Humble Beginnings, a Cultivation Quest

Steeling herself against her own hesitancy, Xiǎo Nú decided to approach the one who seemed the most tolerant of her presence. The woman and the graceful deer exuded an air of serenity that drew Xiǎo Nú toward them, despite the knot of nerves tightening in her stomach.


Closing the gap between them, she felt her own dread intensify with each step. The cultivators' mounts towered over her, and her anticipation of their possible reactions sent shivers down her spine.


As she neared the woman on the deer, Xiǎo Nú's steps faltered. The unease in the pit of her stomach churned, and the fear of rejection threatened to overwhelm her. Nevertheless, she pressed forward, lowering her eyes to fix them respectfully on the ground.


When she reached what felt like a respectful distance, Xiǎo Nú bowed down low, her hands cupped before her. In that tense moment, she couldn't see the expressions of either the woman or the deer, heightening her anxiety.


Holding the apple out in her trembling hands, Xiǎo Nú began to panic as she attempted to stand stock still. The silence hung in the air, and uncertainty gripped her. Should she hold her pose, waiting to be acknowledged, or was their silence a signal of an expectation for her to speak first, or even realize she was acting foolishly and leave?


Summoning every ounce of courage, she stumbled over her words but managed a polite and formal greeting. "H-honorable Immortals, I am Xiǎo Nú. May this… may this humble offering provide you some small amount of succor after your travels."


Even as the words fell out of her mouth, she was second-guessing her actions. Suddenly, in the presence of such people, the apple, as fine as Xiǎo Nú had ever seen, seemed woefully lacking. The deer she was offering it to likely ate better for every meal, and would be offended by such a base offering.


Her words lingered in the air as she continued to stare at the ground. It wasn't until a drop of perspiration rolled into her eye, causing it to sting slightly, that she realized she was sweating.


The silence stretched, a tense moment frozen in time. And then, a subtle shift in the air. Xiǎo Nú felt the gentle touch of the deer's lips deftly lifting the apple from her cupped palms, and the sound of a loud crunch signaled it was accepted. Relief washed over her.


The woman's voice rang out, lilting and reminding Xiǎo Nú of nothing so much as the softly-flowing river Hou Wenyan used to bring her to in the safe part of the woods outside Mudanshu. "Arise, Xiǎo Nú," she said, her words carrying a weight that seemed to resonate with a kind of ancient authority.


Obeying the command, Xiǎo Nú slowly raised her head, meeting the woman's eyes for the first time. In that gaze, there was a depth of experience beyond anything she had seen before.


Before the woman could continue, an interruption came in the form of a cackling laugh. The old woman on the ox, her voice carrying a crassness that clashed with the serene atmosphere, announced, "Well, well! It seems like another mortal has become infatuated with Donglu Lei."


Confusion briefly clouded Xiǎo Nú's mind, before the implications of the statement hit her, causing her face to heat up. For a moment, she almost began to deny the accusation, before remembering who she was speaking to brought a halt to her tongue.


As Xiǎo Nú fumbled over how to respond, the old woman spurned her ox forward. The massive creature shouldered its way between Xiǎo Nú and the deer, not bothering to alter its path even for a moment. In its passing, the ox momentarily locked eyes with Xiǎo Nú. To her surprise, she sensed an intelligence in those eyes that rivaled, if not surpassed, any mortal she had ever encountered.


As the ox moved by, a small swipe of its tail slapped Xiǎo Nú on the cheek, the small tuft of hair on the end softening the blow. The twins and the armored man, sensing a cue, moved to follow the old woman on their mounts, the twins' expressions inscrutable. Xiǎo Nú stood there, still processing the unexpected turn of events, her hand instinctively touching the spot where the ox's tail had made contact. She briefly wondered if it was offended by her choice of who to approach first.


A moment later, she realized the woman on the deer - Donglu Lei, apparently - was still looking at her, a slight smile playing across her lips. "Do not give Tang Shanyuan's words too much weight. She is crass at the best of times, let alone at the end of a long journey. Guanglin thanks you for the apple."


It took Xiǎo Nú a moment to realize she was referring to the deer. She dipped into another deep bow, this time angled specifically to face Guanglin. "It pleases this humble servant greatly that her offering was deemed acceptable."


Guanglin dipped its head almost imperceptibly in acknowledgment. With a graceful turn, it followed the other cultivators, leaving Xiǎo Nú standing alone. Every eye in the crowd seemed fixed on her, and a weighty silence settled over the scene.


The quiet was shattered by the pounding of feet, and Xiǎo Nú turned to see Wen Jianyu racing up to her. In his excitement, he collided with her, nearly pulling her off the ground as he grabbed her shoulders, a giddy expression of relief on his face. "I can't believe you did that!"


Xiǎo Nú, caught off guard, felt the tension that had gripped her dissipate as she began to giggle. She hadn't realized she was holding her breath until this moment. The two of them stood there, the intensity of the encounter giving way to shared laughter. It echoed through the square, a release of the pent-up nervous energy that had built up.


However, their laughter was abruptly interrupted by the distinct clank of armor. Turning their heads, they saw the guards, now free from the propriety demanded by the presence of the cultivators, quickly approaching the two.


