19.2

Just like how Ji Yunhe and Changyi had to find a way out, this possessed demon, too, had a goal. She was born out of the jade phoenix's obsession, so she needed to receive closure in order to be free. She would have accepted it no matter who came and claimed to be Ning Ruochu. Ji Yunhe could not think of any other explanation.

The attachment walked step by step toward her. Ji Yunhe did not know what the real Ning Ruochu would say at a time like this, so she simply stayed quiet, and walked step by step toward the pool.

The two came closer to each other. One could not leave the water, while the other one did not step into it. She looked at Ji Yunhe, reflecting her shadow inside those blood red eyes.

"You said you would come and keep me company." Her eyes teared up.

"I waited for you for a long time."

Crying again? She's such a crybaby. The jade phoenix was a world-famous powerful demon. She would never cry so easily, so it made sense for this piece of stripped emotion to contain her most hidden inner vulnerabilities.

"I'm sorry."

Being stared at like this by a crying woman, Ji Yunhe apologized out of instinct. The real Ning Ruochu would probably have said the same thing.

And these two words triggered everything. The demonic attachment stretched out her arms and wrapped them around Ji Yunhe, embracing her. The body was cool like water, but the words were tender and warm.

"I knew you would come."

Ji Yunhe suddenly thought of another possibility why this possessed demon believed her so easily. Because she... or Qing Ji herself, believed that Ning Ruochu would definitely come, and that she would see him again.

So when someone entered the Ten Square Formation and claimed to be Ning Ruochu, whether it was a man or a woman, a god or a ghost, she would believe it.

Not because she believed that person, but because she believed in Ning Ruochu. That he would definitely keep his promise and come find her, no matter in what form. Qing Ji endured a hundred years of loneliness here in the formation. Maybe she had a lot of hatred, or resentment, and maybe these emotions were terribly strong... But in the end, they were all dissolved by a simple apology.

"You finally came." Ji Yunhe's heart twitched.

The black smoke swirled and grew around the demonic attachment, celebrating her closure to a century of pain and suffering. It danced like the feathers of a black phoenix and gracefully ascended into the sky. A song sounded from the distance, seemingly unintentional, but it matched the rhythm of the dancing smoke.

The most beautiful dance and the most beautiful song, like a divine, heavenly combination. Ji Yunhe appreciated the perfection unfolding before her. Then the song stopped and the dance dissipated. All that was left was the distant call of a phoenix, which soon faded away into nothing as well.

Ji Yunhe looked at the boundless golden sky and spaced out for a long time. Then a low sound of rumbling woke her up. A large whirlpool appeared in the middle of the water where the demonic attachment had been, and it drained down at an astonishing speed.

Ji Yunhe froze. It was too late to think about the situation. All she knew was that this was the eye of the formation and their only way out. With this sudden and unexpected change, they probably had to leave right away or be trapped forever.

Ji Yunhe immediately took off and ran. Not to jump into the pool, but toward Changyi. She did not want to become a second Ning Ruochu and make someone wait for a hundred years. She made the promise, she had to keep it.

But before she was able to get far, the big-tailed fish already dashed over from the other end of the stream like an arrow. He was faster than her legs by an immeasurable amount.

Ji Yunhe complained, "You can swim by yourself! Why did you make me carry you everywhere?!" Being scolded as soon as he arrived, Changyi felt a bit perplexed.

"We were not at the stream earlier."

"Forget it, there's no time to bicker," Ji Yunhe said as she rushed to his side. The two of them stood where the stream merged with the pool, and she pointed a finger.

"Let's discuss this."

"Discuss what?"

"Look, earlier when the pool was overflowing, water flowed into the stream. Now with the pool sinking, the stream is pouring into the pool instead. There is nothing in this Ten Square Formation, so logically there shouldn't be water either. And among the five elements, water is the main source of life. Now with the water rapidly receding, according to my understanding, it means the way of life here is being cut off. This Ten Square Formation will soon become a dead formation. To get out, we have to jump now."

"Then let's jump."

"But this is just my guess, which could be wrong. It is also possible that if we jump, we will be trapped instead. What's down there and what will happen to us, I don't know." Changyi turned his head to look at Ji Yunhe.

"Both choices are uncertain, so what do you want to discuss with me?"

"Do you know about rock, scissors and paper?"

Changyi: "..."

He was silent for a moment and asked, "What is that?"

Changyi thought it must be some kind of an extraordinary spell or magic weapon for her to bring it up at a time like this.

"Come." Ji Yunhe held out her hand. Changyi followed and also extended his hand.

"This is rock, this is scissors, and this is paper," she said while demonstrating on her hand. Changyi earnestly noted them down.

Ji Yunhe stared at his eyes and continued, "I'll count to three and you randomly gesture one of them. One, two, three!"

Ji Yunhe made paper, and although Changyi was confused, he made a rock with his hand. She wrapped her palm around his fist.

"I made paper that could wrap around your rock, so I won."

Changyi was dumbfounded. The sound of water draining still roared inside their ears. He asked her, "So?"

"I've decided that if I win, we jump. If you win, we stay." She held his fist and smiled.

"So, let's jump."

Changyi was confused again. This jiaoren that was always calm and waveless no matter how scary the situation, now had a face full of question marks.

"Just like that?" Wasn't this a matter of life and death?

"When we have no choice, we might as well leave it up to fate."

Ji Yunhe did not wait for him to respond. She looked at him with a smile and fell backward into the draining pool, her hand still holding on to his with no intention of letting go.

A human hand was so much warmer than his. The heat seemingly channeled through his arm, into his heart, and down to every single scale on his tail. Long silver hair flew in the air, a strand of it still grasping onto the residual warmth left by her lips.

Changyi silently watched her as she pulled his body down into the darkness. He did not struggle or resist. He felt that compared to him, this girl who jumped into an unknown abyss with a smile was more like...

… a demon.