Blue Phoenix

Wang Ju Long’s face was beet red as Hui Yue held her hand and dragged her with him towards their friends. At first, she struggled to get her hand back, but after noticing that Hui Yue had no intention of letting her go, she finally accepted it and a warmth bubbled up in her heart. Although she was embarrassed and incredibly worried about how their friends would react, she still felt happiness deep inside.

As Hui Yue moved towards their group of friends, Huli jumped forward and landed in Hui Yue’s embrace where she nestled herself. She sat in his arms looking at the rest of the world with happiness. Even though she was being held with only one arm, the small fox seemed content.

Wang Ju Long had been too focused on being shy but when she finally glanced towards the group of friends she stopped in her tracks. Her hand suddenly gripped harder on Hui Yue’s hand, and her lips tightened. She noticed the third prince with her friends. She was shocked, and it was clear that she was anything but happy.

“Don’t worry about it,” Hui Yue mumbled. “I will make sure nothing happens to you.” The words caused Wang Ju Long to calm somewhat and her facial expressions returned to normal. After hiding her facial expressions a facade covered her face making it impossible for anyone to guess what she was thinking. Her expression made Hui Yue sigh as he understood that she did this when pressured.

Wang Ju Long was feeling a range of emotions at this moment. Not only was Wang Ju Long pressured and holding down the rage in her heart, but she was also confused. See glanced at Hui Yue and saw him holding what looked to be a black fox with his arm. A fox that was clearly very content and comfortable laying on his arm. On top of the fox, there were also four Saints whom she had never seen before in their party.

“Boss, congratulations on finding your wife!” One of the Saints called with laughter causing the others also start cheering as well. The words once more caused Wang Ju Long’s expressionless face to turn crimson quickly.

She was so embarrassed at being called Hui Yue’s wife and her eyes were bashfully lowered. Hui Yue, on the other hand, was feeling such bliss that his mood could not even be destroyed by looking at the third prince.

“Now, we only need Ma Kong and Sha Yun,” Hui Yue said while smiling. “Sha Yun should be with the group of mixed blooded experts somewhere within the grave. When I saw their group, they seemed relatively strong so I shouldn’t worry about her.”

“Ma Kong is with his family. They have very strong experts, so he will be fine as well. I think the best thing to do now is to return to Muchuan City. When we are back, we can start dividing the spoils from our adventure.”

Hearing this, the four Saints nodded. Although Hui Yue had gotten some things personally, that they would not request, things such as medicinal pills, armor, and weapons would be equally shared amongst them all.

Leaving the grave was no difficult matter. Everyone understood that there was no more treasure to be found in this grave, and the many Saints who had followed after Hui Yue had long since given up trying to take his treasures.

“Your highness!” Exiting the grave, Hui Yue instantly heard the calling of the royal guards the moment they saw the third prince. Looking at the group stationed outside, Hui Yue found that the king was not present. This was something which made Hui Yue’s heart clench, and as he looked at the third prince, Shiu Ye looked directly at him. Shiu Ye had a brilliant smile on his lips, and his eyes were dark like an endless well, making it hard to know what he was thinking.

“Your highness, half of us will follow you back to Muchuen City while the rest will wait for the King’s return.” One of the guards said, and without waiting for a reply, the many experts split into two groups. One of which followed behind Hui Yue and the third prince.

“To think that we get to travel with the Shield of the Taiyang Kingdom,” One of the guards mumbled to his friend.

“These are experts from some important families in Muchuan City!” Another exclaimed as he looked at Zhu Jun, Ye Ling, and Luo Qiang.

“Of course they will be there to support the third prince so that he could explore the grave without being in danger,” Another mumbled, but all their thoughts suddenly stopped as they noticed how these four experts stood right behind Hui Yue. These four experts were cautiously looking around and sometimes shared a few words with him; however, the respect they showed him made it seem as if he was their lord.

Everything they saw made the guards shocked as they watched this white-haired young man. It took them some time to scour their memories before they paled and realized that the person in front of them was most likely the Grand Marshall of the Shenyuan Beast Army.

These guards were now very confused now about what was going on. The Grand Marshall of the Shenyuan Beast Army was someone they needed to treat with respect. Although they needed to treat him with the respect, it was not the same as accepting him as their boss. Calling him boss meant that they were on his side. Did this mean that they no longer supported the Taiyang Kingdom? Why would they betray their kingdom?

Thinking this sweat broke out on the experts’ faces as they feared that the Saints they had previously relied upon would suddenly be allied with the beasts. If another war were to break out, did that not mean that their pillars of support would suddenly attack them instead? How absurd was this? Yet, it seemed to be the case.

It was not only the guards who thoughts this, but the third prince’s face which even though he was smiling, didn’t make him appear friendly right now. His eyes were hard and seemingly unhappy. At first, he thought that they called Hui Yue boss as a joke, but after having traveled through the grave he understood just how important Hui Yue was to these experts. Trying to reel them in was not a possibility, and he had to give up before even trying.

