Jiu Xian woke up with a familiar headache from the drinking; rising out of the bedding he freshened up and checked his backpack before heading out only to find Yao Qing ready with a backpack of her own.
"What? Surely you weren't thinking of leaving your friend out of this adventure, were you?" She asked, her green eyes shining with excitement.
"Yao Qing, this will be no easy picnic. There might be unknown dangers ahead. I wouldn't want my friend to throw herself in danger just for something that might just be a wild goose chase." Jiu Xian tried to convince her.
"Uh-huh~ so let me get this straight. We are friends. And friends don't want their friends to be in danger, right?" She asked him, each wording each word slowly as if speaking to a child.
"Yes, you are right."
"Going by that logic I can't let you go alone. I also don't want you to go into something unknown all by yourself." She looked at him smugly and victoriously as if she had just won the war.
"bb..but"
"No buts! I already let one of my friends go alone to seek immortality. I'm not letting another one go alone all by himself. Plus now that I don't have any reason to stay in this village I also want to see what this immortality is that can make people leave everything behind." She looked emotional when she talked about not having any reason for staying in Clear Water anymore, as her eyes fought back the tears forming in them.
"~sigh~ let's get going then before it gets too late" Jiu Xian extended his hands towards her which she grabbed and laughed loudly as if she had just pulled a successful prank, her tears disappearing as if a lie.
But Jiu Xian knew that the tears she was holding back were no lies and the laugher hid her pain just like he used his smile to hide his pain.
Not wasting any more time both of them set out for the forest at the base of the hill on which the immortal witch's cabin was.
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~Whoosh~ the arrow left the bowstring and hit the target, lodging on the tiger's leg.
""NOW!"" Jiu Xian and Yao Qing shouted at the same time and dashed towards the tiger with a sword in their hands.
The tiger stunned by the sudden ambush was a beat too late in reacting and both of its eyes became bloody as Yao Qing accurately swung her sword.
Jiu Xian not forgetting the plan also swung his sword at the tiger's neck with all his power.
~Swish~ the tiger's head fell off from its body before it could even roar in protest, before it could show it's majesty.
Jiu Xian's eyes opened wide in surprise. He though that it would take some time to kill the tiger that was blocking their path to the hill, but his strength shocked him.
'hmm... The golden Sun Cultivation method must have made my body stronger even though I have not achieved initiation at it.' He speculated, but his thoughts were disturbed by someone hugging him excitedly.
"We did it! Jiu Xian! We killed a fucking tiger." Yao Qing shouted.
"Haha! Yes we did. Can you let me go now, I think you are going to suffocate me." Yao Qing quickly let him go and her face was coloured red when she realised what she had just done.
After moments of awkward silence she spoke first.
"Let's continue. The sun is about to set soon. We need to reach the cabin before night otherwise more nocturnal animals will set out to hunt."
"Yes."
It was near afternoon when they spotted sign of a carnivorous animal in the woods. Carcasses of deer and wild boars with claw marks on their skins, flesh hollowed out with bite marks around the torn areas. They speculated the animal responsible for this to be a tiger. Moving slowly through the forest they found the sleeping spot of the tiger where they planned how to ambush it.
Now that the tiger was dealt with and the sun setting, they climbed the mountain as fast as they could. They even went so far as to drop some backpack to increase their speed.
Their efforts bore results as they spotted landmark after landmark as Baibai mentioned. Before nightfall they were able to reach the top of hill.
"Look Jiu Xian! There a cabin there!"
Jiu Xian looked where Yao Qing had pointed and saw a small wooden cabin with a small chimney built from what looked like stone bricks. The smoke coming out from the chimney led them to believe that this might be the cabin mentioned by Baibai.
"Let's go." Jiu Xian genuinely smiled for the first time in a while as grabbed Yao Qing's small hand into his and rushed towards the cabin.
"HELLOOO!" Yao Qing shouted at the door after no one showed even after they knocked on the door several time.
"Huh! Who are you guys?" soon the door opened and a person appeared and asked them. The black hood and baggy robes made it hard to distinguish their gender but their voice was low pitch and raspy, telling Jiu Xian and Yao Qing that this was an old woman.
"Are you the Immortal witch ? Baibai told us that we might find you here" Yao Qing asked.
"HAHAHA! Witch? Is that what they are calling me now? Let me tell you kids I'm no witch and certainly not an immortal." The old woman's replied in her raspy voice but this time it sounded weak for some reason.
"I don't know what you kids want but seeing as it is getting late and I assume that you have no place to stay. Why don't you two come inside and stay the night."
Jiu Xian and Yao Qing exchanged glances, the journey up to here had been relatively easy but now they were almost certain that it was also going to be a fruitless one. Having no other place two stay the night they nodded to each other before agreeing to the old woman's offer and entering the cabin.
Inside the cabin looked larger than what it should have looked like, it was warm and had a cosy feeling about it. The air was much lighter to breath and the scent of medicines and herbs wafted inside.
"I was just about to eat dinner. Do you kids want some?"
They looked at each and then looked back at the woman.
"No thanks, we have some beef jerky with us. We wouldn't want to impose on you."
"Oh! I See." The woman said and didn't try to insist them any further.
As the three of them set on the dining table and eat their dinner. The smell of the food cooked by the old woman almost made them throw the jerky away and ask her for some of her food, but they resisted with all their will power.
"So why did you want to seek out this immortal witch, revenge or a favour?"
""We want to seek immortality"" they said in unison. Yao Qing knew nothing about cultivation and while Jiu Xian told her what he knew about cultivation... well it wasn't enough to help them.
Jiu Xian had began the journey with the goal of finding some 'spiritual?'/'immortal?' herbs but now that he had not been able to enter the initiation phase of the Golden Sun cultivation, he started to have some doubts about the reliability of the method itself. So he also wanted the Witch's help with cultivation.
"hmm... you mean cultivation?" The woman asked after some hesitation.
""YES!"" They replied.
"Oh! I see, now this is something I can you with. But I want you to promise me some things in return if you want me to help you."
"What conditions?" Jiu Xian asked, his brow raised in suspicion.
"heh! Don't be so hasty boy. I need to confirm your talents and see if you guys are worthy of my help." The woman replied, her voice showing a lot of pride and arrogance.
"But for now its time to go to sleep. You guys fine sleeping in single bed? I don't usually have guests over so you will have to make do with a single bed." She stated and led them to the guest room.
Both Jiu Xian and Yao Qing insisted that the other take the bed while they slept on the floor, but after a brief debate, they eventually chose to share the bed, placing pillows between them.