They returned the way they'd come and went down the final path. The air was heavy with the scent of spiritual medicine, and it only grew more intense as they walked along the path. But it grew colder too. So cold that even their fireblood pills didn't stop them from shivering. Even Xue with his thick coat of fur didn't look happy.
But, it wasn't cold enough to be deadly. At least not to cultivators of their level. Still, it set Jie's nerves on edge, and judging by the nervous glances the others gave their surroundings as they shivered... she wasn't alone in that feeling.
They came out into a massive and beautifully maintained garden filled with incredibly detailed ice sculptures of people and magical beasts of all sizes and perfectly trimmed bushes and trees. Cut stones formed a pathway through the garden with spiraling patterns. Wind chimes rang with gentle musical notes in the cold wind and frozen pools reflected the sky above. All of it lit by light shining from within stone lanterns that lined the pathways and the myriad glow of countless spiritual medicines.
"Wow..." Pan Tian said.
"Don't say anything," Jie said.
"I wasn't going to do what I did before," Pan Tian said.
"Good," Jie said.
Ithilix giggled and Xue yawned.
"It is quite beautiful though," Ithilix said as they walked through the garden picking spiritual medicine and enjoying its beauty despite the cold.
"It is," Jie said as they passed under an overgrown archway that framed the incredibly detailed ice sculpture of a droguth. Like the one Jie had killed earlier, only bigger. It frightened her for a moment as it looked so very real, but her spirit sense didn't sense an aura coming from it other than an intense power that emanated from the ice itself. But, it wasn't familiar.
"Someone must've spent countless hours making it so detailed. I wonder who maintains this place," Jie said.
"Yes," Ithilix said, "these sculptures have items of value as well. We could collect them."
"Won't that make whoever made all this angry? Let's stick to the spiritual medicine and get out of here. It'll probably annoy them but most of this wouldn't do much good for a cultivator that must be at least in the elementalist rank anyway," Pan Tian said.
"What items do the sculptures have anyway? Don't look at me like that. I'm just curious," Jie said.
"This one has storage rings, and a satchel filled with items," Ithilix said, pointing her finger at one in a group of four statues. Each looked like a teenager around Pan Tian's age and they all looked furious with the girl in their group.
"Wait a minute," Pan Tian said, "I know them... that's... oh no..." Her green eyes widened.
"Pan Tian?" Jie asked.
"We need to go. Right now. Say nothing and let's just leave," Pan Tian whispered. She moved swiftly but silently back the way they'd come and Jie followed her.
Whatever Pan Tian had seen seemed to have disturbed her greatly and Jie already had a sinking feeling as to what it was...
Jie frowned as they moved through the garden. Was it her imagination or was the exit getting smaller? She picked up her pace, as did her friends. But that only made the exit shrink even faster... no... it wasn't shrinking. It was getting further away.
She and her friends slowed to a stop and looked around. Their surroundings seemed to have suddenly changed. The exit was incredibly far away now, and they found themselves in a kind of clearing within the garden, with more open space than the rest of it.
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"So, this is your garden?" Jie asked the seemingly empty clearing.
Pan Tian and Ithilix looked around frantically but didn't seem to spot anyone and gave Jie questioning looks.
"Well?" Jie asked, "you've invited us here. Why do you hide now? It's very rude."
A woman in white robes and the furs of magical beasts suddenly appeared as though she'd teleported into the clearing. Yet, the dusting of frost on the woman's robes and the undisturbed snow around her gave Jie the unsettling feeling that the woman had been standing there the entire time and Jie had simply failed to see her.
Perhaps some kind of invisibility? Jie wondered.
"Aren't you a cocky little girl?" said the woman in white, "I hope I didn't frighten you."
"Not at all," Jie said, "It's a relief that our host has manners."
The woman in white smiled and it made Jie's skin crawl.
"I'm a lady," she said, "of course I have manners. Unlike you little thieves who come into my garden thinking you can take whatever you like and simply walk away."
Jie pressed her fist against her palm and gave a respectful, smooth bow. The kind Elder Shi used when it suited her.
"It was not our intention to steal from you dear lady," Jie said, "we were captivated by the beauty of your garden and thought something so exquisite could only be the luck of choosing the right path."
"Your words are pretty," said the woman in white, "but they're lies. You'll be a nice addition to my collection. And you brought one of the hive, a satyr, and a spirit tiger too? How wonderful..."
Jie gritted her teeth. Elder Shi could talk her way out of this, Jie was sure. But, clearly, she had a lot to learn...
"Relax," Pan Tian said with a hand on Jie's shoulder, "she's too powerful to be included in the test without some kind of rule."
The woman in white glared at Pan Tian. "Well, aren't you an astute one? Too bad you're not clever enough to stay out of places you shouldn't be. And you were leading your friends weren't you? Did you hope to get them killed so you could take everything for yourself?" asked the woman.
"I would never do that," Pan Tian said as she stepped between Jie and the extremely powerful woman in white who gave off an aura on par with Elder Shi... if the woman decided to kill them... there was nothing any of them could do. But Pan Tian stood between them anyway. Jie wondered if the older girl had even thought through the fact it wouldn't even slow the woman in white down.
The woman in white laughed. "It's fine. You can be honest with me. I only talk to those who are about to become sculptures, after all," she said.
"What's our test?" Pan Tian asked.
Jie heard a slight quaver in the older girl's voice and saw the tension in her body, as though she were expecting to be struck down at any moment. Jie admired her bravery and thought about how they'd been trapped. Some kind of illusion to trick them into walking deeper if they tried to leave? Was there a way to trick the illusion if that was the case? Perhaps by trying to run backward instead?
If I grab Pan Tian and run backward... could we make it out? No... this woman would catch us so easily... what if I distract her somehow? Jie thought as her mind raced to come up with a solution... something to get them out of this.
The woman in white stared at them with a predatory grin for a long moment... and then pouted. "Fine," she said, "the test is this: Each of you must give me that which you treasure most among the possessions you carry."
"And then you'll let us go?" Pan Tian asked.
The woman in white sighed. "Yes," she said. But there was a gleam in her eye... as though she expected they would fail and she could kill them.
"And it's what we carry? So... no riddle nonsense? Just... a thing we have that we treasure most? Personally?" Pan Tian asked.
"Don't push me, girl. That bitch's restraints keep me from ripping your little throat out right away, but there are a thousand loopholes. Give me your most treasured possession that you carry. It's not complicated," said the woman in white.
"And if we choose wrong... what happens?" Jie asked.
The woman in white fixated her cold, gray eyes on Jie, and Pan Tian shifted slightly, shielding Jie with her body more. Jie wondered if Pan Tian even knew she was doing it as it seemed almost instinctual and wouldn't actually save them if it came to a fight. It only seemed to amuse the woman in white.
"Then you join my collection and become my treasured possessions," the woman in white said.
"All of us? Even if only one of us gets it wrong?" Jie asked.
The woman smiled, a toothy grin that made Jie notice the woman's canine teeth were longer and sharper than they ought to be. "Yes," said the woman.
"I trust all of you with my life," Pan Tian said as she handed her claws of light to the woman in white.
The woman in white took them. "Oh? Gifts from your treasured sister... no... your friend. But you think of her like your sister... how sweet," said the woman in white. She smiled evilly for a moment... only to sigh and roll her eyes. "It makes me nauseous. Fine. Who's next?"