Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

Soon after Hui Yue had fallen onto the bed and fallen into deep sleep, Sha Yun made her way to the bed, and with experienced ease, managed to move Hui Yue slightly, positioning him below the blankets and on a pillow so she could coil up next to him.

  Ever since Hui Yue and Sha Yun started living together, a big question had been raised about their sleeping arrangements, as Sha Yun refused to sleep anywhere away from Hui Yue, causing the, at that time, small boy to feel his limits being pushed. Nevertheless, Sha Yun was as stubborn as Hui Yue and she would always be coiled up right next to Hui Yue when they were asleep, causing the poor guy to have no choice but to eventually give in.

  Sha Yun looked at the sleeping young man in front of him and a fond expression appeared on her face, as she gave him a slight kiss on his forehead before she too allowed for the dark sleep to drag her away.

  Waking up the following day, Hui Yue could only sigh as he once more had been tangled up in a snake-tail and used as a cushion during the night. At first it had been hard for him to release himself without getting either further entangled or waking up Sha Yun, but now that he had four years of practice he was capable of easily slipping out. He moved from the bed to the middle of the room where he sat down to meditate and sunk into himself, creating a mental projection which he moved to the dantian cave.

  ‘We got no new information from the Deng family, they seemed to be as clueless as we are when it comes to those assassins.’ Lan Feng sighed, as he looked at the mental projection that was coming his way. Seated side by side, leaning against the Qi cave wall, Hui Yue sighed deeply as he closed his eyes, deep in thought.

  ‘The only one who has a reason to try and kill me ought to be the one behind those crusaders.’ Hui Yue pondered out loud. ‘But it is has been more than four years since they last appeared, so why would they do anything now?’

  ‘I don’t know.’ Lan Feng said with a tired voice, ‘we can only wait and see what happens, but they are slowly increasing the rank of the assassins.’ Lan Feng furrowed his brows as he continued, ‘it is almost as though someone is testing you, but I don’t know why. For now you can do nothing else than continue to get rid of those who are trying to kill you.’

  Hui Yue nodded with his eyes still closed. The first assassins had been Disciple ranked and Hui Yue had not been very firm in his decision to kill them. Unfortunately, they had returned with the guard, and he had almost gotten caught.

  As soon as he had seen the guards arrive, anger flourished within Hui Yue and the red baleful aura overwhelmed him until he saw that the escaped assassins had died due to the blood oath they had committed before starting the mission.

  After the first assassination attempt, every time he entered the city after sundown, Hui Yue would be followed by assassins which slowly increased both in cultivation base and also in amount of people, much like a constant test to temper Hui Yue’s battle prowess.

  What had been most tempered was, however, Hui Yue’s red mist from within him. With each kill the red mist grew stronger, grew denser, and grew harder to control. Fortunately, the tranquil blue cloud had grown in size from the unceasing cultivation which helped overpower the strangling red mist.

  ‘Well if whomever it is who sends these assassins wanted you to be dead then you would have died long ago.’ Lan Feng sighed. ‘Today’s our birthday, huh?”

  Hui Yue nodded his head and he slowly allowed for his consciousness to depart the Qi cave, as he opened his eyes only to see that Sha Yun was seated on the bed, staring at him with big and loving eyes, causing the young man to feel slightly guilty.

  Sha Yun had been with him every day for the last four years, and Hui Yue would have to be blind if he had not noticed that Sha Yun’s feelings for him had long since evolved from that of a master and servant relationship.

  Hui Yue had done his best in avoiding the subject of love. He felt that he was not ready to start a serious relationship with anyone because Li Fen still occupied an important part of his heart, although now she had to share this position with Wang Ju Long, Rong Xing, and Sha Yun who forced their way into his life, making it impossible for him not to care deeply about them.

  As to whether these feelings were love was something he had not dared to even think about, and he did his best to avoid any subject of love that might be raised in his presence. In fact, he had even run away from Sha Yun multiple times, as the snake-woman was the most direct of all the girls in his current lifetime.

  Sighing deeply, Hui Yue pretended once more that he did not notice anything in Sha Yun’s gaze as he started speaking.

  “Sha Yun I need to go see the Rong twins’ because it’s their birthday today, and they’ll most likely not let you in.” Hui Yue said apologetically as he continued “You know how they are when it comes to magical beasts and although you aren’t really comparable to other beasts, they still consider you one.”

  A sad nod answered Hui Yue, “I know.” She said sadly, “but I’ll follow you there. You might run into trouble on the way and be delayed.”

  Hearing this Hui Yue could say nothing. It was indeed very possible that he could run into trouble on the way, considering how many assassins had targeted him recently.

  The birthday gathering was not before the evening, and Hui Yue had noticed the disappointment on Sha Yun’s face, so he figured it was time to cheer her up. To do so a smile appeared on his face as he retrieved a few small memory stones from within his storage stone.

