She had fair skin, with delicate yet hard brown eyes that stared toward the sun and beyond it her long dark brown hair tied up into a neatly done high ponytail with shoulder length bangs which perfectly framed her face.
The beautiful girl then turned her head slightly and smiled shyly toward the man looking at her who was naturally Zu Dai, he rode forward and was next to her within some breaths. He looked to the side and said "It seems you got over that one fairly quick, quicker than last time I did that at least."
"Well… last time you went overboard and did-" Her head slightly tilted as if she was recounting something and as the seconds began to pass her by and the more she recounted the worser her blush which slowly began from her ear all the way to her cheeks…
Seeing that he was slowly losing her again, he spoke "Y'know if you keep on having these cute reactions, I might be unable to hold myself back."
Her little divulge into her memories of previous teasings paused and she quickly pulled her horse away from him, rushing to the front of the pack of troops again. Turning her head like a cat she quickly said "I'm not cute!'"
He couldn't help but to smile 'Oh yes you are…'
The journey on the road continued and the two of them continued to have a little small chit chat after the event, one morning when the two rode side by side together simply enjoying the sounds of the caravan.
The constant vibrations of the horse beneath him moving him forward in a small trot, he looked to the side and saw that Bo Jiang was enjoying this 'silence' they could call it as well. She smiled warmly at him and then let a hand off her reins and used it to point in a direction.
His eyes followed her hand and within the horizon line three tall towers were forming there, They were beautiful, and recognizable to mostly all the mortals in the region. The master work of architectural design made their beauty known from the steeps hills to the valleys of the forests.
One only needed to look up to the sky and they would be able to see and recognize the three signature towers in the sky floating as it looked down upon them with an immortal yet everlasting gaze that burned upon them like a lion's first kill.
'This is true-' his thoughts were stopped as Bo Jiang uttered a word "Beauty."
He was caught off guard and that caused Bo Jiang to smile which he responded with his own, "When did you get so good at reading minds?"
"When you know someone like you for a long time.." Her voice trailed off and her eyes trailed to the side as well mimicking her voice. Her eyes and head then looked at him, raising her arm she covered her mouth with her sleeve and giggled. She really did enjoy catching him off guard; it was a rare occasion that she loved to enjoy.
He cleared his throat attempting to change the conversation, "We will be closing to the sect soon."
She continued to giggle and then recovered "Yeah, I'm sure we will pass the trials easily, with that training regiment that you came up with I'm sure not a single one of those snobby nobility will be able to match against me!"
The conversation slowly descended into how strong Bo Jiang was and Zu Dai was happy to oblige in this topic and praised her strength while also giving her helpful tips on what she should do when she encounters certain types of people within the competition.
They both continued to talk until they reached the front of the sect gate, The entrance had eccentric signs and a lake that went beneath it and resting on top of the lake as if it was a second piece of the solid earth were swans and birds that swam from side to side without care.
The gates were closed for now, so Zu Dai and the other people who were on the caravan got off their horses or in their case caravan and began to organize their own belongings. He took a large bag off of his horse and then he paused remembering the deal that he had brokered with the Leader who had protected the caravan to this destination.
He walked around and then found him "Are deal." He spoke two syllables but the leader had already moved to get him his stave when he heard the familiar voice of the kid he had met on the rode make a simple sound.
He smiled greatly and then stepped out of the caravan where he was before and onto the earthly ground, his spear being leaned on the side of the caravan like an old mans walking stick within his hands he held a massive stave that was definitely not used for horseback but for rather… if anything goes down this giant stick would be able to fix it…
The Leader held the cudgel in his hands and looked smaller than it, he then gifted the cudgel to Zu Dai who casually leaned this weapon on his shoulder the majority of its length going down his front.
