Blue Phoenix

“Captain Song, I was under the impression that we were here as a delegation; a group of people who wish to meet with the inhabitants of Shenyuan to peacefully gain some information about this place. How can we ever explain what happened at the last village to their superiors? Isn’t our job as a delegation ruined already?” The speaker was a beautiful young woman. She seemed to be in her mid-twenties, and her features were beautiful without any childish air. She had an air of maturity around her, however, currently she also seemed distraught and frustrated.

“Senior Observer Li, I can understand that you are confused, but although we are here as a delegation that village did not have any humans in it. What they did have though were magical beasts who looked like humans. To see beasts pretending to be human is nauseating.”

Captain Song was a large man, his body bulging with muscles, his eyes cold and alert as he glanced around, and his mouth sporting a cold grin. His was bold and dressed in a yellow riding robe. Because they left their horses outside the borders of Shenyuan, he had not bothered changing but the robes in no way interfered with his movements.

“Captain Song, although they were magical beasts we will likely encounter more magical beasts. They created a city, and it is highly likely that the civilization within this area are all humanoid magical beasts.” Her voice was stern and she was unhappy about the way things turned out. She was told that she would become the Senior Observer of this delegation, the person who provided presents and spoke to the lords of this place.

Unfortunately, everything had changed as soon as Captain Song saw the humanoid beasts. His eyes glistened with greed and his face constantly showed disdain towards the beasts which were tied up and bound to groups of warriors.

Seeing this, Senior Observer Li felt very uncomfortable; her eyes pained as she looked at the beasts who now were prisoners, and she could not help but feel that they could no longer turn back. That they could no longer undo what they had done.

Remembering the dismembered corpses of the elderly, children, and adults who had gone against them. Anyone who had shown even the slightest bit of resistance was killed on the spot. They had shown no care as to whether the child was a young man, a small child, or an elderly woman.

Even still, many of the elderly even if they did not put up a fight were still killed as they could not keep up with the group. Captain’s Song’s philosophy was to leave no one alive.

Having seen this village, Senior Observer Li guessed that the people within Shenyuan were not humans much like the other three kingdoms, but instead magical beasts. Beasts which had evolved greatly from those who were left within the other three kingdoms of the continent.

The delegation moved further and further into the forests, and they saw more and more magical beasts, some humanoid while others merely just regular beasts.

All the magical beast were incredibly intelligent, however, some of them wished to stay within the forest and live according to their instincts while others lived in cities. All of these beasts were far more intelligent than those outside of Shenyuan.

The forests were also filled with normal animals. Animals who were prey for the many magical beasts. The lower grade magical beasts were also prey for the smarter ones. It seemed as though everywhere around them were magical beasts, and no humans could be seen.

Walking the entire day, the sun quickly set in the horizon and as night was about to descend when Captain Song finally stopped the group. He stated that they were to set up camp.

….

While Captain Song went to sleep, followed by the majority of the guards, a shadow made its way through the campsite. It was constantly hiding within different shadows as it arrived at the outskirts of the camp. A place where three guards were stationed and next to the guards were around fifty humanoid magical beasts.

Li Meilin, the full name of Senior Observer Li, was this shadow who made her way towards these three guards. These guards were all King ranked experts, and Li Meilin smirked coldly as she seemingly disappeared from her previous location and reappeared behind a guard.

With a quick snap of her hand, she rendered one guard after another unconscious before she headed towards the prisoners. Golden light gleamed all of a sudden and moments later the humanoid beasts were freed.

Seeing that they were no longer captives all of them bowed deeply towards the woman who appeared in front of them. This woman waving her hand dismissively and she rushed back to her location, rushing through the shadows.

….

The prisoners who had been released did not rush forward, towards the middle of the forest, instead, they all backed away and traveled the way they had come from earlier. All of them aware that someone was coming to their rescue. They moved towards the rescuing team.

And as expected, they did not need to travel for long before they saw the rescue team led by Wan Qiao and Hui Yue causing the group to rush even faster towards the each other.

Finally reaching the squad of rescuers, the villagers were all panting their eyes glistening with hope and happiness.

“How did you manage to get away?” Wan Qiao asked the village leader curiously. She knew that humans were greedy creatures and humanoid magic beasts sold for an amazing price back in their own cities.

The village leader was a young man whose original shape was a Death-Clawed Lion. A beast known for its strength and speed. He was the only man whom the delegation took prisoner although he had strongly fought for the safety of his village.

