The Ice Demoness Loves

Chapter 7: A Mistake

Wu QiaoHua blocked the red monkey's claws that tried to scratch her. She looked at her friend, Xin Mei, who backed her up and attacked the monkey from behind, stabbing it. Side by side, they worked together to lure the monkey away from the plant it was guarding as the outer disciples hid in order to find a chance to grab the herb.

Wu QiaoHua's sword was filled with chi as she swung it and tried to stab the beast. The beast jumped back a few times and suddenly noticed the outer disciples that were nearing its plant. The monkey beast let out a screech and jumped towards them.

"Watch out!" Wu QiaoHua blocked its way and Xin Mei attacked. They were finally able to stab it together and it vanished before their eyes, like ash dispersing into the sky.

Wu QiaoHua blinked and sheathed her sword. "I can never get used to seeing that," she said in a quiet tone.

Xin Mei smiled. "We defeated it!" She walked towards the small field of Grey Barley.

One of the outer disciples, Peng MinYi, smiled widely and uprooted one. "We collected three different herbs already!" he exclaimed excitedly.

Xin Mei nodded. "It's good that we haven't had any problems so far." She turned to the other two outer disciples, one female and one male, who were also grabbing a Grey Barley from the batch on the round.

The girl around fourteen, Tan Mei, timidly glanced around before she grabbed another one. "When does the beast reappear again?" She had already asked this question once before, causing the other boy, Luo Li, to roll his eyes.

"Tan Mei, how many times must we repeat this? At least a few hours!" The arrogant boy, Luo Li, grabbed another one and smiled happily.

"Let's leave the rest for the others," Wu QiaoHua suggested.

Luo Li pouted. "But we already did that for the previous batch. And wouldn't that make it easier for the others?"

Xin Mei smiled. "Let's do as QiaoHua says! Didn't we also grab our first herbs from a batch with a defeated beast? The less time we take to grab the same herbs, the more time we have to search for new ones. Remember, those who collect the best will get rewarded."

Wu QiaoHua smiled and sighed in relief, glad Xin Mei was here. "Then let's go."

Xin Mei nodded. "Also, the next time we find another guarded plant, Luo Li and Tan Mei, you are to fight the beast with me, while QiaoHua and Peng MinYi lie in waiting." The whole purpose of this trip was to get all disciples to gain more experience fighting beasts and collecting herbs at the same time in order to help their growth as cultivators.

"But I want to help too!" Peng MinYi said, feeling disappointed.

"You will get plenty of time to fight," Wu QiaoHua said with a smile. "But you already fought with me and Xin Mei previously. It's only fair to let Luo Li and Tan Mei do so next."

Peng MinYi looked at Wu QiaoHua's cute smile and nodded dejectedly. "Alright..."

"We have to see if you three can defeat a beast by yourself later, so it'll be good to see where your levels are," Xin Mei explained.

"Ohhh." Wu QiaoHua nodded along with the outer disciples. She didn't really think about letting the outer disciples fight by themselves since it could be dangerous. In fact, she was a bit afraid since she thought she would have to fight with Xin Mei alone the whole time due to the inexperienced outer disciples in their team. She looked at her bright friend and was glad she had someone here to help.

"I wonder how SuSu is doing," Wu QiaoHua wondered as they walked while keeping their eyes on their surroundings.

"Knowing her, she would do fine. You and I ended up together through a fair draw, but SuSu was asked by one of Master Ruan's main disciples to join."