Accompanying the Phoenix

Suddenly, Chen Li felt a little lost. She turned to see Xing Zhi looking at the sky, a frown on his face. Chen Li asked keenly, “What happened?”

“Nothing, the situation’s just worse than I’d originally thought” Xing Zhi walked 2 steps forward and reached out with his hand, “But that won’t matter.” As he spoke, Chen Li could hear the earth below them rumble. A bright light jumped out of the crevice, abruptly flying into Xing Zhi’s outstretched palm.

Chen Li stared at the light, only to unexpectedly find that it was a steel chain covered by a thick layer of rust. One of its ends were held in Xing Zhi’s hand, the other deep inside the earth. His lips moved as he muttered incantations, his hand moving gently. The thick coat of rust had been shed away as the chain tightened up, becoming perfectly straight. A loud rumble sounded from deep inside the crevice, and both sides of the enormous black slit were chained together, blocking the miasma from escaping outwards. Without the miasma obstructing her view, Chen Li could see that the gigantic crevice was actually now only 2 feet long, and was even shrinking as it got pulled closer and closer together.

Suddenly, shrill screams cried out from the Space-Time Rip! Chen Li’s heart tensed up, quickly, she reached out her hands, summoning the Hongying Spear as it appeared in her hands in an instant.Her body was taut with caution. But Xing Zhi just smiled calmly, “Don’t be so anxious, they cannot come out.”

The screams didn’t stop, piercing cries continuously sounding from inside. All of a sudden, a loud “bang!” echoed, causing the surrounding earth to tremble unceasingly. Chen Li could practically feel the killing intent swell violently, a millennium’s worth of accumulated hatred, with a rampant desire to rush out and slaughter Xing Zhi this instant.

Chen Li frowned. The hand that held the Hongying spear was clenched so tightly that her knuckles had long since gone white. Xing Zhi shook the chain in his hands. A beast roared, it’s crying sounding disturbingly similar to a human’s. At first, it was faint, hardly discernible by the human ear. Xing Zhi chanted an incantation, his whole body radiating blinding light as the Space-Time Rip’s trembling grew even more violent. Chen Li’s heartbeat involuntarily sped up. It sounded as if the beast had broken through the seal, it’s human like roar growling right next to her ear:

“I WILL KILL THE GOD! MUST KILL THE GOD!”

The mournful cry threw a person’s heart into chaos like a magical spell. It burrowed itself through Chen Li’s ears, continuously echoing inside her head, giving her a painful, splitting headache. Even though Chen Li tried, again and again, to act strong, she still couldn’t help but clutch her head in pain. She closed her eyes, and when opened again, they had turned a deep crimson. The depths of her heart surged up with killing intent as she was filled with the desire for commotion; a blood-soaked commotion.

Xing Zhi’s white robes fluttered in the wind. He didn’t look back once as he chanted the last verse of his incantation. The stiff steel chain loosened, unleashing brilliant amounts of blinding lights as it sank into the ground. Shortly after, the light within the gap shone even brighter. The shrill, deafening shrieks that came from the slit screamed one last time, finally quiet.

At the same time, a sliver of fresh air was sent through Chen Li’s body, but it’s violent energy made it very much different from the other sealings. The other times could be called a refreshing spring breeze, but this time it directly sank deep into her stomach. It openly collided with the uncontrollable killing intent in her body, forcing her to spit out a ball of black blood. It fell onto the earth, hissing as it boiled, quickly turning into a white cloud, not a thing left behind.

A frosty wind blew past. All was silent.

The enormous slit was now a mere 2 finger lengths from closing, and the sky was crystal clear. If one did not look closely, they would have no idea that it was actually Heaven’s Space-Time Rip, storing many monsters even older than a millennium.

Chen Li felt stunned, “This is…..”

Xing Zhi handed her a white handkerchief from somewhere inside his sleeve, “Contaminated miasma.”

Chen Li felt a little stumped as she accepted the white handkerchief. She looked at it for a little while before slowly moving it to her own lips, wiping off the blood. She looked up to see Xing Zhi standing next to the Space-Time Rip, his hand gently caressing the steel chain now connecting the cliff, “When the Scorpion Tailed Fox swallowed you into his stomach, his body was filled with miasma. Because you’re a demon in human form, it’s far easier to be corroded by the miasma in his body. Whenever I blessed a seal, I also used the excess energy to purify the miasma in your body.”

Chen Li suddenly realized, “So that’s the reason why you insisted on me guiding you around no matter what.” She fixed her gaze on Xing Zhi, the light in her eyes dimming, “Is that the only reason?”

“En, only so.”

Chen Li fell silent. Turning his head to look at Chen Li, he spoke flatly, “The last fire seal is inside the Space Time Rip. Since the corrupted miasma within King’s body has been eliminated, there is no need for King to follow me in. King can return to tidy up the soldiers and the field camp. When I’m finished sealing the Space-Time Rip, I will go back to Heaven. From then, I will not inconvenience King again. “

A wind blew between the two. The white handkerchief in her hand flying with it. She fixed her eyes on Xing Zhi. Her hands were clenched together in a bow, her bearing indifferent, but she still released a sense of estrangement. “Many thanks to Sir God for assisting the Demonic Realm.” Words spoken, she turned around. Her hair following as it was thrown into an elegant arc, she departed without hesitation.

But because she didn’t look back even once, she did not know that Xing Zhi had quietly turned his head, watching her disappear into the horizon.

~~~

It was night, and the moon was bright. In the tent, Chen Li was tidying up her belongings. Just as she was preparing to sleep, she noticed somebody pacing outside her tent. She called out loudly, “Come in!”. Outside, the figure stiffened, before finally peeling back the flap to enter. When Shang Bei saw Chen Li, he wanted to be tactful, but still couldn’t help but blurt out his words, “Little King, you’re actually just letting Sir God Xing Zhi go?!”

Chen Li looked lightly into Shang Bei’s eyes, “If Sir God wants to go, how could I stop him?”

“Aiya!” Shang Bei stomped his feet in frustration, “If I’d known before, I would’ve long asked him myself!”

“What’s wrong?” Chen Li’s voice was cold and mocking, “It’s been no more than a few short days since he came, and you’ve already fallen in love with him?” Once she had spoken, even Chen Li herself was shocked by the words that had come out of her mouth.Shang Bei was equally startled, replying difficulty, “ Little King’s thoughts can really make one amazed. Shang Bei wouldn’t dare to have such thoughts. But our capital is plagued with miasma, so if King could guide Sir God around our Demonic Realm, even if the sky couldn’t be completely cleaned, it can at least let King be cleansed for a few days.” He then winced, “I… I also wanted to let my wife see the moon.”

Chen Li fell silent.