“Maybe the Baby Panda was tired.” The zoo attendant shrugged his shoulders and brought Jin to the Panda Enclosure. He asked the rest of the group to stay in the office for a moment if they wanted to or they could head back out to see the photo taking process. They agreed to do the latter.
It was then that the Grade 10 Zoo Guard flew down from his guard tower and towards Jin. “I need to use this inscription on you to remove any possible germs or virus that might affect the Pandas, are you okay to proceed?” The guard spoke as he took out an inscription talisman and held it for Jin to see.
“Sure, no problem, I understand.” Jin agreed to it and the guard spoke the incantations for the inscription to work. Meanwhile, the zoo attendant sneered quietly as he thought to himself. “Those things are redundant since the moment they entered the office, the inscription for removing those germs were already doing their work.” In any case, the zoo attendant opened the enclosure gate for Jin.
“I see that you won the fight arena. Which master did you fight against?” The Grade 10 Zoo Guard was there in case Jin tried to do anything funny to the Pandas. After all, they were the treasure of not just this zoo but the entire country too.
“Tiangong District Guardian Yuan allowed a custom fight against one of the Three Eyed Tiger Senior Members. I barely managed to win.” Jin tried to stay humble in front of the Grade 10 Guard.
“Hmmph! That’s so Grandma Yuan, always breaking the zoo rules to fit her. Anyways, have a seat near the Panda playground, we will set up the camera equipment for you to take a good photo with the Baby Panda.” The Guard said as he continued to watch Jin’s movement as the zoo attendant prepared the camera equipment.
The bystanders were extremely jealous that Jin had a close shot but the regulars of the zoo started to pity Jin. They knew that Pandas never liked anyone new coming into their territory. Perhaps only the young ones were mildly interested in their new ‘toy’ before they got sick of it. Hence, Jin would never get a proper photo and even if he did, it would probably seem forced. If that how it happened, he probably would not get any inspiration for his cultivation after taking the photo.
“Heh, we have a good show to watch.” the regulars of the zoo chuckled as they stood by just to see how the Pandas trashed this cultivator. There was a reason why the cultivators who wanted to take a photo with the Pandas need to pass the Fight Arena.
It was because there was this particular panda that was fiercely territorial in nature and even the Grade 10 Zoo Guard had troubles keeping it in check. Sure, the Grade 10 Guard could instantly stop that Panda with force but would the management be happy with that? That was a definite No. In any case, the territorial Panda, who was named as Xin, had already gotten familiar with the noisy zoo attendant and the Grade 10 Zoo Guard so it wouldn’t bother them again.
As Jin sat at the playground while waiting for the Zoo attendant, It was then that something happened that everyone did not expect. The Pandas were not being territorial but was instead gathering around Jin.
Everyone who was waiting for a show where the Pandas trashed Jin immediately took their phones out to start taking photos of Jin having fun with the Pandas. Meanwhile, Jin was overwhelmed by the sudden cosiness of all the Pandas gathering around him. Some even playfully bit Jin. All he could do now was to let them do whatever they want.
Some of the younger pandas even tried to crawl up Jin’s head and one of them even rested atop of it permanently. Both the Zoo Guard and Zoo Attendant were in awe by the sudden change of events. What they had learnt from their experiences was that even cultivators who cultivated Panda Styles, which were already few in numbers, could not garner this kind of reaction from the Pandas.
Those Panda Cultivators could at most get one or two Pandas to like them. It was never the entire bunch like how they were surrounding Jin…except for Xin. Xin was at the back of the enclosure with baring its teeth quietly. Jin noticed Xin presence from behind him and turned to look at him. For some reason, Jin knew what it desired.
It wanted to battle with someone, someone who was worthy because this enclosure was boring to it. Xin noticed that Jin acknowledged its lust for battle and slowly walked to the middle of the enclosure. “Okay guys, give me some space, your big brother wants some action with me.”
When Jin spoke, it seemed that every single Panda knew what he was talking about and walked away from him. Meanwhile, all of this was being recorded by Yun and the other bellators were amazed at how Jin managed to accomplish such a feat. “Panda Whisperer!” Peppers casually said and the entire group seemed to agree.
Separately, Jin did not take out any weapons out since this was technically a friendly fight, although he was getting the feeling that Xin wanted to kill him. Besides, if Jin took a weapon out, he would probably be killed by the Grade 10 Zoo Guard instantly.
Xin screeched and dashed towards Jin. Meanwhile, Jin focused all of his chi into his arms and prepared to receive the incoming assault. Although the pandas were bigger in size, their size did not exactly translate to pure strength well mainly laziness but also Jin being a Grade 4 Peak had the power to match them.
Thankfully, these pandas were held in captivity so their power levels were not as high or as cunning as the wild ones in nature. While Jin was push backed a lot from the initial charge, he was eventually able to hold on and grapple around with Xin.
He allowed the Panda to think it had the upper hand for the moment before going around Xin before performing a grappling lock and pushing the Panda down. The Zoo attendant saw the ongoing fight scene and wanted to stop them but the Grade 10 Zoo Guard stopped him. “Let Xin vent out some of its boredom and perhaps also let that guy teach Xin some humility.”
The Zoo Guard knew that Jin was going easy against the Panda but that did not mean he was not keeping a close eye at him. With a few grapple holds and some judo throws, Xin finally panted. “Is this all you got Brother Panda?” Jin wiped his sweat away. Even though it was easy to overpower the Panda, it wasn’t an easy job playing along with it.
In the end, Xin nodded its head and stared at Jin as if it wanted to say that it would build up strength in anticipation for a rematch. It then bit its own flesh and let the blood drip onto the ground. Jin obliged it by biting his own thumb and dripped some blood onto the same spot on the ground in return. Xin walked towards the blood to smell and lick it. After which, it screeched and every other panda followed suit.
“What are they doing?” Milk asked.
“A mutual agreement between animal and human. An informal blood pact.” Peppers explained as she remembered reading about it. It was a rare occurrence for it to happen, not just in the Zoo but in the wild too. “It meant that the Pandas have acknowledged Jin as a friend, brother and comrade.” Yun smiled as Jin had accomplished way more than what he should have accomplished over here.
When he heard the union of screeches, Jin felt a sense of power accumulating within him.
.
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