Among these three people, one face was extremely familiar—it was the little girl who had dug the graves.
As it turned out, she had already learned how to fly on a sword and was now flying across the bottom of Blooming Flowers Valley with two unfamiliar senior sister apprentices.
Seeing the raging fire all around, the three of them were frantic with worry.
The round-faced senior sister on the left said, "Junior Sister, go quickly and fetch the Head Senior Sister."
The little girl nodded and turned to fly back up to the valley peak, but the sharp-faced senior sister on the right stopped her, saying, "It's too late."
"What should we do then?" the round-faced senior sister asked anxiously.
At the starting point of the burning flowers, the little girl caught sight of Qiao Ruohe's figure.
She first widened her small eyes, then hurriedly shook her head at him and pointed to the small stream beside the flowers.
Qiao Ruohe nodded in response and, taking advantage of the two senior sisters' panic, jumped into the water to hide.
The sharp-faced senior sister saw her younger junior sister pointing toward the stream and suddenly heard the sound of splashing water.
Her face immediately lit up with great joy, and she said to her:
"Junior Sister Xiao Ling, I heard that your spiritual root has both water and wood attributes. Quickly use your spiritual power to draw water from that stream and put out the fire."
"Yes, Fourth Senior Sister," Xiao Ling replied.
The round-faced senior sister furrowed her brows. "Using non-wood spiritual power within Divine Wood Palace... If people from the other valleys and forests discover this and report it to the Sect Leader, we will all be punished."
Seeing Xiao Ling hesitate slightly, the sharp-faced senior sister grabbed her hand and said loudly,
"If this sea of ten thousand flowers burns down to the ground, the three of us will truly be dead."
The round-faced senior sister said no more, and together with the sharp-faced senior sister, she channeled her spiritual power to the younger junior sister.
Xiao Ling rotated both palms and directed water Spells from her fingertips toward the stream.
Knowing that Qiao Ruohe was hiding by the flower-lined waterside, she directed the water's spiritual power toward a distant spot.
In an instant, the water in the stream began to bubble and boil, then surged violently upward into the sky.
The stream water swirled like a tornado, moving wherever her palms pointed.
It converged in mid-air into a water serpent that sped straight toward the ball of fire—which was fleeing a hundred zhang away like a fiery fox.
The water serpent met the flames and they entangled for the space of an incense stick.
Only then did the sea of ten thousand flowers return to peace, with only a few wisps of gray smoke rising into the sky.
"We must find out the source of the fire and investigate it thoroughly."
With that, the sharp-faced senior sister prepared to fly down from the sky to search the stream first.
Unexpectedly, the little junior sister grabbed her arm with both hands.
The sharp-faced senior sister looked back at her. "Junior Sister?"
With a shifty expression and a brief pause, the little girl said,
"Fourth Senior Sister, the Head Senior Sister told the junior sisters to hurry over to Qihua Abode. We shouldn't waste time here."
"Junior Sister is right. You and I both know the Head Senior Sister's temper," said the round-faced senior sister.
"But how are we to explain this blazing fire swallowing the flowers?" the sharp-faced senior sister asked.
The round-faced senior sister looked up at the blazing sun high in the sky.
"Perhaps the weather is dry and hot. In the past, small fires have also burned six or seven zhang of flowers. Now that Junior Sister has quenched the fire's source with water Spells, it's fine today."
She looked again toward the valley entrance several hundred zhang away:
"We had better hurry to Qihua Abode and bathe and change clothes with the Head Senior Sister to welcome the Master out of seclusion at the Hour of Chou. Missing the time is a grave offense."
The three of them hesitated no longer and flew up toward the valley peak.
Qiao Ruohe popped his head out of the stream and wiped the water stains from his face.
He let out a long breath. He had started a fire and caused trouble, yet he never expected the little girl to cover for him.
Young as she was, her heart was kind.
Compared to that Lin Qingxuan, she was worlds apart.
On second thought, he remembered the three of them mentioning Qihua Abode.
He remembered that The Man in Black had also mentioned this place.
"Divine Wood Palace's Blooming Flowers Valley, Qihua Abode's Qianjing Lake," he muttered to himself.
Following the direction in which the three of them had flown on their swords, he walked through the unburned sea of ten thousand flowers.
By nightfall, he had climbed to the mountainside.
Countless stars hung in the sky as he looked back down into the valley.
Beneath the firmament, ten thousand flowers bloomed in unison.
