Chapter 41

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Chapter 41: Departure

The next two days were fairly peaceful for Ji Yunhe.

She watched Lin Haoqing ascend to the position of the Valley Master.

It was a warm and charming day.

Lin Haoqing, dressed in formal black, walked step by step down Li Feng Hall toward the high seat. The breeze blew in from outside, stirring his robe and the hair on his forehead.

He did not turn around and sit right away after reaching the chair. Instead, he silently stood in front of it for a while.

It was difficult for Ji Yunhe to guess the thoughts and emotions going through his mind at this moment. She stood in her usual position and watched him.

The crowd started to whisper amongst themselves, and Lin Haoqing finally turned around, flipped out his robe, and sat down.

Ji Yunhe took the lead and bowed down onto one knee. "Long live the Valley Master."

The whispering voices slowly quieted down, and everyone knelt one after another.

"Long live the Valley Master."

The sound of salutations consecrated him as their new leader.

"No need for such formalities." Lin Haoqing raised his hand and gestured for everyone to get up.

Under the contrast of light and shadow, the new master on the seat seemed to merge with Lin Canglan right before Ji Yunhe's eyes.

The same position, the same bloodline, and the same gaze. An eerie continuation of the cycle of life. And when Lin Haoqing's eyes fell on her face, she responded with a faint smile.

After this, nothing in the Demon Valley, nor in the world, mattered to her anymore.

Ji Yunhe was now completely free of things to do.

She wandered around the valley looking at familiar scenes that she had grown so tired of. But now they seemed a bit less annoying, some even felt precious.

Before leaving for the capital, she laid on her roof and watched the stars all night. When she woke up the next morning, she felt as if she had thought about many things, but also as if she did not have time to think about anything.

There had been some confusion and everything went by so quickly.

The court general who came to pick up Changyi waited outside the main gate.

When she went to the dungeon to get him, demon masters were already there with an iron lockbox.

They were planning to use thick chains and shackles on him and put him in the lockbox.

"There's no need for this stuff."

Ji Yunhe walked into the cell, took the chains from their hands and threw them onto the ground. "And get rid of the box, we don't need it either."

"But..." The demon masters were uneasy.

Ji Yunhe smiled and said, "If he runs now, can we even give him to Princess Shunde?"

The demon masters looked at each other and stopped talking.

Ji Yunhe turned her head and extended her hand to Changyi. "Let's go."

Changyi glanced at her hand and rejected it. "It's inappropriate." He abided by proper etiquette even now.

Yes, he was a jiaoren who recognized only one companion for life. He had to give his future partner absolute dedication and loyalty. Changyi would never accept Princess Shunde as a companion, and right now he believed he would never be free again, so he would not consider Ji Yunhe a companion either.

She did not force him. "Okay, let's go."

She turned around and led Changyi out of the dungeon.

This was probably the first time he had a real walk since he grew legs. He did not walk fast, so Ji Yunhe walked slowly with him.

When they arrived at the main mountain gate, the people from the court were already showing a lot of impatience.

An armored general on his horse, wearing a black iron mask, kept pulling the reins and paced back and forth. When he saw Ji Yunhe walk out slowly with Changyi, he complained, "You lowlife demon slavers, if you miss our deadline, what shall be the punishment?"

Lin Haoqing was also here. He did not appreciate the general's attitude.

The imperial court did not think much of the demon masters outside the Grand Master's house, and the noblemen had given them an extremely derogatory name, called demon slaver. It implied that they were slaves who played with demons for the pleasure of the nobles.

Lin Haoqing was about to speak, but Ji Yunhe laughed first and said, "This is still earlier than the agreed time. The general's lack of patience and mental stability will likely become an obstacle in the battlefields."

The armored general's frustration turned into anger. He drew his longsword, reined his horse toward Ji Yunhe and slashed down furiously.

Then the sword abruptly froze in mid air three inches away from her head.

Next to her, Changyi's glowing eyes fixated on the armored general. With a sudden blue flash inside his pupils, the general's sword exploded into a million pieces and blew away with the wind.

It turned quiet and everyone was shocked.

Destroying objects through space was not something any demon could do.

The general's horse started backing away. No matter how much he pulled on the reins, he could not get it to stop retreating. The more he tried to drive the horse forward, the more it resisted.

The general was furious. He dismounted, drew another sword from a soldier behind him and swung it fiercely, cutting the head off of his horse. The main gate suddenly smelled of blood.

The general then removed the black iron mask from his face and turned his head angrily. "Who raised this war horse? Find him and kill him!"

Only after his mask had been removed did Ji Yunhe see that the general was only sixteen or seventeen years old. But his arrogance and hostility were quite formidable.

After yelling at the people behind him, the young general turned his head and stared at Changyi. "Jiaoren, just because you will be serving the princess doesn't mean you can do whatever you want! I can cut off your hands and feet even if I'm not allowed to cut off your head!"

Ji Yunhe laughed again. "This little general, breaking his hands and feet is not a matter of being allowed to, but a matter of if you have the capability, and you don't!"

The young general charged at her, but was held back by a pair of hands from behind. "Young general, the princess and the Grand Master repeatedly instructed that a safe journey was of top priority. Why don't you stop quarreling with this demon master."

The man speaking was wearing a white robe with a white ribbon tied around his forehead, and his face was chiseled like a jade sculpture. A disciple of the… Grand Master.

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