(07) A Mistake

Wu QiaoHua blocked the red monkey's claws that tried to scratch her. She looked at her friend, Xin Mei, who backed her up and attacked the monkey from behind, stabbing it. Side by side, they worked together to lure the monkey away from the plant it was guarding as the outer disciples hid in order to find a chance to grab the herb.

Wu QiaoHua's sword was filled with chi as she swung it and tried to stab the beast. The beast jumped back a few times and suddenly noticed the outer disciples that were nearing its plant. The monkey beast let out a screech and jumped towards them.

"Watch out!" Wu QiaoHua blocked its way and Xin Mei attacked. They were finally able to stab it together and it vanished before their eyes, like ash dispersing into the sky.

Wu QiaoHua blinked and sheathed her sword. "I can never get used to seeing that," she said in a quiet tone.

Xin Mei smiled. "We defeated it!" She walked towards the small field of Grey Barley.

One of the outer disciples, Peng MinYi, smiled widely and uprooted one. "We collected three different herbs already!" he exclaimed excitedly.

Xin Mei nodded. "It's good that we haven't had any problems so far." She turned to the other two outer disciples, one female and one male, who were also grabbing a Grey Barley from the batch on the round.

The girl around fourteen, Tan Mei, timidly glanced around before she grabbed another one. "When does the beast reappear again?" She had already asked this question once before, causing the other boy, Luo Li, to roll his eyes.

"Tan Mei, how many times must we repeat this? At least a few hours!" The arrogant boy, Luo Li, grabbed another one and smiled happily.

"Let's leave the rest for the others," Wu QiaoHua suggested.

Luo Li pouted. "But we already did that for the previous batch. And wouldn't that make it easier for the others?"

Xin Mei smiled. "Let's do as QiaoHua says! Didn't we also grab our first herbs from a batch with a defeated beast? The less time we take to grab the same herbs, the more time we have to search for new ones. Remember, those who collect the best will get rewarded."

Wu QiaoHua smiled and sighed in relief, glad Xin Mei was here. "Then let's go."

Xin Mei nodded. "Also, the next time we find another guarded plant, Luo Li and Tan Mei, you are to fight the beast with me, while QiaoHua and Peng MinYi lie in waiting." The whole purpose of this trip was to get all disciples to gain more experience fighting beasts and collecting herbs at the same time in order to help their growth as cultivators.

"But I want to help too!" Peng MinYi said, feeling disappointed.

"You will get plenty of time to fight," Wu QiaoHua said with a smile. "But you already fought with me and Xin Mei previously. It's only fair to let Luo Li and Tan Mei do so next."

Peng MinYi looked at Wu QiaoHua's cute smile and nodded dejectedly. "Alright..."

"We have to see if you three can defeat a beast by yourself later, so it'll be good to see where your levels are," Xin Mei explained.

"Ohhh." Wu QiaoHua nodded along with the outer disciples. She didn't really think about letting the outer disciples fight by themselves since it could be dangerous. In fact, she was a bit afraid since she thought she would have to fight with Xin Mei alone the whole time due to the inexperienced outer disciples in their team. She looked at her bright friend and was glad she had someone here to help.

"I wonder how SuSu is doing," Wu QiaoHua wondered as they walked while keeping their eyes on their surroundings.

"Knowing her, she would do fine. You and I ended up together through a fair draw, but SuSu was asked by one of Master Ruan's main disciples to join."

Wu QiaoHua smiled. "I know. Their team may be doing better than ours," she sighed. Wei SuSu was pretty good at planning in advance and her sword moves also swift, which was probably why she was asked to join a good team.

Luo Li glanced at Wu QiaoHua and whispered to Tan Mei, "Hey, Eldest Senior Sister's cousin doesn't seem to be as talented as her. I wanted to join thinking it would be easier with Wu QiaoHua here, but Senior Sister Xin seems to be doing most of the work."

Tan Mei stared at him with her normal baggy eyes. "I know. Though she's not bad and was able to make it and become an inner disciple."

Luo Li sneered. "Probably through her connections. I heard Eldest Senior Sister frequently sent her pills and herbs even when she was an outer disciple..."

