Spring Winds

Chapter 114: Summer Hunt (5)

"Are you alright, little lady?" The young man in white and blue robes jumped off the back of the sea beast and landed in front of me. "You're not injured anywhere, are you?"

"Uhh, I'm fine." I think. ( v )

Stretching out his hand, the young man offered to lift me from the ground.

Grabbing his hand, I pulled myself up. "Thanks for the help, brother."

"Ziya." The young man smiled. "Call me Ziya."

"Ziya." I tested the name on my tongue. Not a common name you'd find in the central valley.

Maybe he's from the outer valley like me! (0o0)

Although, based on his appearance, that seems to be unlikely.

Herm, could it be that he's using an alias to hide his identity?

Ah, never mind. This person went out of their way to help me. Therefore it would be rude to be too suspicious of them.

"Nice to meet you, Brother Ziya.

My sect name is Jing Ran, but you can call me by my real name, Zhu Na Ran."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Jing Ran.

Although, the circumstances are less than ideal."

"Haha, yeah.

Thanks again for your help! That was a really close one!"

Hah, the fact that I keep dodging these near-death experiences practically unscathed is insane!

Could it be that I'm super lucky or just unlucky enough to get into these things in the first place? (T T)

"So, Brother Ziya, what brings you here?

You don't look to be a disciple of any sect that I know of. Are you one of those recluse experts?"

Based on the fact that he could take down that massive monster so quickly, he can't be a simple man.

"Haha, no, no." Ziya chuckled. "I'm actually looking for someone.

According to my sources, she should be somewhere in this treasure realm."

"Hmm, I see."

There weren't many women I could think of that joined the expedition into the treasure realm due to a limit of disciples that could join from each participating sect.

For Yun Cai Peak, the only female cultivators I could think of were Senior Sister, Bai Yin, and myself.

Hmm, but I suppose I can't assume the same for the other sects that joined the hunt.

I heard that a new all-female sect had joined recently, and the rumors had it that the ladies were both beautiful and deadly.

Hehe, I definitely don't want to piss any of them off. However, a sparring session between some of them could be fun!

Maybe if I run into one, we could exchange some pointers.

In addition, the daughter of the Tian Ming Sectmaster is also participating. And even the elusive head disciple of Yue Guang decided to attend.

Oh, and then there's also Shao Xiu Lan with Xue Lei Guang!

Although, unfortunately, I've yet to run into her.

Sprinkled in between the other smaller sects, I'm sure that there are some other women that I have yet to become acquainted with.

Even so, the pool of possibilities is small compared to the number of men that enlisted. If Brother Ziya was looking for a young man instead

Well, that might take a little bit more than three weeks.

Thankfully for Brother Ziya, as long as he knows who he's looking for and what she looks like, he should have no problem!

"Well, this girl thanks you once again, Brother Ziya, for saving my life.

As a token of our newfound friendship, here" placing a golden tael into his hand, I smiled "take this."

Brother Ziya smiled at the tael with a weird look. "Uh, thanks?"

"You're welcome!

And as a bonus, you can take that sea monster that you killed. I'm sure that it will yield you a large number of points!"

Ahh, as much as I wanted to have the monster for myself, it's only fair to give it to Brother Ziya.

After all, rules are rules.

'If you kill it, it's yours.'

Anyways, take care!" Hmm, I better move on from this dump and into someplace that might be more fruitful.

Patting his back, I picked up the only treasure I managed to grab from the weapon pile.

Hah, it's a shame that I couldn't gather more, but one must be content with what one has.

Plus, I'm already sitting at a pretty loft number of nine hundred and eighty-three points, so this journey wasn't so bad at all!

Other than almost getting eaten by a sea monster, of course but what's a reward without any risk?

Double-checking my point count once more, a grin made its way onto my face.

Hehe, with this much treasure, it will be a piece of cake to beat Senior Sister!

Pulling out a blank talisman I randomly found in my pocket; I began to draw up the good-proof design that Master had taught me.

Injecting some qi into it, the red ink began to glow.

"Wait-"Ziya suddenly called out.

"Huh?" (0o0)?

However, before he could finish his sentence, I already activated the teleportation talisman.

Whoops! Hopefully, whatever he had to say wasn't too important.

Perhaps he was trying to play the polite game and reject my gift.

Heh, Brother Ziya is too kind; however, I'm not that shameless to steal someone else's kill.

After experiencing the stomach-churning turbulence, I finally arrived at my new destination.

"Wahhh!"

This place looks fantastic! Surely there will be plenty more treasure here!

-

Hah, some people don't realize when they're overstepping their stay until someone points it out at the last minute.

"Miss Jing Ran, do you wish to stop?

You've been grumbling to yourself this whole time."

I side-eyed the young man in white and blue who decided to tag along with me.

No matter how many times I tried to shake him off, somehow he would find me again a few days or even a few hours later!

Does this guy have the tracking skills of a dog? The last time I checked, I wasn't tagged with any tracking devices, so how is it that he keeps finding me!

