Autumn Hill was a tiny hill located behind a lush pine bamboo forest where the Spirit Forest Peak was located. It did not any flat clearing as spacious, not has it been maintained to be grand as the other main peaks. It also was not as tall as the other mountains and hills. However, the hill was a special existence to the Hui Lin sect. It was normally an inaccessible ground for the normal disciples.
If Chun Ping Gu sect had the Yin lake, and Wu Shan sect had the Bu Gui cave, Hui Lin had the Autumn Hill. Similarly, it was the sole place in Hui Lin sect where the congregation of pure qi was the most condensed.
The pine bamboo forest itself circled the Spirit Forest Peak, one of the peaks used to conduct the competitions. The Spirit Forest Peak was accessible usually by flight, none of the Hui Lin lower ranked disciples would be crazy enough to pass the forest underneath, let alone going through it to reach the Autumn Hill behind. For Martial-Artists, the pure qi would cause pain in their still-impure constitutions. However, It would still be somewhat manageable for the higher-ranked Enlighteneds. In fact, meditating at Autumn Hill was necessary if these Hui Lin's Enlighteneds wanted to break-through to Sage-ism.
Needless to say, most of the time, only the Sages of Hui Lin sect had the luxury of being able to meditate there. Though lately, apart from them, Ao Xiang and Zuo BingTan were also given periodical access, as their cultivation were getting close to reaching bottleneck between the Enlightened and Sage.
Despite the seemingly unfavorable natural characteristic of this hill, Sage Guang Qu still wanted to conduct the banquet for the Emperor there. In fact, he precisely opted for it due to the seclusion and security of the place. Although small, it was also enough to host the Emperor and his small number of retinues. The Emperor was a high-tiered Enlightened, it was not a difficult matter for him to go through the dense qi-infused bamboo forest.
However, Lady Mei Gui, the only concubine of his harem that was brought along, was nowhere as capable. Despite being a decent high-tiered Martial Artist, it would still cause her some discomfort if she were to inhale the purest of qi, fortunately Hui Lin sect was not ruthless enough to make her go through the pain, or impolite to let her be left behind in her courtyard. Not to mention, Princess Zuo Shan'er was one without any cultivation at all. If she were to set one foot in the forest without any protection, the pure qi would attack her body in an attempt to 'cleanse' her impure constitution. Ultimately, as she did not have any means to protect herself or regulate the sudden influx of qi, she would die with blood oozing out of her every orifice and pore.
Hence, despite the gruesome possibility of causing mortal danger to non-cultivators and lower-ranked cultivators in the Emperor group, the Sages of Hui Lin sect still decided to hold the banquet at Autumn Hill. For them, there was no other perfect location as the pure qi would serve as a natural barrier against trespassers.
Ao Xiang and Shen Wei served as the people in charge of delivering the Imperial personages through the forest to the Autumn Hill. Being two practitioners who were adept in barriers and seals, it was not a difficult thing for them to set up arrays as they went along, making the path they protected safe enough for normal humans to pass through. Since morning, they had also isolated the Autumn Hill from the condensation of qi by setting up seals around it.
Once the guests were safely inside the Autumn Hill's barriers, they took off all the seals they had initially set up inside the forest. This way, no one below the Enlightened ranks could get in or out.
Autumn Hill, though was only simply decorated for that day's banquet, was a far cry from the desolate area it usually was. The normally uninhabited lone structure - that was usually used for the Sages' temporary residence during their meditation - was cleaned and manicured. Although it was far from the splendor of the Palace and the Imperial Gardens, Hui Lin sect did put some effort to properly cater to Zuo JinLong.
Zuo Mei Zi or Xiao Zi, Zuo JinHai, Zuo BingTan, Zuo Shan'er, and Zuo ZhouLei were seated together with Lady Mei Gui, outside the main building,
Separated from them by a small courtyard, Zuo Chen Lu or Cao Lu, Shen Wei, Ao Xiang, and the Sages of Hui Lin sect sat together in a circle along with Emperor Zuo JinLong. These were the main 'brains' of the meeting that was masked as a banquet.
