Over the following days, the Golden Witch and her two companions rapidly crossed plains, mountains, and rivers without break, soon leaving the lands of the Qin far behind them. They briskly skipped past most settlements and roughed it out in the wild during the night. Cui Shen turned out to be no stranger to the great outdoors, and taught Bai Guo a great deal about surviving in the wilderness. The two of them subsisted on game and dry rations, while the Witch seemed perfectly sated with just air and sunlight, and only touched food when the day's haul seemed particularly tasty.
One afternoon, Bai Guo, in hopes of pleasing his enigmatic master, presented her with a basket of blueish berries.
The golden haired woman stared at them strangely for a time, before finally saying, "I don't eat blue berries."
Deeply confused by her statement, the young man couldn't help but ask why.
"The last time I had blue ones, I got sick." She explained.
"But the old lady in the village vouched that these are safe to eat. Sir Shen and I have been eating these all day, and we're fine. They're quite delicious. Are you sure these are the same berries you've had before?"
The Golden Witch threw another suspicious glance at the basket. She eventually turned away. "I'm not hungry right now."
Bai Guo's shoulders slumped in exasperation. Before the day had ended, he filled his basket with red berries and presented it to her again. These ones, she chowed down happily.
Bai Guo sighed, but took his victories where he could find them.
As they drew closer to their destination, the already taciturn Cui Shen grew even more distant. Flanked on both sides by the aloof, Bai Guo felt restless, and of the three, ended up missing the comfort of the cities the most.
They eventually came across a large mansion in the countryside with green tiled roofs and red walls.
Cui Shen offered the rare word. "It's less than a day from here."
Bai Guo glimpsed at the sun, far to the west, and said, "It's getting late. Maybe those people can house us for the night?"
"There's no need for that." Cui Shen seemed adamant, and since his master seemed content with this course of action, Bai Guo had little choice but to begrudgingly follow along.
As they were passing the mansion by, they heard an old man's voice calling out to them.
"Young master! Young master! Is it really you?" An excited servant was rushing after them as briskly as his old age would permit, broom in his hand.
"Is he talking to us?" Bai Guo asked as the bearded man approached.
But the most surprised of the three was Cui Shen. "Old Yang...?"
Old Yang was bald, and his messy white beard resembled whiskers. He was beside himself with joy once the recognition turned out to be mutual, and seemed intent on dropping to the ground to kowtow. Cui Shen gripped him by the arms to stop him.
"There's no need for that at your age, old man..." He reassured, and old Yang nodded happily. Cui Shen turned to his companions and offered an introduction. "This is servant Yang. He served the Cui family for generations."
"This manor is yours, sir Shen?" Bai Guo gawked.
"Not anymore..." He vaguely replied.
"Young master, how long has it been?" Old Yang asked, a big grin on his face.
"So long that I'm neither young nor your master anymore, old Yang." Cui Shen released the man. "We were just passing by. No need to tell the new masters that we were here."
"No, no, no, young master, you've picked a great time to visit! The masters have gone to visit their relatives in the city; they'll be gone for a long time. It's just us servants now. We would be happy to give you a proper welcome!" The servant stepped away to greet Bai Guo and his golden haired master.
He tried to offer a shaky bow, but Cui Shen stopped him again. "There's really no need for that..."
"Young master keeps the company of immortals." The servant said, his hands respectfully clasped together. Though he spoke with politeness and eloquence, he could hardly help but stare at the peculiar woman towering over them all. "I pray his exalted companions will not be offended by the meager hospitality of our humble abode."
The Witch's yellow eyes twinkled with amusement.
"Forgive us for intruding." She said, a cunning smile on her face, stepping forward to follow along.
Cui Shen glared at her indignantly, but before the beaming old man, he seemed utterly disarmed of wit, and failed to muster more than half a word in protest as they were all ushered into the guest hall.
After Bai Guo had introduced himself and his master, the servants feasted the visitors with a variety of meats and dishes.
Cui Shen grumbled as he sipped his wine. "I'm surprised you managed to make me out from that far away, old Yang. The years have treated you well." Even though you must be a hundred years old now, he thought.
"They don't call me Eagle Eyed Yang for nothing, young master." The old man bragged.
"So, young master," The Golden Witch began smugly as she popped a boiled egg into her mouth. "How come you didn't tell us that this was your manor?" She asked, still chewing.
"It is not my manor. By the time I inherited it, I was living far away, in the lands of the Wuyi. There was nothing to do but to sell it."
"This place really is quite the long way from Wuyi." Bai Guo chimed in. "What made you move so far away, sir Shen?"
Cui Shen sighed. "The same thing that's made me return."
"The Five Venoms Devil?" The young man asked. Some of the servants gasped upon hearing that name; others grew pale. Unexpectedly, his question had marred the merry atmosphere in the room. Only Old Yang scoffed derisively, unafraid of the title.
Cui Shen explained, "In my youth, I had done something to offend her, and needed to escape."
Old Yang snorted like a raging bull. "Day after day we pray for some brave fellow to come by and put an end to that witch. Nobody feels at ease living next door to a poisoner of such cruel renown. Guests won't take our food, the neighbors live in fear. And just because young master favored the young mistress, he got chased out of his own home! Unthinkable!"
"That's enough." Cui Shen's voice was like ice. "I don't wish to keep talking about this."
