The Divine Owl and the Mortal Rat

Within the forest tribe, the Elder stood upon a high platform. The tribespeople gathered in circles below, all looking up attentively. Arrayed before the Elder were the eggs the clan had produced over the year, now to be collectively hatched under his guidance.

The Shenxiao Clan was essentially a demon tribe. Their reproduction was closer to that of birds, and the proportion of clansmen capable of shape-shifting was very low. However, at this critical juncture of aiding their offspring's hatching, the Elder would disperse their own aura, allowing all clansmen of similar age to take human form to collectively cast spells and assist the hatching.

As the temperature rose, the green eggs with dark speckles began to tremble. Faint cheeping sounds came from within, filled with a longing for the new life about to arrive.

A sharp arrow, laced with malice, sliced through the night sky. Piercing laughter echoed through the mountain forest.

The Elder's chest was pierced. Under the gaze of the tribespeople—some shocked, others filled with hatred—a rain of arrows descended. Powerless to resist, the Shenxiao Clan was pierced by ten thousand arrows in a single night. The eggs awaiting new life were also completely shattered.

Greedy and shrill laughter felt especially jarring in the night.

As Mountain Gods of their lineage, the Shenxiao posed no harm to humans. On the contrary, they maintained the balance of the mountain forests, protecting all living beings there, even though they were demons.

But because they were demons dwelling on the mountains, demons with boundless magical power, they were naturally viewed as a scourge by humans. Or rather, they were seen as a threat by the villagers at the mountain's foot, even though those very villagers knew the Shenxiao Clan had saved them more than once.

Yet fear wasn't the root cause. It was said a few Immortals had come, demanding demon cores under the pretext of recruiting personal disciples. They specifically requested those of the Shenxiao, promising riches and honor in return.

Following that, the surrounding noble families also heard there were Shenxiao Mountain Gods here—demons, and exceedingly valuable, rare finds. Many clan patriarchs came personally, gifting the villagers vast amounts of gold and treating them as peers. Their only request was priority purchase of demon bones and tendons, with the promise that the gifts were separate; the actual purchase would involve further, immeasurable payment.

Even the Emperor sent his trusted agents, offering high positions and generous salaries, solely for one intact Xiao egg and one clean corpse. He claimed he wanted to personally taste how this Mountain God differed from cattle and sheep.

The villagers, with their limited vision, couldn't consider the long term. They went mad, completely mad! Even the older generation abandoned their principles and cast aside their integrity, feigning injury or disaster to hunt the Shenxiao. The clan suffered heavy casualties, though its foundation remained intact for now.

The villagers felt this was too slow. Unequal distribution led to frequent disputes and conflicts. Tempted by the hefty rewards, they decided to find the Shenxiao's lair, eradicate them in one fell swoop, and reap enormous profits.

Resentment also grew within the Shenxiao Clan. Bound by a clan rule forbidding harm to humans, they were instead being slaughtered. The Elder sensed something amiss and, with a major clan event approaching that demanded clarity, personally descended the mountain to seek out the village and discuss matters.

This move played right into the villagers' hands. They secretly laced the wine with the Tracking Agent gifted by the Immortals, thus learning the location of the Shenxiao nest. All gazed greedily at the forested mountains. A few even ran off immediately to inform their financial backers.

They didn't act rashly. Instead, they waited for several days, maintaining a period of peace and even putting on a show of apologizing to the Shenxiao Clan, mourning the clansmen who had been "accidentally killed."

They learned from the Immortals about the major event the Shenxiao were preparing for and formulated a new plan. And thus, this night came to pass.

The night was sleepless, clamor filling the mountain forest. Fearing complications before departure, they set a great fire. The former site of the Shenxiao wailed in the roaring flames before fading into nothingness.

The beasts within the mountains were enraged and sought to avenge the Shenxiao Clan, but they were ambushed by officers and soldiers lying in wait, too preoccupied to help. For a time, the mountain forest echoed with endless screams, blood flowed like a river, and flames erupted everywhere. With the Shenxiao Clan's annihilation, the mountain itself wept—wept in silent anguish.

The chaos persisted for a long while, the fire raging for three full days and nights. Afterwards, nothing remained but empty woods and a scene of utter devastation.

Century-old trees had fallen; the thousand-year legacy of the Shenxiao lay in ruins.

With the mountain devoid of its Mountain God, chaos quickly ensued. The surviving beasts began vying for the position of Mountain God. In the absence of a true deity, any beast could potentially become a demon. Only the tribe that first claimed the title of Mountain God could maintain its demonic form; the rest either stayed behind, stripped of their magical power, or left, facing a perilous journey with slim chances of survival.

