Inside Ghost Valley, Qingnu lay on a self-made reclining chair, rocking her body back and forth.
Hongluan was still recounting the thrilling scene from earlier to the snake girl. If it hadn't reacted quickly, they almost wouldn't have received the apprenticeship gifts!
Seeing its 'please praise me' expression, Qingnu sat up and delivered a swat. She scolded, "Use that walnut-sized bird brain of yours and think. If you hadn't been in such a hurry to rush out, wouldn't they have brought the heavy gifts back anyway?"
"Ugh!"
Hongluan dodged Qingnu's hand and blinked. "It... seems so..."
Qingnu rested her forehead in her hand, feeling helpless.
"My meticulously prepared 'immortal appearance' ritual!"
"The entire atmosphere was ruined by that one sentence of yours!"
Hongluan hurriedly tried to soothe Qingnu. "Don't worry, don't worry! We can just beat them until they have amnesia! Didn't you use to do that all the time? If it comes to it, just do it one more time..."
Hearing this, Qingnu's expression shifted, and she hastily said, "Nonsense! How can you besmirch a snake's innocence out of thin air!"
"Eh?"
Hongluan tilted its head, looking utterly dazed.
Did she even have such a thing?
Pang Juan and Sun Boling had prepared their heavy gifts. They knelt and kowtowed repeatedly outside the valley, pleading to see the immortal. Hongluan had swooped down ahead of time to snatch the gifts away in its beak, drawing cries of surprise from the two teenagers. Could such a small body really carry something so heavy?
Truly an immortal bird!
Whether the bird was immortal was one thing, but Qingnu was quite dissatisfied with the teenagers' gifts.
"Why is there so little meat!"
Among the six traditional apprenticeship gifts, dried meat only accounted for one portion, and not much at that. Even though Pang Juan and Sun Boling had considered her immortal status and prepared extra sacrificial meat, to Qingnu, this amount of meat was barely enough for a couple of bites!
She was a snake girl who couldn't be happy without meat!
Even eating fruit was, for her, a form of ascetic self-cultivation.
"Sigh... what are those two called?" Qingnu sighed and looked up to ask Hongluan.
Hongluan shook its head. "I didn't ask."
Qingnu: "..."
Hongluan made another trip and brought back their names. When Qingnu heard them, she realized this was no small matter.
Quickly, invite them in!
Pang Juan and Sun Boling!
Looking at the two teenagers kneeling before her, kowtowing solemnly to pay their respects, Qingnu thought of their historical destiny—where they would eventually face each other on the battlefield—and couldn't help but sigh.
"Immortal?"
Seeing her sigh, the two teenagers felt anxious.
Qingnu gave a light cough, her gaze falling upon the two of them. She said, "I am Guiguzi. Starting today, you two are my disciples! As fellow members of the Ghost Valley lineage, you must look out for and help each other in the future! Do you understand?"
Overjoyed, the two boys bowed repeatedly.
"We pay our respects to the Master!"
At this moment, the boys' smiles were bright.
Pang Juan, being older, became the senior brother. However, at the start, Qingnu didn't teach them anything else; she first taught them the principles of how to be a person. Her spiritual outlook, which was thousands of years ahead of the current era, thoroughly shocked the two young men.
Qingnu was a good master. While living in Ghost Valley, they didn't have to worry about food, clothing, or shelter.
The two disciples never visited relatives or took holidays, staying in Ghost Valley through all four seasons. Seeing how active they were, Qingnu dumped the task of cleaning the valley inside and out onto them, letting them serve as human lawnmowers.
When winter arrived, Qingnu huddled in her room to hibernate. The two of them diligently shoveled snow for several months.
One day, after clearing yet another layer of snow, Pang Juan pulled Sun Boling aside and whispered, "Junior Brother, don't you think the Master is using us as manual labor?"
"Why would you think that, Senior Brother?" Sun Boling didn't understand.
