"Lin Feng?! You... how can you be here?!"
Di Xuan snapped out of his shock, staring at Lin Feng with the same disbelief as Xue Ziqi, the question bursting from his lips.
"I... happened to be passing by," Lin Feng answered 'truthfully'. He then frowned slightly and said, "You should tend to your injuries first. Senior Brother Di, is your arm alright?"
Lin Feng's words reminded Di Xuan that his left arm was still broken. He winced, sucking in a sharp breath through his teeth. Questions about Lin Feng forgotten for the moment, he hastily flipped his right hand, producing a Blood Velvet Pill and a Recovery Pill. Swallowing them both, he immediately sat cross-legged on the ground, circulating his true essence to begin healing.
"Xiao Xian, how are you? You need to heal quickly!" Jie Feiyuan, standing nearby, urgently helped the slightly plump female cultivator who accompanied her sit down. She produced a healing pill, fed it to the woman, and urged her to start her recovery.
Jie Feiyuan then looked up, her eyes filled with profound surprise and intense curiosity as she studied Lin Feng. She swallowed a pill herself and began to meditate and restore her energy.
Another male cultivator with a square-jawed face was also seriously injured. He too sat down cross-legged and began to heal. Only Xue Ziqi remained standing, dumbstruck, her gaze fixed incredulously on Lin Feng. Her expression flickered through a whirlwind of emotions; she looked almost ready to pinch herself to see if she was dreaming. She simply couldn't believe that Lin Feng was here… and that he had arrived riding the Vice-Sect Leader's Purple-Crowned Thunder Crane.
Hiss… A sudden, sharp pain shot through her right leg, jolting Xue Ziqi out of her daze. Looking down, she was horrified to discover a gaping wound the size of a rice bowl on her thigh. Panic drained the color from her face. She scrambled to sit down, fumbling in her haste before finally pulling out a Blood Velvet Pill and swallowing it. She then desperately began circulating her true essence to heal.
...
Seeing everyone heed his 'reminder' and start healing, Lin Feng smiled inwardly, relieved he wouldn't need to waste words explaining himself. He was contemplating slipping away immediately when he felt a tug on his hair. Turning, he saw Xiao Qiu pointing excitedly behind him, beckoning urgently.
"Hmm?" Lin Feng paused, glanced quickly at the group absorbed in their recovery, then lowered his voice to ask, "Xiao Qiu, what is it?"
"Qiu Qiu!!" Xiao Qiu seemed to understand the need for secrecy. He chirped conspiratorially twice, gesturing insistently in that direction again.
Lin Feng's eyes lit up with realization. "You mean... there's something good over there?"
Xiao Qiu instantly began nodding his head like a little woodpecker pecking at wood.
A surge of pleasure washed over Lin Feng. He turned with deliberate nonchalance towards the Thunder Crane beside him. "Old Crane, are you planning to guard them while they heal? Perfect. I need to step away for a bit. I'll be back soon."
With that, he strode off in the direction Xiao Qiu indicated – precisely the path Di Xuan and the others had fled from earlier.
...
"Pi-Luo Vines?! It's actually Pi-Luo Vines!!"
Not long after, guided by Xiao Qiu, Lin Feng reached the opposite side of the mountain peak. Near a cave in the cliff face, he found what he was looking for – and it delivered a significant surprise.
Pi-Luo Vines, a Grade 3 Spirit Herb. They were one of the two main ingredients required for refining the Azure Beard Pill, second only in preciousness to the other main component, the Azure Beard Fruit.
"Looks like there were originally six… three are missing. Probably eaten by that Golden-Scaled Lizard. What a waste…" Lin Feng mused with a mix of excitement and regret as he carefully dug up the three remaining half-foot-long vines and stored them in his spirit herb pouch. He thoroughly searched the surrounding area and ventured into the cave nearby, which clearly served as the lizard's lair. Finding nothing else of significant value, he made his way back.
Lin Feng had been gone barely ten minutes. When he returned to where Di Xuan and the others were, most were still intently focused on healing. Only Jie Feiyuan had finished and was awake.
Seeing Lin Feng return, Jie Feiyuan's eyes brightened. She started forward, clearly intending to speak to him. But at that precise moment, the Purple-Crowned Thunder Crane abruptly spread its wings and launched itself into the sky.
"Hey! Old Crane! Don't leave me behind!!" Lin Feng shouted in alarm. He broke into a sprint, leaped with all his might, and managed to land on the crane's back just before it gained too much height.