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" Xin Mei looked at them with fierce eyes and they quickly shut their mouths.

"N-nothing!" Luo Li quickly said. "I just thought it would be good to get more experience."

Xin Mei nodded. "Oh, then I should give you more chances to prove yourselves."

Tan Mei's brows dropped and she felt remorse for even talking with this dunce! She just wanted to get out of the forest without getting hurt. Now it would take more effort... She sighed. She glanced at Xin Mei. It seems Wu QiaoHua also had friends who actually cared for her and weren't just nice to her as a pretense to get closer to Wu LiJing.

After being able to get two more herbs, it was already getting dark and they had to settle down and get ready for the next days, which would be more about survival.

"We need to get a good rest," Xin Mei said. "Thankfully, no matter what, as long as we don't provoke the beasts in this forest, whether it be while the forest is visible or not, we'll be fine."

"We'll have to be extra careful tomorrow," Wu QiaoHua said. The outer disciples nodded in unison. "Then let's gather some firewood and eat the food we packed."

All disciples were given a small storage ring to store dried food for the next three days since the beasts in the forest couldn't be hunted and eaten. There was also a little more space to store their herbs. Once they ate their food, there would be more space for storage in case they grabbed other things. All they had to do was think about the food that was packed and it would pop out in their hands. After they made a fire, they ate and readied themselves for the next day.

Wu LiJing silently ate beef jerky as she watched Wu QiaoHua from afar and smiled, knowing they were doing well. She rested and decided to meet up with Wu QiaoHua tomorrow instead. She had to let Wu QiaoHua grow by herself after all. Wu LiJing didn't show herself and let the team do their work as she grabbed some random herbs and defeated other beasts around to collect a good amount and sell for some money.

After a while of being in the forest, she decided it was a good idea to sell these herbs for a good price in the market. She needed to save up in case she needed to ask for more investigations from Jin RuiYing. Paying others to do your work could be quite expensive. All these years, she learned that money could solve a lot of things.

Wu LiJing laid down on the big tree branch and closed her eyes.

When it was dawn, Wu LiJing awoke. She stretched a little and looked around. She was still on a branch, however, the distance from the ground had increased twofold. Insects and birds could be heard flying and chirping, compared to the complete silence from before. The trees also looked older and lusher than before because of much taller and bigger trunks and branches.

She heard some close chirping and looked to her left - there was a nest of birds. No, they weren't normal birds; they were blue bird beasts with a red mohawk. She looked closer and noticed that the nest was made of dead spiritual herbs and grass. The mother bird was currently feeding her bridlings. The forest was definitely more lively compared to before.

Wu LiJing stood up and looked around for Wu QiaoHua's team. They couldn't be seen, meaning they were elsewhere due to the change of the forest. She frowned. She should've stayed closer. She closed her eyes and tried to sense her chi from Wu QiaoHua's body. After a moment, she opened her eyes.

Just as she was flying in the air silently, while hiding behind the trees, she suddenly paused and landed quietly on a tall branch. Her eyes narrowed. There was a group of people dressed in teal clothing.

As she looked closer at their uniform, she contemplated. Did other sects have their disciples enter as a form of test as well? She decided to move in closer.

A pretty woman with clear eyes and pouting lips was standing in front of four other males. Her expensive golden hairpins hanging from her two braided buns on her head sparkled from the sunlight as she moved. Her teal clothing seemed to be made of a different material compared to the other disciples, and a fancy teal whip with gold engravings could be seen hanging on her side.

"Why is it so hard to find someone in here?! It could be dangerous if we don't find that man soon... what if he already escaped?" The pretty woman bit her lips nervously.

A very tall man with a pronounced jaw replied with a calm face, "Senior Sister, please calm down. We were able to track him here. Since the forest has already changed, he can't escape easily. We just have to find him before the two days are over."

Lin YaWen looked at the expressionless face of the man before her and sighed. "I know. I know, Niu. But Master has given us this important mission and we let him escape to the east. If she knew, she would be angry with us."

Wu LiJing frowned. They were here on a mission? After a moment longer of listening, she stealthily retreated and went around in order to reach Wu QiaoHua's team.

