Chapter 38: Yes, It Is Indeed the Little Immortal

Facing the terrified Su De, Su Chen smiled. "Don't worry, Fourth Brother. I did some calculations before I came. You are the only one in mortal danger tonight. Big Brother and the others are just going to suffer a bit."

Su De blinked. "...Huh?"

Su Chen walked over to pick up the wood-chopping knife and wiped the blood off it. Only then did Su De notice that Su Chen’s fingertips had been cut.

"A-Chen, that thing from just now..."

"A mountain sprite, I suppose," Su Chen shrugged. "I've never seen one before, so I can't be entirely sure."

"It likely formed from the resentful spirits of mountain monkeys and such, which is why it resembled a monkey. It seemed to want to rip your organs out just now—it felt much like a zombie, craving flesh and blood. However, while it was as nimble as a hairy zombie, it didn't exude malevolent energy, but rather ghostly aura. Given that it was a monkey-like spirit, its soul power is far inferior to a human's, so it was easy to deal with."

Su De nodded instinctively, then scratched his head.

*Wait,* he thought, *I understand the words my little brother is saying, so why don't I understand a single thing he’s talking about?*

Soon, however, he asked in surprise, "A-Chen, how did you..."

"Sister-in-law saw that you hadn't returned by late at night and was afraid something had happened, so she came home to get me. It’s fortunate she arrived in time, or you would have been in real trouble tonight, Fourth Brother."

Su De felt a lingering sense of terror, and then a bowl of hot water was pressed into his hands.

He looked up blankly to see Su Chen smiling. "Drink some hot water to warm up, Fourth Brother. And eat some biscuits, too."

"You've been searching the mountains for six or seven hours; you must be starving, right?"

Su De felt a lump in his throat and his eyes sting. Recalling the harsh words he had leveled at his younger brother just two days ago, he felt a wave of guilt.

Before he could speak, a heavy coat was draped over his shoulders.

"Let’s talk about it when we get back. Once you’re warm, we still have to walk a bit further to bring Big Brother and the others home."

"Yes, yes, okay."

Su De wiped the corners of his eyes, blew on the hot water, and downed it in two gulps. He shoved two biscuits into his mouth and hurried to his feet.

"A-Chen, let’s go quickly."

Su Chen didn't try to stop him. He placed the knife into a basket, picked it up along with the bundled cotton coat, and started walking forward.

When they reached the mountainside, Su De gasped in surprise at the thick white fog.

Su Chen was also slightly taken aback, but recalling the records in his master's scriptures, he quickly calmed down. He cupped his hands toward the fog and said, "Thank you, Little Immortal, for your help. Now that the monster has been removed, I ask that you please lift this fog."

Su De: "???"

He stared at his younger brother in astonishment. For a moment, he wondered if his brother had lost his mind. But then he reconsidered: if he could encounter a mountain sprite, then surely having an immortal in the mountains wasn't that strange, right? Or perhaps, as the elders said, the mountain had a mountain god—could this "Little Immortal" be the mountain god?

As he pondered this, a sound came from the white fog: "Squeak~"

*Uh...*

*Is that how a mountain god speaks?*

Su Chen’s expression remained unchanged, and he continued to stand there with a smile.

Two more squeaks came from the white fog, closer this time. Shortly after, the fog began to dissipate.

Su De was dumbfounded. *There really is a mountain god! But where is it?*

He shone his flashlight forward suspiciously but could see nothing, causing him to scratch his head.

Su Chen’s gaze, however, quickly landed behind a tree. There, a fluffy tail and half of a fuzzy little face were visible. A single, pitch-black round eye was staring at him curiously.

Su Chen smiled and cupped his hands toward it again. "Greetings, Little Immortal."

The creature hopped out. Seeming to feel that was improper, it stood up on its hind legs and flicked its tail.

"A squirrel?" Su De looked at the squirrel suspiciously, then turned to Su Chen. "A-Chen, this is..."

