59.2

This was clearly the greatest generosity.

But she was still greedy, so she asked him, "Changyi, how about… you let me go out and walk for a day, then I come back and sit under house arrest for a day. You let me out for two days, I come back for two days. If you let me go out for a month, I will come back and sit here properly for a month. And I will eat whatever you want me to..."

"No." Changyi looked at the plate.

"The last bite." Ji Yunhe sighed again and reluctantly picked up the last piece of vegetable on her plate.

It was winter in the Northlands and they were in the middle of a war, a fresh piece of vegetable was hard to come by. Ji Yunhe knew that, so she opened her mouth and ate it.

But this last bite caused a rumbling inside her. Her throat grew tight and she turned her head, throwing up everything she had just eaten into a bucket used to water the houseplants.

But her vomiting did not stop after the food emptied out. Ji Yunhe felt a sharp pain in her stomach and started coughing up black blood.

The blood gushed out uncontrollably, and she fell to her knees shivering with a chill that had taken over her body. Cold sweat dripped down and drenched her. Suddenly, a hand pressed against her back. It passed wave after wave of refreshing energy into her body, suppressing her restless blood. The pain eased and the cold sweat stopped. Ji Yunhe rested for a while before her eyes slowly regained their focus.

She turned her head and saw Changyi crouching on the ground. He was no longer a demon held captive in a dungeon. He now ruled over the entire Northlands and held a domain that competed with the imperial court of the Dacheng Dynasty. He was honored, respected, and even feared.

And right now, he crouched on the ground next to her, as if they had been taken back in time to six years ago. His gaze was still clear and his heart was still gentle. He had no hatred, no calculations, and would only say to Ji Yunhe: Taking this blow would only injure me, but you taking it would die.

"Changyi, I... will not live much longer." The hand on her back pressed a bit firmer. The energy flowing into her body grew and gave her more strength to talk.

"Let me go..."

"No."

"I want to use the last of my remaining days to walk around a bit. If I'm lucky, maybe I can get back to my hometown and return to my roots..."

"You can't."

"... at least then I would be a little worthy of this life my parents gave me..."

Ji Yunhe was exhausted. She closed her eyes and slowly fell back. She was as light as a feather, floating into his arms sent only a few strands of silver hair in motion.

His long silver hair draped down over his face and hid his expression, revealing only his slightly bitten lips. The room was silent for a long time.

Snowflakes fell outside, and the night was eerily calm. Changyi tightened his grasp around Ji Yunhe's thin, boney arm, and said with a bit of a struggle, "I will not allow it."

His voice drifted away with the falling snow and disappeared into the ground without a trace.