THE BLUE WHISPER 驭鲛记

Chapter 81: Alone

Half a month later.

The plum blossoms in the courtyard had mostly fallen and been replaced by new sprouts. Aji finally stopped eating and growing like crazy, and could now properly control the art of transformation.

Unexpectedly, when she stood before Lin Haoqing with the proper body of a man, he told her, "Good, it's time for you to leave."

Siyu quickly turned around and packed some things without saying a word, then handed Aji a bag. "Aji, it's time for you to head south."

Aji looked at the bag, then looked up at them, then changed back to her original form. Lin Haoqing frowned and she immediately transformed into her male body again. "Master, aren't you guys coming with me?"

"I still have unfinished business. From now on, you are on your own." Lin Haoqing looked at Aji's dumbfounded face and continued, "Remember what I told you. No Northlands, no capital, no true face, and no spiritual power."

Aji nodded. "I remember everything. But master... why can't I go with you?"

"Aji, be good." Siyu gently touched her on the head. "We're not trying to leave you behind, but we're going somewhere that you can't go."

Aji did not understand. "I can't go? Then are you going to the Northlands? Or the capital?"

Lin Haoqing responded before Siyu, "You don't need to know, take your things and go south."

"I..." Aji clutched her bag and became even more at a loss. "But where should I go... What should I do..."

Lin Haoqing stared at her for a while then walked up to her. He grabbed her shoulders and started pushing her toward the exit. Once there, he exerted a bit more force and she was shoved out the door. Only then did Aji hear Lin Haoqing whisper in her ear.

"You'll always find somewhere to go and something to do."

The voice was flat like always, but Aji felt a hint of tenderness.

When she turned her head anxiously to take a second look at Lin Haoqing, the door had already slammed shut behind her.

She bumped her nose on it and rubbed a face full of dirt.

Aji stood at the door for a long time with her bag in her arms. She nervously thought back over the past few days. Had she made a mistake and upsetted him?

She squatted at the door for half a day, then knocked on it. No response. She boldly pushed it open and barged in...

The courtyard was quiet and cool. Wilted plum blossoms covered the ground, adding a bit of sorrow to the atmosphere.

But in half a day's time, the entire place had been emptied out.

She stood there for a while then turned and left. The moment she stepped out of the plum grove, the trees behind her turned into a mass of flowers, rustling and blowing into the sky until they vanished from sight. There had never been a plum grove here, just a most ordinary field of grass.

She felt empty, as if she had suddenly turned into a rootless weed coming from nowhere. No parents and no past, just a body full of mystery that no one could answer. She mysteriously came, mysteriously grew, and was mysteriously left alone...

With no one to rely on, she embarked on the journey south.

Hopefully she would get to see some nice scenery.