"Yes. It is a natural event where the sea erodes the shore and reclaims the land, there have been several entries of such happenings in the Imperial Library." Lord Ye's voice held a hint of disappointment but it was fleeting before he returned to his stoic expression. If Yun He had not watched this nephew of his grew up from young, he would not have noticed such a minor change.
"But the water is angry," Yun He pursed his lips.
"Yes, the resentment of the water made it reject its domain owner. Resentment from being used for human greed. It was being wronged," Lord Ye told his uncle.
"Could it be that it is angry with me? Because I took too long to respond to its call?" Yun He widened his eyes at the sudden thought.
"Maybe," Xuan Yi shrugged. What Lord Ye said was in-line with her thoughts. She was about to tell Yun He when he interrupted them. Now that they are all on the same page, things can finally start moving. Ignoring Yun He and his pointless ramblings about how his element hates him now, she turned towards Lord Ye.
"How does your Highness plan to proceed from here?"
Lord Ye eyed Xuan Yi for a moment before he concisely answers her. "Punishment and recovery," he sips his tea before continuing. "However, proceed with caution."
"Caution?" Xuan Yi asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Of the water, and the people." Lord Ye explained.
"Wait a minute my dear children, mind if I ask a small, insignificant question?" Yun He tried to interrupt as he raised his hand in the air, as a student would to their teacher when asking a question.
Xuan Yi sighed as Lord Ye, who is used to his uncle's antics, nodded towards him. "Yes, Uncle?" Lord Ye gestured for his uncle to continue.
"Right, I would like to ask how are we going to proceed?" Yun He grinned brightly as he threw out this question to the two children in front of him. They have talked about what they are going to do but they did not discuss how they are going to do it. Punishment and recovery sound easy enough but how are they going to punish the evildoers and help the village in recovery?
But his question was not well-appreciated by either of them. Xuan Yi held herself back from snorting at the dumb question while Lord Ye answered his uncle in all seriousness.
Lord Ye, "we capture the evildoers and free the victims. With the threat gone, the village will naturally recover."
"What about the water's anger?" Yun He prompted.
"If we get rid of the misconception people have of the water, its anger would dissipate as well." Lord Ye assured him.
"And may I ask how are we going to do that?" Yun He puffed his cheeks, feeling a bit frustrated by how easy his nephew make this entire plan sound.
Lord Ye did not answer and they just looked at Yun He quietly before they nodded. "It should work, he is the real deal." Xuan Yi rested her head on her hands as she eyed Yun He. "There should be no problems." Lord Ye agreed with Xuan Yi. Yun He could almost see a smirk under that emotionless face of his nephew but it should just be his imagination, right?
Yun He grinned nervously as he stared back at the two devils before him. "What are you guys talking about?"
"Jiang Ning," Lord Ye summoned a familiar person into the room and the said man immediately materialized before him. Dropping down on one knee, he saluted.
"Lord Ye, Lady Xuan Yi, Lord Yun He" Jiang Ning greeted the trio.
Xuan Yi waved back at him with a light-hearted grin. "Hey Jiang Ning, how's life with Young Master Yun?" Xuan Yi still remembered the water ghost's case less than a week ago and remembered the very reason why she was interested in accepting it in the first place.
Jiang Ning's face flushed and he averted his eyes at the obvious teasing. "Please spare me, my Lady."
Covering her lips daintily, she chuckled softly. Young lovers are so fluffy, she cannot help but tease them a little. Seeing the happy but embarrassed expression on his face, they must be living quite happily.
"For Yun Qi to go under Lord Ye's protection, you must feel very relieved. How is he doing?" Xuan Yi asked.
"Replying to my Lady, his wounds have recovered mostly. His mental state still needs a bit more time but the physician assured me that it should fully recover in a month. He is currently residing in one of the branch houses learning how to manage a household." Jiang Ning hoped that by throwing all the information onto the Lady, she would have nothing else to ask but he had underestimated her playfulness.
"Learning how to manage a household? Is this his bridal training?" Xuan Yi could not help but let out a gentle giggle.
"Bridal training, my Lady?" Jiang Ning cocked his head to the side, not understanding what the Lady is talking about before it hit him. Managing a household is normally done by the main wife of a household. Concubines are not allowed to manage the household nor are they taught to. By teaching Yun Qi household management, Xuan Yi is suggesting if he is preparing to receive Yun Qi as his bride by giving him bridal lessons.
Jiang Ning's face flushed beet red at the teasing but when he imagined Yun Qi as his wife, taking care of his Jiang family back in the heavenly realm, he felt his heart grow warm. Unknowingly to him, a soft smile slipped into his face and Xuan Yi sighed. "How envious," Xuan Yi smiled at the sight of Jiang Ning in love before she stood up from her seat.
"I'll leave it to you, your Highness." Xuan Yi bowed lightly towards Lord Ye before she left the room via the window. Leaping into the night, her white dress fluttered behind her as she ran, jumping from roof to roof, making her way to the house of Elder Jin.
Standing outside without her veil, she breathed in deeply. As the elder's house is near the shore, the night breeze is strong. Xuan Yi enjoyed the wind against her face as she thought back to the time when she first visited the harbor in her lifetime with her Father. Those were happier times and she relished in her memory her Father's smile and her Mother's warm embrace as she tried to protect her daughter from the strong winds. The beautiful memories left Xuan Yi feeling warm all over. She could almost feel her Mother's embrace if she tried hard enough.
"You came." An eerily voice snapped Xuan Yi out of her memories and she turned around. Standing at the door of Elder Jin's house was his dead daughter, staring at Xuan Yi for god knows how long.
"Yes, indeed I have come. Do you have what I want?" Xuan Yi composed herself before she asked the dead young miss before her. Young Miss Jin nodded her head before floating towards the direction of the sea. Before she had left, Xuan Yi left a task to the dead young miss and that is to find the victims that were kept hostage by the village head and the fake priest. She led Xuan Yi nearer and nearer to the shore. When Yun He and Xuan Yi had visited the shore before, it was near to the center of the shore. Now they were heading towards the end of the shore, away from the village.
Where the shore ends, the vegetation begins. The forest that laid before Xuan Yi and Young Miss Jin. Seeing that the ghost floated into the forest, she followed behind her and she was led into a small hut. The door was locked down with chains and there is only one way in which is to get the key for the huge padlock dangling off the chains.
Young Miss Jin said nothing but pointed at the hut. She did not need to do that because Xuan Yi could hear the occasional scraping of metal against wood, the heavy breathing and she could smell the fear in the air.
"Thank you, Young Miss Jin. I'll make sure you reincarnate into a good family when you enter my doors." Xuan Yi thanked Young Miss Jin before she walked towards the door. With her hand hovering over the padlock, she closed her eyes and focused at the darkness coiling and curling around her heart. The force of the foreign object was so heavy and powerful that she has no choice but to keep it in her heart and now she slowly lets it out. Darkness slowly flowed out of the tips of her fingers and entered the keyhole. With a sharp clink, the darkness unlocked the padlock and it fell heavily onto the ground.
Xuan Yi could feel the fear inside the hut intensify. In order not to traumatize the young misses any further, she slowly undid the chain and opened the door. Moonlight poured into the hut and Xuan Yi frowned at the scene that lay before her. Three young misses lay on the floor, tied up and gagged with tears streak across their cheeks. They looked at the door with frantic eyes and Xuan Yi returned them with pitiful gazes.
"Pitiful children, sleep. When you wake up, you will be home." Xuan Yi whispered to them and slowly, their eyes started closing and they laid on the bare wooden floor, asleep.