In the Garden of Clouds on the island of the frozen lake, more precisely on the third floor of a building in the center of the lake, the jiaoren displayed a cruel face and a sullen expression as he watched Yunhe forcefully eat the food in front of him because by refusing to eat moments before, he used his power to momentarily inflict pain without physically harming her by using his magic power, with him saying that he would always use this technique when she refused to eat or drink the medicine.

The emperor of the North reinforced the threat by promising that he would use his powers on her again to make her drink the medicine, with the young woman knowing that the jiaoren would do this because he did not lie while the pain she experienced moments before when she used her powers against her she was a stark reminder. This new Chang Yi managed to scare her at that moment, making her remember his words to keep her alive as long as he wanted to take revenge on her, as well as the act of cutting a lock of hair from the former guardian of the Valley, making it clear that he was there to hurt her, not save her.

Until that moment, Yunhe never believed that he would fulfill his promise to hurt her and take revenge on her. Now, the human realized how stupid she was to think that the merman wouldn't do that.

Indeed, it was not a promise and not empty threats. The old Chang Yi was killed by her on that cliff six years ago, and she made the mistake of misjudging that he was still the same and for that, she paid with the pain imposed by the demon moments before.

Sighing in resignation, Yunhe goes back to eating the meal because despite being apparently well prepared, her palate could no longer distinguish flavors, besides that food is what she always ate every day since she was taken to that place and locked away.

Chang Yi was a ruthless dictator who dictated what she ate, not giving her permission to go hungry or choose what she wanted to eat, in addition to several other rules such as not allowing visitors, not allowing her to go out under any circumstances by keeping her locked inside from the third floor by sealing the entire floor with a magic boundary along with using lock after magic lock, as well as using an additional magic seal around the building.

There were also the strict orders and rules given to the officials and followed by them with the addition of limiting traffic in the local and surroundings causing Yunhe to agree that the security was much tighter than the grandmaster's prison.

He also didn't allow her to see the sun because any part of her exposed to the sun was drained of skin, flesh and blood as it was reduced to bone, making her windows unable to be opened during the day. It was only allowed to see the sunrise and sunset, in addition to the night. She was awake at night and slept during the day.

The jiaoren also dominated the clothes she wore, with the young woman being forced to wear the clothes determined and provided by the merman who also dictated housing, transportation and food.

Even Yunhe didn't doubt that he would control her inhaling and exhaling if she had such power. But, the most excessive thing in his view was not allowing her to die.

However, the former guardian of the demonic valley did not doubt that if one of the gods wanted to shorten her timeline, Chang would make a point of cutting off all of that deity's fingers, one by one.

The demon master knew this because she remembered his speech that she should stay alive as long as he wanted to punish her while she thought that looking at his face was no punishment at all.

Even so, the demon master always tried to bargain or make some request despite being always emphatically denied by the merman, no matter what request she made.

And after forcibly eating the meal on his orders so that she wouldn't feel the pain he inflicted on her earlier, what the human feared most happens. She threw up everything she ate, vomiting being a daily occurrence, then black blood gushing from , making her feel an intense pain in her abdomen as she was overcome by cold sweat that dripped from her skin drenching her.

Then, as always, Yunhe felt a hand on her back and the release of waves of refreshing energy that quelled the restlessness in her blood, causing her to gradually regain her focus.

When she regained her sight, she saw Chang crouched on the ground beside her and that unlike six years ago, when he was a demon held prisoner in a dungeon, the jiaoren was the honored, respected and even feared Zhushang who ruled the Lands of the North and whose rule could compete with the imperial court of the Dacheng Dynasty.

But at that moment, he was crouched beside her and his gaze was clear, in addition to demonstrating a kind heart, capable of taking a blow to protect her and which was the complete opposite of a few moments ago when he demonstrated his coldness along with the fact to be ruthless and even cruel when he wanted to be.

"Chang, I... won't live much longer."

She speaks in a weak voice that gets a little stronger when the hand behind her back presses her a little firmer, causing more energy to flow into her body, with the former guardian of Demonic Valley finishing saying, "Let me go..."

However, as expected, he denies it and when Yunhe tries to beg him to walk the rest of his days and maybe even return to his hometown before he dies, the jiaoren still emphatically denies it, with the human making one last attempt before losing her life conscience, "At least that way I could be a little more worthy of the life my parents gave me."

Then, out of exhaustion, the human closes her eyes and slowly falls backwards.

He takes her in his arms, with the merman feeling that she grows lighter as his long white hair falls over his face, hiding his expression to the point of revealing only the lips that were slightly bitten as the room remained silent.

