Spring Winds

"Miss Zhu, thank you so much for saving me from that ferocious Ice Bear," the young girl, I believe, is called Shao Xiu Lan clung onto my arm gushed as her face turned a pale pink shade.

Is this girl cold or something? Why does she keep pushing herself onto me? 「(°ヘ°)

Looking back at the group that Shao Xiu Lan came with, they all seemed somewhat layered with thick clothing and warming wards, so naturally, she should have some on her, right?

But, is it necessary to keep clinging to my arm like this, little girl? (´･_･`)

It's kind of hard to walk through all of this snow and up this mountain while I'm being weighed down on one side!

Looking up at Senior Sister, she quietly guided the group up ahead; however, although she had her back turned, I'm sure she could see us.

Therefore, you should help this junior remove this woman, Senior Sister! ヽ(`д´;)/

Yet, whenever I sent help signals to her, she just turned away! She turned away!

Wahhh! Senior Sister! ＼`•̀益•́´／

How am I going to tell this girl to let go of me? It was already difficult to do before, as the girl's from way back was rather persistent, but this girl seems insistent on fusing her body with mine!

"U-ugh, haha, it was no problem," trying to shrug her off me, gently; Shao Xiu Lan only seemed to grab on tighter.

Haha, great. ( ;∀;)

"Y-you should be thanking my senior sister; she was the one who killed the bear."

"What? But wasn't it you who swooped down like a hero to save this little girl? Naturally, you'd be the one to thank," her face continued to redden as her laughter rang like silver bells.

As she did so, the air around us seemed to get impossibly colder.

"Eep," Shao Xiu Lan squealed as she shivered, "where did this winter breeze come from? It's so chilling!"

Looking at the culprit, I couldn't help but feel an ominous chill down my spine.

Wahhh! (´;д;)

How did things become like this?!

Earlier that day…

"Wah! The air is so fresh here," stretching my arms out; I took in a deep breath of the chilly morning air over a quiet mountain range. As far as the eye could see, grand and majestic gray mountains capped with soft white snow peaks seemed to uphold Heavens themselves as they postured themselves upward.

Although they were nowhere near as tall as Yun Cai Peak, it still was a grand sight to see.

Plus, the amount of qi in this range is fantastic! I'm sure that this would be an ideal place for Senior Sister to cultivate.

"Junior Sister," looking back, Senior Sister had her hand outstretched to me as she beckoned me back to the group. Behind her, the other disciples began to pack up last night's camp. "Let's go."

"Okay!" Hopping down from my spot, I ignored Senior Sister's hand and instead grabbed her arm as I stuck myself back onto her like a sticky rice ball.

Hehe, Senior Sister's face looks so red! （*＾＾*)

Or is it the cold?

Eh, whatever it is, it makes Senior Sister look cute! ( ◕‿◕✿)

"Sigh, honestly," Senior Sister muttered as she tried to keep her composure. "This is a serious mission; you can't be hopping about and doing as you please."

Raising a brow at Senior Sister, I couldn't help but smile at her cheekily.

I can't do things as I please?

Hehe, what is that supposed to mean? How would leaning on Senior Sister's arm be disruptive to our mission? (´･ω･`)?

"Alright," loosening my grip, I slowly started to slide my arm off of hers, "if it bothers Senior Sister so much this-"

"Wait," placing a hand on my arm; Senior Sister paused my movements, "Junior Sister, perhaps you should stick with me. At least that way, I'd be able to keep you within my sights, and you won't be running off and cause trouble."

"W-wah?! Cause trouble?" When have I ever caused trouble going off on my own? (๑•̀д•́๑)

Well… I guess there was that incident with that level-eight Saber Tiger….

And that time with the level-six Thousand Toothed Piranhas…

Okay, but other than that, I haven't done anything… yet.

"...fine… you have a point, Senior Sister." (´• ᴗ •̥`✿)

"Em, it's good that you know," patting my arm, she pulled me back over to our group to help finish packing.

Ah. It seems like I lost this battle. (´Ａ｀.

After the group had packed up the campsite, we were back on the road.

Although I must say, it was starting to get a bit tedious to climb over all of these mountains. I mean, look at them! There were so many!

