress fluttered elegantly, her magnificent grace standing out especially with her aura that was like a lotus emerging from the water—serene, elegant, frosty...

Especially since she had just bathed, her wet hair hung down over her chest, accentuating her curves.

"Mommy!" The little baby girl cried out joyfully, "I found a big turtle, even better than the one Grandpa Ge talked about! It can fly!"

Hearing the child's voice, a few traces of a smile appeared on the woman's cool face.

Children are just children, naive and adorable. Three days ago, they met Elder Ge who was passing by on his flying sword. When he mentioned he had a date with a turtle but was stood up, this clever little girl became extremely interested in the wise turtle.

She became enchanted and wanted a turtle of her own, not those exotic beasts that can spit water or breathe fire, but an ordinary, extremely smart little turtle.

She even pleaded with her mother to adjust the erratic climate back to normal, just hoping that the turtle Elder Ge spoke of would see the blooming lotuses and come to keep its date.

This little girl must be spellbound, to have brought back a black turtle while she was bathing.

The woman flicked her Tianyi, and a stream of clear water flowed over, cleaning Su He's muddy and blood-stained body, along with the stench that had been hiding in it for years.

"Mommy, can I keep it and bring it home?" the little girl asked with wide, hopeful eyes.

The woman shook her head, "Just a few days ago, the Demonic Fruit ripened. This is the time when all creatures compete for the chance to transform. If you take it home now, it will miss its opportunity."

Embracing the turtle, the girl's expression turned somber and after a while, she suddenly looked up, "Then Mommy, can you check if it has eaten the Demonic Fruit? It was fighting with a wolf just now; maybe it managed to snatch one."

So the little girl's name was Ya Ya, a pet name, Su He surmised.

The woman smiled gently, patting her daughter's head, "Only beasts can sense the presence of the Demonic Fruit. I don't have the Heavenly Secret Mirror here, so I can't tell."

The Demonic Fruit was an opportunity meant for beasts. Humans couldn't sense its presence unless they saw it with their own eyes, no matter how advanced their Tao cultivation was.

It was like in a past life, where regardless of one's knowledge, to observe sound waves and electromagnetic fields, one needed special equipment; humans just didn't have this ability innately.

The sensing of the Demonic Fruit was exclusive to beasts and unrelated to one's level of Tao cultivation; it's one of the universal rules.

The woman placed a bright red fruit in Ya Ya's arms, "Go play! Mommy needs to adjust the Formation. We'll head back in a little while."

"Okay!" Ya Ya responded, walking into the pavilion with Su He in her arms. Her mood seemed a tad subdued.

Su He lifted his paw and gently tapped her chubby little face.

The little girl, not in the best of moods, pushed Su He's paw away, "Big Turtle, stop messing around. You can't play with me; I'm afraid you'll fall for me. You need to go fight for the Demonic Fruit and can't come with me..."

Her eyes suddenly lit up, "Right! After the fight for the Demonic Fruit is over, you can come find me!"

She placed Su He on the ground, formed a Talisman with her tiny hands, and with a stamp, she pressed the Talisman Rune onto Su He's forehead, "With this mark, you can come to Qingyuan Mountain. You can come and play with me! Let's pinky promise, and you can't break your word, alright?"

A claw and a small hand pinky promised— a gentleman's agreement made.

The girl laughed happily, "I'll tell you, my name is Feng Yaya, my mom is Su Huanian, and my dad is Feng... never mind, I won't talk about him; he's not a good person. He'd think about cooking you for meat. Remember to hide from him when you come and find me."

"Ya Ya! Don't speak ill of your father!" her mother's voice came from outside the pavilion. She didn't object to her daughter leaving a mark on a turtle but subtly altered the girl's Talisman from afar.

A mark was a proof of identity, and this silly girl couldn't just leave one willy-nilly. It was a high-level Symbol mark, and if someone caught the turtle, they could use it to gain direct access to her treasure trove.

That would be problematic.

Feng Yaya pouted, "Why can't I speak ill of Dad? He wants to eat everything, even Ya Ya! Ya Ya would rather have a turtle for a father!"