It was nearing the middle of the night. Heavens had now closed the floodgates. Sequin-silver stars sewn on the black velvet curtain draped over the sky, shining even brighter.
Sitting on the tatami mat, Li Ji squinted at Jian while sipping a steaming cup of white peonie tea. Something was amiss by the way his hand clamped that sword and how his eagle-like eyes scanned his surroundings. For the last couple of hours he was pacing back and forth between the house and the courtyard like a tiger ready to spring upon its prey at any moment.
She finally broke the silence.
"Jian..."
"Hmm."
"What are you hiding from me?"
Jian squeezed out a few words from his teeth, "The orb glowed again."
Her heart jumped slightly, and she covered her mouth to hold back a scream.
Her high-pitch exclamation was laced with a little anger: "You said—glowed again. So, when was the first time?"
"During the festival, earlier in the evening." A worried frown creased his forehead. "I only caught a glimpse of it because I was distracted by the fireworks. At the time I thought that maybe I had imagined it."
"Still," chided Li Ji, "you should have informed His Highness."
The creases in his forehead burrowed deeper. "I needed confirmation before worrying him. I didn't want the unnecessary stress flaring up his illness."
Understanding his motive, she nodded in acknowledgement. "I would have done the same."
His forehead became smooth again.
"And now," she asked, "is it glowing?"
Jian took out the small tanzanite stone hanging from his neck—it was dull. Their frightened expression transformed into one of relief.
Hidden in the rattan basket, Emika was listening with rapt attention. [Cat's ears are truly the best!] She could tell from their body language this orb was a bad omen. But, what was the meaning of its glow?
Jian's voice grew deeper and lower, "The second time it glowed was..." and his gaze pointed towards the broken door.
Upon realisation, Li Ji's head tilted backwards slowly. "Ah, I see... Strong kick by the way! But you need to fix the door before His Highness sees it and ask questions." Then her expression became increasingly troubled because the orb had glowed at their house.
She paused, and poured fresh tea evenly to the cups and served Jian.
She continued, conflicted, "Do not tell him about the orb being activated."
Jian challenged her commanding stare for she was now contradicting herself.
"Fine, I apologise for scolding you earlier," she hushed, "you were right."
Satisfied, the corners of his lips drew up to form half a smile.
She pursued, "We shouldn't aggravate his illness with undue stress. I am afraid that his body is suffering tremendous fluctuations in his essentials energies and his health is deteriorating much faster than anticipated. Unfortunately self-healing exercises, elixirs and medicine, and rounds of acupuncture, only work at slowing down the progression of his illness."
Li Ji was a talented healer. She had learned medical knowledge and techniques from her father who was Royal Noble Consort Soyong's designated physician for many years. The Prince could trust no other in this world, and solely depended on Li Ji's expertise for his treatment. Every day she felt burdened by the responsibility. She tried to hold the tears at bay when Jian suggested to go to Fēicháng, "I could gather more Yáopin Longevity Grass."
"Crossing over from one world to the other create too much imbalances within your essentials energies. You went there only a few days ago, it's too soon yet. You need to recuperate." She let out a breath of sadness and said: "Besides, his body is now failing to respond to Yáopin Longevity Grass."
"I thought practicing Neidan was helping with his life force?"
"Because of the seal within him, not only he has Qi deficiencies, but he also can't adjust the unbalanced Qi movement through his meridians. I am worried that if we stay any longer in this world, it will be life threatening. The practice of Neidan is just a short-term treatment, not an answer."
His right brow rose into a perfect arch. "You don't think we should tell him?"
"Remembering things that should be forgotten would only weigh him down."
"He will know eventually," Jian noted.
"Yes he will... but not from us."
Even so, Jian wasn't sure it was right, and looked at Li Ji sombrely.
"What if it was the key to cure his illness?"
With a serious expression she replied, "It's complicated... Because the dynamics of yin and yang are different in this world, our body can't align to its frequency. That's why you and I need to create and circulate an abundance of Qi to sustain a fairly good level of health. But the longer we stay in this world, the greater the imbalances between yin and yang, and Qi will be. And eventually Qi deficiencies would be irreparable, shortening our life span considerably.
