~~~三~~~

~~~花瓣顺着河~~~

The next morning, Lánhua stood at the pier behind the estate, watching as various disciples in blue loaded into the river boats that would take them part of the way to Dangsu.

"I wish you both luck," Lánhuā said as she stood next to the Young Master and Young Lady of her clan, "Take care of yourselves."

"I'm pretty sure we should be the ones saying that to you, A-Lán," Xuefeng retorted as he gazed down at the female with an unusually soft look in his eyes, "I won't be here to come find you if you get into trouble, so please stay put until we get back."

"You know I'd be lying of I said that, so I'll just promise you that I'll keep better track of time," she replied with a small chuckle, causing the male to shake his head.

'Of course she'd say something like that,' he thought as his sister gave a few giggles from right next to him before reaching out to give the youngest a hug.

"Be careful," the darkette reminded as she pulled back with a small smile, "We'll be back soon, so take care of our parents for us."

"Will do!" the veiled female chirped before turning to where she last heard the male and held out her arms expectantly.

Uncrossing his arms, the noiret stepped forward to envelop her in a tight hug, ignoring the veil he knew she couldn't take off since they were in the vision of the disciples in white.

With one last call from the boatman, the young man gave his companion one last squeeze before he pulled back to board the boat with his elder sibling.

Even as the clan leader and madam returned to the estate to continue their work, the ravenette remained at the edge of the pier, facing the very waters that brought her to them in the first place until she could no longer sense their energies.

With one last silent prayer for the safety of her friends, she turned away from the water and went back into the estate to continue on with the rest of her day.

As the began sun to set on the early spring's day, a figure dressed in form fitting black clothing raced down a cliff side road with soldiers in heavy armor hot in pursuit.

The figure managed to dodge the oncoming arrows sent at them with relative ease until they felt the ground rumble beneath their feet, halting them in their place as the earth began to split just in front of them.

With a piercing screech, a large, worm-like creature rose out from the ground to loom over the figure just as the soldiers closed in from behind them.

"This is your last chance, Little Bear," warned one of the soldiers, wielding a steel halberd as they began to close in on the smaller figure, "Give up the amulet and we can let you live."

"You can even earn a high position serving under our Lady," he continued as their scarlet irises flicked from side to side, "All you have to do is cooperate."

"The only ones I'll serve under are the Chief and his family," the figure spat as they shifted their weight to the balls of their feet and reached into the holsters at each of their hips to pull out two daggers, "and you just so happen to be getting in the way of one of my assignments, so excuse me for not being polite."

"You insolent brat!" the soldier screamed before he gave the signal to charge the figure as the monster let out another cry.

The next four days would have passed by in a meaningless blur for the Young Lady Cháng without the two others she grew up with to keep her company if she didn't go to visit her new friend every day.

Even if she was sure that he was now just faking illness so that she would keep coming back to check on him, she appreciated that he enjoyed her company.

After making sure that the male finished the meals she would bring him, they would either spend some time playing games or worked on further developing the female's cultivation.

On the afternoon of the fifth day, Mázhe watched with a proud smile as the female let her energy flow freely through her body, causing her hair and robes to flutter around her with a soft purple glow.

Her energy was already leagues stronger than it was compared to when they first met and she was already working on spells that the male had not learned until much later in his training.

"Alright, that's enough for now," he chuckled, watching as the glow disappeared and her loose articles fell back into place around her, "If you get any better than you are now, I might actually start to become scared of you."

"I wouldn't mind that," the woman replied as she stood up and reached her arms up to get a good stretch in her back, "It would just mean you might actually start to behave yourself."

"Eh? What are you talking about? I have been well behaved my entire stay in this cave," the darket retorted with a small whine, watching as she moved to feed more wood to the fire that illuminated the cave for him.

"The multiple times you have tricked me into strange situations would beg to differ," the female scoffed, shaking her head as she felt around for her bamboo flask, the male nudging it closer to her with an amused grin.

"Lánhuā, you know that's all in good fun," he defended with a pout when she deliberately her head away from him, "None of my pranks cause you any harm."

"Plus, you know that you find my actions to be cute," the man continued, leaning forward to wrap the younger being in a hug only to be stopped by hand on his chest.

As her cultivation developed further so did her sensory abilities, now able to sense some detailed movement of living beings with the energy that flowed through their bodies, instead of just being able to tell their general location based on their souls alone.

"Says who?" the woman huffed with the corners of her lips tilted downwards in a small pout as she crossed her arms over her chest, turning back so her right ear was tilted towards him.

