8. First Meeting.

Hitchhiking with merchants was supposed to be a peaceful experience. It wasn't.

For starters, Zephyr was way too excited about everything. "LOOK! A TREE! Oh, another tree! And oh! ANOTHER TREE!"

"Zephyr, I swear on all things holy, if you yell about one more tree—" Elysia warned, her eyebrow twitching.

"Fine! Fine!" Zephyr huffed. Then, five seconds later, "HEY LOOK! A REALLY BIG ROCK!"

Qi Yun buried his face in his hands. "This is going to be a long ride."

Meanwhile, Seraphina was having an in-depth conversation with the merchants about herbal medicine, which sounded educational at first—until she started listing every plant that could make someone sick in an extremely enthusiastic manner.

"...and if you mix this one with that one, it causes an uncontrollable need to dance!" Seraphina said cheerfully.

One of the merchants gulped, subtly pushing away the tea Seraphina had made earlier.