LXXI: Heading Out

As Judith made her way through the castle, heading for Qui Lin, she gleefully munched away at her loaf of bread, ever happy for having something to eat. The more she munched, the more she thought on Tsai.

Tsai didn't know it, but the more time Judith spent with her, the happier she was for having her around. Most of Judith's life had been lived in isolation, apart from people she was acquainted with for one reason or the other, she never had anyone by her side, not since her mother died.

She had thought this theme would be something that recurred in this world as well, because Sarah was likewise solitary for a good chunk of the novel. And yet here she was, having someone that — did not exactly make all her troubles go away — but really helped Judith's state of mind by her presence alone. Which was good enough.

As she thought on Tsai, she wondered if bringing her here was the right thing to do. She knew her presence wouldn't impact the world in anyway she couldn't predict, but what if she was wrong? What if her mere presence here alone would cause a string of events to unravel in ways Judith never even imagined.

This thought had frightened her, but when she remembered that if she had left Tsai behind, she would be dead. So in other words, she definitely did not make a mistake, even if her decision would cause a butterfly effect, then so be it.

Shaking her head, Judith took another huge bite out of the loaf and when she turned a corner, she suddenly bumped into a person she never heard coming.

With her mouth full, Judith muffled her words as she spoke, "I'm suwer, I didun't shee wer I wass goin." Judith said, bowing her head. She bowed because she had caught a glimpse of the person's clothing and found his garments was one of noble degree. And right now, she really didn't want to get under anyone's radar...more than she already was.

As she bowed, she began to chew very fast, so the food in her mouth would dissolve.

"Let me see your face." The noble said, which made Judith feel uneasy.

'Crap, did I upset him?' Judith wondered, then swallowed at once. Before raising her head like she was ordered to.

Upon raising her head and meeting the noble's gaze, Judith's eyes widened. Because she knew who was standing before her. He was tall, wide, almost muscular and very young for a Councilman. He was forty years old but did not look a day over thirty, because he was quite handsome. And his long hair and neatly groomed and packed beard only accentuated how handsome he was. But the most standout feature of his and the thing that made Judith know who he was in an instant, were his two very differently colored eyes.

On the right, he was sporting a normal black pupil, but on the left, his pupil was white, making him look like a demon of some sort. And his incredible height did not help matters.

This man who stood before Judith was named Minzu Wuxia, and he was one of the main antagonists of the novel and the one leading the half of the Council that hated the King. Striking Sky as they had come to name themselves.

Minzu Wuxia was a terrible fiend in that he massacred hundreds of thousands.

As Judith stared at him, she couldn't wrap her head around the fact that the author of her novel liked this man. No matter how the author tried to frame it, saying his reasons were somewhat honorable, Judith always despised him because she never believed that what he did was right. The means does not justify the end, and that was something Judith firmly believed in.

Staring at him, Wuxia stared back, analyzing her. He was running his eyes through her body, and was drawn to how ample she was, but never let himself to think anything vulgar. Removing his sights from her, he just kept silent and made his way forward.

Once he was out of hearing range, Judith let out a sigh of relief and couldn't be happier that she was nowhere near him.

For a moment she turned to face him, or rather, she turned to face the direction in which he walked through. But he had already disappeared into another corner.

As she stared at the path he strode, she wondered to herself where he was going by this time. Of course Judith did not need to worry about anything, because she knew all his plans and when he would strike, but she still found herself curious.

And as her curiosity grew, a pit rose in her stomach when she heard the words 'Butterfly effect' ring in her mind.

Shaking the thought off, she continued forward, and did her best to forget what had just happened.

***

Judith stood in front of a statue, one of many that lined this hallway, which was situated on the North side of the castle, the complete opposite of where Qui Lin's and even her room was situated.

Judith came here right after she had checked on Qui Lin, she found that Qui Lin had returned home, but she didn't dare to check any further. Mostly because she was afraid of being mistaken for an assailant and have herself burned to ashes.

So after confirming Qui Lin was asleep, Judith made her way to this side of the castle, where something, that she needed hid in plane sight.

As she stared at the statue of a boar, she couldn't help but wonder about the design choice behind having several statues of a slew of animals lining up in this hall, but she didn't really care. It's not like she was the one who wrote the book.

Heading to the back of the statue, Judith found a row of symbols carved into the square cube that the boar stood above. The symbols were carvings of five different animals, or creatures.

They first was a dragon, then a lion, a bear, a griffin and lastly, a serpent.

Hovering her hands over the symbols, Judith moved her hand to the dragon, and then pressed down. After which she counted for three seconds before moving her hand to the serpent and pressed down. Once again she counted for three seconds before going to the griffin and pressing on it. She repeated this counting of three seconds for the rest of the symbols she pressed, which was lion and lastly bear.

After pressing all the symbols in this order, a small rumble reverberated into Judith's ears. At once, she erected herself and turned. Before her very eyes, the wall began to move and within a second, it slid open, revealing a room on the other side.

"No turning back now." Judith said, then took a step forward and entered the room.