Secret Tunnel

Throwing his cloak over Wei An's shoulder, Liu Jun vanished with her in a puff of smoke. As they appeared in a safe place, far away from the chaos, Wei An sighed and promptly fell to the floor in a dramatic way. Gazing up at the stars, she recalled the time she saw a mother rocking her child to sleep under the starry skies and the father putting his cloak around them. What would it be like to have a family like them? It must be nice having a family to depend on and love.

Lost in her thoughts, Wei An didn't notice the hand hovering in front of her until she sat up. Muttering a word of thanks, she dusted herself off.

"According to my memory, if we walk three steps to the left and two steps to the right, we could find a hidden tunnel covered by leaves." Liu Jun walked over and swept the leaves away, revealing a metal hand shape. As he put his hand to the hand, an opening suddenly appeared, exposing a spiral staircase. When they reached the bottom of the staircase and walked into a cave, Liu Jun whispered,

"Nothing." Suddenly, a rope was lowered out of nowhere and a head peeked out from behind it.

"Master! You're back!" Liu Jun kept silent and grabbed the rope, holding Wei An to his chest. As the rope was pulled up slowly, Wei An pressed her ear to Liu Jun's chest. She could hear his heart thumping. Unconsciously, she blushed. Glancing up at Liu Jun, Wei An could see a faint tint of red covering Liu Jun's face. It was barely noticeable, but it was still there. Feeling someone's gaze on his face, Liu Jun looked down, only to find Wei An sleeping, comfortably snuggled in his embrace. He subconsciously shifted his arms ever so slightly.

As they finally arrived at the top, Liu Jun immediately set off in the direction of Wei An's siheyuan. After he laid Wei An onto the bed, Liu Jun tucked her in and closed the door quietly as he walked out. Once Wei An confirmed Liu Jun left, she peeked open one eye and sat up. Thankfully, he didn't notice she wasn't actually asleep! Wei An called Shan Yue out. As Shan Yue floated out of Wei An's body, she asked,

"How do I access the Phoenix Pavilion?"

(A/N: Siheyuan is basically a Chinese historical residence.)

Shan Yue paced back and forth for a while before recalling what her previous masters did to access the world inside Pearl's Flute.

"They said the word 'idiot' to access it!" Wei An's jaw dropped.

Shan Yue snickered as she looked at the confused expression painted on Wei An's face.

"Don't worry, I was just kidding. You just have to think of a portal opening to the Phoenix Pavilion." Following her directions, Wei An closed her eyes and imagined opening a portal. She could see the waterfall and magnificent siheyuan on the other side of the portal. As soon as Wei An walked into the portal, Crystal hurdled straight into her arms. If Crystal was still the little kitty before, it wouldn't take much to hold her. However, Crystal was now nearly as big as her! Wei An was flattened underneath Crystal as the tiger crazily licked her face. Finally noticing that her savior was being crushed by her, Crystal reluctantly got up from Wei An.

Wei An dusted herself and reached down to pet Crystal, who was currently rubbing against Wei An, expressing her content. Crystal rolled onto the floor, showing her belly. Whenever Crystal exposed her belly, it meant that she was hungry. Out of habit, Wei An reached inside her pocket to grab a can of cat food for Crystal, only to realize that the robe she was wearing didn't have pockets.

Shan Yue, who was floating behind Wei An, thought of a solution.

"Why don't you send Crystal to one of her kin to train her? That way, she'll be able to interact with her own and learn to survive in the wild."

Wei An didn't want to part with Crystal, but it was the best option for Crystal. Shan Yue once again clapped her hands. Their surroundings warped, and a dense forest appeared. Countless glowing eyes appeared from behind bushes and trees. Wei An backed away cautiously. Suddenly, a huge shape materialized out of nowhere. Wei An looked up to see a massive tiger that took up 2 times more space than Crystal in her new form. Its eyes were like the deep sea, and its coat was like snow during winter. Shan Yue suddenly appeared and floated up to pat the nose of the tiger.

"Long time no see, Xiao San." The tiger's eyes flickered. With a whoosh, he transformed into his human form. A stunning man appeared. His eyes and hair were the same as the tiger's.

He extended his arms. "Haven't seen you in a while, Ah Yue." Shan Yue took on her human form and ran into his arms. As they finally broke free, Shan Yue held out Crystal.

"This is my charge's contracted tiger. Mind if you train her? She's never hunted before."

His face hardened a bit as he replied,

"Sure. Anything for you Ah Yue." Crystal cowered underneath his gaze.

He examined Crystal. "Did she awaken yet?"

"No. I'm counting on you to help her awaken," Shan Yue replied.