At the far northern reaches of the Holy Land Secret Realm, on Heaven Imprisoning Island.
Deep within the vast Wild Sea, above a bottomless abyss, Heaven Imprisoning Island was bound in place by three Abyss Heaven Locks, each thousands of miles long.
Ji Qingqing sat outside her thatched hut, holding a stone and lightly scratching chaotic shapes into the ground.
Her brows were slightly furrowed. For some reason, she had been feeling restless lately.
Her family had passed judgment on her and imprisoned her on Heaven Imprisoning Island, but she was not worried about herself. After all, her uncles and aunts looked after her. Apart from being unable to cultivate and having to while away her days in boredom, she suffered little discomfort.
Life here was hard, but she had endured plenty of hardship while marching and fighting alongside Li Tiangang. She was long accustomed to it.
"I told him back then that he must never come unless he broke through the Four Establishments Realm. He should listen..."
"After all, he's always put his family first..."
"I wonder how Hao'er is doing. It's been fifteen years. He should be tall now, and well-fed and sturdy. I wonder whether he looks like me or his father. They say sons take after their mothers..."
Ji Qingqing's thoughts settled on her husband and child, the two bonds she found hardest to relinquish.
Thinking of the son she had not seen for fifteen years filled her heart with warmth, but also stabbing waves of guilt and longing.
Her memories drifted back to his hundred-day celebration fifteen years ago: the rosy infant nestled in his swaddling clothes, and the imperial decree that had arrived in such haste.
If demons had not invaded Northern Yan, she would have been enjoying a happy family life with her