Blue Phoenix

‘How long was I unconscious?’ Hui Yue asked Lan Feng, as he slowly circled around the small green pearl, observing it from every angle possible.

‘Only a few moments,’ Was the answer. Lan Feng was also walking around the pearl, yet no matter how much the two looked at the pearl, no clues could be found.

‘The only thing we know is that it is connected with that red mist and blue cloud somehow. We just don’t know how yet.’ Hearing this Hui Yue nodded. ‘Don’t forget to mention its healing properties. It looks like my body is healing fast thanks to it.’

‘That’s true, but you can’t rely on it indefinitely,’ Lan Feng pointed out, feeling as if Hui Yue was suddenly being too joyful. Everything had a certain limit, and it was obvious that this pearl had one to.

‘Although it healed you it has diminished in size. We don’t know how long it will take for it to regain its previous size, but for now, just act as if you do not have this healing ability. It is always better to be cautious.’

Hearing this, Hui Yue smiled bitterly but he nodded his head nonetheless. He had indeed gotten slightly ahead of himself, but that was one of the reasons why he appreciated the bird with whom he shared his body.

After checking his body, Hui Yue finally stopped meditating and smiled gently at Sha Yun, who had been waiting patiently by his side. She had panicked at first, but seeing how quickly he regained consciousness, not to mention the healing, she had calmed down and kept vigilant watch over him.

To Sha Yun, Hui Yue was the most amazing person in the entire world. He treated her well even though she was just a magical beast with human blood, and he even allowed her to have her own opinions or hobbies, as long as they did not conflict with his. In general, Hui Yue never used the bond of master and servant, instead he went for the idea of being friends.

A new life Sha Yun had sought for year after year within the Magical Forest was finally being fulfilled, and Sha Yun could not help but feel grateful to the person who allowed for it to happen.

“I’m fine already.” Hui Yue said, though his complexity was still ashen, and even though he felt rather dizzy as he tried to stand up. Although Hui Yue’s wounds had been healed, he was lacking blood. It did not seem as though the green light was capable of increasing his blood count.

Taking a deep sigh, Hui Yue moved from his seated position and went to the bed where he allowed for his heavy body to collapse once more, before he found a small memory stone in which he left a message.

“Yun can you do me a favour?” Hui Yue asked gently, as he leaned back on the soft pillow, and Sha Yun instantly moved her tail to pick up the stone, “Just tell me what to do.” she said with determined yes.

“This message, I need you to deliver it to Deng Wu. I would go myself, but I think I need some rest first.” Having said that, Sha Yun nodded her head before she went out the door with a final glance at her friend. Her silvery snake-eyes were glistening with malice as she thought of someone inflicting these severe injuries.

“This is from Hui Yue?” Deng Wu asked, as he received the memory stone but Sha Yun just nodded in reply before she rushed away. She would do any favour which Hui Yue asked of her, but she was not thinking calmly right now as the defenceless young man was lying alone in their hotel room right now.

Sha Yun had not heard of any murders last night, so it was obvious that Hui Yue had not managed to kill the perpetrator, which caused the snake-woman to feel uneasy as she rushed through town like the wind before finally reaching the inn once more.

The first few times Sha Yun had stayed at the inn, the manager treated her as a beast, yet now she was treated like a valued customer, and Sha Yun nodded in greeting, before she swept up the stairs and entered the rented room once more.

Hui Yue was currently deeply asleep on the bed, and there was no evidence of anything having happened while she was gone. A feeling of relief flooded over the snake-woman, as she breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

Sha Yun once more exited the room before she went downstairs. There she ordered all the food she could think of that contained a noticeable amount of iron. It was her time to spoil Hui Yue and do her best to help him regain the blood he lost.

Across town, while Sha Yun was focused on food, Deng Wu held the memory stone in his hand, and he quickly checked the message. We have to go house viewing tomorrow instead. Something came up and I need to stabilize my Qi today.

Reading the message over and over, Deng Wu furrowed his brows. Hui Yue was not a person who would change his plans unless something unexpected had happened. And if that was the case, Hui Yue would never have asked Sha Yun to bring him the information unless it was something very serious.

Deng Wu could not help but worry about Hui Yue when he got the message, yet at the same time he decided to just let his friend rest and stabilize their Qi. It was obvious that Hui Yue did not wish for Deng Wu to know about what had happened, and Deng Wu respected that. After all both of these two friends had secrets which they could not tell the other about.

“Young Master Wu!” Someone called from outside of Deng Wu’s courtyard. “It is time for the meeting with the Wang family. You have been requested to participate this time.” Hearing this, Deng Wu no longer thought about the memory stone, instead he circulated his Qi through his body and to his hand where he used the energy to shatter the memory stone.

