“Ahhhh… ”
Tang Ning lost her balance and screamed as she plummeted down. She felt the force of the wind as it brushed against her face and rushed through her clothes, making loud whirring sounds when the fabric fluttered furiously against her skin. Tang Ning had thought she would hit the ground anytime now, but she crashed into a tree growing on the cliffside. The strap of the bundle she was carrying got hooked on a branch, and as Tang Ning’s body was hanging in mid-air, strapped with the bundle.
Tang Ning looked down and saw a thick mist swirling around the cliff. She could only see the walls of the cliff below the mist, stretching down like a bottomless abyss. She grasped the straps of the bundle with both hands and took a deep breath, trying to move as little as possible.
The small bundle was a makeshift bag she had made from her outer robe to store the herbs she was gathering in the forest. She had tightly strapped it to her body to make sure it didn’t fall off her body even when she rode on the monster. To think that now, this bundle had saved her life.
Tang Ning tightened her grip around the bundle’s straps and started to adjust her breathing and focus her senses. She used all her strength to hoist herself up and swung her legs in an attempt to clasp one of the branches. But she missed to catch, and her legs dropped back, hanging her mid-air again.
“Caw… Caw… Caw… ”
Tang Ning suddenly heard a crow crying above her head. She looked up and saw a shiny black crow circling around her and cawing loudly as if it were calling out to her.
Tang Ning couldn’t help but laugh, as she said to herself, “A messenger of good luck! It is truly said, good fortune awaits those who survive a big disaster.”
“Phew!”
Tang Ning exhaled and prepared for her second attempt. She again heaved her legs up in one breath, and this time successfully clasped a branch with her legs. Using the momentum of her body, she hoisted herself up and landed on the branch, hugging it in a prone position.
It looked like the crow heard and understood what Tang Ning said, cocking its head and gazing at her with its pair of black, beady eyes. Finally, it flapped its wings and landed on the tip of the branch Tang Ning was holding on to.
Tang Ning was lying on the branch, still catching her breath when she saw the crow perch in front of her. She muttered to herself, “How very thrilling, in fact, thrilling to death, isn’t it? Now that I think about it, the experience I had as an arcane skills disciple wasn’t even half as exciting. I’m just lucky I didn’t meet the King of Hell today.”
The crow did not move, as if it was listening intently to Tang Ning.
“Hiss… hiss… ”
Tang Ning was about to move backward on the branch, and then she suddenly heard the hissing sound. Her body froze as she stared wide-eyed at the crow. She whispered, “That sounds like a snake, did you hear that?”
The crow’s little black eyes rolled upwards as if scoffing at her and saying, “Of course it’s a snake. Didn’t you notice that huge, colorful, venomous snake right behind you?”
Tang Ning didn’t catch the look of disdain from the crow. Instead, she looked behind at the source of hissing noise and saw a snake slithering its way to her on the branch. Her mouth twitched as she felt her impending doom nearing.
“Indeed, it doesn’t rain but it pours,” she thought to herself. “I just want to eat my words now. There’s no fortune awaiting me. Since the first attempt to kill me didn’t work out, the gods have sent a venomous snake to do the job.”
Just as Tang Ning was wondering if she got bitten, how long it would be before the poison took effect, a black shadow flashed past her and moved straight towards the snake. It was the crow. Tang Ning watched as the crow swooped down on the snake, lifted the huge snake with its sharp claws, and tore it in half in mid-air.
Tang Ning was dumbfounded by the ferocious and cold-blooded attack.
“Are you a monster?” Tang Ning questioned the crow as she stared at it incredulously. Since when did crows become so aggressive and vicious?
The crow remained silent as it stared curiously at Tang Ning’s shiny, bald head. It spread its wings, flew up to her, and attempted to land on her head. However, the crow slipped and fell off the side of her head.
Tang Ning watched peculiarly at the crow that tried to regain its footing and flew up onto her head again. Her lips twitched slightly.
She wondered if anyone could tell her where in the world this crow came from.