Five-colored lights and seven-colored, nine-rayed radiances shone forth.
The fragrance of flowers drifted with the night breeze; taking a single breath filled the nose with a refreshing scent, truly a fairyland on earth.
If only Ah Di, Ah Mei, Dad, and Mom could be here to admire the stars and moon and smell the flowers!
Carrying this longing, he crossed the valley peak and arrived at a place of enchanting scenery.
Here, candles flickered gently, and dozens of night-lit dwellings with four pointed corners sat beneath five-colored trees.
Stepping across an arch bridge, he saw a suspended tree trunk on the left with the three characters "Qihua Abode" inscribed upon it.
Beneath the silver glow, endless rows of eaves and night lamps stretched out, yet not a single figure was to be seen on the small path.
As Qiao Ruohe was pondering where the Soul-Returning Immortal Pill mentioned by The Man in Black might be hidden, a cool breeze blew from afar.
Between several lamp-lit houses, shimmering ripples occasionally caught his eye.
Could that be the Qianjing Lake he spoke of?
There was a three-story lamp tower on the high cliff by the lake; surely that must be the place where important items were kept.
Not daring to walk on the main path for fear of running into Blooming Flowers Valley disciples, he crept into the bushes behind a lamp-lit house to proceed.
Passing through a floral pavilion, climbing two small mounds, and sneaking to the cliffside near the lake by the lamp tower, he moved into the flower beds by the cliff and looked up.
Vaguely, he caught sight of a male figure by the railing outside the third-story window of the lamp tower.
The man was leaning against the window, poking his head in to look inside.
Qiao Ruohe noticed that this man's robes were somewhat different from those of the female disciples of Blooming Flowers Valley, yet they shared the same color and pattern.
Could this person also be a disciple of Divine Wood Palace?
As he was thinking this, the man propped his hands on the window frame, his attention completely focused inside the room.
Perhaps his hand slipped for a moment, and he bumped the wooden pole propping open the window, creating a creaking sound.
A female voice from inside the lamp tower called out, "Who is it?"
No sooner had the words fallen than three vine Spells abruptly burst out from the inner window.
Qiao Ruohe had seen this before—it was the wood-attribute magic used by Lin Qingxuan.
The man stared in shock and did not try to meet the attack head-on.
Instead, he pushed off the railing, leapt to the ground, and jumped into the flower bushes.
And now, two stealthy men found themselves face-to-face.
This man had prominent cheekbones and a narrow forehead.
Yet, draped in azure robes, he appeared somewhat handsome.
Seeing Qiao Ruohe, who was likewise hiding in the flower beds, he was stunned for a moment, then the corners of his mouth curled into a smile.
The vine Spells were closing in, about to bind the man and drag him up to face his death.
Before Qiao Ruohe could even react, a pair of dark hands pushed him forward.
The wood-attribute immortal magic once again bound him tightly like a bamboo pole, and like a giant hand, it snatched him up into mid-air.
"It's you again, you lewd scoundrel."
Leaping out of the wooden window, Lin Qingxuan, dressed in skimpy attire, glared at him with furious eyes.
The Head Senior Sister's shout drew the other female disciples, who were also bathing and changing clothes, out of the lamp tower to look at the peeping culprit captured nine zhang in the air.
Qiao Ruohe abruptly pointed toward the flower bushes, intending to defend himself.
Yet in the blink of an eye, the real thief had already fled to parts unknown.
Lin Qingxuan had long harbored a grudge against him.
Now, seeing the murderous look in her eyes, she was clearly determined to put him to death.
Unjustly made a scapegoat, Qiao Ruohe felt a grief too heavy to bear.
Yet why was he also here in the middle of the night? He truly had no way to clear his name.
Watching the junior sisters surround the edge of the Qianjing Lake cliff, whispering among themselves,
"It wasn't me," Qiao Ruohe said.
Lin Qingxuan shouted, "Shut up."
The merciless woman tightened her grip, and the vines binding him instantly wrapped around his body like three long serpents.
Seeing her fists clench, the vine serpents tightened their grip around his body even further.
Was he going to die here?
He was unwilling to resign himself to this fate, harboring deep resentment.
Suffering intensely, Qiao Ruohe felt as though his bones were about to fall apart.
Amidst his agonizing cries, the corner of his eye caught a glimpse of the Talisman at his waist—the fire Talisman given to him by The Man in Black.