Chapter 71

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Chapter 71: It Was You

"I don't want it!" Ji Yunhe shouted in anger and slapped Changyi's hand away, then she tried to spit out the jiaozhu.

But in the next moment, Changyi covered her mouth and pinned her down.

His eyes were dark and turbulent. "I didn't give you the right to choose."

"You do not give her the right to choose, nor do you give me the right to choose? And you don't give the right to choose to all those people who have come to the Northlands seeking refuge?" The monk was so angry that he pointed and cursed at Changyi's back. "Wasting a bit of time on a woman, so be it! But also giving out your jiaozhu? If the Grand Master takes you by surprise and attack right now, what then? You expect the north wind and snow to block him for you?"

"The Grand Master will not come before Shunde recovers."

"That guy's temperament is far better than yours! And how can you be so sure!?" The monk yelled some more, but when he saw Changyi had no intention of letting Ji Yunhe go, he said "fine" three times in a row. "You are lord now! I am no longer of any assistance to you. Do as you wish!"

Then the monk kicked the needle bag on the ground and stormed out.

When Ji Yunhe saw that the only person who could help her scold this big-tailed fish was now gone, she only grew angrier and more anxious. She struggled desperately to the point of almost hurting herself before Changyi finally released her.

She got up immediately and rummaged through the bed, of course finding no weapons, so she sat down and huffed and puffed out in anger instead. After she calmed a bit and suppressed her urge to get violent, she stared at him. "Forget everything else, but this jiaozhu matter is no child's play. Take it back."

"Child's play?" Changyi sneered then said, "Fine, let's take it as child's play then. Why does it concern you? And why are you so eager to return it to me? Do you actually care about my business?"

Ji Yunhe's lips tightened then she said calmly, "Changyi, this is not your business. This is a world affair, the livelihoods of many people."

"It's your world, and your people." Changyi raised a finger and pointed to her face. "You guys pulled me into this world, I have long lost the way I came."

Ji Yunhe's gaze followed his long silver hair down to his legs. He had become so accustomed to walking on them that she nearly forgot what he used to look like.

Her heart ached.

"You should have gone back."

"Heh..." Changyi sneered again. "Go back to where?"

"The sea." Ji Yunhe closed her eyes and could not bear to look at Changyi anymore. "You shouldn't have held on to the hatred, and you shouldn't have lost yourself in it."

Changyi was silent for so long she thought he was not going to respond.

"What I held on to and lost myself in was never hatred."

Ji Yunhe did not expect this from him. She raised her head and met his gaze. Like the sea meeting a dark abyss, they saw their own reflections inside each other's eyes.

He did not speak more, but she could hear him say:

What I held on to and lost myself in was never hatred...

It was you.

Ji Yunhe's heart felt nothing but pain. She turned her eyes away to escape the sea of water.

She chose to return to reality.

"You know, even your jiaozhu can't really help me renew my life."

Changyi was really silent this time.

"Changyi, the people who came to join you entrusted you with their lives, their future, and their whole world..." Ji Yunhe paused. "You know what it's like to be disillusioned, so…"

Changyi did not want to hear any more and stood up. "I can take care of the Northlands without my jiaozhu."

He turned around and left.

Ji Yunhe sat alone on the bed. She covered her face and let out a long sigh.

...

The capital, inside the princess's residence.

Princess Shunde's bandages had been removed from her face, but she still refused to show herself. She wore a veil while sitting behind a bamboo curtain. Zhu Ling stood behind her in his usual black iron armor, guarding her.

He was holding some fresh berries.

Fresh fruits were difficult to find in winter. Princess Shunde grabbed a berry and threw it on the ground, then stepped on it with her bare foot, bursting it. Servants wiped her clean as soon as she lifted her foot. She threw another one down and stepped on it again.

The juice of the berries splashed out and landed onto the shoes of the person outside the curtain.

Lin Haoqing looked at his shoes and bowed. "Princess."

"Valley Master Lin, I'm sorry for the delay."

The servants once again wiped the princess's feet clean. Princess Shunde took another berry and threw it outside the bamboo curtain. The berry rolled to Lin Haoqing and stopped at the tip of his toe.

