But the woman showed no fear. The pallor of her face came entirely from blood loss. Drool from several great demons hung beside the Merfolk Silk, but she seemed not to see it.
The monk quietly watched the Goddess of the Luo River's Palace. It was not immune to the influence of heaven and earth. Black fissures crawled toward it, and the Goddess of the Luo River Wood Peach they touched vanished like drifting ash. The Merfolk Silk, too, dispersed little by little.
But it could clearly hold out longer. The structure woven from Merfolk Silk was intricate and exquisite, showing no sign of collapsing at a touch.
"Your Highness possesses wondrous means." The monk turned and pressed his palms together in a bow. "Is this a legacy of the Late Empress?"
"Did you know my mother, General Chan?"
"My connection with the Late Empress was slight. By the time I joined the army, she had already left the Northern Frontier. But Prince Yan spoke to me several times of events during the previous emperor's reign, enough for me to imagine that extraordinary woman's bearing. Many of the methods the army still uses against the Wilderness People were left by the Late Empress. Sometimes, when practicing them, my thoughts turn to her."
"Yes." Li Xizhou raised her head, gazing at the dreamlike ripples. "This place, too, was left by my mother."
The monk held one palm upright, closed his eyes, and bowed his head.
"For twenty years, all things held us together; at one fork in the road, we suddenly went east and west," the monk murmured. "Now that we face each other with naked blades, this humble monk truly grieves."
"I pour you wine; set your own heart at ease. The world's affairs overturn like billowing waves." Li Xizhou