It took until noon for them to sleep off the fatigue of their travels. Old Yang noticed that Bai Guo was walking about with a hangover, and cooked him up a bitter remedy for his heavy head. The rest of the servants rose early in the morning to supply the three heroes with food for their journey. After a late and filling breakfast, they thanked the servants for their hospitality and parted after exchanging bows.
They soon entered a sparse forest, and as they ventured further, the air grew thick and humid. It was not long before it turned into a swamp seething with the sounds of toads and snakes.
"Be very careful." Cui Shen cautioned. "Almost everything you'll find here is either poisonous or venomous, plants and beasts alike. Even if you think you recognize something as harmless, think again. This is a unique place, a territory that has been especially cultivated with the purpose of producing the deadliest toxins. There are things here you won't find anywhere else in the world. Don't touch anything."
Bai Guo grew pale as he listened. He soon started jumping at every noise and shadow.
"I'll handle the introductions," He continued. "But you'll have to handle the rest on your own."
"That's fine." The Golden Witch replied.
"Don't forget about your promise." Cui Shen cautioned her.
"I won't harm her." She reassured.
Suddenly, Bai Guo yelped, leaping away from a bush. His fear shifted to surprise as he inspected the thing that gave him such a scare. "There's a basket here with grass in it..."
As Cui Shen glanced at the item, his dark eyes became warm.
The Golden Witch whispered, "There's someone approaching us from over there."
"Let them approach." Cui Shen said.
As they waited, they soon spotted some shrubbery shifting around. Perhaps noticing them, the presence had suddenly become meek and evasive, and it became difficult to see any movement at all.
After a time, a young woman, about Bai Guo's age, emerged from hiding. "Junior martial brother, is that you?"
The girl wore loose, long-sleeved clothing of dark green that blended into the backdrop of the swamp. Her gloved hands were caked in so much dirt that it was difficult to make out the color of their fabric. She seemed to be almost hiding her pale, sweat-slicked face beneath her wide-brimmed hat, her dark eyes warily peering past it at the trio.
Cui Shen bowed to her in greeting. "Senior martial sister."
"It really is you!" She exclaimed. "We all thought you were dead... After we had heard that you succeeded in your task, we even held a funeral for you. We all mourned you, even the mistress..."
"I'm sorry. We're here to meet lady Ouyang."
She gasped. "You know that can't be done! You should leave this place before she finds out you were here! Even if you hadn't brought outsiders, she still wouldn't welcome you. I'm glad to know you still live, but you know what the mistress is like. You shouldn't be here!"
"I know, Ling Ling. However, this must be done." Cui Shen insisted.
"I can't lead you all to your deaths..."
"I still remember the lay of the land. We can get there on our own."
"It wouldn't do at all to leave you unattended, either..." Mumbled Ling Ling. After some waxing and waning, she eventually bowed in greeting to the other two. "I'll guide you there. Maybe I can convince the mistress to stay her hand... Please call me Ling Ling."
"This young man is Bai Guo, and this is his master, the Golden Witch." Cui Shen introduced.
As they all exchanged greetings, Ling Ling couldn't help but stare at the towering blonde. Though the girl's mouth opened at times, she couldn't force out whatever question she may have had. Ling Ling eventually managed to pry her eyes away and led the way.
But even as they trudged through the swamp, she continued to steal glances at the Witch whenever she could. Unbeknownst to Ling Ling, the Golden Witch could always tell when she was staring, no matter how well she hid herself, or from how obscure of an angle she observed her. Bai Guo's mischievous master had soon made a game of meeting Ling Ling's eyes at the most inopportune times, prompting the girl to abruptly avert her gaze. The longer their strange game went on, the sharper their movements became, both catching and evading. To Ling Ling's continued chagrin, she soon became unable to look her way for longer than a single blink of the eye.
Inevitably, she gave up on the idea altogether, her pale face reddening as she began to catch on to the fact that she was being played with.
"Excuse me, but may I ask you something?" Bai Guo's question brought her some much needed relief, taking her mind off the matter. "I couldn't help but notice the way you and sir Shen address each other. Is he really your martial junior?"
The girl, despite being almost half Cui Shen's age, called him her junior.
It was Cui Shen who answered. "Despite our difference in age, she spent more time as lady Ouyang's disciple, so that technically makes her my senior. However, lady Ouyang had never formally accepted me as a disciple to begin with, so there's no obligation for her to call me that. I'm still not sure why you do it, Ling Ling."
"Please don't take this as me trying to lord my seniority over you, martial brother..." Ling Ling spoke apologetically.
"I've never looked at it that way. The way I see it, you've done me a big courtesy by accepting me as a fellow disciple. It's more than I deserve. The most I can do is return the courtesy."
"Back then I was just happy to have someone who studied the arts with me..." Ling Ling smiled. "I couldn't share that with the other girls."
Bai Guo asked, "How many disciples does lady Ouyang have?"
"I'm the only one." She answered. "Well, there's also junior martial brother, but that's a little complicated... The other girls just live here. Together with the mistress, there are seven of us all together."
Bai Guo turned to Cui Shen, a question at the tip of his tongue that he wasn't quite sure how to word without causing offense.
Cui Shen seemed to grasp the meaning behind his look. "There is only ever a single apprentice at a time, but Lady Ouyang occasionally offers refuge to those who need it."
That seemed to address the young man's concerns.
Daylight dimmed as the forest around them grew thicker. The sounds of beasts became deafening. Ling Ling expertly led the three along thin, winding paths.
When they eventually emerged in a clearing, the daylight briefly overwhelmed their senses.