"This small fruit doesn't taste anything special, but stepping on it is very interesting. The shell seems hard but cracks easily and the juice bursts out. It feels really good. Master Lin, why not give it a try?"

Lin Haoqing crushed the berry with one foot. "May I ask why did the princess summon me to the capital?"

"To stomp on berries."

Lin Haoqing waited for her to continue.

Princess Shunde stood up behind the curtain and spilled all the fruits in Zhu Ling's hand onto the ground, then went on a stomping craze until they all turned into mush.

She stopped, but her breath was heavy and rapid. "The fruits inside the hall are finished, there are more outside the hall." She looked through the bamboo curtain and the hair on her forehead hung down in a slight mess. "Ji Yunhe of the Northlands, I remember you two grew up together, right?"

Lin Haoqing respectfully answered, "Yes."

"You've been heading the Demon Valley for six years now, and you are doing a great job. Your reputation has been soaring."

"It is my duty."

"Valley Master Lin, managing the Demon Valley is only part of your duty, sharing the woes of the court is your top priority." Princess Shunde walked back to her seat and sat down. The servants wiped at her feet again. "Over the years fighting with the north, aside from the disciples of the Grand Master's house, all other demon masters only seem to be helping the court, but in reality… you know very well."

Lin Haoqing tightened his brows slightly and immediately got down on one knee. "Princess..."

Princess Shunde waved her hand. "No need for explanations, I didn't summon you today to hear false pretenses." Princess Shunde continued, "The northern border has been a problem for many years, yet the three demon master quarters keep failing to do their best in eliminating the threat. That is a punishable sin. I want to blight our rivers and lakes with the frost poison."

Princess Shunde smiled behind her veil.

Lin Haoqing tightened his hands inside his sleeves.

"As you know, the frost poison is harmless to ordinary people and demons, but it is deadly to those with a double pulse."

Lin Haoqing raised his head. "Princess, you also have a double pulse, so do the people of the Grand Master's house..."

"We will be fine inside the Imperial City. As for the rest of you demon masters out there, I don't expect to kill all, but as many as possible..."

Lin Haoqing's gaze grew slightly cold. "Princess..."

"There is no rush, it's just a thought. I actually called you here to commend you," Princess Shunde said. "You have done a good job over the years and gained the trust and respect of the three demon master quarters, so I want you to take them all to the Northlands and launch a full on assault. I can promise that if you return victorious, the court will no longer restrain your freedoms. Well, of course, if you do not want this prize, then I will have to punish you all accordingly." Princess Shunde smiled.

"Valley Master Lin, I can see that you and I are the same. We are both ambitious and hunger for power."

After a long pause, Lin Haoqing asked, "Why now?"

"Previously, I only wanted to destroy the rebels in the north. But now, I want to capture one person before destroying them, and you are the most familiar with her."

"The princess wants to capture Ji Yunhe?"

"Correct." Princess Shunde touched her cheek behind the veil. "I want to do something to her. I want to gouge out her eyes and play with them like these berries."

Lin Haoqing fell silent.

"How about it, Master Lin?"

Lin Haoqing looked at the ground full of berries crushed into a dark red paste. It looked like a mass of rotten meat, hideously disgusting.

...

"Lin Haoqing is going to lead the three divisions of demon masters to attack the northern border?"

Ji Yunhe heard the news from Luo Jinsang and was first shocked then confused.

Six years ago, when Changyi and his men first invaded the north, the court failed to destroy them in one fell swoop mainly because demon masters across the land never truly aligned their hearts with the imperial army. It gave Changyi the opportunity to build and grow his force.

Lin Haoqing had also used this time to solidify his position. He became somewhat of a leader among all the demon masters under imperial rule.

Ji Yunhe did not know how she felt about Lin Haoqing right now, but she knew he was a good "helmsman". After the Demon Terrace was taken over by Changyi, part of the demon masters here defected and joined the rebels, and the rest went south to the Demon Valley.

Lin Haoqing accepted the people of the Demon Terrace, and built up his own strength together with the demon masters of the east and west.

Ji Yunhe had thought there would eventually be three major powers in balance, the imperial court, the Northlands, and the Demon Valley.

