The Cornflower Witch

A small white-fluff flower sprouted from the crack in the rock, trembling in the howling mountain wind. From the distant mountain path came a faint humming, like the unnamed lullaby Grandmother used to hum while coaxing someone to sleep.

Sylutia walked along the gravel path on the cliff face. It was hard to call it a road for walking; it looked more like a ravine carved by falling rocks from the mountain.

The girl kept her hands slightly spread, her slender fingers slipping out from wide sleeves to maintain balance. She proceeded cautiously, stepping upward along the cliff. After a while she could already see the eaves jutting out from the rock face.

Half an hour later, Sylutia arrived at the hidden little cottage on the mountain and saw an old woman bent over, busy tending a small garden.

"Hello, may I ask if you are Grandmother A zhelanqi?" she asked.

The old woman heard this, slowly turned around, and revealed a face full of wrinkles and furrows. Her teeth were all gone, and her back was hunched.

"I am." The elder nodded, then her gaze dropped to the bronze token hanging at the girl's waist.

The token's edges were worn bright from handling, but the carved pattern inside had darkened with age; it was clearly very old.

"You are a rare guest for the tribe. May I take a look at that token?"

"Yes, is this the bronze token you mean?" Sylutia unhooked the bronze token from her waist and placed it in the old woman's hands.

The elder turned the token over and over in her palms, rubbing it carefully. Nostalgia appeared in her eyes. After a long while she returned the token to the girl.

"When they gave it to you, did they say anything?"

"The uncle said to show the token to you after I met you, and then he said, 'The white-fluff flower has bloomed,'" Sylutia recalled the words the chieftain had told her when she visited the Qiaoya Tribe at the foot of the mountain not long ago.

"The uncle you mentioned must be my grandnephew Kuranqi." The old woman nodded, then turned and walked toward the cottage. "Come with me."

She led the girl into the little cottage carved into the cliff, had Sylutia sit for a moment, and brought her a cup of water.

Sylutia took the water and glanced around. Numerous herbs hung from the beams; among them were heads of garlic and strings of chili.

Then the elder sat cross-legged on the dry floor and placed a small dish of white-fluff flowers before her.

"Now, can you tell this old woman why you sought me out?"

Hearing the question, Sylutia began to tell her story.

"It's like this..." She started recounting what had happened to her over the past six months.

"I am currently compiling a book about the stories and origins of the tribes in the Western Mountain Range. I want to preserve records and history for future generations."

"About the Qiaoya Tribe, I heard it is the oldest tribe in these mountains, so there are many mysteries and questions I hope you can answer."

"Is that so..." The elder looked at the girl and paused for a moment.

"It is rare to see someone climb up the mountain like you. In the past, most who came were seeking spiritual medicine or asking for guidance." She said slowly, her eyes seeming to close.

"Since you were able to obtain that bronze token, you must be a guest trusted by the tribe. I will answer some things, though there are many details I cannot remember clearly." She shook her head.

And so the elder began a long narration, whose origins traced back to the white-fluff flower growing on the cliff.

About two thousand years ago, at the dawn of the Covenant Epoch, the Hours set rules: most beings above the Seventh Tier were restrained and relocated to the celestial gardens. In the mortal continents, lacking high-tier combatants, the intensity of wars across the lands declined.

At that time, many small areas remained untouched by humans, and beastmen rarely lived on the lush grasslands and waters. In that relatively peaceful era, the Qiaoya Tribe's ancestor Kuranqi led a group of his people into a mountain range plagued by beasts and roving monsters.

"Why did he make that decision back then?" Sylutia asked, curious.

"Because our ancestor Kuranqi was a wise man, an awakened one, a renouncer of the world." The elder answered slowly.

"He reached the Third Tier in his youth, and by fifty years old he had advanced to the Sixth Tier, becoming a rare powerful figure among the beastmen of that time."

"To vie for leadership over the beastmen, Kuranqi suffered many attacks and challenges. Each time he easily overcame his opponents, which sowed resentment and jealousy in some hearts. Unfortunately for them, they could not defeat Kuranqi."

"But Kuranqi was not without weakness. The woman he loved was not a high-tier Transcendent, and she died because of the entanglements caused by his status."

This event deeply saddened Kuranqi. Later he found the murderer and, leading the tribe's warriors, destroyed those enemies entirely. That act expanded his fame and increased his influence among the beastmen.

"Many wanted him to become the king to lead the beastmen to prosperity and expansion."

"Alas, Kuranqi had no such desire." The elder shook her head, her voice low as she continued.

"Although he did not desire the throne, his fame and momentum obstructed others who wanted to become rulers. Clashes were inevitable, and people in the tribe were wounded or died because of them."

"In that era the beastmen were far stronger than now. There were not just one but dozens of Sixth Tier warlord overlords. Each had their own followers and controlled various tribes."

"Because Kuranqi refused to be king, he lost many followers. To prevent his people from being implicated, suffering injuries, and dying, he decided to leave the chaotic and conflict-ridden grasslands."

"So he took the people and the seeds of the white-fluff flower and gradually moved westward. Each time they camped overnight, he scattered the white-fluff seeds as a memorial."

"In this way, after roughly five years, Kuranqi had led his people to the deepest part of the Western Mountain Range. This place was far from external strife and allowed his heart to calm."

"Although there were no rival powers vying for control in the mountains, the harsh environment and numerous strange monsters still posed threats."

"After settling down, Kuranqi pondered how to let the tribe live peacefully in these mountains. He made his home in the mountains to avoid frequent disturbances."

Thus, he lived on the mountain for nearly twenty years, contemplating and establishing the tribe's calendar, training progression methods, combat techniques, and rules for deliberation and governance.

"After summarizing these insights, he taught them to the tribe to resolve doubts."

"Later the Qiaoya Tribe slowly developed and expanded. Hunting yields and gathered food could no longer feed so many people, so part of the tribe took these teachings and settled elsewhere."

"Gradually, many tribes appeared throughout the mountains. Some split from our Qiaoya Tribe, while others migrated from other places but adopted our way of life."

"Although many things were forgotten over time, some of the ancestor's teachings remained preserved—for example, using freshly picked white-fluff flowers to divine the weather for the coming week, Kuranqi's favored combat methods, and the agreements that tribes in the mountains must observe, and so on."

......

Afternoon sunlight filtered through the transparent tiles on the roof and fell onto the small table before Sylutia. The elder demonstrated how to use the white-fluff flowers for divination.

The flowers rose with the ancient chant, drifting on the wind and breaking into smaller petals that floated away.