Chapter 64: Memories Of The “vicious Eagle Festival”
In mid-December, Scholar Heide’s lessons paused, but of course this was not due to any accident—it was simply winter break.
“Every year during the coldest time of winter, the school holds a break to prevent accidents during students’ travels.” Komiya told Tiya this, and afterward the group gathered for another meal before the break.
The winter of Xu Feng Season had finally arrived, though it was not as cold as imagined.
Xilutiya sat in front of the dressing mirror, looked at her black-haired self in the mirror, then pulled on her hood and walked out of the room.
Today she wore a dark gray coat, with small cowhide boots on her feet—warm while retaining a bit of maiden-like cuteness.
Hugging two swan orchids, Xilutiya boarded the horse carriage in front of the mansion, then headed toward the Adventurer’s Guild in the city.
Ten-odd minutes later, the horse carriage stopped. She also hugged a potted swan orchid as she stepped down, glanced at the still bustling guild main gate, and walked inside.
The current temperature was around 10°, not very cold, but many windows in the hall were still closed to keep it as warm as possible, resulting in a jumbled smell inside that was far from refreshing.
Circling around the crowded central hall, Xilutiya approached the counter from the side, then found a staff member.
“Is Mailin sister here?” She pulled her mask down slightly, revealing her somewhat youthful cheeks amid her hair.
“She is, but she’s resting in the back right now. Are you looking for her?” Seeing it was a cute girl, the staff member answered amiably.
“Yes, she helped me before, so this time I wanted to thank her.” Xilutiya had now preliminarily entered the gardener field and had some free time.
“Ah, so you’re Mailin’s junior? I’ll go call her.” The staff member assumed the maiden was Mailin’s distant relative.
Soon, Mailin came out following the employee. Since it wasn’t her work time yet, she wore a dark brown long skirt with a thick coat draped over it.
“So it’s Tiya.” She was a bit curious about this maiden appearing before her again.
“Mailin sister.” The maiden stepped forward to greet her, then explained her purpose.
“So smoothly?” Mailin was a bit surprised. She had originally thought this maiden would need at least half a year to achieve some results and become a fairly proficient gardener apprentice. As for becoming Madam Fran’s student, she hadn’t held much hope, having seen too many failed examples.
“Probably just good luck.” With that, Xilutiya handed the potted plant in her hands to Mailin.
“This is the swan orchid I grew. Mailin sister gave me the seeds back then—I’m giving it to Mailin sister.” Though this one hadn’t condensed a complete Emerald Honey nature, it was close, emitting a faint refreshing fragrance that dispelled the odd smells in the air.
“This is…” Mailin took it and examined it closely. Though she was not a Transcendent, she could still sense the extraordinary nature of this swan orchid.
“This is… a swan orchid with exceptionally fine form.” She mentally estimated its value—in selling it to those noblewomen, it could fetch over 30 silver, about half a year’s wages for her.
“Yeah, I’ve grown quite a few swan orchids—this is one of them.” Actually, before the break, Xilutiya had already given one to Scholar Heide, and her several close classmates had each received one as well.
“It’s a pity I don’t know how to care for it. I wonder if normal watering will keep it alive.” Mailin looked at the swan orchid in her hands.
“Normal watering will do. If Mailin sister finds it troublesome, she can also transfer it to someone else.” Selling it would be a nice income for Mailin too.
“In that case, I’ll accept it.”
Not long after, news of Mailin receiving the flower spread through the Adventurer’s Guild, and it began to morph.
“I heard it was from one of her juniors.”
“Really? Giving such an expensive flower—I bet it’s on behalf of some embarrassed brother or elder.”
“Mailin isn’t married yet, after all.”
“Why can’t it be that the girl likes Mailin? How can you all be so biased?”
“Cough cough, don’t spread that kind of talk—she’ll beat us.”
“But that potted plant really is peculiar—put it in a room and the air naturally becomes clean.”
