Phoenix Rising

047

The huanhun dan won't work on me? But why?

She moved her fingers to her forehead, wincing at the sting. Besides that, she didn't seem to have suffered anything more than a few light abrasions. She glanced up at the towering cliff, shuddering at the thought of how she had fallen from that immense height. Then, she turned back towards Zhenghuan, eyeing him suspiciously.

Was he telling the truth about his own injuries? If Old Man Hu had to bring out a huanhun dan in order to treat his injuries, that suggested that Du Zhenghuan's injuries had been serious enough to put him on the brink of death.

She remembered the warmth of his arms around her as they plunged from the cliff, shielding her from the impact of their fall. A faint blush spread across her cheeks.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Zhenghuan asked.

Zi-ning turned away, embarrassed by her own behaviour. She squatted down and picked up a stray pebble, tossing it up and down on her palm. "Thank you," she said. The last thing she wanted was to owe anyone any debts, because a debt meant a connection, and someone like her could not afford to form any connections, any threads that tied her to another. But despite that, fate had other plans. Now, she owed Du Zhenghuan a life debt—and she would have to pay it back as soon as she could, in order to severe this connection that had been formed between them.

"You're... welcome?" He sat down beside her. "You have a penchant for attracting trouble, don't you? It seems like there's always someone who wants you dead."

She scoffed. And they already succeeded once, she thought.

"I happen to be standing in the way of many people, that's all," she replied.

"Intentionally so?"

"That's none of your business."

The two of them sat in silence for a long while, just watching the river waters flow by. The valley was a hidden utopia, a place of peace. If possible, Zi-ning would have liked to stay here forever, to build a small dwelling among the blossom trees the way Old Hu had, and live out the rest of her life in this small patch of heaven.

But she could not. That was not why she had returned.

If she stayed here, then everything would go back to the way they were. Ru-an would be victorious, Meiyan would become queen, and everyone she loved and cared about would be sentenced to a terrible end.

She stood up.

"Where are you going?" Zhenghuan asked.

"I need to speak to Old Hu," she replied. Since she had managed to find her way here, then she could not leave empty-handed.

#

The old man was far more stubborn than she anticipated. Even despite her grovelling and pleading, he did not relent, refusing to give her the huanhun dan that she asked for.

"No, no, no, no!" his voice echoed from inside the locked room. "No matter what you say, I will not give it to you. I never give my medicines to anyone. Not now, not ever!"

Zi-ning had been kneeling outside his door for an entire day, but still he would not budge. He would not even open his doors for her.

"Then I'm not leaving," she called out. "I'll never leave this place until you agree to give me a huanhun dan. Please, I need it to save a life!"

Seconds later, the doors burst open. The old man stood at the doorway, hands on his hips, his face wrinkled up with scorn.

"I knew I shouldn't have rescued the two of you. Burdens!" he railed. "You want the pill so badly? Fine! If you can gather two full baskets of devil's vines and extract their cores, then I'll give you one. Now get out of my sight!" He rapped her on the head with his gnarled wooden walking stick, then retreated back into his room.

Zi-ning's eyes lit up. Two baskets of cores from the devil's vines. She didn't expect it to be an easy task, considering how unwilling the River Immortal seemed to be with parting with his miracle pills, but at least it was no longer an outright rejection. No matter how difficult the task was, she had to complete it, for Yongxing's sake.

"Do you even know what devil's vines are?" Zhenghuan's voice piped up from behind. He was sitting on a log, descaling some fishes for dinner.

She shook her head.

"The cores of devil's vines are a rare medicinal herb, that can cure up to twenty different poisons. But they are extremely hard to obtain. The vines can only be found growing in dark crevices at the coldest mountaintops."

Zi-ning's brows knotted in a frown. They were stuck at the bottom of a deep valley. How was she possibly going to reach a mountaintop that was high enough for her to be able to find devil's vine?

"I might happen to know a place where you can find it," Zhenghuan added, a slight smile quirking upon his lips, "if you ask nicely."

"You do?" Zi-ning scrambled to her feet and ran over to him. "Can you show me where it is? You don't have to come with me. You can just mark it out on a map and I'll get them myself."

"Even if I drew it out, I doubt you'd be able to get there on your own. I'll go with you, and you can add it to the debt you owe me."

"You really don't have to—"

"If we set off now, we might make it up the mountain by nightfall. Hurry up."

Zi-ning sighed in exasperation. Zhenghuan had already picked up two empty rattan baskets and was heading down the river bank. Clearly he wasn't taking no for an answer.

She weighed her options for a brief moment, then ran along to catch up with him. As much as she hated having anything further to do with Du Zhenghuan, she did not have any other choice. She needed his help if she hoped to exchange the vines for a huanhun dan.