Wu QiaoHua opened her eyes and stared at the blue sky. What happened? The last thing she remembered was... She gasped and sat up quickly. She winced slightly from the bruises on her waist but it wasn't terrible.
"QiaoHua, are you alright?" Wu LiJing asked as she sat next to her.
Wu QiaoHua turned to her cousin with watery eyes. "W-what happened?"
Wu LiJing sighed. "You were attacked by a black snake. Thankfully, I was able to come in time."
"Is everyone alright?" She felt great guilt inside and looked around. She noticed everyone was awake, staring at her and felt relieved. No one looked heavily injured.
She looked up at Wu LiJing with a smile. "Thank you, Sister LiJing. And I'm sorry..."
Wu LiJing patted her head. "It's alright as long as you're fine." She took out an apple. "Here, eat something before we set off. You guys need one more plant. You only have until the noon of tomorrow to accomplish your task."
"What?!"
"You've slept for a whole night," Xin Mei explained.
"Oh..." Wu QiaoHua scratched her head, embarrassed. "I'll eat quickly!" The sun was already out, meaning they only had about a day to hunt for herbs. QiaoHua's eyes slightly widened when she ate the apple. It was so refreshing!
Wu LiJing jumped on top of a tree and climbed to the top, while the rest ate. She looked around for a moment and suddenly felt movement behind her. "Who's there?!" Her sword appeared in her hand. She tried to scan her surroundings but could not sense another person. After a moment of silence, she quickly climbed down and rejoined the group.
"I spotted a group of disciples from another sect yesterday. Be vigilant. It seems they are here on an important mission," she warned the team as they headed out. She was sure someone was behind her earlier, and even if they weren't too close, they were skilled enough to escape her - meaning the disciples would have trouble dealing with this person if they meant harm.
"Are they dangerous?" QiaoHua asked.
"I don't think so. But it's better to be careful than not." They started moving with LiJing in the front.
Xin Mei walked up to Wu LiJing and asked softly, "Eldest Senior Sister, is your arm alright now?"
Wu LiJing nodded without looking at her. This morning, the first thing she checked was her arm and after rotating it a few times and testing her sword out, her arms were moving perfectly, and her chi was also able to be released properly.
Xin Mei sighed in relief.
"Arm? Is something wrong with Eldest Senior Sister's arm?" Wu QiaoHua asked from behind, worried. She took a step closer towards them.
"Um! It's my arm!" Xin Mei quickly covered. "I twisted my arm a bit yesterday and asked Eldest Senior Sister for help. Now it feels better." Xin Mei glanced at Wu LiJing, who didn't reveal any move in expression, and sighed in relief.
Yesterday, their Eldest Senior Sister asked all of them to keep her wounds a secret from Wu QiaoHua lest she feels even more guilty. Knowing her friend's personality, Xin Mei understood why Wu LiJing would request that from them... but then wouldn't her hard work go to waste? Defeating that snake was not easy. She sighed and looked at QiaoHua.
"Oh..." Wu QiaoHua nodded. She glanced at Xin Mei. "Sorry," she murmured.
Xin Mei smiled. "Let's just try to go through to today. It's good Eldest Senior Sister came or we might have failed our task." Or even died, but Xin Mei didn't say that.
Xin Mei turned to Wu LiJing. "Thank you, Eldest Senior Sister!" Yesterday, they were all frightened and tired, so they never got to thank Wu LiJing properly.
"Thank you, Eldest Senior Sister!" the outer disciples followed out loud.
"I'm so glad we have Wu QiaoHua on our team," Luo Li whispered to Tan Mei.
Tan Mei timidly glanced and Wu LiJing and blushed. She had fainted from seeing the wounds on Wu LiJing's back and felt embarrassed. Now she didn't want to face their eldest senior sister or she would die from shame.
Peng MinYi smiled widely and whispered, "I'm so happy we got to see Eldest Senior Sister in action! Did you guys see that move she made when we were running away? Even from far away, I could see! A hundred swords attack!" He made a bunch of hand movements excitedly.
Luo Li rolled his eyes. "Only a fighting maniac like you would turn back to look," he muttered.
"I'm so glad to have joined this team!" Peng MinYi grinned.
