Chapter 75

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Chapter 75: Surrender

Ji Yunhe was a little worried. If Lin Haoqing revealed some details about six years ago in front of Changyi, what should she do...

But before they had a chance to see Lin Haoqing, news came from the front that the demon masters had broken through the formation set up by the north, and were now marching over with incredible force and momentum.

They were furious that Qing Ji had captured Lin Haoqing. After decades of suppressed rage, what she did was the straw that broke the camel's back.

When Ji Yunhe heard the news, she did not know whether to laugh or cry. She was one them, having endured the oppression for so many years because of her double pulse. Her people finally rising up with so much determination and vitality was something of a rarity that she had long hoped for, but ironically, she was now standing in their opposition.

Luo Jinsang and Kongming were also in the room. She was super confused. "But we captured their leader! How did they become even more powerful..."

Kongming let out a cold snort and resentfully ignored her question.

Ji Yunhe said, "Even bunnies bite when pushed to the extreme. This move of yours was too excessive."

Luo Jinsang scratched her head. "Then we can only go to war?"

"We can't." Changyi's voice was not loud, but incomparably firm.

Ji Yunhe nodded in agreement. "If we talk about one on one, no one can beat Qing Ji. But when two sides collide, there will be casualties. Plus the demon masters have very high morale and a lot of fighting spirit right now, we can't take them head on. If we win by using brute force, two months later when the snow melts and the court sends their troops, we'd be too weak to defend. And if we lose... we end up with nothing."

"Then what do we do..." Luo Jinsang anxiously picked at her head. "Should I quietly stuff Lin Haoqing back into their camp?"

The monk snorted again and mocked her out loud, "What do you want? Insult them a second time? Luo Jinsang, how many lives do you have to lose?"

"Then... Well..."

Ji Yunhe raised her head and looked at Changyi. "Let's make peace. I will go and convince them to surrender."

Luo Jinsang looked at Ji Yunhe cluelessly. "Huh? Make peace? Surrender? You're going?"

Ji Yunhe did not look at Luo Jinsang, her gaze remained on Changyi. "Yes, I will go."

Changyi thought for a moment then said the same words from earlier, "We will go together."

…

Deep in the night, land outside the Demon Terrace was covered by an endless blanket of snow. In the horizon, an army pressed forth between heaven and earth.

Two shadows appeared in front of the main city gate, casually riding their horses toward the thousands of men in the distance.

Between the two of them, one had a body running on empty, supported only by a jiaozhu, and the other one did not have his inner pearl that was the source of his demonic power. They walked through the wind and snow, stopped on top of a hill and waited for the approaching army. Ji Yunhe looked at Changyi.

"Are you really not going to take back your jiaozhu?"

Changyi's hair flew with the wind, reflecting the snow around them. "Not taking it back."

Ji Yunhe teased, "What if they make the same move and capture you?"

"They can't get me regardless."

This fish was very confident! Ji Yunhe looked away and said, "You don't lie, so I believe you."

Changyi turned and looked at her frail body wrapped under a dark blue cloak. She was so thin... If this snowstorm were to blow a little harder, it would blow her away. She pulled the reins of her horse who had grown a little uneasy because of the massive demonic energy approaching from afar. "Changyi, this view is so beautiful." She peered at the land through the snowstorm. "I have not seen this in a long time."

She talked as if they were not here gambling with their lives, but merely taking a stroll.

Changyi nodded. "Yes, it's been a long time."

It had also been a long time since he last saw Ji Yunhe among such a vast, open landscape. Six years to be exact. On the way between the Demon Valley and the imperial capital, she had stood opposite of him with an army behind her. Changyi still remembered the cold sensation of her sword that night...

And this time, she was on his side.

He thought he would never let Ji Yunhe out of that room again. He planned to keep her there until her last breath, and never give her another chance to betray him.

But what was he doing now?

He brought her out and gave her his jiaozhu. If she were to stand with the other side, she could easily take his life again.

But he did it anyway.

"This may be the last time..."

She looked far into the sky beyond the wind and snow. Changyi understood her words and felt an ache inside his heart.

The look of Ji Yunhe near death, Changyi had seen it before, and had ached for it.

He denied and ignored his emotions in the past. But looking at Ji Yunhe's slightly sunken eyes, and the dry, pale lips he had kissed, his emotions surged and overwhelmed him. "Ji Yunhe."

She turned her head to look at him, her dark eyes reflecting his silver hair dancing in the snow.

"If you promise to never betray me again, I will believe you."

The snowstorm howled and whistled around them, but her world grew still.

Ji Yunhe stared blankly at Changyi. In his eyes, she had used him, betrayed him, and almost killed him. But now he was telling her that he still wanted to believe her...

Her lips trembled and she suppressed her emotions. "Big-tailed fish, why are you still so naive... After all these years, you still dare to take a human promise seriously?"

Her words pricked at him like a needle, but he still said, "If you say it, I will believe it."

Ji Yunhe's hands were trembling so much inside her sleeves that she could barely hold on to the reins of her horse. Suddenly, the sound of ten thousand footsteps came rumbling, shaking the earth and breaking the atmosphere between them.

