Blue Phoenix

Hui Yue and Deng Wu were both comfortable as they lay in the grass, gazing at the beautiful sky. Looking at those two youngsters, if one knew nothing, no one would ever suspect that this young pair was currently the subject of all the conversations in Riluo City.

It did not take long before the city heard that although Lord Rong Liang and his followers had managed to keep Deng Tsang Ying in check, they were not the ones to kill him — no… The Deng family head was killed by his own son.

Dust appeared as magical horses rushed towards Hui Yue’s village. An entourage of seven people were dashing towards them, all seemingly exhausted with stern expressions on their faces, their lips clenched tightly, while their eyes seemed dead, as they scanned the surroundings for ambushes or followers.

These eight were the three beast sisters, the Rong twins, Gao Yan, Ma Kong, and Wang Ju Long. Hui Yue stood up and gestured to the seven travellers, taking but mere seconds for the magical beasts to gallop straight for the white-haired boy and Deng Wu.

As they arrived, they looked over Hui Yue and Deng Wu before a collective sigh of relief could be heard. Dismounting, the youngsters slowly released the animals from their harnesses, as they sat down on the ground to talk everything through.

Before Rong Xing sat down, she moved towards Deng Wu with tears in her eyes, as she forcefully slapped the handsome boy on his face, using all her strength. Deng Wu was shocked when he saw her expression, but his face quickly turned soft, as he understood her feelings, and a sad smile appeared on his face as he accepted the slap, causing his entire cheek to sting and swell up.

“Don’t you EVER dare to do anything like this again,” Rong Xing said with a quivering voice, as her eyes stared deep into Deng Wu’s black eyes. “Don’t you EVER betray us again!”

Seeing this shivering young woman, a tenderness filled Deng Wu’s heart, and all of a sudden globes of water dripped from his eyes. Stunned by these teardrops, Deng Wu was completely overwhelmed by the sight of these teardrops. But Rong Xing saw his expression. She quickly leaned down and gave him a hug, allowing the young man to cry his heart out in her warm embrace.

Deng Wu was still a young man, and although he had never felt any close relations to his father, he was still devastated by the fight. Not only had he fought against Hui Yue for a long period of time, but his abilities had killed multiple innocent cultivators who were just unlucky enough to be near him.

“They were not innocent,” Rong Xing said, as she gently patted his head to calm him. “They were the ones who knew the risk when they joined us. We forced no one to participate in the war.”

Deng Wu nodded his head, resting his face on Rong Xing’s bursting chest. Waterworks still sprinkled from his eyes, yet Hui Yue could not help but smirk, as he saw how Deng Wu’s face was sprouting a very satisfied smile hidden from Rong Xing’s eyes.

Hui Yue felt relief now that he knew Deng Wu took the chance to get more familiar with Rong Xing’s body. It seemed that though Deng Wu was slightly stunned after killing many people for the first time, it was not a trauma he could not recover from.

Goggling at Deng Wu for far too long, Rong Ming cleared his throat and finally wrested his eyes away, instead resting his eyes on Hui Yue.

“The Royal Family’s army arrived as soon as you and Deng Wu escaped the city.” Rong Ming started to explain what had happened within the city since their departure. “Together with father, they led the army to the Deng and Wang family compounds, and all the elders have been taken back to the city prison and are awaiting trial.”

Wang Ju Long had a sad look in her eyes, but her mouth was still firmly closed, not uttering a single word nor acting weak. A decisiveness was visible within her eyes.

During the battle, Wang Ju Long had not participated as a fighter. Instead, she had used her time and skill to save as many of the wounded guards and mercenaries as she could, bringing them to infirmaries, which had been prepared in a few specific places within the city.

“The two of you seem to have known about these plans for quite some time,” Gao Yan said, as he glared at both Wang Ju Long and Deng Wu with furrowed brows, clearly not ready to forgive them easily for their trickery. He felt as though someone was strangling him ever since he had seen the battle between Hui Yue and Deng Wu start.

Wang Ju Long nodded her head, while Deng Wu did not even bother to answer.Instead, he just buried his face deeper into Rong Xing’s bosom, causing the young woman to blush slightly, as she awkwardly patted his head.

Having had enough of the jokes, Hui Yue went to Rong Xing and Deng Wu where he hoisted the handsome boy up by his collar, revealing the lecherous smile to Rong Xing, and proceeded to drag the pervert with him to the other side of the circle to finally start the serious discussions.

“Did you know?” Ma Kong asked silently, as he looked at Hui Yue, and the white-haired boy nodded his head solemnly. “I knew,” he said with a wry smile.

“Deng Wu and Wang Ju Long both disagreed with their elders. Although the elders were certain that the Royal Family would approve of the behaviour if the Deng and Wang families were to win the battle, it is quite obvious that that is not the case.” Hui Yue explained quietly.

