The howling wind and blizzard suddenly ceased, leaving the peak in silence. Xiao Bang Chui suddenly felt something was amiss. Looking around, she realized that all the people who had crowded the peak were gone. The snow-covered summit now held only her.
Startled, she couldn’t help but call out, “Ge Lin? Lei Xiuyuan? … Ye Ye?”
There was no response. Countless tiny snowflakes, like summer mosquitoes, obscured her vision—this strange occurrence might be another mystical technique she didn’t understand.
The only place left to go was the thatched cottage with its wide-open door. Xiao Bang Chui hesitated for a moment before decisively walking into the cottage. Just like boarding the carriage yesterday, as soon as she stepped inside, her surroundings transformed again. The snow-capped peak changed into a misty forest.
She stood beneath an enormous locust tree. The light was extremely dim, and the sky, hidden by dense foliage, was a gloomy gray. A haze, whether fog or miasma, permeated the entire forest, making it difficult to distinguish colors.
A figure flickered behind the locust tree. The long-absent woman in a black veil appeared silently from somewhere, speaking softly, “You have one day and one night. If you can safely exit this forest before noon tomorrow, you’ll pass the second selection.”
As she finished speaking, a small blue floral cloth bundle suddenly appeared before Xiao Bang Chui. The woman in the black veil continued, “You must find water and food on your own. The bundle contains three talismans each of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Use them wisely. Remember, the time limit is before noon tomorrow.”
Before her words faded, her figure dispersed like smoke. Xiao Bang Chui opened the blue floral cloth bundle and found a stack of talisman papers inside. They were different from those her master usually used, being larger and of various colors. The talisman patterns seemed to shimmer with flowing light, clearly much more powerful than ordinary cinnabar talisman papers.
Xiao Bang Chui packed away the talismans and surveyed her surroundings. In this gloomy forest, it was impossible to tell the time. The mention of “before noon tomorrow” was perhaps also a test of their judgment. She didn’t know where the others were; only she stood beneath the locust tree. There were no paths in the forest, and without a sense of direction, one could easily go in circles. Fortunately, she had grown up in the mountains, and compared to the vast forest where she lived, this gloomy woods before her was merely a front yard.
She put her finger in her mouth, moistened it, and quickly felt that the faint wind was coming from the east. The wind meant that heading east would lead to open terrain. Xiao Bang Chui set off with light, quick steps.
The forest was very quiet, with occasional sounds of unidentified birds calling. Among the tangled trees, there occasionally grew grass with extremely long, thin leaves. When cut at the base, this grass yielded a large amount of clear water. Xiao Bang Chui spent a long time gathering enough to fill a water skin, sufficient for day and night.
Judging by the color of the tree leaves, there were likely no fruits to be found. She could only search for edible roots and tubers. Xiao Bang Chui thought of the unfinished plate of tofu from breakfast and regretted not bringing it along. She was hungry.
Suddenly, there was a rustling in the bushes, followed by a large gray rabbit jumping out. Its hind legs were bloodstained, apparently injured. In its panic, it hopped towards Xiao Bang Chui.
“Where do you think you’re going?!” a voice suddenly rang out from the bushes. With a “whoosh,” a talisman shot out like an arrow, sticking to the rabbit’s back. In an instant, several golden beams descended from the sky, piercing the rabbit’s body. It rolled over and died on the spot.
“Hey! That’s my rabbit!” The voice from the bushes was arrogant. The branches were forcefully pushed aside, and a richly dressed boy walked out. They came face to face, both exclaiming “Ah!”—it was the boy she had slapped with silver coins.
Seeing Xiao Bang Chui, his eyes first showed a hint of panic but quickly changed to horror. He pointed at her, almost jumping up, “You’re pretending to be a girl?! How disgusting!”
With a face full of disgust and disdain, he quickly stepped forward to pick up the rabbit, emphatically stating, “This is my rabbit!”
Xiao Bang Chui didn’t want to bother him and turned to continue on her way. Unexpectedly, he called out urgently from behind, “You, you wait a moment!”
Xiao Bang Chui turned back. The boy seemed to want to come closer, but seeing her in women’s clothing, he retreated a few steps in disgust. “You, you, you, are you a man or a woman?! Answer me… answer me!”
“Your eyes aren’t blind,” Xiao Bang Chui coldly replied.
