Chapter 24

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Chapter 24: Things of the Past

Lin Haoqing's words made it impossible for Ji Yunhe's fist to land on his face again.

She knew very well why he had become this way.

While Ji Yunhe was spacing out, Lin Haoqing lifted her off of himself. He wiped a handful of blood from the corner of his mouth, glanced at the wall, then laughed out loud.

"Master Warden." Lin Haoqing straightened his back and looked arrogantly at Ji Yunhe who was still sitting on the ground. "His transformation is complete. If you want to get on with him, then get on with him."

Lin Haoqing covered his mouth, coughed twice, and did not mind the beating he had just received. He opened the door and left.

Other than winning the second round, he did not seem to care about anything.

He just wanted to defeat her. Defeat the Master Warden who was better than him in everything since they were kids.

Winning against her was enough to make him happy.

Ji Yunhe's anger, in his mind, was the resentment of a sore loser. The angrier she was, the happier he felt.

Lin Haoqing left the dungeon with a smile on his face while Ji Yunhe looked at Changyi on the wall.

The transformation was complete.

He was hanging naked on the wall with the legs of an ordinary human male, and all of their features. His big beautiful tail had been lost and would never grow back.

Ji Yunhe clenched her fist, gritted her teeth, and pounded hard onto the bars beside her.

The cell vibrated and a yellow talisman slowly floated down from the top.

And in that instant, the person on the wall breathed out some air. It was an extremely soft sound, but it was crystal clear in the dead silence.

Ji Yunhe suppressed all of her emotions, stood up and walked slowly over to Changyi.

The end of his long silver hair quivered as he woke up and opened his eyes. Their color was still that same clear blue.

"Changyi," Ji Yunhe called him.

She did not put him down from the wall. A jiaoren who had just lost his tail, landing on his feet perhaps would cause a lot of pain. She just quietly watched him.

Changyi's eyes met hers and looked at her for a long time before regaining focus. He opened his mouth but was unable to speak.

The most important condition for splitting a jiaoren's tail to form legs was that he had to be willing. Otherwise it would not succeed even if you were to chop his tail into pieces.

Ji Yunhe could guess how they managed to get Changyi to agree.

"They must have lied to you." Ji Yunhe clenched her fists and the corners of her mouth trembled. "I'm sorry."

Changyi looked at Ji Yunhe and said, "You're okay... that's all that matters." His voice was so faint it was inaudible, but Ji Yunhe was able to read the movements of his lips.

And these words made her feel like she had been kicked in the chest.

She opened her mouth several times to say something, but in the end, she said nothing.

Facing him right now, she simply did not know what she could say to comfort him. Or maybe, he did not need her comfort at all.

He had done what he wanted to do. He knew the consequences and made a choice...

"Changyi, how am I worthy of you doing this for me..."

Changyi did not speak. He probably also did not have the strength to speak. Splitting open the tail had been very draining to him.

Ji Yunhe stopped asking. She stood in front of him and conjured a stream of water between her fingertips. The damp walls of the dungeon also released countless drops of water. Together, they gently moistened his body and washed away the blood.

Staring at the floor, Ji Yunhe suddenly spoke.

"Lin Haoqing was not like this before," she said. "When I first met him, he was very gentle and kind. He treated me like a sister, and I treated him like a brother. At that time, he had a puppy given to him by Lin Canglan. He named the puppy Flower, because the puppy loved to go and bite those flowers in the garden, and toss them into the air."

She smiled as she reminisced about the good times.

"Soon after, Lin Canglan asked him to kill the dog. He wouldn't do it. He took a good beating, and still wouldn't do it. Then Lin Canglan threatened him that if he didn't kill the dog, he would have to kill me. And if he didn't kill me, then Lin Canglan would kill me himself."

Ji Yunhe's voice was flat, as if she were telling someone else's story.

"Lin Haoqing choked Flower to death while he cried up a storm."

Ji Yunhe waved her hand, and the rain in the dungeon fell a little heavier. "There was a thunderstorm that night, he was soaked to the skin when he strangled Flower in the courtyard. The dog did not bite him back... Ling Haoqing was so upset he fell very ill the next day. Lin Canglan cooked Flower and fed it to him spoon after spoon. He ate while vomiting. At the same time, he had to listen to Lin Canglan's scolding, calling him a wimp, useless, good for nothing, and weak like a woman."