Ji Yunhe regained her grip, looked ahead and said, "Let's not talk about these things until we take care of business."

The army of demon masters washed toward them like a tidal wave.

They stopped a hundred meters away from Ji Yunhe and Changyi.

A few dozen men rode their horses and approached them.

Some of them were familiar faces to Ji Yunhe, some of them were new, but they all looked fierce and full of animosity.

The courier demon, Siyu, was among them. She was Lin Haoqing's demon slave and was obviously more anxious than the others. She took the lead in lifting the reins of her horse and came up to Ji Yunhe. "Just you two?"

Ji Yunhe said, "The Lord of the North has come in person. It's better than a thousand men."

The crowd looked at Changyi. He did not say a word, but the blue eyes and silver hair had long become a legend throughout the world. Many people here saw him for the first time, and turned their heads to whisper among each other.

Changyi moved his horse forward a step and raised his voice. "The north has no intention of being an enemy of the demon master tribe. If you retreat today, Valley Master Lin will be returned to the Demon Valley unharmed."

"How can we trust you? Hand over the Valley Master first!" A big burly man came forward from the crowd. "There is also my brother, Jin Lu of the Demon Mountain. We can talk about the rest afterwards!"

This person's brother, Jin Lu, was the demon master captured by Changyi. He was the face of the Demon Mountain, and being taken so easily was extremely embarrassing for them.

"So you are from the Demon Mountain?" Ji Yunhe looked at the big man and asked with a smile.

The big man answered suspiciously, "Yes, so what?"

"Jin Lu is the strongest demon master of Demon Mountain. Him being taken captive, did that feel like a slap on the face?" Ji Yunhe watched the big man's face turn green, then turned her head to speak to Siyu. "What's more, even Valley Master Lin was also directly taken from your camp… This joint expedition to the north lost its commander before a battle even started. If word gets out, you demon masters will look truly ridiculous."

The crowd was now even angrier after hearing what she said. Many people unsheathed their swords.

Changyi's eyes flashed and he summoned the remnants of demonic energy inside his body. The surrounding snowflakes in the air suddenly stopped and turned into sharp, icy blades, pointing to the crowd from all sides.

"Why so angry?" Ji Yunhe remained smiling in the standoff. "The leader captured, the face slapped, and all demon masters lost their dignity… Wasn't this already predestined? Decades ago when the Grand Master developed the frost poison, established the Grand Master's house, and set up the four quarters to keep you imprisoned, you were already destined to end up in today's defeat."

The crowd fell silent.

Ji Yunhe continued to laugh. "Are you angry at the north for being too powerful, or are you angry at your own incompetence and mediocrity?" She raised her voice so the people a hundred meters away could hear.

"A hundred years ago, the Grand Master's house did not exist, the four quarters weren't there, and the demon master tribe was not enslaved and imprisoned. Look at yourselves now." Ji Yunhe straightened her back and continued, "I am also a demon master, I used to be the Master Warden of the Demon Valley. I know how reluctant and difficult it is for you all to risk your lives and come to this bitter cold land! But who told you to come? And for whom are you fighting? Where are your swords pointing? And why are you spilling your blood? Can anyone sober up and take a good look?"

"Who took away our spirit? Who trapped us in a cage? And who intimidated, threatened and tamed us?" Ji Yunhe reached out and grabbed an icy blade frozen in the air by Changyi. It cut her skin and her blood fell.

She fiercely threw the ice blade to the ground. "I wield my blade at the one outside the cage, not those who are also suffering under their oppression!"

Changyi gazed at her from the side and his hand loosened. The snowstorm resumed, falling down around him and onto everyone's faces. The crowd stirred.

Ji Yunhe looked at Siyu. "We took Lin Haoqing not to fight, but to not fight."

"We have no choice." Siyu walked her horse closer to Ji Yunhe. "Princess Shunde will taint all the water sources with the frost poison if we don't take you to her."

Ji Yunhe froze.

"She does not necessarily want to kill the demon masters here, but if there are newborn children with a double pulse, how are you going to save them all?"

Ji Yunhe was silent for a moment. "I don't know. But because of that, I will never give in to her. She can threaten you to come after me today, then threaten you to go after someone else tomorrow. Her desires and requests will never end."

Several people came out of the army and walked past Siyu…

"I would like to join the north."

"I also want to join the north..."

First a couple, then dozens, then hundreds… Endless numbers of demon masters came out of the army and marched to the growing crowd behind Ji Yunhe and Changyi. No one from their own side attempted to stop them.

Ji Yunhe looked at them through the heavy snow and howling wind, and smiled.

She turned to Changyi. He was quietly staring at her, his eyes reflecting only her smile.

"Changyi..." she called out softly.

The wind blew at her cloak, and it fluttered in the wind like wings.

Her ears could no longer hear anything, not even her own voice.

Changyi, this was the last thing I could do for you...

Her body slowly fell back. A sky filled with drifting snow was the last thing she saw.

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