Bihua Lingjun returned to her room, picked up the little tiger and looked at it from left to right. She still loved it. The little tiger was always lazy and just dozed off. Yunqing took some deer milk and put it to the little tiger's nose. The little tiger didn't even look at it and turned its head to the side.
Bihua Lingjun immediately said, "It doesn't like to drink this. Yunqing, go get some clean water and bring it over in a jade container."
Yun Qing had no choice but to obey the order and brought some clean water in a deep jade plate. Bihua Lingjun took it personally and put it under the little tiger's nose. The little tiger lazily licked the plate twice and then curled up on the mattress to doze off.
Yun Qing couldn't help but say, "Ling Jun, it looks so weak and listless, maybe it has a congenital disorder."
Bihua Lingjun said solemnly, "Hey! What nonsense are you talking about! It has been in the egg since birth, how could it be out of balance? It just hatched yesterday, and you let it run on the ground today? Go out and help Chi Sheng feed it!"
Yun Qing was scolded, touched his nose and angrily left the bedroom. When he reached the corridor, Yuan Lu and Yuan Xiu were rolling together on the steps. Yun Qing picked up Yuan Lu and touched his fur: "You are obviously much better than that egg. Why did Lingjun go to so much trouble to raise it?"
Yuan Lu's dark eyes flashed and he licked Yun Qing's face.
After a day or two, Bihua Lingjun couldn't let go of the Ruyi egg tiger cub, and held it in his arms while walking or sitting. The little tiger was very picky. It had complete teeth when it hatched, but it would not eat anything except water. Except for Bihua Lingjun, among the children, it only recognized Chi Sheng and occasionally let him touch its fur. Bihua Lingjun often used a jade comb to comb its fur. It squatted on Bihua Lingjun's knees with its eyes half closed, enjoying it very much.
After raising it for nearly a month, the little tiger became more energetic. He loved to walk outside the room, squat in the corridor, and look at other spirit animals in the yard from afar with great interest. Bihua Lingjun was very happy about this. After careful consideration, Bihua Lingjun named the little tiger Yuanyun, which he thought was very elegant. Chi Sheng said, "Lingjun, this name is indeed elegant, but it doesn't sound like a tiger's name after listening to it..."
Yun Qing interrupted, "Since it was hatched from a Ruyi egg, it might as well be called Ruyi. It's catchy."
Bihua Lingjun smiled and said, "How about I change your name to Facai? It will be more catchy."
Yun Qing shrank his neck and dared not say anything more.
One day, Bihua Lingjun was combing Yuan Wen's hair in the pavilion, when the Jade Emperor suddenly received an urgent decree, ordering Bihua Lingjun to leave quickly. Bihua Lingjun instructed several fairy children to carry Yuan Wen back to the house, and then hurried to Lingxiao Palace. But Chi Sheng was not there at the time, and Yun Qing, who had never liked Yuan Wen very much, pretended to have forgotten about it and went into the house to take a nap. Yuan Wen lay on the chair in the pavilion for a while, jumped to the ground, and slowly walked out of the pavilion.
Yuan Lu and Yuan Xiu were playing near the pavilion. They were both tiger cubs, but Bihua Lingjun favored Yuan Wen and ignored Yuan Lu and Yuan Xiu. Yuan Lu was unhappy. He and Yuan Xiu had both grown up into half-grown tiger cubs. When he assessed Yuan Wen, he felt that his size and aura were not as good as his. He looked around and saw no fairy boy around, so he blocked Yuan Wen's way, raised his front paws, and threw Yuan Wen heavily to the ground, growling in his throat and baring his fangs.
The little tiger, who was pinned to the ground with his four paws facing the sky, yawned indifferently, then suddenly narrowed his eyes and looked lazily at Yuan Lu's eyes. In an instant, Yuan Lu's eyes seemed to be sucked in, and his whole body seemed to be sucked into those bottomless black eyes. He shivered involuntarily, and his hair suddenly exploded, and he jumped to the side as if struck by lightning.
Yuan Wen slowly turned over and got up from the ground, shaking his fur.
Yuan Lu bent his back, took a few steps back, and trembled uncontrollably all over.
Yuan Xiu squatted aside and tilted his head in confusion.