Luo Li looked at Wu QiaoHua from behind and kept his thoughts to himself, but in comparison to Peng MinYi, he had some regrets joining. After all this time, fighting with her, he realized that she may be an inner disciple, but her skills were below his expectations. She doesn't seem to implement them well compared to Xin Mei even with her level higher than Xin Mei as an inner disciple. Her leadership skills were also... nonexistent. And yesterday, she even led them to their death! He felt angry after thinking about it for the night but calmed down when morning came.
He glanced at Wu LiJing. Ah, how nice it would be to have a connection to the direct disciple of the sect. That way, not many people can complain if you did anything wrong.
Peng MinYi stared at Wu LiJing with gleaming eyes of admiration. How does she fight so elegantly and powerfully? She may be the direct disciple of Sect Leader Wang, but her skills and experience were beyond what he expected! And she was only a few years older than him! He wondered if he could reach her level if he tried harder. He should ask for some advice when he feels confident enough! He nodded to himself, lost in his own world.
Wu QiaoHua clenched her hands as she glanced at Wu LiJing. She sighed dejectedly. She just wanted to prove herself. Yes, when she heard the comments the outer disciples discussed among themselves in addition to the venomous words Yu Yuan spouted, she felt miserable and angry.
She also knew from some of the gazes of others that they thought the same. She was more than they said she was! She could do things even without Wu LiJing! The snake was asleep so she was a little confident that she could get the flower. But when the team saw her and distracted her... things happened. It wasn't just completely her fault... right?
"Ah, look! It's a green snake..." Xin Mei pointed to the beast guarding what seems to be four Purple Clovers, but her voice faltered when she saw the beast. She didn't want to deal with another snake after yesterday and so did none of the others.
Purple Clovers were useful for consumption after breaking through the second realm to replenish one's meridians and increase the chance to break through to the next realm. Not only that, if used in combination with other herbs, a good healing ointment could be created due to its nature of absorbing the energy around it. It probably costs at least more than a couple silver taels to get even four of them in the market. (A/N: one silver tael equals about 1000 copper coins)
In the Disappearing Forest, compared to other areas with beasts, the sizing of the beasts could help identify how strong they were. The black snake from the day before was five times larger than the usual human, so it was much stronger and harder to defeat. But this snake was only half of that snake's size, meaning the disciples could probably take it on.
They all hid behind the trees surrounding them and observed the snake as it hissed from time to time and kept its guard up, looking around with its two heads. This snake did not have a tail because both ends of its body had a head. This snake was also longer than most snakes and could be a problem if they faced it head on without a plan.
Wu LiJing made it clear that she would not intrude on their fight while they fought the snake, as she stood on the side without saying anything while they discussed their plans. Since this snake was smaller than the one they had to fight before, they didn't feel as scared as before and also felt calmer with Wu LiJing watching them. If they were put in danger, she would save them... right?
But what if Wu QiaoHua was in danger at the same time?
Tan Mei clenched her hands and shook her head. She should just make sure to keep herself protected and stay careful.
Once they were done discussing, Wu LiJing watched as they sneaked towards the snake. They had good teamwork and were able to defeat the snake after getting a few injuries and being thrown a few times. The green beast vanished, and they grabbed the clovers.
They stared at each other, realizing that only four were available. After a moment, the outer disciples awkwardly let the two inner disciples pick first. Then the outer disciples played rock-paper-scissors to decide who got the remaining two.
Wu QiaoHua noticed Tan Mei's pouting face.
"I scratched my arms and leg," she muttered. "It hurts." She hated pain the most. But now she was injured for nothing.
"Here." Wu QiaoHua gave the clover in her hand to Tan Mei. She smiled. "I don't really need it."
Tan Mei's eyes brightened, and she snatched it with a grin. "No take backs!" Wu QiaoHua nodded.
Wu LiJing stared at Tan Mei and Tan Mei quickly hid behind Peng MinYi. She wouldn't give it back! Unless Eldest Senior Sister said something... She looked back at her, but Wu LiJing already looked away, making her breathe in relief.
"Lucky you!" Peng MinYi said. Then he went back to staring at Wu LiJing with bright eyes. He wondered if he did well? Did he? Did he? He kept staring at her but she didn't seem to pay attention to him.
Huh? He looked around. Why was it suddenly so foggy? Feeling a bit uncomfortable, he stood closer to his fellow outer disciples in case he was separated from them. He glanced at Wu LiJing. But if he was lost, she would come save him right? He grinned inside happily. If she came to save him, he wouldn't mind getting lost. Should he take a few steps away by 'accident'? As he pondered on that thought seriously, he suddenly saw Wu LiJing stop walking and summon her sword.