"You are the exact kind of person the Young Master warns me to stay away from," she continued before the male proceeded to drop his upper body into her lap.

"You-" "You say that, but you're the one who willingly comes back here everyday," he quipped with a smirk, reaching up to tap her nose, "Why is that?"

"First, it was to make sure you recovered from your injuries and didn't die, but now you're completely healed and aren't showing any sign of leaving," the female replied, swatting his hand away, "So I come back to make sure you aren't stealing my things."

"It was hard work sneaking them into the forest without being caught," she muttered in continuation before gently nudging the male off of her lap.

"I'm guessing you have to go back now?" the rogue cultivator questioned as he sat up to watch his friend start pushing her things back up into her woven basket.

"Yeah, the maids will come by my room to deliver my dinner soon, so I have to be back before they find out I'm missing again," she replied while placing her veiled hat back on.

"At this point, I'm surprised they haven't locked you up in the estate yet," the man commented as he stood up to walk the woman to the mouth of the cave.

"Oh they've tried, but that's a story for another time," she replied, turning to him with a small smile from behind her veil, "I'll be back at the same time tomorrow."

"Until we meet again, Lánhuā," the male greeted, lifting the ravenette's right hand to place a small kiss on top of it.

"Until we meet again, you shameless flirt," she huffed snatching her hand back and turning to walk back to the town, though the smile never left her face.

On the morning of the fifth day, Lánhuā was preparing to make her daily visit to the forest after breakfast when a pair of maids burst into her room.

"Young Lady Cháng, the Clan Leader summons you to the main hall," spoke one of them as they gave a salute, keeping their heads down.

"Yes, right away!" added the other, sounding a bit out of breath compared to the first, "He says it's very urgent."

"What?" questioned the woman in blue as she set her basket back down on her table, "Did something happen to Xuefeng and Jiějiě?"

"We don't know, Young Lady," answered the first one the pair parted to make way for the sightless woman who stormed past them.

"The Clan Leader didn't tell us anything," the other explained as they followed behind their Lady, "He just told us to fetch you as soon as possible!"

"Clan Leader Shu!" the ravenette called as she burst into the hall, ripping off her veiled hat as she stopped right in front of the male's table, "What happened?!"

"Calm yourself, Lánhuā," he spoke, placing the letter he held down on the desk as he stood up to place his hands on her shoulders, "My children and disciples are all safe, none of them are badly injured."

"But?" the nineteen-year-old pressed, knowing there had to be more since she was summoned so suddenly by the maids.

"The demons they face are turning out to be more difficult than they originally thought," the man spoke as he lowered his arms and moved to walk around his desk.

"They have the ability to create a fog over the lake that they inhabit and it immediately puts the disciples on defensive," he explained with a sigh, "They've tried multiple spells, but none of them are strong enough to keep the fog away for extended periods of time."

The woman bit her lip after letting out a sigh, playing with the sleeves of her robes as she knew where this meeting would lead.

"So what you're saying is, that they need me to assist them at Dangsu, right?" she questioned quietly with her chin down, already knowing the answer even though she couldn't physically see her benefactor's nod.

"Indeed they do," he confirmed with knitted brows as he held his hands behind his back with his perfect posture, "They are asking nearby clans to lend those with exceptional sensory abilities for assistance."

"You are to set out with three of our disciples as your escorts tomorrow morning," he explained while looking back down at the parchment in his desk, "they will take you to a tavern in Saosu where you will be picked up by Young Master Shèng and my children for the rest of the journey."

"Yes, Clan Leader Shu," the ravenette replied as she gave a salute accompanied by a deep bow to her clan leader, "I will start packing immediately."

"Good, you can return to your room now," he replied while returning to his seat, "I'll discuss with the other elders which disciples would best be suited as your escorts."

With one last salute, the nineteen-year-old exited the main hall and made her way back to her room to begin packing.

It was already past lunch by the time she made her usual trip into the forest, already hearing the crackle of the fire as she entered her hidden cave.

"You're late today," the darket commented as he watched his companion take some food and a large flask of water out of her basket, "Did something happen?"

"It's nothing," the woman replied as she took off her veiled hat and placed it off to the side, "but I think you should leave the forest and go home after today."

"Why? Did someone find out about me?" the male asked with wide eyes as he leaned forward to take her hands in his own, "Are you in any trouble?"

"Calm yourself, I'm fine," the female huffed as she took her hands back and turned to set a kettle of water to boil over the fire, but she could tell he was not yet convinced.

"It's just that I was called to assist my Young Master and Young Lady in another town," she explained with a sigh as she began picking and placing herbs into the strainer ball, "I don't know how long it would take or how long it would take for me to come back visit you here again."

