{Done from the Ice Witch's point of view}
An entire week has passed since Gu Xing left to kill the Orthodox's Monkey… No reports from him yet, but he should be returning soon.
Unable to help my nerves, I pace back and forth between the door and my office table. The scent of incense wafting through the air as spring flowers bloom in our garden.
What were they thinking..? That young boy is barely 20 and has such a frail body…
Without thinking, I let my feet lead me, finding myself in front of the Demon King's abode. Knocking on the dorm, I call out to Tue-Mei. "It's me, Yao Ji. may I come in…"
Waiting for a response, I could only hear a quiet and shaky voice from the Heavenly Demon, one that showed weakness almost like never before. "No… Now would not be a good time…"
Letting out a sigh of defeat, I turned around to find the row upon rows of rows of soldiers lined up in black, their heads low as not a single sound was uttered. Complete silence, not even the sound of breathing could be picked up.
"T- Tue-Mei!" This time, without waiting for a response, I barged into her abode, finding a single coffin in the middle of the long empty hallway.
"Y- Yao Ji, please… Not now…"
Brushing aside Tue-Mei's concerns, I walk up to the coffin. My heart pounding, legs heavy as I felt my stomach sink. When everyone stood outside, there was not a single glimpse of my son's return. So with a heart full of ice and legs guiding me to my despair, I loomed over the open coffin, finding Gu Xing's beaten body inside.
"Yao Ji… I'm sorry… I shouldn't have sent him… If it-"
Everything around me faded except for Gu Xing's lifeless body. I could care less about who's fault it was. It didn't matter to me if Tue-Mei indirectly caused this.
All that mattered to me was my baby boy. The one I had raised from illness to a man.
Reaching my hand down, I hesitated to touch him. I wanted to hold onto some sort of hope. If I confirmed his death here and now, how could I convince myself anything else otherwise?
Please… Oh mighty gods above… Let this be some sick joke.
…
It's cold. No… He had always been cold with the Yin Body Type. This was different… Almost like he was empty. The once thoughtful and kind boy I once knew was no more, not even a slightest sliver of his essence. All that was left was the Ki that had been blocked off and saved by his Yin Body.
My hand wandered. It explored him. His shoulder completely crushed, his collarbone caved in and collapsed on his lungs. His arm shattered into pieces as his leg was trampled on. This was no different from torture…
Aiming for his shoulder, disabling both of his arms from any action. Then crushing his leg to prevent movement or even hope for escape…
He suffocated to death. Blood had flooded his lungs and throat. He was drowning on land. What a terrifyingly gruesome death.
Normally a mother should be crying, throwing a fit of rage… But all I could feel was sorrow and pity. The young boy I had considered my own son… His bright smiles, dreams of peace…
My baby boy… My son… My apprentice. What monster could've been so cruel to give you such a tortuous death?
Was it the Orthodox's monkey? There could be no other…
———
—————
Two weeks have passed since Gu Xing's death. His funeral is being held today… I haven't taken a step outside since I found out. I couldn't bare it. The garden of flowers we grew together… The kitchen he cooked in and ate meals together in. The shelves of books that he loved reading.
I wanted to burn this place down. To forget everything. I just want to run away from this hell.
Why do the Orthodox hate us so much? We do not steal like the Unorthodox, we don't slaughter as the Unorthodox, we are simply a group of people trying to live through power… So why…
What makes us so different?
Are we monsters to them? We wear the same skin, we feel the same emotions, we talk, we communicate, we live.
So what makes us different?
"Yao Ji… Your hair is done… Let's go, service is about to start."
I haven't spoken a single word to Tue-Mei since that day. Not to anyone. It was out of the fear I would hear my own broken voice that reminds me of him.
The funeral was being held in the 4th Division's estate, specifically the garden of flowers he had grown.
Meihua (plum blossoms) were the flowers of choice. Well… The entire garden was filled with flowers that bloomed during winter.
He had read a book with a girl named Yukihana. She was the sister of a powerful warrior as she was a great mage. He had fallen in love with that name and the meaning behind it.
Snow flower. To bloom and stand the fiercest of storms, showing your beauty in strength.
So when it was my turn to take the podium to talk, I heard my voice for the first time in two weeks. It was sad and pathetic, filled with emotion that shouldn't be capable of an Ice Witch.
Shame. Guilt. Sorrow. Pain. Anger.
I hate it. Emotions are stupid and confusing. They're hindrances and useless. Yet I couldn't help but feel them.
"Gu Xing… That was the name he gave me when we first talked. It means lonely star… Such a pitiful name, one that held true as his parents abandoned him. Yet I couldn't help but view him as more than an apprentice. He was my son…
Never was he alone when I took him in. I promised myself that I would raise him well… That I would never be the way my Master was to me, to him. He was my sun. He was his division's star.
Yet he was a flower made of ice in my garden. The only flower I loved and cared for. So please… if the next life comes to you, may you be your happiest."
The service ended without a hitch. Any tears shed by people were frozen and turned into dust.
We transferred his body onto a boat and set him off into the middle of a lake with a bed of flowers surrounding him.
If the depths of the ocean are like a consuming cage and vast sky the taste of freedom… Then you shall remain on this earth in between the two.
Your wings will not be burned by the sun nor soaked by the sea… There you will truly be free.