Chapter 16

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Chapter 16: Changyi

This little world crafted by the jade phoenix was really quite ingenious.

A luscious field of grass laid in the front with a charming grove and a babbling brook, the wooden cabin sat in the middle, and a small pool of unknown depth was in the back, full of lotus flowers in bloom.

Ji Yunhe had intended to carry the jiaoren into the cabin, but after seeing the pool out back, she was overjoyed.

"Big-tailed fish, would you heal faster in water?"

"Yes."

She carried him directly to the back, turned around, and threw him into the pool.

Although he looked delicately pretty, his size was quite massive. The toss created a huge splash that doused Ji Yunhe with water, soaking her. A rainbow appeared within the lingering mist in the air.

Ji Yunhe looked through the rainbow and watched as his tail arched out of the surface then gracefully sank in. It was as smooth in the water as it was clumsy on land.

He was finally in his most natural form. Ji Yunhe felt no matter what the reason was, he should never be plundered out onto the shore.

The jiaoren flipped and tossed a few times in the pool. The saying "like a fish in water" was a perfect reflection of him right now.

"Is the water here suitable for you?" Ji Yunhe asked.

He emerged from the surface. "No issues, thank you very much." He answered Ji Yunhe's question seriously and earnestly, but she no longer cared about what he was saying. After being moistened by the water, his ice blue eyes emitted a jewel-like sparkle, and the long silver hair was plastered on his well-defined body. Alluring in a way that was both unattainable and extremely seductive.

"Big-tailed fish," Ji Yunhe looked at him and said, "no wonder Princess Shunde wanted you so badly. Too much of a good thing!" (Meaning when someone has too much of something desirable, it becomes a burden and brings him harm.)

The jiaoren's face sank slightly upon hearing that name.

Ji Yunhe saw his expression and grew curious. Due to the vastness of the ocean, the jiaoren species was very rarely seen. Humans were not designed for the underwater world while every drop of it existed at a jiaoren's command. So…

"How exactly did you get caught by Princess Shunde?" Ji Yunhe asked him. "You can come and go freely in the sea, not even the fastest ships in the world can catch up. And even if they do, you can just sink down into the depths..."

The jiaoren remained silent. His tail swayed in the water, forming ripples across the surface.

"Very few jiaoren have been caught and brought out onto the shore. Either they were injured and got washed up by the waves, or they were tricked and lured out. Which one were you?"

"Neither."

"Then how did you get caught? According to the books, the tail symbolizes a jiaoren's power and status. I see that you have such a big one, you... should be a nobleman or even royalty, right?"

He did not deny it. "I saved her."

"Saved who?"

"Your Princess Shunde."

Ji Yunhe was a little surprised by this answer.

"That day, the sea was windy and the waves were high. Your man-made ship was smashed to pieces and she fell into the water. I saved her and carried her back to the shore."

"And then what happened? You didn't leave right away?"

"When we reached the shore, there were already hundreds of men searching for her. She immediately ordered them to capture me."

"But..." Ji Yunhe was still confused, "even so, you were close enough to the sea where you could just turn around and swim away, who caught you?"

His eyes grew colder. "The Grand Master."

Ji Yunhe had nearly forgotten that Princess Shunde and the current emperor were siblings of the same mother. The former emperor really favored Concubine De and had specifically asked the Grand Master to teach both of her kids.

The current emperor did not have a hidden pulse, so he's a disciple in name only. Princess Shunde, on the other hand, did.

In fact, she was the only one among royalty with a true double pulse, and the sole personal disciple of the Grand Master. She held tremendous power in the court.

The imperial rule was a world of both the Dragon and the Phoenix.

If she had gotten lost at sea, the Grand Master was bound to personally go search...

What terrible luck that this jiaoren, out of all the people in the world, had to save a person like her...

She sighed and looked at him, then teased, "See? Blindly saving humans… regret it now?"

The jiaoren nodded honestly with a "mhm."

"Next time, will you still recklessly save someone?"

He went silent and seemed to be seriously considering her question. After thinking for a long time, he asked, "How do you know if you are recklessly saving someone?"

This philosophical question caught Ji Yunhe by surprise. She also thought for a long time, then said, "I do not know. Maybe it is better to save haphazardly. Just go with your mood, as fate will have it. Do what you want to do, and then take the consequences."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

Simple, brutal, direct, and clear.

He accepted it. "You're right." The jiaoren looked at Ji Yunhe from the pool. "I am fond of you. I want to know your name."

It was the first time Ji Yunhe had heard such words from a demon.

She walked through the faint rainbow in the air, squatted down by the water, and stared into his beautiful eyes. "My surname is Ji, the Chinese character for discipline. First name is Yunhe." ("Yun" is the Chinese character for clouds, and "he" is the sprout of a plant such as rice or wheat)

"Nice name, but Ji means discipline?"

