Qingyun Sect
Qingyun Sect.
There are twelve peaks within the Qingyun Sect's control.
With the main peak under the command of the Sovereign, the other eleven peaks were overseen by an Elder each.
It was said, every peak specialized in a different area of expertise.
Among them, the Elder of Cloud Treading Peak was the youngest among all, and he was the son of the previous Sovereign.
The current Sovereign was not of the same family tree, but was a direct disciple under the previous Sovereign.
Nobody knew how the leadership of the Qingyun Sect fell into the hands of the disciple, but it was known that the current Sovereign did not get along well with the Elder of Cloud Treading Peak. The residual support for the former Sovereign had remained significant and the Sovereign had had his hands tied. But in recent years, the Sovereign had secretly moved to remove many of those supporters and the Elder of the Cloud Treading Peak was in a bleak situation.
The strongest among them would be the Sovereign of the Qingyun Clan itself, Qin Yue, and he had broken through his spirit to the indigo level. Besides the disciples of the Qingyun Sect, there were some permanent residents who stayed on as guest officers. These people command an indigo level spirit as well. They usually stayed hidden unless someone stirred up trouble where they would appear and rid the Clan of the trouble.
The Sect opens their doors for the recruitment every month only for a day every fifteenth, and people with outstanding talents in Medicine apply to join the sect then. If they pass the tests set, they are admitted to the Outer House to study Medicine. The elite can progress in their second year to be admitted to the Inner House to study the Qingyun Sect's own unique practice of medicine. If they were lucky, and got selected by any of the Elders or the Sovereign of the twelve peaks themselves, they would be instantly promoted and be directly admitted into the Inner House to practice and develop themselves.
Among the twelve peaks, there is one named Hidden Cloud Peak, and its Elder is named Ke Cangju. The Hidden Cloud Peak portrays itself to specialize in the research of herbs, but in actual fact, they research more along the lines of poisons. The Hidden Cloud Peak had always set the lowest threshold for the acceptance of their disciples, and they had always accepted the biggest number of them. However, it also has the highest disciple turnover due to deaths!
It was a fact not known to people outside of the Qingyun Sect, but many who did not possess the capabilities to be accepted as a disciple were surreptitiously personally accepted by Ke Cangju and brought into the Hidden Cloud Peak. Those people had always thought that it was a god given opportunity, but little did they know that they had just put a foot forward into Death's door.
Ke Cangju was not originally of the Qingyun Sect. He was brought into the Sect after Qin Yue was named the Sovereign, and rose up the ranks within a few years to the position of an Elder. His Hidden Cloud Peak was closed off to the other disciples and even if Qin Yue were to go there, he had to inform Ke Cangju of his intention beforehand. So something fishy is going on here.
So she was warned by Ye Mei never to get into Hidden Cloud Peak.
That was what she got.
Medicine, Poison, Wine, her mini-furnace and a bangle she got from Wuyao which she filled with glee with poison, she set off to her battlefield.
In her carriage, her battle is beginning.
(Little did she know that upon her departure, her family is dealing with a new type of headache, and the shadow guards have to keep Wuyao under control)
xxx
The fifteenth of every month was the busiest time the Cloudy Peaks of the Qing Yun Clan were most lively, always bustling with activity. The Cloudy Peaks bordered a few countries but belonged to none and was independent. The Cloudy Peaks were steep and treacherous, and had a total of twelve peaks. However, there was only one lone path from the foot to the summit.
The Cloudy Peaks were revered not for their majestic peaks, but for the Qingyun Sect occupying the entire twelve peaks!
Famed for their medical skills, the mightiest clan across the lands opened their doors to the mountains, to recruit talents who were medically inclined through a series of tests. For those who passed, they stand a chance to be admitted into the Qingyun Sect as a disciple.
The Qingyun Sect sat upon vast tracts of lands, had centuries of history behind them, and had exceptionally skilled Elders overseeing each peak.
There were countless sacred medical writings and records hidden within the Qingyun Sect, and was a sacred haven for any in their pursuit of medicine. Anyone accepted into the Sect, had their status quickly escalated, and if they were admitted into the Inner House, their status immediately shot into the skies.
Countless people would give anything to secure a position within the Qingyun Sect, and on the days they opened their doors for recruitment, the wide road leading towards the summit was always jam packed with people from all across the lands.
