Huaxu led Fu Xi through the forest, arriving at Thunder Marsh, a long narrow passage before them.
Fu Xi exclaimed in surprise, "This is the Thunder Marsh." He looked up at Huaxu and said, "Mother, the people in our clan said that this place should not be approached."
"Let’s go! The person I’m taking you to see is inside."
Huaxu led Fu Xi into the narrow passage. As they passed through, the view suddenly opened up to a shaded grove with birds and beasts in motion, among which sat an oddly flat palatial structure, with three figures standing before it, one man and two women.
Huaxu quickly approached with Fu Xi and respectfully bowed, "Huaxu pays her respects to the Holy Envoy."
Fu Xi also bowed following her lead, his young voice saying, "Fu Xi pays his respects to the Holy Envoy." Although he did not know what a Holy Envoy was, following his mother’s actions must surely be right.
An idea suddenly flashed through Bai Jin’s mind, if this scene could be recorded and shown to Fu Xi when he has completed his merit and is presiding over the Fire Cloud Cave, wouldn’t it be quite a shock? Nevermind, better not tempt fate, whether he’d find it shocking I do not know, but I’m sure I would find it very much so.
Bai Jin smiled and said, "Rise."
Huaxu and Fu Xi stood up, with Fu Xi curiously stealing glances at Bai Jin, thinking how strange his clothes were—they were certainly not made of animal hide.
Bai Jin looked at Fu Xi and gently asked, "Fu Xi, would you like to take me as your master?"
Fu Xi instinctively looked towards Huaxu.
Huaxu nodded, her expectant eyes fixed on Fu Xi.
Turning his head back, Fu Xi hesitated before asking, "Take you as my master? What can you teach me? Are you as strong as Uncle Black Panther in our tribe? Uncle Black Panther once hunted down a big panther on his own, which the Clan Leader said was a Demon Beast; he’s really powerful."
Huaxu gave Fu Xi a light pat and quickly said, "Fu Xi, do not be rude, hurry and take him as your master."
"Oh~" Fu Xi obediently responded, bowing deeply, "Fu Xi pays his respects to Master!"
Bai Jin, smiling, said, "I should be a tiny bit stronger than Uncle Black Panther from your tribe. You won’t lose out by taking me as your master. For now, I’ll take you as a registered disciple; just call me ’teacher.’"
"Yes, Teacher!" Fu Xi wasn’t quite clear on the difference between ’Master’ and ’Teacher’ but obediently acknowledged.
With a simple lift of his hand, Bai Jin had Fu Xi standing upright from the ground, his eyes immediately shining with admiration—Teacher is so powerful!
Bai Jin turned to Huaxu and said, "Starting today, I shall teach Fu Xi. He shall eat and live within this Tao Palace. He is allowed to return home every five days for two days, would that be acceptable?"
Huaxu quickly replied, "It’s all up to the Holy Envoy."
Fu Xi sat uneasily in a small room, with Bai Jin sitting opposite him.
Fu Xi couldn’t help but ask, "Teacher, what are you going to teach me? Can you teach me the Immortal Technique?"
"Do you want to learn the Immortal Law? And why?" Bai Jin asked.
Fu Xi naturally replied, "To drive away wild beasts and demons, to ensure our clan lives well. It’s said that immortals are very powerful; if I learn the Immortal Law, I can protect my mother and our clan."
Bai Jin shook his head and said, "The Immortal Law can only protect one tribe, it won’t help the entire Human Clan. Do you still want to learn?"
"Teacher, do you have Immortal Law that can help lots and lots of people?"
Bai Jin nodded, smiling, "Yes! But what I teach is not called the Immortal Law, it’s called knowledge. It brings abundant food to the Human Clan, teaches about social relations and respect, unites the Human Clan as one, helps overcome natural disasters, but it does not grant personal great power nor longevity. Would you still like to learn it?"
Fu Xi excitedly exclaimed, "That’s it." He bowed deeply, "Please teach me, Teacher."
Bai Jin was a little surprised by Fu Xi’s choice, to have such comprehension at such a young age? He thought he might have to lead him into it, but this was better as no persuasion was needed now. He spoke, "I shall start by teaching you the first lesson on management."
Fu Xi’s eyes widened as he listened to Bai Jin’s lecture. Although he was still young, his comprehension was exceptionally strong. Even though Bai Jin’s management lessons were a bit messy, Fu Xi was still able to grasp the gist of it.
Half a year later, Fu Xi headed toward the river next to the tribe.
Along the way, everyone he encountered greeted him warmly: "Fu Xi~"
"Fu Xi, why are you back today?"
"Fu Xi, I just hunted a wild wolf, come to my place and take some meat."
Fu Xi nodded and returned each greeting, eventually arriving at the riverbank.
Beneath the scorching sun, young men in the river were swimming dexterously, laughing and jesting with each other.
All the youths stood up straight in the water and turned to look toward the shore.
One of the young men called out with a laugh: "Fu Xi, come on in!"
"Yeah! Little Fu Xi, the river is really cool, hurry up and come down!"
The cries came from the youths in the water one after another.
Fu Xi shook his head and said, "I’m not going in."
Another youth said with a chuckle, "Fu Xi, today doesn’t seem to be your day off, why are you out and about? Did your master scold you?"
The other youths laughed along.
"The master gave me an assignment to catch a thousand fish in one day."
The young men in the water looked at each other with uncertainty. A thousand fishes in one day? How is that possible? Fishes are so hard to catch.
The leader of the young men clenched his teeth and said, "Hu Zi, go back to the tribe and call for help. It’s just a thousand fish, right? We can all help catch them."
"Alright!" A burly youth ran to the bank, clambered ashore, threw on his clothes haphazardly, and headed toward the tribe.
Moments later, everyone from the tribe had come running. They called out to each other as they descended into the river, which immediately began to roil with activity. Fish, startled, leaped from the water, but catching them was very difficult indeed.
The Clan Leader walked up to Fu Xi and asked in a solemn voice, "What’s happening? Does the Holy Envoy want to eat fish?"
Fu Xi shook his head and said, "No, it’s a test set by my master. I have to catch a thousand fish before sunset." He frowned and said, "But how is that possible? Humans can’t swim faster than fish in the water."
The Clan Leader patted Fu Xi’s shoulder and said, "If the Holy Envoy said so, then there must be a way to do it. I’ll go and help you catch fish first. Take your time to think."
The Clan Leader leaped forwards, crashing into the center of the massive river like a black bear, causing a huge splash to erupt.
Fu Xi wandered along the riverbank, looking at the vast river and knitting his brows, pondering how to catch the fish quickly!
Time ticked by; before long it was high noon with the Great Sun directly overhead, but the catch was meager. The river was wide and fast-flowing, and catching fish barehanded was extremely difficult. Even skilled hunters could not match the fishes’ agility within the water.
As Fu Xi wandered, he suddenly turned his head, and his gaze paused. In his line of sight, a large spider web was suspended between two large trees, and as a group of small butterflies flew out from the woods, they all collided with the web, providing a delicious feast for the spider.