Chapter 30: Poison

Ji Yunhe struggled to stand up. She knocked over the teapot on the stone table and boiling water spilled all over the ground. The clanking broke the peace inside the dungeon. Changyi looked at her with concern.

"Are you not feeling well?"

He stood up and reached out to help her. But Ji Yunhe pushed his hand away. She did not want him sensing how messy her pulse was at this moment. She shook her head and said, "I am going back, don't worry."

Then she opened the cell door and stumbled out. Ji Yunhe felt dizzy leaving the dungeon. She looked up, the evening sun was setting and looked like a fire burning through the sky.

She staggered along the path. People had mostly gone home for the day and she went by without much notice. After returning to her house, Ji Yunhe searched the table and the bed, but did not find an antidote. She had to endure this.

But the pain at the tip of her heart became more and more unbearable as time went on. It was as if millions of ants had bitten through her skin, crawled down her veins and ripped into her internal organs. Ji Yunhe sat on her knees in pain. Finally, it slowly eased. But the next wave would only be worse.

Ji Yunhe had resisted Lin Canglan's orders before -- when he wanted her to push Lin Haoqing down the snake cave. She endured the pain for only a few days.

But those few days were unforgettable. Even though she knew Lin Canglan was using the antidote to manipulate her and treat her like a puppet, and she loathed the antidote to the extreme, when provided, she never hesitated to take it. The pain would not kill her, but it was enough to wear down her will and sanity. It disfigured her into the wretched person that she hated. Ji Yunhe stood up. She did not look for the antidote again because she was sure Qing Shu did not deliver it.

"Jinsang..." Ji Yunhe called out in a desperate voice.

"Jinsang..."

She wanted to go to the courtyard and use the flowers to send a message to Luo Jinsang.

Sending messages through flowers was a special link between them. She and Snow March had figured out this spell together while teaching Luo Jinsang methods to control her invisibility.

And this method could only be used to contact Luo Jinsang. It was as if the snow demon that had swallowed her gave her a special connection with heaven and earth.

Ji Yunhe opened the door then leaned on it for support. Before she gathered enough strength to walk further, she saw a thin piece of paper resting on the floor, like it had been torn off in a panic. On it, Luo Jinsang had written a message in haste.

"Someone said the monk Kongming was captured, I'm going out of the valley to take a look, I'll be back soon."

Seeing this, Ji Yunhe crumpled the paper into a ball.

"That bald guy! So troublesome!"

Ji Yunhe knew the pain would come again soon. She could not just sit around and wait for Qing Shu, so she grabbed her sword from the room and headed for Li Feng Hall. She used her sword like a cane and sneaked in through the backyard.

Strangely enough, there were not many people guarding it today. It was even emptier when she reached Lin Canglan's sleeping quarters. Although she felt strange, the situation did not allow her to think too much.

She walked to the door and pushed. It was unlocked so she barged right in. When she got inside, things were even stranger.

Normally, if someone dared to trespass this room, the fox demon slave, Qing Shu, would immediately charge forth with her sword. But now, it was so quiet she could only hear the sound of her own heartbeat.

The atmosphere felt odd. Ji Yunhe propped herself up with her sword and walked toward the inner room. When stepping past the silk screen, she saw candles lit inside, and the dim light of the candle flames cast three shadows onto the curtain.

Ji Yunhe froze. She might be physically unwell, but her brain was still crystal clear, and she could see what the shadows represented...

Lin Canglan was sitting in a wheelchair with Qing Shu standing in front of him, and behind him, pointing a sword at his neck... was Lin Haoqing. The young master of the valley was making his move. He really did want to kill his father.

Ji Yunhe stood outside the curtain holding her breath, and the three people inside stayed quiet. Until the pain at the tip of her heart came again. She could not help but cover her chest and bend forward.

In the extreme silence, her slight movements were easily detected by the people inside. It was Lin Haoqing who spoke first, "Yunhe, kill Qing Shu."

Ji Yunhe could picture the stalemate without going in. Lin Canglan had grown weak with age. Lin Haoqing must have confirmed it during the battle against the jade phoenix, and that was why he dared to make a move on his father. At this time, Lin Haoqing must be holding Lin Canglan hostage so Qing Shu could not do anything. But if Lin Haoqing were to kill Lin Canglan, then Qing Shu would surely kill him too.

The three people were at a standstill with mutual checks and balances. Ji Yunhe had the power to offset that balance. If she were to kill Qing Shu, Lin Haoqing would win. And if she chose to attack Lin Haoqing, Lin Canglan would be saved.

The reason Lin Haoqing dared to ask her first was because he knew how much Ji Yunhe hated this old fox that had been manipulating her for years. And Qing Shu...

"Ji Yunhe, the poison doesn't feel good, does it? If something happens to the Valley Master, you will never get the antidote again."

The pain in the heart grew more and more intense, and with the pain, her hatred for that old man also grew. Go with her spirit, or accept her fate...

This was a difficult choice.

"What are you still hesitating for?" Lin Haoqing asked.

"What do you have to hesitate about?" Qing Shu also asked. The pain in her body and the pressure through the curtain simultaneously tore at Ji Yunhe, like an inner battle between opposing forces. Under the candlelight, her heart beat faster and faster.