Chapter 101: Danger
"Changyi, how come you never asked me how I came back?" Ji Yunhe asked softly as she rested her head on his arm.
"I'm afraid it'd wake me from this dream." Ji Yunhe sat up and patted his face then shook his arm.
"Is this a dream?"
"It feels like a dream."Ji Yunhe smiled and said,
"If this were a few months ago, I would've never dreamed that the big-tailed fish would be so nice to me one day." Changyi held her hand.
"We don't need to mention the past." In his mind, all the drama that had happened between them no longer mattered.
"New life means a fresh new start."
"Yes, but I want to be clear with this matter. I was saved by Lin Haoqing."
"Lin Haoqing?"
"When I was refined into a demon, I formed an inner pearl. He took it out of my corpse and gave me a new demon body." Changyi pondered for a moment.
"Why did he do that?"
"Perhaps for old time's sake," Ji Yunhe said.
"Why he saved me is not important, what he wants to do now is." Changyi sat up.\n\n
"After saving me, Lin Haoqing pushed me out on my own. He made me learn the art of transformation, and told me to never show my true face, and never go to the north or the capital. Likely it's because he doesn't want me getting involved with whatever he's planning on doing. He said he's going to the capital to take care of some unfinished business."
"What does he want to do?" Ji Yunhe shook her head.
"I used to think that I was the best at predicting his moves, but ever since he led the demon masters on their northern expedition, I couldn't figure him out anymore. Princess Shunde is not a master in strategy. Aside from her vicious and toxic temperament, there is nothing to fear about her. She wanted to deal with the north and they were short on manpower, so she sent Lin Haoqing and his men. That was a stupid and direct method. It was logical from Princess Shunde's point of view, but why would Lin Haoqing accept the order? That's curious." Changyi nodded.
"When Qing Ji captured Lin Haoqing from their camp, it also seemed too easy."
"And then his army came attacking, which made it possible for me to talk them into switching sides." Ji Yunhe narrowed her eyes.
"Doesn't this look like he was... deliberately giving us his men?" Ji Yunhe pondered a bit more.
"But I can't figure out what he is planning on now."
"We can worry about it tomorrow after we go back." Changyi stood up.
"Are you hungry? I'll go up and get you some food. What do you want to eat?"
"Something sweet. I've suffered too much already, all I want now is sweet stuff." (The Chinese translation for "suffering" is literally "eating bitter".)
"Okay. Which one of the fruits I brought was the sweetest?"
Ji Yunhe smiled and answered, "You are the sweetest." His ears turned red.
"I'll be back soon."
...
When he leaped onto the cliff above the shore, Luo Jinsang and Qu Xiaoxing had been so bored that they were tossing dice carved out of pebbles.
Seeing Changyi had come out of the sea with fish again, Qu Xiaoxing subconsciously cowered.
"I already roasted fish for two days straight, I don't want to do it today."
"Who else is going to do it?" Luo Jinsang pushed him and he had no choice but to take on the task again. She then proceeded to ask Changyi her daily question, "How is Yunhe doing down there?"
"Pretty good."
Changyi walked into the forest. Qu Xiaoxing turned to Luo Jinsang and commented, "He seems to be in a very good mood today."
"Is he not like this usually?" Qu Xiaoxing said bluntly,
"Does he usually bother answering you?"
Luo Jinsang pouted, then suddenly a green light flashed above their heads. It felt familiar and she looked up with a smile.
"Qing Ji came! Huh..." She squinted some more.
"That is... "
A giant pair of green wings flew by in the sky, but they looked very strange. They were not the beautiful ones Luo Jinsang had seen before, but were jagged and uneven, and they flew awkwardly in the air.