The Emperor wanted to take some of the practitioners back to the Imperial City, to assist protecting his citizens from the Daemons. Although the issue of Daemons was less in the Imperial City, it still caused considerable chaos for the citizens' livelihood. The malice that had caused trouble had done nothing more than to possess domestic animals, but it had become a common occurrence for his officials to report happenings of a goat biting its owner, or a chicken that had suddenly grown an extra head.
It had impacted mostly the farmers and working-class citizens. Soon, the people would not have enough meat to eat, as they could do nothing else but to kill the affected animals.
Ao Xiang, Shen Wei, and Cao Lu recited the experience they had when encountering the malice-possessed Liu Yan in the Land of Yanshi. And how the previously kind disciple of Hui Lin sect had nothing left but intent to kill them.
Sage Guang Wu was Sage Guang Qu's blood brother. He was previously Liu Yan's master. How could he not feel aggrieved for losing his succeeding disciple, and worse to have heard that Liu Yan – the person that he had groomed for years – to have succumbed to malice?
"These are the ancient scrolls that Hui Lin sect has, that contain all information about Daemons and malice." Sage Guang Wu spread some scrolls that were made of thin bamboo skins onto the circular table. He and his fellow martial brothers had seen the scrolls countless times before, he had merely taken it out so the Emperor could take a look.
Zuo JinLong unfold the scrolls and quickly skimmed through them,
"It is pretty much the same with Wu Shan sect's records." He recalled his own experience of reading the scrolls at Wu Shan sect when he was still a disciple there a long time ago. The scrolls told of the existence of malice, the possessed creatures - that would be called Daemons, the way to purify the malice by the fire of the elemental beast.
"We know how to extinguish the malice, but how do we detect them?"
After all, there was no indication of someone or something having been possessed, well at least until that something grew an extra head and started barking like a dog instead of clucking.
Ao Xiang, Shen Wei, and Cao Lu exchanged brief glances towards each other with pursed lips, then tried to recover their initially flat expressions. However, it did not escape Sage Guang Wu's eyes.
"Ao Xiang. If there's anything you have not told us, you should. This concerns not only us as Dao practitioners, but also normal mortals."
At this, Ao Xiang could only look at Cao Lu once again, only for the latter to finally sigh in defeat. She had initially wanted to exclude YuLan out of this whole predicament. After all, was it not enough for Ao Xiang, Shen Wei, and a number of beast-masters to summon their Fire Phoenixes to purify these Daemons? Why did they have to drag YuLan into the equation? Her pure yin shimei might have an innate ability to see the true form of malice, but there was only one pure yin maiden, while the world was expansive.
Nevertheless, upon noticing all sharp glances of the Hui Lin sect's Sages, as well as her Emperor Father's, she finally relented,
"I will ask YuLan to come here."
She took out a summoning seal from her storage ring, and with a brief incantation, the seal turned to ash, carrying a whisper of her voice through the air, towards Green Cloud Peak.
It was one of the most simple method of communication. The range was limited, but it was enough to reach where YuLan was located.
Soon enough, the pure yin Enlightened practitioner reached the outer barrier of Autumn Hill. Shen Wei dissolved one of the seals to grant her access, before quickly restoring the array. The sudden burst of pure qi from outside of the barrier should not be a danger to the people inside.
Zuo Shan'er trembled due to the sudden dense air attacking her body. However, soon she began to breath normally as Lady Mei Gui transferred some of her own energy to assist Zuo Shan'er to regulate her energy.
YuLan walked pass their group and glanced from the corner of her eyes to observe how this dainty looking girl with pale face inadvertently shifted her weight closer to Zuo ZhouLei. Zuo Shan'er's fingers trembled as she tried to clutch onto Zuo ZhouLei's sleeves.
"A pretty young thing, gentle and pitiful looking. He's also still a mere teenager at this moment... . What a fitting looking pair. While I... am an old soul, remembering him from the last life to the next. This girl is as fragile and soft as a tofu, while I'm probably as tough as a decade old dried meat jerky." YuLan could not help but to muse bitterly, clenching her own fists inside her sleeves.
Zuo ZhouLei had absent-mindedly shifted his attention towards the paling Zuo Shan'er. Although he did not have any intention to reciprocate her feelings, Zuo Shan'er was one of his childhood friends when he was still in the Imperial Palace. She had shown him genuine affection and kindness, and if nothing more, he was concerned about her as a friend, or as an older brother.