A nondescript horse carriage stopped at the foot of the mountain and a scholarly looking youth with delicate features dressed in plain and simple clothes stepped out. After a few words with the coachman, the little youth set off towards the Cloudy Peaks.
The main thoroughfare towards the Cloudy Peaks was packed with people heading into the mountains. There were all not too old in age, eighteen years of age at the most, and fourteen years at least.
The Qingyun Sect had a hard and fast rule in their recruitment. They would only accept youths between the ages of fourteen to eighteen years. Anyone who were older than eighteen years or younger than fourteen years, no matter how prodigious, would be turned away firmly.
The rule did not seem like much to others, but Jun Wuxie looked at it differently.
From the age of fourteen to eighteen, it was when a person underwent the most critical four years after their ring spirits are awoken. It was also the period that the youth were the muddled in consciousness and thinking on their path to maturity and adulthood. The Qingyun Sect had wanted to recruit disciples of that age to better manage them by brainwashing and easily instilling in them the principles and philosophies of the Sect.
Within the bustling crowd, many youths confidently assured their family members and strode onwards, putting up a brave front.
Only the youths who were applicants themselves can go up towards to Cloudy Peaks, and their family members could only wait at the foot for news. If anyone were to breach the rule, they would be promptly thrown out by the Qingyun disciples who stood guard at the mountain's foot.
Many were also spotted pulling at their hair, their heads buried deep into medical books at the mountain's foot in a last minute's futile attempt to cram every single word in the books into their brains.
Wuxie looked indifferently, observing the various hilarious sights around her. She could not figure out why, a clan with such mediocre skills in medicine, would attract so many people to clamor and fight just to be granted admission into the clan.
She was dressed luxuriously just to blend in because had she dressed plainly, she'll stand out and attract bullying to her. And she was right to dress richly, because all who came are rich!
Due to the overwhelming number of applicants, the Qingyun Sect could not assess every single one of them individually or it would have taken them weeks. Hence, the Qingyun Clan had prepared a simple test as the first round of screening.
It was a most basic test, identification of herbs.
At the halfway point up the mountain, two long rows of a hundred tables lined the sides of the path, and heaped upon the tables was a mess of grass, herbs and a variety of plants. Every single applicant, had five minutes to identify and pick out the herb the Qingyun Sect had set as the question for the test from the mess.
It was not difficult to identify specific herbs, but if they were mixed up in hundreds of other kinds of herbs, it was a different level of difficulty all together.
The herbs heaped on the tables were obviously freshly picked and many still had mud clinging on their roots and none of them were whole, like they had been roughly yanked out and many had broken into pieces. The various candidates who had been brimming with confidence when they received their questions had now paled visible when they saw the weed filled tables.
To identify herbs, they must first and foremost recognize its outward shape and appearance. But the herbs in the heaps had been broken and badly ravaged, how were they expected to identify them?
The first seemingly easy test, had left a great number of applicants stumped.
For a youth in their teens, even if they had come from a line of medical practitioners, and had been exposed to herbs from a young tender age, it was impossible for them to remember and commit to memory all the different and myriad varieties, not to mention, identify and pick them out from these badly ravaged and broken tiny pieces of herbs and other plants.
The smug looks of confidence soon turned to dismay as they stared at the mess of plants before their eyes and they buried their heads deep inside trying to locate the right herb as time was fast running out.
In the meantime, Wuxie walked unhurriedly to stand before a table. When she had reached the midpoint of the mountain, the Qingyun disciples had passed her a tag indicating the name of the herb she was supposed to locate.
Identification.
To locate a commonly used herb that appeared closely similar to weeds. A few youths that had come at the same time as Wuxie received the same task and when they saw the name of the herb they were supposed to locate, their faces had lit up with joy but were now quickly replaced with a look of helplessness.
'How do they expect anyone to find it?' A sobbing youth held his tag so tight he crushed it in his hand.
With many of them scurrying around different tables in all directions, Wuxie sighed and walked past a table and grabbed at a small piece of herb just half a finger's length and proceeded onwards without a moment's hesitation.
A few youths who were behind her noticed that Wuxie had picked her herb quickly and was proceeding to leave, and they stood stunned watching her walk away.
Wuxie had just taken a few steps when two other youths stood before her, blocking her way. She raised her head to look at them and recognized them to be the finely dressed youths who stood not far from her before they were allowed in.
