บท 110: Spirit of the Mountain
Despite the feathers of crow-light caressing her body where they filtered through the now greatly denuded canopy, Dàilán felt no warmth through the chill that gripped her. She shivered in delayed shock as she pressed her back, unseeing against the trunk and branch beneath her.
"Orchid to Knife… please… respond."
She kept repeating her plea, pushing her Essence again and again into her Soul Tablet, uncaring of alerting anyone to her location.
After a kè of repeating her pleas at longer and longer intervals with no response she slumped, dropping the Soul Tablet from her hand and allowing it to swing freely on its necklace ignoring the stab of pain from her palm, exhausted and uncaring, staring bitterly out at the area the light had filled.
"Should I even bother continuing," she murmured bitterly to herself, tears trickling down her face, "at least First and Second Cousin remained back at the city - and Ài and the others..."
Her voice petered out at the thought, "they would have seen the light in the city… I should contact them… let them know…"
Dashing the sleeve of her robe roughly against her cheeks, she dipped her free hand into her spatial pouch and brought out the custom communication jade that her Cousin had given her.
Squeezing her eyes shut she sucked in a breath to calm herself then activated the jade, pushing her Essence into it as she spoke, "Orchid to Dagger…"
After several fēn passed without a response, Dàilán frowned and looked down at the jade, her brows drawing together as she realised the jade showed no sign of activating.
"Odd…" she muttered, her morose thoughts arrested, "there is no way that explosion would have reached the city without reaching out to consume me as well - and there are the City Formation Barriers - why would it not connect…?"
A flicker of something leapt in her chest and she stared at the jade, thinking furiously, then lifted it up to her lips again, watching the jade carefully as she pushed Essence into it again, "Orchid to Moon."
There was a brief flicker of light from the jade, but it sputtered fitfully then dimmed out.
"I need Míng," grumbled the young woman as she thumped the back of her head back against the trunk, thinking out loud, "but if I remember correctly, if their jades were broken or damaged, it would not light up at all - so…"
She tapped the jade on her lips, "Chénli gave Ài her jade, so…" she straightened up, coming off the trunk, "Orchid to Knife…"
Again there was that flicker, this one slightly sharper, but it too flickered and died. Dàilán nodded hopefully at the sight, "...the jades are blocked…? Because of the explosion… or something else?"
Picking up the gilded jade Soul Tablet, she tried again, this time paying close attention to it as she pushed her Essence into it, then called to Chénli again.
Like the other jades, the Soul Tablet flared then went out - although it was much brighter than the others had been.
"The same… even though it is Soul Essence… so Chén'er is still there… I think," a rush of relief went through her and left her feeling weak, as she sagged again against the trunk, "but what can block Soul Essence? I need to talk to Monitor Leng..."
After about a kè of desperate thought that had her pacing up and down the branch and arguing with herself, Dàilán managed to talk herself out of immediately backtracking to locate the camp, forcing herself to consider the situation coldly.
Blowing out a frustrated breath, she rubbed her eyes with her gloved hands, feeling only a small twinge of pain from the one that had been burnt and sighed, "Okay. The others must still be there," she pronounced firmly, nodding sharply to herself, "so I have to keep going. I have to get to the village - get the Sage's help or whomever I can convince - and then go back and meet up with them. As quickly as possible."
---
Several kè later Dàilán was starting to second-guess her decision. The wilderness had gone from wild and dangerous to completely maddened.
Gasping as she dodged yet another frantic strike from the fifth seemingly random Essence Beast attack in the last several fēn. "Damn it," she swore in annoyance, swiping her daggers across the beast's nose in an attempt to convince it to back off.
The animal growled and sprang back then leapt off through the trees in another direction. The young Cultivator sighed in relief, "I am fortunate they all seem to be reacting out of fear or confusion," she muttered out loud, "which I am grateful for - I hope I do not run into any creatures trying to do more than get away." She winced as a particularly large screech and answering snarl sounded nearby, followed by thudding impacts that she could feel through her feet, "I need to stop this foolish habit of speaking to myself in the middle of a forest full of sharp-eared beasts," she grumbled, then rolled her eyes at the irony of her actions.
She looked up to check the position of the Golden Crow and frowned. It seemed to have not moved at all from its position since her rude awakening on the branch and she was sure it should have moved at least a chǐ across the heavens by now.
