"How strange. Her pulse is still so low, even with the healing elixir still in her blood system."

  Yawen crouched down, feeling Chunwo's pulse along with Mingmei. Su Jing watched them closely, feeling like this development was strange to happen to Chunwo - she clearly couldn't die yet!

  Fluttering her eyes, she did not see anything odd around, as if Chunwo simply fainted due to her own health issues - but Chunwo wasn't a mortal, she was a cultivator. Her body and mind were robust and difficult to shake, so what could have happened?

  Su Jing did not exclude the possibility of her faking it. She tried to asses for any weird signs, but unfortunately she hadn't the skills of Feng Zhihao to tell if it is a play. That's why her sight naturally followed Mingmei's actions.

  If her knowledge about the curent situation was right, Mingmei would do anything to protect Qingwu interests, even if it meant helping her rival.

  But Mingmei did not have any massive reaction besides also checking Chunwo s breath with her finger. Her face was as cold as the air around her, devoid of any worry or panic. If anything, Su Jing could feel a slight and strange spark and her eyes, something which culminated with a fast and insensisable scoff on her lips.

  The alluring lashes of Mingmei cast a shadow on her cheeks as Su Jing looked from above, her previous expression disappearing as quickly as it appeared.

  "It seems she had fainted because of the cold brought by the Dew Flowers. My Sect Sister is prone to feel weak in colder habits because of her Fire and Wood Roots so it shouldn't be something grave. "

  Mingmei made sure to turn her head and stare, with a slight smile as if to deliberately signal to Su Jing that she had noticed her peeking. However she wasn't looking angry, even more, as if content and giving in to Su Jing.

  Su Jing tried to not get intimidated, "That's good to hear, Cultivator Mei. Then you must also know how to stabilise her condition, right?"

  Mingmei was the one with a greater duty over Chunwo's wellbeing as her sect sister.

  "I believe you are illuminated enough to know what it needs to he done once someone is too cold. You don't have to ask me for that."

  Mingmei tone changed as quickly as it appeared, her eyes being cold towards Su Jing.

  Seeing that, Su Jing choose to simply raise the ends of her mouth, shutting up.

  "If Cultivator Wo needs to warm up, then she could use this Ten Fires Blanket I have." Yawen intervened as he rummaged through his storage bag, "It should be good enough for her to recover, though it is a bit dusted from not being used."

  Before Su Jing could turn around properly towards him, Yawen got already in his hands a striking brown piece of clothing, looking like a bear fur which was burned by fire.

  "..."

  Su Jing simply stared, not saying anything.

  Yawen put it over Chunwo body, covering her up to her neck.

  She doesn't know how good were the artisans from the immortal realm, but she could surely tell that this blanket was the ugliest thing she had ever seen till now.

  Migmei didn't even dare to look towards it, as if disgusted - but still, she didn't comment on Yawen's actions, letting him do as he pleased.

  "That should do. Now that we found Cultivator Wo, we could continue looking for Lord Qingwu."

  Yawen smiled as he carefully arranged the blanket around Chunwo, the flowers around slowly withering around her because of the warmth.

  This made Su Jing interested, so she calmly squated down beside Chunwo, touching the inside of the blanked.

  ...So warm.

  She almost wanted to lie down beside Chunwo and enjoy a nice sleep. She misunderstood Yawen's thing - this surely was an amazing thing to have if you want to sleep anywhere cold comfortably!

  Meanwhile, the mention of Qingwu seemed to get Mingmei interest back as she got out a jade stone out of her sleeve.

  "I will try calling my senior brother again."

  Yawen went to Mingmei and began waiting for a response, as they watched the slip of light woush out of the jade, towards the sky.

  Su Jing, starting to get bored, stretched her hand towards the dried up plants beside Chunwo, but they transformed to dust as soon as she touched them.

  If Feng Zhihao had been here, she would have refined the flowers into elixir and immediately woken up Chunwo. This made Su Jing can't help but consider taking a few herbs while Yawen stood beside Chunwo. It's not like she could help them with anything.

  And from what she remembered, these types of plants weren't sensitive to the way you plucked or stored them. This made it ideal in case she encountered a herb store later where she could sell it for a few dimes.

