3 I Understand Now

The men have already left back to where they came from. I wonder if there is a city or a town in that direction.

Not that it matters at the moment. I think I have finally learned what Zhu Zi means.

Sacred Protector. That's what it means. I'm sure now. I wonder how these men even got to know my name. Did THAT man, my benefactor tell them what to call me?

Was he the one who told them that I was their sacred protector? I think so as nothing else would make sense.

Ah! The look of fear and reverence in their eyes towards me… I could certainly use it every day. But I doubt they will come here for a few years now.

Dammit, can't someone please just come and talk to me? I'm quite lonely.

I look up at the sky as the sun moves down, up again and back down, and back up again.

I can feel time moving both slow and fast at the same time. By now, I've learned to ignore most of it.

How long has it really been since I've been here? All I can guess is it's been more than 20 years since I've been able to see it.

That is if this was a massive planet and there were 4 suns. If there was really just 1 sun, then it would be closer to 90 years.

Geez, imagine doing nothing but feeling the panda constantly munching you for over 90 years. Am I really that tasty?

Sigh, at least let me have some leaves on top, brother panda. I probably look like a bald man by comparison.

The panda doesn't do anything. Well, that's a lie. The panda does 2 things exactly.

First, it eats my leaves and even my branches and woods. I believe it also gets water directly from me as well. I am an all-you-can-eat buffet for it packaged into a single body.

Second, it cultivates. Now I know what cultivation is, I think. I think I've read some books about them, but I'm not entirely sure how one goes about it, let alone a panda.

I learned about it from… what was that man's name? I forgot. He told me his name and I forgot. Ughh… and here he was supposed to be my benefactor.

Let's just call him… Helper. Yes, Helper said that humans in this world could grow strong by cultivation. He said it's a little slower for beasts, but they do it as well.

As for plants like me, he said we don't really cultivate at all, until after a very long time.

Is 80 years a very long time? I don't know. It feels like it went by in a flash. Sigh, I will hopefully be able to cultivate soon as well, just like the panda.

This brings me back to what I was talking about. The panda does nothing but cultivate all day long and just eats me. Those are the only two things it does.

Oh, you just wait. One of these days, when my people come to bow to me again, I'm going to tell them to beat your ass down.

Given how fast humans apparently cultivate, they should be stronger than you. That is one hope that keeps me excited now.

Seeing this Panda get his ass kicked.

Although, I wonder. Will I even be able to communicate with the humans? They certainly didn't hear me when I spoke last time.

Last time… how long ago was that? 10 days? 100 days? 1 year. I can't remember. Why is time so hard to keep track of for me? Is it something built into my DNA so that I don't feel the fatigue of living forever?

I wonder if that is really it. I wonder if just like me, the other plants also perceive time in the same way.

Do the other plants perceive at all? Do they even have thoughts like me? Did all the bamboos that were cut down the other day full of thoughts just like me?

Were their thoughts snuffed out, or just like me, can they survive being cut as well?

So many thoughts for a bamboo-like me.

Suddenly, I hear noises from the front. Have the people come to cut the bamboos down once again? Looking at how tall they've grown, it's certainly about right.

No, they are running… and are those… screams? Are those screams I hear? My non-existing heart starts beating faster and faster, making me wonder what is really happening.

Group of men and women as well as children, many children. They are all running towards me. What is happening? What is causing them to run towards me?

I see some black silhouettes running on all fours. Are those beasts? Are the beasts chasing them? That's all I can wonder as I look at the black figures.

No, those are not beasts. I can see them more clearly now that they have gotten closer. Those are horses, with men riding on them.

That was when I noticed. Blood. The men and women running towards me are bloody.

I can see the shining scimitar of the horsemen, gleaming in the sunlight, chasing these men and women.

I know from most books, and through Helper, those cultivation worlds are a brutal world where only the strong survive.

But… certainly, this can't be it. If only the strong were to survive, then it would go on until only a single person, the strongest of them all was alive.

So that really can't be it.

The men and women run up to me and slam their heads in front of me. "Help us! Sacred Protector," they shout out.

What do I do? "Get up and run away!" I try to scream at them, but my voice won't reach them.

What do I do? I feel fear as if the world around me came crumbling down. The heaviness in my heart deepens as I feel more and more fear.

Fear for their life. Fear… for their death. They call me protector, but I cannot protect them.

What do I do?

Suddenly, I feel a weight lift off of my heart. No, not my heart… the weight lift off of my body instead.

For the first time in my life, I feel nothing but my own weight.

That is when I see it slam down onto the ground, between the prey and their predators.

The men and women look back, with hope shining in their eyes.

Ah. I understand now. I really do. I was never their Sacred Protector, was I?

It was the damn panda.