"Ah, you're nervous, aren't you?" Mázhe muttered upon seeing the small frown on her side profile as she worked, "It's you're first time leaving Fengrao and it's for something like this."

"But I know you'll be okay," he continued while wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "You've really been improving your own cultivation and you'll be surrounded by other highly capable cultivators."

"That's the exact reason I didn't go the first time the disciples from Shèng came to visit," the female sighed while shaking her head, "I didn't want them taking their focus off of the demons to protect someone who can't fight."

"You may not be able to fight, but you can at least defend yourself effectively now," the other retorted as he rubbed her upper arm, "You have nothing to worry about now."

"I-" "Shh, don't fight me on this!" he interjected, bringing a finger up to her lips before she could argue, "Don't focus on that right now and let's just enjoy our last day together in this cave, okay?"

"Whatever," the woman scoffed while shaking her head, but the small smile that formed on her lips was not missed by the one known as Hēi Mázhe.

The two young adults spent the rest of their time together just talking and playing around much more than they usually would.

The pair even leaving the cave to run around the forest for a bit to play games like tag and hide and seek, but what the male did not expect was that he would lose both of the games.

"Evading people is my specialty, Mázhe," the ravenette laughed from up in one of the tree branches as the man stood underneath her, "You of all people should have picked that up by now."

"I knew you were good at slipping away from your clansmen, but I just chalked that up to them being incompetent," he muttered before leaning his back up against the trunk of the tree, "Now I know, that you just have very strange talents."

"Are you just now figuring that out?" the female questioned while tilting her head to the side, "If that is the case, then you are quite blind for someone who can actually use their eyes."

"Aish, Lánhuā, the wounds caused by your words hurt worse than those of a sword," the darket groaned as he dramatically brought his hand up to his chest.

"Good, as a blind woman, one of my only weapons would be my use of words," she retorted while leaping back down to the ground, "A close second to just being able to scream in general."

When it finally came time for the nineteen-year-old to return to the estate the pair lingered at the entrance of the cave for a while before the male said, "Don't you worry about anything, we'll see each other again."

"Think about what you just said to me real quick," she interjected with a small smirk, earning a whine and chuckle from her companion.

"Sorry, sorry, what I'm trying to say is that this isn't going to be the last time that we see each other," he corrected with a sigh, "Far from it, so don't be too sad when you leave tomorrow."

"Alright, I trust you," Lánhuā confidently stated while turning her head up to face him properly, "I look forward to the next time we meet, Mázhe."

"Until then," he replied with a nod, watching as the female turned to walk away from the cave until her form disappeared through the trees and out of sight.

When the next day arrived it was the Young Lady Cháng who stood at the pier behind the Shu Clan Estate with a bag of her packed belongings, waiting to board a private riverboat with her veil and robes fluttering lightly in the wind.

From behind her, she could hear Madam Shu giving the three disciples who were to act as her escorts a very detailed lecture on how they needed to keep her safe on the journey and other things along those lines.

'Madam Shu, that really is unnecessary,' she thought without turning around, 'I'm sure they understand their job well enough, otherwise you wouldn't have picked them to come along with me.'

"Lánhuā," called the calm voice of the clan leader, bringing her out of her thoughts as she turned to face the older man.

"You take care out there," he instructed as she tilted her ear towards him, "Don't wander off on your own as not everyone will be as upright as in Fengrao."

"I will, Clan Leader Shu," the female replied with an unseen smile, "This time I go out as a representative of the Shu Clan, so I won't do anything to tarnish our clan's reputation."

"You know that's not what we're worried about, Lán-er," the madam said as she walked forward to stand next to her husband, "You're a humble and well behaved young lady when you're out in public."

"You wouldn't bring shame to this clan in anyway, we can trust that," she continued, "What we're worried about is someone taking advantage of you or even hurting you of you wander off by yourself, so you have to stay close to Xuefeng and Yaling when you reach Saosu. Do you understand?"

"I understand, Madam Shu," the ravenette replied with a salute before being called to her boat by a strangely familiar voice and as she paid more attention, she realized who the boatman was.

"Mázhe, is that you?" she questioned, immediately recognizing the soul and energy of the one who helped her onto the boat, earning a hush in response as he led her to the covered interior.

"I told you that I'd see you again, didn't I?" the male mused with his back towards the clan leader on the pier and readjusted his straw hat, "But let's refrain from using my name for now, alright?"

"I guess," the woman muttered, a little suspicious of her friend's actions, but said nothing more as he returned to his spot of the back of the boat to push off of the pier.