'Move.' Wuxie said coldly.
The two youths had no intentions of letting Wuxie pass, and their eyes were locked onto the herb held within Wuxie's hand. It was a small piece, but it was enough for them to ascertain that the piece she held was genuine.
How this the little brat manage that? They had received their tags at the same time, and in the blink of an eye, before any of them could make head or tail of the task they were given, the little brat had managed to locate the herb without thinking?
'Brat, hand over the herb you have in your hand to us. Since it's so easy for you, you can just grab another one.' One of the youths eyed Jun Wuxie with an evil smirk, intending to resort to snatching if she refused.
She retaliated by jumping, and stomped on their faces so hard their noses broke, and front teeth broken!
Many jaws dropped.
In fact, things like this happened at every monthly recruitment within the mountain. If the youngest happen to locate the herb first, they were often snatched away by the older youths. The Qingyun Clan disciples turned a blind eye to all these atrocities and did not interfere. Many fourteen and fifteen year olds had been victimized before Jun Wu Xie when older and bigger applicants had even ganged up to bully the younger and smaller ones to give up their herbs, and to give up their chance to enter the Qingyun Sect as they were forced to leave in dejection when they failed the first test.
They were helpless, they were younger, and powerless. They could only suffer in silence when faced with blatant extortion.
The two youths before her, were of the same mind.
It was no wonder why they had targeted Wuxie. She was just fourteen and she had a small stature. She might have changed her looks to resemble a youthful boy, but her bone structure was plain for all to see. Among all the teenagers who came for the recruitment, there wasn't any as petite as she was. That had made her the perfect target in the eyes of the bullies.
'You must make a living stealing in broad daylight with plenty of witnesses.' she sneered. 'What a shame on your clan, capable of only birthing thieves out of their mother's loins! Are you so pathetic you cannot even do this simple task? You have no hope of getting on the upper ranks then, you mediocre whelps and go back in the just-as-mediocre loin you came from!'
Insulting one's family, is beyond the pale.
There are very few times one is justified to do so.
It's to utterly destroy other's reputation.
'Y-you brat...' the two bullies got up to try to beat her in anger for the twice-insult, but she jumped and kicked them hard enough to break their jaws, but saveable enough through treatment.
'Like~I~said~' Wuxie smirked as she said mockingly with a finger wag on her left hand. 'Go back to the inferior loin where you came from, you inferior thief. We superior heads, shall go ahead before you.'
'Wow, that was bad-ass!' she heard a boy exclaim. She turned to look to see a blonde boy with freckles.
She went blank but from this face, to that face she saw a few months back...
Well, he wouldn't recognize her.
She wore a half-mask back then. Showing only her nostrils and mouth.
'So you're strong huh?'
He too, held his own Xun Grass.
'Anyway, before more inferiors come, let's submit these.' she deadpanned as they presented their find.
'Yeah, that'd be a great idea.' the boy gulped. 'I'm Qiao Chu. You are?'
'...Huang Huiwen.' Wuxie lied. She'll have to change the writing. She cannot use 'words' usually used in writing royal or noble surnames. Nope!
The Qingyun Sect conducted three initial tests for their recruitment. Besides the first one, where Jun Wu Xie met the two bullies, she breezed through the next two tests easily.
These three tests alone, whittled the number of applicants going up the mountain from tens of thousands, to mere hundreds.
The crowded and squeezy thoroughfare felt much more spacious now.
What was surprising was that the seemingly slipshod Qiao Chu managed to pass all the tests as well, and was now grinning as he followed behind Wuxie, as he continued chattering all the way.
Those who passed the tests will stand a chance to study under the Qingyun Sect's banner. The hundreds of applicants left had reached the summit and they could see the resplendent Qingyun Sect's main temple before them. The applicants there were feeling awed, yet inspired with the sight. If they were accepted into the Sect, their lives would drastically change!
The Qingyun disciple who lead the applicants to the summit raised his hand, to signal the noisy and excited crowd to be silent.
A tall figure was heavily escorted out from the Qingyun Sect's main temple as he stepped out slowly. It was a stately middle aged man, looking no more than being in his early thirties, but for those who knew, the man was already in his forties, and he was the man at the top of the Qingyun Sect, Qin Yue. Wuxie met him once, when he personally came with Yuyan to punish Bai Yunxian. Then left his daughter to obtain the Soul-Stabilizing Gem from Qi Country.