  These memory stones were all attached to either rings or belts, and it was obvious that they contained items. A glint of interest appeared within Sha Yun’s eyes as she saw these memory stones which had been retrieved and her tail shot out grabbing them, and brought them back to her within a second as she started retrieving the items within.

  Sha Yun quickly emptied the memory stones only to see that most of them possessed few items. The majority did not provide her any coins and at the same time only a few items were with them. These items were iron daggers, and a few books, but she obtained nothing of interest and disappointment was clearly visible on her face.

  Sha Yun had developed an interesting habit of looking through all the storage stones from the assassins in the hope of finding any information as to why Hui Yue was being targeted. Hui Yue knew that Sha Yun was desperate for information so that she could feel like she was doing something to assist her friend and master in his constant struggle with the assassins.

  The day was spent traversing the city’s marketplaces together with Sha Yun and bringing her to eat all her favourites to make up for the fact that he had to leave her alone last evening. Hui Yue could only sigh in relief as he looked in his money memory stone and knew that he had a constant income from the Deng and Ma families. Otherwise he would not have the money to spend on medicinal pills for him and vanity items for Sha Yun.

  Even today, the snake-woman bought jewellery and clothes which she used whenever she was bored or went hunting for new men to play with. Sha Yun was a real enchantress, and she enjoyed her life where she could play with the poor students at the Royal Academy whenever she was bored.

  Hui Yue rarely stepped in to stop her, only when her newest target would be someone under the control of Gao Yan, or someone who in some way was unwise to insult.

  Shopping and moving around caused the day to go by rather quickly, and they soon made their way towards the City Lord’s mansion.

  Today, many carriages were filling the roads as anyone within Riluo City of some status had been invited to the birthday, and no one wished to not show up as these gatherings could provide a noticeable amount of gossip.

  The sun had set and the roads were filled with light and activity, unlike previous nights. Hui Yue knew he had been followed, but no one dared to make a move as the entire area was patrolled by the city guard.

  Step by step, Hui Yue got closer to the City Lord’s mansion and as he did more and more guests filled the roads, alongside the city guard who keep the peace.

  As they finally made their way to the
city gates, Hui Yue saw that Wang Ju Long was standing patiently next to the gate, as if waiting for someone. She was wearing a beautiful black robe with golden embroidery, and her long black hair was tied up with a black leather band. Wang Ju Long looked everything like a handsome young master.

  “Hui Yue!” Her voice sounded over the loud carriages, and Hui Yue waved in return to show that he had noticed her. As soon as the voice sounded out, Sha Yun’s hands wrapped around Hui Yue’s arm and she followed him closely all the way up to the gate.

  “Hui Yue!” Wang Ju Long called once more completely ignoring the snake-woman by his side, with a big smile on her face, as she urged him to get closer.

  Arriving next to Wang Ju Long, Hui Yue was grabbed by Wang Ju Long on the other arm and suddenly his body was being dragged in two different directions by two different friends.

  “Wait a second.” He managed to get out through clenched teeth, as he started to feel the pain arriving. Neither Wang Ju Long nor Sha Yun were weaklings, and neither liked losing to the other so the poor young man in the middle had become but a tool to show which of the two was the strongest.

  Fortunately, both of the girls instantly stopped the moment that Hui Yue opened his mouth which allowed for him to be let free. A sigh escaped Hui Yue as he looked at the two girls who were glaring at each other, creating a slight commotion in front of all the arriving guests.

  Sighing deeply once more, Hui Yue turned towards Sha Yun, “Sorry, Yun.” He said apologetically, “I am going to follow Ju Long and go to the birthday gathering now. Be a good girl and go home to the inn now, I’ll return later.”

  Having said that, Hui Yue patted Sha Yun’s head affectionately before he turned around and started walking towards the main hall where the evening’s party would be held.

  Standing behind Hui Yue was Wang Ju Long who stuck out her tongue at Sha Yun, before she too turned around and caught up with Hui Yue, smiling as she was talking to him, leaving the snake-woman behind.

  Chapter 70 - The Birthday

  * * *

  Chapter 70: The Birthday

  Wang Ju Long quickly caught up to Hui Yue and a big smile was apparent on her face as she completely ignored the snake-woman they had left behind, and she quickly started conversing about their everyday life at the Royal Academy.

  Chatting together, Hui Yue looked at the mansion’s landscape. Every garden and courtyard had been adorned with lamps and illuminating stones allowing for a soft and celestial light to light up the entire City Lord’s Mansion.

  Servants were walking back and forth to the kitchen, and the people who had gathered in groups outside were gossiping with each other. The closer to the main hall Hui Yue and Wang Ju Long got, the more groups of people that could be seen and the higher their rank was within Riluo City’s hierarchy.

  The stairs were bustling with hundreds of men who moved inside the main hall to greet the birthday pair while others were departing from the main hall, intent to socialise with certain nobles which they usually would not see in their social circles.

  Hui Yue was being led by Wang Ju Long and together they managed to push their way through the stairs and enter the main hall which had been decorated throughout. The main decoration was red lanterns which mostly had the phrases congratulations or best wishes written on them.

