The ride was long, the day wearing on with little end in sight. Ruolanâs back was sore, the stink of horses overwhelming her senses, but she fought back the urge to complain - the last thing she wanted to fill Fa Xianâs first impression of her with was whining.Â
  Still, she breathed a sigh of relief when they stopped to scout the area. âWhat, are you hoping for trouble?â she asked, managing a smile as she clambered off her mare. She followed close behind her, fingers idly curling around the sword sheathed at her hip.Â
  Though no botanist herself, the peculiarity of the area struck Ruolan in an instant. Where there had been only dry grass and dirt before, the smell of rich earth and damp, water-swollen greenery suddenly flooded in. It seemed out of their way, and time was of the essence, but-
  âIâd say itâs too weird not to have a look at.â Maybe it was only self-serving curiosity, but she wanted to explore if only to see what waited for them further down the path. âLead the way, Lady Fa. Iâm right behind you.â
Excited to explore new territory, Fa Xian wasted no time leading the way. Beyond the path, Fa Xian found more beautiful greenery surrounding the area with an array of various coloured flowers spread out - oversized flowers, even. It was like nothing she had ever seen before. She absolutely had to examine the plants and study them! Perhaps she would even find a better cure than what she was searching for Cao Chong. "Lady Diao, isn't this wonderful?" Fa Xian asked in total amazement. "Why haven't we been made aware of this area? We must inform Lord Cao Cao when we return!"
Elated like a child surrounded by new toys, Fa Xian went to examine the plants and admire their beauty, and cut some samples (from the petals, leaves and the stems) to take home with her. She occupied herself with those plants for a good few minutes, until she came across a particular plant with a rather potent aroma. While she was attempting to retrieve a sample from its thick stem, the knife she struck with did not budge out. It was as though something was drawing the blade into the stem, for Fa Xian was finding it difficult to pull out. There was something that caught her eye; red liquid dripped from where she struck, which she found peculiar, because none of the plants she cut from had done that. It almost reminded her of...
"... Blood?" Fa Xian touched the red liquid with her hand, and could confirm by its texture that it was indeed blood. "Lady Diao, this is most fascinating... I've never heard of a plant that could bleed." She turned away from the plant to show Ruolan her red stained hand, but before she could present her hand to her companion, Fa Xian's eyes grew wide at what she was seeing: something was about to strike Ruolan from behind. Two thick, long vine-like figures with thorns around their bodies and razor sharp teeth dripping hot saliva. On one hand, Fa Xian felt excitement in her heart, because she had never witnessed such a thing in her life; but on another, she understood it meant trouble for both her, and Ruolan.
"Lady Diao, behind you!" Fa Xian warned, and immediately after she warned her, the two vine-like figures began to make their move towards Ruolan. Fa Xian prepared herself for battle, summoning a flying puppet whose form took shape of a phoenix and established a connection with it, giving her full control over her puppet using hand movements to guide it and attack.Â