“Where is Fangyou Mountain located?”
“It seems to be in the eastern part of Jizhou. There’s a town called Fangcun at the foot of the mountain there, and the hot springs are quite famous…”
“Why was the tempering trip suddenly moved up? I haven’t finished the assignments Elder Lin gave us. Does that mean I don’t have to complete them anymore?”
“Shut up! We’re heading out—don’t mention terrifying things like assignments…”
“This is my first tempering trip. I’m not sure what to pack. Are three sets of spare clothes enough…”
“That’s plenty, that’s plenty. The storage pouches issued by the sect don’t have much space anyway. Bringing some snacks and pills will be most useful. Elder Liu mentioned earlier that any non-essential items can be bought once we reach the mortal realm…”
“I’m so nervous. This is my first time riding a cloud boat. What if it suddenly drops halfway through…”
At the main gate of Qingyun Sect, atop the cliff overlooking the mountain range, Su Zhan stood quietly at the edge and gazed into the distance.
The faint morning fragrance of the mountain forest felt refreshing, and the rising warm sun bathed the faces of the dozen or so girls behind her.
In their young, bright eyes were expressions of excitement or anxiety as they chattered nonstop about what might happen next.
They had only received the sudden notice that the tempering trip had been moved up early that morning.
After hastily packing their things, they had rushed to the assembly point.
Although none of them understood why the tempering had been advanced so abruptly, no one seemed upset about it.
“Such youthful energy…”
Xia Liu stood beside Su Zhan and sighed with a touch of world-weariness.
“Watching these children makes me feel like I’m seeing you and me from a few years ago.”
“Junior Sister is still in the prime of youth herself,” Su Zhan said softly.
The oldest of these disciples was no more than fifteen, and Xia Liu herself was only seventeen.
“Being in the prime of youth doesn’t change the fact that I’m currently being treated like free labor.” Xia Liu sighed again.
“Have you ever tried hot springs before, Junior Sister? Why not take this chance to experience them?”
Su Zhan did not know how to comfort her and could only change the subject.
“I want to. And I want the biggest private room!” Xia Liu nodded without hesitation.
Among everyone on this tempering trip, Xia Liu had the heaviest workload.
Not only did she have to prepare pills for more than ten people, she also had to handle piloting the cloud boat and manage each person’s assigned tasks.
In Xia Liu’s own words, a tempering group needed one fighter to deal with external threats and one strategist to handle internal issues, while everyone else just needed to avoid causing trouble.
The fighter role had been given to Su Zhan, so all the remaining miscellaneous chores naturally fell on Xia Liu’s shoulders.
“I’m the one stuck worrying about all the troublesome details, yet Senior Sister has been standing here for ages without seeming to enjoy the scenery. Is something on your mind?”
Xia Liu suddenly asked.
“Why do you say that?” Su Zhan turned to look at her, puzzled.
“Because your worried expression is way too obvious. You’ve looked like this the whole time you were staying with me these past few days—face all tight. Anyone who didn’t know better would think you’d just been scolded.”
Xia Liu raised an eyebrow.
“Are you fretting over that man-eating demon commission?”
“Mhm. A little,” Su Zhan nodded lightly in acknowledgment.
The man-eating demon commission had never been mentioned at all in the original story.
She had never even heard of the Fangcun Sect before.
Her greatest advantage had always been the foreknowledge from the original novel, but this was the first time she had encountered something completely unknown.
It left her feeling somewhat uneasy.
Although she could simply give up on the commission as Cheng Shuang had suggested, the man-eating demon was located near Fangyou Mountain.
What if they ran into it during the tempering trip?
After all, as a cannon-fodder supporting character, Su Zhan had no confidence in her own luck—especially now, when she lacked even the full strength of a Nascent Soul cultivator and was essentially just a paper tiger putting on a show.
“It’s more than ‘a little,’ isn’t it? You’re frowning so hard it’s ruining your pretty face.”
Xia Liu teased with a smile.
“If we told these disciples about it, they’d probably raise their arms and march straight to Martial Aunt Cheng’s cave residence to demand an explanation.”
Why do you sound like you’re actually hoping things go that way? Su Zhan grumbled silently in her heart.
“Aren’t you scared?” she asked softly.
The night before, after Cheng Shuang had left, Xia Liu had cursed the woman for being an old troublemaker for ages before starting to pack her own things.
She had muttered the whole time, clearly full of resentment.
Su Zhan had seen everything.
“I am scared.” Xia Liu nodded. “That’s why I’ve decided to entrust my life to Senior Sister.”
“You trust me that much?” Su Zhan was a little surprised.
“Are you serious, you silly Senior Sister? Of course I trust you. Who else would I trust? Those little Qi Refining brats?” Xia Liu said irritably.
That was true enough.
Su Zhan touched her nose and hummed lightly, feeling the weight on her shoulders grow a little heavier.
“I went to see Second Senior Sister this morning and got some more information from her.”
Seeing Su Zhan fall silent, Xia Liu felt a bit helpless and offered another topic.
Chatting with this quiet gourd of a Ruthless Dao cultivator was exhausting—her responses were always only half a conversation.
Still, Su Zhan was the biggest guarantee of safety on this trip.
Xia Liu did not want any messy matters to disturb her state of mind and cause problems later.
“What kind of information?” Su Zhan asked.
“Second Senior Sister said the man-eating demon feeds on humans. It must hunt one person every six months or its cultivation will regress. It’s skilled at mimicking voices or using illusions to lure prey, but it follows the body cultivation path.”
As she spoke, Xia Liu suddenly seemed to remember something.
She handed Su Zhan a small blue brocade pouch.
“Here, Senior Sister. Keep this close to your body. It might come in handy. All the little ones have one—I almost forgot to give you yours.”
“A peace talisman?”
Su Zhan took it.
The thin brocade pouch felt cool to the touch and carried a faint, unusual fragrance she could not quite identify.
“It is, and it isn’t. Inside it is sealed Second Senior Sister’s spirit-repelling talisman. If you channel spiritual power into it, you can roughly sense the locations of the others who are wearing it. It also releases a spiritual aura that makes the man-eating demon’s body tremble. On top of that, I added some Huailan Branch—the flower the demon hates the most.”
Xia Liu hummed proudly.
“It’s completely harmless to humans—actually smells wonderful—but to the man-eating demon it’s deadly poison. It should greatly reduce the chance of being ambushed.”
Su Zhan glanced at Xia Liu and noticed an identical brocade pouch hanging at her waist as well.
She tied hers on too.
The red string connected neatly and hung lightly, almost weightless.
“That Martial Aunt Cheng is always lazy and loves tricking people. She didn’t mention a single one of the precautions Second Senior Sister told me about. She did it on purpose.”
Xia Liu stood on tiptoe and patted Su Zhan’s shoulder gently.
“If Second Senior Sister hadn’t comforted me, I’d still be completely in the dark. So Senior Sister doesn’t need to worry. This tempering trip will definitely go smoothly.”
“Mhm.”
Su Zhan nodded.
She glanced at Xia Liu’s other hand, which was clenched tightly, then looked out at the thin mist gradually dispersing over the mountain forest.
She understood, of course. Xia Liu was nervous and afraid too.
She knew why the girl was saying all this, but it was kindly meant, so she did not point it out.
“That would be best,” she said softly. “But if anything does happen, I will protect you and the other junior sisters.”
“You silly Senior Sister! If something really happens, just take us and run!” Xia Liu glared at her.
“That works too.” Su Zhan smiled faintly.
Yes. Even if she could not win a fight, as a Nascent Soul cultivator she could still escape with all of them without issue.