73.2

The room fell silent.

Ji Yunhe looked at Changyi and felt like he had become a real lord. He was once submerged in the abyss, and now, he had become a dragon soaring in the nine skies. Eventually, Siyu bowed down.

"I understand, Your Highness. Excuse me for my intrusion, farewell."

After she left, Kongming and Luo Jinsang continued to stand in silence for a while. The monk seemed less hostile when he finally spoke to Changyi again.

"The battle with the demon master army will not be easy. Even if we win, there will be a third force waiting to pick at our broken pieces. You should plan ahead for when the court and the Grand Master's house send their troops." Then he took Luo Jinsang and also left. Ji Yunhe walked up to Changyi under the dim candlelight.

"Changyi."

"I know what you're going to say. Don't want to hear it, go back inside." He had been blocking her words repeatedly today, Ji Yunhe felt both frustrated and funny.

"You know what I am going to say again?"

"Just things like how you don't want to be sheltered by the north and such." He put down the pen in his hand.

"Ji Yunhe, others here are free to come and go as they please, you are not..."

"I knew that's what you were going to say, but that wasn't what I wanted to say. You got me wrong again."

The word "again" took Changyi by surprise. He laughed and said sarcastically, "Right. How can a demon guess the mind of a demon master."

Ji Yunhe ignored him and picked up his pen, then she drew a line on his paper.

"This side is the Demon Terrace, this is the demon masters' blockade." Ji Yunhe pointed to the line and explained.

"Lin Haoqing blocked all the routes coming north, whether by land, air, or the river. His formation is bound to be arranged horizontally. If there are powerful demons blocking the airways, then there have to be powerful demon masters there pulling the strings. And the same goes for the river and land. Due to the suppression of the imperial court over the years, there are only eight notable demon masters outside of the Grand Master's house that are strong enough to control demons of that level. The Demon Valley has three. Lin Haoqing is their leader overseeing everything, so he will definitely not go to the front line to master demons. Snow March went to the islands overseas, so she naturally will not help them either. And I..."

Ji Yunhe smiled. "This time, I am on your side."

Changyi lifted his head and saw her withered face staring at him with a smile. Her eyes twinkled like stars, as if no amount of time and suffering could wear down her confidence and pride.

The candle light flickered between them as they looked at each other in silence. Changyi did not understand why she was on his side, but he did not want to spoil the moment by asking her either. However, Ji Yunhe turned away from his gaze. She made six dots on the line she drew earlier.

"In order to fully block the northern border, there have to be two powerful demon masters overseeing air traffic since the sky is such a wide open space. For the remaining three, one is probably assigned to the river, and two to guard the land. The rest of the demon masters are likely forming a line here. Wherever there's movement, they'd be able to signal one of the five powerful demon masters for support."

Ji Yunhe went on, "A strike on those five is the key. As long as we take down one person from the air and one from the ground, Lin Haoqing's blockade will fall apart on its own."