Chapter 62: Good Enough

Ji Yunhe was brought back to the courtyard in the center of the lake. Once again, she was locked up. And this time the seal no longer allowed her hands to pass through. She sure had a knack for making matters worse. But Ji Yunhe had no remorse.

She would always remember the moment she stepped out of the window, the feeling of running wild across the frozen lake, and the exhaustion while lying on the ice looking up at the clear night sky. They were all so beautiful. They gave her a taste of freedom.

And after that night, Ji Yunhe felt less regretful in general. Dropping dead one day was no longer a big deal. In fact, she even looked forward to it. She studied the mark left on her ear by Changyi for days but still could not figure out its purpose, so she gave up.

She knew some demons liked to mark their territory, so maybe this thing on her ear just symbolized that she was now his property.

Although everyone would see it as such, Ji Yunhe did not accept it. Just like how Changyi did not belong to Princess Shunde, Ji Yunhe also did not belong to Changyi.

She always belonged to herself, in the Demon Valley, in the Grand Master's house, and in this Cloud Garden.

Throughout her life, she had done many things outside of her will and was forced to make many choices. Some with sorrow, others in pain. She made it this far under the pulls and tugs of life. But she never yielded to anyone.

When Lin Canglan used poison to control her, she plotted and planned to seize the antidote. And when Princess Shunde humiliated her and tortured her, she did not bend either.

She never stopped struggling against the hand of fate for the control of her own life, winning some and losing some, but never giving up. She fought along the entire way.

Ji Yunhe looked at herself in the mirror. Her face was thin, her eyes were sunken, and her lips were pale. Her fight could be described as pretty tragic. In the past she had fought for life, now she wanted to try a different game.

She wanted to fight for death. She wanted to decide when, where, and how she died. To end her journey with pride and dignity instead of fear and panic.

Since Ji Yunhe had nothing to do all day, she spent all her time thinking about this matter. Designing, planning, calculating, and scheming, just like what she used to do in the Demon Valley. Except back then it was to protect herself and her friends.

In her current state, Ji Yunhe would definitely not be able to break through the new seal around the penthouse, so this was the only place she could die in. But it did not matter, everything was about give and take and her end goal was to die. As long as she could reach it, she was willing to make compromises over the location.

And for this goal, she only needed to boldly go forward with no reason to worry about the aftermath. After all, the aftermath was for the living to deal with.

The only problem was her goal conflicted with Changyi. He did not allow her to die. Ji Yunhe rummaged through the room when she was alone, and found no weapons.

No cutting herself, no jumping off the building, and no starving to death because someone watched over her every meal. Just hold her breath and suffocate? She tried it. When she went to bed at sunrise, she smothered the blanket on her head and held it tightly with her hands.

She grew stuffy in no time, but her hands also grew weak. She ended up huffing and puffing in deep slumber all day under the blanket. Other than her nose feeling some discomfort when she woke up, everything else felt fine.

Ji Yunhe also thought about the beam on the ceiling. She could twist a rope out of the bed sheet, tie it to the beam and give herself a good old hanging. Ji Yunhe thought this method was feasible, but she searched and searched and could not find the scissors.

Then she remembered… After she made a cloak and tried to run away, Changyi confiscated her scissors. Maybe a whole bed sheet could still work…

She grabbed it and shook it in the air. But as the sheet drifted down, a gloomy face suddenly appeared behind it. Changyi stood in front of Ji Yunhe with his hands behind his back and his face full of discontent. The bed sheet fell limply to the ground.

"When did you... come in?" Ji Yunhe looked at the door.

"The meal hasn't been delivered yet..."

Changyi ignored her question and asked suspiciously, "What are you trying to do now?"

"I..." Ji Yunhe shook the bed sheet a couple more times.

"The sheet is a little dusty, so I'm giving it a shake."

"Done shaking?"

"Mhm."

"Put it back."

Changyi watched closely as Ji Yunhe laid the sheet back onto the bed in proper form, then he left with the same face full of discontent.