Yuan Wen walked towards Yuan Lu step by step, and Yuan Lu retreated step by step. Finally, he lay on the ground trembling and let out a low roar.
Yuan Yun approached and put his head close to Yuan Lu's head...
Gently licked Yuan Lu's earlobe.
Yuan Lu jumped away with a roar, and in the blink of an eye he turned into a human form, a boy of about fourteen or fifteen years old with thick eyebrows and big eyes. Because of his shallow cultivation, his tail and ears were still in the shape of a tiger. He sat on the ground in a mess, supporting himself with one hand, and covering his left ear with the other hand, and roared with a red face: "You, you~~~"
The noise startled the little fairies. Yun Qing and the other two little fairies rushed out of the house and saw Lingjun's darling little tiger lying innocently on the chest of Yuan Lu, who looked like a human. It rubbed his chin and licked him in a flattering manner.
Yuan Lu roared angrily, grabbed the tiger cub by its neck hair, and threw it aside. Yuan Lu fell heavily to the ground, rolled over, and whimpered in grievance.
Yun Qing ran over with big strides and shouted, "What are you doing!"
Yuan Ling lay close to the ground, whimpered again, and put his head between his two front paws.
Although Yun Qing didn't like it, he couldn't help but soften his heart when he saw this. He reached out and picked up Yuan Yun, and shouted to Yuan Lu: "Taking advantage of Lingjun's absence to bully the weak, it's too outrageous! Change back quickly!"
Yuan Lu's face turned purple: "Obviously, obviously it is this..."
Yun Qing said: "What? I saw it with my own eyes, and you still want to blame it! Are you bullying it because it can't turn into a human form and can't speak?! Starting tomorrow, you have to guard the herb garden for three days!"
Yuan Lu clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. Yuan Xiu bit his collar and tugged. Yuan Lu's body flashed with light and he turned into a tiger again in the blink of an eye. He lowered his head angrily and walked away.
Yun Qing raised his hand and touched the fur of the little tiger in his arms: "Does it still hurt? Lingjun will be back soon."
eight
The little tiger was held by Yunqing obediently, not moving. Yunqing took him through the yard and took a shortcut to the wing room. When passing by a clump of banana trees, Yuan Wen suddenly moved and turned his head to look beside the banana trees. Yunqing looked in the direction of its head and saw a silver wolf lying gracefully with its eyes narrowed. Yunqing said, "Oh, look at it, it's Ge Yue. When Lingjun first brought it back, he was so happy that he said it was a rare treasure that only appears once in a hundred years. It's almost the same as you, my baby now."
Yuan Wen was still staring at Ge Yue. Yun Qing touched the fur behind its ears again and said, "In fact, there is nothing in this garden that is not precious. I wonder what Ling Jun brought back after you passed by." The little tiger in his arms suddenly made a gurgling sound in its throat.
Bihua Lingjun returned to the mansion after completing the mission. He ran back to the bedroom first. Yuan Wen was dozing on the quilt. Bihua Lingjun stretched out his finger to tease him. Yuan Wen raised one of his front paws and poke it lazily, then fell back to sleep. Bihua Lingjun smiled and said, "Good boy."
From that day on, Bihua Lingjun noticed that Yuan Wen started to run outside the house from time to time and get close to other spirit animals in the garden. Bihua Lingjun thought this was a good thing. Yuan Wen was getting bigger day by day, and tigers just needed to run more and move more. So he let it get close.
Chi Sheng and Yun Qing, the little fairy children who were in charge of taking care of the spirit beasts, would see the little tiger Ruyi rolling around in the spirit beast pile all day long, licking the beautiful male and female foxes, rubbing against the lazy male and female snow leopards, and pouncing on the white-haired, gray-haired, and purple-haired spirit martens. The obedient cat spirits raised by Bihua Lingjun were also hugged and rolled around by it. Even Yuan Xiu had played with it many times, but only Yuan Lu would get angry and avoid it when he saw it. Since that time in the garden, Yuan Yun, in addition to Chi Sheng, also let Yun Qing touch him. Of all the spirit beasts in the mansion, Yuan Yun loved to go to Ge Yue the most.
