Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  Sha Yun was perfectly well aware that Hui Yue did not love her the same way she loved him, yet she refused to give up. She was the one person who spent the most time together with Hui Yue and in turn also the one who knew the most about him.

  Because Sha Yun initiated the beast contract of her own volition, it let Hui Yue trust her completely. This resulted in Hui Yue telling Sha Yun everything about himself including his future plans.

  Sha Yun was the only person who was aware of Hui Yue’s reincarnation and in turn also knew about Li Fen. At first Hui Yue had planned to keep it a secret, yet after numerous attempts to seduce the white-haired boy he eventually gave up and explained that he was not ready for a new love or a relationship.

  Since then, Sha Yun had patiently waited by his side. She never rushed him but she did not see Li Fen as a rival in love. Li Fen was in another world, and when she had lived with Hui Yue, she had not shown any interest in him. For Sha Yun, Li Fen was a chapter within Hui Yue’s life which just needed to end, so that Hui Yue could once more focus on love. Her hope was that once he was free to love again, he would fall in love with her, as she had been by his side this whole time.

  Sha Yun did not consider Rong Xing a rival in love either. Rong Xing was her older sister, and that was all. Rong Xing was not romantically interested in Hui Yue, but she often got unhappy when the white-haired boy chose to confide in people other than her.

  No, the only person whom Sha Yun truly considered to be a rival in love was Wang Ju Long. Although this girl lived her life as a boy and had accepted such a lifestyle, she still looked at Hui Yue in a way which made Sha Yun feel uncomfortable.

  Sighing, Sha Yun kept rushing towards the forest with her thoughts trailing along. It had been such a long time since her last trip anywhere alone that she could not help but daydream on the way.

  Sha Yun’s speed was almost as fast as Hui Yue, but not quite. Sha Yun’s tail was one long muscle, which allowed for her speed to be incredibly fast as she made her way to the Magical Forest. Her daydreams along the way ranged from, how she would react when she once more met with her sisters, to how lovely her life would be if Hui Yue ended up accepting her love.

  Although Sha Yun was daydreaming on the way, she managed to stay clear of all the villages. She made her way through the smaller paths which animals took or the trails left behind by village boys leading their cattle to the fields.

  Although Sha Yun was already contracted to Hui Yue and these villages could do nothing to her, still she preferred the less traveled roads. Because she knew that when she brought her sisters back with her they would not be contracted to a cultivator, and if someone strong enough showed up and forced a contract Sha Yun would have then failed both her sisters and Hui Yue in the process.

  The sun was high in the sky when Sha Yun made it to the outskirts of the Magical Forest, a wave of nostalgia hit the snake-woman and she paused for a moment. This place had been her home for so long and it had been many years since she was last moving through the forest on her own.

  Slithering slowly Sha Yun took her time moving through the forest with a happy smile on her face; she was caught reminiscing about past adventures which she had experienced with her sisters in the years past and tears welled up in her eyes, as she realised that although this place felt so familiar, it was no longer home.

  Sha Yun was caught in her feelings for a moment as she choked up, full of emotions. A heavy feeling rested in her chest and tears welled up within her eyes, as she looked at the beautiful forest around her. This was her childhood home, and she had grown up here. She always felt that this was the place where she would always be able to return. That this was her true home where she belonged.

  However now that she was here on her own she did not feel as if she had returned home. There was only one place she truly wished to be. There was only one place where she felt she truly belonged. She needed to be next to Hui Yue, only then could she feel like she was truly at home.

  Shaking her head, Sha Yun forced herself to be realistic. She was in a beautiful forest and even if it was no longer her home it was still a place that meant a lot to her, and it was also the place where her sisters lived.

  Having taken a short break, Sha Yun finally realized that she was standing within the forest and that this place was riddled with mercenaries on the hunt for beast cores. The snake-woman had been lucky to not be targeted so far.

  Slapping herself Sha Yun stood with two red cheeks as she started moving once more, deeper into the forest and heading towards a specific clearing which belonged to one of her sisters.

  Arriving within the area of the clearing, Sha Yun furrowed her brows as she heard sharp shrills of terror, but her expression quickly evened out as she realised that all these voices were from humans. It was obvious that her sister was currently playing her favourite catch-the-human games.