The villagers of that one village either joined Immortal sects, became wealthy merchants, or were granted noble titles—their lives were comfortable and glorious. But this came at the cost of suffering for the elders and children of the other villages. They became nothing more than spiritual pills and delicacies for the beasts contending for supremacy, unable to escape, unable to fight back. As for the Immortals who had casually crossed over, the ministers concerned for their country, or the rulers who loved their subjects as their own children—none were to be seen now.

In truth, on that very night, a young girl from a neighboring village had also secretly gone up the mountain. Taking advantage of the darkness, she stole a Shenxiao egg, planning to lie low for a while and then return home to give it to her mother to cure her chronic ailment.

But when she returned to her village, she found it in ruins. The dilapidated village was strung with lanterns, covered with red carpets, and sporadically plastered with red couplets.

Swallowing her grief, she hid in the mountains with the egg. Recalling the movements of the Immortals, she surprisingly managed to sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and entered the path of cultivation!

As for the Xiao egg, she kept it, a memento of her mother and her family.

She had believed the Shenxiao to be extinct and the egg lifeless. Yet, to her astonishment, her daily meditation and breath regulation beside it had caused it to begin developing once more.

One day, exhausted and bathing, she heard a sudden crack from the egg. In a panic, a clear, crisp chirp rang out. It felt as if the entire mountain forest heard that single cry. None could pinpoint its origin, only sensing their own cultivation rapidly suppressed. This was the remnant bloodline of the Shenxiao—the one true orthodoxy of the entire mountain.

The girl was both shocked and overjoyed, but she sensed other demonic beasts must have detected the chirp. She immediately rose, wrapped the Xiao Xiao in cloth, hastily covered herself, and entered a pre-prepared teleportation array. After several consecutive jumps, she finally settled in another, more hidden cave.

"Greetings, Lord Mountain God!" A voice suddenly echoed from deep within the cave. Following the sound, she saw an elderly woman—or rather, an aged rat demon—accompanied by two young rats who had just learned to shapeshift and were still unsteady.

"Who are you?" the girl asked, immediately shielding the Xiao Xiao behind her as she stared warily at the three demons.

"This one must be its guardian. Do not worry. This is merely where this old one hides with the last two children of my tribe. There is no one else," the crone said, spreading her hands in a gesture of peace. "Our Common Rat Great Tribe was once quite prosperous. After the Shenxiao's fall, we rose quickly, relying on numbers and strong survival instincts. But as other tribes adapted, we began to struggle.

We should have followed our nature and hidden, and nothing would have happened. Yet our chieftain had to contend for the position of Mountain God, sparking another chaotic battle.

Our kin were killed or injured. If not for Lord Mountain God being born and instantly weakening them, I fear even the three of us would not have survived!" As she spoke, the crone knelt before the Xiao Xiao and bowed.

"Old one, please, you..." The girl moved to help her up, but the crone stopped her.

"Young lady, you must not be tainted by this old one's presence." The crone stood up, pushing the two rat-headed girls forward. "I beg you to care for the last bloodline of our Common Rat Great Tribe. This old one will go draw away those traitors, make them think they've wiped out the Common Rats for good, so they won't trouble you again!" Having said this, without waiting for a response, the crone turned and stepped into a crude teleportation array, seemingly walking to her death.

Time passed, and the crone's death brought a long period of peace.

The mountain forest was no longer a place of constant fighting. A few of the strongest emerged, each carving out their own territory, confronting each other and creating a semblance of surface stability.

The girl matured, raising three children alone in this environment where the strong preyed on the weak.

Fortunately, thanks to her innate talent, Xiao Xiao's help, her friendly and conflict-avoidant nature, and her self-taught skills in alchemy, medicine, and arrays, she managed to live a stable, if ordinary, life.

However, Xiao Xiao, having left the owl flock, grew with difficulty and slowness. Luckily, as the sole survivor, he received some protection from the local domain and the ancestral Shenxiao Clan, allowing him to barely assume human form. He was very thin and small, and whenever he went outside, he had to hide behind his two older sisters.

His two sisters, on the other hand, cultivated very quickly and were exceptionally beautiful. But they never showed their faces when going out, wearing cloaks the entire time. With the girl watching over them, no one was foolish enough to cause trouble.

As Xiao Xiao and his two sisters officially stepped onto the path of cultivation, their expenses were finally minimized. After all, their need for pills could be self-sufficient—at least in the early stages. After that, they'd have to go and seize resources.