"Lin Canglan said the future master of the Demon Valley has to be ruthless. Not only must he eat the dogs he raises, but he also has to be able to eat the people he raises."

Changyi looked at Ji Yunhe, and although he was too weak to react, his eyes stayed on her and did not move away.

"When Lin Haoqing got well, I went to see him and asked if he hated me. After all, he killed the puppy he loved so much for me. But Lin Haoqing said no. He said I did nothing wrong. He said the one thing in this matter that still allowed him to find a little comfort was that he saved me."

Ji Yunhe looked up and met Changyi's gaze. "Changyi, back then Lin Haoqing was quite similar to you. But then later..."

Later, the blame was all on her.

"Lin Haoqing and I grew very close. We did homework together, and he would help me whenever I didn't understand something. He often said I was smart. Lin Canglan also did not hold back on praising me, even taking me as an adopted daughter. In the eyes of everyone else, we had a perfect relationship."

"But I was just a tool to train Lin Haoqing, just like Flower. Flower was the dog destined to be eaten, and I was the person destined to be eaten."

Ji Yunhe's face grew cold. "Lin Canglan sent us to a cave trial. It was a cave full of snakes. Lin Haoqing was more afraid of snakes than anything and everyone knew it. So Lin Canglan made me push him in."

Ji Yunhe summarized it briefly. She did not go into the details about how Lin Canglan had fed her poison after the death of Flower, and how she had to take an antidote every month in order to stay alive.

She became Lin Canglan's puppet on a string.

When Lin Canglan first asked her to push Lin Haoqing into the snake cave, she did not agree. As a result, he withheld the monthly antidote and made her suffer for days. Lin Canglan told her if she did not do it, someone else would.

So Ji Yunhe finally nodded her head.

She agreed.

Lin Canglan soon arranged for her to go to the snake cave with Lin Haoqing.

"Walking to the snake cave, Lin Haoqing was in the front. I blocked the road behind us so he could not get out. He did not realize what kind of a situation he was in. He thought he was protecting me by being in the front. He held back his fear and told me it was okay, that he would keep me safe, and that I should run if there was danger up ahead."

"I didn't run. I wasn't afraid of snakes like him. I blocked the way out and didn't move because I was still hesitating." Ji Yunhe looked at her palm. "I was thinking, why don't I just jump in myself and end it once and for all. But then something struck me in the arm and made me push toward him, then he fell in."

Ji Yunhe did not push him. It was Qing Shu, who Lin Canglan had sent to spy on them. She did not want to wait any longer and struck Ji Yunhe's elbow with a stone.

Neither her nor Lin Haoqing had the power to detect Qing Shu's presence at the time.

"I turned around and saw Lin Canglan's demon servant giving me a cold glare. I turned back and saw Lin Haoqing also looking at me. He had fallen into the snake cave, and I can still remember the shock and disbelief in his eyes."

"I understood then that Lin Canglan wanted a ruthless son, and things like this would happen again and again until Lin Canglan got what he wanted. So when Lin Haoqing reached out his hand to me for help, I made my choice."

"I stood at the edge of the snake cave and kicked away his hand." Ji Yunhe's eyes grew red. "I said, why were you destined to become master of the Demon Valley as soon as you were born? You are such a coward, you do not deserve it at all. I also said, I've been so sick of you all this time. Just die here!"

Ji Yunhe looked very upset even after so many years. She was silent for a long time, and when she spoke again, her voice had become raspy.

"Later, Lin Haoqing seemed to have really died in that snake cave."

"After he was rescued, it was as if he had been possessed by a poisonous snake, and was no longer the gentle boy he used to be."

Ji Yunhe ended her story. Only the sound of dripping water could still be heard inside the dungeon. Every drop tugged at her heartstrings, making it difficult for her to calm down.

"For years, I believed I had made the right choice that day. Because Lin Haoqing was never forced to suffer again by his father. But Changyi..." Ji Yunhe looked up at him.

He hung on the wall, his body had been washed clean of the blood, and the withered fish scales that stuck to his skin like scabs were also washed away. But he was still of a pale, bloodless color.

"The choice I made back then brought you great suffering today," Ji Yunhe went on. "I was wrong... I am so sorry… This is all my fault."

The dungeon stayed quiet for a while. Finally, Ji Yunhe heard a faint and gentle reassurance.

"Not your fault."

His voice, like a soft brush, swept away all the debris around them, and smoothed all of her emotional turmoil.

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