  Su Jing's hand simply went to the stem of the biggest one close by and tried ripping it off the ground.

  The plant preserved its form intact, as if it were made out of stone once taken. Su Jing frowned, touching the top of the bulb.

  But as quickly as she did that, she threw away the plant.

  Yawen and Mingmei turned their heads.

  "What happened, Cultivator Su?"

  Su Jing massaged her hand as she heard Yawen question, unsure herself of what had happened.

  "The flower bulb hurt me."

  She checked the top of her finger, which now had a firm and numb sensation, red and swollen. Basic spiritual plants shouldn't do that, especially one that is used even by mortals.

  Even so, Su Jing couldn't help but think again over her actions. What if she is wrong? Suddenly she regretted touching something just because she remembered Feng Zhihao do it.

  The immortal realm was a place where even the smallest leaf could transform into a total basilistic monster.

  She held her finger in the air, trying to keep calm as Yawen now looked over her wound.

  "It's an ice blister," he said as he healed it with some Qi. The small particles were deep blue in colour, but warm and soothing to the touch, coagulating around the tip of her finger. "That wouldn't be big of a problem, however..."He stopped as he reached reached out to touch the flowers, plucking a few to check.

  Mingmei did that too, grinding the flower between his fingers. Their bluish petals stood out beautifully against their fair skin and clothes, but the serene image shattered as Mingmei wrinkled her nose.

  Yawen's breath hitched. Almost immediately, he pushed himself to his feet and turned sharply, scanning their surroundings.

  "This isn't good. These aren't simple Dew Flowers-they're Frost Flowers!"

  Su Jing stood behind Yawen and Mingmei, Chunwo lying down close. She was puzzled by their reaction. Dew Flowers were simple spiritual plants used for meditation-nothing dangerous. She had never heard of its counterpart version of Frost Flower before.

  Yet, looking at Yawen and Mingmei, they were visibly on edge. Mingmei had already drawn her sword, her gaze sharp as she carefully surveyed their surroundings.

  Su Jing's heartbeat quickened, unprepared for the sudden shift in tension. The forest remained eerily silent, yet a strange sensation crept over her-her feet felt as if they were freezing against the ground.

  She glanced around again, this time focusing beyond the scattered flowers.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  And then she saw them.

  Dozens of sparkling eyes glowed from a distance, staring directly at them.

  A chill crawled up Su Jing's spine, sinking deep into her core. As much as she had felt confident before, she couldn't stop the tremor in her hands.

  Mingmei noticed their intent, too. She didn't wait for the monsters to strike first as she salted in the air, manoeuvring elegantly the sword in two straight cuts towards the flowers.

  The terrain trembled, and white petals were now dancing in the air, revealing the figures of the wolves. They had a strange white appearance as if made by crystallised water dew, progressively taking a much clearer form.

  "Rank 2 monsters. Cultivator Su, get behind me and do not escape Chunwo from your eyes." Yawen got out a few talismans, sending them flying towards the trees.

  Instantly, the plants began to overgrow and keep the monsters at bay, enough for Mingmei to catch and drop her sword through their bodies.

  Su Jing unconsciously closed her eyes when the blood was spattered, the beautiful view from before getting messy. Carefully steadying her breath, she tried to keep calm, intentionally shutting her eyes away from the mess around. It will do her no good to act rashly and incomodate Yawen and Mingmei.

  Dropping to her knees, Su Jing reached out, gently shaking Chunwo's body.

  "Wake up, wake up, Cultivator Wo!"

  But Chunwo remained still, her body cold as stone under the blanket-yet her faint, shallow breaths told Su Jing she was still alive.

  Now even her body felt slowly getting cold, especially her legs which began to be in pain. Since others didn't seem to complain, it most probably only affected Su Jing since she didn't cultivate.

  Su Jing energetically warmed her palms up, spraying around the warmish blue Qi she had around her finger. She then pressed them on Chunwo's hand, surprised by how slow her heartbeat was now! It was barely felt.

  She continued to move her palms around the shoulders. Her clothes felt nice to the touch, a slight smell of flowers coming from them. To Su Jing disappointment, there were no other strange things attached to her body, besides the storage bag which Su Jing couldn't anyway open it. Chunwo was really defenceless, yet not with anything in the open.

