Shen Zhenyu raised a hand and gestured for the others to stay back. "I'll check first," he said.
Always the responsible one. Always the one who was secretly writing his own will in his head. He summoned his spiritual weapon and sliced through the curtain of vines choking the cave entrance. Then he disappeared inside.
A few tense minutes later, he reappeared, face unreadable, voice steady. "It's safe. Come in."
Linyue gave him a long look. A look that clearly said, Are you absolutely sure about that? But she stepped forward anyway.
The entrance immediately tried to fight her. A curtain of vines latched onto her sleeves. A low-hanging branch swung down with impeccable comedic timing and smacked her right on the forehead. She sighed, ducked, and shoved her way through.
Behind her, Song Meiyu let out a loud yelp as a branch caught her hair and refused to let go. "OW! OW! My hair! My beautiful hair!"
He Yuying snorted. He just stood there, openly entertained, lips. Then, with a long sigh, he finally stepped forward. He carefully freed her tangled strands while muttering under his breath, "It's just a branch, not a demon…"
"But it's acting like one!" Song Meiyu insisted, clutching her poor hair.
The vine snapped back into place as soon as it was free, swaying with suspicious cheer.
"I think it likes you," He Yuying added dryly.
Song Meiyu glared at him. "I don't need plant admirers."
Inside the cave, Shen Zhenyu had already lit up the space using his fire spiritual energy. Small flames drifted in the air like lazy lanterns, floating around them and casting flickering shadows against the damp stone walls.
The air was heavy and wet, thick with the smell of moss, mystery, and just enough mold to feel unhealthy. Every step they took echoed faintly.
Linyue scanned her surroundings, eyes sharp. Gloom pressed in from every side. The place was dark, damp, and absolutely the kind of cave where characters in old stories wandered into and then mysteriously vanished forever. She wasn't particularly worried about monsters or ghosts. She was more concerned about the ceiling collapsing and trapping them.
She kept glancing up at the uneven ceiling, jagged rocks jutting down like teeth. Please let the ceiling stay where it is, she thought grimly.
Behind her, Song Meiyu finally burst through the entrance. Her hair was in chaos. One vine was still clinging stubbornly to her shoulder. She looked like she had barely survived a duel with nature, but her grin was blinding. "We're definitely in the right place!" Song Meiyu said with far too much energy. "The Dream Star Leaf must be here!"
Linyue gave her a calm side glance. "Do you know the way?"
"Don't worry," Song Meiyu said confidently, reaching into her sleeve. She pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment. "I have a rough sketch of the cave," she declared proudly.
There was a dramatic pause before she added, "Master Yin Xue traded a cabbage for it with a traveling merchant. He swore he dreamed about this cave after being kicked in the head by a donkey."
There was a beat of silence.
Shen Zhenyu closed his eyes. He might have been meditating. He might have been praying. Most likely, he was asking the heavens why they hated him.
He Yuying made a strangled noise in his throat and muttered darkly, "... We're going to die in this cave."
Song Meiyu, unbothered, beamed and added cheerfully, "The merchant had a long beard. He must be a wise man."
He Yuying gave her a flat look and nodded. "Ah yes. That's how wisdom works. The longer the beard, the deeper the knowledge. Next time I see a goat, I'll ask for life advice."
Linyue turned slowly to stare at Song Meiyu. Not angry. Not surprised. Just deeply, spiritually tired. For one brief, shining moment, she wondered if it was still possible to walk all the way back to the palace, change her name, and start a peaceful new life selling steamed buns on the street corner.
"You want us," she said carefully, "to trust a map created by a cabbage-funded merchant… who had been kicked in the head by a donkey."
Song Meiyu nodded. "It was a very fresh cabbage."
"So," Linyue said flatly, "our plan is to follow a suspicious merchant's dream into an uncharted cave."
"We'll be fine!" Song Meiyu chirped. "Probably!"
Behind them, He Yuying had already accepted his fate and was checking his sleeves for emergency snacks. He found half a sesame bun, three dried plums, a questionable peanut and three lotus seed pies. Not ideal, but morale-boosting.
Shen Zhenyu didn't bother speaking. He simply gestured toward the tunnel yawning ahead of them. "This way," his body language said. "To doom."
And so, armed with shaky confidence, a cabbage-funded map, and the unshakable ability to make poor life choices, the group stepped deeper into the mysterious cave.
The cave was big, dark, and cold. The ground was actively rude. Uneven stones, slippery dips, sudden holes that ambushed ankles when least expected.
All around them: rocks.
Ahead of them: more rocks.
Somewhere behind them: probably the same rocks, just being rude from a different angle.
Four cultivators trudged forward in awkward silence, doing their best not to look like a group with no plan, no guide, and no sense of direction. Which, sadly, was exactly what they were.
