A Trial by Halves

Days of Healing

The Ghost Realm

Once again the entire world was in mourning.  Thousands died that day and none more so than the Ghost Tribe who lost over half of their population, but they did have one thing to celebrate and that was the survival of their Overlord Li Jing who was saved by his sister.  It was the main reason why Qing Cang was so weak.  Had he managed to kill his second son, he would have perhaps lasted the distance after all Li Jing had been cultivating his energy for centuries for that day and even though he had used much of it on the blood spell, he had enough in reserve for a battle should he need it.

Now closing down the entire Ghost Lands so that funerals could take place in private, Yan Zhi also returned home to assist him with not only the healing of their people, but to remove the last of the rebels who had fought to have him removed.

No one really knew what went on behind the barriers that rose up overnight but after the way Li Jing had dealt to his brother by drowning thousands of beasts to clear a path during onset of the Mermaid wars, one could well imagine the horrors that met those old soldiers who tried to flee immediately after the battle ended only to be rounded up and forced into the artic prisons.

Some said they had been slaughtered on the block one after the other.  Others said they were stripped of their skin and hair before being left alive in the mountains for the wolves who shredded what was left.  According to gossip, over three hundred extra souls were lost to the arctic yet no one would ever really know because no sooner were the funerals held, then a celebration immediately followed to honour the living.

And no sooner was it made known that Li Jing had survived, then the rest of the world also closed their borders to him.  Beause of his fathers sins against the rest, Li Jing would now have to work very hard to gain back the little trust that he had managed to build.  It would be a very long road for him and his people, but those that did survive knew without a doubt that his heart beat for them and having proven himself to be more than capable of leading them forward, he did not face anymore rebellion. 

Though he did go onto marry again, and this time, a woman of virtue that came from within his own Tribe, one that gave him a son and an heir to continue his line while Yan Zhi returned to the Mortal Realm where she lived between worlds until a marriage alliance arrived for her.

______

Qing Qiu

Moving about the den quietly, The Empress placed a few dishes on the table in the centre of the room.  By the time her husband had made it to the battle, it was already over, but he was there in time to snatch his daughter out of the air just moments after the bell exploded above her.

Caught within the backdraft of the explosion, she was literally ripped from Ye Huas arms and sent hurdling through the air.  Bai Zhi had barely caught hold of her before she hit a crag of rocks that lined the Ghost Tribes side of the River bank.

Now on a stretcher in the main den and placed under a light sleeping spell,  her mother finally sat down to a hot cup of tea to wait for her to awaken.  She had spent the entire afternoon dressing her wounds, cleaning away the blood and gifting her far too much of her energy in order to save her life, because she was barely breathing when Bai Zhi stormed her into the den.

"No mother ever wants to see what I just saw." she whispered, her voice shaking with emotion and anger that her daughter had once again thrown herself at that man when she felt she had already done more than enough.

Bai Zhi had already learned of where she had been all that time and the High Goddess energy that was still settling in her body only increased her mothers tears for her only daughter who she felt had undergone far too much pain for one lifetime.  And to live through another life of pain just to ascend seemed so unfair to her.