“There is a woman, they called her Senior Observer Li,” The guard started, “She was against the actions of the delegation saying that they were only there to talk with the residents of Shenyuan. The captain refused to listen and said that we were worse than dogs. Their captain is far worse than a beast, he indiscriminately killed the weak and elderly, even the women and children! Get revenge for us!” The leader pleaded with a trembling voice, “Get revenge for our children and our elders, our brothers and our sisters.”

Hearing his trembling voice and seeing his eyes turn red and moist, it moved Wan Qiao into listening to what the beast in front of her was saying. He forced his tears back and cleared his throat. “The woman, the Senior Observer was our savior and during the slaughter in the city, she went against the captain. She was also the one who saved us when were taken prisoner.” The man fell to his knees in front of Wan Qiao.

“We beasts have nothing, but we feel pride in returning kindness with kindness. That woman fought for our survival. She deserves to be saved. I beg of you, please let her go.”

Frowning Wan Qiao rubbed her head while thinking her eyes deep as an abyss not showing what she was feeling, but after pondering for a few moments, she sighed heavily.

“The woman, although friendly towards us, is still human. She is part of a delegation which was sent here to spread death and disaster. If we let her go she will have to live within our capital where we can keep an eye on her. I refuse to let her know about us and then return her to her old kingdom. All our secrets will be spilled.”

The face of the young man turned soft, and he kowtowed in front of the One-Horned Jasmine Eagle for the sake of showing just how grateful he was in the reply. “Even if she is to live within our capital, it is better than her dying.” He said happiness in his voice.

“Oi!” Wan Qiao suddenly yelled out and the many guards who just caught up with her ready to go attack the delegation all halted The stood on their legs and looked only at her.

“You, you, and you,” She pointed at three groups of guards who were standing within range, “Take these citizens back to the capital. Let them reside within the Heavenly Spring Mansion.”

Given an order, it was clear how quickly the guards started to act. Some of the guards took the children on their backs and took to the sky while others marched on the ground and showed the way for the villagers who were stronger. There were no elderly villagers left something which caused great grief to the survivors.

Seeing that the guards were swiftly following her orders, Wan Qiao was satisfied before she turned towards Hui Yue.

“I have a job for you,” She said with a brilliant smile on her face, “No one is more suitable for this job than you are. This woman Senior Observer Li, you are to locate her and keep her alive while the rest of us butcher the humans who dared touch our lands.”

Hearing this Hui Yue could not help but gulp. Everyone within range was a King ranked or above. Fighting against them was something he could do for a short period of time when he transformed into a wolf-man, however, to fight against more than one for an extended period of time, Hui Yue was more than likely to lose.

Thinking for a bit he knew that he could not decline the responsibility he had been given and instead he started pondering how he could keep her safe. The best idea was to simply leave the battle.

Although these magical beasts in human form were very similar to humans, both in intellect and lifestyle, they were not humans. Deep within were some instincts which they could not kill and these instincts were certain to surface during the battle royale they were about to enter into. Seeing a woman alive, even if they were told not to kill, the hate these beasts felt towards humans was rooted deep and they probably would attack her. Killing her in the confusing, loud, and messy battle that was to descend.

Although Hui Yue was at a loss about the job he had been given he never showed any of his thoughts on his face, instead, he started to plan the best way to save this person whom he had no clue what kind of cultivation base she had.

If Hui Yue was to use all his energy then he could transform into the wolf-man and for a few moments he could release all his energy within three or four swipes causing strong enough energy ripples to allow for the two to escape in the middle of the battle, but after escaping he would have no strength left. It would mean that they had to hide to stay alive.

Although this sounded easy, it really was nowhere as simple as it sounded. Hiding from a magical beast was almost impossible. They had keen scent, sharp eyes, and astonishing hearing. No matter where they hid they were likely to be found, and if Hui Yue had already used up all his energy by the time they hid then they would have no one to protect them.

Sighing internally, Hui Yue could not help but hope that this Senior Observer Li was strong enough to protect herself so that all he had to do was find a safe spot and stay put.

Wan Qiao was observing Hui Yue this whole time. She understood exactly what thoughts went on within his mind. She had to say that she was astonished to see the determination which crept into his ice-blue eyes. His demeanor changed from the laughing man from before to a proper cultivator; a person who had experienced life and death battles previously and knew exactly how important it was to be cautious. The fact that he had no ties to the other guards also meant that if one of them had a grudge against him, it was likely that they would try and get rid of him in the chaos which was expected to appear near the battle.