But unexpectedly, Lin Haoqing agreed to help the court...

Ji Yunhe pondered, "Something is fishy..."

Luo Jinsang looked at Ji Yunhe. "What's fishy? I think your fish is fishy," she said. "He really gave you his jiaozhu? Are you cured?"

Ji Yunhe was now under tremendous stress.

Changyi did not have his jiaozhu, how was he supposed to fight all those demon masters?

Qing Ji commented while drinking tea and eating dried fruit on the table. "If a demon's inner pearl could give people longevity, then all the demons in the world would've been captured and used as health supplements by now."

Luo Jinsang asked Qing Ji, "What does that mean? The jiaozhu can't cure her?"

Qing Ji pushed her teacup to the center of the table, half full of tea. "Yunhe's body is just like this cup, no matter how you look at it, there is only this much tea left. This dried fruit in my hand is like a jiaozhu." Qing Ji threw the fruit into the cup and filled it up. "Now it looks like there's more tea, but in reality there is no difference."

Luo Jinsang looked at the tea cup, then at Qing Ji, then at Ji Yunhe. "That means Yunhe just looks better? The jiaozhu is not of any practical use?"

"The practical use is to make her look better." Qing Ji poured the tea into her mouth along with the dried fruit, swallowed the water, chewed the dried fruit and ate it. "It also lessens her suffering before passing on."

"Huh!?" Luo Jinsang stood up and questioned Ji Yunhe, "You already know this?"

Ji Yunhe nodded and sighed, "I told him… This big-tailed fish has grown up and is now so disobedient!"

"That means the fish also knows?"

Qing Ji answered for Changyi, "Of course he knows."

"Then is he crazy? What's the point of this? All the demon masters in the world are marching over right now to take us down, and he doesn't have his jiaozhu..."

Qing Ji glanced at her and said, "You just realized this? I think that fish went crazy long ago." Then she looked at Ji Yunhe and added, "But this is still good. I don't have anyone to go crazy over even if I want to."

Upon hearing this, Ji Yunhe abruptly thought of the woman in her dreams, and the truth about what had happened to Ning Ruochu.

Ji Yunhe looked at Qing Ji and did not know whether or not to tell her.

Then she decided to try an indirect approach. "So, Qing Ji, I heard that Ning Ruochu and the Grand Master were of the same sect."

Qing Ji sipped her tea and responded with a "mhm."

"I'm curious, how was their relationship?"

Qing Ji asked, "Why are you curious about that?"

"The Grand Master said he wants to mourn for the world, so I think he connived for everything to fall into chaos. I want to know why he's so disgusted by the world. Is it because of Ning Ruochu's death?"

Qing Ji laughed. "Of course not. Although their relationship was good, it was not that good. I don't know about this Grand Master either. I stayed in the seal for a hundred years. When I got out, he already changed for the worse."

Luo Jinsang also grew curious.

"What?" Luo Jinsang asked. "He was a good person before?"

"At least a normal person."

Qing Ji's words confused Ji Yunhe.

According to the woman in her dream, the Grand Master sabotaged Ning Ruochu, resulting in his demise. But according to Qing Ji, he was just an ordinary person.

Unless the Grand Master deceived both Ning Ruochu and Qing Ji back then.

But why?

Why did he turn bad and why did he have to mourn for the world? Who was the woman he kept in his heart?

"Then how come he changed?" Luo Jinsang also wondered, then her eyes lit up. "That Ning Ruochu was so powerful, and the Grand Master too. Who the hell was their master? Is he still around? Can I also go learn from him?"

Of course, Ji Yunhe had overlooked it too. Their master trained two such powerful disciples, he must have been quite an extraordinary person.

"It's a she. Ning Ruochu rarely contacted their master so I've never met her. But the Grand Master always traveled the world with her. Then one day he came back alone and we never heard from her again."

Master and disciple… traveled the world...

Ji Yunhe's brain lit up...

Those books she read in the prison!

Could it be?

Ji Yunhe held her breath, "Was she dressed in white?"

Qing Ji raised an eyebrow. "How did you know?"

Ji Yunhe took a deep breath.

The one the Grand Master loved so much was...

… his own master…

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