However, Zuo ZhouLei could not help but to feel cold sweat suddenly trickle down his back and turned his neck once again to look at the pure yin maiden who was walking past. He briefly caught her rueful glance at Zuo Shan'er's reaching fingers that caused him to subconsciously evade the latter's grasp.
He had been slightly annoyed at Zuo Shan'er then and thought that the girl should have just stayed behind in her own appointed courtyard instead of joining the banquet at this Autumn Hill. He did not want YuLan to misunderstand.
Zuo ZhouLei was dumbfounded at his own trail of thought.
When Zuo ZhouLei saw YuLan's figure appearing behind the translucent barrier, she was all he could see before his attention was taken by the gasping Zuo Shan'er who seemed to have suffered from the sudden influx of pure qi. Even Lady Mei Gui did not bat an eyelid and could still spare some energy to help her. Zuo Shan'er's constitution was truly bad, even for a non-cultivator.
When YuLan finally shifted her glance away and walked towards where Cao Lu and the others were, he could only stare at her back.
Ji YuLan.
Ever since he was introduced to her a few days ago, she was all he could think of.
She was older, and although it was not their first time meeting, he had forgotten about her apparently. She was a pure yin maiden. The last fact should have been more than enough for him to deter any unbecoming thoughts, lest he wanted to make himself an enemy of Chun Ping Gu sect.
But for the first time in his life, he found that his life had a purpose.
Ever since he was small, he had been mundanely living. He cultivated, he learnt martial arts, he lived, he fought. Even when his mother died, he did not feel that anything had particularly been missing from his life.
Having known that he had forgotten their first meeting was the biggest regret he had.
His sight became a tad blurry when the sight of the flutter of the white robes of the other bore into his memory. Something screamed inside him, he must not forget this person.
Her appearance was the only color in the white-washed world of his.
Although her figure was clad in white, her existence was the brightest of red in the midst of snow.
"Lei-ge. Are you alright?" A concerned soft voice and a light touch on his arm caused him to fling his sleeve, to avoid the touch. He turned to his side to see the hurt expression of Zuo Shan'er, her reaching hand dropping to her lap dejectedly, her eyes starting to pool with mist.
"I... ." He shook his head and realized that he was still clenching his right fist, turning his knuckles white from the lack of blood.
What was he thinking about that had caused such a disarray and his heart beating with dread?
A speck of red... in the middle of white.
A faceless figure in white, immobile, lying in the surrounding white nothingness. Red bloomed around her.
She was no longer breathing.
"ZhouLei shidi," Zuo JinHai furrowed his brows, "Tomorrow is another one of your matches. Are you sure you are feeling alright?"
Xiao Zi and Zuo BingTan also looked at him with concerned faces. Lady Mei Gui tactfully pulled Zuo Shan'er closer to her side, despite the young woman's still aggrieved expression.
Casting one final glance towards YuLan who was still conversing with the Emperor and the Sages, he took a deep breath and assured his companions that he was fine.
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The next few days went along without a hitch, and YuLan and Xiao Zi were finally transferred to Spirit Forest Peak, where the quarter finals, semi-finals, and finals of the matches were to be conducted.
They were finally going to be reunited with Zhen Zhu and Cao Lu. But Zhen Zhu was the one they managed to find first.
Xiao Zi and Zhen Zhu of Chun Ping Gu sect, Ding Shun of Wu Shun sect, and Qing Lian of Hui Lin sect were four of eight Martial-Artists that made it to the quarter-finals.
When arriving at Spirit Forest Peak and meeting the other Martial Artists, they got to know another male practitioner named Lu Bing whom they had not met before. They also found out that this Martial-Artist was also a beast master. He was from one of the lesser-known sect, but his conduct was amiable and his knowledge wide, causing him to be popular with the other practitioners. In fact, because his sect did not have much resources for him to train, he had to gain experience and hone his martial-arts by travelling. This made him wise and knowledgeable beyond his age.
Droningly listening to her friends chatting with Lu Bing and marvelling at his summoned Fire Phoenix, YuLan herself was not feeling too good.
