A man dressed in light blue robes flew across the sky on his sword. He was nearing the Cliff of Abyss when he realized that the strong vicious wind from the abyss was gone. He didn't bother to get off his sword and flew straight for the clearing. When he came upon the clearing of the Cliff of Abyss, there was no one in sight.
Underneath the moonlight, the man looked to be in mid-thirties. His sharp dark eyes matched his thick furrowed brows as he scanned his surroundings. His clothes fluttered around him as he drew closer to the edge of the cliff. If anyone had seen this scene, they would've thought he was some passionate hero who had lost a loved one and came to end his life.
The handsome man in blue was just about to send a message back to Tian Ling Sect when his eyes caught sight of the boulder by the edge of the cliff.
"This is...!" He couldn't hide the shock in his deep yet husky voice.
Several Holy Peak disciples finally appeared from the shadows of the forest and one immediately cried out, "Elder Wei, was it you who set off the alarms?"
The handsome man in blue was none other than Wei Xing.
"No," he replied. His eyes were locked onto the boulder but the rest of the disciples were already gasping at the sight of the cliff.
"The dangerous wind is gone!" one of them exclaimed. Even with the help of the moonlight, they couldn't see the bottom of the abyss.
Ten years ago, when Wei Xing woke up alone in the cave, the only traces he found of Xiu Xiang was a couple of fishes and a bamboo flask full of water nearby the entrance of the cave. The competition ended with everyone returning except for Xiu Xiang. Her group had claimed that she had veered off and disappeared.
After searching for days, traces of someone falling off the Cliff of Abyss had been found and the sect came to the conclusion that Xiu Xiang must've fallen off and died. Upon hearing that Xiu Xiang had died, Wei Xing didn't understand why but his heart felt heavy. He barely knew the girl but he felt as if he had lost something important.
Every year he'd visit the Cliff of Abyss and found nothing out of the ordinary. Tonight, just as he was making his way to the Cliff of Abyss, there was suddenly an explosion in the sky that set off the emergency bell. He didn't know why but he suddenly thought that Xiu Xiang had returned from the dead. He raced with all his might to the Cliff of Abyss only to find nothing or so he thought.
He read the words on the boulder looking quite unnerved.
"An innocent soul lost, faith has gone. The Demoness rises, it's only begun," the disciple read. He turned to Wei Xing and asked, "Elder Wei, what could this mean?"
Wei Xing, who was now an elder of West Peak, waved him off.
"I don't know. Lead the group back and inform Sect Leader about this. I'll follow shortly once I make sure that nothing dangerous has trespassed onto the peak," Wei Xing said. The disciple brought his hands together to salute him and then quickly led the group back into the darkness.
Once he was alone again, he read the words on the boulder over and over.
"Xiu Xiang... was it you?" he breathed. His eyes looked misty and hazy as if he was lost in the past.
The first thing Xiu Xiang did was buy her very first meal since coming out of the cave. Food had never tasted so amazing. Once she stuffed herself to the brim with deep-fried fish, sweet and sour pork, ginseng chicken soup, and plum wine, she finally made her way to a pawn shop and traded all of Master Feng Mian's treasure for gold. Now that she had plenty of gold to help her travel, she changed into simple civilian attire and threw out the North Peak's uniform as she was no longer a part of the peak. Then she rented herself a horse and left the nearby town.
What she didn't know was that after she left the Tian Ling Sect, Master Feng Mian and swallowed his pride and gone to the sect leader to let him know about Xiu Xiang robbing him blind. If she hadn't taken his peak leader token, he would've kept quiet but the token that Xiu Xiang had unknowingly taken was one of the five keys to Tian Ling's hidden cave of inheritance. The only problem was, he didn't tell the sect leader that it was Xiu Xiang who had robbed him. He'd rather die than let everyone know that his own disciple robbed him. He didn't know how but Xiu Xiang had turned into a demon and gave off her description as so.
"She was a beautiful demoness with a sharp gaze and slender figure. Her face is clear and smooth like jade and pale like the moon," he said. Sect Leader Lin couldn't help but chuckle.
"Feng Mian, why does it sound like you're describing a goddess and not a demoness? Are you sure you were robbed by a demon?" he asked. The rest of the elders looked on with disdain. Many knew of Feng Mian's arrogance and couldn't help but smirk at his plight. The only reason no was laughing in his face was because he mentioned the stolen fifth key.
Feng Mian's face went bright red as he couldn't look Sect Leader Lin in the eyes.
"I'm ashamed and embarrassed to have let a demoness sneak up on me," he sighed heavily. If Xiu Xiang had heard those words, she would've laughed until her stomach burst. The two of them had gone head to head and it was Feng Mian who had lost. It was already embarrassing enough to have been robbed, he wasn't about to let them know that he also lost a fight to his own disciple. The disgrace would never be forgotten.
"If she had stolen all of your treasures, it could only mean that she was in dire need of gold, which I don't seem to understand why a demon would have a need for gold..." Sect Leader Lin said.
Wei Xing finally heard enough. He stepped forward with his hands brought together in front of him.
"Sect Leader, allow me to investigate this and bring back the stolen key," he offered.
"Wei Xing, are you sure?" Sect Leader Lin asked. He frowned as Wei Xing nodded. "You aren't simply asking to leave the peak just so that you can escape that marriage proposal, are you?"
Qing Qiu Sect had sent a letter a few days ago to the peak. Sect Leader Bai's granddaughter had come of age and he had been searching for a prospecting suitor when he heard of Wei Xing's achievements. He was supposed to reply but had forgotten all about the marriage proposal.
"Finding myself a bride isn't as important as finding the fifth key. If it should fall into the wrong hands..." he trailed off on his words. No one wanted to think about it. Behind the mountains of the Tian Ling Sect was the Mystical Cave. Inside were the original sect leader's inheritance and the sealed soul of a mystical demon beast that had once been a part of the Demon King.
"That is true. I am quite worried about the sudden disappearance of the Heavenly Wind at the Cliff of Abyss. The soul of the Demon King had been sealed there over thousands of years ago. Seeing that he hasn't made his appearance, I can only assume that his soul had died but we can't be sure. If his soul had indeed escaped from Cliff of Abyss, we must not let him find his other half," Sect Leader Lin said.
"Sigh... it's only been a week and I've already spent quite a bit of the money," Xiu Xiang thought as she patted her magic pouch. She really had no need to eat but she couldn't avoid spending most of her money on food. She had been traveling with no real destination in mind. All she knew was, she needed to get as far way from Tian Ling Sect as she could.
News traveled fast.
During the third day of her freedom when she arrived into the second town, there was already news about Master Feng Mian being robbed of all his treasures and how someone had been sent down from the mountain to find the thief. Xiu Xiang clicked her tongue in annoyance when she heard the rumors.
"That Feng Mian...! He actually let go of pride to tell the sect that he had been robbed. That cheap bastard...!" she thought angrily as she sipped on her jar of wine. Since then she spent most of her time on the road and only entered towns to change out her horse when necessary.
After a long day of traveling, Xiu Xiang tied her horse to the trunk of a tree. She then picked out a comfortable spot on a tree branch hoping to get a little bit of shut eye. She wrapped her arms together under her head like a pillow and with one foot propped up on the branch, the other swung freely underneath her.
Xiu Xiang had just closed her eyes when she heard someone screaming bloody murderer in the distance.
"Someone help!" A young maiden screamed.