  She sighed.

  At the same time, Yawen was scribbling rapidly on a piece of paper before pressing it firmly into the soil. Su Jing couldn't help but stare, surprised by his method-he wasn't using a brush or a pen. Instead, black ink flowed directly from his fingertip, as if drawn from within him.

  The inked symbols shimmered for only a moment before vanishing in fragmented streaks, dissolving into the ground. A surge of energy erupted in response, and not before long, a thick protective barrier appeared around them.

  Su Jing's eyes widened as she quickly understood-this was a talisman barrier.

  "The Spirit Frost Wolves can't see, but they react quickly to warmth. As long as we stay inside the formation, we'll be fine," Yawen said, turning toward her and Chunwo in reassurance.

  Su Jing nodded, finally understanding why Mingmei had slashed so many flowers earlier. The cold from the petals now surrounded them, masking their body heat from the wolves' senses.

  "But... will Cultivator Mei be able to fight them all on her own?"

  Although Su Jing wasn't particularly close to Mingmei, she was still their only defence right now. If Mingmei fell, they would all be in danger.

  Yawen was scribbling another talisman while listening to her question. He paused briefly before responding.

  "Do not think of the creatures from this realm to be the same as the ones from the mortal realm. These wolves are a direct conscience of the Frost Flowers, so to get rid of them, the best course of action would be to burn their frost away with a Water Qi absorption array. Cultivator Mei is only distracting them."

  After saying this, Yawen pressed another talisman into the ground. The terrain beneath the barrier began to change-vegetation withered, the soil crumbled into dust, and even solid rocks eroded into brittle fragments. The ground was now soft, perfect for what Yawen intended.

  He was sketching an array with his cane.

  His hand moved fast, and soon a magnitude of lines appeared, making Su Jing dizzy. Were arrays truly so complicated? Yawen said it was a Qi Absorption Array, so it wasn't a very high-ranked one from what she knew. But it still felt overwhelmingly difficult as she watched Yawen do it.

  Then, just as quickly as he started, Yawen paused. His hand froze midair, trembling slightly above the half-complete array.

  Su Jing blinked. "Senior-?"

  Before her words could form fully, Yawen's other arm moved.

  A cutting energy tore through the space above her head, sharp and invisible, singing through the air like a blade. Su Jing's heart jumped violently in her chest. She didn't even have time to flinch before the force of the strike stirred her hair, lifting strands into the air.

  Her entire body went still.

  For a heartbeat, she genuinely thought he had attacked her. Her stomach twisted.

  "Eugh!"

  A howl filled with pain and then a thud was heard.

  Su Jing quickly spun around, catching just in time how the beast gave its last dying breath. Unconsciously, she moved her body closer to the centre, surprised by how close the monster was. She touched her head, her hair, her ears.

  "Those dammed beasts! They are much more numerous than I thought."

  Su Jing didn't miss Yawen swearing. Pushed by his words, she looked outside the barrier too, just to notice how many creatures were now circling them.

  Mingmei was not idle either, as she was chasing after a pack of larger wolves at the top of the hill. Su Jing bit her inner lip, realising she couldn't hope for Mingmei coming here and taking care if another monster came towards them.

  Yawen was looking worried at the multiplying of monsters - a thing which obviously made Su Jing restless too. She was dependent on those two cultivators!

  "Cultivator Su," he called out, voice steady despite the chaos, "these are Fireball Talismans. You can activate them with the Qi from your little finger."

  She blinked, caught off guard, and reached out just in time to catch the pouch.

  However, once she had it in her hand, she discovered a problem. How was she supposed to throw it when the little finger was the hardest to control? It was meaningless to throw a good functional talisman if it wasn't gonna activate between her first two fingers.

  "Senior..."

  She looked around, wanting to ask Yawen, but he was too busy with the array. She couldn't bother him. Small pebbles were in his palm as he arranged them, and once Su Jing saw them, an idea struck her.

  Taking a few close by, Su Jing carefully twirled talismans around each one. Like that, it was easier for her little finger to touch and for her hand to control the launch effectively.