How are we supposed to get to our destination now?! (´;д;`)

Initially, I thought we would teleport there or something, but Senior Sister said that we needed to save our qi encase should something happen.

I suggested to Senior Sister earlier that we should perhaps walk along the mountain base since the land is flatter, and it would be less troublesome to navigate. However, Senior Sister rejected that idea because of the wild spiritual beasts and bandits that infested the area.

Well, then, I guess it's the mountains it is. (; v :)

But even so, there must be like some sort of tunnel or path that we can go through! There has to be a far more efficient path than just climbing over the mountains!

"Ah, this is boring," seriously, where is the action!

Where's the monster fighting? When can I fight some demonic beings? ʰᵘʰ (ꐦ○_○）✧

"Ahhh! Someone! Someone help me!"

Okay, well, that's something. (・へ・)

"Martial Aunts, look," one of the disciples shouted. "There seems to be someone running along the bottom mountain path, chased by a level-seven Ice Bear."

At the sound of this, Senior Sister flashed me an 'I told you so,' look.

Tsk, fine, fine. (ד ྊ ד )

"Well, should we help them?" One of the disciples, I believe he's called Lang Hu, from Bu Qiong peak, pointed out the group of cultivators is running after the Ice Bear. "Based on their attire, they seem to be disciples from Xue Lei Guang Sect."

"Eh? Xue Lei Guang Sect? Weren't we supposed to meet up with them a few days before? How could they be this far ahead if they didn't go on without us?"

Soon after, a hushed murmur of discontent and resentment spread through the group like a disease, deadly and infectious.

"Why should we go help them when they deserted us? Tch, just a mere third-tier sect dare insult us in such a way!"

"Yeah, we've been delayed by three days now!"

"Yes, yes, it's their fa-"

"Enough," Senior Sister cut in.

"It doesn't matter if they went ahead of us or not. They're already paying the consequences of such action."

And Senior Sister wasn't wrong, as even from here I could tell that some were already heavily injured and others were running out of qi.

"However, they may have gone first, but we will leave together," unsheathing her sword, the other disciple caught on as they took out their weapons. "This is not the time to be divided."

"All of you go and take care of those disciples down there." As soon as Senior Sister gave the word, they jumped off from their ledge and prepared to land near the group.

"What about me, Senior Sister?" I want some action too! ヾ(｀ε´)ﾉ

"You are going to get the girl. Bring her somewhere safe for the time being.

I'm going to handle the bear," Senior Sister answered before she jumped off the cliff.

"Alrighty!" Using some qigong, I glided along the snow's smooth icy surface, carefully not to make any ripples that would cause trouble for us later.

Seeing a small jump up ahead, I swerved myself to the ledge before preparing to jump.

"Weeee!" Haha!

This is so fun! Why haven't I done this sooner? (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))

Floating for a millisecond, I quickly angled my fall not too far off where the young girl headed, which is, unfortunately, a dead end.

Tsk, I guess I only got one shot. (๑•̀ㅁ•́๑)✧

"Ah, hah, hah! Help me!"

Frantically running, the girl was too busy looking back at her pursuer to notice that she had tripped over her own two feet.

"Oof! Ow oww," she groaned before realizing what had happened to her.

The beast let out a bellowing growl before standing on its hind legs, giving it a grand intimating image.

The bear stared down at the little girl, eyes glinting in rage before it slowly raised its giant paw.

"Someone-"

"Gotcha!" Swooping down, I grabbed onto the girl's waist as I threw a flaming talisman towards the Ice Bear's belly before dashing off a reasonable distance away.

It wasn't long before Senior Sister's countless icy spikes speared the bear into a pincushion.

Yikes. ∑('＝';)

Wouldn't want to trade place with that beast.

"Whew, this should be far enough," peaking through the thin foliage, I could see Senior Sister finishing off the Ice Bear quickly and effectively.

As expected of my idol, of course! ヾ(＠^∇^＠)ノ

"U-um," the young girl in my arms started to tremble as her face reddened.

Oh, sh*t! Σ(゜゜)

"U-uh, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Do I need-"

"Thank you, Savior!" Suddenly jumping up, the young girl suddenly wrapped her arms around my neck, nearly pushing me back and choking me from her attack's sheer force.

"Ack!" Help!

I'm being attacked! ∑('＝';) ﾊｯ!!