Chapter 29: Changyi's World

In the following days, the valley was peaceful and quiet. Compared to the pandemonium that had happened, it felt a little too calm. Everything appeared to be back to normal, but tension brewed beneath the surface.

Everyone focused their attention on Princess Shunde's last wish. Luo Jinsang watched Lin Canglan day after day. She did not locate the hidden antidotes, but she did hear a lot of whispers among the people of the valley.

They were all discussing the position of the next Valley Master, and that Ji Yunhe would probably win it. Only Ji Yunhe did not seem to care.

Luo Jinsang ran back to her everyday to tell her how everyone believed she would win the competition, and how Lin Canglan was bound to pass the master title to her.

"They say it with such conviction that I am convinced too," Luo Jinsang said.

"Do you think Lin Canglan will keep his promise for once and really pass the position of the Valley Master to you?" Ji Yunhe smiled.

"If he really passes it on to me, then what about his son? The old fox only has this one seed. Do you think he will be okay with the possibility that I will send Lin Haoqing to the afterlife right after him?" Luo Jinsang was a bit shocked.

"You would really do that?" Ji Yunhe knocked her on the head.

"You can wake up. The choice is not mine to make. Just help me find the antidotes."

"Okay."

Ji Yunhe did not care about the rumors swirling in the valley, nor did she care about what Lin Haoqing was up to. It would be useless even if she cared. Everyone seemed to be minding their own business and no one was bothering her, so she was happy to relax for a few days.

She went to see Changyi everyday, and since Lin Canglan had granted her request, she could dismiss everyone there in the dungeon and spend time alone with him.

But she did not do much. She moved her tea set over, built a tea table with two large stones inside his cell, and just chatted while having some tea.

No one knew what Ji Yunhe was doing in the dungeon with Changyi. They only saw her carrying her teapot in and out day after day. Those who got creative guessed Ji Yunhe was giving Changyi a bewitching soup. That must be why he was behaving even without being tied up.

Ji Yunhe heard this rumor from Luo Jinsang. She went to Changyi with the pot and poured a bowl of water for him.

"Here is a bewitching soup, do you want to drink it?" Changyi held the bowl of freshly boiled water and wrinkled his nose.

"It's too hot, I don't want to drink it."

Ji Yunhe's laughter could be heard outside the dungeon. "Changyi, did I ever tell you that I really like your personality."

"No, but I can feel it."

"Feel what? That I like you?"

Ji Yunhe said this as a joke, but Changyi's hand trembled slightly and spilled some water onto his leg. It took him a while to react and wipe his pants.

He just started wearing pants recently and was still not used to it, so he always kept both legs together. When the boiling water spilled, it soaked into both of his pant legs. Ji Yunhe reached out to wipe them with her sleeves.

"Does it burn?"He shifted his body back a bit.

"What's wrong?" Ji Yunhe asked him.

"Do your legs still hurt?"

"No..." Changyi looked at Ji Yunhe, tilted his head, and hesitated for a moment. Ji Yunhe felt puzzled because he rarely hesitated. She was still wondering if she had said something wrong when Changyi asked, a bit indecisively, "Do you like me?"

Once these four words came out, Ji Yunhe also hesitated. This big-tailed fish... was taking her seriously again...

"Like friends," Ji Yunhe explained.

"You matter to me and I care about you."

Changyi nodded, indicating that he understood. "There is friendship between you and me, not the love between a man and a woman, so we should watch what we say and do."

"You big..." She laughed then paused, then her smile faded and turned to a slight sigh.

"How did you develop this personality of yours? You are direct and straightforward, but then you take those weird protocols and etiquettes seriously. I can see clearly now that you are much more prim and proper than me."

"It is necessary to be proper. My people will only ever recognize one partner in life. Once confirmed, they will always be together. We cannot mislead ourselves or others."

Only one companion for a lifetime, no wonder he was so cautious.

"You are a very dedicated species."

Not only dedicated, but also sincere, unyielding, and staying true to themselves no matter what. They seemed so glorious that Ji Yunhe felt ashamed of herself.

"I envy your people, manifesting all the virtues we humans can only sing about in books."

"Why can't humans be like this?" Ji Yunhe was silent for a while.

"I don't know. Perhaps there are many answers to this question, but the only thing I can think of is that humans want... too much." Ji Yunhe poured a cup of tea.

"Let's not talk about my world anymore, you already got a glimpse of it. What is your world like?"

"Very quiet," Changyi said.

"People don't like to talk in the sea."

"What do you eat?"

"Everything." This answer frightened Ji Yunhe a little.

"Everything?" She looked at Changyi up and down. In her mind, he should be like a god and not eat mundane things, but as it turned out, he was a deep sea tyrant...?

Tormenting small fish and shrimp...

"Seaweed, shellfish, other fish. We don't eat our own kind."

"Then what's your favorite?"

"Shellfish. Their meat is very tender." Ji Yunhe suddenly felt like the jiaoren in front of her was not so different after all.

"And where do you sleep?"

"We all have different preferences." Changyi sipped his tea.

"I like to sleep in giant clams after eating them." Ji Yunhe gulped.

"What did the clams do wrong?"

That you have to eat them then invade their shell... Changyi pointed to the roast chicken Ji Yunhe had brought.

"It also did nothing wrong. It's just delicious." Too much of a good thing...

Ji Yunhe puckered her mouth and pulled off a chicken wing.

"If there is a chance, I really want to go under the sea and check it out. Is it pitch black down there?"

"I have a big pearl in my clam that glows by itself and can illuminate everything around you."

"How big is it?"

"About the same size as you." Ji Yunhe was stunned.

"Then how big is the clam you live in?" Changyi tilted his head and looked at the cell.

"Bigger than here." Ji Yunhe shook her head and thought for a very long time.

"You... are not some kind of a deep-sea monster, are you? Eat a clam bigger than a house, sleep inside it... and use the giant pearl that took it centuries to hatch out as lighting… In comparison, we humans seem pretty reasonable."

Changyi thought about it seriously too. "I do not lie to them. They know their fate from the beginning. Other than that, it's just a matter of making the best use of things. We do not like to be wasteful."

The dedicated and sincere jiaoren were dedicated and sincere even when they ate others. Ji Yunhe nodded.

"What you said makes me want to visit the sea even more."

"I can take you there someday."

Ji Yunhe nodded again, but as soon as she looked down and saw Changyi's legs, she fell silent and did not speak any more. Perhaps, she should not talk to him about the sea...

Ji Yunhe sighed and took another sip of tea. Suddenly she felt a sharp pain coming from her chest. She froze and immediately covered it with her hand.

"What's wrong?"

Ji Yunhe did not answer Changyi. She gasped for breath and cold sweat appeared on her forehead. After so many days of leisure, she forgot that it was time to take the antidote again. And Lin Canglan had not yet sent his demon slave, Qing Shu, to deliver it...