The tunnels twisted and turned with irritating sameness. Every path looked identical: damp stone walls, unsettling silence, and a disappointing lack of helpful herbs.
Song Meiyu had already checked three cracks in the wall. She poked around enthusiastically, and then huffed loudly when her efforts produced absolutely nothing.
"Not even a poisonous mushroom," she muttered, crossing her arms. "This cave has no imagination."
At least no one had been attacked by bats yet. Linyue counted that as a small victory.
He Yuying, however, was unconvinced. He walked with his arms slightly raised, like he expected bats at any moment. His eyes flicked upward with paranoia. "I can feel them watching me," he muttered darkly. "Tiny eyes. Judging eyes."
Shen Zhenyu accidentally stubbed his toe against a rock. He didn't make a sound, but the brief flicker of murderous intent on his usually calm face said enough. If that rock tried anything again, it would not survive.
Song Meiyu tripped over a suspicious pebble, let out a startled yelp, then immediately struck a pose, hands on hips, chin lifted. "Just testing the cave floor," she declared. "Still… solid!"
No one answered. There was a shared, silent agreement to let her keep her dignity, or what little remained of it.
Linyue kept walking, eyes forward, expression calm, refusing to waste energy on commentary.
Up ahead, Song Meiyu picked up the pace again. "We just have to turn right from here," she said brightly, "then go straight until we find a rock that looks like a very judgmental cabbage!"
Linyue stopped. Dead in her tracks. A judgmental cabbage? Slowly, she turned her head toward Shen Zhenyu. Her gaze said clearly, Did you just hear that?
Shen Zhenyu didn't speak, but his eyebrow twitched. Just once. Enough to say, Yes. Unfortunately, I did.
He Yuying gave up entirely. He sighed, hands on hips, then leaned against a rock for support. The rock didn't support him. He slid down it like a disappointed snail.
First an angry turtle. Now a judgmental cabbage. Linyue gave Shen Zhenyu a blank look. He gave her one right back—flat, tired, and deeply unamused.
Still half-sitting on the untrustworthy rock, He Yuying muttered, "Can cabbage even have an expression?"
Song Meiyu spun around mid-bounce. "Of course it can. You know how cabbages have all those white veins on their leaves? Depending on the proportions and the angle, it can look mad, judgmental, or even slightly amused. It's art. Nature's art."
Linyue closed her eyes for a brief moment. She wasn't sure what was worse: that Song Meiyu believed it… or that she explained it so confidently, as if she had studied cabbage psychology.
There was a pause as the other three slowly turned to look at each other. Then, total silence. Not a word. No one had the energy to argue with her cabbage-based logic. So, naturally, they just kept following her.
Song Meiyu continued bouncing ahead like they weren't probably lost deep in the earth.
After what felt like a hundred confusing turns, seven false hopes, and two near-slips on suspiciously slimy stones, they still hadn't found anything even remotely cabbage-shaped. Unless, as Linyue suspected darkly, the cabbage was simply out of season.
Finally, Linyue stopped walking. Her voice was calm, but her words left no room for argument. "We've definitely been here before."
She pointed at a small, unimpressive pile of three flat stones near the wall. "I stacked those. Half an hour ago."
All of them stared at the little rock pyramid.
He Yuying groaned, rubbing his forehead. "Are you sure we're not lost?"
Song Meiyu flinched a little, then straightened up. "No, no, no. We must be close. I'm sure!"
Linyue slowly turned her head, looking around at the identical rock walls that had been identical for the last forty minutes. Then she looked back at the cheerful Song Meiyu. "Maybe," Linyue said calmly, "we're already surrounded by cabbage stones. They're everywhere. Watching."
He Yuying, who had just tripped over another rude bump in the floor, muttered, "I'd take a rotten cabbage if it shows us the way out."
Song Meiyu brightened suddenly. "Oh! Maybe I was holding the map upside down!"
The silence that followed was crushing.
He Yuying broke first. He dragged a hand down his face and groaned. "We've been following an upside-down cabbage dream this whole time." He looked ready to crumple into the suspicious cave dirt and stay there forever.
Song Meiyu clasped her hands together. "Well, mistakes happen! It's part of the adventure!"
He Yuying gave her a flat stare. "Adventure? If we die here, your ghost can explain to mine why we trusted a donkey-kicked cabbage merchant."
Song Meiyu gasped. "Don't insult the map! It tried its best!"
Linyue simply pinched the bridge of her nose, too tired to argue. At this rate, she was going to end up with wrinkles caused entirely by cabbage-related stress.
Shen Zhenyu let out a long, heavy sigh. He didn't say anything, but the way his jaw tightened said enough. His fire lanterns flickered with his mood, glowing brighter for one brief, dangerous moment before settling again.
And so, with heavy footsteps, mild spiritual despair, and suspicious side-eyes at every vaguely lumpy rock, the legendary cabbage hunt continued.