Pang Juan said in frustration, "In the year or two since we joined, the Master hasn't taught us anything except philosophy and conduct! If this continues, when will we ever learn real skills? The Master has eternal life, but we cannot afford to wait."
Qingnu was lazy and sluggish. Aside from eating and drinking, she seemed capable of pushing off any day's tasks for three or five days, or even half a month.
Perhaps it was because an exiled immortal's lifespan was limitless, so she didn't care about the passage of time.
But they really couldn't afford to wait!
Pang Juan wasn't exactly complaining about Qingnu; he was just lamenting that if things continued like this, he might not live to see the day his studies were complete.
If so, how could he ever make a name for himself under heaven?
Just as the two teenagers were planning to bet on who could live longer, the snake who loved to sleep in finally crawled out of bed. Beside her, Hongluan watched as she tidied her messy appearance and muttered, "Can't you just not sleep?"
Upon hearing those words, Qingnu's movements suddenly froze.
Only after a long while did she whisper a response.
"Because winter is very hard to endure..."
Back when she was the totem of the Youxiong tribe, the meat and grain within the tribe were always prioritized for her consumption.
But food was hard to find in winter, and she had a massive appetite. After thinking it over, she decided it was better to simply hibernate, so the people of the tribe wouldn't have to endure hunger and cold to set aside food for her. This sleep had become a habit of over two thousand years.
Hongluan remained silent for a long time before saying, "I've already prepared food for you."
One of the snake girl's famous maxims: whether you are sick, injured, hungry, or dying, you must eat.
Once you're full, there is hope!
Qingnu summoned Pang Juan and Sun Boling. Under the clear gazes of the two teenagers, she announced loudly, "Starting today, I shall teach the two of you bingfa."
The two were naturally ecstatic and bowed in gratitude.
In private, Hongluan questioned Qingnu, "Do you even know bingfa?"
"What a novelty!" Qingnu huffed with disdain. "For those of us who live forever, even if we were originally pigs, after living so many years, is there really anything we couldn't learn?"
From Tang of Shang's overthrow of the Xia to King Wu's campaign against Zhou, she had experienced over a thousand years of warfare.
As the saying goes, a long illness makes a good doctor—she had learned just by watching!
Hongluan, who still hadn't learned how to turn into a human: "..."
Winter went and spring came; several years passed.
The former teenagers had now grown up. Standing before them, Qingnu looked more like a younger sister. However, neither of them showed any disrespect due to her small stature! After years of study, they were completely won over by her.
The Master's knowledge was like a high mountain, like a deep sea; the more they looked up, the higher it seemed, unfathomably deep.
But when would they be considered to have completed their studies?
Miao suan!
Yet, after more than ten strategic simulations, the two brothers had both been defeated by Qingnu. This only fueled their competitive spirit, and so it continued day after day.
Finally, both of them managed to reach a draw against Qingnu in the strategic simulations.
"Congratulations, you have completed your training!"
Hearing this, Sun Boling bowed and said, "The Master overpraises us. This disciple still has a long way to go."
Pang Juan, however, had a look of pride. He cupped his hands to Qingnu. "Thank you, Master!"
The next day, Pang Juan took his leave of Qingnu.
In this age of great struggle, where the various states were frequently at war, it was the perfect time for him, Pang Juan, to display his ambitions and make a name for himself! After studying in Ghost Valley for many years, he could no longer wait.
At the valley entrance, Pang Juan turned back to look at Sun Boling and asked, "Junior Brother, are you really not coming with me?"
Sun Boling shook his head and politely declined. "No, Senior Brother!"
"Then wait for me to carve out a place in the world! Junior Brother, remember to come find me after you leave the mountains. Your Senior Brother will protect you!"
"Thank you, Senior Brother!"
The two brothers bid each other farewell at the entrance.
Pang Juan turned and departed.
When Sun Boling returned to the valley, Qingnu was arguing incessantly with Hongluan over whether a certain fruit should be eaten or planted. Seeing him return, Qingnu stashed the fruit away and asked, "Why haven't you left?"
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