Princess Consort Ai Li Sha

3.1 Meeting in the Forest

The next day Ai Li Sha woke up in a small clean room. She did not recognize it but naturally knew it was her new room. She found something to wipe her face with and rinsed her mouth.

After that she went to find some food. She had been so focused the previous day that she had forgotten to eat anything.

At the kitchen she ran into Mi Rai by coincidence.

"Hello Junior sister!" Mi Rai said sweetly. She was a morning person and already she was very friendly and sunny despite the early hour.

Ai Li Sha was not only hungry but also definitely not a morning person, so she simply nodded her head.

"Here, have some food." Mi Rai helpfully brought a plate of food to Ai Li Sha and handed her a spoon.

"Thanks." Ai Li Sha began eating without another word.

Mi Rai hesitated a bit as she looked at the younger girl but ultimately, she opened her mouth. "I heard you are having trouble with identifying your unique natural energy." Mi Rai said tentatively.

Ai Li Sha turned up her eyes to look at the blue-eyed girl and then looked back at her food. Before long she started to pick at the food furiously.

Mi Rai knew the feeling... She had also encountered a lot of troubles during her cultivation... Among all the girls she was still the weakest one.

"Hey, do you want to go gather herbs with me today? It might get your mind off this complication and allow you to clear your mind enough to achieve the comprehension you need. Not to mention that Han Ei always gives me pills when I bring her herbs."

Thinking a change of scene might not be a bad idea Ai Li Sha followed the golden-haired girl to the forest.

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The Hana Sect was surrounded by hundreds of plants and trees, the most prevalent being pine trees, hence the name 'Pine Mountain'.

Many of the plants were quite useful for pill refinement, especially because they were so old. Precisely what Han Ei needed to refine her pills.

"Senior Sister Mi Rai, which plant should I pick?" Ai Li Sha asked, trailing behind the Mi Rai who was eyeing hundreds of plants, still trying to find the correct ones.

"Hmm. I don't see it. Take a look at this sketch and find a flower similar to it." On the piece of paper there was a flower with nine petals. The flower was long, but the petals were tiny and thin, magenta in color.

"Alright. I will look for it over there." Ai Li Sha headed off in a different direction. Aside from looking from the flower she wanted to do just what Mi Rai told her, clear her mind. So much had happened that maybe she just hadn't digested everything and that is why she could not take the first step into this new world.

She was so busy contemplating everything that had happened she hadn't even realized just how far she had strayed.

"Finally, you are by yourself!" A vicious voice resounded from the quiet forest as a young girl jumped out from behind a tree and attacked Ai Li Sha with a sword.

Ai Li Sha had not been counting flies all her life, rather she had taken many martial arts classes such as Tae Kwon Do, karate and Judo. She had done so as a kidnapping countermeasure, now since she lacked in cultivation, she used those skills and reacted subconciously. She naturally avoided the kick and immediately heightened her awareness.

"Who are you?" She searched the forest again, but the figure had been quick to disappear into the dense forest again.

"You stupid girl! Because of you we were kicked out of the Arachnid sect! If we don't get our revenge how could we hold our heads high!" A second voice sounded as a new attack came toward Ai Li Sha, this time it was throwing knifes.

Again, Ai Li Sha moved to avoid the person but this time the attacker was faster, and she could not completely avoid. She spun away but her arm was still injured.

"Ah!" Dammit, has my training been for naught? Even these attacks I cannot avoid?

Thinking fast Ai Li Sha tried to seek the refuge of the trees and foliage, but before she was able to a whip encircling around her wrist.

The whip was hot like a branding iron. "iyahhh!" The scream that came from her mouth made even the birds hiding in the tress fly away. Tears welled up in her eyes, but the pain made her even more resolute. She needed to win, otherwise she would die again. This she could not allow!

Ignoring the pain, she pulled at the whip and the person on the end stumbled out. On her periphery she saw the glint of a knife. Clearly the other attacker had felt this was an opportunity to take her life.

Refusing to let herself be taken advantage of she turned and turned faster and faster using her momentum to throw off the person at the end of the whip.

A girl's scream followed after that.

"You stabbed me. You are so stupid! Get off of me right now. Ughh! It hurts, hurts!"

Ai Li Sha breathed hard as she looked at the two girls entangled with each other. The one who had held the whip had been marvelously stabbed by the other and was now laying underneath her.

"Who are you two?" Ai Li Sha had a vague feeling that she knew the two, but she could not place them.

The two girls worked to untangle each other and when they did stand up and face Ai Li Sha, she finally recognized them.

"You are the two who bullied the little girl...I mean me..." She recalled the dreams. One of those dreams had these two girls starring in it.

Though the two in front of her were young, Ai Li Sha felt no pity for them, even despite their wounds. "Why have you come here?" She questioned them, maintaining her attacking stance.

"You still ask? If not because you told master that we bullied you and harmed you we would not have been kicked out of the Sect! Now not only are we homeless but we are considered a disgrace within our families. You owe us a debt. You destroyed our lives, so you must pay your life in return!" One girl was in too much pain from being stabbed in the stomach, but the other was still raring to attack.

Taking another knife out the girl again attacked Ai Li Sha.

Ai Li Sha fell back in a zig zag pattern. "You are ruthless! You stabbed your companion, she is bleeding, perhaps to death, and yet you still try and attack me with no regard for her. Worse, your blade had poison on it and rather than give the antidote you continue to come after me!" Ai Li Sha glared at the strange green glow on the blade and admonished the girl.

The girl smirked. "Yes, it does, but don't worry it's a slow acting poison. It would take tens of cuts before you finally die! I want you to suffer first, then I will give her the antidote since that has you so worried." The girl was so young yet already so vicious it turned the stomach.

Wounded as she was Ai Li Sha still avoided the blade as best she could, but the girl was faster than she.

So, this is the difference in skill? If I could cultivate this girl would never be able to be my match!

Ai Li Sha had been nicked at least four times but not stabbed even once. Every time the girl attacked her it seemed to aim for vital spot but would retract at the last moment leaving only a faint trail of blood.