The small entourage was brought past the walls of trees and into a small pathway on their right hand cutting through the dense forest. However, now, they had one more person in addition to their group.
It was the white noble-looking man walking up ahead with his hands crossed behind his back. There was a sense of pride excluding from his upright demeanour that Hui Lan could not help but wrinkle her nose in distaste.
Nevertheless, no one had spoken a word with one another since they began walking on this path. The torches were still being held high in the air and covering their feet, but the pathway was still visible to their keen eyes, although Hui Lan was still struggling to see clearly in the dark, she simply followed the rest.
As the group walked further on, the sounds of wild animals grew much more distant, but the trees beside had not grown any less thick.
Just as Hui Lan thought that they would continue to walk further, Feng Furen's senior brother stopped in the midst of the dark forest and others followed along.
With one swift, small tiny lights were lit up at the same time. Moreover, those tiny little lights were all floating from here and there. However, as there was light, the area became more visible and just in front of where their guide was standing at, a wide hole that seemed to go further down into the earth appeared before their eyes.
...Fireflies? Hui Lan could not help but admire the rawness of nature around her.
"Alright, let's go in shall we?" The man in his white robes asked gleefully.
Feng Furen responded in agreement, "En, Yi Ge."
Then, with a swoosh of his sleeves towards the entrance, the small tiny little lights flew inside the hole.
Feng Furen whispered quietly in Hui Lan's ears, "You can call him Elder Yi."
Hui Lan turned to nod as an acknowledgement before turning to look at the small lights that were slowly appearing around them.
Hui Lan's eyes began to sparkle as these fireflies flew inside the underground hole. There seemed to be more fireflies than she had thought for what seemed to be a shabby looking entrance appeared to be the entrance of a neat looking pathway.
The fireflies flew soundlessly in order with one another and made a line within the pathway of the underground hole.
Hui Lan could not keep in her amazement and gasped softly.
...It was indeed beautiful.
Even as softly as Hui Lan's soft gasp, Elder Yi quickly glanced at Hui Lan in the corner of his eyes and felt happy of himself that the young girl was admiring his artwork.
...There, his skills were still with him even after all these years. Sigh, how long has it been since anyone was ever allowed to come in here?
...This young lady seemed to be the only exception that master held. However, ever since the day she was born, he had never come out of his cave and watched her grow up. Even he became an uncle...which could only mean that master would be her grandfather.
...Aiya, 22 years it has been...22 long years.
With Feng Furen's senior brother's lead, the entire group began walking inside the once dark hole. When everyone had made their way inside, the entrance was immediately sealed off with an automatic stone door.
However, not long after, there were loud sounds of scratching and gashing from the outside. The loud noise sounded like many different big claws gashing onto the door to open.
All of the men and Hui Lan had instantly turned around when they had heard the terrifying noise. Meanwhile, the two elders among the group simply took no notice in such noises.
"Wolves," Elder Yi's voice resounded inside the pathway, "They never give up at all after all these years, tut tut." Elder Yi seemed to be speaking towards those aggressive scratching and gnashing from outside. He then turned to the younger generations around him and brought their attention back to him, "Leave them, they'll never be able to enter." However, there were still concerns in their faces, "Sigh. Come along now, we have a lot of things to get done today."
Elder flicked his sleeves to his back and held his hands together behind his back before walking away. He did not turn around for the second time and made his way along the pathway.
Feng Furen revealed a smile small at Hui Lan's small yet adorable gestures.
...She seemed to be a much livelier Hui Lan than her daughter who she knew before.
Nevertheless, Feng Furen did not stand by any longer and followed her senior brother inside. It had been so long since she had been into this place. Her heart began to beat faster as she grew more excited to return to the place where she once called her home.
Seeing Feng Furen leave, Hui Lan too did not hesitate to follow the elder inside. She did not want to be left alone with others that she did not know ah.
Fast enough, the group had finally arrived at the end of the passage and what appeared in front of them were two huge red doors shut tightly.
Elder Yi placed his hands onto the corner of the door and pressed onto it. As if a button was being pressed, that part of the door sunk into itself and once Elder Yi's hands withdrew from it, the door returned to its flat surface.
Right after, the big doors became open and the scene beyond the door was revealed in front of their eyes.
Inside, many different kinds of birds flew about in different directions. Most carrying different kinds of pieces in their beaks; some looked as if carrying a roll of paper.
In the middle was a gigantic tree standing in the middle of the wide space. The entire place looked like an arena due to its round and enclosure shape. Moreover, instead of seats, there were piles of bookshelves on one side and on the other looked as if there were rooms and rooms all lined up beside each other.
Hui Lan looked around in amazement. This was like a historical site that was brought back alive again.
Underneath the gigantic tree and among the green grass, another figure in white robes was sitting uprightly as he focused onto writing something down with his brush. He kept his beard long but it was neatly groomed.