The first few times I guessed were coincidences; however, it's becoming increasingly apparent that that isn't the case.

"Brother Ziya, didn't you say that you had to find someone?

How is following me around going to help that at all?"

"It's better to look for things with two sets of eyes, yes?

Plus, you look like someone who gets into trouble frequently."

"" Even if that is true, I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of being right.

"Heh, you're quiet because you know that I'm right."

Ugh!

Breath, Naran, breath! (# ^ v^)

This creep isn't worth your time.

And, if you ignore him, I'm sure that some monster from the deep would swallow him up and get him out of your hair. ( o vo)

Plus, you have a more critical task to do: finding Senior Sister!

Even though she might not want to see me, and we may be competing on who can gain the most points I just miss her.

It's so lonely wandering this beautiful realm without her, and Brother Ziya is starting to get on my nerves.

I just can't seem to shake off that cheeky bastard!

And when I tried to bribe him with some of my treasures to leave alone, he said:

"I'm more likely to gain more treasure if I follow Miss Jing Ran instead of venturing on my own."

This guy is mooching off this auntie's treasure and wealth like a blood leech!

Based on what I observed, a cultivator had definitely passed through here before, indicated by the remnants of campfires and sword slashes.

Very familiar sword slashes, I might add.

"How much further until you find your senior sister?" Brother Ziya asked.

"Um, it says that she should be straight ahead." Looking up, I could see that the woods only seemed to grow thicker the further we ventured.

Could Senior Sister really have gone this far?

However, before I could progress forward, Brother Ziya yanked me back.

"Oi!

What's the big deal?!" I'm trying to find my senior sister here!

"Miss Jing Ran, make sure to stay alert here." Brother Ziya suddenly spoke up with a sense of urgency and caution. "Something doesn't feel right here."

"Eh, you think so?" Everything seems fine to me, aside from being a bit quiet.

Perhaps too quiet.

It was odd not to hear the chirp of birds or growl of a beast lurking around for this densely forested area.

However, it continued to be silent. ( ; o ~o)

Aside from the plants, not a single indication of life could be found or heard.

"We should leave." Brother Ziya said as he started to drag me away from the thickening woods. "It's not safe here."

Before, I would've at least listened to what he had to say and hear him out.

That is until I saw that the Ling Shou Jade pointed directly into the center of that ominous woods.

"But we can't leave!" Tugging my arm, I freed myself from his grasp.

"The Ling Shou Jade says that Senior Sister is here." If Senior Sister was here and in danger, how could I turn tail and run?

"Hah, is this senior sister of yours more important than your own life?" Brother Ziya hissed out as he grabbed my shoulder.

"YES!" Swatting away his hand, I started to head in the direction the jade told me to follow.

"If Senior Sister we're drowning, I would jump in to save her!

If she were stuck in a burning building, I would run in to get her!

And if she were caught up in some mysterious and dangerous situation, I would go in and find her!

So, if you're too scared to continue, then you wait out here for me.

I'm going to go get my senior sister."

"Why are you doing so much for this girl?!"

"y-you, you wouldn't get it.

Plus, why do you care about what happens to me?"

"Hmm, you may be annoying and stupid." Brother Ziya started.

Ohh, he's on thin ice.

"However, something about you makes you hard to hate. Naturally, it would be unfortunate to see someone like you meet a sad end."

That answer isacceptable. ( v )

"So you'll help me find my senior sister?"

"As long as you help me find the one I'm looking for, it's a deal.

So, what do you say?"

"You have yourself a partner in crime, Brother Ziya!"

-

"Senior Sister!

Senior Sister, are you there?" Calling out into the darkened cave, only my echo responded.

"Are you sure that your Senior Sister is even there? Perhaps your jade thing is broken."

"No, that's not possible.

My master, even if he can be a cheapskate at times, doesn't skimp on quality when he makes his tools.

Senior Sister is definitely in there."

"Hmm." Brother Ziya hummed as he peered into the cave's mouth, unconvinced. "This cave looks pretty sparse from any human interaction."

"Regardless, it says that Senior Sister is here, so I'm going to listen to it."

"I don't know."

"What?

Are you scared or something?" I asked. Looking over at Brother Ziya, he did seem a little bit paler than usual.

"N-no, it's just that the air here is strange. Almost hard to breathe."

"Hmm, really?" I don't sense anything wrong at all? The air here didn't seem any different than the air elsewhere.

"Well, why don't you stay out here and gather yourself, and I'll head in first."

"No, that's a bad-" He tried to argue; however, his face suddenly turned green. Turning around, he promptly started to empty his guts.

"Yeah, okay, well, I'm going to head in first while you stay here and try to recover."

Awkwardly patting his back, I turned to face the cave's dark mouth.

Okay, Naran, you may be facing a mysterious monster and a certain possible doom; however!

Senior Sister might need you more than ever, so what are you waiting for?!

Let's go!