Chapter 2 - Valley of Death

The wind whistling past her body seemed invisible to her as Mao Shuhai was plagued by a thousand different thoughts. Fortunately, however, her survival instincts kicked in, as she came ablaze with an amber fire of spiritual qi. At Rank 3 of the Qi Refinement stage, her control over her qi was naturally not small, allowing her to shroud herself in a protective layer of flickering flames just as she breached the canopy of the dense forest below.

Branches and thorns tore through flesh and clothing as she plummetted, her thoughts stilled by the sudden onslaught of pain. Just as she registered these sensations, Mao Shuhai found herself diving headfirst into an icy pool of water beneath the treetops. She instinctively gasped, as water rushed into every corner of her being and threatened to freeze her to death. Forcing herself to move, she managed to struggle to the surface, fortunately knowing how to swim, and finally get a decent look of her surroundings, all prior thoughts of betrayal and family thrown out the window.

The area around her was, as expected, a dense forest. Vines, brambles and closely knit trees made it difficult to see far or decipher much of her surroundings. She could tell, however, that she had landed in a lake, connected either side by winding rivers.

Mao Shuhai was vaguely in a daze for a moment, still in shock by many of the events that had just transpired, before remembering where she was.

The Valley of Death.

A place few in the Snow Spirit Kingdom had travelled through and lived to tell the tale.

Quickly, she began swimming towards the edge of the lake and hauled herself out, just barely scraping the jaws of death as a sea monster lunged at her from below. She could still see the jagged teeth of the beast as it disappeared back into the depths, alongside her left shoe, unfortunately, making her shiver at the thought of reacting one second slower.

This was no place for idle thoughts.

Forcing herself to get her act together, Mao Shuhai quickly activated her spiritual sense and surveyed her surroundings. There were indeed many spirits prowling around her, but what scared her most was the fact that she knew, that this was nowhere near all of them.

One's spiritual sense can indeed sense the presence of spirits around the user, but only to an extent. In particular, those with higher cultivation can easily hide their presence from those weaker than them. Take, for example, the sea monster Mao Shuhai had barely dodged death from. There was not even a trace of its spirit beneath the depths of the lake.

Frowning in thought, Mao Shuhai pulled herself off the ground and assessed her injuries. They still stung, but the adrenaline coursing through her veins and the will to survive made it negligible. Not to mention the fact that she had shielded herself with her spiritual flame too, causing them to be rather minor in nature, primarily being shallow cuts and scrapes that covered her body.

The main thing that worried her was the fresh blood oozing out of some of her wounds. Beasts, much less Spirit Beasts, must've already caught the scent of the injured prey in the vicinity and were making their way here.

Making her decision quickly, Mao Shuhai tore off parts of the ruby long coat around her waist, soggy and vaguely bloodstained, and used it as a bandage to stem the blood flow. The frostiness of winter made her teeth chatter with her drenched clothing, but she had no leisure to casually air dry her clothes here. She could only pray that they'd dry quicker, alongside the bloodstains she had no time to wash out.

After messily bandaging herself up to a satisfactory state, Mao Shuhai fled the scene in search of higher ground, and hopefully a way out of this place, ignorant to the scrutinizing eyes hidden in the treetops.

---

Mao Shuhai knew well that the place she had fallen from was too steep of a cliff to climb back up, and that she had to find another way elsewhere. But the question was, where?

She had been dropped so suddenly into the central depths of the forested valley, with it being difficult to decipher one direction from another with the repetitive landscape.

With a sigh, all she could do was try to find a high vantage point and start from there.

Sunset quickly descended into dusk as Mao Shuhai was forced to stop her exploring. She had been very cautious and paranoid in her search, leading to a fortunate lack of injuries and death, but also a lack of much distance covered.

However, even then, the things she had seen and experienced had already blown her mind.

She had crawled past a fearsome fight between a white tiger and a crimson bear, watched a colony of strange golden ants disintegrate a beast's corpse and hid in the bushes as a giant python swallowed two beasts whole.

It was horrifying and eye-opening, but at the same time, slightly expected. She had been thrown into a world of eat or be eaten already, in her own home. It was just that things were much more honest down here in the Valley of Death, no knife-like words stabbing her heart, no brutal schemes, lies or betrayal, just blunt killing. It was strange, and perhaps she was just going crazy, but she felt a tiny sense of relief. At least she didn't have to worry about a beast gaining her trust and stabbing her in the back, she'd just die.

Nestled in the treetops, as safe as she could get with her minor knowledge of this place, Mao Shuhai chuckled silently to herself as her thoughts wandered. Now that she thought about it, she was fortunate to have had two bowls of longevity noodles earlier today. At least she wouldn't go to sleep hungry tonight. Well, that was, if she could get any sleep.

