Hui barely awoke, before they started moving again. Li Haoli claimed they could reach there by tonight if they walked quickly, and immediately began to berate her on how slowly they were going before she finally wrote in the sand
'Then why don't you just up and fly then??'
She had been wondering for a while why this man, obviously in the foundation building realm, didn't choose to fly around on a sword. She finally got her answer.
Li Haoli looked incredibly dramatic. "Darling Hui, How could you say that??? Are you trying to pick a sore spot??" He began to gesture, acting like he was the most unfortunate man in the universe. "Everyone else has pretty flying skills, able to dodge this way or that, even by the the qi condensing stage, and yet, I, who had to choose this annoying Chill Bone training method, must endure not only insurmountable pain daily, but also can't hope to fly until I hit golden core!!! It sucks so bad!!"
Hui wasn't feeling sympathetic. At least use your qingong then!
However, Li Haoli was determined that they go at Hui's speed all the way up, unless the path was insurmountable for a 5 year old, which was getting more and more plentiful in places. Which reminded her, she wasn't 5 anymore, but today was her birthday. She was now six. She wondered if she should mention it. Looking up, she considered she would bring herself more pain from mentioning it than joy with Li Haoli's personality. Whatever, it was better to share a day like this with at least one person, it was the only day actually about you anyway, and plus, as an incredibly spoiled daughter in her previous life, her father and later, her brother had always had huge celebrations on the day of her birth.
Li Haoli had picked her up to leap over another incredibly unnavigable stretch of jagged rock, so she tapped his chest to get his attention and began to write on it.
"My birthday, today." She wrote, looking up expectantly on accident.
Li Haoli immediately grinned toothily at this juicy piece of information. "Aw it's little Hui's birthday? That's wonderful, I have just the thing to give you!"
Her excitement immediately dropped to the negatives, she knew it wasn't anything good.
Li Haoli didn't seem to notice her dampened mood, and continued to chatter excitedly as they finally crested the final cliff, landing at the top of one of the taller mountains nearby.
Here, he stopped, setting her down, and she took a moment to appreciate the wonderful view, of the sun setting slightly, the cold wind, whipping small wisps of cloud around the jagged peaks that littered the lands below them. It was a beautiful sight. A sight well worth the climb.
However, Li Haoli wasn't in a mood to sit around watching the view and having gone on ahead, shouted back. "You coming?"
Hui unwillingly pulled her eyes away from the beautiful scene, her eyes still tracking an eagle that rose into the air, gaining lift on the updraft that swept up the mountain sides, before using its new height to glide off into the distance.
For a moment, she wanted to be that eagle, she wanted to fly off this mountain and leave everyone behind. But then, she turned around, and her heart was hardened. No, she didn't want to be an eagle, she wanted to be a mighty lion, who had no one to fear in the world and could walk on its own feet, because everyone feared it enough to give way. She never wanted to have to escape a place again, but that everyone would wish to flee from her sight instead.
They continued to walk along the rim of the peak that he'd climbed, until they reached the back of it, and she realized rather than a mountain, what they'd climbed had merely been the rim of a great ridge, surrounding a deep valley. A valley that was completely covered in mist, and only the tips of tree's dead branches could be seen from above. Strange cries came from below, quiet but chilling.
They had both walked into a bit of a clearing that led to the edge of the ridge, and a steep cliff was what greeted you when you looked down into the valley.
Li Haoli walked right up to this ledge, and guestured Hui over. "You have those things?"
Hui nodded, walking forward and handing the wooden boxes to Li Haoli.
Li Haoli took the boxes from her and set two of them on the ground, the third one he kept in his arms. He opened it.
"Look, Hui! Here is my present to you!" He used his spiritual power to lift out an object from the box, which was obviously the stinger of the death marrow wasp, and which was oozing out waves of poison. "I think it would make a nice present, wouldn't it?" He commented sweetly.
Hui gently declined the offer, shaking her hands before herself.
"Oh? Hui doesn't want it? Then, never mind."
He threw the stinger off the cliff, then opened up the second box. Out came a long vine, covered in blobs of clear liquid. This was the water moss plant, a plant that had no benefit to anything in the universe, also known as the most useless plant in existence, who, although it looked like it carried water or food in its fruit, had neither and had no benefit to eat. You would feel neither satiated, or full. It was one of the most useless things in existence.
"What about this? It would also make a nice present, right?"
Hui declined again, shaking her head.
Li Haoli sighed in disappointment. "Still not good enough?" He also threw this over the edge. Then, he took the last box, a large black one. "How about this?" He opened it, and immediately a wonderful fragrance wafted over, and a delicate red flower revealed itself. This was the ever-life flower. Just by breathing in its fragrance, a person would feel revitalized, and by eating one petal, all your wounds would heal. Its pulp could cure any illness and heal any infection. What was more, was that, after picking it, as long as it was in contact with dense qi, it would never wither.
Hui stared at him, trying to figure out what he was up to. Li Haoli sighed, sensing her confusion.
He bent down, to her level, smiling, happily, placing the flower behind her ear, "I guess you like this one." Hui just stared at him. "You know, little Hui, there is a well-known legend in the demonic cult. It goes that if you cast the most poisonous death marrow stinger, the most worthless water moss, and the most beneficial ever-life flower into the valley of wailing ghosts, you will get the amulet of the black clam. Only, for this legendary item, you also need to toss one more thing into there: The life of someone who has saved your own, at the risk of theirs." (Plus, they must feel no hatred toward you when you do so) But Li Haoli did not add this.
Hui's eyes widened in understanding. Suddenly the wails from below seemed to grow louder, the ethereal force from beneath the fog seemed to reach up the cliffside to bite at her.
Li Haoli's arms gently gripped both of her arms gently, rubbing his thumbs over her shoulders comfortingly, but they made her feel trapped and fearful instead. "You know, little Hui, you say I can change, you say you want me to change. But little Hui, some people never change, no matter what you do for them, no matter how much you do for them." With these words, he cast her over the side, just as he'd previously cast the stinger and vine. Afterall, an ingredient was all she was to him. Still. Merely an item for his singular use.
Hui watched the cliff edge quickly become smaller, her clothes billowing around her from the cold air, her chains pulling her down even faster. She didn't close her eyes, she made sure to carve this memory into her heart. Because this was going to be the last time she would be cast over the side of a cliff, unable to do anything. She would make sure of that.