If he took a rough estimation he could say that the cudgel was 6'0 in length and got wider as it ran up the length, 'I really dislike this weapon.' Zu Dai had a disdain for the cudgel. It was a big weapon with a reach advantage but he simply didn't like the look of it, but… 'This is the only weapon I know how to use…'
Zu Dai family was the most accurate description of what most nobles would imagine what a peasant was. The ability to afford swords and iron made weapons were considered too expensive to his family and no matter what they did not have much available to there tiny pockets, 'Mom and Dad had already saved enough to buy me the previous cudgel, the least I did was learn how to use it properly… not as if I had a choice.' Zu Dai also didn't find the appeal of a bow ether and a knife 'Such things like a knife is suicide!' he shook his head dismissively but then turned it to look at the man standing in front of him.
"This weapon will do me well, thank you." He made the cudgel touch the ground as his separate arm stretched to shake hands with the leader.
The leader obliged and said "Just don't forget about are deal now." He pulled him in and pointed at his chest with his separate hand as he spoke to Zu Dai.
"I know, I'll give your guys some riding lessons after the sect competition is over. Just hope I don't get killed during the competition otherwise the deal is off." He smiled at the last part.
The leader felt as if a sudden realization just smacked him on the face as he recovered he pulled him in and patted him on the back "Then don't die then, or I'll be forced to drag your soul here and teach them." During the journey their friendship and acquaintanceship turned into full comradery.
After saying their goodbyes to each other Zu Dai went to the gate. He and Bo Jiang decided to separate before the competition began and had already said a goodbye to each other in order to make their relationship to the people here unknown.
In all it was Zu Dai's idea to separate, he wanted to make a very good impression on the judges and the examiners and he didn't want Bo Jiang to get targeted unless he was strong enough to both protect himself and her.
'But, this plan of mine is going… in a direction to say the least.' Zu Dai felt a constant emblazing gaze lay upon his body the type of which when he breathed he felt a surge of cold water attempt to suffocate him constantly. His eyes changed quickly from the door to the direction of who was staring at him and it was of course… Bo Jiang who stared at him like a fallen empress, dignified and blank it was as if she was staring at her mortal enemy.
'I hate this competitive side to her...But sometimes having a competitive side is oh so good.' It was quite easy for Zu Dai to deduce that Bo Jiang was going to compete with him for first place or a higher ranking than him. Such feelings are helpful in this situation though now he doesn't need to worry if people might view them as friends in this competition and rather more as acquaintances with a very bad history together.
Zu Dai took a calm approach and turned his head back attempting to have no emotion on the matter at all, He also began to keep his eyes on interesting figures within the crowd where he saw a few people that caught his eyes in the beginning.
A handsome young man with sharp features, coupled with a muscular body. He was surrounded by a group of people who he assumed were his followers since they all wore the same exact robe except the young man whose robe was more luxurious than theirs.
A peerless beauty she had dark red hair that fell down her back and a cute exotic face that was considered beautiful to most of the male disciples here. She had an athletic body with a modest bust and with long legs with a more modest posterior. She was giggling and laughing along with a group of girls who seemed to watch her every movement down to the bouncy hip sway that she did almost unintentionally.
A man suddenly wrapped an arm around Zu Dai's shoulder and said "Brother you seem to have good taste!" he hummed those words and continued "That's Bing Ai, She is one of the more popular girls and is favored highly to get within the sect."
He looked to the side and saw a shark faced young man draping his arm around his neck as if they were buddies but Zu Dai didn't mind the gesture and said "Really? Why is she trained in some sort of special martial art or something?" Other men started to also walk into their discussion seeing as it was talking about the peerless beauty.
"I'm working on that but i think so, Her family is one of the bigger noble families around these parts and should've imparted some special martial art to her to get through the entrance exam at least. After the exam i'm pretty sure her aptitude should be great, what do you think?"
Zu Dai hummed before answering "It depends on her family I guess, and if they are really as great as you say I'm guessing a very good aptitude oh by the way. . . what's your name?" The question had bugged Zu Dai since the moment they started to talk to each other. He called the Leader on the way here 'Leader, or boss' simply because he fed into his ego and didn't care about their name but this boy here, he was already thinking of having a nice informant friend.
A man next to Zu Dai said "That's Mo Chang, He's one of the elders' sons here." The man who said this was a little on the hefty side and carried around his waist a sword and dagger combo which Zu Dai had to admit was kind've strange since he never seen that kind've fighting style before…