Yawn! Shanqiao stretched her arms and instinctively looked for Ruoxi and her servant Yiyi.
It had been three days since they've started travelling together. With both her increased speed and the fact that both Ruoxi and Yiyi were cultivators, they had finally reached the Huangshan Mountains.
"Fufufu…" she let out an evil chuckle as she stretched her fingers. They descended ominously towards Ruoxi…
"Are you trying to tickle me?" a sleepy voice asked from under her.
"Aww…" Shanqiao pouted. "Won't you let me succeed at least once?" she whined at her friend.
"Ha! Why should I?" Ruoxi raised an eyebrow as she watched the other girl act like a child for once. "Why submit myself to torture when I can avoid it?" she frowned.
"Please?" Shanqiao shamelessly rubbed herself against Ruoxi.
Yiyi, who had been out for surveillance, came back to this scene. A smile of pure happiness was drawn out from her heart. It was unusual for her young miss to have a friend her age, let alone act like the ten year old girl she was. After observing Ruan Shanqiao for the last week, she had also determined that this miss was similar to her Han Family's young miss when it came to maturity. As a result, whenever she saw these rare scenes where the two of them acted their age, her heart burst with warmth.
"Misses, we should start heading into the mountains."
They looked up at Yiyi and blinked in harmony.
"AH…" Shanqiao was the first to snap out of her stupor. "Yes, the Huangshan Mountains. Ruoxi, can you bring out that jade tablet of mine?"
Ruoxi did as she asked. Ever since they started traveling together, she had been in charge of Shanqiao's belongings. This job would have been handed to Yiyi, but it wasn't as if her friend even had a lot to begin with.
"This one, right?"
"Yes, thank you." She took the jade tablet and read it once more.
"What does it say?"
"The only specification of the location of this bird is either the seventh, eighth, or ninth ridge." Shanqiao sighed as the look in her eyes fell dead.
"Those are pretty big areas… And the more dangerous ones."
"Well, we don't have much of a choice now…"
"Let's make a bet," Ruoxi's eyes shifted to reveal a vicious glint. "I bet we'll make it there in three days."
"I doubt it will take that short of a time…" Yiyi muttered from her position.
"Oh, Yiyi want to join the bet?" she smiled confidently. "I'll most definitely win."
"Ah! No thank you, miss."
"I'm not joining either."
"Both of you are no fun," Ruoxi frowned.
"Hmm…" Shanqiao ignored and started up the mountain, slashing her sword as she went.
After taking a long glance at her young miss, Yiyi ran after Shanqiao.
Ruoxi pouted as she watched the two start to venture into the mountains. As she was about to chase after them, there was a flutter in the corner of her eye. Like a cat catching a fly, she quickly snatched the paper crane from the air and read it. She cursed under her breath as her expression grew dark.
After a deep breath, she pulled on a poker face and ran after her friend and her servant.
***
"We've reached the edge of the third ridge," Yiyi pointed out as the three of them took a break by the river.
"We haven't run into any spirit beasts yet." Shanqiao remarked with a straight face as she looked towards the fourth ridge. "That's actually quite unusual, isn't it?"
"There are no birds."
They looked up together as one towards the sky. Not a single of shadow dotted the sky/
Despite the clear blue sky, the seemingly lack of life was ominous.
After a while, Shanqiao finally declared, "There's no trouble for us yet. Since we don't have enough information to come to our own conclusions, it may be better to proceed cautiously than to give up. After all, we've already gone so far."
"That's true."
Ruoxi frowned slightly. She had a feeling these chills were related to the politics of the annihilation of the Ruan Clan. However, her brother had yet to notify her of anything, and they were so isolated from society that it was nearly impossible to reach any conclusions.
Now with their paranoia perked, the threesome continued.
The Huangshan Mountains were actually quite mystical.
When they had initially arrived Ruan Shanqiao had been surprised by the steep cliffs and smooth slabs of rock that the mountains were made up of. They were lined with clouds that hung low in the sky. It was just like those fantastical places that the popular author, Zhuang Linlin, wrote about in his stories.
If she had come here with her family, perhaps the sight before her would have been one that brought her tenfold more joy and fascination.
She took a deep breath to control her welling emotions. At least she had been able to befriend Han Ruoxi and her servant Yiyi.
And… soon, she would be able to obtain the legendary item that her father had left her clues about. Perhaps then, she would understand the hope and legacy her parents held as they forced her to live on without them.
"Shanqiao!" Ruoxi waved a hand from further up.
The ten year old girl smiled and ran once more to join her companions in their journey