The jiaoren fought against the feelings that took over him because for a moment he even considered complying with her request.

However, the other, more influential part that still remembered what happened that day, the miserable state he was in when he ended up between life and death when he had all his bones broken in the fall and that, luckily, he was fishing for Kong Ming, who healed him after several months of treatment, managed to deny her request.

Even if it weren't for the monk's treatment, maybe he would have died, with him being aware that he survived until that moment thanks to being in the water. But even the water could not heal the full extent of the damage he suffered from having all his bones broken by his body's brutal impacts on the rocks.

Nevertheless, the jiaoren was on bitter medication for several months, as well as care and treatment. To protect them because the monk was also hunted by the kingdom of Dacheng, Kong Ming erected a barrier as a precaution after moving him to an abandoned hut in the middle of the woods to prevent any imperial soldiers or disciples of the grandmaster from finding them. He also used illusion to avoid any royal family scouts sent to locate the merman while rumors arose that he had died.

For several months, the prince of the ocean tribes was treated and when he told what happened, the monk wanted to kill him personally because he was relentless in killing an evil person without any hesitation, going so far as to want to break a tea set that Luo Jinsang carried at Yunhe's request while accusing the young woman of being an accomplice of evil when Luo defended her friend and for carrying the objects, causing her to hit him, and then looking for Xue Sanyue after entrusting Qu Xiaoxing with the task of keeping the tea set safe by hiding it from Kong Ming because the young man decided to stay with them.

Chang Yi remembers the searing pain, sadness and pain, not only from the wounds but, in his heart with her brutal betrayal and over time, the pain and sadness turned to anger and then, into hatred.

It was hellish months until the determination to found a kingdom to be able to take revenge on Yunhe and torture her.

After all, for six years she had nurtured that feeling as she strengthened and consolidated her power in the North, as well as the foundation of her kingdom.

Even though he was driven by revenge when using the power of a kingdom, he was still responsible, as well as diligent in watching over and ensuring the development of the North because he managed to separate the desire for revenge from the obligations to the people at the same time that Kong Ming was the leader the only one who knew his initial intention in taking the demonic platform.

After all, by taking the demonic platform and consequently the lands hitherto under the rule of the Dacheng kingdom, the imperial court was harshly and painfully slapped in the face while the greatest motive for subjugating and conquering that place was to gain power to fulfill their revenge against Yunhe, making his hatred and desire for retaliation the driving force behind the founding of the northern kingdom by using him as a tool for his desire for revenge and torturing her using the ice prison.

However, if he coldly analyzed the depth of his feelings, he was aware that the reason for arresting her was not fully substantiated by the desire for revenge. In truth, the merman wanted to keep her close to him, and locking her up was one way of doing that.

Furthermore, by denying her friends visits, he was able to thwart any plans to escape.

The jiaoren was aware of his possessiveness towards the human in his arms, just as the overwhelming majority of demons used to feel while few could manage the strong possessive feeling that took over them, with this feeling belonging to both males and females.

He snapped out of his thoughts as snow fell at the same time as the night was strangely calm, making it in stark contrast to the jiaoren's turbulent mind and emotions. Love and hate, desire for care and revenge along with the desire to keep her mixed in a whirlwind of emotions to the point of fostering the chaotic state of his mind and heart.

The clash within him was clear and in the end, barely overcoming his warm feelings for her, her feelings of revenge prevailed despite not torturing her as he had initially planned upon being forced to modify his plans. Chang Yi tightened his grip on the demon master's arm which was devoid of muscle as the bones poked through the skin, giving the appearance of a skeleton covered in skin.

"I won't allow it." her voice disappears with the falling snow and disappears on the ground without leaving a trace as it merges with the white cloak that covered the ground.

When she awoke, it was still late at night and the candle flames flickered as the red coals burned hotly, making the room warm and cozy while the blizzard howled outside providing an intense, bone-chilling chill that was unique of that kingdom.

At the same time that it was something deadly, the intense cold and snow guaranteed the protection of the people along with the topography that made invasions immensely difficult while favoring defense enormously.

Regarding the weather, Chang Yi's demonic powers were strengthened by cold and snow because his magic was based on water. He could use cold, snow and ice as additional weapons. In that environment, his powers were magnified causing any attacks by the imperial court to be effectively suppressed whenever he joined the battle, with his enemies summarily meeting death. A jiaoren was scary in the water and in that cold, just like in the snow, he became equally scary.

