Digging

The stone Qibao referred to was a large, fairly smooth oval rock embedded near the peak's edge. She could easily reach out and touch it.

Qibao pried at the gap in this big rock, and dirt mixed with gravel cascaded down, rolling towards the mountain's base.

"That big rock is loose." Qibao said: "If it rains hard again, it might fall and hit someone."

Without thinking twice, she decided to push the rock down. Luckily, there was nobody below at that moment.

Qibao used her dagger to clear out the dirt and debris along the rock's edges. Some spots had no footholds, making it easy to slip if she wasn't careful.

Once she had cleared a circle around the rock, it wobbled slightly with a gentle touch.

Qibao found a suitable lever in her space and inserted it into the rock's edge. With a simple prod, some nearby dirt began tumbling down.

With a bit more force, the entire rock came loose and rolled towards the mountain's base.

Qibao put her tools back into her space and was about to leave.

"Master, look! There's a hole here!"

Qibao saw that the stone she couldn't budge had a dark cave behind it.

Surprised, Qibao peered inside. It was pitch-black, she couldn't see anything.

She took out a night pearl from her space and shone it in. The hole wasn't big, and using the light from the night pearl, Qibao realized this wasn't a shallow cave! She couldn't even see the bottom.

Xiaoling said: "This might be a crack in the mountain. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but it's actually split open inside."

Qibao said: "The hole is just big enough for me to get in. I'll go down and take a look."

Xiaoling said: "Okay, but be careful. It might collapse."

Qibao replied: "Mm, I know."

Qibao crawled into the hole. Because the space was tight, it was hard to move. She held the night pearl in one hand and bent down as much as she could to make herself smaller.

Qibao used her arms and legs to crawl for a while and noticed that the hole kept going down in a snake-like path. From time to time, rocks would fall down it.

"How much farther is the mine, Xiaoling?" Qibao asked.

"We're almost there, master! You guessed right!" Xiaoling replied.

Qibao's face lit up: "So there really is a diamond mine down here?"

Xiaoling said: "Well, from what I have discovered, this is a natural and rare hollow mine."

"You mean the mountain is actually hollow inside?" Qibao clarified.

"That's right. It's not huge, but it's certainly uncommon. Looks like the mountain itself is quite old. Hang in there a little longer, master—we're almost there." Xiaoling said.

When Qibao found out there was a diamond mine underneath, she sped up her pace. Even though her clothes were dirty, it didn't stop her from loving exploration.

As they went deeper, the space gradually opened up. Qibao no longer had to crouch as she walked.

Finally, under the Night Pearl's illumination, they emerged into a vast underground chamber.

Qibao found herself standing inside a natural cave—its total size was about fifty square meters, yet the walls and floor were speckled with glittering diamonds of all different sizes. The diamonds twinkled brilliantly under the Night Pearl's glow.

Even Qibao, usually so calm, was now filled with excitement. "Xiaoling." She exclaimed: "My eyes must be deceiving me!"

"Come on!" Xiaoling urged: "Stop staring and start digging!"

Without another word, Qibao pulled out her dagger and started digging at the closest gemstone.

Luckily, the damp soil made digging easier.

Qibao had unearthed several pieces when she realized how slow she was going alone. She quickly released her two bears, Xiong Da and Xiong Er, from the space.

The bears, still munching on fruits they had swiped from their hand, took a break from their meal. Qibao clapped them on their big bellies.

"Stop eating, you two!" Qibao commanded: "Help me dig these up!"

Startled, the bears looked up at Qibao, their jaws wide open. They tried to get closer to their master.

Qibao pointed at the sparkling gems: "See those? Help me dig them out of the dirt, and I'll give you honey. How about that?"

The bears had been in the space for so long that they were quite smart. They understood Qibao's words easily. All their master wanted was those shiny rocks.

Right before Qibao's eyes, the two bears each took hold of a diamond with their sharp, strong claws and began to dig.

Qibao watched, delighted. Finally, all this feeding hasn't been for nothing. If it weren't for the items in the space regenerating, those fruit trees on Spirit Mountain would have been left as nothing but stumps.

Qibao wasted no time either, speeding up her own efforts. And so, one person and two bears set about their work.

"The diamonds are connected to the mountain." Xiaoling said: "If they weren't, you wouldn't need to dig so hard. You could just pull them straight out."

"It's just a little exercise." Qibao replied: "Think of it as a workout. With these two guys helping, we'll get it all out soon enough."

Who knows how long they dug for. Qibao was now covered in mud, and the bears were equally grubby, panting for breath.

"There you go." Xiaoling said: "We've dug out all the diamonds, not a one left in this hole."

Qibao, a bit short of breath too, packed up the pile of diamonds and stored them in her space.

Qibao said: "I wonder what time it is now. I need to hurry back. My grandmother and the others will be worried about me."

Qibao took several big gulps of the spiritual spring water, then climbed up through the passage they had come from.

When Qibao emerged, it was pitch dark outside. Apart from the sounds of insects and birds, there were no other noises.

Qibao entered the space, washed up thoroughly, changed into clean clothes, and started flying towards Xujia Village using qinggong, a technique that allowed one to move swiftly.

When Qibao returned to Xujia Village, the entire village was quiet. At her home, Qibao climbed over the garden wall and noticed light coming from the main room.

Qibao walked in to find her eldest brother sitting by a candle, holding a book.

"Qibao, why are you back so late?" Xu Wenwu asked, putting down the book.

"It's a long story." Qibao said: "Is everyone else asleep?"

Xu Wenwu replied: "Everyone's asleep. Grandma and the others wanted to wait for you, but I saw it was late and told them to sleep first. I've been waiting here for you to return."

"Big brother, you should go to sleep! It's already midnight, and the sky will brighten soon. You still need to go to the academy tomorrow!"

Xu Wenwu nodded: "Alright, I'm glad you're back safe. You should get some rest too!"

Qibao nodded as well. Feeling truly tired, she had already bathed in her personal space, so she returned to her room and fell asleep.

The next day, Qibao woke up later than usual. Her brother and the others had already gone to school.

Mrs. Wang noticed Qibao was up and said: "Qibao, I saved some breakfast for you in the pot. Hurry up and eat while it's still warm!"

Fuqiu chimed in: "Miss, you sit here. I'll bring your food over."

Mrs. Wang then asked: "Qibao, where were you yesterday? Why did you come home so late?"

Mrs. Lin also joined in: "You didn't say clearly where you were. Can you tell us now?"

"Grandma, Mother." Qibao began: "I found something really good. Look."

Seizing the moment when no one else was around, Qibao pulled out a small diamond from her personal space.