Crunching sounds could be heard as Deng Wu stepped on the broken stone on his way down the stairs towards the main hall.

“We all have our little secrets.” He mumbled, as he swiftly passed the servants which had called for him. “Some secrets are bigger than others. Don’t hate me for this little Yue.”

Back at the inn, Hui Yue woke up after having slept for the majority of the day, and as he woke he could feel how his body was much heavier than it had been in a long time. His movements were nowhere as fluid as they had been, and he felt as though his head was being stomped on by elephants. In many ways, Hui Yue once more felt as if he had an immense hangover, like the ones he had experienced in his old life.

Sighing deeply, Hui Yue allowed for his tired body to sit up only to be greeted by Sha Yun and a table filled to the brim with food. However, while looking at the table all Hui Yue could see was root vegetables and red meat. A large quantity of both items.

“This is?” He asked curiously, looking at the table he gave a sheepish smile as his stomach started growling.

“It is filled with iron.” Sha Yun said with a serious expression on her face. “This will help you gain your strength again.” The snake-woman continued as she loaded plenty of root vegetables mixed with a few bloody red steaks onto a plate.

Although Hui Yue had been hungry previously, his appetite vanished the moment he saw the steak. Although it was seared on the sides, it was obviously still raw in the middle and this rawness was really rather unpleasant.

Looking at the root vegetables, Hui Yue could only sigh as he understood that it was clearly Sha Yun who had been cooking for him, and although he genuinely enjoyed the sweet thoughts, he also preferred his vegetables washed before they were served.

Hui Yue sighed as he slowly made his way down to the inn’s ground level, which served as a tavern and he ordered a much more well-cooked meal, which he bought for the both of them to eat together.

The rest of the evening, Hui Yue did everything he could to entertain the snake-woman, yet no matter how much she asked Hui Yue refused to tell her who caused his injuries. Hui Yue knew Sha Yun well enough to know that she would go out and seek vengeance for him, and although Sha Yun was strong she never paid enough attention to her cultivation and as a result she was no longer as strong as Hui Yue. If this man had managed to put Hui Yue into such a sorry state, then how easy would it be for him to turn Sha Yun into a snake-skin bag?

Sha Yun was easily distracted by Hui Yue and the two of them spend the rest of the evening chatting until Hui Yue decided that although his wounds had healed, he still needed more sleep. So he dragged his exhausted body to the bed where he allowed for himself to once more enjoy a great night of rest.

Although Hui Yue had been sleeping a lot recently, it was not something which happened often, as Hui Yue was a cultivator and he wished to use every hour of the day to cultivate. However now that Hui Yue had suffered an injury, or if he had been forced to use up his entire cultivation base, then he would allow himself a night of rest to replenish both his body and his Qi spiral, in the most natural way possible. This allowed for him to minimize the strain on his body, not to mention stabilizing his Qi.

Waking up the following morning, Hui Yue once more managed to slip out from the snake-tail which was wrapped neatly around him, before he moved towards the kitchen where he ordered two large meals.

Today was the day where they would meet Deng Wu to have a look at a place which could possibly turn into their new home. Sha Yun was as excited as Hui Yue and the two of them quickly finished off their breakfast before they headed out the door, slowly making their way towards the Deng family compound.

Deng Wu was smiling brightly as he greeted Hui Yue, his eyes shining with excitement.His hands tightly grasping a key memory stone, used to unlock the mansion, which they were looking at, yet the excitement quickly dulled and turned to worry as Deng Wu saw that Hui Yue was not his usual self.

The usually jade white skin had turned ashen grey. The eyes which usually shone with life and determination were filled with exhaustion, and Sha Yun who walked on his side used her arms to support him.

“Are you okay?” Deng Wu asked worriedly, as he looked at Hui Yue who was coming his way only to get a firm nod in reply. Seeing this, Deng Wu was curious as to what could have happened to the younger boy, yet no matter how much he looked, he did not see any wounds or injuries.

“Let’s take a carriage.” Deng Wu said as he once more glanced towards Hui Yue, before he rushed back to the family compound and brought the carriage which was being pulled by his magical beast.

Seated within the luxurious carriage, Hui Yue looked out the carriage-window after a while. The mansion which he was currently looking at was located in a nicer part of town, yet still quite a distance from the family compounds. The mansion was created for smaller families and not for the sake of big family clans, and one of these houses was exactly what Hui Yue was on his way to see.

Gazing at the busy streets which were floating in front of Hui Yue’s eyes, he suddenly turned serious as his eyes locked onto the eyes of another man. This man was large with a wild beard and intelligent eyes. He was wearing a black cloak, and as soon as he saw Hui Yue he moved his finger to his throat and sliced slowly, signaling that he was coming for him.