Bihua Lingjun has been feeling quite complicated these days. After Yuan Kun started to linger among the spirit beasts, he was no longer willing to be held in his arms and have his fur stroked like he did when he was just hatched. If he was not still very attached to Bihua Lingjun's bed, Yuan Kun would have spent more time squatting beside Ge Yue than when Bihua Lingjun could touch his fur.
Bihua Lingjun suddenly felt like he had raised a son but couldn't keep him, and felt a little emotional.
Ge Yue never hangs out with the spirit beasts in the garden, always keeps to herself. But Yuan Wen is very persistent to it, just like a newly hatched chick recognizes a hen that it thinks is its mother. It follows Ge Yue wherever she goes, but Ge Yue is always indifferent, pretending that she doesn't see such a thing following her. It just follows quietly, not licking or fluttering, but just walking and squatting with Ge Yue in loneliness. Finally, one day, Ge Yue turned around and looked at the tiger cub behind it.
Ten days later, Yun Qing passed by the bluestone in the backyard of Lingjun Mansion and suddenly caught a glimpse of a scene that startled him. Ge Yue appeared in human form, half sitting and half lying on the ground, with long silver-white hair. Yuan Ling placed his front paws on Ge Yue's chest and licked the side of Ge Yue's neck. There was a hint of indulgence on Ge Yue's handsome face.
Ge, Ge Yue actually turned into a human form and was still smiling? Yun Qing half opened his mouth. But... why did this scene look a little weird, as if something was wrong...
Yun Qing touched his nose and returned to the front yard. He happened to see Bihua Lingjun standing by the pavilion with his hands behind his back. He stepped forward and told him everything he had just seen. Bihua Lingjun had a complicated look on his face after hearing it. He frowned, seemed to be in deep thought, and sighed for a while.
On the second day, Taishang Laojun came to Bihua Lingjun's residence to discuss something. After the discussion, Laojun left and asked casually, "Bihua, how is the spirit tiger you hatched?"
Bihua Lingjun pointed to the yard and said, "That's the one over there."
Laojun looked over and saw a yellow-haired tiger cub squatting in front of a bunch of peonies, lowering its head to look at a rabbit in front of it.
This rabbit was born in the Lanyan Garden of Taiyin Palace. Every hair of it was covered with the fairy spirit of the Moon Palace. It took Bihua Lingjun a lot of effort to get it. But this rabbit was very timid and only dared to shrink in the corner and tremble. Bihua Lingjun had too many spirit beasts and he couldn't remember all of them. He forgot about this rabbit within a hundred years. Today, Yuan Wen squatted opposite it, and Bihua Lingjun just remembered that he had raised such a white-haired rabbit.
The white rabbit's red eyes were full of fear, as if they were filled with tears. Its ears were tightly pressed together, and it lay in a ball with its neck shrunk, trembling constantly.
The little tiger on the opposite side was looking at it with eyes full of kindness and love. It licked the rabbit's ears and head lovingly and took a step back to show its friendliness.
Taishang Laojun said with a smile: "Bihua, you are such an interesting tiger, it's like you have taken a fancy to this rabbit."
Bihua Lingjun said: "I don't know what's wrong with it recently, it likes to roll around in the pile of spirit beasts, today this one, tomorrow that one. Maybe it's young and wants to find a playmate."
Taishang Laojun frowned and looked down the corridor, then said, "Bihua, as the saying goes, things take the shape of their owners, and it was hatched from a Ruyi egg, so its ability to learn from everything it sees may become even higher." Looking at Bihua Lingjun, he said with a worried look, "I'm afraid it has learned your habit of loving precious animals."
Bihua Lingjun was stunned.
After sending Laojun away, Bihua Lingjun paid close attention to Yuan Lun's actions in the yard. He saw it lick two or three foxes, rub against four or five snow leopards, tease seven or eight spirit martens, and then lie down opposite Ge Yue by the flowers. Finally, he felt that something was wrong.
On the second day, after coming out of Lingxiao Palace, Bihua Lingjun sighed to Taishang Laojun: "Laojun, after you said that yesterday, I took a closer look and found that it was indeed a little too intimate with the spirit beasts in the garden."
