Panda's Fight

"Sacred Protector," the men and women shouted towards the panda through their bloody selves.

Sigh, so I really wasn't the Sacred protector? Somehow… I don't feel bad about this. So what if the panda is the protector and not me? At least… these humans will be safe now… right?

As I think that, I remember that one bit of information the Helper had told me.

Humans cultivate the fastest, and beasts are always slower than them. Doesn't that mean that the panda will die if it were to face such strong men?

The panda has his back turned to me. The chubby body that seems to be chubbier as its own weight makes its body squish into a ball.

Even as a ball, he is as tall as the men on the horses. The panda is somehow very clean despite living in the forest and not bathing for… years.

His black and white fur seems to hold no tarnishes. Not even the dirt and dust it kicked off just moments ago. Is that even natural? Or is that because he cultivates?

The men in horses are getting close to him now. Any moment, they will attack.

Those men ride horses of brown and black, with a saddle of the same color. The men themselves are mostly in reddish-brown clothes that could easily be mistaken as black in the shadows.

They wear… I can't tell what type of dress that is. It looks like a bathrobe, except with materials that other clothes would be made out of.

It seems easy to wear and full of bodily freedom.

The men hold scimitars in their hands. A name which I surprisingly know for how little I know about everything else.

Those bloody scimitars… just how many people did these men kill already? How many bodies had they cut to get to these people?

These people hold no weapon at all. They cannot even protect themselves. Why then do these men attack them?

It doesn't look like revenge. You wouldn't kill men, women, and children for revenge, would you? I see no sense in that.

This looks more like the men are killing… to have fun. I feel disgusted. I feel a disgust grow deep in my body as it never had as I realize that these men likely have no reason, not even a bad one, for killing these people.

They just kill because they can.

Any other time, I would've been happy, even out of my mind to see the panda off of me. Any other time, I would've thanked the person that would kill the panda.

But now, I do not. I feel fear. I feel fear not because the panda will die, but because once he does, the men, women, and children behind him will die as well.

And I will have to watch every single moment of it.

"I wish I can help you, panda. I really do. I do not wish to see you die. Not here, not now."

I speak to the panda, but he cannot hear me, can he?

The panda grumbles a bit. What was that? Was that a coincidence… or can he hear me?

"Stand up and run away," I tell the men and women below me, but they won't leave, will they? As logic would dictate, there was no way someone could hear what I said.

Is this it then? Is this where I say goodbye to the panda?

The men on horses get right in front of the panda, with their weapons ready to strike, when suddenly, the panda moves.

As if the sun came out of the clouds, the bamboo forest brightens, and at the same time, the men along with their horses are sent flying backward.

What was that? Did the panda do something? It's hard to tell what the panda did as he is turned away from me.

It only looked like he made a gesture with his hands and the men fell on their own.

What even was that? Was that the powers he got from cultivation?

Unfortunately, it's too late. Now that the men have stood up, the panda will lose.

Oh god, this is so unfair. How can you have beasts be slow in cultivating and humans be faster? This is straight-up bias. The panda has likely lived longer than them, but he will die today because the humans are stro—

What?

Blood spurts out as one man swings his scimitar at the panda. However, it's not the panda who is bleeding, but the man.

The panda not only managed to block the attack but also broke the man's arm. I can see him fall to the ground in pain.

With a slam of his fist, the panda destroys the man's head.

That man… he just died, didn't he? How fickle his life was. One moment he was rejoicing the thrill of kills, the other moment, his head is crushed to a pulp.

And somehow, I don't feel horrible at all. Am I not sad about human death because I am a plant now? Or am I not revolted by death itself?

No! This feeling… it's… it's joy, isn't it? Yes, I feel joy. Joy at the panda surviving the attack. Joy at the murderer getting what he deserved.

The panda moved slowly. Or at least, that was what it felt like. However, before anyone knew it, the panda appeared before each man.

One fist to the chest or one fist to the head. That was all the men got. The nearly 4 dozen men that had come chasing after this small group of humans all died to the fists of the panda.

And it didn't even take him an entire minute.

The panda looked around to see if he had left any of the murderers alive. He couldn't have. I saw them all die.

The panda then turns around, ignoring the men and women thanking him, and instead lightly jumps off the ground.

In a single jump, it reaches the top of me, and casually starts munching on my ever-growing leaves again.