He looked around in the fog. What beast were they going to fight now? His arm still hurt from being tossed aside before.
"Arm yourselves," Wu LiJing ordered, and they all quickly followed, listening closely.
Sounds of swords clashing were close by.
"I finally have you by yourself, hahahaha!" A male voice could be heard laughing.
A female voice sneered. "I will defeat you by myself if I have to!"
The male chuckled. "You think you can match up to me?"
When they finally neared, they hid behind the trees from a good distance away so they wouldn't be detected. Wu LiJing turned to them with a calm face.
"You stay here. I'll go see ahead." Then she jumped up and vanished before they could say anything.
Xin Mei sighed when Wu LiJing just disappeared.
"Stay alert," Wu QiaoHua said with a worried frown. They could barely see what's going on from this distance and with the fog in the way.
...
"Kong Guang, don't think my master will let you escape so easily after you killed my senior brother," Lin YaWen said with gritted teeth. A small line of blood dripped from her lips. Her hair was disheveled, and her fancy teal robes were smeared with dirt.
A man dressed in all black, with a lean body, by the name of Kong Guan, laughed. His small curved dark eyes were focused on the woman in front of him and he licked his big pale lips as he observed her distressed self. Although he could be considered a little handsome, his hands have been dyed with the blood of many cultivators from different sects.
At first, he aimed for outer disciples who were unimportant or had no family who would search for them should they disappear. But then he started to feel less satisfied and started to aim for outer disciples who were talented but were from small uninfluential families. From there, he moved to inner disciples of unknown origins. But he accidentally killed a direct disciple of the Calming Wave Sect when the man witnessed him killing one of their inner disciples. As a result, his actions were discovered, and he's now being hunted by one of the bigger sects.
He played with the dagger in his hands and smiled. "Of course not. After all, she's going to find the corpse of her precious second disciple soon. If she doesn't come for me, then it would be too pitiful towards you and your senior brother." His dagger pointed towards her and he chuckled.
Lin YaWen gripped her teal whip and lashed out at him with fiery eyes, using immense strength that came from her core. But with a backflip, he quickly dodged every lash that aimed for his body. She swung her whip around skillfully, creating strong winds, but he still managed to evade them each time. She clenched her hand and whipped once more out of rhythm and it finally managed to hit him on the face.
She smiled. "Well, look at that. I thought you said I was no match for you?"
His lips curved dangerously, and his eyes turned darker. "Don't let it get to your head, sweetheart." He aimed three daggers at her, and she used her whip to deflect them. Ah, he hated these types of haughty disciples the most. He chuckled inside. He would play with her fully before he got rid of her. Stomp on her pride and make her cry out in pain and shame.
The daggers in his possession didn't seem to end as he constantly threw them towards Lin YaWen. After the fortieth one or so, she was out of breath and felt her inner chi waver. The incoming daggers increased and created cuts on her arms and legs. Finally, one managed to stab her in the arm and she cried out in pain when she couldn't deflect it.
Kong Guang flew towards her and she tried to swing her whip, but he threw a rock that was hidden in his palms towards her wrist, causing her to let go of her weapon. He grabbed for her and Lin YaWen quickly defended and pushed his hand away, but he managed to hit her chest with his palm that was embedded with inner chi, causing her to cough and stumble back weakly from the inflicted internal injury .
He pushed her down and smiled evilly as his body pressed on hers. "I've wasted a lot of inner chi on you," he said. She was in great pain as she struggled to escape and tried to hit him. But he held her wrists tightly as blood gushed out of her arm, with the dagger still embedded in.
"Let go, you savage!" She bit his arm until blood bled and he groaned loudly.
Kong Guang grabbed the handle of the dagger and stabbed it further into her arm, causing her to let out a scream. He then pulled it out of her arm and laughed as blood splattered on his face. He let out a breath from the struggle that just happened and licked the blood on it as he stared at her fearful face in satisfaction. "Delicious."
He leaned in closer to her face as she gritted her teeth in disgust. "Don't worry, I'll make you beg for mercy before I end your life. You're going to be the first female direct disciple I kill. Do you know how special that is?" He spoke quietly in excitement.
His smile abruptly dropped when he sensed a killing-intent coming from behind him and quickly jumped to the side. Yet he still felt a gash on his back and he smiled coldly. "Who is it?!" He turned around in anger, with three daggers shining in his hand.
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