Chapter 102

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Chapter 102: Back Then

Above the surface, giant waves crashed through broken ice, and a storm roared thunderously.

But it was as calm as ever in the bottom of the sea.

Ji Yunhe looked at the shimmering lingzhi on the seabed and murmured, "It's good to let bygones be bygones, but if I don't mention it, there will always be a thorn in the heart." She touched a lingzhi. "When Changyi returns, I should tell him everything."

She made up her mind and rubbed her belly. "This big-tailed fish is so slow today. Is he cooking up a feast?" Remembering the mark he had planted on her, she closed her eyes and pictured his face. Her ear felt a cool tingle, and her vision floated out of the deep sea.

She thought she would see trees and greenery, but the vision was full of thunder clouds and rolling fog. Occasionally, she could hear sounds of weapons clashing against each other. Suddenly, blood splattered out of the misty haze.

Ji Yunhe opened her eyes violently.

Something had happened to Changyi!

She stood up and tried to summon her power, but as soon as she mobilized the energy in her body, she felt a burning heat inside her chest. There were still some remnants of the fire poison left.

Ji Yunhe did not want to wait anymore. She squatted down and plucked a couple of sea lingzhi, stuffed them into her mouth and ate them.

The sea lingzhi suppressed the fire and she immediately broke through Changyi's magic barrier.

The further she went up, the faster the darkness faded.

Ji Yunhe felt the churning waves of the sea before she even reached the surface.

She grew more anxious. Nine tails appeared behind her as the sudden daylight blinded her vision.

She closed her eyes and leaped onto the cliff.

It was empty aside from a pile of fruits still resting on the ground, padded by a leaf. They had been battered by the wind and rain.

Ji Yunhe tried to sense the whereabouts of Changyi again, but the connection felt weak and far away, as if he had already gone thousands of miles during the time it took for her to come up.

"Master Warden! Protector!"

The shout came from the sea below. Ji Yunhe looked down from the cliff and saw Qu Xiaoxing floating on a piece of ice among the waves. She flew down and pulled him up. "What happened?" she asked him. "Where is Changyi?"

The Frozen Sea had been shattered as far as the eye could see. Dark clouds were still rolling in the sky with heavy rain pouring down. Qu Xiaoxing wiped his face and gasped for breath. "Princess Shun... Shunde was here..."

Ji Yunhe looked at the wreckage all around and was very puzzled. "Her? Did the Grand Master come too?"

"The Grand Master did not come, but Princess Shunde somehow had a pair of giant green wings. At first we thought it was Qing Ji. Shunde was extremely strong, her battle with the jiaoren changed the winds and clouds. And it looked like he still had some previous injuries, he... I told Luo Jinsang to go get help from the north, I myself would try to go find you, but I could not get down... " Qu Xiaoxing sounded very distressed. "He... while he was saving me, Shunde attacked him from behind..."

Ji Yunhe's face grew pale as she recalled the blood in her vision and her body trembled uncontrollably.

Qu Xiaoxing continued, "He... he was taken away..."

"Taken away? Changyi didn't..." Ji Yunhe paused, trying to calm herself down, "he didn't die, he was just taken away, right?"

"Right."

She felt slightly relieved. Knowing he was still alive, she suppressed her panic and began to analyze the situation.

At the beginning, Shunde had only wanted to tame Changyi and make him serve her. It was Ji Yunhe who got involved and set him free. Then in the prison, Ji Yunhe destroyed half of her face, and Changyi burned the dungeon when he came to save Ji Yunhe. So logically speaking, Shunde might hate Changyi, but she should hate Ji Yunhe even more.

Now, Shunde took Changyi away instead of killing him... It was likely that she wanted to use him to lure Ji Yunhe over. Or maybe use him to blackmail the people of the north. Either way she would not kill him easily.

Changyi's life should be safe for now.

Her emotions were overwhelmed while her brain stayed clear, but Qu Xiaoxing fell into deep remorse. "In the battle, Shunde was already exhausted. If it wasn't because of me..." Qu Xiaoxing clenched his teeth. "I... I'm going to the capital, I will get him out even if it kills me…"

"Qu Xiaoxing," Ji Yunhe tugged at him, "do not talk like this. Changyi didn't save you so you can foolishly throw your life away."

