The Beastkin looked a touch embarrassed, then gave the little Beastkin’s head a firm slap: “Younglings must study. If you cannot read, you will never learn forging.”

The little Beastkin, knocked twice on the noggin, did not feel pain, only greater grievance: “You never studied and you can forge just fine, so why can’t I?”

“Can a sir and a youngster be the same?”

“What is different about it? We have to study and learn our letters but you do not. That is unfair, that is unfa— mmph!” Before he could finish, a large hand clamped over his mouth.

Setting Yu Zhao down, the Beastkin gave Bookworm a placating smile: “Sir, I will leave this youngster to you. I am taking Little Stone over there for a few words and will be right back.”

Without waiting for Bookworm’s reply, he grabbed Little Stone by the collar and headed behind the treehouse, leaving Yu Zhao and Bookworm alone.

Yu Zhao had not expected things to go so smoothly. Before Bookworm could speak, she offered her identity of her own accord: “Respected senior, I am Yu Zhao, a disciple of the Five Elements Dao Sect. I came specifically to find you.”

Bookworm started, and the look he gave Yu Zhao held both scrutiny and doubt. Seeing his guarded eyes, Yu Zhao briefly outlined what had happened. When he heard that Ancestor Sui Bian and the Old Black Daoist were waiting just outside the planet and that Respected Senior Ling Long had come along as well, he finally believed her. His first question was Redtail’s condition. When he learned Redtail An Ran was unharmed, he let out a long breath, and the worry between his brows melted away.

“Respected senior, rest assured, we will find a way to take you out of here.”

Bookworm shook his head, his smile gentle: “You came all this way to find me, and I am already content. I do not intend to leave for the time being. I accept your kindness, and when you return, please thank them for me.”

“Respected senior…” Yu Zhao was very surprised and was about to persuade him, when Bookworm smiled and said: “The Giant Spirit Bear Beastkin may act rough, but their hearts are simple. They have not treated me harshly. On the contrary, they treat me with propriety and honor me as a guest.”

He turned toward the treehouse from which the sound of reading floated: “Other than not being able to leave at will, they have given me the best accommodations. And I have always loved books, and I love teaching. Here, I can teach everything I know until the day they no longer need me.”

Yu Zhao straightened, full of respect: “I understand, respected senior. I will convey your thoughts to the ancestors.”

“Then I will trouble you.”

Not long after they finished speaking, the tall Beastkin came back with Little Stone in tow. Tear streaks still marked Little Stone’s face; he was sniffling, but the stubbornness and grievance from before were gone. He took the initiative to admit his mistake to Respected Senior Bookworm and promised to study diligently from now on. Smiling gently, Bookworm rubbed the child’s furry head, took his hand, and led him into the classroom.

The Beastkin glanced at Yu Zhao and asked in an offhand, almost casual tone: “Are you done talking?”

Yu Zhao understood at once. The Giant Spirit Bear Beastkin had seen through their purpose from the start but had not exposed it, instead creating an opportunity for her to speak with Bookworm. She now grasped more deeply what Bookworm had just said.

“Yes. I have learned what I needed to know. I can go back.”

The Beastkin nodded and, without further comment, brought her back to Respected Senior Ling Long’s side.

Ling Long and the Beastkin clan chief were still talking. When they saw Yu Zhao return, both looked over: one gaze carried inquiry, the other a swirl of complex feeling. Yu Zhao used Voice Transmission to relay her conversation with Respected Senior Bookworm and the Giant Spirit Bear clan’s considerate actions to Respected Senior Ling Long.

Ling Long immediately rose, apologized to the clan chief, and expressed her gratitude. The clan chief was very magnanimous: “Whatever purpose brought you here, now that you have come, you are guests of the Giant Spirit Bear clan. Stay tonight for our bonfire feast. Let it be our welcome to you.”

The invitation was impossible to refuse. Respected Senior Ling Long nodded in agreement. Even so, she did not give the Beastkin her full trust, so only Ancestor Sui Bian and the Old Black Daoist were permitted to attend the feast; her younger sister Xiu Yu and the injured Redtail remained on the starship.

That night, the Giant Spirit Bear clan kept their word and held a grand bonfire banquet on an open lawn. A towering fire blazed at the center, with several smaller fires arranged around it. The flames lit the grass, and the aroma of roasting meat was irresistible. The Beastkin bared their sturdy upper bodies, drinking deep and tearing into meat. When the mood ran high, they paired off to spar bare-chested, drawing waves of cheers.

Yu Zhao and her companions were infected by this wild, primal atmosphere, smiles never leaving their faces. Ancestor Sui Bian had somehow made two Beastkin friends and now had his arms slung over their shoulders, matching them cup for cup. The Old Black Daoist had taken over a small fire all to himself and was enthusiastically grilling giant skewers.

Yu Zhao was watching two Beastkin grapple when she sensed someone sit down beside her. Turning, she found Respected Senior Bookworm. He spoke with a hint of trepidation, a hint of nostalgia, and a hint of sorrow in his eyes: “Things were too rushed earlier, and I forgot to ask after the academy. What is the academy’s situation now?”

Near home, the heart falters, nothing more.

“Dean Ink Heart is a senior well worth respecting,” said Yu Zhao. “Under his leadership, the academy is in good order.” She had not spent much time with the dean, but he had been willing to entrust her with the Wordless Heavenly Tome. Yu Zhao remembered that trust.

Bookworm’s expression grew pensive: “I did not expect, in this lifetime, to hear news of Taibai Academy again. I thought I would never have contact with the cultivation world.”

Bookworm had ascended to the Middle Thousand World a few centuries earlier than Ancestor Sui Bian and the Old Black Daoist. At that time, seniors from the cultivation world had already carved out a place in the Seven Mists Realm; once he arrived, he immediately met seniors from Taibai Academy and integrated smoothly into this new world. But the good times did not last. One senior after another fell. Fewer and fewer disciples ascended from the Lower Realm, until none ascended at all. A seed named fear took root in his heart. In these years, everyone had done their utmost to search for the cultivation world’s coordinates, and he was no exception. He had thought he would never realize his dream in this life, and then a miracle came.

He looked at Yu Zhao, firelight dancing in his eyes: “Yu Zhao, forgive my weakness and selfishness. I am tired, so I will remain here, but believe that my heart is still with the cultivation world. These are everything I have gathered in the Middle Thousand World in recent years. I hand them all to you. I hope they will help you.”

Author’s note: I have a fever, likely influenza A. I owe one chapter and will try to make it up tomorrow. Take care of yourselves and guard against colds.