Lu Meihui soon also came to another conclusion. She couldn't just force Li shan to come with her, she wants to also leave a good impression with him and not appear as someone unjust. Lu Meihui snuck around the mansion, delaying the inevitable of having to convince the boy. She chose to take action at nightfall, adding another day to her stay here. Although she had already located him, she walked at a slow pace. As she rounded the corner which should be where the boy was, she was greeted with an odd sight.
"Pah! Useless boy! You can't even wash these dishes right! Look at these bowls, do they look clean to you!?" An elder woman was yelling at the young boy Lu Meihui currently considered her people. He didn't dare try to defend him, lest he offended her. The old woman, seeing how apathetic Li Shan was, raised her hand to physically assault him. She, however, did not get far before her master intercepted her.
"Stand down!" And for good measure, she released a small dose of her spirit energy. She couldn't outright state this boy was one of her people right now and could only act as a lenient master who didn't mind a small mistake.
"M-mistress... This-this boy here-" The old hag began trying to explain herself but...
"I'm aware of the situation, however, this boy is still young and has plenty of time to improve, no?" Lu Meihui replied. It's best to send this servant away for now. However, I, Lu Meihui will remember this heartless old hag until I exact my revenge. This small matter was simply over one dirty bowl yet she wished to harm Li Shan's face for it?
"Y-yes, this one shall listen to mistress..." The old lady left after informing Lu Meihui.
Lu Meihui turned to the boy. She hoped she didn't scare him... unbeknownst to her, the boy was starstruck. This girl, who was probably younger than him, was so cool! Before speaking he crouched down.
"Ah... Mistress, s-sorry for troubling you like this, and thank you for saving me..." Although in his heart it felt a bit strange to be thanking a younger girl.
"No problem, hey do you want to make it up to me?" Lu Meihui didn't want to take advantage of him but this was an exception! This is for his own good! I'm not a bad person! As Lu Meihui tried to convince herself why this wasn't immoral, the boy was confused. What could she want from me? After all, I'm already the equivalent of a slave...
"Of course mistress, what do you need done?"
"Pack your bags, we're leaving tomorrow night, and come back here."
"Huh? Mistress, what do you mean by that... don't you need me to run an errand for you or such?"
"Hmm? Who needs you to do that, I can run my own errands but I can't entertain myself."
"Ah... Alright, mistress. This young one will go pack their bags."
"Wait, I'm not done yet."
"Yes, mistress?"
"First stop calling me mistress and call me by my name."
"H-how could I dare do something so disrespectful!?"
"I said you can, so you can. Mistress this, mistress that... Is my name only for show?"
"Ah! This one will listen to mistress- ah- no- I mean L-Lu... Lady Lu Meihui!"
"..." Well that's better than mistress I suppose. "Also, I have a gift for you."
"A-ah! For this lowly servant..?"
"Yes, I want to give you a name."
"Ah! T-this one is moved by Lady Lu Meihui's kindness!"
"Li Shan in the future, don't kneel to just anyone like this, rise if you understand." Li Shan stood up and bowed to Lu Meihui.
"Li Shan understands Lady Lu Meihui!" And for the first time since waking up in her new body, Lu Meihui smiled. With this, they can finally start their lives first heading to the mountains!
"Stop dilly-dallying, those bags won't pack themselves. I'll be waiting for you, Li Shan."
"Li Shan understands!"
"Also, wash your face while you're at it."
"Ah! Alright!" With that, Lu Meihui left, now that Li Shan had agreed she needed to prepare one more thing.
Although Lu Meihui had spent quite a while here, she felt nothing as she was preparing to leave. Perhaps, she never once considered this place as home, to begin with. Lu Meihui searched her room and courtyard from top to bottom in search of materials. Materials for Li Shan's gift.
He must not have much so this is the least I could do for him... Lu Meihui didn't dwell on the reason too long and began working. She used a mix of wood, dirt, her own blood, and of course her spirit qi to create Li Shan's gift.
First, she considered making him a bodyguard but that would be useless as she would always be with Li Shan anyways. Then she thought she could make him a weapon. Lu Meihui couldn't find any decent metal so she substituted them with her blood. Although she wasn't someone who cultivated with blood, she knew how to use it in lucrative ways that are no longer used in this era. It didn't take her long to make 2 different weapons. A decent-sized sword and a set of sharp needles.
First, I should teach him the sword then basic medical knowledge. It's important to know how to fight and heal. Although the quality of these is terrible, there's nothing I can do about it.
Lu Meihui didn't want to bleed too much for her gift since she was still very weak so she could only make these 2 during the night. She still needed strength for tomorrow. After a few touchups and double-checking packing, Lu Meihui realized it was already morning. She left her room and took anything that she could use in the near future. She didn't have much money so she spent the morning and afternoon looking for anything to pawn in the future. Although this money is useless in the wild, she doesn't plan to stay in the mountains for too long. Now that she had a whole life of opportunities ahead of her, she'd be a fool to waste it.