When both of the boats were a good distance from the estate, she turned her head to where her friend was steering the boat and asked, "So what brings you here, Mázhe?"

"I just wanted to follow you since there's nothing ever going on at my home," the male replied, "Plus, I would like to see what kind of demon is giving two of the most famous clans trouble."

"Based on what we were told, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if there was more than just one," the female explained as she turned to lie down on her bench, "and high level at that since they're able to create a dense fog that cannot be easily dissipated."

"Ah, so that's why you were called out," the darket commented with a nod as he kept the boat ride as smooth as possible, "to those with strong sensory abilities a lack of vision means nothing."

"Yeah, even more so to someone who's blind," the woman added with a chuckle, earning a laugh from her travel companion before a thought came to her.

"You say you're going to follow me, but won't that look suspicious to the other disciples if the boatman suddenly joins us on the road?" she questioned, lifting her head up from the bench momentarily.

"That's only if they ever manage to see my face," the man replied with a fox-like grin, "They can't identify me as the same person if they never see my face."

"You'd better hope that they haven't already seen you then," the nineteen-year-old mused as she enjoyed the sounds of nature around them, "The disciples the elders assigned to escort me are some of the sharpest ones we have."

"I always have a difficult time trying to sneak away when they're around," she continued with a small smirk of her own, "But I always manage."

"I can believe that with how many escape routes you have plotted in your own estate," the male chuckled not needing to look over at the other boat to know that he was already being watched.

The rest of the boat ride was filled with small conversation here and there before the ravenette managed to fall asleep for about an hour before she was woken up by one of her escorting disciples.

"Young Lady Cháng, we've reached Shishan," spoke a stoic female voice as the blind woman sat up and placed her veiled hat back on correctly, "We are going to stop here for lunch before continuing on to Saosu."

"Alright," she replied while stretching out her back before stepping off the boat with some assistance, "How long will it take to get to Saosu from here exactly?"

"It will take approximately two days with us having to set up camp along the way since the fastest route doesn't have any other cities or villages on the way," another disciple explained as they led the Young Lady to a nearby restaurant.

"That's fine," she chirped as they were led up to the second floor of the building that was completely rented out for them alone, "it's quite refreshing to sleep out in nature every once in a while."

"It is, but it is also quite dangerous, Young Lady Cháng," stated the soft voice of the third disciple as she led the female over to a table that already had some food spread out, "Please don't go off on your own while we travel."

"Don't worry, I'm not reckless enough to do that in a place I'm not familiar with," she replied while feeling around in front of her for a pair of chopsticks, "The only place I'll do that is Fengrao."

"Thank you for your cooperation, Young Lady Cháng," all three of the disciples answered in unison before they began their meal.

Since they were eating on the second floor of the restaurant, they could hear all of the activity from the markets below and got some gentle breezes from their spot next to the windows.

The atmosphere was very peaceful as the ravenette enjoyed the new sounds, smells, and energies she was observing from going outside of the place she grew up in for the first time.

'I wonder how the looks of this place differ from Fengrao,' she thought while mindlessly eating a piece of meat from her bowl, 'Would it be as pretty as I've heard?'

'At this point, I'm pretty sure I'd be amazed by anything I looked at if I could see right now,' the female continued with a sigh before lifting a cup of tea up to her lips and taking a long, slow sip.

The food itself, was extremely similar to the foods they had back in Fengrao, with one or two unfamiliar dishes that had a little more kick since they had more access to exotic spices in their current location.

"It appears that the carriage and horses are here," commented the only male in their group after sticking his head out the window, "Are we ready to depart, Young Lady Cháng?"

"I'm ready to go whenever you are," she replied while standing up and placing her veil back on, "We can't keep Xuefeng and Jiějiě waiting for longer than they have to, after all."

"You're right, let's go," agreed the disciple who had first fetched her from her boat, leading her down the stairs and out to the front where she was met with a familiar soul.

"Young Master, Young Ladies," greeted the familiar voice, slightly muffled from the face mask he wore as he donned clothes made of a thicker wool, "I am known as Hēi'an and I will be the carriage driver for this trip."

"It is nice to meet you, we place our young lady in your care," replied the soft-spoken disciple with a small bow before the three went to mount the horses, leaving the ravenette by the carriage.

"You really are quite the sneaky one, aren't you?" she mused as the male took her hand to help her into the wooden carriage before taking his seat just outside of the curtain.

"It's just one of the many talents that we share," he chuckled quietly, taking hold of the reins as he waited for one of the other disciples to take the lead, "How are you enjoying your first time out of Fengrao?"

