At the Mao hour, the gates of Qingyun Sect were still shrouded in morning mist, the dew on the stone steps dampening the tips of shoes.
Lin Nan had just arrived at the plaza when she heard Shen Yuer’s voice cutting through the fog: “Xiao Lin, over here~”
Following the voice, the little girl dressed in a bright orange-yellow skirt stood out vividly in the mist. Shen Yuer was tiptoeing, waving her hand, with a figure in purple robes standing beside her.
Huo Yuanyao carried a sword on her back, holding a yellowed piece of paper in her hand.
“Fellow Daoist Huo.”
Lin Nan stepped forward, her green eyes scanning the paper — it was a hand-drawn map of Blackwind Valley, with meticulous markings of mountain ridges and even the branching streams.
“Good morning.”
Huo Yuanyao handed over the map. “Senior Brother from Sword Peak drew this. Supposedly more complete than the one from the Martial Hall.”
Shen Yuer leaned in, nudging Lin Nan’s elbow. “See? I told you Senior Sister Huo is reliable!”
Suddenly, she clapped her hands, her eyes sparkling like stars. “Oh right! Xiao Lin, I promised last time to take you on the Shen Family’s Floating Airship. It just so happens there’s a docking point here at Qingyun Sect. It only takes an hour to get to Changning Village. Let’s take the Floating Airship!”
Lin Nan’s steps abruptly froze. Her white hair fell across her cheek, hiding the momentary stiffening of her expression.
She hugged her arms, voice a little dry. “Not good. You know I’m on the blacklist of the Shen Family and the Prime Minister’s Residence now, and the Danxia Sect’s worldly disciples are still hunting me. Taking the airship… is too conspicuous.”
“Why be afraid?”
Shen Yuer raised an eyebrow and reached out to brush Lin Nan’s white hair. “The airship flies under Qingyun Sect’s banner. Even if the Prime Minister’s Residence is powerful, they wouldn’t dare lay a hand on someone from our sect. Besides, if the Danxia Sect dares show up, we’ll just report them to Senior Sister Qiao and Senior Brother.”
Huo Yuanyao added, “The Floating Airship is indeed fast. Three villagers were injured by a beast in Changning Village. The sooner we arrive, the sooner we can investigate.”
She paused, her gaze dropping to the white tips of Lin Nan’s ears, then added, “The airship is very large, and extremely stable.”
Lin Nan rolled her eyes, resisting more fiercely, her toes scraping the bluestone slab as she stammered, “I still think it’s not right. How about we take a horse carriage instead?”
“Xiao Lin, last time you came to Qingyun Sect by horse carriage, my butt was nearly bruised into several parts. It still hasn’t healed!”
The little girl pouted, looking irresistibly pitiful.
Lin Nan glanced at her and felt a bit soft, but the image of the Floating Airship sailing through the sea of clouds instantly made her recoil.
“Oh,” Shen Yuer suddenly blinked, “Xiao Lin, you’re not… afraid of heights, are you?”
The white-haired girl stiffened her neck. “Of course not. I just… get seasick…”
“Pfft—”
Shen Yuer nearly spit out the water she’d just swallowed, pointing at Lin Nan and laughing until she bent over, “You? Seasick? You’re the peerless woman who once punched Cao Xingzhi flying, and now you get seasick?!”
She laughed until tears came out, only quieting down after Lin Nan gave her a hard smack.
Huo Yuanyao turned away, pretending to straighten her sword tassel, but her shoulders trembled slightly — clearly, she couldn’t hold back either.
Lin Nan’s green eyes widened, somewhat displeased. “Last time, when I went to the river’s opposite bank with the tavern Boss, we took a fishing boat barely three feet wide. It rocked so much I vomited all the way. The Boss and Boss Lady laughed at me for three days.”
She tugged on Shen Yuer’s sleeve. “An airship is still a boat. No matter how stable, it still sways. I won’t go.”
Seeing her was genuinely afraid, Shen Yuer stopped laughing and rubbed her head. “Alright, alright, no going then. How about a compromise?”
She pointed to the mountainside. “There’s a Changge Hall relay station at the foot of Qingyun Mountain. We can take a flying beast there. It’s slower than the airship but faster than a horse carriage. How about that?”
Huo Yuanyao nodded. “The relay stations at Changge Hall are all guarded by Qingyun Sect disciples, so it’s safe. Also…”
She glanced at Lin Nan. “It’s not a boat.”
Lin Nan finally relaxed, following them up the mountainside.
Shen Yuer chatted non-stop, boasting about the Shen Family’s airship’s “Steady Spirit Formation,” forged from thousand-year Blacksteel. She said it was so stable that not even water in a cup would spill.
“Next time, I definitely have to take you on it!” she promised, patting her chest.