By the looks of it, if she were to keep winning her own matches, would it not be a given that she would face Zuo ZhouLei in a fight? Could she not just concede defeat? Exchanging sword moves in a bid to hurt each other was not the kind of fight she wanted to have with her beloved after all.
But if she were to do that, what would Zhu Hong say? The Sage was almost akin to her mother in this world, YuLan could not bear to disappoint the latter by losing face, even in front of her own husband that she would not mind to do so.
That was right, she had claimed Zuo ZhouLei as her husband from the get-go. She just did not know how to say it to the other person, or how to act about it.
"Worrying about my Imperial brother?" Xiao Zi's not-too-subtle slap on her back almost cause YuLan to choke. YuLan glared at her, but she soon feigned ignorance as she registered Xiao Zi's question and the latter's eyes that were full of mocking glee.
There was no need to clarify which 'brother' Xiao Zi was teasing her about as the Martial-Artist soon rambled on,
"There's no way I would have missed your scowl yesterday when you saw Zuo Shan'er getting cozy with my youngest Imperial brother."
YuLan only frowned when she recalled the memory, but kept her silence.
Treating it as a blatant refusal to banter with her, Xiao Zi only sighed. The both of them then watched Zhen Zhu and Lu Bing conversing animatedly, while the small Fire Phoenix flew playfully around the pair.
"Even Zhen Zhu the Uptight is finding love in this place. What are you being so secretive about?" Xiao Zi shrugged.
YuLan finally chuckled, "Speaking of uptight, shouldn't it be our Cao Lu DaShijie?"
"The only person Cao Lu DaShijie loves the most is her shifu, Sage Hu Lan." Xiao Zi laughed. She watched the currently giggling Zhen Zhu, as well as the anxious Lu Bing whose Fire Phoenix had already dissipated. Obviously, his qi was no longer sufficient to sustain his summon of the bird. Xiao Zi was about to say some teasing words about the two. However, soon, her brows were knitted in a slight frown as she whispered to YuLan,
"Ah-Lan. Practitioners that have lost their matches should leave Hui Lin sect as soon as possible, right?"
YuLan nodded but then tilted her head as she recalled having seen Yu Mei with Ding Shun and Shen Wei early in the morning. Despite having lost her match a few days ago, the Wu Shan sect's Martial-Artist still lingered around, but it was definitely because Shen Wei had pulled some strings so his shimei could stay.
She was about to open her mouth to ask about Xiao Zi's clear discomfort, but soon she noticed what Xiao Zi was asking her about.
A male Dao practitioner with a familiar face, was walking towards them. His face was handsome and gentle looking, every bit the same as they had seen and conversed with him a few days back. But YuLan recalled that back then, Ao Xiang had subtly reminded this young master to leave Hui Lin sect soon as the latter had lost his match.
The Dragon's Heavenly Mountain walked briskly, if not a little eager, as he noticed Xiao Zi.
Xiao Zi's furrow deepened as Long TianShan's pace grew quicker, but that was not what had turned YuLan's blood cold.
Only yesterday, she was trying to explain to the Emperor and the Sages about her 'vision' when she noticed Daemons or malice. Everyone had been dejected then; after all, Hui Lin sect was one of the safest places in the continent, where bounds of pure qi circulated throughout the sect. What would be the chance of encountering a Daemon in the sect to prove her ability?
YuLan blinked a few times to regain her focus as she quickly shifted her body to stand in front of her friend. If those wriggling grey-blackish foggy looking strings that emanated from the Heavenly Mountain was not malice, then what would it be?
"Miss YuLan, Miss Xiao Zi." Long TianShan bowed gracefully, not quite noticing the grim expression on YuLan's face.
YuLan stepped backwards a few steps though, with Xiao Zi being dragged along with her, until they reached where Zhen Zhu and Lu Bing were.
"Ah-Zhu, ah-Zi," YuLan whispered hoarsely, "Do you trust me?"
Ao Xiang was not anywhere in sight, and the only beast-master she knew was this Lu Bing, who was looking as confused as could be with her fluster at the moment.
But YuLan knew, she must not let Long TianShan touch her or her friends, especially with those black worm looking things lapping all around his body, eager to reach them with each passing step he took closer.
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runexi's notes: yeah, yeah... there's a lot of info dump here. 〜(￣▽￣〜)(〜￣▽￣)〜