Looking upward revealed more strangeness. The heavens themselves seemed to waver and ripple strangely - as if being viewed from beneath the surface of a pond or her bath - as she had often played when she was younger.
Dodging around an alarmingly writhing plant, Dàilán gasped as an unseen force pressed down on her, causing her to stumble. Frantically pushing her Essence through Mountain River had no effect and a moment later an even heavier pressure broke her grip on the Essence flow of the technique, snapping the threads of the technique as if they were cobwebs.
Strongly reminded of being in the presence of a higher leveled Cultivator, whose Essence Aura literally pushed down on hers, she looked around frantically, unable to sense anyone despite throwing out multiple Essence threads to sense around her - a few similarly affected Essence Beasts, panting and growling as their Essence flickered in distress - but no high leveled Beast or Cultivator.
Her skin burned as a wave of what felt like solid Essence rushed through the area she was in, pushing her into the forest floor. She could actually see the very air ripple as the transparent but almost solid mass crashed over her like a breaking ocean wave.
Her head spiked with agony as her meridians suddenly felt overfull to almost breaking and she screamed along with what sounded like every Essence Beast in a lǐ radius.
The flood of violent Essence passed as quickly as it came and she dragged herself upright, staggering over to a nearby bolder that seemed to be sparking and smoking. It was not enough to bother her robe's protective formations - she thanked Chénli's paranoia that her robe had been designed to handle the severe attacks and extreme levels of destructive Essence one normally only encountered on a battlefield - a normal combat robe's formations would have been overloaded and destroyed from being hit with a surge like that.
She had to purge and cultivate out the violent foreign Essence that had forced its way into her meridians and dantian before it caused permanent damage. The idea of jumping into the trees made her stomach roil in protest at the thought of channeling Essence, so she dropped into a basic Cultivation seat and let herself drift into a light state of Cultivation that let her keep an alert for any incoming beasts.
A desperately unwise action, she thought, but the locals seemed equally affected by whatever that was, for the moment. She just had to process this Essence before they started moving through this area again.
---
A kè later, Dàilán emerged from cultivation thankfully unscathed and practically vibrating with energy. She had managed to push out the dangerous parts of the Essence that had flooded her systems. She was still stretching her limits with what she would normally consider a frankly ridiculous amount of Pure Essence, but she had managed to clear elements that did not agree with her own cultivation and compress the rest of the Essence enough that she did not feel like she was going to vomit from overeating.
Normally she would have continued working on integrating the Essence into her own Cultivation for at least a day, but she did not have that luxury now. She grimaced at the black slime that now covered her skin, by products of the impurities that had been forced out with the excess Essence.
She had no way to remove the impurities from her skin here - she could not use her own Essence to burn it off. Unfortunately, the smell would undoubtedly attract unwanted attention from Essence Beasts attracted to concentrated impurities.
She moved smoothly to her feet, throwing out sensing probes with wild abandon since she was overcharged. She needed to avoid being caught like that again and avoid anything attracted to the gunk on her skin - although she wondered if being hit by another concentrated burst of Essence like that might just do it.
"Wonder what is causing this… the collapse of the Sect?" she wondered, then pursed her lips in annoyance at herself.
Moving several lǐ through the forest towards what she was almost certain was the direction of the village, Dàilán suddenly felt more than saw the landscape twist oddly. She stopped on the spot, but jerked her head up to stare at the Golden Crow again as the shadows around the trees and plants spun wildly. For a moment, night fell - then she found herself stumbling forward as the landscape jerked underneath her again. Another odd twist that left her insides spinning and she was stumbling back again into the light.
The Golden Crow was back in the same place as before, but the light was dimmer - the distortion in the Heavens more obvious, rippling like a thick fluid. The pressure on her meridians increased again and she grunted in pain, stumbling as she struggled to stay upright.
A sudden slam of high wind pushed her back onto her feet and she found herself pushed by gales in all directions, the formations on her robe flaring as the streams of razor-sharp air sliced at her. Dàilán gasped at the massive increase in Air Essence making her feel like she was choking, even as she felt light-headed.
The winds picked her up and despite her Sky level Cultivation she was unable to control her trajectory through the air, forcing her to deliberately dodge obstructions by twisting, curling and arching her body to avoid branches and tree trunks.
She just managed to either clear or deflect several near scrapes and bounces off various trunks or branches left her with the wind knocked out of her and aching all over - including slamming through a small flock of some type of bird that rose in a shrieking cloud of indignation.
