Cave

After asking about how Zhu Jin got his hot water, Bai Shuixian found out that there was actually a hot spring within the cave. She was completely shocked. What surprised her even more was that he did not head out of his cave much.

How did he survive if he did not go out to hunt for food? Naturally, Zhu Jin was able to guess this question in his head, so he told her without her asking.

"I've been meditating for a while, so I only need to eat once in a while," Zhu Jin said.

Surprised, Bai Shuixian asked, "Are you cultivating?"

Chuckling, Zhu Jin answered, "There's no such thing as cultivating immortality, but there is such a thing as tempering the body."

With bright shiny eyes as she sat on his back, she questioned, "How do tigers meditate?"

"We meditate just as you humans do," Zhu Jin replied.

"Is it because you meditate that you're able to speak human language?" Bai Shuixian asked.

This question was the most important to her. She really wanted to find how he was able to speak so fluently in the human language. If possible, she also wanted to learn the animal language.

Zhu Jin knew of her curiosity, so he explained in detail, "Meditation is one thing, but there's another addition you have to do to be able to speak another language foreign to you. Especially considering that you are a completely different race from what you are trying to learn."

Bai Shuixian understood that he was explaining it like this for her, so she attentively listened.

"Aside from meditating, you must be from that same race," Zhu Jin said. "I used to be human, but after a few special occurrences, I became a tiger. One day, I'll tell you that story, but for now, I'll tell you how I learned to speak Chinese despite not remembering that I was once a human."

Nodding, she continued to listen.

"One day, I was out on a hunt as I was hungry for my next meal. Normally, the forest in this layer is completely quiet and there is almost no other animal here other than me. But on that day, I managed to find a human," Zhu Jin continued.

"Just when I was about to prey on the lady, she called out my name. In fact, I didn't know I had a name until she said it. I was initially going to ignore it, but when she called out my name, it had struck me so harshly that I had fainted on the ground."

Bai Shuixian looked at his fluffy ears with ever growing curiosity about his story.

"When I woke up, I was in this cave," Zhu Jin pointed out while signaling Bai Shuixian to get down.

After Bai Shuixian got down, she walked to the cave entrance and stared at Zhu Jin. She was waiting for him to continue his story before she entered the cave. For some reason, she found a resonance in his story.

"This cave was her home. At least, that's what she told me. Of course, I didn't believe her," Zhu Jin said. "However, I did believe her when she told me that I was a human. At first, I was hostile towards her, but after she performed a spell on me, I seemed to remember all my human memories and started to speak humanely. When I began to behave like a cultured person, she suddenly disappeared."

Walking into the cave, Bai Shuixian followed him. While leading her to the spring within the cave, he continued to talk about his life.

"I was greatly saddened at her departure, but I still knew that it was to be expected. How could a human stay with an animal for life?" Zhu Jin sighed. "Yet, just when I was about to become instinctual as a tiger, she came back. You know, I was so happy. I even swore that I would never eat meat again."

Bai Shuixian quietly looked at Zhu Jin and patted his head. When she saw his ears moving, she began to continuously pat his head habitually. She even got a little bold and rubbed his perked ears.

"But she did not come back in full health," Zhu Jin said with a sad voice. "She had come back because she did not know if there was another safe place in the world for her to peacefully live in for her last days on this mortal realm."

Feeling his pain, Bai Shuixian asked, "Did she leave the world peacefully?"

Shaking his head, he stated, "I protected her and made sure no human ever entered the forest, but somehow a man was able to find her. He took her away and told me that he was going to find a cure for her. I did not want to believe the man, but when I saw the look in his eyes, I knew that he was speaking the truth."

"Then…" Bai Shuixian mumbled. "He cured her?"

Zhu Jin shook his head again and told her, "He wasn't able to save her. Her body was poisoned by no one but herself. Even if he wanted to save her, she already had no will to live."

"Why did she want to kill herself?" Bai Shuixian asked, feeling depressed with pain in her heart.

At first, she wanted to say that she could not understand why someone would not treasure their own life. However, when she thought about herself, she could relate with the lady. When it feels as though the world has collapsed on you, how could you possibly still want to live?

"I do not know," Zhu Jin painfully said. "I asked her many times, but she just told me that one day there will be someone who will help me. She reminded me multiple times again and again."

"Is that person me?" Bai Shuixian inquired.

"Yes," Zhu Jin answered.

"How did she know that I would come here?" Bai Shuixian asked.

"I don't know," Zhu Jian shrugged. "She only told me your name and how I would meet you."

"You didn't know much about her, did you?" Bai Shuixian quietly asked.

"It wasn't that I didn't know much about her, but that she hid too much from me," Zhu Jin finally answered with a lighter tone. "The man who took her away was the one that informed me of her death. However, he also came to complain about her to me."

"Compain?" Bai Shuixian asked with twitching lips.

"He told me that she was so heartless to have left him alone and that he would follow her. He then continued on about how he knew that she was a priestess of the temple, but kept it secret since he knew that it would bring harm to her. I lived here for so long, but even I didn't know about that temple," Zhu Jin said.

Ending his story, Zhu Jin stated, "Here's the spring. Isn't it a beautiful place?"

Staring around the spring, she agreed with him. There were beautiful vines with purple flowers and the steam that rose out of the water enhanced the mystic aura. Not only that, there were carvings on the wall that seemed to tell a story.

It was completely out of her expectations to see something so human made in a cave that seemed to be nature's creation. However, Zhu Jin had told her that a lady did live here, so maybe that lady had carved her story in these walls? At the same time, she also noticed that only the hot spring room had flat walls and flooring.

Bai Shuixian could feel the sadness in Zhu Jin, so she did not want to ask him anymore about the lady or even the man.

She wanted to lighten the mood, so she asked, "Where's the clothes?"

Zhu Jin immediately went to grab the clothes and when he returned, Bai Shuixian said, "Don't come in until I come out. Okay, now get out."