The Shenxiao is the Mountain God. Even if not fully grown, he is still the Mountain God, and a domain would naturally look after him. But the Mountain God is never a hereditary position; it's a brutal, natural selection. It doesn't care whether he lives or dies.

Right after Xiao, in human form, triggered a heavenly tribulation upon entering Foundation Establishment, the girl and his two sisters risked their lives to save him. Immediately afterwards, they were detected by those with ulterior motives who realized this was a Mountain God's tribulation.

Regardless of cultivation level or age, the entire mountain forest began hunting them. The target was Xiao. To go a step further, the target was his position as Mountain God.

Only by killing him could a Mountain God possibly emerge from among the several demon kings. Otherwise, it was all for nothing. In the end, they might even lose their cultivation and their lives.

Now, they weren't fighting for power, but for survival! To maintain themselves, to hold onto the dignity they had fought desperately for over a thousand years!

The Shenxiao must die.

Ordinarily, the girl's cultivation was not shallow. She could refine pills and inscribe arrays. She avoided making enemies but was no saint—decisive in killing when needed. Others had no reason to attack her.

But now that Xiao's identity was exposed, everything changed.

First came threats and assaults from various minor factions. They were insignificant and could be warded off with arrays.

Mid-sized factions offered terms for an exchange, demanding to trade goods for Xiao. A child raised with her own hands, bound by blood thicker than water—how could that ever be possible?

The eldest among the three major powers finally made his move.

He casually wiped out those factions along the way that had attacked or provoked them, placing all their resources and their heads before the girl.

"Miss, I've come all this way for just one thing—that elusive Mountain God. I've no interest in the lives of your three children." He set a storage ring down on the table. "The __GLOSSARY_TERM_7_ doesn't have to die. All you need to do is leave this mountain forest. During your journey, I will mobilize the full strength of my clan to escort you safely away."

"As for that Shenxiao descendant, he's missing the clan's most crucial ritual, which makes his cultivation unstable. If you agree to take them away, I will hold that very ritual for him at the border. He'll then become a true member of the Shenxiao Clan! Only then will his future truly begin!"

"And the only price for all this is simply to leave."

The girl pinched her chin, her resolve beginning to waver.

"Let me guess your worries. You're afraid of having no shelter in the outside world, of an ambush, or that I might break my word?"

Seeing her still hesitate, the Demon King added, "Hmm... This is a tough one. Then how about this? I shall swear upon my demonic heart. If you agree to leave, not only will all those conditions be met, but I will also arrange a residence specifically for you, assign my core clansmen to guard it day and night, and give you a ring that can summon me three times, anytime, anywhere. What's more, only you can activate it. If you call, I will do everything in my power to protect you and the three children!" As he spoke, the Demon King raised his right fist in oath.

"Add one more condition: you cannot ambush or harm the four of us in any way, direct or indirect. If you do, you'll lose all your cultivation immediately, and your entire clan will be wiped out!" The girl added.

"Very well. It seems we have an agreement. Then, please!" The Demon King's expression didn't change. With a casual wave, leaving no room for refusal, his fully-armed and vigilant clansmen quickly stepped forward and immediately set off with her and the three children.

That Demon King was surprisingly true to his word, never once breaking the agreement. He genuinely protected the four of them the entire way, escorting them safely out of the mountain forest and into another wooded area. The journey passed without incident.

So far, everything seemed normal. But if that were truly the case, why would the Shenxiao ever submit to a Sub-Institute, and why would Pitying Rats become sworn enemies?

The ritual for Xiao was completed, and he officially became a member of the Shenxiao Clan, bestowing upon himself the name "Xiao."

No sooner had the demonic escort departed than government troops arrived, surrounding the four of them.

The woman initially thought they were just passing through, but their target was unmistakably the four of them.

Cornered, they had to fight back hastily. But how could wandering cultivators from the wilderness ever match orthodox immortal sects? The fading Incense was quickly struck down.

The woman activated the ring to summon the Demon King, but there was no response.

As those brazenly aloof immortals shed their human skins and began greedily eyeing the two little rat demons like her daughters, the brilliance of motherhood ignited within her. Pouring all her power into a self-detonation, she used the residual force to send the three little ones away.

At that moment, the Demon King arrived belatedly, only to find three people left.

"Didn't you promise..." The elder sister shielded the younger ones behind her, glaring fixedly at the Demon King.

"Promise? Oath? With whom? This king has sworn no oath with anyone in any form. As for what she believed—that was merely an impostor pretending to be me, and he's already been executed!"

The Demon King spoke lightly, producing a small vial. He poured out a drop of red liquid. The woman's self-detonated body was restored, her neck now gripped by the Demon King, her cultivation sealed.