"It's nice, but it kind of makes me sad that I can't use my eyes," the female replied, placing her veiled hat beside her as she felt the carriage start to move, "I would like to see and explore these places."

"That makes sense, but don't get too sad about it," Mázhe replied as he turned his head to the separating curtain, "I have a feeling you'll get what you want soon enough."

"I doubt it," she huffed in response, while taking her lyre from her hip and beginning to strum a simple melody, "Clan Leader Shu has been trying to find a way to remove the metal from my eyes since I was taken in and he still hasn't found a way to do it after almost two decades."

"You really shouldn't be giving up hope so easily, Lánhuā," he chided with a grin under his mask, "After all, good things come to those who wait."

"Eh, it's better not to hope, because if I do end up never seeing then I won't be disappointed after knowing that and if I do end up seeing it'll be an even sweeter surprise," the female explained, earning a chuckle from her driver.

"I guess that's one way to look at it," he replied while shaking his head before turning to face forward once more.

The group traveled along the road that led to Saosu until the sun went down and they stopped along a river to set up camp and let the horses rest for the night.

As the disciples built the fire and began setting up their dinner for the night, not even bothering with tents because their Young Lady would just sleep in the carriage while they were used to sleeping outside, the nineteen-year-old walked with the carriage driver to the edge of the river.

"It's nice to be so far away from towns full of people," she commented while picking up her robes the walk forward until she was up to her shins in the water, "The air and overall energies here are just so fresh!"

"Yeah, they are, aren't they?" the male mused as he carefully watched the younger being with his arms crossed over his chest, "Being able to experience all the different places is the best part about travelling."

"That's right, you must be used to all of this since you just wander around all the time," she chuckled while turning back to face him, "but doesn't it ever get lonely for you? You do seem like quite the sociable person, after all."

"I am sociable, but that doesn't mean I get lonely when I travel," the darket replied as he stepped forward, "I neither seek out nor reject the company of others."

"Oh really, is that so?" the ravenette scoffed as she tiled her head to the right "Then why were you so whiny about me leaving the cave every time I had to?"

Before he could give an answer, the female immediately snapped her head to look upstream, the rest of her body soon following as she let out a gasp.

"Mei, Jian, Chan!" she called, immediately earning the attention of the three disciples as she pointed upstream, "There's a person floating down the river!"

'What?' the disguised cultivator thought as he turned upstream with squinted eyes, unable to see too far with how dark it was, 'She's able to sense it from that far?'

With no more words needed from their Young Lady, the two females took off along the shore while the male disciple pulled her back from the water and closer to the fire as he took on a defensive position with his sword drawn.

'Looks like these guys really are experienced,' Mázhe internally noted as he examined the male's calm, yet alert stance, 'His weight is distributed so he could freely move anywhere he needed to at a moment's notice and even though his sensory abilities aren't as good as Lánhuā's, he's able to spread a good web of energy.'

"So? Who was it?" Jian questioned as the other disciples returned, the shorter one with an unconscious figure on her back.

"We don't know, but she doesn't look to be in good shape," the stoic female commented as Mei set the figure down by the fire to see that their clothes were torn in various places and there were injuries littered all over their body.

"But she's still alive, so go prepare some dry clothes and set up a tent," the Young Lady instructed as she knelt before the unconscious stranger and began noting where her injuries were.

"Young Lady Cháng, I wouldn't suggest that," Chan spoke as she gave a salute to the ravenette who had already started healing the wounds she could easily get to, "Based on her attire, she seems to be an assassin of some kind and seems to be from out of the country."

"She's right, Young Lady," the other female spoke with furrowed brows, "This person could be a huge danger to you."

"Then why would you bring them back?" the nineteen-year-old huffed as she just continued to focus her energy into her hands, "Just do as I instructed."

With one last wary look at the stranger, the two females left to make the arrangements while the males were left alone with the healer.

The next morning the four from the Shu Clan and the carriage driver were all gathered around the remnants of their campfire from the previous night to have a quick breakfast when the ravenette perked up upon hearing a rustling come from the tent next to them.

"Good morning," she greeted, turning her head halfway, allowing the silhouette of her side profile be seen through the black chiffon while she heard the figure exit the tarp shelter, "I'm glad to hear that you're awake."

Those with functioning eyes could only watch in mild surprise as the figure's crimson eyes widened at the sight of the young woman before she immediately dropped to one knee and bowed her head with her right hand held over her heart.

"Princesa, I am ready to serve you!"

~~~Fin. Chapter 3~~~