The surprise of suddenly being under assault by the frightened and irritated birds prompted the young teen to break out of her own grim silence with her own shout of pain and surprise as she was scratched by claws and beaks while being buffeted by wings - and then to add insult to injury - slammed into the forest floor in an explosion of disturbed leaf litter and other plant detritus as the currents of Air Essence dissipated.
"Āiyō - Āi…" Dàilán sucked in a painful breath as she gingerly pushed herself up off the ground and stumbled to her feet, clumsily brushing the worst of the leaf litter off her clothing, "Xī!... so painful..."
Looking around at her surroundings, she instinctively shook her head in an effort to throw off the dizziness she was feeling then groaned and clutched her head as nausea spun up in a whirl from her inside her threatening to have her heaving her stomach out.
Squeezing her eyes shut, she breathed in deeply and forced her gorge down with difficulty, opening her eyes after a moment once she no longer felt the urge to immediately vomit.
Glancing down at her sorry state - and once again thankful for the quality of the Formations on her battle robes - as well as her own recent Advancement to Sky, she let a small breath of laughter escape her lips, wincing as it made her ribs twinge, "If only those silkpants suitors could see me now - they would run screaming…"
Her eyes widened as she slowly turned her head to take in her new location, what little she could make out in the almost complete white-out of fog and mist that surrounded her. She could feel that the mist was ridiculously heavy with Wood and Water Essence as it soaked into her body without her even needing to Cultivate and she noticed a slight decrease in the aches almost immediately.
"Whomever claimed this area of the Fusou Wilderness is barren is either lying or a fool," Dàilán muttered to herself as she tried to get her bearings, "either that or great deal has changed recently."
Without making a conscious decision, her feet started moving and she started carefully navigating through the peaceful forest, almost instinctively picking a path through the gloom and mist shrouded trees as she sighed in relief at the lack of comotion, "at least it seems much more stable here."
---
An undetermined amount of time spent wandering through the same silent mist later, Dàilán was feeling much less pleased. Everything seemed so similar, she was growing increasingly concerned at her inability to pick out distinctive landmarks - or succeed in any method of gauging her progress - other than an odd certainty that she was travelling in the 'correct' direction.
More frustrating was an inability to do more than feel concerned and muster the focus to act on her unnecessary worries, the young Cultivator thought to herself, as she was certainly travelling in the correct direction and it was obviously much safer here than outside.
Dàilán felt a mild satisfaction as the mist cleared to reveal a wide, obviously well travelled dirt road. This was where she needed to go - she was glad to have finally found the road to the village after all that!
Looking left and right, she noted that the ride side of the road disappeared back into the mist and she shuddered. She had just got out of that stuff - obviously - the other direction was the correct way to the village. Taking a few quick strides down the direction of the visible road, the mist cloaked forests and fields blurred on either side as she shifted into speeds only a Sky level Cultivator or higher could reach, her feet only barely skimming the surface of the dirt.
Moments later, the gates of a sturdy wooden wall appeared in front of her and she nodded happily. There was the village. She should have stayed on the road, she would have been much safer that way - and it would have been quicker without all those painful detours. She winced at the reminder of the recent injuries and close calls she had suffered and nodded resolutely, "next time, no shortcuts," she declared to herself and dropped to a Mortal Cultivator's pace as she walked through the open gates, automatically pushing her Essence through the Veil Technique to hide her Cultivation to match.
"Welcome to the Last Village, Fairy," a respectful voice snapped Dàilán out of her thoughts and she turned her head to regard one of the guate guards bowing politely to her, "Can this humble village guard be of assistance to the esteemed Cultivator?"
Dàilán blinked in slight surprise that she had been so quickly identified as a Cultivator despite her precautions, then mentally slapped herself. Even Mortal practitioners would not be common around here - and if the guards had any skills to defend the village, they might have actually seen her arrive at her true speed.
"Běnguān applauds your observation skills, Dàrens. I would appreciate it if they matched your discretion," the young Cultivator replied politely, inclining her head and passing a gold tael smoothly to each guard.
Seeing their eyes brighten, Dàilán wondered if she had overplayed her hand, but the guards just gave small polite bows in response as if she was no one particularly noteworthy. The other guard nodded and answered calmly, "of course we would not mention it to anyone, even if, theoretically someone had already - quite rudely - ordered us to do so."
