Chapter 26

Chapter 26

My parents were both delighted that Master would be spending the night at our house.

They thought having the Immortal Lady stay over might bless the place with a touch of immortal energy!

Knowing Master was in the room next door, I slept soundly, though I was also a little excited…

Sure enough, that night I once again dreamed that I was walking through the remote mountain forest.

I had taken only a few steps when someone called from behind me.

“Ah-Zhong.”

Hm?

I turned and saw Master slowly walking toward me through a bank of flowers.

“Master, you’re here too?”

I found it rather strange.

Often, people do not know they are dreaming while a dream is underway. Only after waking and looking back do they realize it was a dream.

Dreams truly were mysterious things.

They were experiences of one’s own, yet inside a dream one seemed unable to recognize where one was–unless one possessed a special method.

That was why Master said outright, “Ah-Zhong, this is your dream. I told you during the day that I would enter it with you and examine that strange white-bird household familiar.”

Her words immediately made everything click!

I realized I was inside a dream and remembered what had happened in reality. Overjoyed, I looked at myself, then at our surroundings and Master.

“Amazing! You really can enter someone else’s dream, Master.”

I took her hand and shook it vigorously.

Smack!

She lightly slapped my head.

“Would I lie about something I told you myself? Enough. Let’s go see what your white-bird household familiar really is.”

She started forward, and I hurried after her.

We returned to the same patch of forest from the previous night’s dream. All around us was silent.

We did not wait long before a series of coos and the flapping of wings sounded nearby.

I looked up. The round, plump, fluffy white bird had perched on a branch in front of us. It stuck out its enormous belly and held its head high, looking exactly like a ball.

For some reason, the bird radiated a wildly arrogant air, as if it owned the place. It seemed to be saying, Hey, kid. Back again?

At that moment, Master made her move.

Her hands formed several seals so quickly that I could not make them out. Then she reached forward and made a pulling motion through the air.

Whoosh!

The haughty, fat white bird seemed to be caught by an invisible force and dragged toward her.

“Coo, coo, coo?”

The bird looked bewildered, probably because it had not expected a formidable newcomer today. Its round body shot toward us like a ball.

Once the fat creature came to its senses, it flapped its wings furiously in midair and struggled several times.

In the end, it was no match for Master, especially after she had seized the initiative.

She caught both of its broad wings and lifted it one-handed. Master might have been slender, but her strength was terrifying. I had learned that when she sent off the drowned revenant.

The huge white bird looked like a fat hen and had to weigh at least twenty jin. In Master’s hand, it was as helpless as a newborn chick.

“Coo, coo, coo…”

The fat creature looked at me and called impatiently.

Somehow, I understood exactly what it meant: Hey! Can’t you see this wicked woman has me? Hurry up and save me!

After my initial surprise, it seemed perfectly natural.

Since the large white bird was my household familiar, our minds were connected. Even if I did not understand its birdcalls, I could grasp their meaning directly in the dream.

But before I could say a word, Master spoke calmly. “Don’t panic. You ate the Snake Immortal Ah-Zhong summoned and took its place, so I’m going to examine you. As long as you aren’t some powerful evil spirit here to harm my disciple, you’ll be fine.”
“Coo, coo, coo.”

The fat bird seemed a little afraid of Master. Even its cries grew meek. It squirmed its round body a few times but did not dare struggle violently again.

Master lifted it to eye level and turned it this way and that, examining every inch.

The longer she looked, the stranger her expression became.

I hurriedly asked, “Master, what exactly is this fat bird?”

She answered with a trace of uncertainty. “If I’m not mistaken, this creature is a gyrfalcon! And an exceptionally rare Jade Talon at that.”

What?

I did not understand…

I immediately asked, “Master, what’s a gyrfalcon? And what’s a Jade Talon?”

“A gyrfalcon is an extremely fierce and savage bird of prey, capable of flying both very fast and very high. Though not especially large, it is the king of falcons. In the folk mythology of the Northeast, it is the god of all raptors, a symbol of strength and majesty. The rarest gyrfalcons are completely snow-white, a variety commonly known as the Jade Talon.”

Huh?

Utterly confused, I stared at the round, fat bird dangling from Master’s hand. I could not connect it with words such as “fierce,” “savage,” or “god of all raptors” at all.

The fat creature, however, seemed to understand Master. It raised its head arrogantly again and gave me a sidelong look, as if to say, Well, kid? Impressive, aren’t I?

Master continued, “But how could a gyrfalcon possibly get this fat? I’ve traveled across countless mountains and rivers and consider myself well-informed, yet I’ve never heard of such a thing. Its wings are a little too short as well. It’s completely abnormal. No wonder you mistook it for a fat hen at first sight.”

“Hahaha!”

I could not hold back and burst out laughing.

The fat bird’s head drooped at once, looking deeply dejected.

After finishing her examination, Master’s expression relaxed. She nodded. “I don’t know why this Jade-Talon Gyrfalcon is so fat, or why it volunteered to become your household familiar. But I’ve examined it carefully, and there shouldn’t be anything wrong with it.”

She handed me the large bird and told me to give it a name.

At their core, the bond between a summoned household familiar and its human was a mysterious connection. Neither party could replace the other unless one of them died.

Naturally, it needed a name so we could get along in everyday life.

Miss Chang’s actual name, for example, was Chang Yun.

I held up the fat bird, thought for a moment, and said, “You’re white and round, so I’ll call you Hai Baiyuan. Your nickname will be Roundy.”

“Coo, coo, coo!”

The gyrfalcon cried out indignantly, clearly protesting.

I smacked it on the head.

“Protest denied!”

Following Master had given me the bad habit of lightly smacking others on the head too.

…

When I woke, the sun was already rising outside the window.

I remembered everything in the dream with perfect clarity.

I quickly got out of bed and went to knock on the door of the room next door, eager to discuss what had happened with Master.

But the door stood open, and no one was inside.

I ran into the courtyard, where my mother had already begun feeding the chickens again. Seeing me awake, she smiled and said, “The Immortal Lady has already gone home. She said to bring breakfast over and eat with her later. Well? Is there anything wrong with the familiar you summoned?”

“Nothing at all! It’s an extremely powerful, majestic eagle. I even named it Roundy. From now on, it’ll protect our family.”

I shamelessly exaggerated.

I could not bring myself to tell my mother that it was a fat bird resembling an overfed hen.

After taking out The Classic of Dwellings and reading for a while, I picked up the breakfast my mother had prepared, crossed the village, and headed toward Master’s home at the far end…