They came upon a field of countless flowers. They grew everywhere the light touched, and it was as though they had been harmoniously arranged by color; as one ran their eyes across the field, it smoothly flowed from one hue into another. A gentle breeze blew over the clearing, cooling their bodies from the stuffy humidity of the swamp and drawing vibrant waves in the innumerable blossoms, turning the plain into a living sea of colors.
An old, dark manor stood in the center of the incredible spectacle, surrounded by a moat and walls so low that they were nearly obscured beneath some of the taller flowers.
"This is incredible." Bai Guo was the first of the three to come out of stunned reverie. "It's like something out of a picture..."
Ling Ling stared at him with wide eyes. "You really think so?" She asked excitedly, beaming with a big smile. It seemed to take Bai Guo considerable effort to take his eyes off the flower field. He nodded at her, still awestruck.
Cui Shen said, "Senior martial sister has truly outdone herself. This place didn't look like this when I was here last."
"It smells amazing..." The Golden Witch added, closing her eyes as she took in the scents. "Hard to believe there could be something like this in the middle of a swamp."
Ling Ling looked like she was on the verge of erupting into glee.
"You did this all by yourself?" Bai Guo asked in disbelief.
"The other girls help me from time to time..." She meekly replied. "Though mistress Ouyang would rather we did something else..."
With the flowers shifting behind her and her features lit by her joy, Bai Guo felt like he was looking at a completely different person. They stared at each other for a long time, and it took them longer still to realize that they were acting inappropriate.
Ling Ling twirled away to hide her flushed face. "Mistress Ouyang might not have returned yet. We should wait for her inside."
A small stone bridge took them across the moat. There, they were coldly greeted by four girls even younger than Ling Ling and an old nun. The girls stared at the newcomers in worry, while the nun glared with disapproval. None of them dared to utter a word, and they all swiftly left once the strangers drew near.
"We don't get guests very often." Ling Ling sounded apologetic. "So please don't mind them..."
As she tried to usher them inside, Cui Shen waved his hand. "Taking it any further than this could land you in hot water, martial sister. We will wait here."
The girl nodded. They all took a seat on the grass, and began to wait.
"May I ask why you'd like to see the mistress?" Ling Ling asked.
"Bai Guo's master wishes to consult lady Ouyang in the arts." Cui Shen said.
"She would never share her secrets..." Ling Ling shook her head. "But junior martial brother must have known that already..."
"And I had told her as much." Cui Shen sighed. "But I owe her a great deal, and this was the only way for me to return the favor. But even if the venture proves in vain, I believe we will part amicably."
Cui Shen attempted to assuage fears the girl didn't seem to hold; there was not a hint of suspicion in her demeanor.
"How did you meet each other?" She asked.
"We were both after the killer of your senior martial sister. She saved my life." He explained.
Ling Ling gasped and turned to the tall woman. As she scrambled to her feet to show her gratitude, to her surprise, the Golden Witch had stood up before she could. She was staring off into the distance.
Cui Shen and Bai Guo both realized what her action had indicated. The young disciple nervously sprang to his feet; the other made his way up languidly, not at all eager for the events to come.
Ling Ling was the last to catch on. When she noticed an old woman standing at the edge of the moat, she bent swiftly into a bow. "Mistress Ouyang!"
The woman had been dressed in the same dark green outfit, but hers was adorned with half a dozen pouches tied across her belt and legs. She was wearing a heavy backpack that was packed so thoroughly with herbs that the grass was nearly spilling out. Her long white hair was tied up into a single large bun.
Her wrinkled face was long and narrow, and made her seem taller than she really was. Her dark green eyes seethed with intense derision in a sharp contrast with her relaxed expression. Though she carried herself with remarkable dignity and gave off an almost noble air, there was a strange intensity about her, like she was also a savage snake ready to pounce upon its prey.
"You unfilial brat." She intoned. Her calm voice was like an envenomed blade. "Why did your bring outsiders to our home?"
Ling Ling trembled.
Cui Shen bowed. "Master."
The old woman's eyes darted towards him like lightning. "Don't call me that, you buffoon. You're no disciple of mine. I had just one disciple, and you took her away from me. Then you had her killed. I knew I was making a mistake when I allowed you to live after you came crawling back. But fool that I was, I hoped the poison would kill you before you had gotten the chance to hurt me again. But I should have known. A cockroach like you always finds a way to survive."
Cui Shen shuddered and dared not straighten his waist.
Lady Ouyang continued. "Did you think you would be welcome here after killing Deng Hong? What depths of stupidity compelled you to come back? I'll hear your answer before I claim your life."
Her eyes suddenly shifted to the Golden Witch. She had perceived a tinge of hostility.
Cui Shen spoke, his head still lowered. "It was not me who killed Deng Hong. It was the woman you see before you. It was her who avenged Meili and saved my life from certain death."
"Don't you dare utter my beloved disciple's name." Lady Ouyang hissed. "And to think that you'd be shameless enough to admit that even with all that I had given you, you still needed a woman to finish the job."
Cui Shen spoke through gritted teeth. "In return, she asked me to bring her to you, so that she may consult you on the arts of poison."
"You varlet! You really brought an enemy here to plunder my secrets. The contempt I have for you cannot be expressed in words."
The Golden Witch's patience had run out. She spoke up. "I'm not an enemy. I swore an oath that I wouldn't harm you."
Bai Guo broke into cold sweat. He whispered, "Master, you shouldn't have told her that..."
There was a brief, subtle shift in the old woman's expression; amusement and viciousness in equal measure flashed across her features. "Hoh. Well, I had made no such oath in regards to any of you. Shall we put the weight of your word to the test?"
The two women stared each other down. The air grew tense.