Feng Jiu hummed the Orchid Grass song while following the current downstream. Without singing the lyrics, the brisk tune made her footsteps light and graceful. There was something different in her mood.
While humming, she used a stick in her hand to beat the weeds on the side of the mountain road. Occasionally, she brushed away the twigs and vines that blocked the path. On the way down, although she didn’t see anyone, her divine sense, released by her earlier, had long been aware of those people.
The only person she met in these parts was the man who had come up to fetch water. Now, she knew without thinking that they were there. And sure enough, as she went down humming a song, she found them all about to leave.
“Big Brother, we meet again.”
She grinned and waved to him, sweeping her glance unobtrusively towards the other members of the party. Finally, she set her sight at the middle-aged man in his fifties and then looked away.
“Jiming, your acquaintance?” The middle-aged man asked his son.
That man in his thirties glanced at the young man with the medicine basket on his back, looked away, and answered his father. “This young man was resting upstream. He was the one who left the oily film in the water before.”
The older middle-aged man nodded, looked at the young man with a simple and honest face in blue, then smiled. “It seems that he is a medicinal herb gathering boy.”
Feng Jiu showed an artless smile and scratched her head sheepishly. “I gathered medicinal herbs. Because I was hungry, I caught a pheasant and roasted it, so I washed the grease on my hands. I didn’t expect that there would be people downstream, hehe.”
“I see.” The older middle-aged man nodded with a smile. “This part of the mountain forest is relatively deep. The medicinal herbs here should be common ones and spirit herbs are scarcely ever seen. But, there are a lot of ferocious beasts here. You’re still an adolescent and have no companions. If you want to go down the mountain, you can join us.”
“Ah?” Feng Jiu blinked when she heard this. She looked with some surprise at the amiably smiling middle-aged man.
“Master, how can we do this? We don’t know this boy’s origin.” A large man behind him said, staring guardedly at Feng Jiu.
“Sigh.” The middle-aged man waved his hand. “He’s just a youth. Don’t make such a fuss. What’s more, he’s just a 15-year-old kid. What’s to worry about?”
Feng Jiu smiled with her eyes narrowed. She touched her face with one hand and spoke happily, “Uncle, I’m already 20 years old.” Did she look that young, 15 or 16 years old?
When that older middle-aged man heard this, he was also stupefied, and then chuckled softly. “That’s really difficult to see. After all, your voice hasn’t changed and you look like a 15 or 16-year-old boy.”
Hearing that, Feng Jiu was all smiles. “Raspy voice is not good to hear. I sound better this way.” She asked again, “Is the foot of the mountain still far from here? Can we leave before dark?”
“We can’t. This is the mountain forest bordering the Opulent Celestial Sect. The road is dense with trees so it’s not very easy to walk either. If there are not too many branches in the forest, you can still ride a flying sword or sit on a flying instrument.” The older middle-aged man answered. Seeing the young man in front of him staring up at the air, he smiled and asked, “How should I call you, little brother?”
“Oh, my surname is Feng.” She withdrew her gaze and looked at the older middle-aged man.
“So, you’re Little Brother Feng.” He nodded and said with a smile. “My surname is Lu. You can call me Uncle Lu.”