“The only way to ensure that the Deng and Wang families had a chance of surviving was by showing that the new generation disapproved of the elder’s decisions. Considering this, it is still very risky what we did.” Deng Wu took over, finally serious as he explained what was to happen.

“We would have had to kill off either my father, or Ju Long’s,” Deng Wu continued with a sigh. “Although, Ju Long always lived as a boy, her father did everything he could to allow for her to stay alive by making her dress as a boy, whereas my father did everything he could to ensure that I did not live. Considering the two sides it was only fair that it was my dad who had to die.”

Looking at Deng Wu, one would never expect that what he was talking about was killing his own father, yet that was exactly what had transpired, and his face was as calm as a frozen lake, showing no traces of regret or depression.

“Why did you need Hui Yue to reveal that he has the power of a Saint ranked expert?” Ma Kong asked once more, clicking his tongue.

“We needed an attraction which would cause both sides to halt their fighting, making them stare at him instead of each other or what was behind them.” Hui Yue interrupted with a sigh. “We had nothing else which could stun and amaze King ranked experts more than the sudden appearance of a Saint ranked cultivator.”

Everyone present rolled their eyes as they realized that anyone would be distracted the moment a Master ranked cultivator turned into a Saint ranked cultivator right in front of their eyes.

“Why did you have to fight against each other at the start then?Instead of just going for it?” Gao Yan asked curiously, as he looked at the two young men, still grumbling about the fact that he had known nothing. Not even his large network had managed to obtain any information about Hui Yue’s plans.

“We had to get close,” Hui Yue sighed. “To approach them carelessly would not be smart, yet we needed a way to get there. The only thing we could think of was to fight. It would’ve made everything seem as though we were truly betrayed. It is obvious that your performance was a great help, though, and made us seem inconspicuous.”

It did indeed make sense!Yet all three: Wang Ju Long, Deng Wu, and Hui Yue had made great sacrifices for this plan to succeed.

Wang Ju Long’s entire family was on the verge of collapsing, but so was Deng Wu’s.And he had even caused the collapse with his own two hands. Hui Yue had spent years doing his best not to stand out, and still — here he was exhibiting himself as a young Saint ranked expert just for the sake of attracting attention.

“You can’t return with us anymore, can you?” Rong Xing asked with a sad voice, as she looked at Hui Yue, who sent her a small apologetic smile.

“I cannot return for some time,” he said gently. “But neither of you will stay within Riluo City for the next few years.” he reminded them.

“Ma Kong is going to be so busy expanding the Ma Family’s Insurance to the other major cities in the Taiyang Kingdom, you and Rong Ming will be busy at the main branch of the Royal Academy, and Gao Yan will most likely going to the capital together with you. Who knows?He might even be working hard on creating his own connection network in the capital, many times greater than the one he has here.”

“But what about Wang Ju Long or Deng Wu?” Rong Xing’s eyes were slightly moist, as she thought of how the group would be broken up, but it seemed that no matter how things had played out, it was something which would have happened either way.

“We will return and face the consequences with our families,” Wang Ju Long said with her head raised high, determination shining within her eyes, as she said these words.

Deng Wu nodded his head at Wang Ju Long; however, his eyes showed more worry than resolve within them..

Deng Wu felt pressured, unlike a certain someone’s aloof personality, as it was quite unlikely for him to survive the trial in spite of having done everything he could to prove that the younger generation did not see eye to eye with the elder generation. It was also important for Deng Wu to participate in the trials so that he could save as many lives as possible.

“This is it for us,” Shui Wu said, as she slowly stood up and politely nodded to each and every one of us before hugging Sha Yun, and finally, making her way back to the Magical Forest, which could be seen in the background.

Seeing Shui Wu starting to move away, Bing Niao quickly followed her example, and after a short nod, she hugged Sha Yun, too, and then flew back to the forest where she would once again barricade herself within her world of snow.

Seated back in the circle were the friends. And one after another, they stood up, bowed slightly, then moved back to their magical horses and qilins, ready to return to the city in which the trial would take place.

Deng Wu had travelled to the village by relying on Lan Feng’s strength, and he had no magical horse, so he left together with Wang Ju Long.

Standing behind alone, a nostalgic feeling swept across Hui Yue as he gestured to Sha Yun. The two slowly made their way into the magical forest, where they would look after Sha Yun’s old clearing for the next couple of weeks, while waiting for the trial to end.

Hui Yue could no longer stay at home in his own village, as his presence would bring them danger. Not only the village would be in danger, Hui Yue himself was now unable to return to Riluo City, as he knew that although his relationship with the leading nobles was good, the Royal Army was likely to look at him with unfriendly eyes. Hui Yue sighed deeply as he was swallowed up by the dense magical forest.

Hui Yue left the village without them even knowing that he had been there. Knowledge like this could bring them trouble, and Hui Yue did not wish to harm anyone with his stupidity.