  Just as she finished wrapping a few talismans, another wolf stepped into view, and her breath hitched. She gripped the talisman tightly, her fingers cold and clammy, yet she pushed the discomfort aside.

  Not having too much time, Su Jing threw the rock as far as she could down the valley. A warm air followed after it, culminating soon with a hot wave once the projectile exploded. Su Jing put her sleeve before her face, and all the wolves were running after the fireball she threw.

  That was much more powerful than she thought.

  She noticed Yawen stopping in his tracks, looking at the explosion and then at her.

  "Good job, Cultivator Su! This will slow them down for a while!" His eyes got curious over her peeble talismans but he skipped asking something, so he simply signalled to her that she did good.

  Unconsciously, a strange excitement overtook her, similar to a child who succeeded in doing something better in front of their parents. Su Jing had no knowledge or power to help Yawen, so she could only watch closely around, to make sure no beast was sneaking up on them.

  Not to add that Chunwo was still unconscious. Su Jing looked towards her for a second.

  The jewel around her neck was still sparkling quietly, but only enough to get in Su Jing's eyes, since Yawen hadn't said anything yet about it. Su Jing was perplexed by it.

  Looking at the talismans in her other hand, something at the back of her head told her to take it, smudge it through a talisman and throw it away, so the poisoning incident wouldn't happen anymore with Yawen.

  Still, still, would it be really that simple? Su Jing hesitated. That implied too many risks, and she still didn't know exactly how the poison was affecting others at all. The poison could only be detected by a green flame, which Su Jing didn't have, and it wasn't a guarantee either that Chunwo couldn't get through other means other poisons.

  Plus, the whole deal was strange. Why was Chunwo in the first place unconscious? She was a cultivator, not a mortal, so those flowers couldn't affect her that badly! Even Su Jing could resist it, and Chunwan looked like being in the later stages of Qi Refinement at least.

  Su Jing hurriedly placed more rocks on the ground beside Chunwan, carefully pressing talismans onto them without tearing the fragile paper. One after another, she prepared them with precision, ensuring they were ready for the next attack.

  Su Jing braced herself as the approaching beasts came into view. Their body was partially destroyed, looking like a piece of melted ice, but with fur.

  Seeing them, Su Jing went directly to grip the heaviest pebble with a talisman tightly, saving it for the final throw. Its rough, cold surface pressed against her fingertips, and she held it firmly to keep it from slipping. She couldn't afford to miss.

  But something made her to stop in her tracks. Su Jing paused and bought the talisman before her face, feeling an unnatural pressure sank into her skin as she held it. Her breath stopped for a second as felt something wasnt going right. She didn't feel anymore the touch of the light Qi flavouring the tips of her finger - the paper was void.

  Before she could get a hang of it, the sensation quickly transformed into a warm and even hot one, Su Jing feeling the skin of her palm getting hot.

  "Ack!"

  She almost immediately let go of it, but unfortunately, before Su Jing could get it away enough from her body, it already ignited close to her hand.

  The blast sent shockwaves through her body, disorienting her before she could even process what had gone wrong. Masses of dust now swallowed everyone around. Through the mess, she could hear Yawen's voice calling to her, but Su Jing was unable to see anything.

  Only when she felt her back hitting the angular edges of the rocks and the cold flowers did Su Jing realise that she had stumbled backwards, directly down the high slope.

  Everything spun into chaos, yet in that brief moment, as she tumbled, Su Jing's gaze caught something in the distance.

  Their eyes met-Chunwo's brown irises locked onto hers for a fleeting instant, growing more distant as Su Jing plunged into the steep valley below.

  Her breath caught in her throat, time seeming to freeze for a single, agonising second. At that moment, only one thought burned in Su Jing's mind-one she wanted to scream into the heavens.

  "That... damn... villainess!"

  But before she could even process her fury, the world tilted violently, and she was rolling.

  The slope beneath her was treacherously steep, offering no chance to stop her descent. She clawed at the flowers and grasped at tree trunks, but the roots snapped under her weight, crumbling away as she plunged further down.

  Then, with a brutal jolt, her fall came to an abrupt halt. Her body slammed into a thick tree trunk, the impact sending a fresh wave of pain tearing through her. A strangled groan escaped her lips as she lay there, aching and breathless.