On the way, she spotted one of their disciples alone, fighting with a two-headed wolf that was twice his size. She flew over before its claws reached the inner disciple and swung her sword. A flash of light hit the wolf and it was pushed back.

"Eldest Senior Sister!" The disciple smiled with hope. His robes were a mess and blood could be seen, dripping from both of his arms.

The wolf turned its attention to Wu LiJing and growled, showing its large canine teeth. Her body emitted a cold aura and she flew towards it at the same time that it jumped towards her.

She twisted her body to create momentum and swung her sword with a bigger release of chi this time. The wolf was hit again and crashed to the ground. However, it did not give up and quickly got up, baring its fangs. It attacked with its claws and Wu LiJing quickly dodged in the brink of time.

"Be careful, Eldest Senior Sister!"

"Stay back," she said.

Wu LiJing gripped her sword and jumped, however, this time, it let out a howl that was deafening to the ears. She felt her eardrums throb as she fell to the ground. She landed on her feet and furrowed her brows.

She swung her sword towards it but felt her chi attack weaken suddenly, and it missed the wolf. The howl was refraining her from using her full power. The wolf stopped howling and tried to bite her with its two heads. Her chi release was unstable...

But it couldn't stop her from using her body strength. Instead of focusing on using spiritual energy, she ran forward and slid under the large wolf. With all of her arm strength and just a little chi focused on the tip of her blade, she swerved her sword sideways. One of the wolf's forelegs separated from its body and it cried in pain as blood gushed out from the wound.

"You better escape now if you don't want to suffer," she warned as she raised her sword. The wolf growled louder in anger and one of its head attacked her. Wu LiJing jumped up to avoid its head and swung her sword six times in quick succession. It was so fast, the Moon Sect disciple watching was in awe when the wolf suddenly froze and fell to the side, both of its head rolling on the ground first.

"E-eldest Senior Sister! That was amazing!" the disciple smiled and ran over to her. He quickly bowed.

"Thank you!" Sheng Ai had thought he would die but he didn't expect to run into Wu LiJing! He suddenly felt his eyes get a little wet.

Wu LiJing swung her sword once to get rid of the blood and sheathed her sword. She looked at the disciple. "Where are the rest?" It wouldn't be good if they were in trouble as well. Since her master did task her with looking after the sect disciples, she couldn't just ignore them.

Sheng Ai's face suddenly fell. "I became separated from my team when we entered this area. There was suddenly a steam of fog and when I looked back, I was alone and lost. Then I seemed to have stepped on a precious herb by accident since I couldn't really see well and was attacked by this two-headed wolf..."

Wu LiJing also noticed that this area was more foggy than before. "Where's the herb?"

"Ah!" Sheng Ai quickly brought her to the single herb the wolf was guarding. It was a Purple Bean Sprout. It aided in draining normal poisons from the body. Although it had been stepped on, it was still alive and standing.

He quickly uprooted it and presented it to Wu LiJing with both hands respectfully. "Here, Eldest Senior Sister!"

Wu LiJing stared at the plant and then at him. She sighed. "I don't need it." She turned around.

"What?" He looked up at her and blinked. "T-then..." Where was he to put the plant? It was his? "Eldest Senior Sister! It wouldn't be fair; I didn't even defeat the wolf!"

Wu LiJing glanced at him. "We should find your teammates."

He stared at her and then smiled brightly. "Yes, Eldest Senior Sister! Thank you!" He happily put the herb away in his space ring.

After he treated his wounds with the simple medicine in the ring provided from the sect, he quickly followed Wu LiJing silently. After a while of walking, they came upon his teammates. He happily ran towards them. When he turned back to thank Wu LiJing, she was already gone.

"Where's Eldest Senior Sister? Eldest Senior Sister!"

"Sheng Ai! What are you talking about?"

Sheng Ai frowned. "Eldest Senior Sister helped me when I was attacked earlier and even led me back here!" He just wanted to thank her again.

"Eldest Senior Sister? Really? Are you hallucinating?" His teammate laughed.

"Really! Eldest Senior Sister helped me when I almost died from a two-headed beast!" Sheng Ai tried to convince his teammates as he showed them his wounds.

