“This is a wind-thunder bamboo beast!” Lu Yaoyao felt her luck was incredible. The wind-thunder bamboo beast was a unique creature of the wind-thunder bamboo forest. They were extremely rare and possessed the ability to summon wind and thunder, making the bamboo forest their domain. Even as a cub, a wind-thunder bamboo beast already had such abilities. As the lightning became denser around her, Lu Yaoyao took out another lightning avoidance talisman from her small pouch and placed it at her waist, then continued to watch the little beast.
The scroll that documented details about the wind-thunder bamboo forest also briefly mentioned the wind-thunder bamboo beast, but since it wasn’t their target this time, they simply skimmed over that part. Lu Yaoyao took out the scroll again and glanced at the information that said the wind-thunder bamboo beast fed on bamboo shoots. She glanced at the dirt-covered bamboo shoot in her other hand—was the cub angry because she dug its food?
Bamboo beasts were extremely rare even in the Yuanqi Continent. Though their combat power was average compared to other spirit beasts, they were highly valued for their beauty and were considered ‘delicate’ due to their inability to survive without specific environmental conditions and food. Bamboo beasts could only live in the Wind-Thunder Bamboo Forest, feeding on Wind-Thunder bamboo shoots. Away from this environment, they would weaken and die quickly.
Once, an elder of the sect had tried to capture a bamboo beast as a pet. After searching the bamboo forest for three years, he finally caught one, but it soon weakened. Unable to bear seeing it dying, the elder released it back into the bamboo forest.
Lu Yaoyao put back the scroll and then looked back at the still fiercely chirping bamboo beast. “Am I digging up your food?”
“Cheep!!!”
Lu Yaoyao then pushed the bamboo shoot towards it, “Here, you can have it.”
The little bamboo beast, still very wary, seemed to understand her gesture. It cautiously approached, bit the tip of the bamboo shoot with its small mouth, and quickly dragged it away, disappearing into the bamboo forest in the blink of an eye.
So Lu Yaoyao moved to a different spot. Walking deeper into the forest, she made sure she had put a considerable distance before squatting down to continue digging. She diligently dug up another shoot and was about to place it in her pouch when she heard the familiar chirp again.
Turning her head, Lu Yaoyao saw the same clawing little bamboo beast. This time, it did not rush at her but chirped fiercely from a few meters away, flaunting its claws and teeth. “Yours again?” Lu Yaoyao reluctantly pushed her harvest toward the beast, “Here, take it.”
The little bamboo beast saw her pushing motion, jumped up, ran over, bit the tip of the bamboo shoot, and ran off again.
Lu Yaoyao had no choice but to change locations again. She couldn’t help wondering — was the little bamboo beast’s territory so large? Could this be why she kept finding bamboo shoots one after another?
Lu Yaoyao continued further in. After a while, she paused and looked around, seeing mostly flashing lightning and deafening thunders, which made it quite difficult to sense a tiny cub that seemed to blend into the surroundings. Surely she was now outside its territory, right? The bamboo forest was so vast, and she had walked a long, long distance.
Lu Yaoyao squatted down to continue digging and soon unearthed another shoot. However, just as she was pulling it out, she heard the familiar chirp that made her scalp numb.
…No way? Is this still its territory?
Lu Yaoyao turned around, and sure enough, the cub was standing not far away, chirping arrogantly.
Lu Yaoyao: “…”
After digging up bamboo shoots eight times in a row and returning it to the cub every time, Lu Yaoyao kept staring at the ninth shoot being taken away by the arrogant cub. The little bamboo beast was no longer afraid of her; as soon as she dug up a shoot, it would run to her side, bite the shoot, and leave. At first, it was very wary, but now it had completely regarded her as a bamboo shoot digger, showing no fear.
Lu Yaoyao sat on the ground, lost in thought, watching the little bamboo beast dragging away the shoot and disappearing into the forest.
When Wen Zixing and Chao Muxue saw Lu Yaoyao again, she had that dazed look as if she was questioning her life. Wen Zixing was just complaining to Chao Muxue and Du Qianshan about how difficult it was to dig up the bamboo shoots; he had been digging all day and hadn’t seen a single one. Among the three of them, only Chao Muxue had found one.
