Chapter 19: Song and Dance

Ji Yunhe mangled her hair by the creek, trying to figure out a new look. Changyi sat next to her and watched, somewhat puzzled.

"If Qing Ji was so fond of the man back then, how would you convince her that you're him?"

Ji Yunhe looked at her own reflection in the water and replied, "Qing Ji would surely be impossible to convince. But this is a cloud of emotions born from her grudge. She looks crazy and her brain is foggy..."

Changyi frowned again. No need to wait for him to speak, Ji Yunhe already knew what this righteous and simple big-tailed fish was thinking.

"Hey, big-tailed fish," she defended herself, "you have to know that she is just a pile of emotions abandoned here by the jade phoenix. She is not an entity and she is not alive. Plus we have no choice but to lie to her. You don't want to be trapped here forever, do you?"

The beautiful blue eyes looked down. Ji Yunhe suddenly felt like she was coaxing a child... She walked to Changyi's side and patted his shoulder.

"Li Shu had to give his life to help the jade phoenix escape. This is our only chance to get out of here." Ji Yunhe touched the box of antidotes that she was keeping close and her eyes glowed.

"So I have to lie to that possessed demon, and I have to untie that knot in her heart. No matter what the method."

Changyi looked up again at Ji Yunhe, not expecting her to look so emotional.

"What's your plan?"

Ji Yunhe blinked away the determination and austerity in her eyes. She smiled and returned to her normally relaxed self.

"I..." she gave a crooked smile, "planned to go and 'reveal my identity' to her, then follow up with poems and songs to express my feelings. If that's not enough, then I will go with the flow, take her into my arms and sooth her… In short, tell her I love her." Changyi shook his head in disapproval.

"You lack sincerity in your words. It is not convincing."

"No sincerity? Unconvincing?" These words seemed like a challenge to Ji Yunhe. She squatted down, closed in on him, then raised a hand and reached for his long silver hair.

"Of course..."

She lifted a strand of his hair to her lips, and before Changyi could react, gave it a soft, tender kiss.

"Having met such a gentleman, this true heart of mine, naturally, cannot stay with oneself."

Ji Yunhe held Changyi's hair steadily against her lips, her gaze was three parts tender and seven parts fierce, like a hook wanting to pull his heart out from his eyes. But...

The blue eyes were like the sea that took in a hundred rivers, leisurely accommodating all of Ji Yunhe's tender loving provocations. Changyi's face remained calm and serene. It was like a punch landing on cotton.

Ji Yunhe watched his waveless eyes for a while, then admitted defeat. She even felt like apologizing for her rude behavior. The lips still pressing against his hair felt numb from embarrassment.

Ji Yunhe cleared her throat, released him, patted her hands, and stood up under his indifference. She rubbed her nose and turned around awkwardly.

"You fish have no idea how things work in the human world. Anyway, if I do this to that possessed demon, nine out of ten it will succeed."

Ji Yunhe could not help but glance at him again. His face still looked as calm as ever. She decided she was dealing with a wall and changed the subject.

"Um, so, you seem to heal pretty fast. You fish people have pretty good health. Wait for me here. If I succeed, we will be able to get out. Just wait."

Ji Yunhe waved her hand and fled. Changyi remained seated in the same position. The end of his lotus tail rested in the stream and fluttered a few times.

He watched her fade into the distance, then silently lowered his head and pulled up the strand of hair that she had kissed. He held it in his hand for a while, then turned and looked at his reflection in the water. The ice blue eyes were now much darker than before. Changyi sat in silence. After a long time, the color of his eyes was still a dark blue.

Suddenly, the huge tail whisked the water in the stream, breaking the silence with a loud splatter. Cool water splashed over his head, wetting his body and hair.

The stream disturbed by his tail rippled a while then regained its calmness, and the mirror-like surface once again reflected the color of his eyes. The dark blue had finally receded, restoring his ice blue tranquility.

Ji Yunhe jogged all the way back to the pool. She brushed off her feelings of embarrassment and cleared her throat.

The Wuchang Saint lived a hundred years ago. Even though history books were full of his merits and good deeds, they never recorded his personal life. Perhaps the writers thought a saint did not need personal life.

Ji Yunhe could not guess what kind of personality he had from the books, but she could deduct from the demonic attachment's story. He was most likely not a cold, heartless person. Maybe he even had real feelings for Qing Ji.

Otherwise, with Qing Ji's trust and love for him, why would he bother tricking her into a seal. He could have just killed her instead of making promises to be together.

This Ning Ruochu was likely a righteous demon master with a kind and loving heart. Ji Yunhe sorted everything out in her head, made a solemn face, and proceeded toward the attachment.

The bird was in human form again on top of the pool. But she did not sit still like before, instead, she was dancing. Of all the demons, the jiaoren sang the most beautiful songs, and birds danced the most beautiful dances. According to legend, when a phoenix danced in the nine skies, a hundred birds would come and pay their respects.

Though the jade phoenix was not a true phoenix (The chinese character for the jade phoenix is actually a youth version. Once it matures it will become a true phoenix), its dancing was still among the best in the world.

She floated on the mirror-like water and danced amidst a frame of withered lotus flowers and black smoke. It was like a moving painting, breathtaking and surreal.

The woman in the painting searched high and low, paced back and forth, lingered and waited. But she would never get to see the one who had made the promise. Ji Yunhe was enchanted and watched until the attachment took a turn and saw her standing there. She abruptly stopped her dance. The rippling water soon became still.

"Who are you?"

Same question as last time. This possessed demon really did have a foggy brain. She had forgotten Ji Yunhe again.

"Don't you remember me?" Ji Yunhe asked her.

"I'm Ning Ruochu."

The attachment's body stiffened and her feet unsteadily took a step back. She stared intently at Ji Yunhe, then asked with trembling lips,

"What took you so long?"

No probing, no doubting, the attachment just believed her.

Ji Yunhe felt that even if she had not wrapped her chest, pulled her hair up, and deliberately lowered her voice, the attachment would still believe she was Ning Ruochu Ji Yunhe had no idea why.

Perhaps the possessed demon was just simply mentally incomplete. Perhaps she had waited too long and was confused. Or perhaps... waiting for Ning Ruochu was a task that she needed to complete.