Su Ziji felt as if he had been pulled into some distant place.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw the vast sky and water stretching together, the shores on either side blurred and indistinct. Waves surged across ten thousand acres, heaving up crests six or seven feet high, while a massive vortex had already emerged.
"Boom!"
With a thunderous explosion, heaven and earth themselves seemed to shudder.
Above, dark clouds hung heavy as ink. Endless mists rose in curling swathes, faster and faster, pressing lower and lower. Their oppressive weight, laden with killing intent, made it almost impossible to breathe just by looking at them.
Fear came from the inability to resist the power of heaven and earth.
Standing atop the boundless waves, Su Ziji saw a little girl emerge from the vortex. She seemed not to see him. She merely stepped across the water, apparently finding it great fun, her delicate little face bright with a radiant smile as she ran with pattering steps.
"Dragon Maiden..."
Su Ziji watched her, then turned his head slightly and discovered a streak of rainbow light descending beside him, bringing down a person.
"Zhou Yao," Su Ziji called.
She was Zhou Yao, whom he had once met in the Crown Prince's Domain. This Zhou Yao and that Zhou Yao should both be considered Zhou Yao, yet perhaps neither could truly be considered Zhou Yao.
Zhou Yao wore a rainbow-hued dress as thin as cicada wings, her cloudlike hair piled high and wind-tossed locks flowing around her. Her immortal grace was peerless. Su Ziji could sense that she was constantly changing; even compared to their previous meeting, she was somewhat different this time.
Zhou Yao gave a slight bow and smiled, then shifted her gaze to the little girl in the distance.