89.2

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."