Chapter 79: Aji

A full moon over the land. The distant mountains were covered with snow, and the nearby lake was frozen solid with ice. It emitted an eerie blue glow under the moonlight, chilling but beautiful.

A man in black walked alone on the surface of the frozen lake. He came to a stop where the ice looked as ordinary as anywhere else. His hand reached out from his cloak with a sword and slashed down.

He took two steps back and watched as the ice in front of him slowly broke apart and cracked into a web like pattern, revealing the water below.

The eyes inside the cloak looked into the depths. A faint glow could be seen at the bottom. He dived in. The water pushed back his cloak and uncovered his face.

Lin Haoqing. He headed for the faint glow in the darkness where the moonlight did not shine, finally landing his feet at the bottom of the lake. With a pinch of magic in his hand, light from his fingertips lit up the surroundings. It also illuminated what looked like a woman frozen under layers of blue ice.

The water was clear and transparent, so this little bit of light was enough for him to see her face and the pearl next to her cheek. A jiaoren's tear...

Lin Haoqing pulled out his sword again and stabbed into the ice. It went in deeper and deeper until it touched her abdomen, then he thrust forward until the tip of the sword touched something deep inside her.

He pulled the sword out. The blue ice healed itself and sealed the gap, isolating her body again from the surrounding water. Lin Haoqing looked at his sword. A round, black object now sat at the tip, as if her body had formed a black capsule.

Lin Haoqing carefully collected the capsule and turned to leave. Then, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the pearl shimmering next to her face with a dazzling luster...

It looked as if she was forever frozen in time, weeping. Did Ji Yunhe like to cry? He had known her since they were little, and had never seen her shed a single tear. Of course she did not like to cry...

Lin Haoqing pondered for a while.

.....

The small courtyard on the island had been shut down, and Changyi never went there again.

He moved back to where he was supposed to live, the main hall of the Demon Terrace. The Northlands had already been full of affairs for him to take care of, now with a large number of demon masters joining them, things became even more troublesome. Another report came from the dungeon today, stating that Lin Haoqing had escaped. Changyi rubbed his brow and waved the messenger off.

Kongming entered the study to an exhausted Changyi. He wanted to ask him how many days since he last slept, but on second thought, he already knew. Changyi had not closed his eyes ever since Ji Yunhe was sealed at the bottom of the lake. This fish did not dare to idle for even a moment.

"Lin Haoqing ran away, what do you want to do?" Kongming finally asked him.

"Get him back."

"One more thing." Kongming walked up and placed a letter on top of Changyi's desk.

"That princess in the capital has gone crazy." He paused then continued,

"Seeing the demon masters joining the north, she dumped large amounts of frost poison into the source of several major rivers."

Upon hearing the news, Changyi blinked slightly then turned to the monk. His bloodshot eyes made his blue pupils look purple, and black shadows gathered under his lids. He looked demonic and frightening.