“Yaoyao, did you find any… What’s wrong with you?” Wen Zixing was about to ask about Lu Yaoyao’s findings when he noticed her abnormality.
Lu Yaoyao looked at her three friends with a heavy expression on her face, “I think I’ve been used and deceived.”
“What?” Wen Zixing jumped up in fury, “Did you encounter a scumbag? When? In less than a day someone made a move on you? What kind of beast is that? You’re still a child!”
Lu Yaoyao rolled her eyes, “Don’t be silly!”
Chao Muxue and Du Qianshan were also concerned, “Yaoyao, what happened?”
Knowing that her friends would let their imaginations run wild if she didn’t clarify, Lu Yaoyao explained, “I encountered a little bamboo beast…” Lu Yaoyao narrated her experience in detail and finally pointed to the three bamboo shoots she took out from her small pouch, “…so now I only have these three shoots.” Since the appearance of the little beast, she hadn’t managed to keep any of the shoots she dug up; they were all taken away!
Wen Zixing and Chao Muxue stared at the three bamboo shoots, each one fatter than the one Chao Muxue had found, and they too fell into the same expression as Lu Yaoyao initially was.
“It’s so hard to find Wind-Thunder bamboo shoots…”
“I dug dozens of spots and didn’t find a single one…”
“Me neither…”
“I only found one…”
And according to Lu Yaoyao, she had dug just a few times and never came up empty every time.
The three: “……”
“…” Lu Yaoyao tilted her head, “Is that the point? Didn’t you hear that I might have been deceived by a little bamboo beast?”
Wen Zixing and the others exchanged glances, then simultaneously reached out their hands towards Lu Yaoyao.
Chao Muxue and Du Qianshan each grabbed one of Lu Yaoyao’s chubby hands, fervently rubbing them with solemn expressions, making sure both the palms and backs of their hands touched hers.
Wen Zixing, who was a step too late to grab her hand, stretched his hand towards Lu Yaoyao’s face.
Her chubby cheeks were instantly subjected to the same vigorous rubbing.
Lu Yaoyao, whose face was being distorted by the rubbing: “……”
Moments later, the three retracted their hands and looked at their own with solemn piety, “We’re not resting tonight. I feel like I’ve caught some luck; this time we’ll definitely find the shoots!”
Chao Muxue nodded, “I agree!”
Wen Zixing, full of longing and excitement, declared, “We’ve all touched the aura of a king of fortune; it will surely change the fate of the unlucky!”
Lu Yaoyao: “…” Break off the friendship, now! She doesn’t need friends like these anymore—take them all away!
However, breaking off the friendship was impossible. Lu Yaoyao rubbed her reddened cheeks and cautiously stepped back to maintain distance, her eyes wider than before.
“Ahem!” Realizing they needed to steer the conversation back before Lu Yaoyao exploded, Wen Zixing analyzed seriously: “According to your intuition, if it wasn’t just that you were digging in the little bamboo beast’s territory, and it kept showing up, it must have known you could find a lot of shoots and decided to follow you.”
Chao Muxue added, “So, it’s likely that when the little bamboo beast attacked you the first time, it was not because you were digging its food, but because it wanted to steal your bamboo shoots. It just didn’t expect you to misunderstand and give the shoots to it willingly.”
Du Qianshan concluded, “So, the little bamboo beast must see you as a two-legged creature that provides food. It thinks you are weak and easily coerced, which is why it became increasingly bold.”
“…” Lu Yaoyao covered her face in disbelief. She was so smart, yet she had been outwitted by a little bamboo beast! Was she really that foolish?
“That’s outrageous!” Lu Yaoyao clenched her fist, “I need to reclaim my dignity!”
Wen Zixing enthusiastically raised his hands, “Let’s go digging now!”
“…” Lu Yaoyao stared blankly at their hands, which apparently were kept raised in order not to touch anything else for fear of rubbing off the luck.
Maybe not, let’s wait until tomorrow.
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