She knew that there was a whole other legion of beasts that slept during the day and hunted during the night that she was fearful of, but she didn't know what she could do about it. She wasn't an arraymaster, able to arrange complex formations to protect herself and sleep peacefully, just a budding blacksmith.

Oh, now that she thought about it, she had that new chakram didn't she? As well as that book of core inscriptions, but this wasn't exactly the time nor place to study those.

Pulling out the gifted weapon from her ring's spatial space, she looked at it fondly and tiredly stroked her fingers over the golden engravings. It would do her good to learn how to use this effectively as soon as possible, tomorrow morning perhaps, as it could be the difference between her life and death.

She can't believe she had forgotten about it for so long actually, perhaps her mind was in a more bewildered state than she had originally thought, having brandished a simple knife this whole evening. Well, a simple knife wasn't quite the right thing to call it. It was a first-grade weapon, not a spirit-less ungraded one, that she had crafted herself. It was her first successful blacksmithing venture actually, she was proud of it. Even with its imperfections, like the slightly jagged handle and poor decor.

After straightening out her plans for tomorrow, trying to focus on survival rather than the other, more complicated thoughts at the back of her mind, Mao Shuhai cautiously fell asleep hidden amidst the treetops.

---

The days passed by relatively uneventfully as time went on, with Mao Shuhai's cautious, paranoid nature being the sole reason she had survived for so long. However, it seemed that the wick of life she had desperately protected for so long, was finally coming to its end.

Mao Shuhai was thirteen. She had lived in the protection of the capital city all her life. Sure, she had cultivated diligently, nurtured her spiritual roots and sparred with her friends in order to train herself combat-wise, but she had little to no knowledge on how to survive out in the wild.

Things certainly weren't as simple as just killing and eating things, after all, she had no idea what was poisonous, how to cook or gut animals nor how to work out whether water was drinkable or not. She had indeed killed a few weaker spirit beasts and gathered their beast cores for her cultivation, but she was really just bumbling her way through.

Worse still was that her hopes of making her way back home were dwindling. No matter how far she trekked nor how many trees she had climbed, there was nothing but an endless expanse of forest to greet her. Perhaps she had even made a mistake in her directions somewhere.

Weakly, Mao Shuhai gathered her strength and rose from the tree she had been resting by. She was hungry, cold and felt sick to her stomach. Her body had never been very resilient to illness or overexertion after all. The last thing she ate was some overcooked small fish that she had found flopping amidst the rocks of a creek a few days ago, alongside some nuts she had found on the tree floor. Berries and fruits were aplenty here, but even with her little knowledge, she knew that recklessly eating such things would send her to an early grave. She hadn't sensed any weak spirit beasts in her vicinity to hunt in a long while. She knew that the creatures here were intelligent and learnt quickly, it seemed that her luck in convenient prey that wasn't wary of her had run out.

Whilst cautiously looking around the area for more fallen nuts, ones that she had eaten before, she felt her legs crumble after hitting a jagged tree root. At the end of her tether, she tumbled downhill through a mess of vines and woven tree roots, ending up in a tired heap at the bottom.

Perhaps... it was time to give in.

However, just as quickly as that thought passed her mind, she threw it away at the speed of light. She was not reconciled. She refused to give in.

She remembered this feeling, the desolate hopelessness of despair that clouded her mind as her mother went to the heavens three years ago. She couldn't let it win. She had to avenge her dear mother, and herself. She also wanted to watch her friends grow up and find their place in society. Oh, and her book of core inscriptions. She hadn't even gotten a chance to study it yet. She had always wanted to become a great blacksmith and carry on her clan's legacy, even if now, she had no feelings left for such a clan.

But she was so tired. She felt so weak, so much so that it seemed to cost all her energy just to keep herself awake.

Gritting her teeth, she thrust her arms beneath herself and forced herself to sit up, only to be stunned still on the spot.

It was... a courtyard. Just standing a few metres before her. It seemed kind of run-down, with winding vines and overgrown flora covering the place but... what in the heavens was it doing here?

How did she even get here?

This place seemed startlingly different from where she was moments ago. Looking back up where she had tumbled from, she realized she had fallen a much farther distance than she had initially anticipated. Vines and roots covered her path back, making it difficult to discern how to even return to where she came from.

Mao Shuhai vaguely came to the conclusion that this was a hidden grove of some sort, that she had just accidentally stumbled across. The tree canopy was dense and unyielding above her, letting in only a few rays of dazzling daylight, but that only seemed to add to the mysteriousness of this place.

Just as Mao Shuhai pondered what to do, whether to return or to take her bets here, a sudden voice startled her from behind.