“In that case, its value must be high. Not sure if it was bought from the Gardener Guild or grown herself.”
“Don’t even mention Jiaoshi City’s Gardener Guild—their level is barely third-rate. Real gardeners are over in Gully City.”
After seeing Xilutiya off from the Adventurer’s Guild, Mailin gave her many more things before returning, and now heard all sorts of gossip from her colleagues.
“These guys, always gossiping.” She thought for a moment and decided to discipline the ringleaders to stop them from spreading nonsense.
……
Leaving the Adventurer’s Guild, Xilutiya took the remaining potted swan orchid to Winnie’s home.
“Tiya’s here.” She had just knocked when the door opened to welcome her.
Walking inside, Xilutiya found Talil was also there—no wonder Winnie knew she was coming.
“Talil came over this morning and had me prepare something tasty to treat you.” Winnie smiled and welcomed Xilutiya, then had her sit down.
Soon, she brought over the brewed hot tea. At this point Talil also came over, asking big sister Winnie for the same tea water.
“When I come, sister won’t brew any for me—playing favorites~”
“You come almost every day—do I still need to brew tea for you?” Winnie tapped this mischievous little sister.
The three exchanged simple pleasantries, then sat down.
“So, Tiya is currently living at Madam Fran’s, and her life has stabilized.”
Recalling the maiden from three months ago who was unfamiliar with the place and somewhat reserved, Winnie felt a bit emotional.
“Since Tiya has advanced to First Order Emerald Honey, does she want to pursue the path of gardener?”
“Yes, but a while ago I told Madam I wanted to go to the Secluded Forest, and she agreed.” Xilutiya mentioned her future goal.
“Secluded Forest…” Winnie fell into reminiscence.
“Actually, back then I also joined the competition for spots to the Secluded Forest—though I was just there to make up numbers.” Her words immediately piqued the curiosity of both.
“What was the process like, sister? You never told me before.” Talil immediately couldn’t sit still.
“The process… since I only experienced part of it, I’m not too detailed on it.” Winnie shook her head.
“The next one will probably be around January to February next year. Someone will come to Jiaoshi City then, and at that time Viscount Xue Feng and Scholar Heide will hand over the list.”
“The other side will review based on the info on the list, then have those students participate in the initial selection on site.”
“The selection process usually sets three objectives. About one-third of students can complete the first objective, about one-tenth can complete the second, and the last one, maybe no one completes it.”
“If no one completes all objectives, then from those remaining who completed the second objective, candidates will be selected. At that point Viscount Xue Feng and Scholar Heide can recommend people they deem suitable, and obtain spots.”
“The first objective I faced was to find a red-spined wasp nest in a forest and bring it back.”
“Red-spined wasp—that’s the venomous and highly aggressive hornet, right?” Talil recalled something.
“Yes, just finding it requires some luck, and you have to risk being attacked by red-spined wasps to bring it back, so only five people completed it.”
“I carried ‘red snow powder’ that I made myself at the time—a burning powder similar to gunpowder—that helped me subdue most of the red-spined wasps in the nest.” Winnie took a small sip of hot water as she recalled.
“But in the process of obtaining the nest, I still got stung. Due to poisoning, I barely made it back to camp and passed out—Teacher Heide helped detoxify me before I gradually woke up.”
“The second objective was to single-handedly slay a First Order Beast lurking in the forest. Only two students completed that task, and they paid a heavy price.”
“As for the third objective, on the high cliff at the forest’s end, there’s a gale vulture lair. To complete it, you need to obtain a gale vulture egg.”
“Gale vulture—Talil, you should know about them. They’re Blazing Sun nature ferocious birds that appear during the peak heat waves of Xu Feng Season. They often appear not singly, but in multiples—extremely vicious, with danger level higher than Crimson Wolf.”
“The appearance of these ferocious birds signifies the hottest and most unbearable period of Xu Feng Season, so they’re also called the ‘Evil Vulture Festival’.”