The other guard nodded sagely, "Courtesy is a currency all its own and worth more than gold or silver," he added, smiling as he passed back his tael to Dàilán, "one token of your esteem is more than sufficient for both of us, miss, prices are not so high out here at the end of the world."
Dàilán blinked in surprise, as she received the money back, "The end of the world? Surely not?"
The first guard laughed, "A little joke between those of us who live in our Village - nothing out there beyond us to the East for thousands of millions of li after all - so we are the Last Village at the End of the World."
"A grand name for such a humble place," grinned the second guard, leaning on his spear in a friendly manner, "but things have improved around here of late. Look around carefully, Fairy. You might find a surprise or two."
The first man snorted, "En, my friend always talks too much around a pretty face. I cannot say I do not prefer being here at the moment though - I do not suppose you know anything about that bright light a few shí ago miss? Only, it seems to have gotten everything in the wilderness roused."
Dàilán blinked and frowned slightly, realising that she was being carefully interrogated. Her respect for the guards' rose at their skillful approach to checking into the traveller.
"It is part of why I am here," she answered carefully, "the group I was travelling with… there were casualties, beyond our ability to treat properly. We have heard there is a medical sage here - I came to ask for his assistance. And yes - everything out there is quite strange - and then I stumbled onto the road - that mist…"
She trailed off invitingly and the gregarious man smiled at her comfortingly, "the mist protects the village," he stated causally, "things have been quite calm since it appeared - although we have not seen it this thick before. My friend and I had almost decided to close the gates today, we did not think we would get any traffic once that happened, but then that ill mannered lout came through…" he grinned again and this time it was sharp, "not that I would ever say that about a Cultivator… and then yourself, of course."
"We do not really have a dàifū in the village," interjected the first guard as his partner took a breath, "since the apothecary mysteriously disappeared," he smiled sadly, but Dàilán noted it did not reach his eyes, "why did you think we had a medical sage dwelling here?"
"An old friend - a peddler who trades here semi-regularly - sold me some medicine and gave me a map when I asked about where his more unusual goods were from," answered Dàilán, taking slight liberties with her description of her relationship with the Knife Enforcer, "he has this giant gliding horse with all his goods stored in it - that opens out into a stall," she added when neither guard reacted.
Calmly noting both guards eyes narrowing, she continued, "he told me he had helped out with dealing with an Unorthodox Cult last time he was here. Unfortunately, that same lot of grass obsessed fanatics decided to come after me and the group I was travelling with - which is why we are all the way out here."
Ignoring the way both guards stiffened, she continued, "the good news is that that white light was most of those evil bastards receiving heaven's retribution. I will be sending the remainder to their judgment soon enough," as she spoke, she spat into the side of the road as she dug around her spatial pouch and pulled out the pill she had remaining after the events of the last few days, "this was the medicine I bought from him - our healer says the creator has to be a Sage level Cultivator."
"So, you know the old Knife then," snapped an elderly bitter voice, as its owner, an older man walked out from behind the guard hut just inside the gate, chuckling as she stiffened slightly in alarm.
"Senior," Dàilán bowed politely, her mind whirling in confusion, even as the guards made respectful bows of their own, murmuring, "Storyteller."
"En, no call for that. What little Cultivation I had is long behind me," retorted the old man, smoothing the wispy hairs that trailed from his chin as he waved the salutations away, "but your old friend and I have a few things in common. He might have mentioned someone a lot like yourself might show up. Must be mistaken though - no noble girl would be travelling out here looking like that." one of his eyelids dropped down in a subtle wink, "still, I would avoid coming into the village at the moment. Someone might mistake you for someone else and cause a fuss."
Dàilán hesitated, "Someone... ill mannered?" she hazarded cautiously.
"Just so," affirmed the elderly, "if I did not know they could not come here anymore, I would have said he was one of those Grass idiots."
"It might… be someone I am acquainted with," answered Dàilán carefully, her mind turning furiously with the worry that Cǎo Jiàn might have somehow worked out where she was going and gotten to the village first, "if it is… he might not be marked as Grass - he was a spy. He cannot be trusted. He came alone?"
"Just so," agreed the imperturbable old man, "as for who you are looking for," he nodded towards the pill in her hand, "climb the Mountain behind the village and pray at the shrine to the Mountain Spirit. He might answer your plea. But we do not have medicine to spare for sale in the village."
"Pray to the mountain's spirit?" questioned the young teen in confusion and the old man made a dismissive noise and turned to leave, moving without particular haste down the street into the village.