For a moment, the old servant wore a stubborn expression and seemed like he was about to persist in his grumbling, but ultimately, he obeyed and dropped the subject. He turned to the Golden Witch.
"Is the wine not to your liking, young lady...?" He asked, noticing that she hadn't touched her drinks at all.
"I don't drink wine." She said.
Old Yang clapped his hands. "Bring some tea for our guest, quickly!"
The servants hastily obliged, and the picky guest seemed satisfied.
"But you know, Cui Shen," The Golden Witch said. "Since we're about to meet with her, I think it would do us all well if you told us as much about it as you could."
Cui Shen closed his eyes. "I thought you of all people would be more understanding of someone unwilling to talk about their past."
The Golden Witch furrowed her brows, but had no good response. She looked at Bai Guo as if expecting something from him. Bai Guo peered at his master past his wine bowl as he finished another drink, but he seemed to grasp the meaning behind her petulant stare. The young man took a moment to think.
"With all due respect, sir Shen," He began. "I think your relationship with the Five Venoms Devil may prove instrumental to the resolution of this matter."
"Is that so?" Cui Shen parried. "Perhaps I could offer better advice if your master would divulge her intentions in more depth than that of a single phrase. But it seems like we will have to make do with what we have."
His frustrations seemed to be mounting in earnest, so both master and disciple reneged.
After a long silence, Cui Shen seemed to regain his cool. He took a swig from his wine bowl, and despite his earlier words, began to tell the story.
"The Five Venoms Devil kidnaps young girls to train them as her successors in the poisoner arts. Back when I lived here, her disciple used to frequently sneak out of the Devil's territory, and we met each other by chance. One thing led to another, and, when it became clear that neither of our guardians would approve of us, we decided to run away together."
"Is this woman's name Meili, by any chance?" Bai Guo asked.
"It is. How did you know?"
"When master brought you back from the brink of death, it was the first thing you spoke."
"Really? I don't recall..." Cui Shen repressed a sigh before continuing. "...But to make a long story short, as I've told you before, Meili was eventually betrayed by her employers and killed. I returned to her master seeking help, and she gave me the tools and training I needed to kill Deng Hong."
The Golden Witch regarded him with a bitter expression. "And it's because of her training that you're suffering now. Whatever she did to you to make you immune to that poisonous air, it..."
"I don't regret it." Cui Shen asserted. "And I don't hold any grudge against her. I was always intending to throw my life away for revenge. She only did as I asked."
Bai Guo asked, "Is the poisonous gas you used one of the five venoms from her title? Though I understand that it's technically not venom, but still..."
"I believe, in a way, it is." Cui Shen said. "She simply modified it for my purpose."
"For a suicide run..." Bai Guo shook his head.
Old Yang wiped at his eyes. "But at the very least... in the end, the young master slayed that treacherous villain. Word of his heroic deeds has reached us even out here."
"The world is mistaken about my part in it." Cui Shen said. "In truth, the hero who killed Deng Hong and saved me from certain death is sitting over there."
The servants trailed his stare to the strange golden haired woman. Suddenly, they all dropped to the floor, kowtowing before her.
"Thank you for avenging the young mistress! Thank you for saving the young master!" They exclaimed. The recipient of their gratitude shook her head as she looked all around her at the surrounding servants, befuddled and embarrassed by the treatment.
"Please rise..." She said meekly when it became clear that they would not do so of their own volition.
After the servants got back to their feet, Cui Shen continued. "Overall, there is little I can tell you about her poisons. She armed me with a single formula, and I only understand how to produce it. Most of the principles behind its workings elude me."
A silence descended upon the room. The Golden Witch apologetically stared into her teacup for a time. "You were right. This really didn't clear up how we might be received. Sorry for pressing you on this."
Cui Shen waved his hand. "Forget it. My words were without meaning as well. In truth, I think I have some understanding of what your intentions are."
Bai Guo's ears, already red from the wine, perked up at that. "Really?" He asked, but both of his seniors ignored him. As the mood began to grow strange, after asking for more wine, he continued. "Well, tomorrow is going to be a difficult day! Since things have turned out this way, let's just try to enjoy these people's hospitality."
"You're right." The Golden Witch and Cui Shen spoke in unison.
They wined and dined until late into the night.
Eventually, Cui Shen decided to end the feast. "Your masters are surely not going to be pleased with how much food and wine you graced us with, old Yang. We can't impose on you any more than this. We should retire for the night."
"Nonsense!" The old man protested. "If the masters were here, they'd entertain you far better than this old slave."
But Cui Shen insisted, and the servant eventually conceded.
Bai Guo had had so much wine that the young man could hardly stand upright, and had to be helped to his room by a servant.
Cui Shen said, "It won't do you well to be hungover tomorrow. Why did you drink so much?"
"Sorry, sir Shen," The young man slurred as he apologized. "But it's been so long since we last got to visit a place as nice as this. And the wine they have here is so good!"
Cui Shen shook his head as he followed the young man into the guest rooms.
The Golden Witch skeptically looked back at Bai Guo's half-filled bowl of wine. She picked it up and sniffed its contents, hesitating for a great deal of time before finally taking a sip. Her eyebrows flew up in surprise, and she quickly finished the rest. The woman set the bowl down where it was and went with the others to retire for the night.