Gu Yanqing leaned against a pine tree, gasping for breath.
He looked down at the sword in his hand.
Fresh blood coated the blade, not yet fully congealed. It trickled down the fuller and dripped onto the pine needles below, leaving several dark stains.
He had poured everything into that strike, and his wrist was still numb.
His hand was still trembling.
It had all happened so fast.
While searching along the cliff face, he had heard a low growl, followed by frantic footsteps on the gravel ground.
Moving almost entirely on instinct, he had sprinted forward, executing the footwork learned from the 《Roaming Cloud Technique》.
His silhouette flickered through the woods several times, bringing him to the edge of the gravel patch just before the jade-eyed wolf pounced.
The wolf had been utterly focused on the prey that tumbled into the bushes, completely oblivious to someone approaching from its flank.
Pouring all his spiritual energy into the blade, he pushed his speed to the limit and delivered a horizontal slash from the side, slicing open the wolf's belly.
The jade-eyed wolf let out a sharp howl of pain. Forgetting both its prey and any thought of retaliation, it tucked its tail between its legs and bolted back toward the cave.
He didn't give chase. He wasn't there to hunt demon beasts.
He merely glanced down at the scattered drops of blood on the ground.
That cut wasn't shallow. Even if the blow didn't kill the wolf, the beast was gravely wounded and wouldn't dare emerge to hunt again anytime soon.
Backing away a few steps, he concealed himself behind a thick pine tree.
A rustling sound came from the thicket.
Lin Zhixue crawled out of the brush, covered in torn leaves and dirt. Twigs had left several scratches on her face, but she still gripped her sword tightly.
Her shoulders were trembling, her breathing ragged and chaotic.
From behind the trunk, Gu Yanqing glanced in her direction.
That idiot. She nearly lost her life; wasn't she going to head down the mountain?
She didn't head down.
Standing where she was, she caught her breath, wiped away the bits of leaves from her face, and bent down to retrieve the bamboo basket that had fallen when she tumbled.
She checked to ensure the spirit herbs inside weren't crushed, hoisted the basket back onto her shoulders, gripped her sword, and continued toward the shaded side of the mountain.
Gu Yanqing closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.
Fine then. Typical of her.
He leaned back against the tree trunk, waiting until the sound of her footsteps drew farther away before following once more.
This time, he was even more cautious, treading with lighter steps and keeping a distance of over a hundred paces, relying solely on the red dot on the system map to gauge her location.
He told himself he was merely worried the wolf hadn't fled far, so that he could intervene in time if it reappeared.
As for why he had stepped in to begin with, he didn't dwell on it.
Lin Zhixue walked for about another fifteen minutes. She encountered no more demon beasts, nor did she slip on gravel again.
She passed through a grove of dwarf pines and arrived beneath a sun-deprived stone cliff.
Thick vines blanketed the cliff face. She had already walked past it when her steps suddenly halted.
Backtracking two steps, she crouched down and gently parted a cluster of vines at the base of the rock wall.
Beneath the vines clung a layer of damp moss.
Between the crevices of moss and stone, a delicate spirit herb peeked out.
Its stem was frost-white, and the translucent edges of its leaves glowed with a faint blue luminescence, looking like a frost flower resting on stone in the dim mountain shade.
Cold Marrow Grass.
Lin Zhixue crouched before the cliff face, gazing at the side of the tiny herb as it reflected that faint, shimmering light.
She reached out and lightly brushed the edge of a leaf with her fingertip, as if confirming it truly existed.
Then, pulling a small trowel from her basket, she began digging along the crevices around its root, bit by bit.
Her fingers were exceedingly gentle the entire time, her lips pressed into a tight line as though she were holding something back.
When she finally extracted the Cold Marrow Grass completely intact from the crack, she used her sleeve to wipe the dirt from its leaves, cradling it in her palms and gazing at it for several breaths.