Wu LiJing quickly flew towards the chi she felt from Wu QiaoHua through the fog. When she was near, she stopped and landed on the ground. She looked around the fog and frowned. It was worse around here. She heightened her senses and looked around carefully. Where were they?

Suddenly, she felt the connection of her chi break, like a tight line snapping in two, and she felt her heart drop. QiaoHua! She rushed towards the location that called to her.

"Wu QiaoHua! Wake up!" she heard.

Wu LiJing flew towards the sound and witnessed QiaoHua's body enclosed by a huge black snake. She was unconscious and her teammates were trying to fight the snake to save her. However, even with all of their powers combined, it was no use. They were being pushed back.

"QiaoHua!" Wu LiJing tried to increase her speed towards her cousin, but a tree suddenly grew in front of her, and she felt a sudden shift in scenery. "No!" It was changing and QiaoHua was getting further from her.

Tan Mei's baggy eyes were wet as she tried her best to defend and attack with Luo Li while Peng MinYi worked with Xin Mei. Her hands were trembling, and she felt it hard to fight properly.

Luo Li yelled, "Girl! Fight properly! You keep missing!"

"I-I'm trying!" She sniffed as she tried not to cry.

Peng MinYi was doing better but his heart was thumping so fast, everything felt like a blur as he tried to fight alongside Senior Sister Xin. He stabbed the body of the snake, but the sword did not pierce deep enough and he was thrown off. "Ahhhhh!"

Xin Mei gritted her teeth. "Hold on, you guys!" She jumped and tried to stab the snake's eyes but it dodged in time and hit its head against her, making her fly a good distance before her body hit a tree. She coughed out some blood and tried to stand. "Wu QiaoHua! Wake up!" she screamed as she used her sword to prop herself up.

The snake seemed to have heard her and its head quickly flew towards her, its mouth wide open with its fangs protruding, ready to pounce. Xin Mei gripped her sword and suddenly hit her hand against a pendant hanging on her waist as she readied herself to fight. Her eyes widened. How could she forget?! She grabbed the pendant to call for help but had to dodge the snake first.

When she dodged, she felt the medal slip out of her hands. "No!" She tried to reach for it, but the snake's tail slapped her body to the side, and she felt herself slip in and out of her consciousness from the pain as she gazed at the pendant that soared away from her.

When her vision became focused, her sword laid on the ground and the snake was staring at her. Its head flew downwards, and she shut her eyes with her head turned. Her body was trembling...

Slash!

...But she felt no pain.

The cries of the snake thundered in the forest, piercing Xin Mei's ears in the process.

She quickly opened her eyes and the first color she saw was dark purple. She looked up with wide eyes and a woman was standing in front of her, causing her heart to thump faster and relief to fill inside of her.

The woman stood with a strong back and emitted an elegant, confident aura. A silver sword gleamed in her hand, glowing with a menacing energy.

"Eldest Senior Sister," she whispered with a hoarse voice as she felt her eyes become wet. Xin Mei tried to get up so she wouldn't become a hindrance.

Wu LiJing lifted her arm and swung her sword effortlessly towards the snake, causing it to shriek again from the unexpected pain. Part of its head was bleeding from LiJing's earlier attack, but the wound was already slowly closing by itself.

Dodging the snake's quick bite, her eyes narrowed when she noticed the closing wound. She jumped to the side and flew towards QiaoHua.

The snake went after her and let out a loud hiss. It wasn't going to let her escape!

She quickly swung her sword six times and each slash that emitted a light, hit the snake's long body, making it screech painfully each time. The slashes did not cut through its body and were already healing, however, its hold on QiaoHua loosened and LiJing pushed herself off the snake's long body to give herself more momentum to reach QiaoHua faster.

Wu LiJing slashed once more at the few spots that was still healing, and the snake's coiling body around Wu QiaoHua finally let go. She reached out and caught Wu QiaoHua in time as they fell to the ground from midair.

"Leave!" she ordered everyone in a loud voice. The outer disciples quickly snapped out of it and ran as fast as they could away from the fight scene. Xin Mei waited for Wu LiJing as she hid behind a tree, panting in pain as she watched.

