The Classic Way To Bond Is Through Almost Dying

That night, Lin Songmei didn't sleep well. In fact, Yan Mingqing and Han Youhong didn't sleep well either. Contrary to popular belief, the trio's insomnia was not because of a collective nightmare after doing their schools' reading, nor was it a group asphyxiation from spending the night in a cave; they had Qi-powered air filtration systems with them.

The real reason they didn't sleep well was because, in the middle of the night, as the rain storm pounded the earth, there was a rockslide. A ROCKSLIDE.

C'mon... How bad could their luck get?

Because of the rockslide, Songmei and the others had been awake since three-ish in the morning, maybe closer to 3:30, but she wasn't sure. She hadn't had time to check the clock when she was startled awake by the rockslide.

The three of them had been fairly lucky too though, the rockslide hadn't collapsed the cave that they were in, even though both sides of the ravine came crashing down.

Now that, having made it to the top of the rubble pile, Songmei, Mingqing, and Han Youhong were sitting on some rocks as they watched the sun come up, its golden rays shooting over the horizon as it bathed the world in light and warmth once more.

The rain had abated too, so... it was picturesque in a certain sense.

Well, having blown a path through the rubbled to get back to the surface, Songmei, Mingqing, and Han Youhong were all drenched in both the rain and their sweat.

They had made it to morning!

Her arms on her legs as she sat on a rock, Songmei stared up at the rising sun with a small smile as she looked towards the ravine ahead and behind them.

From what she could see, the rockslide that had tumbled in their area of the ravine hadn't been an isolated accident. All around them, as far as her eye could see, was rockslide after rockslide.

"This... doesn't seem normal." Songmei voiced out to the two others, her lips dry and cracked, her voice hoarse after shouting over the rain throughout the night, even her wrist was starting to throb again!

She was honestly regretting the fact that she didn't talk that much...

After a night of shouting and working together to not be buried under rocks, Mingqing's voice was still in tip top shape, perfectly fine, factory new, could-probably-go-sing-in-an-opera fine.

Han Youhong, who talked more than Songmei but less than Mingqing, was... fittingly, between the two of them in terms of voice health. His voice was getting raw, but it wasn't hoarse like Songmei's was.

All three of them though looked like a mess. That was comforting. They could live the crusty life together!

"It... does. It does seem a little suspicious." Mingqing murmured, her hair in a messy ponytail instead of her usual neat half-up hairstyle. "For one, I know it was a rare rainstorm... but to cause this many landslides? That's... a little far fetched. Also, I'm not an expert in landslides or anything... but i'm not sure, maybe it was the long period of drought that destabilized the ravine walls? Or was it all a cover as a group wanted to seal off the area..."

"You speak a lot of facts, but... girl, my throat hurts just listening to you speak so much." Han Youhong retorted, eating a jelly to assuage not only his complaining stomach but also his mind.

That was another thing though, after going through this "trial" with Han Youhong and Mingqing, Songmei felt she had gotten closer to the two of them, to the point where... she honestly started calling Han Youhong just... Youhong.

It'd be a slow transition probably but... who knows.

Han Youhong also seemed to be closer to Songmei and Mingqing, he seemed to be opening up a little. No longer was he as cool, calm, and collected. His red eyes were curved to crescents more often and his voice had more emotion seeped into it.

"Well, sucks to suck," Mingqing laughed, sticking her tongue out towards Han Youhong. "You two don't use your voices enough, so that's your own fault. Even though I didn't talk to a lot of people growing up, I still used my voice plenty by talking to myself in the mirror!"

Giving Mingqing a look, Han Youhong opened and closed his mouth a few times after Mingqing said that, leaning over and giving her some pats. "I... see. You really had some uh... good dedication."

Songmei, feeling the same as Han Youhong, also leaned over, giving Mingqing a few pats on the shoulder.

"Anyhow, what are we gonna do next?" Mingqing sighed, moving Han Youhong's hand off of her, then pausing for a moment before letting Songmei continue her patting, getting a laugh and a quiet "Damn love bir... I mean... 'best friends'" from Han Youhong.

"I think we just uhh... continue making our way to the crater, yeah?" Mingqing proposed, seeing that both Han Youhong and Songmei weren't super inclined to speak, "I feel like this event only bolsters the feeling that something's up there. One of the sect's should also send a drone to get an overhead scan too, so that'll help. Sadly, those things are expensive and require a lot of trouble with the bureaucracy just to get out of the warehouse."

Songmei's throat was throbbing just listening to this extensive spiel by Mingqing. How did she even know all of this anyway? Songmei had also read the message from the sect about the drone, but how did Mingqing know about the bureaucracy part?

Must be the "connections."

"I think traveling towards the crater would do well for us..." Songmei nodded, piping up seeing that Han Youhong had motioned towards her. "It shouldn't be too dangerous, especially if we keep in mind we're investigating, not exterminating."

"Sounds like a plan!" Han Youhong clapped, ignoring the fact that in the middle of plan his voice had seemed to age by an entire lifespan.

Pushing herself off the rock, Songmei stretched a bit, turning a blind eye to her joints and muscles that were screaming in pain to her after a night's work, circulating her Qi a little faster to accelerate her natural healing process faster.

The magic of cultivation, YEAH!

Their progress slowed, as they now had to make their way across uneven rocks that were the new ground, Songmei, Mingqing, and Han Youhong pushed on, following their now... not super great map on their terminals, making their way towards the central crater.

It seemed like there was a long journey ahead of them, one about as long as the bricklaying games user list.