"Senior?" asked Dàilán in confusion, "Please, I need…" she was stopped short from following the old man as she took a step forward as the two guards crossed their spears in front of her with a sharp exhalation.
"Esteemed Cultivator, what you seek is not here," spoke the respectful guard calmly, "the shrine is only a little way up the mountain to the immediate west of the village."
Dàilán stared at the cross spears and she felt her gaze narrow at the flimsy wood she could break in one strike - how dare these mortals bar her way when her family's lives were at stake!
"The trail is quite obvious," urged the friendly guard, his face serious, "this humble guard respectfully urges the Lady to pray to the Mountain Spirit - we have both seen him. He is powerful and kind. He will help you if anyone can."
The sincere tone in the guard's voice penetrated the redness that threatened to steal over her vision and she took a deliberate breath and a step back beyond the gate.
"My thanks for your assistance, Dàrens," she inclined her head sharply and turned to skirt the village wall in the western direction that had been indicated.
As Dàilán rounded the curve of the wall, the gate vanishing behind her, she heard a murmur, "So scary, for someone who looked like my daughter, I thought we were about to die."
"Quiet, you fool! Cultivators have long ears," hissed the other guard warningly. There was a pause then a snort, "and you wish... daughter look... like that. Bloodied, covered... dirt and she... looked like… walked out… of… StoryTeller's tales."
"She still managed… more… polite and respectful than… other one... despite nearly killing us... swat insects," the other replied, sounding simultaneously impressed and like he would have liked to give a swat of his own to the person who might be Cǎo Jiàn.
The voices of the guards drifted off even to her enhanced hearing as she continued walking, although she made out snatches of words, "...Cultivat… two in one day… what… going on… think?"
"Do not… thank… Mountain… protect..." The last fragments made her pause and she looked around at the thick mist curling around the village walls, struck at the contrast between the peaceful mist and the chaos reigning outside of it.
Remembering the old Knife Enforcer's report of recent happenings in the village, the old village StoryTeller's own statements and the slightly alarming way she had found herself in front of the village gates in the first place, she frowned and rubbed her glabella.
Something had definitely affected her thoughts, emotions - and guided her to the village - and even at Sky level she had been barely able to notice it, let alone resist it. Her brows drew together and she did a quick check of her own internal Essence flows.
There was nothing Dàilán could detect after a cursory scan and she could not afford to dally. If Cǎo Jiàn really was in the village…
"Hope this Mountain Spirit is in a forgiving mood," she prayed briefly under her breath to her ancestors for good fortune as she started moving again and spotted the trail that led off into noticeably fog-free woods up a steep incline. Taking a deep breath, she pushed her Essence and darted up the path.
A Miǎo of movement up the path sent Dàilán out of sight of the village and into the oddly normal seeming woods, although the sounds of animals, birds and insects were subdued. She barely had a breath of time to notice that before her spine flared in sudden warning - and she dove to the side off the path through the trees - as the flash of a sword technique smashed up the trail from behind her, splintering trunks and branches with crisp smashing sounds.
"Hā, stupid Knife witch! I have you now!" came Cǎo Jiàn's gloating voice from the direction of the sword flash, "and no faithful hound to throw themselves in front of you this time. No one to save you now."
The fury that rose in Dàilán's chest boiled out of her throat and she nearly spun in place to charge back to the path and wrap her hands around the traitor's throat. Fighting the impulse, she pushed the Veil technique to maximum strength, rendering her a ripple in the air as she slid to a stop behind a large moss covered boulder and dropped her Essence daggers out of their sleeve sheaths, spinning out Essence threads to detect where the dead man walking was.
"Those fools thought the fetish I made from a few strands of your hair I kept from our last fight was useless. Serves them right to all get killed when the idiot Knives blew themselves all up," the voice scoffed arrogantly, "now I will be the one of the strongest Grass left except for a couple of old monsters."
Dàilán could hear footsteps now and she listened intently at Cǎo Jiàn's dark laughter, breathing through her pores instead of risking letting out air through her nose and mouth and possibly making an enraged noise that could alert the bastard.
"Come to think of it, I guess I owe you for that," the tone of his voice was sickeningly thoughtful. "You know, if I bring you back, they will reward me with anything I ask for. Thanks to your interference - our victory has been turned into mutual defeat - salvaging anything of our original aims from this mess will be a great merit. They would treat me like a Prince - and I could make sure that you could still be a Princess - if you came back with me. Surely that is better than being defeated and only used as a Cultivation Cauldron."