As dusk rolled in, Lu Meihui made a beeline to Li Shan. It took her significantly less time than it did yesterday. In contrast to her mental age, she grew excited about Li Shan's reaction towards her gifts. It was the first time she had personally made a gift for someone and she hoped it would suffice.
While Lu Meihui was working on her gift last night and busied herself the whole morning and afternoon, Li Shan busied himself with packing. It wasn't too difficult seeing he owned little to nothing. Not enough money for even a meal, a few tattered pieces of clothes, and a book he had found in the trash. However, it was because he had practically nothing he was packing with such excitement. Yesterday proved that there was nothing left for him in this place but if he left with Lady Lu Meihui, maybe he could finally learn to stand up for himself. Lady Lu Meihui is so cool, she must know a thing or two about cultivation. He indeed liked this place, but the prospect of leaving with Lady Lu Meihui was even more appealing than staying. Although there was no solid proof of this happening, for some reason Li Shan knew as long as he stayed with lady Lu Meihui he need not fear the future. And when push comes to shove, he didn't exactly have a choice.
Lu Meihui doubled checked everything before she went to go meet up with Li Shan. She even prepared two pillows underneath her sheets so at a glance it looked like she was in bed. She doubted the servants would even check on her well-being so doing this was already overkill. With everything in place, she set out to retrieve Li Shan and begin their journey to the mountains.
"Lady Lu Meihui!" Ai? This pretty boy is Li Shan... Oh my, I think I've just hit the jackpot! An honest and handsome lad who's got great potential.
"L-lady Lu Meihui?"
"Ah! My apologies, I must have zoned out. Li Shan, are you ready to set sail?" I must admire Li Shan's face later. For now, we should focus on the present.
"Set sail?"
"Ah, nevermind..." That's strange, I don't remember having heard that before but I said it before I could stop myself, I must be saying weird phrases after being pleasantly surprised by Li Shan's face.
"Come on, let's go find somewhere to stay before the sun rises."
"Ah. Are you sure we can find somewhere in that time?"
"Of course, does it seem impossible?"
"Won't it take at least a week to get to the top of the mountain?"
"Hmm? Yes well, if you're going about it the mortal way... Wait you don't think we're actually going to scale the mountain, are you?" Li Shan flushed in embarrassment. Wasn't that how you're supposed to get to the top of the mountain??
"Pfft... You're so cute Li Shan! Aish you're just like a youth who's been sheltered from birth!"
"////"
"Li Shan don't be ridiculous, we're going to fly up!"
"What?! Aren't only super powerful cultivators able to do that?"
"Yes, normally. Due to the sheer amount of spirit qi needed to achieve mid-air suspension, only yuanying cultivators would be able to maintain the taxing flow of spirit qi required."
"Ah... Lady Lu Meihui I'm, uh well, Li Shan is not educated and do not understand what exactly a yuanying cultivator is..."
"Hm? Ah, then I'll just explain from scratch as when we find a place to live."
"Huh? Ah! We've arrived at the foot of the mountain... um Lady Lu Meihui how..."
"Don't worry your pretty little head about it, Li Shan!" And even if he wanted to, he didn't have the chance because he was soaring through the sky in the next moment. Li Shan had never felt so unstable and anxious at the same time, but the feeling only lasted for a moment before he felt the ground beneath his feet.
"A-ah..." Li Shan felt very conflicted. He thought he would be able to handle any obstacle that came his way after that. But after simply levitating he felt discord and distraught. He had never felt so powerless in his life but... But for some reason, he felt this strange euphoria. Although this experience was absolutely terrifying, it was breathtakingly priceless. He felt powerless, no doubt, but he also felt free. As he was drifting between consciousness, Lu Meihui guarded Li Shan as he entered a state of enlightenment.
Lu Meihui wasn't expecting Li Shan to enter this state so quickly. Flying was a surreal experience that most don't have until centuries of cultivation so they wouldn't receive enlightenment but Li Shan has not cultivated for such a long time. Hence Lu Meihui anticipated this but not so soon after experiencing it. Nevertheless, entering this state leaves the cultivator very vulnerable. And with all the spirit qi Li Shan was releasing, Lu Meihui took it upon herself to watch over Li Shan. It's only natural I do so for someone I consider my people. So for the next few weeks, Lu Meihui actively surveyed the area by evenly distributing her spirit qi to an undetectable degree. The purpose was to trap spirit beasts lured in by Li Shan's leaking spirit qi and to find a suitable place to temporarily call home.
Lu Meihui didn't realize, however, how picky she was until she began searching. Thank god for Li Shan taking needing such a long period of time for enlightenment or else Lu Meihui would've been forced to settle in a place she didn't find up to her standards. But this also fueled her to look even harder for the perfect place. In actuality, Lu Meihui wasn't that picky but there was one particular area in the mountains that was a parasite that continuously absorbed the surrounding spirit qi. Although that meant the surrounding area was close to useless, it also meant that once Lu Meihui finds the spirit qi hotspot, all this effort into searching miles and miles would be worth it!