"Oh look at that, you've survived for quite a long time haven't you?"

Whipping her head round, she warily stared back at the elderly man watching her carefully. He had an amiable smile on his face, with a long white beard and dark gentle eyes. His blue and white robe was clean and neat, a stark difference to her own awful appearance at the moment.

But what in the heavens was he doing here? Did he live here? Why? Was he friend or foe in this situation? And how did he know of her? Had she been spied on?

There were too many different judgements to be made in this situation, and her mind was far from working properly. She felt her mind blank as the old man stroked his beard thoughtfully.

"What is your name young one?" He inquired gently after a few moments of silence.

"...Mao Shuhai." She managed to croak out, her throat painfully dry and hoarse.

Whatever the case was, she would not be able to contend against this person in her current state, so she opted to remain cooperative for now. But if she felt a threat to her safety, she would flee. Her mistrust of people had always been strong after seeing the fearsome fights in her own clan residence. Even if she felt weak, her paranoia would not rest.

"...Mao? As in the Mao Clan of venerable blacksmiths?"

"Ah, yes. I am the di daughter of Mao Yu." She explained cautiously, somewhat surprised this fellow called her clan as one with 'venerable blacksmiths'. Was he mocking her? Or perhaps he just had a lack of information, considering he seemed to live in such a place.

"Oho. So you are his daughter, I see, I see. To think I would meet you in such a place, I am Mao Qing. Your grandfather." He spoke casually before beaming at her and patting her affectionately on the head.

Mao Shuhai was stunned.

What? When on earth did she have such a grandfather? Was he really her grandfather? What were the chances?

Her father had never talked to her about his parents, causing Mao Shuhai to believe that they had long passed away, but perhaps... this was not the case?

But maybe... as worrisome as this seemed, this may be for the best. It was clear that he wanted to at least pretend to have amicable relations with her for some reason. If she could use his kindness as a means to survive, she would.

"I am honoured to meet you grandfather." She smiled politely, before half-bowing from her sitting position. Even such a small action seemed to sap all the strength from her body, causing her to instinctively frown.

Mao Qing seemed pleased by her actions and chuckled heartily before walking towards her.

"Come, let me help you inside my residence. It's nothing much, but you can recover your strength there." He spoke gently as he scooped Mao Shuhai up from the floor and helped her inside.

Mao Shuhai was still wary but obediently stayed still as she was taken through the courtyard.

From afar, the vine-covered residence didn't seem that large, but as she was carried through she realized there were more buildings than she had initially thought.

Mao Qing brought her to an inner room and placed her on a neat bed made of rosewood, with a simply decorated headboard and light-coloured blankets. He put her down without hesitation and wrapped her in the fluffy quilts, despite her dirt-and-blood-stained grimy appearance, making her feel a twinge of shame and gratitude.

"This is my bedroom, you can rest here for now whilst I clean up a spare room for you to use in the future. You must be starving, I'll wake you up in a bit when food is ready. For now, you should sleep." He kindly advised as Mao Shuhai stared at him cautiously.

She felt sincerely lost on what was happening. Could she really trust this person? Was she about to be chopped up and fed to the wolves whilst she slept? Such sincere kindness was too difficult to believe. She doubted everyone, it was her nature. It was how she had survived for so long.

Was this all just a kind dream? Was she secretly still in that forest hopelessly looking for a way out, but had passed out somewhere? She wouldn't lie, if this was a dream, she really didn't want to wake up...

Somewhat accidentally, Mao Shuhai fell fast asleep only a few moments after she was put down. The soft mattress beneath her must've just been too inviting after so long out in the wilderness.

---

Mao Qing sighed quietly to himself as he watched the little lady sleep. She was in a truly terrible state, covered in mud, blood, dirt and leaves. Her black hair messily and crazily covered her shoulders and shrouded her face. Only remnants of her once beautiful clothing could be seen, her whitish dress now marred with filth, her red coat barely a coat anymore having been torn apart to use as cloth so many times and her matching ruby sash now barely holding the outfit together.

He could tell, that she was a young lady raised delicately indoors. Her cultivation was good, and she seemed to have had some prior combat experience, but not to the extent of being able to survive for long down here. When she first fell down, he had been there to watch. He was no saint and was expecting her to die off quickly, having barely avoided that sea monster's jaws, but here she was, still alive.

He had to admit, her tenacity and cautiousness was something to respect. Her amber eyes were as wary as a little wildcat's the whole time, careful and paranoid for danger, even after he had picked her up. How many her age had such qualities? No wonder she had survived for so long. He wondered what kind of story she had to tell about her past.

Perhaps this was why he had lent a helping hand for once.