Prologue 2

After coming back from a near death experience, the anger of being teased suddenly overshadowed the fear. Jiang Weiyan, who had been practicing martial arts since she was a child, was not convinced. Ji Yunhe must have only gotten the better of her because she was not prepared.

Jiang Weiyan also took pride in being the niece of the head housekeeper here, even though her aunt had told her repeatedly not to cause trouble in this Cloud Garden. But this Cloud Garden was only inhabited by this sickly "mistress" -- mistress only in name. In fact, she was just here under house arrest.

The Cloud Garden sat on a small island in the middle of the lake. All traffic around the island was being blocked. Without instructions from above, no one was allowed to set foot here. People outside could not enter and people inside could not leave.

The top had specifically ordered that the "mistress" here was not allowed to step outside of her room. Everytime Jiang Weiyan came to deliver food, she would have to put a lock on the outside door when she left. It was like watching a prisoner.

There were rumors saying Ji Yunhe was somehow connected with the lord of the house. But in the many days she was living here, the lord of the house had never set foot on the island, let alone been inside the Cloud Garden. Obviously this was just a woman dying of illness and left here in the cold. She did not even have a real title, what was there to fear?

Jiang Weiyan grew up treasured by her family. If not for the decline of the family wealth, she would not be here serving with her aunt. And now, she had been victimized by such an embarrassing prank.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Jiang Weiyan raised her hand to slap Ji Yunhe in the face while shouting, "Who do you think you are?!" But before the slap could land, her hand was caught by someone.

It was not the strength of a woman. Jiang Weiyan turned her head and saw a black robe and a pair of blue eyes so cold they seemed frozen inside. This was... Jiang Weiyan recognized the person and immediately shivered with fear.

Before she had a chance to bow, the hand that had caught her wrist fell on her neck. The last words Jiang Weiyan heard were icy mixed with anger.

"Who do you think you are?"

In the next instant, she was thrown out of the open window of the third floor penthouse like discarded garbage. With a thud, she fell into the frozen pond, smashed through the ice and sank under, only to resurface after a while shouting for help and mercy.

The servants and maids standing outside the courtyard were startled and looked at the third floor with great fear. No one dared to move.

"Hey, give her a hand," Ji Yunhe peeked her head out and said.

"We don't want to mess around with life and death here." But the attendants did not dare to move, nor raise their heads. Only because the man in black next to Ji Yunhe had such a frosty aura around him that it was terrifying.

Ji Yunhe gave a slight grimace. "Got it, I'll close the window. Take the opportunity to pull her up. This guy will not see anything." She was the only person who dared to talk like this in front of him. Click. The third floor window closed.

The cold breeze outside was cut off. Ji Yunhe turned her head and looked at the man in front of her. She took a step back and sat diagonally on the chair.

"Changyi, your temper has gotten quite bad."

"Come over and eat."

The two of them exchanged completely irrelevant words. Changyi walked to the table and finished setting up the bowls and chopsticks. Ji Yunhe did not move. She just kept staring at Changyi in silence.

After a long while she said, "Let me go. I've been locked up long enough." Changyi placed the chopsticks on the bowl. It made a soft sound, but it seemed alarming in the silence. Ji Yunhe sighed.

"What are you keeping me here for? I don't have many days left to live. Let me go out and see the snow, see the moon, see the spring flowers that are about to bloom all over the field. And with a little luck, I might even get to see the summer rain… I just want to enjoy a few days of freedom..."

"Ji Yunhe," Changyi said as he turned around, "kill me again if you can, then you'll be free to go."

His ice blue eyes were void of emotion, but at the same time, they seemed to hide a thousand thoughts.

Two pairs of eyes faced each other in silence. In the end, it was Ji Yunhe who laughed out loud.

"If this were six years ago, I'd be able to leave tonight."

Hearing her say this in such a calm manner, Changyi's hand tightened slightly then loosened up again. He stepped in front of Ji Yunhe, cupped her chin and looked directly into her eyes, trying to find some fluctuation. But there was nothing. Her eyes were the same as always, dark like a vortex, hiding all secrets within them. Changyi said, "Unfortunately, this is no longer six years ago."

"Right," Ji Yunhe said as she lowered her eyelids, "this is not six years ago anymore." She smiled.

"You have become such a powerful demon, while I went from a demon master to a useless nobody, Changyi..." The snide teasing in Ji Yunhe's voice made the corners of his lips tighten.

"Right now, we're exactly the same as six years ago," she continued, "just the other way around." The jailer and the prisoner.