The last step proved to be the most difficult, already slick with water, and it wasn't even flat. So it was no surprise to Wei Ying that he slipped and would have fallen into the fast current, had he not been caught abruptly.

"Thank you," he shouted above the noise of the water to his benefactor.

The man only let go after Wei Ying was securely on solid ground. Wei Ying bowed first, trying to remember if this was the man he had seen in his dreams.

"Who are you?" The man asked him, with some difficulty with the pronunciation.

"My name is Wei WuXian. Birth name Wei Ying. May I ask who you are? I'm looking for someone but I'm not sure if it's you."

"Chen Song." He replied, studying Wei Ying closely. "I have not spoken to anyone in hundreds of years, but you and one other." Having decided something, he added, "come with me."

Wei Ying followed him down a narrow path that lead to higher ground. A natural cave opened up, hidden behind carefully placed greenery. Inside the cave, it split into two, one way leading to the very loud waterfall, Wei Ying presumed, and the other to another cavern, at the mouth of which a fire burned.

He made Wei Ying sit down next to it and began to tend to his wound. Wei Ying was full of questions but since he was shivering so much, he waited.

Chen Song was dressed in plain simple clothes. His face seemed molded by the elements, weather worn and tough looking but he seemed kind nevertheless. If he was looking after his injury, how bad could he be? In his mind, he could already hear Jiang Cheng's voice disputing his logic.

"Hungry?" He asked Wei Ying.

"No, thank you. But if you wouldn't mind answering some questions?"

Chen Song sat a little away from him. "You shouldn't stay here long, it's not a good place."

"Do you know how I came here?"

He scratched his chin, thinking, and then as he realized the possibility, his face brightening. "Did you...is it the mirror? Yangsui?"

Wei Ying nodded. "Are you the leader of the Peach farmers?"

His face fell straight away.

"What's wrong?" Wei Ying asked him, gently.

"There's not many of us left now. Hardly half of those that came originally."

"How so? I thought you had all gained immortality?"

"What use is unlimited life at the cost of sanity?" He replied sadly.

"Please tell me what happened."

"We were cursed by the Jade Emperor, no less. Of course his punishment would be no ordinary one. How do you know of us? As Peach farmers?"

Wei Ying told him about his dream.

"Ah, yes. I think we suitably managed to burst a blood vessel for him that day. I've never seen him so angry. And if I knew what he would do, I never would have gone down that path. I cannot tell you how painful it was."

"I heard you," Wei Ying said quietly. It wasn't something easily forgotten.

"Not just for me. I forever regret my decision, especially how it affected everyone else." He poked the fire. "This place, something evil was here before us, waiting."

"What do you mean?" Was there another problem to fix here?

"At first, we tried to grow food, being farmers by nature. But the land proved unyielding. We couldn't die but we were still hungry, what kind of sickness is that? We soon ran out of vegetation, wild berries and the like. But the situation did not improve. Soon days passed by without any sustenance. Slowly, they began hallucinating, imagining all the things they wished to eat.
The illness grew imperceptibly, until they resorted to killing each other with anything they could find." He wiped a tear. "It's my fault. I caused this."

Wei Ying thought it was insensitive to agree with him so instead, he asked, "why did you do it? You must have known that there would be consequences to the stealing of sacred fruit. Especially from the orchard of the Queen mother."

"I have watched generations of families die, looking after those peaches. It became harder and harder not to do anything." He sighed, defeated.

"Why do you think you are unaffected?" This had been bugging him more than anything.

"I don't know if it's a small mercy or another way to punish me further, at this point. Why have you come here?" His gaze was suddenly shrewd.

"I have a solution for you." Wei Ying didn't want to go into a lengthy explanation, already mindful of how much time must have passed. He pulled out the pouch from his robes and handed it over.

The man sniffed it suspiciously, as recognition clouded his features. "What is this? Who gave it to you?"

"A mutual friend, I hope. He Xiang Gu."

"But why?" He was confused.

"I'm not sure, but I would imagine, like me, they thought it was time to set you free. She said you would know what to do with this."

Chen Song smiled, opening the pouch. Wei Ying shifted forward, wanting to see what was inside. Fine silvery grains sifted between his fingers, an iridescent shine glinting off the powder.

"This...this is a special gift. It allows the person blessed with it to take any form." He turned to fully face Wei Ying, tears in his eyes overflowing. "Thank you, thank you! I cannot convey to you how much this means to us."

Wei Ying patted his shoulder kindly.

"Does the Jade Emperor know?"

"I'm not sure," he hedged around the question.

"But, what if he decides to punish you?" He looked worriedly at him. "I'm only saying this because I know what it's like. We are not worth that kind of trouble."

Wei Ying sucked in a breath at that. "Every life is valuable. You cannot think that way. Besides," he grinned. "What if he never finds out? I'm a big believer in taking things as they come."

He stood up and remembered something. "You said you only spoke to me and one other?"

"Yes. The other is," he shuddered. "Naturally violent by nature."

"Can you take me to him? Do you know where he is?"

"Yes. Follow me."