The sect rooster crowed with the dignity of a dying flute, signaling yet another chaotic dawn. Jin Nian was sprawled across his bamboo bed, mouth open, drooling like a baby spiritual beast. The cold of the morning had curled him like a shrimp, and the Sect Master Robe was tangled like a defeated snake around his legs.
A loud banging echoed across the central hall.
"Sect Master! Sect Master! The chicken has begun chanting again!"
Zhang Mubo's voice cracked like glass under pressure. Jin Nian's eye twitched. He hadn't slept properly in days. "Tell it to shut up!" he groaned.
"But it's quoting the Eightfold Path of the Demonless Monastery this time!"
Jin Nian shot up like a startled rabbit. "Wait, what?"
---
Outside the main hall, a group of disciples stood in a semi-circle around a chicken perched on the offering stone. It had a smug expression and radiated a faint spiritual glow. Wu Ling stood with arms folded, while Bai Duyi furiously scribbled notes.
"…thus, suffering is inevitable, but your karmic entanglements are optional," the chicken squawked.
It paused for a dramatic breath, then pecked a grain of rice off the altar.
Jin Nian arrived, panting. "Alright, who poured tea on the chicken again?"
"No one, Sect Master," said Bai Duyi reverently. "It awakened on its own."
"Awakened?" Jin Nian repeated, horrified. "To what? Enlightened poultry status?"
Zhang Mubo beamed. "Actually, based on its chant rhythm and aura fluctuations, it might be a temporary host of a Guardian echo!"
Jin Nian stared at him, then at the chicken. "We're being haunted by poultry now?"
---
As the disciples debated, the stone slab at the center of the sect glowed faintly. A new name etched itself onto its surface in faint silver flame:
Yao Ji – The Monk Who Refused Ascension
Wu Ling's face darkened. "That name… I've seen it before."
She turned and began walking toward the Soul Sanctuary.
Jin Nian followed, confusion mounting. "You're saying this chicken might be channeling an actual ancient monk?"
"Not might," she said quietly. "I saw this name during my Guardian trial. He chose to stay behind rather than ascend… to protect a child who never knew peace."
Jin Nian fell silent. For all his clownish nature, moments like this chipped through his laziness like water on stone.
---
The Soul Sanctuary was quiet. Lanterns swayed gently in the wind, casting soft orange glows across the floor. Jin Nian had come here only a few times—but each time, he left quieter than he arrived.
Wu Ling knelt in front of the central mural: an unfinished painting of an empty mountain.
"He didn't leave," she whispered. "When his time came, Yao Ji looked toward the heavens, then turned back to a crying child. He sat down beneath a tree and simply… never left."
Jin Nian looked down at his hands. "He sounds like someone who failed… yet chose failure with purpose."
"Or maybe he redefined it," Wu Ling replied.
---
Back at the offering stone, the chicken was pacing in a circle, reciting verses now from a long-lost scroll. Bai Duyi was humming along, tears in his eyes.
"It's beautiful," he whispered. "I feel like my heart is calm for the first time in years."
Zhang Mubo, ever the skeptic, added, "It might just be resonance with your trauma. Spiritually induced chicken therapy."
Jin Nian rubbed his temples. "We're hosting a spiritual monk in a chicken. How did my sect become a poultry monastery?"
No one answered.
---
That evening, they gathered.
A circle of disciples surrounded the offering stone. Incense burned softly, the smoke curling upward like threads of memory.
The chicken sat still, its eyes glowing faintly. Around its leg was tied a simple silk ribbon. Jin Nian stood at the center, for once not joking.
"This sect began as a joke," he said quietly. "I was a joke. But now, somehow, people like him…"—he gestured at the chicken—"are coming here for peace."
He looked at each disciple.
"I don't understand what I'm doing. Most days I just try not to ruin it. But if this place can offer a home, even to a tired soul like Yao Ji... then maybe we're doing something right."
Silence. Then Wu Ling clapped, once. Bai Duyi followed. Zhang Mubo wiped a tear and then pretended to fix his sleeve.
---
The Guardian began to echo.
Each disciple saw a memory not their own:
A child, abandoned in war, sat mute beneath a tree. A wandering monk fed him rice and sang to the wind. They never spoke. But the monk stayed. He aged. His bones failed. But he stayed.
And when death came, the monk's spirit simply refused to rise. Not until the child found a home.
---
When the vision faded, the chicken clucked once, and fell into a peaceful sleep.
The warmth that had surrounded the altar lingered in their hearts.
Wu Ling stepped forward, placing two fingers on the chicken's head.
"He's gone," she said. "He finished his vow."
Jin Nian crouched beside the bird. "He didn't need applause. He just needed someone to remember."
They buried Yao Ji's echo under the Bodhi tree beside the northern pond(rest in peace). A stone was placed beside it, with no name—only a feather carved into the side.
---
Later that night, Jin Nian sat alone at the peak, feet dangling off the edge.
He wasn't used to silence like this. The wind wasn't loud. The night sky didn't press in. It was… gentle.
"I'm not a god," he whispered. "I'm not even a good cultivator. But maybe… I'm good enough to make a place where gods feel safe to sleep."
From the shadows, a disciple watched—then turned away, smiling.
The next morning, Jin Nian woke to find a new building request had appeared on his system:
[Cluckening Summit – Awaiting Construction]
He laughed until tears fell.
---
Reader Question:
If you had a Guardian echo through an animal, which one would it be—and what lesson would it try to teach you?