A few days later, disciple and golden haired master had properly convened for the very first time since the challenge began in earnest. Cui Shen had attended their meeting as well, his expression even darker than usual.
"Bai Guo..." The Golden Witch hesitantly began. The young man had never seen his master so drained and gloomy, so thoroughly exhausted that even the natural radiance of her unique features seemed to grow dim. "You should leave this place. Without me."
"Master...! What are you saying?" Bai Guo was shocked beyond coherent words.
"Tao Geming is getting worse. He might not show it, but I can tell. The poison is resurging in increasingly larger amounts, and it's taking a toll." She explained. "At this point, there's no telling how this whole affair might end. If I fail, there's no guarantee the Five Venoms Devil would just let you go. You should get out of here now while she's too busy keeping an eye on me to do anything to you. Cui Shen will lead you out of the swamp. If I make it out of here, come find me at a later time. I'm sure you'll find me."
"Master...! Master!" Bai Guo vehemently shook his head. "You really think me lower than dirt! I'm not going to abandon you! And I don't care if I'll end up dead for it!"
"There's no use in following me to the grave, Bai Guo..." The woman was adamant. "Go. I order you as your master."
Bai Guo fell to her feet. "If I'm forced to break my oath to you one way or another, then this is how I choose to do it! By staying by your side until the very end! Take your disobedient disciple's life now if you must!"
In the face of the young man's bout of stubbornness, the Golden Witch sighed in complete exasperation. And yet her eyes glinted as she regarded his crumpled figure.
"You...!" To her own surprise, she nearly choked up as she spoke. "You're such a...! The one time I ask you for something, this is how you act!"
But a tired smile sluggishly curled her lips. Though she had suddenly looked more vigorous than she ever had over these past few weeks, she couldn't find the strength to shake her disciple off.
"Fine then, stay. But don't blame me for anything that might happen. Stand up!"
The master raised her disciple up with a stern expression.
"Thank you, master!" Bai Guo bowed his head as she still held his shoulders. Had she not been holding him upright, he would have dropped again. "Thank you!"
"Well, aren't you happy!" Her golden brows furrowed as she grumbled. "You've made your master look really indecisive. I really ought to punish you when I have time."
The Golden Witch turned away from him with a snort.
"I'll prepare myself, master." Bai Guo kept bowing as she left. Cui Shen spared the disciple another glance, his dark eyes flickering with pride, and then followed his master.
As always, lady Ouyang had been listening from just around the corner. "Done amusing yourself, are you?"
The Golden Witch walked right past her without a word; the old woman continued. "With just a few words that boy spun your head right around. And you were all too pleased to dance in the palm of his hand. If this is how you act before strangers, I shudder to imagine how you two must disgrace yourselves in private."
The blonde woman flicked her head right around. She was grinning viciously, her teeth clenched. "And you're not used to taking lip from your disciples at all, I know. I've been told. And where has that brought you? How many of your girls ran away from you? In your decrepit age, do you have even a single successor? Will Ling Ling be ready before you keel over?"
Lady Ouyang had suddenly found herself avoiding those golden eyes. She breathed sharply. "It's all because of that worm beside you, that wretch, that Cui Shen...!" She spat his name like it was a curse. "If he hadn't stolen her away from me... My beautiful, clever little girl... There was no better successor to the Ouyang name than her. Now, because of him, my legacy might cease to exist under that dimwitted, good-for-nothing Ling Ling."
In that moment, Cui Shen spoke to her with unprecedented boldness. "The way Meili would tell it, you had never graced her with a single kind word in all the years she spent with you. But now that she's gone, what's this? You have nothing but praise. If only she could hear you now."
The old woman's face flashed with fury. "You worthless ingrate!" Her wrists twitched, and as her sleeves shook, needles appeared in her hand. But the Golden Witch had taken just half a step towards her, and the mistress immediately froze midmotion.
The two women stared each other down. Lady Ouyang slowly regained her composure. Her arms relaxed, and the weapons disappeared back into her sleeves.
"Hiding behind a woman again." She snorted. "I can't believe you still haven't ended yourself out of shame. Let me tell you, if you're still alive by the time she's gone, I'll make you wish you had taken the easier way out."
"Are you done?" The Golden Witch intervened. The hallway had suddenly gone quiet.
The blonde woman continued on her way, her watcher in tow. Cui Shen had been tasked with gathering some ingredients for her research.
The Golden Witch continued her work in remarkably high spirits. Though lady Ouyang had been frustrated by her elation, she took solace in the understanding that it wouldn't change the outcome.
Later that day, while helping clean around the house, Bai Guo and Ling Ling ended up alone.
There was a great deal of tension between them, but not the kind that they ordinarily enjoyed.
Bai Guo was not in the mood to entertain her with any of his usual tales, and Ling Ling seldom had much to say to begin with.