Following behind Qin Yue, were ten men of varied ages. Some of them had full heads of white hair, and some were just in the prime of their lives. But every single one of them, carried with them an extraordinary air, and were finely dressed, as they trailed behind Qin Yue.
Qiao Chu stood beside Wuxie, as he stared upon the entrance of the various wielders of power in the Qing Yun Clan, and could not help himself but whisper into Wuxie's ear: 'The man in the front is the Sovereign of the Qingyun Sect, Qin Yue. And the men behind him are the Elders of the eleven peaks...hmm...it's rather strange though. Eleven elders but only ten of them are here? Where is Jiang Chenqing of the Ash Cloud Peak?'
Where was Jiang Chenqing?
Poisoned by the girl standing right beside you.
Wuxie swept her eyes over Qin Yue and the men behind him. One of them can very well be Ke Cangju, a no-no to go to!
'Calm down little Wen, we did well so far.' Qiao Chu reassured her.
'Yes, but I got some gossip.' said Wuxie nervously. 'I hope I get into a good sect and not the sect that makes its disciples die.'
Qiao Chu looked grim.
'Yeah, heard that too. Wonder which one that is though?'
'Beats me...'
'To be qualified to join the Qingyun Sect, you must possess extraordinary abilities. The Sect does not just accept anybody. You might have passed the initial three tests, but that does not mean you are one of us yet. Your performance in the upcoming test will be the deciding factor on whether you are fit to join the Qing Yun Clan...'
To be specific, for this last test, there was no criteria. The Qingyun Sect just needed the hundreds of youths to showcase their best display of medical skills before the Sovereign and the various Elders.
It could be treatment, ability to concoct elixirs and medicines. As long as it was outstanding, they would win acceptance into the sect.
Wuxie lowered her eyes, this seemingly simple test was in fact to make it easier for the Elders to select suitable candidates to join their peaks.
The Elders of the eleven peaks were specialized in different fields of medicine, and their selection were usually based on candidates whose strengths aligned with theirs.
Mu Chen was specialized in the nurturing and development of veins and arteries, while Ke Cangju portrayed his expertise as the planting and cultivation of medicinal herbs.
Wuxie decided on entering Mu Chen's Cloud Treading Peak, and would naturally display her expertise on veins and arteries.
'Hey, have you decided on which peak you want to go to?' Qiao Chu noticed that Wuxie had been silent and bumped his elbow against Wuxie's.
'Dunno who's who up there.' said Wuxie as the test began.
When the final test started, most of the youths gave it everything they had, wishing they could show off everything they've learnt all their lives to the Qingyun Sect's Sovereign and Elders. Some recited from medical classics, some pointed out the various acupressure points on paintings of the human body they had brought along, and some presented elixirs that they had supposedly concocted themselves...
There were all kinds of presentations, made in many varied ways. Very soon, it became just like a fish market.
'This is bad.' said Wuxie.
'Bad in what way?' Qiao Chu asked her.
'Look at the elders.' said Wuxie as Qiao Chu did so.
Qin Yue and the others frowned, and as the situation got more and more rowdy, the frowns on their faces grew deeper and deeper.
'Yikes, hope we're not gonna be thrown out when we're not even rowdy!' Qiao Chu shuddered. 'Let's present in a more, mature way...'
'What a fracus! Do not get me involved in things like this ever again. If there are any that catches your eye, bring them back with you, and get the rest off the mountain.' Qin Yue could not stand to see anymore of the childish behaviours and the absence of talents among them, and stormed off in a huff.
Qin Yue was usually absent from the monthly recruitment on the fifteenth of each month, and came infrequently just to watch. And every time that he came, he had always stormed off like he did today.
Mu Chen watched with cold eyes as Qin Yue left, a sneer at the corners of his mouth.
Qin Yue was as diplomatic as he always was. The good ones among the applicants had already been spotted by Qin Yue before they even entered the mountain and secretly brought within the Qingyun Sect. He would not have any interest in these 'leftover' applicants here, and was rushing back to see and assess his new recruits.
The show he put up today here, was for the benefit of the Elders.
Mu Chen turned his eyes back to the front and looked at the applicants with neither pity nor compassion.