The boy’s expression suddenly became strange. He looked her up and down, his disgust seeming to intensify. After a while, he spoke again, “Have you seen anyone else?”
Xiao Bang Chui shook her head and turned to leave.
“Wait a moment!” he called again.
“If you have something to say, say it all at once,” Xiao Bang Chui said impatiently, cracking her knuckles.
The boy quickly retreated a step, waving his hand, “Alright, don’t get violent! I’m almost out of talismans. Do you have any? I’m willing to buy them!”
“I don’t need silver,” she flatly refused.
The boy’s expression dimmed slightly, and then he waved the gray rabbit in his hand, “I’ll trade this for them!”
“I don’t eat meat.”
He was utterly speechless. From childhood, Ji Tongzhou had never been treated this way. Under normal circumstances, he would have whipped this commoner half to death. But since entering the forest, he hadn’t encountered a single person. Those sycophants who usually surrounded him, flattering and pleasing him, had disappeared. Finally meeting someone, and it turned out to be this ambiguous commoner—it was truly infuriating!
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He turned to leave, refusing to believe his luck could be so bad that he’d meet no one else but her.
He hadn’t gone far when he realized his luck had turned. A little girl was hurriedly running towards him from the opposite direction. He quickly called out, “Hey! Over there! Come here for a moment!”
The running girl seemed not to hear. As she ran, she was wildly waving her hands, looking quite eerie. As she got closer, her faint cries became clearer.
“Help! Mother! Help…”
This bizarre scene made Ji Tongzhou draw in a sharp breath. Unexpectedly, Xiao Bang Chui quickly ran past him and grabbed the little girl’s shoulders.
“Hey…” he instinctively wanted to stop her. Xiao Bang Chui held the girl’s shoulders and turned her around. Horrifyingly, purple-black smoke was billowing out from the girl’s facial orifices, looking extremely terrifying. The girl’s cries grew fainter and fainter until finally, her body went limp and she collapsed to the ground.
“…What was that?” Ji Tongzhou asked tremblingly.
Xiao Bang Chui didn’t speak. She laid the girl flat on the ground. The purple-black smoke continued to billow out, quickly turning into the colorless mist of the forest—was this miasma? The girl couldn’t resist the miasma!
Xiao Bang Chui instinctively held her breath and jumped away like a rabbit. Soon, the girl’s body emitted a faint blue light, gradually becoming transparent, and finally disappearing before their eyes. Was this what being eliminated looked like? The forest was filled with miasma, and children who couldn’t resist it would be deluded by the miasma, eventually falling into a coma and being eliminated.
The two children standing nearby couldn’t help but exchange glances. Ji Tongzhou suddenly spoke, “…Shall we go together?”
Xiao Bang Chui didn’t say anything. Whether it was because of the mysterious breathing technique taught by the old gentleman or not, she felt no effects from the terrifying miasma. The arrogant child opposite her was also not simple; he didn’t seem to be just a pretty face but had some real ability.
She took out several talismans and handed them to him: “One of each of the five elements. Use them sparingly.”
She tacitly agreed to their traveling together. A forest with miasma would surely have monsters; two people would be safer than one.
“…What’s your name?” Ji Tongzhou asked awkwardly. Deep down, he didn’t want to associate with commoners like Xiao Bang Chui, but circumstances forced them to travel together, so they had to exchange names.
“Xiao Bang Chui.”
“…Really?” Was she joking? Could anyone have such a stupid name?
“Really.”
Ji Tongzhou still didn’t believe it, but he couldn’t bring himself to make up a name like “Little Hammer” or “Little Mallet” for himself, so he had to tell the truth: “My surname is Ji, the ‘Ji’ from ‘discipline’. My given name is Tongzhou, the ‘Tong’ from the ‘paulownia tree’ and the ‘Zhou’ from the ‘cycle of heaven’. My courtesy name is…”
“No need to explain so clearly. I won’t have a chance to write your name,” she interrupted mercilessly.
“You!!” Forget it, no point in arguing with a commoner. He’d endure!
After walking for who knows how long, the trees became increasingly dense, leaving barely any space to step. The breathing and footsteps of the boy behind her grew heavier and heavier. Surprisingly, he showed considerable perseverance, never complaining about being tired or demanding to rest.