"But..." Qu Xiaoxing looked at Ji Yunhe and blinked, finally seeing the difference between her and Aji. "Protector? You... you got your memories back?"

"Yes. I remembered everything." Ji Yunhe looked at the sky in the distance and did her best to maintain her composure. "So the one who should go to the capital is me, not you."

"Master Warden..."

Ji Yunhe interrupted him, "You have your job to do. Go back to the north and inform Kongming and tell them not to act rashly. We don't know where Shunde got this power from, but she cannot be underestimated again. The situation in the capital is unclear right now, plus there is still the Grand Master there, so tell them to wait and see what happens. Always be prepared."

Qu Xiaoxing asked nervously, "Be… be prepared for what?"

"Be prepared that Changyi and I might not return."

...

Shunde threw the badly injured and unconscious Changyi into a black Iron cage. Zhu Ling locked the door then followed her out like a shadow.

On the way, Shunde suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest and staggered, he immediately held her up in support.

"Princess, you just went through so much yesterday refining Ji Chengyu and the jade phoenix, why go get this jiaoren so urgently? Your body..."

"Didn't you say they're healing in the Frozen Sea? If I don't take advantage of this opportunity, should I wait until they are fully recovered and go back to the north?" Shunde sneered. "No matter what, they must die before me."

A sudden wind blew by and the Grand Master appeared in front of her.

He stared at Shunde with a solemn look she had never seen before. "You killed Ji Chengyu?"

Shunde braced herself and straightened her back. "Yes."

"Absorbed the power of the jade phoenix?"

"Yes."

"Took the pill that refines humans into demons?"

"That's right, master."

The Grand Master's eyes narrowed. "Ruling, as I said, you want too much."

"Does the master not want even more?"

"You are wanting more than you can handle."

"Master," Shunde smiled, "do you feel threatened by Ruling?"

His eyes grew cold and he waved his hand. Without saying a word, an arrow solidified from thin air and pierced into Zhu Ling's chest next to her side. The black iron armor did not protect him, and blood spilled out before they could even react.

Zhu Ling looked down at his chest, then turned his head to look at Shunde. "Princess..."

He fell to the ground and died with his eyes still open.

Shunde was shocked and stood frozen, staring at the blood pooling around her feet.

"Ruling," the Grand Master called her name, sending chills throughout her body. "He died for your desires." He raised his hand and gently caressed her cheek. "And you are still alive, because my obsession is still alive."

Shunde's body trembled under his touch. Zhu Ling's blood flowed under her bare feet, and for a moment, she could not tell whether it was warm or cold.

"But you did a good job in capturing the jiaoren," the Grand Master said and withdrew his hand. "Without him in the north, this world of chaos will last for many more decades." Then he left.

Shunde looked at Zhu Ling on the ground, and her body shook more and more...

The most loyal person around her had died, she was now completely alone...

......

It was night. In a small courtyard on the outskirts of the capital, the candlelight in Lin Haoqing's room flickered.

Lin Haoqing put aside his pen and turned to look at a plain-clothed man standing in the corner of the room. It was Ji Yunhe's third face.

"I told you not to go to the north or the capital, but you did both. Are you deliberately trying to work against me?"

"Lin Haoqing," Ji Yunhe walked to his table and sat down, changing back to her original appearance. She poured herself a cup of tea and said, "Is it fun playing master and disciple? Haven't you had enough yet?"

Lin Haoqing raised his eyebrows slightly. "You remembered?"

"Yes," Ji Yunhe did not rub it in and went straight to the point. "You should know why I'm here."

Lin Haoqing smirked. "Shunde captured the jiaoren and took him back to the capital. I only learned about it a few moments ago."

"I want to save him."

"With what?"

"That's why I want you to help me."

"Why should I?"

"Haven't you been helping me this whole time? Or rather, been helping the Northlands." Ji Yunhe took a sip of tea. "You want the same thing as them, right? To overthrow the court."

Lin Haoqing was silent for a moment. "But what if I say, I am not going to help you with this?"

Ji Yunhe stared at him, her eyes like a blade. "Give me a reason."

...