It was not their fault that the youths were blinded by their enthusiasm and exuberance, but it became their fault if they were blinded by it and did not use their brains, showing the lack of intelligence. These youths are just anxious to show off, without knowing what the Qingyun Sect was looking for.
Just as Mu Chen was losing interest as well, he noticed something interesting.
A tiny petite figure was standing in the midst of the crowd, observing everyone around him with a deadpan stare, looking as if he wanted nothing to do with this crowd. The exasperation emanating from those eyes, was amusing. He talked to his friend who was just as nervous before both worked in a professional manner in hopes to appeal.
For no apparent reason, Mu Chen found his interest stoked. Maybe it was the strange personality, or it might be the eyes, but they all just made Mu Chen feel, that that petite youth was different from the others.
As if the youth had felt his gaze, the youth raised his head and looked Mu Chen straight into his eyes and looked sheepish before going back to his work.
It brought a small smile on his face.
Now what will that youth make, he wonders?
He gathered some herbs.
However, he took out a personalized furnace from his pack, as well as some herbs from the first trial.
No firewood but uses his own ki to refine pills!
That got him and his fellow elders whispering as the madhouse below paused because of ki usage by the kid, and a good aroma can be smelled. The scent was akin to that of a Grade 2 pill.
Upon opening his furnace, were golden pills.
'...what is that? That's a type we've never seen before.' he couldn't help, but ask. At least he saw what herbs were used by the youth and he was sure the other elders were too busy looking at the noisier lot and missed this tiny prize's actions.
'Oh, its my own work, Flesh-Recovery Pill.' said Wuxie respectfully. 'Unlike most pills that need to be swallowed, this needs to be melted into water and applied on the wound. When mixed with water, it becomes a creamy substance. It even works on deep injuries though you have to pour it in. Mild discomfort will be felt during recovery, like someone poured juices of hot spices into the wound,' that got much of the listeners green at the idea, '-as the body metabolizes the medicine to heal from within. But after half a day, not even a scar will remain.' she said. 'I needed resources in hopes to make it reach Grade 9 so its instant physical healing so I came here. Where I'm from, Grade 2 is as far as I can go due to lack of funds.'
Lies.
She figured out Grade 9 Formula AGES ago, and made tons of suplies, but alas, play dumb!
'Wow, with a pill like that, any job that gets hurt a lot would purchase from you a lot!' Qiao Chu croaked out, amazed. 'How much are you gonna sell it for?'
'Depends on what its made out of. This Grade 2 thing here will be worth 50 gold coins. Grade 1 half that.'
'Heeee...'
'Anyway you present now!'
'Oh! Right right...'
The elders were now arguing on who to have Wuxie. The kid can refine without fire, uses his own ki and invented his own pill and made it on the spot, an unheard of revolution while other candidates presented ready-made pills they claimed they refined...but they always have a way to sort out liars.
Now this got some hopefuls nervous.
'Mm. Anyone willing to refine as a demonstration?' an elder called out, and this got some applicants inwardly nervous, and cursing Wuxie in their hearts, while others performed without hesitation and with confidence.
Though they needed to use fire and wood to make their pills...there's no way they can do what 'that kid' just did and not know the results!
The others showed off their medical knowledge...
The demonstrations ended and order was made to line up. However, a short, ugly old man walked forward first, and much of the elders glared at him.
Among those he picked, was Wuxie and Qiao Chu who revealed his specialty in herbs...
xxx
Wuxie was horrified.
HOW did this happen?
This old man was Ke Cangju!
The Death Elder!
Grrr, not if she kills him first, dagnabit!
From afar, her bodyguard was horrified.
"Master's gonna go on a killing spree!"
He inwardly cursed the privileged old man. Really!
Now he must keep little miss safe!
And so, on the trek to Hidden Cloud Peak...
The Hidden Cloud Peak was the second largest among the twelve peaks, after the Sovereign Qin Yue's, and it boasted a large surface area. Upon entering the Hidden Cloud Peak, fog hung heavily in the air, and dense forests stood on both sides shrouded in the fog. Peering into the fog, beds of herbs that were planted lining both sides of the path could faintly be seen.
The Hidden Cloud Peak was well known to people externally to specialize in the planting and cultivation of herbs. It was even said, the one could find every single rare herb in the world within the Hidden Cloud Peak.