Moving through their surroundings, Hui Yue noticed quite a few corpses. There were many bandits on route to Muchuan City, but none of these bandit groups were silly enough to attack a group like Hui Yue’s, one filled with royal guards and Saints. The bandits might be brave, but they were not stupid.

Since it was like this, Hui Yue managed to reach Muchuan City with his friends quite quickly. They had only needed two days as they traveled with their fastest speed.

Hui Yue had observed the third prince’s movements and had even gone as far as to invite him for a walk. However, the prince did not leave the sight of his guards for even a moment, and Hui Yue found that it was impossible for him to get the prince face to face without anyone else appearing with them. This made it impossible for him to get vengeance, and the small flame of hate within him was boiling with rage, screaming to be let out, yet Hui Yue forcefully subdued it. He knew he had to endure. Just as they reached the tall walls of Muchuan City Shiu Ye turned to Hui Yue and gave him a slight bow. “Thank you for allowing me to travel with you. If you ever have any problems then come visit me. The door will always be open for you.”

Thanking the prince, Hui Yue bowed towards him then watched the prince and his guards slowly vanished towards the castle. Sighing deeply, Hui Yue gestured with his hand for the others to follow him and they soon made their way towards his mansion.

As soon as he opened the door, he found that the mansion was as well maintained as it had been before. It did not take long before the entire mansion was aware that the owner had returned.

Standing in the entrance hall, Hui Yue suddenly saw two blurs and moments after two children appeared in front of him. Though neither of them dared touch him; they even seemed too scared to look at him. Both were looking at the ground. Their heads were bowed, and they fidgeted with their hands, clearly unsure of what to do.

Behind them, after some time came an elderly man wearing a gray robe. Hui Yue instantly recognized him as the teacher he had employed previously, and he gently nodded towards this elderly man before he got down so his head was at the same level as the two kids.

“You cannot kick us out!” Lao suddenly said. “We worked hard! We have learned a lot of things. Please don’t kick us out!” He said, his voice hoarse and his eyes red. Behind him was Jo, her hands clenching a part of Lao’s clothes as silent tears were falling from her eyes.

Seeing the fear in the children’s eyes, Hui Yue sighed before he placed Huli on the ground and dragged the two children into an embrace. At first, both of them were shocked and as stiff as a wooden plank, yet slowly they felt the warmth from Hui Yue. They soon started to cry out loud as all their worries vanished into thin air.

“I took you in and gave you a family name. I will make sure you get the best teaching possible. I will give you everything you would need; food, clothes, and magical items alike. Why would you think that I would kick you out?” He asked gently as he pulled back only to look at the two teary-eyed kids.

“But you suddenly vanished, and Master Jie said you might not come back ever again. We thought you had left because of us!” He brawled, and Hui Yue sighed deeply once more. It was true that he could have very well died in the grave, but for him to scare these children, he felt that was a little too much.

“I had to go on an adventure,” He said patiently to the two children. “I will have to be away from time to time, but the two of you belong to my family. I will never leave you alone, and when you get strong enough you can join me on my adventures, but you need to be strong enough before you can do so.”

His voice was firm, but the words he spoke were caring, and he knew that these kids had already gone through a lot. “Now all you need to think about is increasing your strength,” He said as he placed a hand on each of the children’s shoulders, but as he did so his eyes widened. “Lao, you have already reached the rank of Grandmaster?!” He exclaimed shocked.

One had to remember that Lao had never trained before Hui Yue brought him back to the mansion, yet while he had been away, the young boy had shown the most terrifying talent Hui Yue had ever seen. He finally started to understand exactly why Lan Feng was so excited about finding this young man.

“Un,” The young boy nodded his head. “How strong do I need to be before I can join you on your adventures?” He asked. His eyes filled with longing and excitement causing Hui Yue to laugh.

“Become strong enough to at least reach the rank of King.” He said before he took a step back.

“Xiao Ning, Luo Qiang, Ye Ling, and Zhu Jun this is Hui Lao and Hui Jo, my two adopted children.”

“Little Lao, Jo, greet your uncles,” He said smilingly, and the two children instantly bowed deeply. “Lao pays respect to revered uncles!” He called out, and Jo copied his words saying the same.

Nodding in satisfaction, Hui Yue once more picked up Huli. He and Huli had no contract between one another. Though despite this she refused to move away from him for longer than a moment, and she preferred being carried in his arms like a small child. Hui Yue knew he owed the beast a lot, but he was also surprised as to why it had picked him over its old master. Deciding not to think more about it, Hui Yue dragged Wang Ju Long in front of the two kids as well. “This is your mother, whatever she says do. Always listen to her words, as they are as important as mine.” He finished and the words once more causing Wang Ju Long’s face to turn dark crimson with embarrassment.