Still smiling, Wen Jianyu turned back to Xiǎo Nú, then nodded. Without a moment's hesitation, the pair took off, sprinting back into the town, their laughter trailing behind them. In the back of her mind Xiǎo Nú worried about the consequences of angering the guards, but in the moment, she could feel nothing but mirth, her spirit bolstered by the successful interaction. They followed the path taken by the cultivators, taking the wider roads that would allow the passage of the large mounts.


It took less than a minute for them to catch up - the cultivators were hardly hurrying - to find that the group had stopped in the middle of the dirt road. A pressure unlike anything Xiǎo Nú had experienced before settled over her, like a physical weight on her chest. Both her and Wen Jianyu's laughter trailed off as they took in the scene.


Beyond Tang Shanyuan, nearly blocked from Xiǎo Nú's field of vision by the massive ox, was a man, stood in a clearly hostile stance. A moment later, as exactly what he held registered, she felt her heart drop into her stomach. Gripped in pale hands was a long shaft of wood, lowered to point directly at one of the twins. As Xiǎo Nú's eyes traced up its length, culminating in a dull iron tip, her attention was pulled by the familiar length of bamboo strapped to the spear, parallel to the blade.


Casting her vision around, more armed men - and some women - became visible to Xiǎo Nú, huddled in rough groups, with each holding one of the spears she had delivered earlier today. They numbered at least thirty. The blood drained from her face and a dull pounding, which she would later recognize as her heartbeat, filled her ears, drowning out the exchange of shouts.


Then, as if signaled by the firing of one of the single-use firelances, a tapestry of violence erupted. Xiǎo Nú could only stand in shock and stare as the cultivators sprang into action, each rushing a different group of assailants.


Tang Shanyuan surged forward, the massive ox absorbing several blasts from more firelances. In a swift motion, she drew and threw several small knives, each burying itself in a target. The air filled with the ominous hiss of the firelances and the agonizing screams of the assailants struck by her precise throws.


The twins' horses were gunned down, collapsing to the ground with haunting screams, their bodies writhing as chunks of flesh were blasted off them, blood splattering across the street. Unfazed, the twins dismounted with graceful leaps, dodging the worst of the shots. Shrapnel - iron filings, old nails, and other assorted iron scraps, Xiǎo Nú remembered - shredded their flowing robes. By the time their feet touched the ground, their dao were drawn, and they danced among the mortal spearmen. Though unable to gain purchase against the thicket of spears leveled against them, they moved with an almost preternatural agility, adequately defending themselves.


The armored man skillfully blocked several shots aimed at his own horse with the flat of his guandao before dismounting. Slowly advancing on a group that had flanked the cultivators, his menacing stature forced them to back up, several panicked shots missing him entirely, splintering wood as they impacted buildings opposite the street.


Finally, Donglu Lei, still riding Guanglin as it reared up, hurled her spear down with deadly accuracy. It impaled one of the men in the sternum, the angle of the spear holding his now-limp body upright as it buried itself in the ground behind him. Without hesitation, Guanglin charged forward, allowing Donglu Lei to retrieve her weapon even as it threw another mortal with its antlers.


Xiǎo Nú's eyes widened as she witnessed the chaos unfolding before her. Despite the initial display of prowess, the cultivators were vastly outnumbered, and the masses of attackers - under the apparent leadership of a hooded figure who was hanging back, shouting orders - were slowly but surely forcing them into a defensive stance. The relentless onslaught pressed them back, and the cultivators could only lash out with attacks when the mortals' clumsiness provided openings.


Still, though, they were slowly chipped away at. Tang Shanyuan, caught off guard by a sudden, suicidal lunge, suffered a superficial cut on her arm as a mortal's spear grazed her. The twins, fast as they were, couldn't entirely evade the assault - one of them bore a gash on the thigh from a spear thrust from behind him. Donglu Lei skillfully fended off attackers, battering their spears aside with her own, yet blood bloomed through her armor where a shot had clearly penetrated. The armored man, while seemingly impervious to the blades, was swinging his guandao wildly, blinded by the blast of a firelance directly aimed at his faceplate. It was unclear whether they would survive the onslaught long enough for any guards to arrive as reinforcements.


Xiǎo Nú felt herself moving, her focus returning to her own body as Wen Jianyu desperately pulled her out of the wide-open street into a narrow alley. It was good that he did, as a moment later, right where she had been standing in shock, a firelance - charge yet unspent - flew through the air and buried itself in the ground, disarmed from its wielder by Guanglin.


"We need to get out of here!" he yelled over the din of combat, though Xiǎo Nú couldn't tear her eyes from the spear. The majority of the mortal attackers had their backs to the two of them, attention firmly on the cultivators…

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[ ] Run away - you have no business getting involved in this fight, and guards will arrive soon anyway.
- [ ] Just focus on getting to safety with Wen Jianyu.
- [ ] You need to get home, and warn Hou Yanlin what is happening with his weapons.
- [ ] Write In

[ ] Assist the cultivators, they'll be overrun before the guards can arrive.
- [ ] Grab the firelance and charge in at the closest attacker.
- [ ] Grab the firelance and fire it at the leader.
- [ ] Write In

[ ] Assist the mortals and attack one of the cultivators - this is the beginning of an uprising that may see your station changed!
- [ ] Tang Shanyuan
- [ ] The twins
- [ ] The armored man
- [ ] Donglu Lei

[ ] Write In