Chapter 9

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Chapter 9: Sympathy

On the next day, Lin Haoqing came back to the dungeon before dawn.

He said nothing about the jiaoren's treated wounds, and just ordered the demon to be hung up again to resume his questioning. Each question that went unanswered resulted in a lightning strike.

This was a common method for demon taming. The idea was to apply physical stress until the demon's psychological defenses break down and it begins cooperating with the demon master. Every desired behavior would then be rewarded, so in the long run, the demon would become habitually obedient.

Of course there had been stubborn demons, some refusing to submit even until death. But no one had ever seen anything like this jiaoren before, with his… complete indifference.

He gave no responses to any of the lightning strikes, as if he were able to control his physiological reactions. He just hung there silently with his head low and his eyes closed.

If they did not know which part of his body was more sensitive to the lightning strikes, they would have no way to give him more targeted damage.

Lin Haoqing spent most of the day on him with no progress. Ji Yunhe came late again, same as yesterday, arriving at noon.

There were very few people observing today, likely due to yesterday's scare. Ji Yunhe yawned as she walked in. Lin Haoqing's assistants noticed her and greeted, "Master Warden."

Ji Yunhe nodded and sat down on the same stone as before, seemingly in no hurry to compete with Lin Haoqing.

But the moment she sat down, the jiaoren opened his eyes and looked at her with ice blue pupils still free of emotion. Then they closed up again.

"Yunhe."

Ji Yunhe was a bit surprised. It had been many years since he last called her by her first name like this. She stood up. "Young valley master?"

"I'm going to the Discipline Hall this afternoon, so I'm handing this demon over to you."

Ji Yunhe was even more surprised. "Discipline Hall?" She felt her heart beat a little faster. "Which demon master committed a crime? That calls for the young master of the valley to get involved?"

Lin Haoqing nodded with a straight face, "Earlier today, the Valley Master received a secret letter of denunciation, stating that one of our demon masters, Snow March, is having an affair with her demon slave, Li Shu. The Valley Master has ordered me to interrogate her."

Lin Haoqing talked with a flat, calm voice, but each word resonated inside Ji Yunhe's body, sending chills up and down her spine.

She tilted her head and looked at Lin Haoqing quietly, her face nonchalant as if what he said about Snow March had absolutely nothing to do with her.

But how could it have nothing to do with her? Everyone in the valley knew that Snow March was Ji Yunhe's left and right hand man. Her existence had made it possible for Ji Yunhe to establish herself as the strongest demon master here.

Behind Lin Haoqing's polite, personable face was a sneering, mocking smile full of heartfelt pleasure.

Hypocrisy.

But Ji Yunhe could not scold him. She had to be hypocritical too.

She acted confused and surprised. "Oh? How could Snow March do something this stupid... Young master of the valley must investigate fully."

"Naturally. This jiaoren is a tough one, so I will have to trouble Master Warden with him this afternoon." Lin Haoqing turned around and walked away.

Ji Yunhe watched him leave with his long trail of assistants. Unlike yesterday, he did not leave anyone behind as if he no longer cared if Ji Yunhe could get the jiaoren to speak.

While leaving, Lin Haoqing turned a bit and sneaked a peek at Ji Yunhe. He saw her head hanging low and her hands clenched into fists.

He knew Ji Yunhe, just as Ji Yunhe knew him.

They both could see through each other's faces and into the heart.

They did grow up close after all, as brother and sister...

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

An assistant next to Lin Haoqing seemed perplexed. "Young valley master, you just leave the Master Warden alone inside? We saw everything yesterday… It appears her method… If she makes the demon talk today..."

"Doesn't matter, both of our methods attack the heart and cannot be rushed. I doubt she's even in the right mind to do much today. Besides..." he paused, looking in the direction of the Discipline Hall, "even if she wins this first round, it won't make a difference anymore."

Lin Haoqing was not wrong.

Losing Snow March would be a serious blow to Ji Yunhe.

Exactly how powerful was Snow March? No one really knew anymore. They only knew that she had not lost a single battle against demons since she turned sixteen. Not to mention all the challengers from the four demon master quarters. For the past ten years, Snow March had steadily held on to her victories without much effort.

As a result, no one ever crossed her no matter how bad her temperament got. Even the Valley Master himself seemed extra lenient with her.

She was like the soul of a demon master who had lived fifty years ago. Free, passionate, capricious and incomparably powerful. These characteristics were reflected in her to the fullest.

And that fearlessness dared her to risk the world and fall in love with a demon.

How many people supported Ji Yunhe's reign here in the valley because of Snow March, no one knew. But if something were to happen to Snow March, Ji Yunhe's status would definitely fall.

And right now, Ji Yunhe hung her head low and clenched her fists with tense brows. Not because of the uncertainty in her future, but because she was worried about her friend. Who knew what kind of interrogation Snow March was enduring in that dark Hall of Discipline...

The Demon Valley had many methods of torture and punishment. They did not only use these means to deal with demons, but also demon masters who dared to disobey.

She lost herself in thoughts. When she finally looked up, Ji Yunhe was surprised to see a pair of ice blue eyes fixated on her.

Two pairs of eyes quietly stared at each other. Ji Yunhe finally broke the silence with a helpless smile. "I just fixed your wounds yesterday, now they are torn and bleeding again. If this continues, I am afraid you are going to die in this dungeon..."

The jiaoren looked at her. He definitely did not seem afraid of dying.

She paused for a bit then said, "If I could, I'd really love to let you go."

This was not a lie. Ji Yunhe admired his unyielding willpower from the bottom of her heart. She also felt for him and his situation, as if he were another one of her in this world.