On the same night, Changyi slowly woke up in the imperial dungeon. His eyelashes were covered in frost, his lips were dark blue, and the back of his hands were frozen in ice from overusing his own magic

His injuries did not have to be this severe. He had spent too much time with the sea lingzhi over the past two days, and it worsened the chill inside his body. Ji Yunhe was poisoned by thunderfire and needed them to dispel the burning heat, but Changyi did not need it. His companionship, in fact, was a drain on himself.

Plus he had overextended his magic a few days prior, so this fight with Shunde was very strenuous for him.

Changyi sat up and saw Shunde staring at him through the black iron bars.

She was dressed in red and looked at him silently, like a ghost.

"You took the power of the jade phoenix," Changyi said softly, not as a question, but as a narrative.

"Correct. She was held inside this same cage. Except that bird is in me now."

She felt a sudden pain in her chest and hunched over onto one knee. Green gas wrapped around her then disappeared as she slowly calmed down.

"Heh... she is still misbehaving. But it doesn't matter, she and Ji Chengyu have become my sacrifices. After I get a few more, neither you or the Grand Master will be a match for me... No one will ever threaten me again! Hahah!"

Changyi listened to her hysterical laugh and furrowed his brows.

"Oh," Shunde stared at him, "you probably won't live to see that day. When Ji Yunhe comes, I will sacrifice the two of you together. She is a nine-tailed fox, you are a jiaoren, with your power I will be invincible! Hahahahaha!"

"You will never get her."

Shunde's eyes turned. "Oh? Is that so?"

"She won't fall for your trap."

Shunde laughed, and the unhealed scar on her face looked like a snake.

"She won't? Ah... these words sound really familiar... Back then, while Ji Yunhe was locked up in the Grand Master's house, she also said I would never get you..."

Changyi's heart skipped a beat. Back then...

Ji Yunhe said that?

"... But look," Shunde continued, "after all these years, here you are. And I am certain that she will come even if she knows this is a trap."

Shunde pressed her face closer to the black iron bars.

"Six years ago, she was willing to risk her life to push you off a cliff and set you free, then sacrifice herself to keep my men from chasing after you..."

Every word she spoke struck at Changyi like thunder. His eyes grew wider and wider.

"... What did you say?"

"Oh?" Shunde smiled. "She never told you?"

She looked at his expression and laughed out manically. "She never revealed anything after you took her to the north? Why she pushed you, why she was captured, and how I tortured her for six years."

Changyi's face grew pale and his lips trembled. He felt a painful chill burst out from his body, piercing through him from inside.

His breathing involuntarily quickened and his fingers wanted to clench, but the pain kept him from making a fist.

"Haha, she couldn't even bear to let you hear the truth."

When Ji Yunhe was taken to the north, she was already too weak. Changyi understood why she never told him.

With a dying body, she felt it would be pointless and would only serve as an unnecessary distraction.

And now...

She had gone through life and death, and returned to his side. Changyi thought it was his own lost and found, so he said the past no longer mattered.

He thought he forgave her, and learned to let go...

But it turned out that was not the case.

She hid the truth and endured everything by herself...

For him.

"Ji Yunhe will definitely come." Shunde glanced at Changyi. "You two can die together as my sacrifices." She turned and left.

He closed his eyes. He could sense that Ji Yunhe was already nearby in the capital. She must be making plans right now, but no matter how great the plan, the imperial dungeon was not a place you could just come and go in one piece.

Changyi opened his eyes and stared at Shunde's back.

He could not let Ji Yunhe risk her life like this.

To keep her from coming, he would need to either escape, or die.

Changyi braced himself against the wall and stood up unsteadily. "Stand still," he weakly called out.

Shunde stopped in the hall.

Changyi lifted his pale, frosty hand and bit himself on the wrist. The blood flowed out and dripped down, and they did not stop there. They pulsed on the ground as more and more flowed from his wrist, gradually coalescing into a blood-colored ice sword.

"You want my life, fine. But you want to touch Ji Yunhe, no."

Shunde mocked him, "Jiaoren, what makes you think you can still talk to me like this?"

Changyi did not answer her. The blood sword pierced through the damp air inside the dungeon, and shook the ground under the entire city.

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