"Indeed, once the Shenxiao leaves that mountain forest, a new Mountain God will reappear. But what if he stages a comeback? As a Shenxiao, he holds legitimacy!" The Demon King ordered his men to bind the three. With their foster mother in enemy hands, the three dared not resist.

"Great Demon King, this lowly one is willing to serve you. If only you would spare the three children... They are still young, they pose no threat to your position..." The woman knelt humbly on the ground, pleading in a low voice.

Hearing this, the Demon King grew interested. Giving the woman no chance to resist, he humiliated her on the spot until death, then turned his gaze to Xiao's two sisters.

"This king always follows his whims. That so-called 'promise'? It disturbed my Dao heart, infuriated me! To prove my Great Dao, naturally, I must thoroughly eliminate the source!" He stuffed the woman's mangled body into his mouth and advanced step by step toward the three.

The ropes binding the three had somehow broken. They turned and ran. This patch of mountain forest, unconsciously summoned by Xiao, began to hinder the Demon King.

But the disparity was too great. They were soon caught up. During that time, the second sister had vanished without a trace.

"Halt!"

The Demon King suddenly felt his body go weightless before tumbling backward.

A man stood behind Xiao and the eldest sister.

"I am Cisheng, the senior brother of the Sub-Institute. You fiend, you shall commit no atrocities here!" As he spoke, the Demon King spat blood and collapsed to his knees.

"This is a matter of our mountain forest! What business is it of yours?" The Demon King clutched his neck in agony, trying to stem the gushing blood.

"Since these two young ones have entered my domain, you are forbidden to act recklessly!" Cisheng led the two away. The Demon King tried to give chase but was sent flying backward.

Afterwards, the two took up residence in the Sub-Institute.

The death of their adoptive mother and the disappearance of the second sister weighed constantly on Xiao's mind, tormenting him day and night, leaving him in a daze, unable to eat or sleep.

After much guidance from Cisheng and the eldest sister, he finally began to ease. He was able to cultivate and made a vow, carving it into wood: one day, he would return to the mountain forest and claim his revenge!

Thus began a period of dedicated cultivation within the Sub-Institute—a fairly pleasant time, filled with the budding romance of youth between a young man and a young woman.

Heaven granted his wish; the Shenxiao Clan's blessing allowed him to travel a thousand miles in a day. By now, his cultivation had progressed enough for him to return to the mountain forest and seek his revenge.

Cisheng couldn't bring himself to intervene, so he could only let the two return. Times had changed; vanquishing that Demon King was now within reach.

However, when the time came to return, Xiao came back alone, carrying the eldest sister's body in his arms. A greenish tint had spread across her neck and other parts of her body—marks from a peculiar scratch. From then on, Xiao rarely spoke of his past. He neglected his cultivation and spent his days amusing himself by frightening new disciples. He particularly enjoyed stealing crops from the old dean's farm for no reason, and no one could control him.

As the situation grew worse, the joy he derived from scaring his junior brothers waned. A deep dejection settled over Xiao. He would often stare blankly at his own hands, standing motionless for long periods. Apart from gatherings called by a few senior brothers, he seldom showed himself.

He once sought out E Ye. What they discussed remained unknown. After that, on the eve of the attack on the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, he was tasked with reconnaissance and spent a sleepless night.

With maps provided by Jiu and the Mountain God's movement technique, the initial reconnaissance went smoothly. But as he passed by a cave while reporting back, something suddenly drew Xiao in. No matter how Cisheng and E Ye questioned him, he gave no response; no matter how they tried to persuade him, he remained silent.

As if bewitched, he walked straight into the cave. His pupils, dilated by the darkness, grew enormous, nearly filling his entire eyes.

The place was tidy and orderly. Every arrangement, even the furniture, was exactly as it once had been. In that moment, Xiao was lost.

A pair of arms wrapped around him from behind. He turned his head instinctively, his pupils trembling. This scent, this appearance—it was his eldest sister's. Fear, joy, and disbelief flooded his heart. Their eyes met, and neither spoke.

Suddenly, they kissed. His cheeks flushed crimson. His arms yearned to hold her too, but she was behind him; he could only lift them slightly, managing to embrace just a part of her.

His eyes slowly closed. His mind felt as if it had returned to the days in the mountain forest. His tribulation had summoned nothing; everything that followed was merely an illusion. They had always lived in the forest, never leaving, never apart.

"Please... stay like this..." Those were Xiao's last words. Beneath his eyelids, his pupils fully dilated and lost their luster, but his arms remained unwilling to let go, frozen in place.

Behind him, a blade swiftly sliced across his neck.