His footsteps stopped directly on the other side of the boulder. Dàilán dropped the Veil while she pushed her Essence through Mountain Mists and Mountain River - and passed through the boulder at her full speed - plunging her daggers directly at his face and chest as she erupted out of the rock.
There was a bright flash as the Essence she was pushing into the daggers smashed against the formations of the robe Cǎo Jiàn was wearing - and her blades slid satisfyingly into his flesh - and although disappointingly he managed to get half an arm up to absorb the dagger meant for his face, the one in his chest sank in full length.
Dàilán grinned up at his shocked expression, even as with a sound like a thunder clap, the collapse of his robe's formations released energy and blasted them apart. Expecting it, Dàilán made sure to twist the blades as they were ripped from his arm and torso, riding the force of the explosion to float upward and backwards into the air while she watched below her with satisfaction as he was thrown violently through several trees with a multitude of bone-cracking sounds.
"You know, you should stop worrying about what you are planning for me, now that you have me all to yourself," remarked the young girl conversationally, looking down at the bleeding and crumpled young man, her voice turning icy, "and worry about what I am planning for you, now that I have you all to myself."
Cǎo Jiàn looked up, coughing blood, his expression incredulous, "You are Sky?! How is that possible?!"
Dàilán rolled her eyes, "that is what you focus on? Idiot," she spat mockingly, "I have - never - fought you at full strength and you did not defeat me. What was it you said?" she tapped her lip mockingly with one dagger wielding fist, "I had no one left to save me?"
She grinned a death head grin and her opponent seemed to sense it, paling despite the robe covering the lower part of her face, as she stepped down an invisible staircase towards him, "There is no one left to blame your failure on now, traitor!"
She stabbed down in a blur as she came within range and snarled in rage as he managed to roll aside and just manage to deflect her daggers with his sword, his arms trembling with the effort as he thrust it upward and across his body. The effort cost him and he spewed blood as he moved away from her daggers.
Dàilán scoffed, "Roll out here for me, you tā mā de. The blood of my family on both sides cries out for vengeance against the Grass," she blurred into movement, daggers first as Cǎo Jiàn threw himself to his feet, their weapons flashing with sparks as the blades clashed, Cǎo Jiàn backpedalling furiously in an effort to disengage the Heiress' bladed strikes that shot out like boxing fists at his face and body, "I will start my vengeance with you!" she spat grimly.
---
The pair of them fought up and down the mountain for nearly a Kè, Dàilán bitterly silent as she pushed herself to finish off her hated opponent. As they fought back and forth up and around the base of the mountain, Dàilán realised that despite the heavy wounds that she had dealt him at the beginning of the fight, her own relative lack of battle experience was betraying her. Each time she struck out with killing blows, Cǎo Jiàn twisted aside, evading them by breaths or less - avoiding any further solid blows, despite the broken formations of his robes.
Those few glancing blows to his torso that she did manage, were turned by some sort of body armour under the cloth; only another full power strike was going to get through.
Despite the initial wounds she had inflicted on him, she was starting to feel the strain as the older more experienced Cultivator defended stolidly, his face set grimly. Several times it was only her Sky Cultivation and the ability to evade in mid-air that allowed her to dodge his parries and return strikes - if her first strikes had not prevented him from following her into the air - she would have fared worse.
As she stumbled back from her latest clash, her body and robes littered with small cuts and bruises from her opponent's own slowly increasing counter attacks, Dàilán realised that the exhaustion, injuries and strain on her Essence over the last few days combined with constant sustained exertion in this fight was all adding up, even as Cǎo Jiàn clearly began to move easier and quicker, with less and less blood coughed up after each clash.
If she failed to defeat him, she thought as a sliver of doubt intruded on her thoughts, her Father, Chénli and the others, might not survive. She needed to find the Spirit of the Mountain, not waste time on the traitor.
Something of her thoughts must have shown on her expression, because Cǎo Jiàn started chuckling darkly, something ugly flickering in his eyes, "Where are all your fancy words now, Heir to nothing and Daughter of nobody? I did hit dear Father pretty hard. Of course, he was the one that stepped into the path of my strike to save all those weak sheep. Nothing left to say, your Highness?"
