To think that she would be transversing a treacherous mountain in the dark of the night...
Mei was worried for a moment, but figured the spirit animals here wouldn't hurt her. It was still a little scary though, but something about that lit a spark within her. The spark of adventure!
Ever since she started cultivation, while reading, she often entertained the thought of going on adventures of her own, fighting baddies and so forth. What happened instead, however, was her slacking and maybe cultivating on some occasions.
Exploring Qiulan at night was the perfect compromise. It was safe, being sect territory, yet, the night made it feel more dangerous.
Buzzz...
Gah! Stupid mosquitoes!
Seeing all kind of stupid bugs flying around her lantern, Mei really wished she could use fire magic.
Hmph! But now, she was a 3rd layer body cultivator! She stood still for a moment, letting one of the abominable mosquitoes land on her arm.
Mei gave it a mocking look. Hah. Let's see how- AAAAAAA!
The mosquito viciously pierced into her skin. Shouting angrily, she tried to swat it, only to miss. Dammit... even the mosquitoes had cultivation here...
Her mood ruined, she continued trekking upwards. In a few minutes, Vital Body patched up the tiny wound, but it still itched. And meanwhile, another mosquito somehow managed to bite her leg while she walked.
Mei took out a bottle of water from her bag and mixed it with dirt, then smeared the mud all over her skin. Not very befitting of a cultivator.
This stupid mountain! She began to get angry. Where were all the herbs? Maybe she should have waited until tomorrow after all. She probably missed some with how poor visibility was.
Eventually, seeing the miserable-looking Mei trek silently, an owl half her height landed before her. She stared at the bird in surprise.
"Human... what happened? Are you okay?" it said to her in a worried tone.
For a moment, her mind blanked out. Right... she looked terrible right now. The gears in her mind began to turn fast, creating a spark of inspiration. Wasn't this a huge chance?
"Wu wu wu... I fell down a cliff and got covered in mud... I've been searching all day but can't find any spirit herbs. Why is it so hard? Wu..."
Mei pretended to cry, falling to her knees. It was a terrible performance. So terrible, even a particularly dim toddler would be able to tell it was fake.
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Owls, however, were not born with the ability to understand human cues well.
"That's terrible! Come, follow me!"
It... worked? Mei tried her best but did an awful job at hiding her overjoyed expression.
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Across the rocky ground, a winding river flowed through the crevices peacefully, filling the air with a pleasant trickling sound. As if out of curiosity, the river looked outwards towards a cliff, forming a gentle waterfall.
The water was clear, quite beautiful, but for just a few moments, it would be sullied by mud. Mei shook off the last of the water, formations in her sect robes expelling the water. She was clean now.
Nearby, the owl sat before a campfire. A few metal skewers floated in mid-air, turning slowly, several fishes roasting.
Sensing the food was done, it used qi sense to pull out the skewers. Just as swiftly, the meat and bones were separated, the meat plopping onto 2 plates. The owl took out a small jar of seasoning from a storage ring around one of its legs and sprinkled it on.
Mei gulped from the smell. Was it just her, or were spirit beasts particularly good at cooking? (Except that gorilla)
Though, something bugged her a little.
"I've been wondering this earlier, but since you can just levitate it, was there a need for the skewers?" she asked.
"Oh, I just find they help to spread the heat inside too, so it cooks evenly."
Master chef indeed...
The combo of fish and biscuits was very good. Mei shared some with the owl, who declined.
"Thank you, but they make me queasy. Owls should only eat meat, ya know?"
What a shame.
"I can't stay for long, but I can lend you one of my maps," it said, handing her a small jade slip.
Another jade slip...
"Ah, thank you."
"Honestly, I'm not really supposed to, but it'll be our little secret! Goodbye, human!"
Not supposed to? Was there an agreement for the jade slips not to include a map? Ah... perhaps it was supposed to be like a game of hide and seek? The spirit beasts trying their best to hide the herbs they planted?
Ahhhh! How dirty! No wonder she couldn't find any.
Staring at the jade slip, a devious smirk came over her face. To think she was lucky enough to find this cheat! She didn't really take Junwei's challenge seriously, but imagining the look on his face, after seeing her bring in a mountain of herbs... it was very pleasing.
She sent a sliver of qi into it, and in an instant, a map appeared in her mind, quite a few locations marked with various names. It would seem like those were the animals that the owl knew.
Looking through the names, the closest marker was that of a goat, Xie Yang.
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Finally arrived, she looked around. There was nothing but a nearby cliff face.
Was there really nothing around? Mei didn't believe it, walking along the wall, slapping it all the while. One of her slaps phased through the walls, to her surprise.
She waved her hands across it for a moment, before closing her eyes and peeking her head inside. An illusionary wall!
Walking down the passage, her nose caught a herbal scent. To her shock, there was a whole garden of medicinal herbs on display! Damn, these animals could do everything people could! Even setting up something like this...
On the ceiling of the cave, a large luminous gemstone was attached, presumably allowing the plants to glow. Mei looked around the cave. At least for the moment, it didn't seem like the owner was home.
Looking through the Qiulan jade slip, it didn't seem like any of these herbs were that valuable, but she wasn't going to complain. Were these really all that Xie Yang grew? Maybe he hid more herbs behind another secret entrance?
Mei ran around touching the walls but to no avail.
Hmm...
According to the slip, she was only supposed to take a single sprig from each plant. Though, since Xie Yang wasn't here to supervise...
Muahahaha.