  Each guest would go and write a greeting on these round lanterns with golden ink, before allowing them to float above illuminating the beautiful room and its guests.

  The lanterns were not the only attraction. In different corners were young beautiful women who were playing the same piece of music completely in sync, allowing for a very calming background music which was extremely pleasant for the ear.

  Big fans were also used to decorate the walls. Some of these fans were painted with images of Rong Xing and Rong Ming, either fighting deadly battles against magical beasts, or they were painted with pictures of the two twins cultivating. Some even showed images of the beasts that had been slain or captured by the two twins.

  There was one area especially where the fans on the walls were much more numerous than the rest of the room, and it was right next to the stage where three women were dancing, all of the women using two beautiful white fans; swirling them around, tossing them into the sky, and catching them without a breaths mistake. The dance was mesmerizing, and a large crowd had gathered in front of these dancing women.

  Seeing Hui Yue’s dreamy expression after looking at these dancing women, a pout appeared on Wang Ju Long’s face as she grabbed his hand and dragged him to the complete opposite part of the room.

  This part was no less crowded than the former if anything it was worse, and Hui Yue quickly understood why that was. In front of them were multiple tables formed into a beautiful snake. Even the tablecloth had been made to make the table look snakish and on top of this giant snake was any kind of food which Hui Yue could imagine.

  Gazing on all this food, Hui Yue could not help but lick his lips greedily, and he quickly made his way towards some of the dishes which he had gotten to especially like after his reincarnation.

  One of these dishes was a springroll, which was made with a kind of rice paper wrapped around vegetables and some ground meat in the middle, of which Hui Yue did not know what kind of meat was in it.. These spring rolls were the dish which Hui Yue always ate whenever he was dining with the Rong twins at the City Lord’s mansion.

  Another dish which he loved was a cake-like creation. It was so sweet that Hui Yue always thought he was having a sugar rush every time he ate one, yet the intense feeling of delight which was exclaimed from Lan Feng’s soul always made Hui Yue feel good, and he eventually came to enjoy those small sugar bombs as well.

  Having picked some small snacks, and starting to nibble on them, Hui Yue noticed that at the end of the snake, at the tail, was yet other tables, which had been shaped like the different elemental affinities and their colours.

  One was a yellow mountain, symbolizing the earthen affinity, another was a silver gemstone symbolizing the metal affinity, while yet another was a tree which obviously symbolized wood. The others were made into a red flame and a blue wave to symbolize the fire water affinities, respectively.

  All these affinity tables were filled with all the drinks and more that Hui Yue had ever seen in this world. There were alcohol free juices next to strong spirits. There were simple beers and expensive wines. Hui Yue’s eyes were shining as he looked at all the goodies, but before he had the chance of going to fetch himself a drink, Wang Ju Long pulled him towards the middle of the room.

  Looking at the middle of the room a smile appeared on Hui Yue’s face, as he saw how the Rong twins were standing tall, greeting their guests, and accepting their presents with patient faces and polite smiles.

  Walking towards the two siblings proved to be even harder than it had been to ascend the stairs, and Hui Yue had needed to use his elbows to finally worm his way through the crowd.

  “Hui Yue!” Rong Xing called, a genuine smile replaced the previous polite one an excitement shone from her eyes as she looked at the young man who had just forced his way into the inner circles.

  Hearing the beautiful young lady call for a man with such a kind and enthusiastic voice, many of the young masters within Riluo City looked at Hui Yue with disdain at first, yet after seeing Wang Ju Long by his side those expressions of disdain changed to complicated expressions instead.

  The majority of these young nobles had gone to the academy when they were younger, and although they were now graduated, they were still studying back when Hui Yue had fought Li Shing and the mercilessness which he had displayed had clearly left a lasting trauma in most of these young masters.

  Although his name had long since been forgotten by Riluo City, which was currently dropping geniuses left and right, to these young masters his actions had never been forgotten, as it was the first time most had seen a killing with their own eyes.

  Hui Yue completely ignored the many people who was starin
g at him and instead he moved towards the twins, two presents in his hands one for each of them.

  Accepting the presents Hui Yue saw how they both struggled. Neither of the twins wished for Hui Yue to have brought a present for them as he had already gifted them an immense amount of treasures, yet here he was again gifting them presents which they did not feel as though they deserved.

  Hui Yue was perfectly well aware of this, yet he still brought a present for the two, and he knew that there was no chance that the two could decline the gifts when they were in front of this many people.

  Although Hui Yue had gifted these two a lot, they were the ones who had done what they could when he was younger and even now, Hui Yue felt completely assured that they would always have his back, should he need it.

  Opening the cases, everyone present sucked in a deep breath of air as the scent of medicinal pills wafted out. To have such an amazing aroma it was obvious that these pills had to be at least at the Qi Congregating level, and anyone who was below Master rank would benefit hugely from such medicinal pills.