*It couldn't be the mountain god's pet, could it?*

"Fourth Brother, this is a Little Immortal of the mountains who has attained the Way."

"...Huh?"

*Not a pet, but the immortal himself?*

"Squeak!"

The squirrel seemed dissatisfied with Su De. It darted over, jumped onto Su De’s head, and ruffled his hair. After that, it hopped onto Su Chen’s hand and landed steadily on the flashlight, peering at the front curiously as if trying to study how it produced light.

"Squeak-squeak?"

After studying it for a while without success, the squirrel turned around and gestured at Su Chen.

Su Chen turned the switch off, and the area plunged into darkness.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak."

Su Chen turned it back on.

"Squeak!"

The squirrel’s tail stood straight up, swaying slightly, looking very excited. It placed its small paw on the switch and pressed down hard—the light went out. It pushed it again, and the light came back on.

For the next while, the spot on the mountainside flickered on and off a dozen times. Only when the squirrel seemed tired of playing did it jump to the ground, run a few steps forward, and turn back to look at Su Chen.

"Squeak-squeak-squeak-squeak~"

"Fourth Brother, let's follow."

Su De was slightly startled. He thought to himself that his little brother was truly no ordinary man to be able to understand what the squirrel—no, the Little Immortal—was saying. An ordinary squirrel certainly couldn't operate a flashlight. *Yes, that’s right, it must be a Little Immortal.*

But soon, Su De’s eyes widened.

Ahead, Big Brother was smiling foolishly, not knowing what he was grabbing at or cutting; his eldest nephew was shoving dirt into his mouth; A-Tang was lying on the ground, scooping up dirt and tossing it over himself; and A-Hu was rubbing against a tree.

"A-Chen, what... what happened to them?"

Su Chen gave a dry laugh. "The Little Immortal might be a bit mischievous."

The squirrel, having attained the Way in the mountains, didn't understand human affairs. It had merely cast a spell to keep them from wandering out of the fog, protecting them from the mountain sprite, but it hadn't expected the spell to turn them into this.

"Squeak~" The squirrel shook its tail vigorously. Faintly, Su Chen saw a pale green light spread out. Su Mao’s eyes immediately cleared.

When he saw the forest in front of him, he was stunned. "My rice... no, wait!"

He turned around in a panic and saw his eldest son suddenly stop, then start coughing violently, sticking his fingers into his throat to gag. A-Tang looked blankly at the leaves and dirt on his body: "My quilt, where is my newly fluffed cotton quilt?"

A-Hu jumped back, and when he turned to see the people around him, his ears turned bright red with shame.

"Dad!"

After gagging for a while and finding no dirt coming out, A-Liang finally lifted his head. Seeing Su Mao, he called out in confusion. Then, noticing the flashlight beam, he turned to see Su De and Su Chen, and blinked in surprise: "Wait, Fourth Uncle, Little Uncle, why are you here?"

Su De gave a cold hum and stepped forward, giving him a sharp, merciless knock on the head.

"Don't even start! Weren't you supposed to be gathering firewood? How did you end up going up the mountain with A-Hu to hunt wild boars without saying a word? Do you have any idea how fierce wild boars are? Is that something you can catch?"

"Now you haven't caught any boar, and you got lost in the mountains. I almost..." Su De sighed, "Forget it. If you dare go into the mountains again, see if I don't break your legs!"

A-Liang held his head. "Fourth Uncle, I was wrong!"

A-Hu and A-Tang also apologized profusely, saying they shouldn't have goaded A-Liang into coming.

"Dad, Fourth Uncle, it’s not Tiger’s fault. It’s me. I was thinking that the New Year is almost here, and I haven't done anything at home all year or earned any money. I... I just thought if I could catch a wild boar, maybe I could earn some money to buy you and Mom some new clothes."

Hearing this, the lecture Su Mao had been about to deliver got stuck in his throat, and his eyes turned red.

He let out a long sigh, his gaze landing on Su Chen. "A-Chen, why did you come up the mountain?"