The Purple-Crowned Thunder Crane glanced down briefly at Di Xuan and the others on the ground. Then, with powerful beats of its wings, it soared high into the sky. Its intelligence was considerable; it understood the duty to assist fellow Lingyue Sect disciples in danger. Guarding them for ten minutes while they commenced healing was, in its view, sufficient duty fulfilled. It certainly had no intention of escorting them all the way back.
"..."
Jie Feiyuan watched, momentarily stunned, as Lin Feng and the crane rapidly diminished to a mere speck in the distance. She stood frozen, her stance still poised mid-step as if caught in the act of stepping forward to greet him.
...
Much Later
"What? You say that person earlier is a South Hall disciple who only joined the sect two months ago?! He's the Spirit Beast Garden Keeper?!"
Long after Lin Feng had flown off, the injured cultivators gradually finished their healing and awoke. Jie Feiyuan, her mind buzzing with questions, waited impatiently for Xue Ziqi and Di Xuan to finish. She immediately inquired about Lin Feng's identity, only to receive an answer that left her utterly dumbfounded. Her rosy lips formed a perfect, astonished 'O'.
Di Xuan nodded grimly. "Correct. He is indeed the Spirit Beast Garden Keeper. I assigned him that post myself. Furthermore…" Di Xuan's expression grew even more peculiar, "...he only possesses a Low-Grade Fire Spiritual Root. He only got into the sect through connections."
As he spoke, Di Xuan instinctively glanced towards the direction of the sect headquarters. He himself was still grappling with the impossibility of what he'd witnessed earlier.
"Low-Grade Fire Spiritual Root?" Jie Feiyuan echoed, her astonishment deepening. Confusion clouded her features. "How could someone like that possibly ride the Vice-Sect Leader's Purple-Crowned Thunder Crane? That's utterly inconceivable!"
"This… I have no idea either," Di Xuan admitted with a helpless shrug. His own shock and bewilderment far exceeded Jie Feiyuan's. He racked his brain, but could fathom no explanation for how Lin Feng could commandeer the legendary crane. Just because he delivers pills to the spirit beasts daily? Preposterous! If that were all it took, every Spirit Beast Garden Keeper before him might as well have been useless dogs!
Finding little satisfying information about Lin Feng, disappointment washed over Jie Feiyuan, curiously mingling with an even stronger desire to understand. Her thoughtful gaze flickered towards the direction where Lin Feng had vanished earlier. She addressed the group, "Alright, it's getting late. We should hurry back. If we encounter another powerful demonic beast in the dark, we're doomed."
"Wait!!" Di Xuan cut in sharply. "Feiyuan, how could you forget the Pi-Luo Vines? The Golden-Scaled Lizard is dead! We can safely go collect the remaining three vines now."
Jie Feiyuan gave a light, almost pitying laugh. "The Pi-Luo Vines? I'm afraid you're in for disappointment. If I had to guess… those vines were likely taken by Junior Brother Lin Feng."
"What?!" Di Xuan froze momentarily, then his face darkened. "How would he know there were Pi-Luo Vines there?"
Jie Feiyuan's lips curved faintly. "It's not hard to deduce that a Grade 3 beast's lair probably guards something valuable, is it?"
Di Xuan's expression turned stormy. A cold glint flashed deep within his eyes. "Hmph!" he snorted softly. "In that case… let's just head back!"
...
The group traveled swiftly back to the Lingyue Sect, arriving as dusk was settling into night. Passing by Lin Feng's dwelling, both Di Xuan and Jie Feiyuan felt compelled to seek him out. To their surprise, Lin Feng was nowhere to be found.
"Senior Brother Di, Lin Feng must know we're coming to make him hand over the Pi-Luo Vines! That's why he's hiding!" Xue Ziqi stood beside Di Xuan outside the empty dwelling, her face contorted with resentment as she whispered fiercely.
Di Xuan's features darkened with a menacing chill. "Hmph! Foolish! Does he think hiding will let him keep those three vines for himself? Tomorrow just happens to be the final test for the Alchemy Fundamentals class, followed by the first formal lesson on pill refining." A cruel smirk touched his lips. "Let's see if he dares to keep hiding then!"
He turned to Jie Feiyuan, his expression instantly transforming into one of solicitous concern, a gentle smile gracing his features. "Feiyuan, you must be exhausted? Allow me to escort you back to the West Hall?"
Jie Feiyuan frowned slightly. "That won't be necessary. We can manage on our own."
Her gaze lingered thoughtfully on Lin Feng's dwelling for a moment longer. Then, without another word to Di Xuan, she turned and led the plump female cultivator towards the front mountains.
Watching Jie Feiyuan depart with such cool dismissal, a muscle twitched at the corner of Di Xuan's mouth. He turned abruptly to Xue Ziqi and the others, his voice curt. "Let's go!"