Chapter 99: Follow You 2

.....

It was evening when the young man in a dusty white robe ran into the courtyard.

"Master! Master!" Ji Chengyu came out of the house and looked at Ji Ning in shock.

"Why were you gone for so long?" Tears accumulated in Ji Ning's eyes.

"Master... I... I was captured and taken all the way to the Northlands. They released me and I..."

"The Northlands!?"

"I... I also met Ji Yunhe, she didn't die..." Ji Chengyu was shaken.

"What?"

"Ji Yunhe, she transformed into a man and saved me, and later..." His words were incoherent as he tried to catch his breath. Ji Chengyu pulled him toward the house.

"Come in first, then talk."

They did not know that outside the courtyard door, a black-armored general stood against the wall. His eyes behind the black iron mask were dark and gloomy.

"Ji Yunhe..."

.....

The wind and rain outside did not disturb the calm in the deep sea. Ji Yunhe was enjoying the food brought back by Changyi with a face of pure gratification.

"Eating roasted fish at the bottom of the sea, this is one amazing experience. Mainly because this place is so beautiful, quiet and secluded, and I get food delivery."

"Then stay here."

"No way, that would be like imprisonment." Ji Yunhe blurted out the word and they were both reminded of some past things.

Changyi fell silent, and she immediately explained, "Big-tailed fish, I'm not blaming you."

"I know." Changyi wiped away some fruit juice on the corner of her mouth with his sleeve. Ji Yunhe was a bit caught off guard by his action. She cleared her throat and took another bite of the fish. But Changyi did not mind her awkward reaction.

"After you get well, north, south, Demon Valley, or anywhere in the world, you can go wherever you want."

His words surprised her. Ji Yunhe looked at his serious face in the shimmering light of the sea lingzhi, and listened to his serious voice.

"You have always wanted to be free, so much that you even took a walk between life and death," he paused briefly.

"I won't keep you locked up anymore."

Ji Yunhe asked, "What about you?"

"I will go back to the north," Changyi said.

"It is no longer a tool for my own selfish desires. I will guard the north."

"Like how you guarded it when the lava came?" Changyi did not deny it. Ji Yunhe looked at the side of his face and smiled.

"Changyi, you've changed."

"Perhaps." He lowered his head and stared at his hand, as if he had already heard her say: okay, after I get well, we'll go our separate ways.

"Take Qu Xiaoxing, he is very loyal to you, and Luo Jinsang..."

Ji Yunhe laughed and shook her head.

Changyi looked at her curiously. She said, "You've changed, and so have I."

He listened quietly. "I grew up trapped inside the Demon Valley, and then was locked up in various prisons, so I never had any free will. Because of that, I hated the idea of being tied to anything in this world, and always fought for that illusory freedom as my greatest desire. Even to the point of sacrificing my life for it."

Ji Yunhe turned her head and looked at him. "But after taking a walk between life and death and having had a fresh new start, I now know freedom is not about being able to go anywhere you want," she said.

"It's being able to decide for yourself." Ji Yunhe gently caressed the back of his hand.

"And I have decided to be tied down," she smiled at him, "for you."

The light of the sea lingzhi seemed brighter all of a sudden, illuminating his eyes.

"You want to follow me back north?"

"North, south, Demon Valley," she imitated him.

"Anywhere in the world, you can go wherever you want."

His hand turned over and ten fingers interlocked. Changyi did not speak again, but the corners of his lips curved up into a smile.

"To the furthest end of heaven and earth, to the deepest corners of the sea…"

Ji Yunhe whispered into his ear, "I will always follow you."

"Okay."

"Wait a minute... Is this considered a corner of the sea? Then have we already been there?"

"There is still the far end of heaven and earth."

Tens of thousands of mountains, rivers, and seas. Once he took care of unfinished business in the north, he would take her to all the places she wanted to go. As for the past, she did not care to mention, and he did not care to remember. Just let it all dissipate into the wind or the waves. Having lost and found was already the greatest blessing.