Lin Songmei was worn. After walking for another forty five minutes, she, Yan Mingqing, and Han Youhong had made it to the crater’s edge. At this point, the ravine’s walls had sloped down from either side, making it so there were no longer towering walls on either side, instead just... low walls. Around this crater too, a number of these paths would be found, all being different ways one could traverse the ravines to get to the crater.

What greeted them though was... not a big empty crater. With their jaws all hanging open, Songmei and the others stood at the edge of the crater, keeping their distance due to a mix of apprehension and fear.

What lay before them was a strange sight, and that was putting it lightly.

With spiraling roots and contorting tendrils, the plant-life formed a pulsating web that stretched across the ground, converging in a large bulb that sat in the distance, beating like a heart. Feeling waves of Qi wash over them every time the bulb expanded then contracted, Songmei rubbed her eyes, feeling the discomfort grow worse.

“What... the hell, is that thing?” Youhong cursed under his breath, gawking at the unfamiliar organism that was in front of them. “Is it alive? Like... animal alive? Or plant alive? What is this... being?”

“I’m not sure either...” Mingqing murmured, taking a half-step back. “I think it’s pretty obvious why we didn’t hear about this thing though...”

Songmei, even without Mingqing naming it, knew what she was referring to. Near the base of the bulb, whatever it was, were two ruined drones, sparking as they lay on the ground, broken and snapped to pieces.

“So... I’m assuming we’re not going to camp near that thing.” Songmei asked, also taking a half-step back as the bulb’s tendrils contorted a little more, extending its “web” further.

“Hell no. No way I’m letting my lychee jelly near that thing.” Youhong agreed, spinning on his heel and marching back towards where they came. “Let’s just uhh... hike a little higher, and camp on some high ground. We can one, keep an eye on it, and two... uhh... not become one of the drones.”

“Sounds like an AMAZING, GENIUS plan, Youhong! Well thought out to an unbelievable degree!” Mingqing agreed, following Youhong up the slope that was the ravine wall.

Songmei too, agreed with all her heart, and followed the two while pulling out her terminal. She wanted to tell Xueli about her eyes and also give an update on this whole “found a potentially very super duper ultra problematic hazardous plant” thing.

Debating whether she should call or just send a message, Songmei deliberated for a bit until they came to a stop part way up the slope, taking a seat on a rock after seeing Mingqing and Youhong do so as well.

“So... I’m going to be contacting Mingqing and I’s master, Xueli.” Songmei explained, motioning towards her terminal. “Youhong, you should probably contact yours too...”

“Alright, I can do that, no problem.” Youhong nodded, kicking back on the rock and pulling out his own terminal while snacking on some lychee jelly. “I feel so much better now that we’re far from that plant thing.”

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“You can say that again...” Mingqing sighed, looking over towards the plant that was sitting in the center of the crater, hanging out and... bulbing... as a plant does...

Looking over towards Songmei though, Mingqing changed rocks, sitting back down beside Songmei and wrapping an arm around her. “You okay? I see you’re doing that blinking thing more now. Is it worse now because of the Qi waves?”

“Yeah...” Songmei whispered back before forcing a nonchalant shrug. “It’s not that bad... you don’t worry about me.”

“Sure...” Mingqing squinted, giving a doubtful nod before booping Songmei’s nose. “I’ll be here for you, okay?”

Leaning into Mingqing and her arm hug, Songmei murmured a small thank you before continuing to type on her terminal. [Dearest Master, Elder Liu Xueli... Is the most esteemed master available for a visual communication call in the immediate future?]

Sending it off with a satisfied smile, Songmei turned towards Mingqing after hearing a snort and a suppressed laugh escaping from her mouth. “What? I just kinda... kinda felt like using very formal language...”

“I know, I know... nothing wrong with that.” Mingqing laughed, “I do it too. It’s amusing to see Xueli’s reaction.”

“Yeah!” Songmei nodded, opening her mouth to continue just as Xueli replied. Closing her mouth, Songmei read the message to herself. [Dearest disciple, Lin Songmei. Your most esteemed master is indeed available for a “visual communication call” in the immediate future. Just call you two rascals, I already told you two that you can call anytime.]

...

Laughter.

Breaking out into laughter, Songmei clung onto Mingqing who was also doubled over, struggling to breathe over all the laughter.

Deep breaths. Inhale... Exhale... It wasn’t good to laugh at senior citizens, they had to respect the elderly...

After catching her breath and steeling her expression, Songmei pressed the call button, holding it up between her and Mingqing.

Ring... Ring...

Picking up after only two rings, Mingqing and Songmei were greeted with the smiling face of Xueli, who, seeing Mingqing and Songmei’s smiling faces, broke out into laughter. “I knew it was you two. You’re practically a package deal! When have I had calls with you two alone when I hadn’t outright asked for it?”

“Never~” Songmei laughed, pulling Mingqing closer to her until their cheeks were squished together. “We’re conjoined, always together! Super duper best friends!”

“You two really are...” Xueli shook her head, a small chuckle escaping under her breath as she stared off out her window. “So why do you two want to talk? Any developments? Usually you could just report it to the assignment hall...”

“Well...” Mingqing began, once again fulfilling her role as the spokesperson, “there are two main things really. Songmei has a personal update, so she can start. But afterward, we want to tell you about this... pretty urgent thing.”

Marveling at Mingqing’s amazing ability to guide the conversation while also allowing her to talk less, Songmei shrugged while pointing to her dull-gray eyes. “They just... feel... they just... feel a lot worse. Same place in the eyes, but the area we’re in right now has really dense Qi rolling over us in waves... That’s about it for me though.”

“I see...” Xueli mused, her eyebrows furrowing a touch as a worried light surfaced in her eyes. “I’ll ask the medicine people about it again... I’ll be leaving soon to come over there though. Once I get there, I should be able to give a definitive answer. What’s with the area you’re in though? Shouldn’t you be near the crater? You should be careful though, since all the reconnaissance we’ve sent to the area has provided... useless results.”

“Well... about that...” Songmei explained with an awkward cough, looking towards Mingqing. “Well yeah, just take a look for yourself.”