Huo Yuanyao occasionally interjected, saying most Sword Peak disciples practiced Sword Riding Flight, which was even steadier than the airship. “If you want to learn, I can lend you the beginner’s Heart Method.”
Lin Nan listened, her gaze falling on the sword tassel at Huo Yuanyao’s waist — a bluish-gray tassel, braided strikingly similar to Shu Ying’s.
She was lost in thought when Huo Yuanyao suddenly turned her head. “Why does your seventh turn of the Technique of Flowing Clouds always rotate your wrist half a beat faster?”
Lin Nan paused, then said, “I feel that’s the most suitable way to exert force.”
She picked up a stone and flicked it with her fingers toward a nearby pine tree. The stone brushed past pine needles and hit the foot of a sparrow perched on a branch with precision.
“Like this — fast and accurate, no need to hold back. It actually delivers more power.”
Huo Yuanyao watched the startled sparrow fly away, then said thoughtfully, “Thank you, Fellow Daoist Lin.”
“No problem.”
“Oh, by the way,” Huo Yuanyao’s eyes swept over the silver hairpin in her hair, “When you were sword dancing last time, you always guarded this pin. Actually, you don’t have to. When it’s time to unleash the sword moves, you have to let go.”
Shen Yuer giggled beside her. “Exactly! Xiao Lin, you’re always afraid of breaking the hairpin I gave you, so you hold back when fighting. Next time, I’ll give you one made of Blacksteel!”
Lin Nan smiled wryly but loosened her grip on the sword a little, saying, “What you give me, I wouldn’t bear to lose it.”
“Wow!”
The little girl’s eyes sparkled. She grabbed Lin Nan’s arm, swinging it back and forth, her squinting eyelashes betraying her happiness.
The Changge Hall relay station was decorated primarily in pale blue tones. The three were each assigned a top-grade flying horse beast. The disciples guarding the formation checked their tokens and smiled. “Changning Village sent word early this morning. They’ve freshly steamed osmanthus cakes waiting for the honored immortal masters.”
Shen Yuer was the first to jump on. She waved at them, calling out, “Hurry up and mount, honored immortal masters!”
Lin Nan pursed her lips and smiled faintly, mounting after Huo Yuanyao.
Facing the strong wind, the girl put away her silver hairpin from behind her hair. Only after she made sure it was safely stored in her bag did she raise her head, letting the wind scatter her hair.
She looked ahead at the little girl frolicking on horseback and felt a faint warmth swell in her heart.
It was as if, with the flying horses dashing away from Qingyun Sect, she and the little girl could leap freely through the vast world.
Whatever calamities awaited, whatever theft of fortune, whatever search for Elder Lin… all could be cast aside, caring only about the present moment.
The flying horses finally landed in a wide valley.
Smoke curled in the distance, and the village’s green-tiled white walls hid among the trees. Under the old locust tree at the village entrance, several villagers peeked over curiously.
“Are you immortal masters from Qingyun Sect?” a burly man in coarse cloth stepped forward, clutching a hoe. “Aunt Li just went to steam the cakes and told us to wait here.”
Shen Yuer’s eyes lit up. “Osmanthus cakes?”
The old man was momentarily taken aback by her question, then laughed. “Coming right up! Immortal masters, please rest in the village first and try our Changning Village’s specialty.”
Huo Yuanyao waved her hand. “No need. I want to see where the beast injured people.”
She unfolded the map and pointed west of the village. “Is it that mountain hollow over there?”
The man’s face darkened. “Yes… just yesterday, a cow was dragged away. Only half the bones were found.”
Lin Nan’s green eyes slightly contracted. As they walked west with the villager, she suddenly noticed tufts of black fur by the roadside grass, stained with faint dark red.
It didn’t look like ordinary wild beast fur; it resembled Spirit Wolf fur but was coarser and harder.
If she had to say, it even somewhat resembled the Blood-Eyed Spirit Wolf that Shen Qingmei summoned.
Shen Yuer saw it too and tugged Lin Nan’s sleeve, lowering her voice, “This fur…”
“Let’s check first,” Lin Nan shook her head, her gaze sweeping toward the mountain hollow where the mist was thicker than elsewhere, faintly carrying an indescribable stench.
Huo Yuanyao walked in front, her palm always resting on her sword hilt. She suddenly stopped.
“This mist feels off.”
She bent to pick up a stone and threw it into the fog. The stone disappeared into the mist, but no sound of it landing echoed back.
The villager retreated a few steps, panic in his voice. “It’s this mist! The beasts always come with this fog. Immortal masters, maybe wait a bit longer? Wait for the fog to clear…”
“No need to wait.”
Huo Yuanyao drew her sword, hugged it close, and charged straight into the thick fog alone.