They remained staring at each other in silence, a human and a demon with cell bars in between. But somehow they seemed to get along and did not feel the least bit awkward.

Then Qu Xiaoxing came.

"Master Warden. Aiya, my protector, hey." Him rushing in made the jiaoren shift his gaze. Qu Xiaoxing took a step back, frightened by his ice blue stare. He quickly hid himself behind Ji Yunhe and lowered his voice to her ear, "Miss Snow has been captured!"

"I know," Ji Yunhe replied calmly.

Qu Xiaoxing was stunned. "You know? Then why are you still standing here? How about doing something..."

The corners of Ji Yunhe's lips tightened. "The Valley Master gave the order for Lin Haoqing to interrogate her, what do you want me to do?"

Qu Xiaoxing froze at once. "You mean this was the Valley Master's idea? Interrogating Miss Snow during such an important competition, that means the Valley Master is against you..."

That old man clearly had always been against her, but others did not know this. Ji Yunhe waved her hand. "Go and find out who passed the secret letter to the Valley Master. Also, Li Shu and Snow March, are they being detained separately?"

"No, they are still on trial in the Hall of Discipline, no one is locked up yet."

Ji Yunhe frowned, "The trial is taking so long?"

"Yes, the young master of the valley has ordered Miss Snow to break off her bond with her slave, and to have the cat demon executed. Miss Snow refused, so they are still in a standoff..."

The bond between a demon slave and the demon master was actually more like a curse on the submissive demon. In becoming a slave, the demon would lose part of his demonic power, and forever be subjected to the master and her offsprings, even if she were to die. The only way to break the binding was for the master to willingly lift the curse.

So almost no demons were willing to agree to enslavement unless they were defeated in battle, forced or completely tamed. Or in Snow March's case...

The demon fell in love with the demon master.

And the demon would also be protected by the bond. No other demon masters were allowed to hurt him. This had been a rule amongst demon masters since ancient times.

Lin Haoqing naturally would need Snow March to break off the bond if he wanted to dispose of Li Shu. It was just unexpected that she would have such a big reaction, considering the valley usually treated demons like livestock.

Ji Yunhe actually did not know much about this cat demon collected by Snow March. Even though Snow March always said Li Shu was a tremendous help in her demon hunting, no one had really seen him in action.

But Ji Yunhe knew that the cat demon could not be weak. Even though she did not interact much with him, having dealt with thousands of demons, her intuition was rarely wrong.

Cat demon Li Shu had never shown his true strength.

He just watched when Snow March was captured and taken to the Hall of Discipline?

Ji Yunhe felt like something was off. She could not help but think of the day many years ago, after she and Snow March first grew close to each other, when Li Shu was temporarily absent...

"Didn't you say you don't know how to tame demons? Where did you capture such a demon? It looks unapproachable and very powerful." She was very curious. "How did you get him to submit to you?"

Snow March looked smart, but she had no understanding of psychology. That was why she could never become a taming master like Ji Yunhe. She could only rely on her power to conquer.

Snow March faced Ji Yunhe's question with a scratch on her head.

"I don't know... Met him when I was hunting another demon and accidentally trespassed into his territory. At the time I was a little injured, and thought I was dead when I bumped into him, but unexpectedly he saved me."

Ji Yunhe was a bit confused. "He? Saved you?"

Although Ji Yunhe had very little contact with Li Shu, she could perceive very keenly that this cat demon did not like demon masters. Or rather, he did not like humans.

"Why did he save you?"

"I don't know. When I asked him, he only said the phrase 'Like a returning friend'," Snow March replied carelessly. "Probably I look like someone he used to know."

"Oh? That's why he was willing to come back to the Demon Valley with you and be your slave? He had his own territory, that's not something any little demon could have achieved, right? And his temperament is so noble and austere, his previous identity couldn't have been simple..."

"Well, I also asked those questions," Snow March cut her short.

Ji Yunhe could still remember Snow March's face to this day, the softness in her eyes.

"Li Shu said he likes me."

It was the look of a little girl completely lovestruck.

Perhaps that answer had been good enough for Snow March, but for Ji Yunhe, she never stopped pondering about it.

Why?

Why did this cat demon give up everything to become Snow March's slave?

Was it also because of "like a returning friend"?

If it really was because Snow March looked like his old friend that he saved her, fell in love with her, and was even willing to become her slave, then what Li Shu really loved was just that old friend.

She could not say this to Snow March.

And today, Snow March being escorted into the Hall of Discipline, the cat demon that had accompanied her for so many years just watched and did not do anything about it? Even the half dead jiaoren caused quite a stir in the dungeon yesterday, the perfectly healthy cat demon could not make a single noise?

Ji Yunhe thought deeply, then froze as the earth suddenly began shaking violently beneath her feet.

"Snow March has gone crazy!"

Outside the dungeon abruptly came a loud voice, "Passing on the order of the Valley Master, Master Warden must immediately report to the Hall of Discipline!" The shouting voice became louder and louder, and kept coming toward the dungeon until the person arrived panting. He ran to Ji Yunhe, knelt down on one knee and clasped his hands together in a salute. "Passing on the order of the Valley Master! Master Warden must immediately report to the Hall of Discipline!"

Ji Yunhe's eyes narrowed as she followed the messenger.

Halfway out of the dungeon, Ji Yunhe looked back at the jiaoren.

His face was frozen and expressionless, but his eyes quietly followed her.

"Bring down that chain, let him rest on the ground for a while."

Ji Yunhe left these words to Qu Xiaoxing and hurried away.

The jiaoren watched her shadow disappear then closed his eyes again. He seemed to no longer care about anything. Not about Qu Xiaoxing's predicament, or about the surroundings, or even himself. He just completely zoned out…

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