The Beggining

"An immortal!" Someone shouted, attracting the attention of the other townspeople.

"An immortal?"

"It's an immortal!"

"Goodness!"

"Two heavenly immortals!"

"He's landing here!"

"Come, come! The venerable has blessed us with his presence!"

People filed out of their homes and workplaces because of the spectacle outside. Soon, the entire town was crowded around the city square, clamoring to see the figure floating in the center.

Among them was a girl. Around thirteen years old, she was ushered out by her parents telling her to 'catch the immortal's eye'.

So she stood, with her usual stulified expression, loitering around the town square. She didn't bother to push her way to the center, instead choosing to wait for the commotion to die down and go back to her guardians.

"Second Junior Brother, are you sure they are here?" Floating above the throng of men and women, the first heavenly venerable whispered to the one standing a half-step behind him.

The second heavenly venerable tugged on his sleeves uncomfortably as he eyed the mortals underneath him hysterically trying to grab his dress. "Yes, Eldest Senior Brother. Master explicitly told us, and even let us use the Celestial Rotating Jade Map to find her."

The first immortal frowned. His sword-shaped brows became more prominent. "And this mortal is so important?"

"Supposedly, she's supposed to have one earth heavenly spiritual root! Blessed by the gods, Master must want to take her in as one of his disciples before the other elders do."

"Then if she was blessed by the gods, why have we never been informed of her existence long before? We-" The first immortal was skeptical, yet before he could finish his sentence, his impatient Junior Brother had long since departed in search of their target.

The Junior Brother in question had already jumped down and recalled his flying sword. He practiced a number of hand sutras and had erected a temporary array to prevent himself from being distracted.

Sitting in the Lotus Position, he focused on circulating the Qi from his dantian through his meridians. In just five minutes, he managed to manipulate his Qi to enter all of the townspeoples' unfortified cores in search of the girl.

The senior venerable looked at his Junior Brother down below who was in the Lotus Position. Knowing that his Junior Brother was only a half-step to forming his Golden Core, while he was only in mid-stage core formation, he could only helplessly shake his head and stand to the side.

----

She watched the immortal, meditating in the middle of the throng of men, with disinterest. A few minutes later, she felt like she had waited long enough in the square, and decided to return back to her house.

She would tell her parents she tried to speak to the immortals. She would say that they had ignored her. She would get a beating. Then that would be it.

Her quiet footsteps receded from the crowded town square.

She walked through the hoed-down yellow streets of the town. Her left hand clutched her lapels tightly. Her right tightly clasped a dull golden necklace under her sleeve.

She never felt safe on the streets, even with light. She fondled the necklace insecurely, but nothing showed on her face.

The necklace was the one thing she treasured. She had concealed it well those past eleven years. Her parents, who regularly checked her belongings, did not know about it.

"Wuwu…" Her musings were interrupted by the sound of a child's cries. With no reaction, she continued walking.

"Wuwuwuwu…" The sound of crying grew louder as she walked, so loud it made her ears ring.

She continued walking.

"Wuwuwuwu!" The cries finally stopped after one loud screech.

She glanced around, unsettled. The streets had turned dead silent. For a few long seconds, she remained completely still, her breath held, her fist tightly clutching onto the necklace.

Then she spun around and sprinted away.

She ran fast and hard. She lifted her dress to prevent her feet from tripping over the hem. Her sleeves fluttered behind her.

She didn't know why she was racing away. She had an instinct, a foreboding premonition that hovered over her mind, threatening to drop into reality at any moment.

The cries of a baby sounded once more, louder and fiercer. She could hear it approaching her. She ran faster, beginning to pant. However, she did not stop and simply pushed aside her fatigue and continued to sprint away.

Time seemed to pass slowly. It would take her another five minutes to reach the town square and alert the authorities. Her endurance has always been particularly good, after learning to run away so often, but she never trained, it was still difficult to keep on going.

She looked back. She never dared to look back before, fearing what was behind the child's cries and screams. And there, she saw something she never saw before.

----

Yayu. A man-eating beast which makes a sound like a child crying. In mythology, the Yayu was originally a kindly deity and a child of the Huo Dragon. However, it died and then resurrected as a savage beast. It had a dragon-like body, with bright red scales, fur that seemed to be weaved from cloud; floating around the monster like fluffy white cotton balls. One might think of it as majestic and graceful, but its face was too unsightly for that to be true. A goblin-human-like face, with spikes intruding its forehead; two long, sharp fangs.

She was facing that myth.

She ran faster; harder.

But it quickly overtook her. The Yayu leaped over her. Its curled talons dragged across the dirt path as it slid.

Then it roared. A horrid, blood-curdling roar, completely unlike the bawling of a child.

She shivered but quickly brandished a small kitchen knife from underneath her dress. She always kept a knife, in case of an incident happening again.

She held it in a reverse grip; best to slash across, stab, and cut her opponent. The grip had the most power. If she could get close enough.

Yayu's snake-like eyes tracked her movements. It occasionally emitted a high-pitched shriek.

She finally gave in.

----

"Youngest Junior Sister."

"..."

"Youngest Junior Sister."

"..."

"Youngest Junior Sister."

"...Senior Brother." She finally opened her eyes and turned around to face the figure standing outside the cave. The slight sounds of water dripping down the stalactites made the girl slightly restless as she answered.

The figure standing at the cave mouth was unperturbed by her lukewarm response. He continued, "Master told me to escort you to the Peach Blossom Pavilion."

"..."

"Immediately."

"..."

"Junior Sister Yanling has been in closed door cultivation in this immortal cave for one year. What shall we do if you enter a tribulation and fail?"

"Senior Brother, I have already mastered embryonic breathing during my time here, and have successfully practiced my Yudan Lightness Skill. I have advanced my cultivation by leaps and bounds, from Qi Condensation to early-stage Core Formation and am currently breaking through a bottleneck. Now Master is telling me to go back to the Pavilion for my own good? Nonsense!"

"Youngest Sister!"

"...my apologies." After some deliberation, she admitted her wrongdoing. She sighed and shook her head. "What does Master call me for, then?"