For Wuxie's sob-story, it would have been a great boon as she claimed she wanted to create a Grade 9 pill of her creation for instant physical flesh-healing for her research.
But in reality, it's not!
Qiao Chu looked at her horrified expression in concern.
She told him that there was a 'death peak' and she clearly knew what it was, just never spoke of it openly to avoid trouble. A peak where a lot of deaths occur.
He has to keep his guard up.
From around them were other youths picked by Ke Cangju. They were clearly the hopeless ones from earlier and can only glare at Wuxie resentfully.
However she was no pushover as she can clearly fight despite her small size, and strong enough to break bone.
They can only grit their teeth in jealousy at this talented youngster who outshone them and they were older than 'he'!
The youths had been jittery ever since they've entered the Hidden Cloud Peak. When they saw the expansive beds of a multitude varieties of herbs everywhere around them, they became overcome with awe. They started to look around for rare herbs that they had heard of, exclaiming loudly as they identified them, seemingly trying their best to impress the Hidden Cloud Peak disciple of their 'wide knowledge'.
Besides childish and moronic, Wuxie could not find any other words to describe these lambs on their way to slaughter.
The Hidden Cloud Peak disciple led them to their living quarters after signing up their names. The Hidden Cloud Peak lived up to its name as the second largest peak. The disciples' living quarters were extremely spacious and a scattering of several disciples were walking across the huge courtyard with their heads lowered, showing no interest in the new batch of junior fellow disciples just accepted into Hidden Cloud Peak.
The disciples of the Hidden Cloud Peak were well treated, and each disciple was assigned an individual room. Not even disciples of Qin Yue himself enjoyed such privileges in their living quarters. In Qing Yun Clan, besides for Elders and the privileged few specially granted by the Sovereign himself, a single room was usually shared by two or three disciples.
Walking into their own rooms, the group of youths were laughing at the luxurious quarters they were to enjoy, silently thinking their fortunes had really turned around.
Wuxie's room was next to Qiao Chu's, situated at the northern edge of the quarters. Their rooms were next to a pond and it was decorated with artificial mountains, and it looked rather elegant.
Sitting on a chair in the room, Wuxie's eyes scanned the room. The beddings were new, although they were of rather bad quality, they were at least clean. She had not sat down for long before a slight frown appeared on her face.
A light familiar scent of blood swirled below her nose. The smell was very faint, almost too faint to be noticed. If not for her doctored keen sense of smell, she would not have noticed it at all.
Following the hated scent, Wuxie came to stand before the table next to the bed. The paint on a corner of the table was new, its color a slightly brighter shade than the rest. Wuxie retrieved a small dagger from her cloth bag and scraped off the paint in that corner. The orange paint flaked off bit by bit and the original wood was revealed. Looking at it closely, within the wood itself, it was stained with the darker shade of blood. The bloodstain looked rather recent when blood had dripped on the table and seeped into the wood staining it a dark shade of red, and it was impossible to wash off.
"This is interesting." Wuxie sat back on the chair and stared at the carelessly covered bloodstain and her cold eyes flashed.
The Hidden Cloud Peak was as dangerous as she had heard. The previous occupant of this room did not die too long ago, or the scent of blood would have completely dissipated.
Ke Cangju accepted a large number of disciples on the fifteenth of every month. But she had secretly observed earlier within the living quarters of the disciples, there were less than two hundred of them when added up. According to Ke Cangju's acceptance of thirty disciples every month, the numbers did not add up, not even when you multiply it by ten.
Judging from Ke Cangju's way of accepting disciples this time round, he had accepted her and Qiao Chu openly, but he had also secretly got his disciples to gather almost another thirty rejected candidates after the assessment and brought them back to the Hidden Cloud Peak.
If Ke Cangju had done it the same way all this while, others would not see anything suspicious about the Hidden Cloud Peak.
After all, from what many on the outside can see, the Hidden Cloud Peak did not have that many disciples.
All traces of their existence were erased, they were thorough in their deceit.
'Miss. This is bad luck.' she heard a voice whisper.
'I know. Ke Cangju gets his first pick and everyone hates his guts.' Wuxie mused. 'Get his background as to why nobody can defy him. This is too weird. And just incase, do NOT eat anything made in the peaks. Just go get us something from the woods. Food and water to be on the safe side.'
'Yes miss.' and the presence is gone.