During the unison of screeches, the surrounding atmosphere turned extremely tranquil and there was a feeling of floating in space. The Pandas, Jin, and even the crowd near the enclosure were experiencing the same thing, all at the same time. They felt a starry spiritual force floating and coursing through each and every man and animal present.
Jin, at the centre of it all, was the one most impacted by it. He could feel not only the spiritual force of the pandas but the gentle unison of the Yin and Yang chi around the area of which Jin was in the middle of.
After a while, everything slowly returned to normal, the only difference being that the Pandas became even more friendly and they started to grab onto Jin like he was a magnet to ferrous metals. Even Xin walked towards him and rubbed its head against Jin’s legs.
“This is the first time in my life that I have seen an informal blood pact and a spiritual union between a group of animals and a human. In addition, for both events to happen simultaneously? It’s nothing short of a miracle.” The Grade 10 Zoo Guard was astonished by Jin’s actions while the Zoo Attendant was flabbergasted. Judging from the initial fight to the current situation, the Grade 10 Zoo Guard finally felt that this normal looking cultivator was not a simple one. “Perhaps I should get to know who he is.”
“Is it really that amazing to have a blood pact and spiritual union occur at the same time?” Milk was totally foreign to these ‘rituals’ since she was not part of this world at all, and unlike Peppers, she had not read up on it.
“It is. Having an informal blood pact with an animal is actually the highest honour one can attain in a friendship between man and animal. When this pact occurs, it means that the animal is willing to accept you as both a comrade and a mutual brother. I believe it had something to do with Jin’s cultivation that caused the pandas to behave this way.” Zeru explained to Milk
“Animals cannot perform a formal Blood Pact because they lack the sufficient intelligence to initiate it, so initiating an informal blood pact willingly means that the animal fully trusts the cultivator.” Peppers interjected her local knowledge into the conversation.
“The fight with the big Panda also proved that Jin was willing to fight not for his own benefit but to show the Panda that he was willing to compromise for the Pandas. The pandas probably felt his intentions and judged him through his actions.” Zeru further added on.
“However, for the Spiritual Union…I honestly do not know how Jin managed to attain it. To achieve it with an animal means that the cultivator chose the perfect cultivation method that is attuned so perfectly to him that the animal acknowledged his choice of cultivation and chose to impart their knowledge of their own style upon the cultivator. In my previous lifetime, I only saw it once and that was when my Master managed to unlock it. He was one of the most powerful and wise masters I could ever serve.” Zeru continued.
“To achieve spiritual union with not one, not two but the entire group of Pandas…it’s beyond astonishing. It felt like it’s Heaven’s will.” Zeru could not help but feel honoured that he was serving Jin and was able to partake in this beautiful view.
“So will Jin get stronger?” Milk questioned Zeru with excitement.
“Definitely, but that does not mean that he will have access to those Panda’s skills. Like cultivation masters, the pandas have purposely locked their powers, waiting for Jin to unlock them as he grows stronger in his cultivation.” Zeru replied.
“That is also why many people come to the Zoo to attain the acknowledgement of the animals whose styles they have been training. It is all so they can attain the spiritual union. Like what Zeru said, not many are successful, but those who are will eventually become very powerful.” Yun commented.
Meanwhile, in the crowd, bystanders were shouting in excitement as people shared their knowledge like how Zeru had. They were talking about how lucky they were to catch such a rare yet insightful glimpse of a spiritual union.
“Hmmph, this is more intriguing than I thought.” Hiding in the noisy crowd was Mr Know It All grinning at the entire course of events before he decided to leave the area quietly. No one, not even Yun, knew he was there at all.
“Mister! I need you to come here to take the photo!” The zoo attendant wanted to help Jin but he believed no matter how hard he tried, those clinging pandas would not let go of him. All he could do was to hurry Jin up to come to the playground.
“Alright my brothers and sisters, calm down, let’s go take a photo together.” After the spiritual union, Jin seemed to understand the pandas even more clearly than before, and the same thing applied to the Pandas regarding their understanding of Jin. They followed him without making any noise, like the Pied Piper leading the children away .
“This is the most amazing shot I will ever take in my life.” The Zoo attendant said and took the picture once Jin and the Pandas settled down at the playground. He was not the only one taking it though, as the rest of the crowd were spamming their phones and DSLR cameras just to take a picture of the congregation of pandas piling up on top of each other. Causing Jin to nearly drown in Pandas.
When the Zoo attendant was done taking the photo, Jin stopped him for a moment. “Do you mind giving me a photo of the baby panda without me in it?”
“For you? Absolutely. You have made my day, and one more picture of that little cuddle is nothing compared to what I have in my possession right now.” The zoo attendant then asked Jin to hold on to the playful baby panda in his hands and took a close up shot of it.
“Give me a few minutes, I will get the photos printed. In the meantime, I do not have the authority to allow you to do so, but I believe the pandas trust you enough to play with them.”
“Do not worry, I will watch him carefully in case he decides to kidnap any of them.” The Zoo Guard laughed heartily as Jin continued to play with the pandas at the playground.
Within ten minutes, the photos were ready and Jin bid farewell to the pandas. Though sad, they knew that he could not stay long. All they could do was to yearn for him to come back soon. “I will, I definitely will.” Jin felt a warmness in his heart that he could not describe.
“So are we going back right now?” Yun asked Jin, who still had some panda fur stuck on his clothes. Jin shook his head and pointed at the field hospital. “I would like to give this to Ku Wai first.” Jin showed the beautiful close up shot of the Panda to the entire group and the girls could not help but express great love for the photograph.
“Do we really have give him this? This is so cute!” Peppers wanted that photo to be placed in the store.
“Well, I have many others courtesy to the Zoo attendant..whom I do not know the name of. Was too occupied by the pandas.” Jin removed another ball of fur from his shirt as he walked towards the field hospital.
——–
“Can I visit Ku Wai? I fought him not too long ago and he dropped one of his possessions on the ground which the medic did not pick up.” Jin told the front desk counter and the nurse agreed to pass it to Ku Wai when he woke up.
“Why did you do that? Did he not want to end your life?” Peppers questioned Jin’s actions.
“The cycle of revenge will never end until someone steps away. I vaguely heard that some ‘princess’ of his wanted a panda photo so I hope that this small deed may eventually end this stupid cycle of hate before it gets worse.” Jin said as he called for a taxi that allowed all five of them to board.
On the way back, they happily chatted inside the taxi until they eventually reached the store, only to find an extremely long queue of customers waiting outside Jin’s store.
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