Hui Lan tilted her head slightly in curiosity at the other person.
"How long do you think you would like to keep staring at me, young lady?" The elder's voice took Hui Lan by surprise.
...Aiya, she had run into another martial master?
Feng Furen turned around to Hui Lan and signalled her daughter to greet the other elder in the room.
Hui Lan quickly caught Feng Furen's indication and felt helpless.
....Hoo, it was alright. She needed to be an adaptable person! Not everything goes in the way she wanted.
Hui Lan alone walked forward towards the other person in front of her. She walked past Feng Furen who seemingly looked concerned and Elder Yi who was smiling brightly with his smiling eyes. Seeing such, Hui Lan could not help but feel a bad feeling creeping all over her, she could only hope that things would turn out alright.
When she was closer and could see the elderly man in front of her, someone had thrown a small rock from behind her which caused her knees to flop and instantly she was kneeling in front of the other person.
"Hm, so you still know your manners?" The elder spoke with an aloof voice.
Hui Lan quickly realized what he meant. By Feng Furen's greetings, it seemed to be this. However, who was this person even?
While Hui Lan remained quiet, the elder spoke up again while his eyes and hands were still focused on his writing, "I hate those that come in with connections. Never thought highly of them and you," All of a sudden, the elder looked up from his writing and shot an indifference look at Hui Lan, " You're very much like that." Then, instantly, the solid ground where Hui Lan had been kneeling on began to rumble like the earth was splitting apart.
Just like what she was feeling, the ground that she had been kneeling on was now rising up into the air. Hui Lan's eyes grew wide as she was being lifted up higher and higher in the sky.
"Hui Lan stand up quick!" Feng Furen shouted from below in fear for Hui Lan.
Hui Lan quickly got up and just in time, the ground that she had been kneeling onto was now beginning to grow smaller and smaller. Standing on the unstable ground was hard enough, but now, the only surface where she could stand onto was growing smaller in size.
...What on earth was this person thinking!?
Below Hui Lan, the elder quickly reprimanded Feng Furen, "Feng Nuo, I forbid you from speaking from now onwards." The elder that had been sitting had now stood up nobly.
"But please, teacher!" Feng Furen did not stop protesting.
The elder flicked a clean white fan open before speaking, "You brought her here, I did not mind. Now, you want me to teach her, then it will be my own rules." Soon after, the ground where the elder had been standing on began elevating up just like Hui Lan. However, the only differences was that his ground platform did not reduce in size.
Moreover, more square platforms were being lifted up respectively around Hui Lan and the elder. The entire place was now filled with tall big mechanic poles in the centre of the arena. All of the birds made way and went to rest inside the big tree to watch the new student that was to be accepted inside.
Hui Lan's ground platform was now reduced to the size of her two small feet. When Hui Lan was around 5 meters in the air, the ground stopped elevating up and became still.
The elder quickly followed up with Hui Lan and now, both were standing in the air on their separate platforms.
The elder closed his white fan and pointed at Hui Lan's left feet, "Lift it up." The elder instructed simply.
Hui Lan pursed her lips.
Who did he think he…
Before Hui Lan could even say anything, the solid ground that had been supporting her left foot dropped down and what was left was plain air.
Now, Hui Lan was standing in the air with one leg on her platform.
Hui Lan gritted her teeth as she was now being forced to stand on her one leg, "Who are you!?" Hui Lan threw the question rather harshly at the other person.
"There is no 'you' or 'me' between us, young lady. From now on you will call me Elder Zhang, since you are yet my student, you will not call me master. This is your first test to become my student. There will be three tests in total, and that will be my entrance exam for you." The elder took a step forward in the air and just as he was about to fall, a stone platform appeared underneath his feet.
"Now, lift your legs behind you young lady." The elder ordered right after stepping onto another platform.
Hui Lan's facial expressions showed no more signs of complaints but instead were placed with cold indifference. Without speaking, she lifted her left leg behind her. However, although her right leg almost staggered and her muscles were already beginning to shake, Hui Lan was able to balance shakily on the platform. The male clothes that she was wearing were truly fitting for such movement.
Hui Lan seemed to know what she was doing without the elder telling her and bent her body forward slightly. Her eyes then stared beyond Elder Zhang who was in front of her.
Her eyes showed nothing but calmness as she looked beyond.
She knew fair well what this person was doing. It seemed she would have to go all over the basics from now on.
...It was just that this body did not have any sense of balance at all ah. Tut!
In Elder Zhang's heart, her impression was slightly better, but only a little bit. His reputation was his stone heart. Just this did not move him so easily.
Seeing that she was balancing just fine, the elder then sat down onto his own platform and closed his eyes in meditation, "Now, keep your balance and focus."
Only a few minutes had passed, but Hui Lan could not help but bit her lips tightly.
...It hurts!