"I'll try - there's a risk of getting lost or separated or attacked, and I'm the most senior here, so I'd rather take that risk."

"Please be careful, Lady Liu. We'll stay right here. We can make noise if you lose track of where we are, just call out for us first."

"Alright. Thanks."

She mounts her sword, rising rapidly into the air.

She has to fly upwards for an absurdly long time before the mist begins to thin: longer than it should have taken to rise above the gate or even the surrounding cliffs. Through the gradually clearing fog, she can see dark shadows flitting overhead. The air becomes turbulent.

...Not a good way for the junior disciples to escape. She can handle whatever's up here, but she'd rather be where she can keep an eye on her allies.

She flies back down.

Junior disciples are so relieved to see her! "Lady Liu! You are alright? Did you figure out where we are?"

"I'm okay. The - odd effect seems to go up, as well. It became hard to fly before the fog fully thinned."

"So we cannot escape that way either... should we try to move away from that tapping sound? Or... go towards it?"

"Hmmm..." She shrugs, draws her sword, and points it in the vague direction of the tapping sound. It does not seem to think the tapping sound is a priority murder target, so she sheathes her sword and says, "Towards."

Jin Ling grumbles something, then:

"Fine. Let's get out of here. Or finally fight whatever it is that's hunting us."

"That's the spirit!"

...If looks could kill she would probably not be dead but she would definitely have some more holes in her.

She laughs. It's - bright. An odd contrast to the almost oppressive resentful energy.

And she starts walking toward the tapping.

"...I'm not sure about this..." Lan Jingyi mutters, but he follows her, along with Jin Ling, keeping their weapons close at hand.

"Mm. I'm not sure about anything, but I don't think it's a good idea to just stand there. Investigating means we might find out more about what's happening here. Just be careful."

The juniors huddle along behind Lady Liu, holding on to each other's sleeves with their free hands so that no one gets lost. 

"I will..."

And what does this direction have to reveal to them as they walk?

A silhouette appears in the fog, not very distant by the time they are able to see it. It moves towards them very quickly -

- and resolves into a man who looks very surprised to see them. "-Jin Ling? Sizhui?"

He groans. "You again! Why are you here?"

"Why are you here?"

"Master Mo, you're here! Does that mean Hanguang Jun came here as well?"

Sigh. As if his presence isn't rewarding enough in its own right!

"Yeah, he's here, he's here. But how did you all get here together? Don't tell me Jin Ling met up with you to go night hunting."

"It's a bit of a story," she says. "And probably best saved for later."

"Who are you?"

Is she Jin Ling's girlfriend. He can't think of why any girl would tolerate Jin Ling's behavior but it would be so funny if Jin Ling got a girlfriend. Jiang Cheng would lose his shit.