After exchanging just a scant few words, Bai Guo made up an excuse about his health, and they separated. He went to his room and collapsed on his bed, utterly defeated.
Unexpectedly, Ling Ling quietly followed him in.
"Young master." She announced herself with a whisper and closed the door behind her.
Surprised by her appearance, Bai Guo sat up. The girl sat next to him. Bai Guo stared off at nothing; though he had been making it very clear that his mind was elsewhere, his heart thumped heavily in his chest. This scenario brought with it an atmosphere more intense than what even the two of them were used to.
As their mutual silence stretched on, Bai Guo could feel her eyes boring holes into him.
The girl audibly gulped before she had finally gathered the courage to speak. "I know how to help your master."
He finally turned to her, surprised.
Ling Ling was pale and anxious, and looked just about ready to outright flee from the room at any moment.
Bai Guo couldn't take her silence anymore and asked, "How?"
"Mistress Ouyang's teachings are recorded in three manuals. I study them often as part of my training. I'll sneak them into your master's room so she can read them in secret."
"Ling Ling... That's..." Shock and joy mingled in equal measure in Bai Guo's heart. "Do those books have the antidote for your master's poison?"
"No... Everything about her strongest poisons is a secret she's kept even from me. But, but still... Don't you think it would help?"
"Of course. Of course it would still help." He grasped her shaking hand. "But are you sure about this? No, I can't ask you to go through with this. You'd be going against your own master."
"Mistress Ouyang always says that I'm no good. And I know she's right. I'm just like you. I'm stupid, and I can barely grasp any of the arts that she teaches me. And I know that none of this should make any difference, and that I'm merely her apprentice, but... I know that, deep down, she does care, and I value that more than my life."
Ling Ling tightened her grip on Bai Guo's hand. "I thought about this for a really long time. I realized that if your master were to succeed, it would be the best outcome for all of us. She'd become mistress Ouyang's disciple, the talented disciple she always wanted, and nobody would end up hurt. You and junior martial brother would all get to stay here. And even though Tao Geming will live, I'm not afraid of him with all of you here. I'm sure we could get him to just leave. And then we would all live and study together, and it would be wonderful."
Bai Guo sighed in delight. "You're right, it would be. It really would be... Ling Ling... Thank you."
They embraced each other tightly. Just as they were about to forget themselves entirely, they heard the creaking of floorboards outside the room.
They both felt like they'd been doused with cold water, so quickly their passions had cooled. Immediately they separated and stared fearfully at the door. Soon they heard another footstep at the end of the hall, indicating that the presence had passed them by.
Ling Ling stood up from the bed and breathed in deeply. "I'll go do it." She whispered.
After she left, Bai Guo fell back on his bed. He sighed again, his lips stretched into a grin.
"Master, oh master..." He thought to himself, elated, practically giggling to himself. "I've finally pulled it off! Your disciple isn't as useless as you thought after all! If only you knew! If only I could tell you about it!"
His glee gradually faded. "Maybe I played it too carefully. I could have probably gotten it done sooner. I hope there's still enough time for this to make a difference."
Afterwards, the Golden Witch had retired to her room quite late at night, as had become usual for her. As she lied down, she felt a lump pressing into her back.
She lit a candle and inspected the bed. To her great surprise, underneath the mattress, she discovered three thick tomes.
As she flipped through just a few pages, her eyes widened. She sat back down on the bed, one hand gripping the candle and the other guiding her frantic eyes along the contents of the manual.
Her intense focus was broken only when the hot wax of the burned out candle scalded her hand. She discarded what was left and appropriated the small bundle of candles in her room that originally belonged to Ling Ling.
The Golden Witch had completely lost track of time. Though she had been reading at an incredible pace, every page was densely packed with information, and even the first book stretched on and on, seemingly endless.
"This must be her life's work." She marveled. Her heart beat like a drum as the many mysteries that tied her mind into so many knots began to unravel with every passing moment.
She had only barely finished the first volume when she sensed the residents waking up. And it was only at that moment that she had begun to wonder just how those books ended up in her possession.
"Obviously Ouyang hadn't done this, she's with me every single moment. So I can't let her think that something's changed." The Golden Witch realized. She hid the books back under her bed and stepped out. "Until I've finished them all, I can't give away the fact that I'm learning anything!"
Though no good ideas were coming to mind, as she passed her disciple in the hallway, she had suddenly found herself staring at him foolishly.
But there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary about the young man. He cordially bowed to her in greeting and went on his way.
Somehow utterly mystified by this mundane exchange, the Golden Witch tried to cast aside the strange sensation and went about her day, pretending to struggle as usual while lady Ouyang continued her stubborn vigil.
Realizing that she'd be forced to waste her time one way or the other, The Golden Witch played at being overcome by a bout of frustration and set her head down on the table. She took the opportunity to doze off and make up for some of the lost sleep.
Lady Ouyang had naturally noticed, but was all too happy to let her opponent squander precious time.