Standing back from Yunhe's bed where the young human was struggling to sit up, Chang Yi watched his efforts as he looked up from the letter he was reading. Her face was terribly pale and sunken while her hands, which supported her absurdly thin body, were horribly thin, as were her arms at the same time that the veins stood out in the skin forming frightening furrows.

For many, it could be considered a miracle that she could still move despite struggling to do something as simple as sit up.

Despite the events and all that he had suffered since her betrayal, it still distressed him not to be able to find a way to stop the degradation of the demon master's body to a skeleton covered in skin.

Since he locked her on this floor, Yunhe's health had not improved and what was worse, the body fat had completely disappeared and then it was the muscles that were gradually being consumed. It was obvious to everyone that she was dying, but Chang Yi stubbornly didn't want to accept that and swore to himself that he wouldn't let her die.

He had even consulted other doctors while he was aware that he would hardly get help from Kong Ming because he hated Yunhe and if he wasn't careful, his friend could kill her because eradicating evil and killing evil people was something that the monk was keen to do.

Therefore, he kept him away from her and without asking for his help at the same time that he sought all available doctors while medicine after medicine made by them had no influence on her. She didn't get better, and as she did, the chance of soliciting Kong Ming's help only grew.

After all, the merman was absolutely certain that his monk friend would be able to cure her because her medical knowledge was beyond traditional medicine. The problem consisted of getting this favor from Kong Ming in the name of friendship between them, together with the fact that she was afraid to put him in the same place as Yunhe because of the risk of the monk ending up killing her.

The feeling of impotence along with the unwanted feeling that came from helping her, made him squeeze the paper in his hands until he managed to subdue the initial intention of helping her by forcing his eyes to move away from her by forcing them to read the text while not letting the concern that he felt moments before for the demon master's struggle to sit up show on his face.

Ever since he'd brought her in, he'd felt an intense inner conflict.

After all, six years ago, his main interest and main driving force in founding a kingdom was to take revenge and torture her by using the ice prison.

At the same time that he obtained a tool for her personal revenge, he ended up creating resistance as a result, forming an empire capable of competing against the kingdom of Dacheng.

With power and status in his hands, revenge could be fulfilled and even with that strong feeling in his being, he never left aside his duties and obligations, making the northern kingdom flourish under his care, both in safety and security, as well as protection, in addition to the financial sector and the food issue, considering the region's climate. Everything was organized systematically and categorically in a strict manner along with the fact that he created sets of strict laws for the maintenance of order and progress in the North by creating a kingdom that did not exist until that moment.

In those six years, while founding and consolidating his power along with his status, he planned his revenge that included torture and imprisonment in the ice prison while also studying a way to bring Yunhe to the North. The help of the jade phoenix was providential in luring the Grandmaster away from the capital, thus allowing him to break her out of prison and when he recalls the torture objects he saw when he took that torch, he remembers having used his feelings of hatred to quell any attempt at pity towards her.

Upon seeing them, he thought that some were used on her, but the jiaoren did not smell any of her blood on the objects and when he thought about it, he was surprised by the immense relief that arose in him when he saw the absence of the human odor on the torture items.

At that moment, remembering that, he wondered how she still had so much influence over him even after Yunhe's vile betrayal and all the torments he suffered because of the human's actions. Did her reputation for subduing demon hearts apply to him? Chang Yi asked himself as he questioned what power was the one that made her hold so much influence on him and that reached the point of making him retreat from the revenge he had fostered for six years when he found her again, even more so when he found out that she was sick at the same time that almost went to waste although traces still existed and that were strong enough to resist the damnable desires for him and to treat her with the coldness she deserved.

When he hears her voice, knowing that she was looking at him that he did everything to keep an indifferent face, Chang Yi forces himself to look at the paper, determined to ignore Yunhe's question that he wanted to know what he was reading because he was still suppressing it your unwanted feelings.

While the merman was in a fierce internal struggle, the young woman managed to see some familiar names, making her feel some connection with the outside world that was brutally cut by the jiaoren and even though she couldn't read much, it was enough to generate a weak connection to the forbidden outside for her.

Yunhe always wanted to know what was going on outside, but the maid who brought food and the occasional cleaning servants would never tell her, let alone the merman who always said it was none of her business.

Even so, the human continued to ask while ignoring Chang Yi's annoyance because he had already made it clear to her regarding wanting to know about the outside world by repeatedly giving the standard answer that it was not within her competence and even so, the human it bothered her that she insisted on it.

"Has the Grandmaster caused any trouble for you and the North? After all... you not only invaded the Grandmaster's sect. You killed Princess Shunde and from what I understand of him, he would never allow the person responsible to go unhurt."