Wu LiJing evaded the snake's tail but its head aimed for QiaoHua. LiJing quickly turned her back to shield her cousin, feeling her shoulder get pierced by the snake's fangs. With gritted teeth, one of her hands around QiaoHua loosened to summon her sword that she had dropped.

"Eldest Senior Sister! Give me QiaoHua!" Xin Mei had run out from her hiding spot with her arms wide open.

Wu LiJing put two fingers up with cold eyes and whispered a spell, "One Hundred Light Swords Illusion!" Her sword duplicated a hundred times and flew towards the snake, stabbing into its body continuously. The snake shrieked and its fangs slipped out of her shoulder as its attention went to the hundred swords.

Wu LiJing felt a few drops of sweat slip down her forehead as she flew towards Xin Mei and handed Wu QiaoHua over gently.

After making sure Wu QiaoHua's was breathing, she sighed in relief. She looked at Xin Mei and smiled. "Take her and go."

"But Eldest Senior Sister!" Before Xin Mei could say more, Wu LiJing was already flying towards the snake. Taking a step forward, "Eldest Senior Sister!"

Xin Mei stared at Wu LiJing anxiously for a moment before she quickly decided to leave with quick steps. Feeling the heavy body in her arms, her gaze went to QiaoHua's unconscious face with dark eyes.

Wu LiJing's sword flew to her hand and she looked at the bloody snake. Her spell wasn't as strong as usual since she couldn't use all of her chi due to the two-headed wolf from earlier. And her left hand was trembling due to the paralyzing effect from the snake's toxin, spreading from her shoulder that was left behind from its fangs. Luckily, it had no big effect her right arm, but she had to end it quickly.

The snake already recovered but its body was now dripping with blood. Its angry golden eyes glared at Wu LiJing as it hissed. Its flexible body swam in the dirt towards Wu LiJing at a nimble speed and tried to seep its fangs into Wu LiJing again.

Wu LiJing quickly did a side-step but was flung away by the snake's tail and she grit her teeth as she tried to land safely yet ended up skidding on her back. She bit back a small groan and focused a large amount of chi onto the sword on her hand as she stood up.

The snake tried to bite her once more and she ducked, running away from its large body. Blasts could be heard behind her as the snake bit down but missed each time, instead hitting the ground and creating clouds of dirt.

Then Wu LiJing stopped suddenly and turned around just as the snake's head aimed for her again.

"One Hundred Rhythmic Strikes," she said in a cold tone. She had been practicing this technique and was finally using it for the first time.

Her body floated as the sword in her hand moved faster than the eye could see, focusing on the wounds on the snake's body that was struggling to heal as it sliced over and over. Finally, the snake's body could not regenerate in time and split into many parts and flew to different areas, crushing the trees and grass in its path before slowly vanishing into thin air.

Wu LiJing fell to the ground and let out the breath she was holding when she landed safely.

She checked the condition of her body. Her breathing was uneven, and she felt her whole left shoulder now unmovable. She tried to move her right hand and found that it was also starting to turn stiff. She glanced at a distance, noticing the white flower the beast was protecting.

"The Angelica Flower," she whispered. There seemed to be about twenty to thirty white petals on its body, with the edges tinted in a dark blue color. She stared at it for a moment before she picked it up and put it into her ring. She winced a little, still feeling a little of the pain coming from her left shoulder. She closed her eyes and used her chi to circulate around the toxin on her shoulder as she tried to analyze it. This effect should only be temporary and wasn't lethal.

She put her sword away and tried to find Wu QiaoHua's team. She heard a crying sound and hurried her steps as she hopped between trees to reach them.

"I-is she okay?" Tan Mei asked with sobs.

"Stop crying!" Luo Li scolded.

Peng MinYi was silently sitting to the side as he watched Xin Mei check up on Wu QiaoHua. She nodded. "Mm. QiaoHua is fine. She is just unconscious. There are a few bruises on her body when the beast snaked around her, but it is not too serious."

Wu LiJing landed on the ground and checked up on Wu QiaoHua personally as the boys looked away. She sighed in relief and her stern eyes softened when she confirmed her cousin's condition.