For the first time since the fight started, Cǎo Jiàn advanced towards her, "I will admit, you gave me quite a scare, little girl. But you have never had a serious life or death battle with a prepared opponent close to your level before, have you? I can tell."
Dàilán felt her right foot slide back instinctively. She hated herself as she retreated up the slope, even as an ugly smile spread across her opponent's face, "Oho… now the rabbit decides she wants to run…" his face twisted and he spat, never talking his eyes off her, "just to be perfectly clear, my earlier offer has expired. I will drag you and all your Clanswomen back as Cauldrons, rise to power on your Cultivation and rule the Grass. All thanks to you, Heiress," he bowed mockingly.
She raised her blades as he came closer and he stopped, cocking his head as his lip curled, "I will start your training here and now slave," his smile was a fanged grin as he raised his sword and it began to glow with a familiar blaze of Lightning Essence, "no training blades this time."
Dàilán darted into the air and dodged into the canopy, pushing up the mountainside as fast as she could. She only needed a few breaths and he'd be too far away to catch up with her - unless he had already healed enough to fly - but she did not think this was the case or he would have already done so.
"First lesson, rabbit. You need long range battle techniques to attack your opponent, without having to close with them to strike. Like you keep having to do. Foolish little rabbit."
There was a flash of light and Dàilán swerved midair desperately as a sword strike speared through the canopy, blasting a hole as the vicious Essence contained within it missed her by a háo and exploded, throwing her out of the sky.
Desperately, she pushed her Essence into Mountain River, allowing her body to pass through the branches on the way down. She managed to arrest her fall less than a chǐ off the ground, frantically circulating her Essence to counter the force as she dropped the technique.
"Second lesson. Flying just makes you a target," Cǎo Jiàn's voice was close and she threw herself through the trees, zig-zagging through the nearest gaps frantically. Thunderous sounds and the sound of trees crashing to the ground shook the forest as she fled, feeling flashes of heat on her back and force of near misses throwing dirt and shards of rock into her robes.
The sounds of Cǎo Jiàn's attacks fell silent after a few fēn. Dàilán dared to hope he had given up - even as a sudden blast knocked her tumbling. Once the earth and sky stopped tumbling she found herself tossed untidily at the base of another forest giant. Desperate, she lunged upward for the nearest branch and was immediately slammed back to the dirt.
Her vision fuzzed out and when it cleared, Cǎo Jiàn was standing over her a mocking smile on his face, "Last lesson. Save the speeches for - after - you have won, rabbit," he reached down a hand that felt like a steel clamp around her arm and hauled her upright, "time for you to come back and be an obedient Cauldron. If you do it nicely, I might not even throw you away after I am done with you."
Despite herself, Dàilán felt her eyes roll, "You do not even follow that last rule yourself," she spat and buried her free hand and blade in his thigh up to the hilt, even as she brought her knee up and slammed it with all the Sky level force she could summon into his groin; she was rewarded with a pair of resounding cracks. The young man froze into rigidity and went as white as milk, his eyes rolling white as his body struggled to react to conflicting pain messages.
"And; you forgot rule one, biàn tài," she spat mockingly, the words spitting blood into his face, as she ripped her dagger out, down the length of his thigh. His hand opened on reflex and she jerked free and bolted up the mountain, dodging through the trees for all she was worth, "I guess you will not using any women as Cultivation Vessels with those broken eggs, tàijiàn," she shouted with glee over her shoulder as she ran for her life, "you should start looking for a Sunflower Manual!"
Half a fēn later, she was rewarded with unholy scream of absolute rage and agony behind her and Dàilán found herself giggling madly as she raced for her life up the slope, dodging and choosing random routes completely on instinct, without even thinking about it, "Worth it," she chortled.
She felt like slapping her own face a breath later as she dodged the absolute storm of attacks that exploded from behind her all around her, accompanied by howls or earth shaking fury.
---
The next kè was a blur of searing heat, light and Essence that sought her life; explosions, blasts of ice, dirt, clouds of dust and avoiding obstacles - including fleeing beasts who were scrambling out of her path - as Dàilán avoided the endless, ravening destruction from the madman behind her who was screaming enough to wake the dead.
