The leaves were like wilting willows, as the wind blew, there would be a handful of leaves that fluttered to the ground. With the colors of crimson and gold, it made a strange arrangement that was a mosaic formed by mother nature herself.

As Xue'er caught a glimpse of the accidental artwork made by the winds, she was taken by surprise. It had never occurred to her that dead and dying plants could be so beautiful, maybe she should pay attention to them more.

Even at her slowest speed, she took on to look at the scenery, she still eventually made it to the outskirts of the cottage where she and Gan Tian Chi had been staying.

As she took a step closer to the cottage, she felt a strange force preventing her from entering. It was almost like a transparent bubble that allowed air to pa.s.s through, but not the dust that came along.

The giant bird that was engraved into the surrounding ground was really a formation that prevented her from entering. It produced a powerful force, that caused Xue'er to fly back, and she slammed into a tree.

"Uh!" She groaned, as she slowly crawled back to her feet. The impact was great, she had expected most, if not all of her bones to break at this point. After all, the human body was not made to have a full-on collision with a hardy tree trunk.

To her surprise, she was able to get up, her clothes had just become covered in dirt and dust from the impact of slamming into the tree.

She tried to dust off herself to the best of her ability, but there was still an ample amount of dirt that had made its way into the woven fabric. She looked like a curious cat that was climbing a chimney, but somehow got fell into the ashes of the chimney and got itself all covered in dirt.

So, she decided to leave it be at this point. It was not like she ever cared for the way she looked in front of others.

She turned around, to see the tree that she had the collision with. She was unharmed, so the tree should be fine.

But, that wasn't the case. She turned around to find that tree had turned into splinters of wood.

Xue'er sucked in a cold breath. The tree was now gone, reduced into nothing more than a million splinters that were no larger than the size of a thumb.

[How could this happen?]

Logically speaking, there was no way this could have happened. Sure, that underground maze was mysterious, but she only thought that her body was merely a little bit stronger than a normal person's.

But, this… this was just outrageous.

She bent down and took a handful of the splinters to inspect. This wasn't here when she got here, so it should be from the collision. The splinters felt warm and dry, so it should not have been through the dew of the night.

As she scrutinized every splinter that was in the 100-meter radius, her ears suddenly picked up a gentle sound of paper fluttering in the air.

She quickly turned around, catching the piece of white rice paper, that was thinner than the pages found in a book. She had done so in a fast manner, but the piece of paper was in perfect condition, without so much as a wrinkle or tear in it.

Xue'er's eyes glazed over the contents of that paper before her eyes narrowed.

The contents of the paper:

[My dear little Xue'er, remember what I said, you will be able to return once you fulfilled my task, remember, there are many books in there. The sooner you finish, the sooner you will be able to enter.

Remember I am always watching.

Sincerely, Gan Tian Chi.]

"Gan Tian Chi! You irresponsible guardian!" Xue'er muttered under her breath. Her hands tightened around the letter, becoming dust and scattering around the trees as a breeze blew by.

Based on the fresh scent from the ink, obviously it had been written recently, so he has the time to write a letter and set up a formation to prevent her from entering the cottage, but he doesn't have the time to stay around.

Really?!

Xue'er wondered if Gan Tian Chi was just playing around with her, like a cat manipulating a spider to think it's not going to die, but then smacking it around until it meets its end.

~

In another place.

Gan Tian Chi was sitting under a tree, there was a calm river that was next to him. This place to be away from the mortal world it was as if the ageless man was an otherworldly deity who had traveled for a long time and stopped to sit under the tree to take a break.

"Ha ha! Ahh… little Xue'er, you will understand someday." Gan Tian Chi laughed heartily and retracted his gaze from the calm river to look at the clear skies.

[Why don't you understand?

I'm trying to help you make unforgettable memories while you still can.

There will be a time in the future when we will spend a very very long time together, I'm afraid you will get sick of me when that time comes.

A full life can be considered to have experienced the joys and sadness that a person will have. Only when you have experienced everything can you be considered to have lived.]

Gan Tian Chi lamented the thoughts in his mind.

"Ahh… So comfortable."

Gan Tian Chi s.h.i.+elded his eyes from the bright sun's rays with his hand as he looked towards the horizon. There was an incoming of thunderous and angry clouds. There were more gray clouds that would follow.

"Dammit, always calm before a storm." Gan Tian Chi snorted before he closed his eyes to take a nap under the shady tree.

One best enjoy the dry weather while it lasts.

That was something that Xue'er would understand in the future, she would treat Gan Tian Chi as a mischievous kid, who, despite his age and wisdom loved to go around causing chaos in the world.

Perhaps it was because he felt his life was too boring and he needed to see some changes along the way...