I was at ease for a good night''s sleep for the first time in days. When I met Bai Ye the next morning at the gate, the mncholy that had been overcasting his face for a while had finally faded. The bright morning sun gilded his beautiful smile, tinting it an alluring rosy shade.


    "You are bringing Twin Stars?" he asked, his gazending on the swords on my belt.


    There was still a trace of uncertainty in his tone, but the nervousness from before was gone. I let out a breath at the progress. "I''ve gotten used to having them around," I said. "And it''s good in case of need. I don''t feel asfortable with my old practice sword anymore."


    Of course, I wouldn''t tell him that the main reason I brought them was to ease his doubt.


    He nodded. "It''s a good choice to stay with what you''re familiar with, though you shouldn''t need them as long as you don''t stray too far from me." He summoned his flying sword and offered me his hand. "Come, let''s try to make it there before the heat gets worse."


    I couldn''t help but smile at his familiar gesture when I took his hand. The Bai Ye I remembered wasing back, I thought as we took off into the air. By the time we return, the past would be behind us, and I wouldn''t let it haunt our future again.


    ~ ~


    It was obvious how the Misty Mountains got its name as soon as I saw it from a distance. The stretch of peaks loomed like sinuous shadows behind a heavy fog, theiryers of green only peeking asionally through the milky white gauze. When wended, a wave of hot, humid air hit my face so hard that I thought we had walked into a hot spring.


    "Warm and humid climate is a must for many precious herbs," Bai Ye said when he saw me dabbing my forehead with my sleeve. "It''s not quite noon yet … and the day will only get hotter."


    I grimaced embarrassedly, wondering if he thought I looked like a spoiled wimp. "I''m just … too used to the cool autumn at Mount Hua," I said. "I''ll adjust soon enough."


    I thought he might make fun of me, but he only smiled. "The snow lotus must''ve worked quite well if you are getting morefortable with colder temperatures. Let''s get to work then." He gestured for me to follow as he started moving towards the center of the forest.


    The climate at the Misty Mountains was drastically different from Mount Hua and most other ces I had been to, and I gasped as we walked through such diverse flora that I had never seen before. The trees weren''t too tall but dense with thick branches, and the shrubs were lush, overgrown with countless ivies. I ducked my head under the overhanging vines as I trailed behind him.


    "I recognize a few herbs here," I observed, "the rest I''m not too familiar with … Which are the recements we''re looking for?"


    "The roots of tuber fleece flower or reishi mushrooms. Either would supplement what you need at the moment."


    I recalled the descriptions of those two nts that I had read in books before. Tuber fleece flower was a vine that grew within cracks between rocks, or sometimes climbed short shrubs. Reishi mushrooms were usually found in shades, at the base of decaying tree trunks. I noted these, focusing my attention on locations that matched their habitats.


    "Older nts make much more potent medicine in this case," Bai Ye continued. "Look forrger leaves with deeper creases in their veins, it''s usually a good indication of their age— Don''t wander too far from my side, Qing-er," he called behind me as I stepped away to examine the veins of a vine in the distance to see how well I could discern the creases. "There are many other dangerous animals here in addition to the guardian beasts, and plenty of them are poisonous."


    I turned back, nodding sheepishly. He had always said something like this to me every time we went on a trip in the depth of the wild—don''t stray too far, don''t wander on your own, stay where I can see you. When I was younger, I often felt a bit frustrated and discouraged by his overprotectiveness andck of confidence in me, but after all the recent times that I got myself in trouble because of my carelessness … I started to understand his worry.


    "Sorry, I got carried away by what you were describing," I said when I returned to his side. "But there''s an easier way to make sure I don''t get lost … Like this," I smirked and took his hand, threading my fingers through his.


    He said nothing, but I saw the corner of his lips curve up. I let myself smile a little too, and I remembered those days when I was still a clueless, curious girl, clenching a tip of his sleeve in my hand and following closely behind him, eyes wide at everything around us.


    He had taught me so much since then, and showed me that there was so much more to this life than I could have ever imagined.


    My hand tightened around his, though I tried to tell myself to focus on what we came here for. "You were saying … the older the nt, the better its effect," I said. "How old are we trying to find?"


    "A hundred years is a fair start," he replied. "Thousand-year-old tuber fleece flower would be the best for your condition."


    "Aren''t those hard toe by?"


    "Yes, and that''s why I''m nning to spend a week here. Maybe even longer, depending on our luck."


    I lowered my head and hid another smile. I was more than d to spend a month here alone with him, and it was refreshing to take a break from all the suffocating events at Mount Hua. I silently wished that the luck he wanted wouldn''t be on our side anytime soon.


    With that thought, my searching gaze started growing a little perfunctory as we continued through the sunlit woods, hand in hand.