The girl, Tan Mei, was relieved when she heard QiaoHua was unharmed, but suddenly let out a small scream, "E-eldest Senior sister! Y-your shoulder!"

The blood that was dirtying Wu LiJing's robes and was dripping to the ground came from her shoulder, showing two obvious red holes.

"Eldest Senior Sister! Were the fangs poisoned?!" Xin Mei asked worriedly as she stood up. She suddenly realized that Wu LiJing hadn't moved her left arm this whole time even when checking up on Wu QiaoHua.

Wu LiJing sat down and pulled down her collar with her right hand, exposing her left shoulder. They were all taken by surprise and watched with wide eyes. Wu LiJing ignored their reactions while taking out a bottle of water from her ring. She stiffly poured it over the wound with closed eyes and then put medicine on it with a swift hand.

Luo Li shut his eyes and muttered to himself constantly in order to distract his attention as he shivered; Tan Mei felt like she was going to be sick and covered her mouth as she quickly avoided looking at Wu LiJing; while Peng MinYi couldn't help glancing at her shoulder a few times with furrowed brows even after he looked away.

Xin Mei gasped when she saw the large wounds and froze as her hands went to her mouth.

In the end, Tan Mei ended up fainting from seeing how gruesome the wound was. Luo Li and Peng MinYi concentrated on the ground as they rubbed their shoulders. They suddenly felt as though they had two holes on their shoulders as well...

Xin Mei winced, and she snapped out of her stupor, debating whether she should get closer. "E-eldest Senior sister, are you alright? I'm sorry... I should've helped." Wasn't it painful? How did she not flinch at all?!

Wu QiaoHua was wrapping her shoulder by herself but Xin Mei quickly went over. "I can do it!"

"No, It's fine. I am almost done."

Xin Mei didn't have enough courage to keep going so she just nodded and sat back as she watched.

"H-how is your arm?" Xin Mei managed to ask after Wu LiJing fixed her robes. She suddenly felt afraid with the cold look that emerged in Wu LiJing's eyes.

"My arm is fine. It will just be paralyzed for a while." She looked at her. "Now, tell me why you all suddenly decided to attack a beast that was clearly out of your level?" All of them lowered their heads in shame.

"Getting one special herb will not matter if you lose your life for it," she said in a harsher tone.

Everyone was quiet as they suddenly glanced at each other and then at the unconscious Wu QiaoHua. Xin Mei bit her lips and hesitated. Then she braved herself and said, "Senior Sister... it... it was QiaoHua... We were looking for herbs to collect and passed by that snake. It was guarding an Angelic Flower and we did have thoughts about getting it. But we saw that the risk was too big and didn't think we could defeat the beast. So we decided to retreat and look for another one."

She gulped, "We were walking within some thick fog for a while... until we realized Wu QiaoHua wasn't with us. When we went back, we found her trying to sneak past the sleeping snake for the flower. I-I tried to convince her to come back, but I didn't know why she didn't listen... so..." So they were put in that situation.

Wu LiJing looked at her with an expressionless face for a moment and then looked at Wu QiaoHua with a small sigh. "Alright. Why didn't you guys press the pendant given by the sect? Your situation was dire." She frowned.

Xin Mei looked down in shame. "I forgot..." Her voice was small, and she felt tears in her eyes. She indeed felt ashamed for having forgotten about it as an inner disciple. The outer disciples froze and lowered their heads some more. Indeed, they all had forgotten due to their inexperience and fear.

"I also lost my pendant earlier from the fight," Xin Mei whispered shamefully.

Wu LiJing nodded. "We should rest here for now until QiaoHua wakes up," she said. "Is no one heavily injured?"

Xin Mei looked up and glanced at Wu LiJing's shoulder and then shook her head. All of the outer disciples shook their heads.

Xin Mei went to collect the pendant from the spot they were at earlier and returned. Then she sat down to meditate and tried to heal the internal injuries from fighting the snake by regulating her chi through her body.

Wu LiJing also changed out of her stained robes into a new one. She always had one in her spatial ring when she left the sect if she remembered in case she needed to change into new ones.

Wu QiaoHua did not wake up until the next day.