THE BLUE WHISPER 驭鲛记

Chapter 13: Like a God

        The black iron cage was unbreakable, but luckily, the stone wall where the cage bars were lodged into was not as strong.

        Ji Yunhe chipped away at the rocks with her sword and made a hole without much effort. Some of the gravel and dust rolled into the abyss, others fell inside the cage. Ji Yunhe peeked through the hole and saw the jiaoren had not moved at all. He casually sat there with his tail spread out, and did not bother to even brush off all the dust that had landed on him.

        He held his head up and watched Ji Yunhe with a look that was part assessment, part curiosity, but mostly a waveless calm. 

        Here she was working up a sweat and her face was covered in dirt, yet he looked completely at ease. She felt a bit humorous.

        "The emperor does not know anxiety. Big-tailed fish, do you want to come out or not?" (This is part of the Chinese proverb "The emperor does not know anxiety, the eunuchs do." It describes a situation where a person directly involved with the issue shows no concern while those who are not involved stress out instead.)

        The jiaoren tilted his head and looked a bit confused. He seemed to be wondering what Ji Yunhe was doing.

        Ji Yunhe sighed and thought this guy might look beautiful and powerful, but his brain was perhaps a bit dull...

        That was why he got caught, right?

        "Forget it." Ji Yunhe got down and stretched her hand into the hole she had made. "Come, I'll pull you out."

        He still did not move.

        When Ji Yunhe started to suspect maybe he did not want to go, the jiaoren finally shifted his tail.

        The huge lotus-like tailfin brushed the rocks on the floor and propped up his body. A draft of air moved out from under him.

        The fine air ruffled Ji Yunhe's hair and water droplets fell from the walls of the cliff.

        A drop brushed against her cheek and landed onto his tail.

        In an instant, the scales began glowing with a captivating luster.

        Then, as if riding the water droplets, he floated up into the air. His tail swayed gracefully behind him as he began “swimming" toward her.

        Ji Yunhe, with her hand still stretched out, froze.

        He looked too beautiful.

        The jiaoren slowly approached her outstretched hand, but he did not hold out his hand to greet it. Instead, his cheek was the first to make contact with her fingers.

        He did not want to hold hands with her so he flew directly for the exit. Touching her fingers was an accident. But it made Ji Yunhe feel as if she had touched the face of a god... And she was being a bit...

        … disrespectful?

        Ji Yunhe quickly withdrew her arm and straightened her body.

        The jiaoren exited the cage and hovered in mid air with his tail shimmering. His ice blue eyes quietly stared at her.

        She felt a bit hypnotized. His aura looked so holy and pure.

        Ji Yunhe had not noticed it when he was half dead in the prison, but standing before him now, she almost felt... unworthy.

        Books and scrolls often documented beautiful demons worshipped by people because of their god-like appearances. She herself had dealt with tens of thousands of demons throughout the years. But not one of them could compare with him.