Then she lowered her head, wrapped the herb with meticulous care, and tucked it into her robes.
Her brows curved, and a smile brimming with pure joy blossomed across her face.
At long last, a spark of light shone in her amber eyes.
Hoisting the bamboo basket onto her back, she dusted the soil from her hands and turned to head down the mountain, her steps considerably lighter than when she had arrived.
Amidst the dappled tree shadows, Gu Yanqing stood behind a distant boulder.
From afar, he watched the smile rise on that dirt- and blood-streaked face, and saw how she gently pressed her hand against her lapel, as if safeguarding a priceless treasure.
His gaze lingered on that expression, and he zoned out for a brief moment.
“...”
Turning around, he took another path down the mountain, keeping well out of her line of sight.
The sun had already dipped toward the west, and the light in the mountains was gradually fading.
The two made their way down the mountain along separate trails, their footsteps crushing the dappled shadows cast across the ground.
When Lin Zhixue pushed open the courtyard gate, Xiaohe was crouching by the well washing vegetables.
Seeing her enter, Xiaohe tossed the vegetables into the basin, wiped her hands on her apron twice, and dashed over.
She circled around Lin Zhixue, noticing the several bloody scratches left by branches on her young miss's face, before her gaze drifted to the spirit herbs packed tightly in the bamboo basket.
Her mouth opened and closed, seemingly at a loss for words.
In the end, aching with concern, she tugged on Lin Zhixue's sleeve and pulled her toward the house.
“Miss, why didn't you tell me you were going up the mountain? You gathered so many things—you must have walked so far! Did anything happen to you?”
Xiaohe guided her to a seat and wrung out a damp towel to wipe the wounds on her face, chattering away the entire time.
Lin Zhixue sat still, letting her wipe.
“Nothing happened,” she spoke only after Xiaohe finished. “It went very smoothly.”
Xiaohe pursed her lips and looked into her eyes, as if wanting to say, “The cuts on your face say otherwise.”
Yet she chose not to press further. Setting the towel aside, she helped take off the bamboo basket and took out its contents one by one to store them away properly.
When she picked up the carefully wrapped Cold Marrow Grass, her eyes lit up, and she looked up to ask, “Is this what you were looking for, Miss?”
“Mm.”
“That's wonderful!” Xiaohe beamed once more, setting the bamboo basket into the corner of the wall.
She hurried out and returned with a bowl of hot congee, her fussing starting up all over again.
“Next time you go up the mountain, you must tell me. Even if I can't be of much help, I can at least wait for you at the foot of the mountain...”
Lin Zhixue cradled the bowl of congee and listened to her chatter, saying nothing more.
The congee was warmly comforting, radiating heat into the palms of her hands.
Outside the window, the sky shifted from deep azure to pitch-black. The courtyard fell quiet, save for the occasional splash of water as Xiaohe washed the dishes.
Finishing the congee, she set down the bowl and absently traced the outline of the Cold Marrow Grass tucked inside her robes.
A sliver of doubt still lingered in the back of her mind.
Why had that wolf run away?
That trail of blood hadn't been caused by her. She hadn't even grazed a single strand of the wolf's fur.
Had an even more formidable demon beast frightened it off? Or had...
someone helped her?
She lifted her head and looked out the window.
The night sky above Canglan City was tinted a faint yellow by the city's lanterns, while the distant darkness of the mountain loomed faintly on the horizon.
That desolate patch of gravel on the mountain today—fragments of the memory surfaced in her mind only to sink back down, refusing to piece together into a complete picture.
She remained silent for a long time before withdrawing her gaze.
Her hand came to rest upon the jade pendant she wore close to her chest.
She pondered for a long while, yet still couldn't comprehend why that jade-eyed wolf had fled so abruptly.
Whatever the reason, she had at least escaped with her life today.
Looking down, she glanced at the Cold Marrow Grass in her hands.
This trip up the mountain hadn't been in vain after all.
Rate on N.U.
