Feng sat on the cold cave floor, a dried smear of blood at the corner of his mouth. His breathing was still ragged, pain throbbing through his back. Yet all of it was drowned out by a far greater sense of awe and disbelief. His eyes never left the woman standing before him, radiating an aura so unfamiliar and powerful.
In his mind, the thought spun wildly: A Practitioner? Never would he have imagined that in a cave absent from every map in his memory, he would meet a being who had existed only in his dreams and fantasies.
The woman studied Feng with a sharp gaze, as if examining every inch of him. The sky-blue of her eyes seemed able to pierce straight through the soul.
"A mortal?" she murmured, her voice carrying a mix of curiosity and indifference.
"What are you doing here?" she asked again, her tone now slightly softer, as though she had already judged Feng to be no real threat.
Heart pounding, Feng quickly wiped the cold sweat from his temple.
"I-I'm looking for herbal plants," he answered carefully, doing his best to keep his voice polite and calm.
"Oh." The woman made a short sound. "Then I apologize for attacking you earlier." Her apology sounded formal, almost devoid of emotion.
"I-It's alright," Feng replied nervously. He had never expected to receive an apology from a Practitioner. In his world, people like her never apologized—especially not to the weak. A strange feeling, somewhere between honor and fear, stirred in his chest.
Driven by overwhelming curiosity, Feng gathered his courage and asked in a near whisper,
"Are… are you a Practitioner?"
The woman turned to him, her gaze deepening before she casually nodded.
"Yes."
In that instant, it was as if all his long-held dreams had been confirmed at their source. The flame of hope he had guarded so carefully within his heart suddenly flared up. Unable to restrain himself, Feng blurted out the question that lay at the core of his entire struggle in life.
"Then… can I become a Practitioner?"
The woman fell silent. For a fraction of a second, Feng caught a flash of coldness in those blue eyes, as if his question had sparked anger. To a true Practitioner, being questioned once by a mere mortal might still be tolerable. But the second question was bordering on insolence. Still, after taking a deep breath, the sharpness in her expression eased slightly.
"It's possible," she answered curtly.
Those two words struck Feng like thunder in broad daylight.
An immense joy washed over him. Until now, he had been gambling everything on a faint possibility drawn from books and dreams. Living in loneliness and poverty, becoming a Practitioner was the only bridge out of suffering. And now, the answer had been spoken directly to him. His heart raced, filled with a hope that had suddenly become very real.
"Thank you very much!" Feng said respectfully, bowing deeply. He knew his place. He didn't dare ask any further, afraid of testing the woman's patience.
Turning around, he prepared to leave the cave and return to his group. Just as he was about to reach the entrance, where the afternoon light was beginning to spill in, a voice echoed again, freezing him in place. Cold sweat broke out across his body once more.
"Wait."
Feng stiffened. His thoughts raced. Did I cross a line? What does she want? A primal fear crept up his spine. Slowly, he turned back.
In the Practitioner woman's mind, calculations were being made at lightning speed. It would be better to follow this child and blend in among mortals to conceal my presence, she thought. This hiding place won't last long. Hiding in plain sight may be safer.
"I'll go with you," she said suddenly, her voice flat but firm.
Feng gasped, his eyes widening. He never expected this. Before he could say anything—or even process her words—her body suddenly began to glow. In the blink of an eye, her elegant form turned into a small, pure streak of white light. It shot toward Feng, circled his right wrist, and settled gently. The light faded, transforming into a simple pale-white bracelet, jade-like in color, etched with faint vine-like patterns.
"S-Senior?" Feng cried out, confusion and fear mixing together. He stared at the bracelet on his wrist, feeling a strange warmth radiating from it.
"Take me with you," the woman's voice sounded directly inside his head, clear and cold. "If you refuse, I will kill you on the spot."
The threat was spoken calmly, but it felt like icy water poured over Feng's entire body. He fell silent, terrified. After taking several deep breaths, he realized one thing: he had no choice. With his heart still pounding, he decided not to leave immediately. He remembered his main task—the four-leaf plant. Perhaps it was inside this cave.
The cave turned out to be deeper than he had expected. At the far end was a small pool of clear water, reflecting a dim light from some unseen source in the cave ceiling.
"What are you looking for?" the voice in his head asked again, this time sounding more relaxed, as if she had already accepted the situation.
"H-Herbal plants," Feng answered, still nervous.
"What do they look like?"
Feng described them in detail, explaining the four-sided yellow leaves with red tips just like the painting Jun had shown.
"Oh, that one. I have it."
Before Feng could react, a warm sensation flowed from the bracelet. Above his palm, a small white light gathered and condensed. In an instant, the exact plant from Jun's painting lay there—fresh, as if it had just been picked.
Feng could hardly believe it. He stared at the plant, then at the bracelet.
"Th-Thank you, Senior! Thank you so much!" he said repeatedly, sincere gratitude overflowing.
"Consider it payment for taking me with you," the voice replied indifferently.
With the precious plant now safely in his basket—and a mysterious Practitioner disguised as a bracelet on his wrist—Feng finally walked out of the cave. As he stepped outside, the warm afternoon sunlight greeted him. Only then did he realize how late it was, and how his stomach had been growling for some time.
I need to regroup and head back soon, he thought, quickening his pace toward the meeting point.
On the way, as he passed near a steep and deep cliff, he ran into Eva. Her pretty face looked tired but satisfied, and her basket seemed fairly full.
"How did it go?" Feng asked kindly.
"Not bad," Eva replied with a smile. Her eyes then shifted to Feng's basket, where, among the ordinary herbs, the bright red tip of the four-leaf plant stood out. The smile on her face faltered, replaced by a sharp, hungry look.
"Hey… you found it?" Eva asked, her voice sounding different.
"Ah, yeah. Just by chance," Feng replied, trying to sound casual. But he noticed the change in her demeanor.
Then, without warning, a powerful shove slammed into Feng's back. His footing slipped, his body lurching toward the edge of the cliff. His basket flew from his grasp, hitting the ground as its contents scattered everywhere.
"E-Eva?!" Feng shouted in shock, his hands scrambling for purchase on the rocky ground. What hurt him most was the expression on Eva's face—not regret or surprise, but a cold smile completely unfamiliar to him.
"I'm sorry, Feng," Eva said flatly, her tone calculated. "I need that plant." She walked closer, trampling the scattered herbs beneath her feet, her focus fixed solely on the gleaming four-leaf plant. "My mother desperately needs it to be cured."
Clinging to the cliff's edge, Feng felt confused and wounded.
"But why like this? You could have asked me properly!"
Eva stopped in front of him, staring down with eyes now filled with desperation and hidden greed.
"Ask properly?" she sneered. "If I asked, would you really give it to me? A plant that can change one's fate, worth fifty coins?"
Feng fell silent. It was a hard question. Fifty coins were his dream—to buy books, to change his fate. Would he really give it up so easily? The dilemma flickered across his face.
Seeing his hesitation, Eva took it as her answer. Her cold smile returned.
"See? You wouldn't either."
With a sudden burst of speed no one would expect from a girl, Eva rushed forward and grabbed Feng by the collar. With shocking strength, she shoved his already unsteady body further back. Feng reeled, his back nearly completely suspended over the abyss, barely holding on with his elbows and legs clawing at the loose soil at the edge. Death stared up at him from below, cold wind rising from the depths of the cliff.