  Su Jing's chest rose and fell in shallow, laboured breaths, each one dragging like knives through her ribs.

  Her eyes couldn't help but get wet on their own, the sensation on her body being overwhelming. She still didn't dare to move her fingers, but the wounds were pulsating powerfully through her nerves, from her inner palm and creeping up to her forearm.

  As she stood still and looked up, she saw for a second time the towering figures of the tree touching the sky, almost covering the land bellow from the peeking eyes of the clouds, or even from the Heaven itself. The Frost Flowers appeared here more taller, sliding around her body and thriving to the sky like the trees besides them.

  From her perspective, they appeared as grand as them, as gigantic and beautiful. The petals and leaves were wider, making them slide with a cooling sensation on her body, which this time, Su Jing felt as comfortable, giving her hot skin.

  She stood unmoving for a few minutes like that, feeling that she was anyway hidden away between the flowers. The area around was really quiet, which for Su Jing was a good thing as she barely had the power to move!

  Only when the tip of her toes started to feel numb did Su Jing decide to move. The skin on her hand stretched, and it still felt painful, but it was bearable.

  She clasped the air inside her lungs and turned to see the wounds.

  The whole burnt area on her hands was red and swollen, the most affected part being the inner part of the palm, which held the talisman, which was also bleeding.

  She looked at the other hand, and it was not as bad, but the swelling persisted.

  With difficulty, she tried to get up on her butt. Her palm continued dripping in blood, and Su Jing was aware she couldn't let it be like that. At worst, she could get a very bad fever and end up bedridden - a thing not really possible for her right now.

  She took some deep breaths to catch her energy, but couldn't help herself from biting her lip.

  "The hell with Chunwo!"

  Su Jing... was sure she did something!

  Chunwan was really that wretched that she wanted to kill Su Jing first! And with such horrible ways!

  With Feng Zhihao, she only screamed and badmouthed, but it seems that it was a privileged temperament not available for the extras.

  Su Jing couldn't help but regret now that she didn't throw the fuck away her necklace. Next time, if Su Jing doesn't pull her hair, she will not be afraid even if Mingmei gets in between!

  Her anger was so great that she could barely stay put, however, the pain in her hands immediately cleared up her mind.

  Right, she didn't have time for that. If she wanted to encounter Chunwan again and give her a lesson, she must first survive and find Yawen again.

  He's the only one she can trust.

  Hopefully, he was alright up there, too. Su Jing couldn't be sure if Chunwo attacked him or not, or simply lay low. In any case, this was an opportunity for her and Su Jing unfortunately was just powerless enough to not be able to do anything.

  In her few days of being conscious, she felt now the worst in terms of morals. It was ingrained in her mind how weak and insignificant she was before others.

  She passed her tongue over her dry lower lip. Looking around at the ground, Su Jing couldn't help but stare at the big leaves of the flowers. She ripped a few petals and leaves, along with the scorched sleeves, which were now really unsightly. Improvising a dressing, Su Jing tried to cover her open wound, just enough to feel cool and not bleed anymore.

  Dew Flowers were a species not poisonous, so Su Jing could only hope the Frost variety was just about their name and not hiding a secret, bad side-effect.

  Su Jing should try reading some basic herbology, too, once she gets to the sect.

  Her list was beginning to pile up, and Su Jing could only sigh in defeat.

  Su Jing got up with difficulty, feeling her knees dip down in pain from the cold. Finally, on her legs, looking around, she noticed how the valley was still keeping on going down, and if she wasn't careful, she risked slipping and rolling away again - something she didn't really want to happen.

  She checked her sleeve pockets- fortunately, some of the fireball talismans Yawen last gave her got accidentally messed up through her clothes, being brought up with her.

  She carefully searched around the terrain and in the end found five talismans. They were a bit crumpled, but for Su Jing, those papers represented her last line of defence if someone or something approached her.

  She saw another red point through the plants and approached it. Thinking it was another talisman, she was relieved, but once Su Jing got close, she felt something had dropped down to her stomach.

  A necklace with a red stone was sitting between the flowers, its sparkles giving the same hot waves from before.

  "..."