Ji Yunhe nodded, "Is this surname inappropriate?"

"This surname does not suit you," the jiaoren said. "I saw it in the prison. You do not believe in human methods of discipline."

Ji Yunhe smiled at his words, and found this fish more likeable than ever.

"You are right. Not only do I disagree with our human methods of discipline, I also disagree with many things about us humans. But we do not get to choose our surnames. We can only follow our fathers. Although, I don't even know what mine looked like anymore..."

"Your father's surname does not suit you."

Ji Yunhe grew curious. "Then what do you think is the right surname for me?"

"You should have the surname Wind."

"Feng Yunhe?" Ji Yunhe smacked her lips for a moment. "It sounds terrible. Why?" ("Feng" is the spoken sound for the word wind, also the word crazy)

"You should be as free and unrestrained as the wind."

The flirtatious smile on Ji Yunhe's face gradually faded away.

She did not expect the greatest desire hidden deep inside her heart over the years would be bluntly called out by a jiaoren that she had barely met.

Ji Yunhe was silent for a bit, then said, "Oh you… " She slowly reached toward him with a retracted finger and a half smile on her face. He remained still and did not dodge her. Pop! Without holding back, she flicked him loud and clear in the center of his beautiful forehead.

"Can't tell if you have great wisdom hiding under a simple facade, or if you are just a simple simple simpleton!"

The jiaoren took the flick without a blink, but he was a bit confused. "It's fine if you do not like this name. But why do you hit me?"

Ji Yunhe stood up, stretched lazily and mumbled, "Beating is kissing and scolding is loving, that is the rule among us humans."

The jiaoren furrowed his brows, a rare sight. "Humans are so strange."

Ji Yunhe waved her hand and turned away again. "You get a good soak, I'll go see if there's a way out of this formation."

Ji Yunhe left the cabin. This Ten Square Formation took away her spiritual power and suppressed the jiaoren's demonic energy, so logically there should not be any magic here. And magic was the source of all transformations. But this strange little piece of paradise…

It proved that even though the jade phoenix could not use magic to escape, she was able to use magic to craft things. The location of this crater must be somehow channeling a bit of the energy flow from outside… though not much.

If there was power, then there was a way out. The jade phoenix could not escape because the seal was in perfect condition. But now that it had been broken once already by Li Shu, a demon master and a big-tailed fish together would surely be able to break it again.

Just needed to find the source of the flow of energy.

Ji Yunhe convinced herself.

But she searched the crater again and again, pulling up almost every root of grass, and still could not find the source. She felt disheartened.

This place had no day and night, just a faint golden light all the time. But judging by the level of physical fatigue, Ji Yunhe deducted that she had been rummaging for over twenty-four hours.

There was nothing to be found.

Although they were now isolated from the outside world, she was still very concerned about the situation out there.

Whether the jade phoenix was still fighting the demon masters, or if Snow March had been safely taken away. If their fight was over and the Demon Valley reestablished order, she and the jiaoren would not end well even if they were to escape this Ten Square Formation.

They would never get another chance to leave, and if Lin Canglan found out she had stolen the antidotes… It spelled death for her.

Ji Yunhe returned to the cabin exhausted. She intended to say hi to the jiaoren then rest for a bit, but when she got to the pool, he was nowhere to be found.

She stood on the shore and called out several times, "Big-tailed fish!" She did not get a response.

Had that fish found his own exit and ran away?

From this pool of water?

Ji Yunhe pulled her head together, got down on all fours and peeked beneath the surface.

The pool was crystal clear but bottomless, she could see nothing but a pitch black abyss down below. The lotus flowers seemed to only grow on the surface with no roots or stems.

Ji Yunhe strained to see into the darkness when she suddenly saw a glimmer.

In a blink, the huge lotus shaped fish tail stirred the abyss and the jiaoren appeared, his body swimming through the water like a dragon. He came up quickly, but was gentle when breaking the surface.

His face slowly emerged from the crystal clear pool like a water god, and stopped inches away from Ji Yunhe.

She stared into his eyes, a bit spellbound. "Hey, big-tailed fish, I do not know your name yet."

The jiaoren's eyes were clear and pure like always, with no signs of disturbance even this close to her face. "My name, in your language, is Changyi."

Changyi… ("Chang" translates as everlasting, and "yi" is the Chinese character associated with any state of mind such as thoughts, memories, expectations, beliefs, emotions...etc.)

This name was like the sigh when Ji Yunhe first saw him in the water.

She felt like he too should forever sway that big tail of his leisurely in the sea, happy and free.

Ji Yunhe believed from the bottom of her heart that he should regain his freedom.

No longer because of sympathy, but because only the ocean, that which could accommodate a thousand mountains and rivers, was worthy of him.

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