Chapter 89

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Chapter 89: Molten Lava

Aji walked and walked with no signs of ever stopping. Changyi quietly followed her. He did not seem like he would say anything even if she were to walk all the way to the south.

They walked from the barren mountain tops to the lowlands with dead trees covered in snow and ice. Aji's feet were getting tired from walking, but the person behind her still had not said a word.

"Do you have nothing to do?" Aji sneaked a glance at Changyi. "I'm not trying to get rid of you, I'm just afraid of keeping you from your work. We've been walking around for a while now, why don't we go back?"

Either way it was hopeless to run away today…

"Walk some more."

His calm reply made Aji choke back everything else she had wanted to say, and just kept on walking. She felt both awkward and bored, so she shook some branches as she walked by a tree. The snow loosened and fell onto the head and shoulders of the one behind her.

He did not dodge it, so when Aji turned around, she saw him covered with snow.

They stared at each other and Aji broke out in laughter. "Your Highness, I really didn't mean to do that. I thought you were so mighty and powerful nothing could touch you."

Changyi coldly patted the snow off of his shoulders while Aji grinned at him.

Seeing her smile, he paused a bit then softened his gaze. The person in his memories rarely smiled like this in front of him, but if she were to display some happiness, her face should look similar.

Changyi's eyes turned deep and reminiscent, and Aji's smile grew awkward. Not knowing what the jiaoren was seeing in her again, she rubbed her face and continued to walk forward. "Your Highness, how much further do you want to go? I want to go back to the inn."

"Walk some more."

Still the same words.

Aji sighed and took another few steps. "There! Walked some more. Can we go back now? Great mighty lord master?"

"Keep going."

Aji could not take it anymore, she turned around to glare at Changyi. But looking at his cold face, "cannot beat him" flashed across her mind. Then she thought back over the past few days. The feeling of being constantly watched and being bullied right now overwhelmed her with frustration. Aji immediately sat onto the ground with her legs crossed. "No! I don't want to." She broke the broken pot and crossed her arms too. "No more walking."

"Okay, then sit for a while."

Changyi lifted the bottom of his robe and sat down too. He closed his eyes and started to meditate.

Aji stared at him at a loss.

This fish...

How was he this stubborn? Almost shamelessly...

Aji looked around and suddenly saw some steam swirling up from deep in the forest. She took a sniff and said, "Okay, you sit here. But I'm getting cold. There is a hot spring over there, I will go soak for a bit." Aji stood up.

Changyi opened his eyes, but Aji spoke again before he could respond. "Does Your Majesty want to come and soak with me?"

Her bold invitation startled him and he lowered his gaze. "Go by yourself."

Aji understood, and curled her lips into a smile.

He was just so so after all.

She walked in the direction of the steam while taking off her outer robe and throwing it onto the ground. Changyi looked at the robe. It was like a boundary that he was not allowed to step over.

Aji did not hear his footsteps behind her and felt amused. Had she known this jiaoren was so prim and proper, she would have used this to her advantage long ago.

But she did not plan on running again today. His senses were too keen. If he were to find out that she did not undress in the spring and went fleeing again, then she would have really destroyed all of her chances. Plus she was too tired from all the walking and felt lazy. Might as well avoid him for a while and relax in the spring.

Aji walked through the mist and saw three little pools had collected at the bottom of a ditch. She felt the water in each one and picked a favorite, then undressed herself and sat inside.

Resting her head against a large stone, she let out a relaxing sigh.

"Your Highness!" she raised her voice and called out to Changyi. "The water feels so good. There are still a couple of empty pools here, are you sure you don't want to come?"

She knew from her observation that the jiaoren would never come, so she deliberately said this to fluster him. "That's fine if you don't want a soak. But aren't you cold sitting there? Why don't you go take a walk. You like walking, right?"

Aji teased on. She was in such a good mood now that she splashed the water with her feet.

Glub glub. A couple of bubbles rose up and popped on the surface. Aji thought they were from her splashing around, so she did not pay too much attention. But then the bubbles grew more and more dense, and she stopped all movements.

The water continuously bubbled up and the temperature rose. It quickly became so hot that Aji shrieked in alarm and jumped out. She hopped around in the snow in agony, her skin already turning red and swollen. She grabbed her clothes and scolded while putting them on, "You unreasonable fish! You can't just cook me when you're upset!"

"What's wrong?" Changyi's voice was not loud but clear.

Aji barely finished putting on her under garment when the hot spring she was just soaking in suddenly burst into the sky with a loud boom. It then showered down and soaked her.

The wet fabric stuck itself to her body and made her shiver in the cold wind.

Sound of footsteps approached and she immediately wrapped the rest of her clothes around herself. "No, no, no!"

She saw him from the corner of her eye and tried desperately to cover herself. Then the outer robe she had thrown onto the ground earlier fell from the sky, completely enshrouding her. Aji settled down and finished dressing herself. After properly putting on the outer robe, she looked at him.

Changyi's gaze had not fallen on her even once. "It seems you are not as generous as you claim."

One sentence killed all of her joyous bantering from inside the pool.

Aji held back her anger and cast a spell to warm herself and dry her clothes, then glared at him. "You are so petty! Burning the pool just because you don't get to soak in it!"

"It wasn't me." He looked at the hot spring.

Aji also looked over and immediately froze.

After all the spring water was spewed out, the only bit left in the pool shriveled and dried. The smoke soon turned black and the smell became pungent and unbearable.

Then the scorched earth cracked open and bright red lava flashed between the gaps.

Aji blinked. "I actually took a bath in that..."

"Something is not right." As soon as Changyi's voice fell, the earth trembled and they both staggered. The snow capped mountain top silently broke apart and tumbled down, growing louder as it came closer… An avalanche…

But here in the deserted mountains, an avalanche would at most bury some trees. It posed no threat to the city below. Changyi pulled on Aji's robe and carried her up into the air with a leap.

From up there, however, the situation did not look so good...

"What is that…?" Aji asked.

They had not seen it from the ground, but beyond the forest, the snowfield looked as if it had been chopped apart and formed a gigantic red scar. Molten lava flowed out from deep under the earth's crust and branched in every direction. The little spring Aji had been soaking in was just one of its many extensions.

"Was that scar there before?" Aji asked. "Do you know?"

Changyi's eyebrows tightened. "I don't know." He then looked at her and said, "But I don't believe we've had molten lava before."

"Then, did my bath crack open the earth?" Aji said in disbelief. "Am I that powerful?"

"I didn't know you're that powerful either."

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