Several close misses left her bruises and wounds with bruises and cuts. She was bleeding from all seven orifices from the concussion of blasts that had stolen her hearing and left her vision blurred as she staggered drunkenly, all over the mountainside as fast as she could to avoid the crazed beast behind her, "Mountain Spirit… I just have to…"
Somewhere in the last Kè, Dàilán's mind had latched onto the idea that the Spirit of the Mountain could stop the madness. Everything was driven out of her mind as she was reduced to moving with the flow like one of her tàijíquán sets; one movement naturally into the next.
Dàilán's senses flared with warning as she was bracketed by a pair of attacks, her dodge carrying her directly into the path of a third. A terrific blow stole her senses and she let out a cry of fury as she was swallowed by the darkness.
It could only have been breaths, for as Dàilán's vision swam into focus, she saw the delightful sight of a bloody, limping Cǎo Jiàn labouring up the slope towards her as blood still dripped from the wound in his leg, his eyes wild with rage.
His teeth gnashed as pointed at her where she lay on the ground, the agony in her ribs forcing her to take shallow breaths. Unable to make her limbs move, Dàilán watched as his blood and spittle flew and she giggled hoarsely, causing her to cough as blood bubbled out, making her gasp in agony from the broken ribs, "I can not hear you tàijiàn. That is good," she murmured to herself as he shook with rage and raised his sword as it glowed fiercely from the amount of Essence he was pushing into it, "I would hate for the last thing I hear to be you…"
Dàilán let her head roll to the side, facing the forest so she would not have to look at the bastard either, "Father, Chénli, I am sorry - I will go to see Mother and GrandFather first..."
The shadows grew dark as the technique from Cǎo Jiàn's sword flared above her, but even as she started to let her eyes close she caught a flicker of brilliant light passing through the trees, its luminance washing out everything else as a wave of glowing mist crashed like a breaking wave all around her.
Her eyes widened as a deep thrum of power passed through her body, carried by a lambent, white wave of Essence that felt like pure joy…
---
...in her Mother's arms, holding her safe as her beautiful eyes looked down at her, sparkling like stars, "I will always love you, my little Mist Orchid…"
"...friends forever," demanded a young Dàilán, looking up at a slightly older Chénli, feeling a bubble of happiness spread through body, warming her as Chénli nodded seriously and clasped her arm, "call me Chén'er, mistress and I will always be your friend..."
"I am proud of you, Daughter," Father's stern face as he smiled at her in his office, "I always will be…"
---
Dàilán gasped in amazement as she realised the pain from all her wounds was gone and went to sit up, her senses flaring at a sudden danger, making her bring her left arm in front of her face in a gesture she knew was pointless.
A breath passed and she dared to look in front of her, up into the glowing mist that had abruptly filled the clearing and an odd sort of giddiness bubbled through her as she noticed there was no trace of Cǎo Jiàn anywhere.
Instead, a staff of pure darkness glowing with strange patterns below its surface pointed threateningly towards her, held by a tall figure that seemed to almost be part of the Essence heavy mist that seemed to now fill the small clearing she had landed in - strongly reminding her of the mists around the village at the foot of the mountain. Glowing eyes regarded her sternly out of an otherwise featureless face, but despite the lack of features, she could have sworn the figure was worried and angry.
"Wait. Please…" Dàilán managed to gasp out a plea for mercy, despite her confusion, knowing in her bones that this was the Mountain Spirit the villagers had spoken of. With certainty she knew it could crush her without difficulty if it chose to. She was not even sure what had stopped its first strike - although, he had obviously healed her and possibly dealt with Cǎo Jiàn - she hoped the bastard was dead.
Pushing her Essence through the Mountain Mists, Dàilán marveled again at the lack of pain as she pushed herself to her feet as gracefully as she could, deliberately ignoring the tip of the staff which was now a mere cùn above her forehead. With a force of will, pushed her fear back as she bowed her head and offered a Cultivator's salute. This close she could feel the power in the weapon - it felt more like solidified Essence to her, more than any physical object.
Dàilán gathered all her courage - remembering the faces of her loved ones that she had seen as she had been healed - and spoke, infusing her voice with all the desperation, need and sincerity she felt.
"Spirit of the Mountain, I apologise for my trespass, but my need is very great. Hear my plea."
ความคิดของผู้สร้าง 
WheeledWriter
WheeledWriter This chapter is almost double length, because I simply had to get both storylines to the same point, before the next chapter, or just wind up with a confusing mess.
Please forgive any errors - it's much later than it usually is when I finally finished - and I'm too tired to edit again before release.
I hope I have managed to deliver a satisfying finale to Dàilán's first major story arc.
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