Taishang Laojun said, "It's okay to let it be as you please. But if a spirit tiger gets excited at seeing a furry and precious animal like you do, it will be a bit troublesome." He stroked his beard and sighed, "It's good that it has this characteristic. You might as well think about what kind of temperament you want to cultivate it into, and then let someone with that temperament raise it for you for two days, and it will definitely be raised to your satisfaction."
Nine
Taishang Laojun's words made Bihua Lingjun feel like he had suddenly found a flat path in a wilderness full of vines, and his mind suddenly became clear. But Bihua Lingjun was still very cautious: "Who it follows is just your and my guess. I don't know if it is true, so it's better to ask someone who may know the inside story."
The only person who may know the inside story is the Jade Emperor.
On that day, Bihua Lingjun returned to the mansion and saw Yuan Wen lying with a yellow-haired fox. This fox was called Tangdi and was given by Magu. It was very spiritual and could change its fur color. In the mortal world, its fur was red and yellow on sunny days, gray on cloudy days, silvery white when there was a moon at night, and pure black when there was no moon. When it came to heaven and absorbed the immortal energy, its fur color changed more and more. Every time it got close to a fairy, it could change its fur color to the same color as that fairy's immortal energy. When it was close to the Pleiades Star Lord, its fur was red and yellow; when it was close to the Moon Star Lord, its fur was silver-white; when it was close to the Purple Star Lord, its fur turned purple; when it was close to the Jade Emperor, it turned golden; in fact, in the mansion of the Bihua Spirit Lord, its fur should have been emerald green, but a fox with green fur was really unsightly, so the Bihua Spirit Lord forced it not to change to this color. The fox was very lonely, and it felt that it didn't mind turning green, but the Bihua Spirit Lord was very concerned about it, which was very unreasonable. So it could only go back and forth among the spirit beasts all day, changing the fur color of other spirit beasts for fun.
At this time, the fox was resting its head on Yuan Yun's body, snuggling up to each other and dozing off. The fox's fur had changed to the same yellow as Yuan Yun's fur, with black streaks mixed in. If it weren't for the pointed beak, it would really look like a tiger at first glance.
When Bihua Lingjun came closer, Tangdi raised his head and climbed up, changing into a human form. He was wearing a long gown with tiger skin pattern. He smiled and said to Bihua Lingjun, "Lingjun."
Bihua Lingjun glanced at his tiger-skin outfit, nodded slightly, and then looked at Yuan Wen who slowly got up: "It's bothering you again?"
Tang Di smiled and said, "No, I was teasing it. I have been chatting with Brother Turtle at the rockery these days, and I saw it following Ge Yue here and there, so I turned into Ge Yue to tease it."
Bihua Lingjun vaguely remembered that Yunqing seemed to have come to report to him in the past few days, saying that Tangdi had curled up in the black tortoise where he lived on the rockery, with fur the same color as a tortoise shell, like a tortoise with hair, and had not moved for several days. Yunqing thought it was sick and came to report in a hurry, but later found out that it was imitating the black tortoise's meditation.
In this way, the characteristic of following someone and becoming like that person is actually similar to Tang Di's problem. Bihua Lingjun looked at the tiger-skin clothes on Tang Di again and felt a little worried.
Tang Di's eyes circled around Bihua Lingjun's face, and his whole body immediately lit up and changed into emerald green clothes. Although the green-haired fox was ugly, the green clothes really suited Tang Di well, and he looked even more handsome and elegant.
Yuan Wen did not crawl towards Bihua Lingjun, but squatted at Tang Di's feet. Tang Di bent down and picked it up. Yuan Wen licked its chin and earlobe. Tang Di felt a little itchy, and smiled with his face tilted: "You are good, you are good, Lingjun is here to find you, go over obediently." He touched the fur on the back of its head and handed it to Bihua Lingjun: "I'll take my leave first." The spirit flashed again, and it turned back into a fox, but its fur color became the same vermilion as the railing beside it, and it walked away with small steps.
Yuan Wen curled up in Bihua Lingjun's arms. Bihua Lingjun carried him into the wing room, put him on the bed, stroked his fur and asked, "Do you like those foxes, leopards and ferrets outside?"
Yuan Yun grumbled from his chest.
