Blue Whisper

Chapter 55 - Littered with bones

Another year of heavy snowfall.

The world had been in chaos for a long time.

Ji Lisa could not remember how many days she had spent in prison. The rebellion in the north turned into a full-on war, and the encounters between the people of the "Bitter Cold State'' and the imperial court were so frequent that they no longer made news. The Grand Master lost interest and stopped talking about the victories and defeats.

He just read his books in prison every day. As long as Princess Shunde's life was not in danger, he refused to intervene.

Ji Lisa did not reject his companionship. If he did not come, no one else would. She also preferred having someone around because being alone in prison all day would be too suffocating.

"Grand Master." Ji Lisa knocked on the floor with a broken piece of wood out of boredom. "This winter is too cold; give me a fire pit, eh?"

The Grand Master flipped a page in his book and did not look at her.

Ji Lisa continued to knock on the floor. "Then when will you finish this book in your hand?" she asked. "I finished my last book a long time ago. Hurry up so you can give it to me, eh?"

"Finished the last book? I'll ask you a few questions, then I'll give you this one."

"Not again..."

Ji Lisa felt like this Grand Master who had wanted to mourn for the world was actually just a lonely old man who was a little introverted. Everyone was afraid of him, but Ji Lisa was more comfortable getting along with him than with Lin Dongwook or even Lin Mingyu.

Because she did not have to scheme in front of him. When faced with absolute power, all of her calculations were insignificant.

It allowed her to be herself.

"Ask then."

"First page, first line, the author wanted to 'walk among the green mist'. Where is the green mist?"

"Here."

The Grand Master raised his eyebrows.

Ji Lisa smiled and continued, "In the last book, 'Notes on the Heavenly South Kingdom', the author used her dream as a means to travel through the land. She wrote about its mountains and lakes, yet she kept chasing the footsteps of one person. That person in her dream was dressed in white, tall and slender, and unmatched by anyone, so she wanted to follow him to the end of the world. She indulged in her dream because of him, and eventually died in the dream."

She paused then continued, "What the author wanted to see was not the Heavenly South in her dream, and the person she wanted to find was not the shadow in her dream either. Just that this person was too unattainable in the real world. She preferred to stay asleep inside her dream until she exhausted her life than to wake up and face someone she could never get."

The Grand Master was silent.

"This book 'Notes on the Heavenly South Kingdom', and the book 'Notes on the Everlasting Water', and the 'Glorious Long Night', were all written by the same woman, right?" Ji Lisa peered at the Grand Master.

"How do you know it's a woman?"

"How? These pages are overflowing with longing and desire. How else would I know?"

Ji Lisa knocked on the floor with her wood. "In this book, the longing to be with one another is very strong, but the intentions are trapped by her writing style. Her use of words sometimes appears inappropriate. I enjoyed reading it very much, but it doesn't seem suitable for someone like the Grand Master. Could this book be written by..." Ji Lisa peeked at him.

"The love you lost."

The Grand Master was not ambiguous about it. "She wrote it." Then he looked at the book in his hand and said, "I made copies."

So he treasured the original books so much that he did not even want to touch them?

Ji Lisa sighed. "Since you liked each other this much, why didn't you two end up together?"

He gently stroked the page with his fingers. "Why else do you think I mourn for this world?"

Ji Lisa said, "I have not yet read the book in your hands, but from the previous ones I've read, even though she was troubled by unattainable desire, her love for the land, the heaven and earth, and the world in general was very apparent. Why do you..."

The Grand Master suddenly stood up before she finished.

Ji Lisa stopped talking. She saw the serious look on his face and dropped the wood she had been knocking against the floor. "Okay, I'll stop bothering you. You take your time with that book."

The Grand Master turned around to leave.

"What's the matter?"

"Ruling is in danger." The Grand Master's body transformed into a flash of white light and disappeared in an instant. The book in his hand fell to the ground with a plop.

Ji Lisa immediately shouted out, "Wait! Throw the book to me first! Hey!"

Her voice echoed twice in the empty prison, but the Grand Master was long gone.

Ji Lisa sat in the cell and stared at the book on the ground outside. She waited for the Grand Master to return.

And this wait lasted over ten days.

All the way to New Years.

The Grand Master's house was located in the capital. It was a quiet establishment sitting in the middle of the most prosperous part of the city. The scent of the New Year celebration could easily float into the prison.

In the previous years, even being at war with the Northlands, the New Year celebration never slacked. Red lanterns would light up the streets every night for a whole month, and fireworks would flash up in the sky.

Ji Lisa had been able to see the colors flashing even from inside her cell.

But this year, there was nothing.

Ji Lisa estimated that the New Year should be within a few days.

She waited, and what she finally saw was Princess Shunde storming in through the prison door.

She came barefoot, carrying a whip, and seemed to be wounded, walking with a limp even in the rush. A huge group of demon masters followed behind her.

Ji Lisa had not seen so many people for a long time. She looked at Princess Shunde and teased, "Princess, it's only been five and a half years since I last saw you; how come you look so sad?"

Princess Shunde did not say a word. She gave a look, and a demon master opened the cell door.

Ji Minho then finally managed to squeeze in through the large crowd.

"Princess! Princess! Master is still busy with the jade phoenix in the north!"

Jade Phoenix, Yeong-ro?

JiLia's eyes lit up. She finally showed up?

"... Maybe it won't be long before the master returns; why don't we wait until he's back?"

"This war is all because of this lowly slave! The good men of my country who died in battle were all killed because of her!" Princess Shunde's eyes were red with anger. "I can't rest until she's dead!"

Ji Lisa had a pretty good guess of what had happened.

Yeong-ro had come out in aid of the bitter cold ones, and the imperial court suffered a huge defeat. Even the princess injured her leg. This pulled the Grand Master out of his house and tied him up in the north.

The demon masters stepped into the cell with Princess Shunde.

Seeing that he could not stop her, Ji Minho gave Ji Lisa a look, then turned and left. He wanted to find a way to contact the Grand Master.

Ji Lisa stood up in tattered clothing and looked arrogantly at Princess Shunde. "Princess, do you still not know what really caused this war?"

A whip fiercely landed on Ji Lisa's face. "Know what? I only need to know how you will die!"

Ji Lisa touched the blood on her face with a finger, then looked at the princess again. "This is why the battlefields are littered with bones."

"I don't need to listen to you!" Princess Shunde whipped down again.

Ji Lisa caught the whip with her hand wrapped in a layer of black gas.

"No one was born to be your slave."

Princess Shunde shouted, "Kill her for me!"

The demon masters loaded their weapons with spiritual energy and charged at Ji Lisa.

Ji Lisa's hand turned into a fist, and the black gas around her body grew outward at an astonishing speed.

It deflected each and every attack thrown at her. Some demon masters were even struck by their own weapons.

Nine demonic tails once again floated out behind Ji Lisa, waving back and forth inside the cell like an angry beast.

"You want to kill me; just so happens, I want to kill you too."

A black tail reached out and curled over a sword on the ground, then delivered it into Ji Lisa's hand. She pointed it at Princess Shunde. "Come."

Princess Shunde glared at her with a twisted, hideous face. All of her air of charm and superiority was now consumed by hatred.