"Unlike us, His Highness can't make an appropriate response to this constant shift of dynamics of yin and yang. All of the yin and yang aspects of his Qi are in disharmony with one another. This is why his illness will not improve unless we return to Fēicháng. We need to leave this world very soon."
Jian's gaze turned conflicted, and his change of expression made it clear to her- -he knows the seal within Kiyomi is the reason he cannot create and circulate fast enough his vital energy to heal. His thoughts are so transparent!
She was piqued by it and said: "Yes, yes it's entirely my fault. Whatever the consequences I will take responsibility. But I didn't think we would be staying here for so long—"
Jian interrupted her and looked at her meaningfully. "What kind of attitude is that?" In reality he wasn't angry nor blaming her. But now he was a little bit vexed. "Why should you take responsibility alone? I won't accept it."
"Of course I should! If His Highness finds out about the Mind-Seal, one of us need to keep his trust and stay by his side. Who else can protect him but you? I am useless with a sword so it is only logical I should be the one to take the blame. After all, I am the one who suggested the Mind-Seal."
"Alright, alright," he hushed, patting her on the shoulder. "We'll talk bout it when it's time to cross that bridge." Sighing, he added, "We had no other choice, right?"
She paused before shifting her gaze in the direction of Kiyomi's bedroom, then answered with exaggerated conviction, "Yes, we had no other choice."
Was she regretting her decision? Was she regretting a resolution reached when her judgement was clouded by her own personal feelings? This thought flashed by and tortured her every time she witnessed the prince's confusion and suffering.
She lowered her head, and repeated with a low voice, "Yes Jian, we had no choice. It was necessary to protect him. It was the only way."
Emika was shocked to find out about their role in Kiyomi's illness—to what extent was their implication? Did I hear clearly?
The thought of yet another misunderstanding filled Emika with dread. Four years ago, it resulted in bloodshed and irrevocable consequences. But this time, this concerned the safety of the man she loved. They were concealing vital information from Kiyomi and she wondered if she should interfere.
Li Ji had grabbed the orb around Jian's neck and looked at him pleadingly. "Before we tell His Highness, we should wait and see if it will glow again."
Sure enough, he promised, "I can hold back from telling him, but only for a few days, only until we know for sure what is going on. I should gather more informations into this matter, and investigate thoroughly before I report to him."
"My point, exactly," emphasised Li Ji by tugging lightly at his sleeve. "Just for now, let it be our secret."
"In the meantime I will double-down on his security."
However, where in this world would they find more informations about the tanzanite orb?
Not quite certain of their plan, Li Ji leapt abruptly on her feet, "I know where to start!" She held up one finger pointing towards the old book gathering dust on the shelf: "Aimi!"
Jian froze, his thick brows drawing together in confusion.
"Aimi? The little girl who babbles on about fanciful stories all day long? That is your plan regarding the orb?"
Li Ji nodded, eyes glinted with excitement, and explained:
"She rambles on about this librarian who lend her all those old books full of whimsical stories. Strangely, in this level of existence, I have often noticed that some of their storytelling share partial truths with events and people from our world.
"Few weeks back, Aimi visited Kiyomi with a medical book saying she wanted to find a cure for his illness. Flicking through the pages I stumbled across a whole chapter about a certain physician who was the first person to successfully use a 'numbing boiling powder' decoction to perform surgery. I was shocked when I realise that every detail of the account about the surgery was exactly similar to the one my father performed! Also, straightaway I recognised the list of ingredients and their ratio used to prepare the decoction—I helped my father refining it!
"Since then, I strongly suspect that others before us have crossed over to The Forbidden World and shared our knowledge and stories. If it started since the very beginning of civilisation, we might be able to find out more clues about the orb. What do you think?"
Jian was quickly convinced by her words—as he always was.
Emika huffed. What a disappointment! She had learned nothing of value about this orb. Only that she could sense the ominous aura radiating from it.
Now that the first step of their plan was to find the librarian, Li Ji's mood lightened up. It was short-lived, for the only way to find the librarian was through Aimi.
Jian pointed out the complication concerning this plan and laughed:
"She hates you! I mean, she rea-lly hates you."
Right at this moment…
Li Ji and Jian darted their eyes across the room upon hearing a noise stirring from underneath the alcove.
Panic arose.
Could there be another person hidden...
Immediately, Jian checked the orb, but it wasn't glowing.