Bihua Lingjun took out a piece of flat cloth and a piece of fur and spread them on the bed at the same time. Yuan Ling immediately rolled on the fur without hesitation.
Just then, the fairy boy came to report that the fairy Heyun was sent by the Jade Emperor to look for Lingjun. Bihua Lingjun immediately left the wing room. Heyun was being led by the fairy boy to the front hall. Bihua Lingjun went to meet Heyun and said to him without saying a word, "Brother Heyun, please come with me to the wing room."
He Yun was stunned and said, "Ling Jun, I am following the order of the Jade Emperor to ask you to come over." Bihua Ling Jun said, "It will only take a moment. Thank you for your trouble."
He Yun could only smile and said, "Ling Jun ordered, He Yun will do it."
In fact, He Yun was originally a crane, and was once a rare bird in the palace of Bihua Lingjun one or two thousand years ago. At that time, Bihua Lingjun also raised birds.
Bihua Lingjun turned around and told Chi Sheng, "Go and call Ge Yue over..." Then he suddenly changed his words, "Forget about Ge Yue, call Tang Di, Yuan Lu, and Yuan Xiu over as well."
Because Bihua Lingjun summoned them and there were immortal messengers present, Tangdi, Yuanlu and Yuanxiu all transformed into human forms and entered the wing room. When Tangdi saw Heyun, he immediately changed his scarlet clothes into white ones with black edges.
Bihua Lingjun said to Heyun: "Could you please change back to your original form and stand here for a while?"
He Yun was stunned again, and said: "Ling Jun, you don't have to be so polite. He Yun was originally cultivated by Ling Jun. Although I am lucky enough to take on the position of immortal, Ling Jun should still treat me as the He Yun of the past."
Bihua Lingjun said: "You have assumed the position of an immortal. The Heavenly Court has its own rules. It is better to abide by them."
He Yun lowered his eyelids and said, "Yes." He closed his eyes, chanted a magic spell, and turned into a fairy crane.
He Yun's appearance was unusually beautiful. His original form was indeed a beautiful crane, with white wings, slender and elegant. Bihua Lingjun said to Tang Di, "You should also transform back to your original form first and stand with Envoy He Yun."
Tang Di answered yes with a smile, and quickly changed back into a fox form. His fur was silver-white, with black on the tips of his ears, the tip of his tail, and his four claws. Unfortunately, his appearance was very different from that of a crane, and his body shape was not the same.
Bihua Lingjun placed Yuan Wen in front of He Yun and Tang Di. Yuan Wen looked at He Yun and jumped towards Tang Di.
Bihua Lingjun asked Tangdi to step down and replaced him with Yuanlu. Yuanlu and Yuanwen did not get along well, and he squatted down in dismay because of Lingjun's order. Yuanwen immediately walked towards Yuanlu.
Bihua Lingjun replaced Yuan Lu with Yuan Xiu. Yuan Wen walked to Yuan Xiu and rubbed against him.
Bihua Lingjun sighed slightly and said, "Okay, that's it." Tangdi, Yuanlu and Yuanxiu took their leave and left. Heyun also transformed back into his immortal body and stood beside Bihua Lingjun.
Bihua Lingjun said: "Let's go to the Jade Emperor's throne first."
When they arrived in front of the Jade Emperor, after telling him about a matter, Bihua Lingjun said, "I have one more thing I would like to ask the Jade Emperor."
The Jade Emperor asked, "What's the matter?"
Bihua Lingjun said: "Since I hatched the Ruyi Egg, I have been taming and raising the spirit tiger without any hesitation, but... Recently, I have noticed some habits of the spirit tiger, which puzzles me. I would like to ask the Jade Emperor, will the temperament of the spirit hatched from the Ruyi Egg follow the temperament of the person who raises it?"
The Jade Emperor frowned, as if in deep thought, and said after a moment: "I seem to think there is such a saying, but it is extremely rare for the Heavenly Palace to have a Ruyi Egg. I can't be sure."
Bihua Lingjun returned to the palace with this ambiguous answer. After observing and testing, Yuan Ling was indeed very interested in rare animals, and he seemed to only like rare animals with fur and four claws. Bihua Lingjun thought helplessly that he could only ask other immortal friends to raise it.
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