  A smile sprouted on Sha Yun’s face as she hurried into the clearing. The silvery eyes shone with excitement, as she noticed the water prisons had been deployed and four humans who seemed to be mercenaries were caught within, while two had been left outside. They were thrashing around and trying their best to puncture the orbs of water to release their struggling friends.

  A complicated expression showed how Sha Yun was currently unsure what she should do. She had already entered the clearing and she knew for a fact that her sister, Shui Wu, had already noticed her. She wanted to join in terrorizing the mercenaries, yet at the same time she did not wish to interrupt her sister’s fun.

  Leaning against a tree within the edge of the clearing Sha Yun watched the fight unfold. Shui Wu was using the same tactics as she had all those years ago against Hui Yue and his friends by splitting them up, yet this time her strength was many times superior to what it had been.

  The two mercenaries who were not caught by the water prisons applied all of their martial attack skills and used all their strength and weapons, yet no matter how hard they tried, the water prisons were unbreakable.

  The two mercenaries kept trying and used up their energy while watching their friends drowning in front of them. Slowly the first person stopped struggling and his limbs became loose as he no longer tried to escape the water prison, but instead he started sinking.

  One by one the other three slowly started sinking as well, and at this moment the water prisons all collapsed, releasing the corpses of the four mercenaries who had been so unfortunate to enter the clearing.

  The two mercenaries who had not been caught gritted their teeth and their eyes were red, filled with anger and hate, yet neither were willing to wait around any longer, as they made a run for the forest. Their friends had died, staying around to die together with them seemed like a dumb idea.

  Rushing through the dense forest, a sliver of hope appeared within the hearts of these two mercenaries. This hope turned into desperate laughter, which escaped their lips as they thought of how lucky they had been since they did not get caught by the water prisons, now that they had managed to escape from one of the beast sisters.

  The laughter which was caused by their terrorized minds suddenly stopped and the forest grew eerily silent. The laughing men’s faces still showed the laughter of madness, before they fell to the ground, their heads rolling a few metres away as blood poured from the severed necks.

  “Welcome home big sis,” A melodious voice suddenly sounded out as a beautiful woman rose from the lake. Her entire skin was covered by beautiful cobalt-blue scales and even her face was adorned with the beautiful scales.

  Her eyes were catlike and coloured a beautiful green matching her long seaweed hair. Seeing this woman step out of the lake, happiness grew in Sha Yun’s heart and even Shui Wu had slight tears in her eyes from happiness. Neither beast paid any attention to the corpses littering the ground.

  Looking around, Shui Wu furrowed her brows before she asked, “Where is that human boy?”

  “I am here on his behalf,” Sha Yun said, her cheeks flushing in excitement and pride for hav
ing been asked to do such a task: “I need to speak with both you and younger sister Bing Niao.”

  Having said that, Sha Yun looked around and started making her way to the clearing belonging to their third sister. Shui Wu followed behind, her eyes shining with curiosity and happiness was evident on her face.

  To her, it did not matter whether or not Sha Yun returned because she had an errand to run for the annoying boy, all that mattered to the scaled woman was that her older sister had returned, and happiness was the only emotion she had space to feel.

  “Big Sister,” Shui Wu called out as she rushed after the older sister through the dense forest on their way towards the third sister. “You need to come visit Big Snake now that you are here,” She said excitedly and clapped her scaled hands together, “He has missed you so very much!”

  Sha Yun nodded her head but she did not change her direction, nor did she look back at the younger sister. It was obvious that currently only one thing mattered to the snake-woman was to gather up her sisters as soon as possible according to the promise she had given Hui Yue.

  Chapter 87 - Asking for Assistance

  * * *

  Chapter 87: Asking for Assistance

  Rushing through the dense forest Sha Yun’s beastly nature once more resurfaced as she heard the familiar sounds of beasts bustling about in the forest. In the distance the sounds of battle could be heard, and the smell of blood was wafting through the air.

  The three clearings were placed quite far away from each other. The first one that mercenaries would encounter was the one belonging to Shui Wu causing her to be the sister whom had killed the most humans.

  After Shui Wu’s domain the next one that the travellers would probably encounter belonged to Bing Niao. Bing Niao was the youngest of the three sisters, and Sha Yun was quite certain that she would be the hardest to convince.

  Bing Niao had never truly forgiven Sha Yun for leaving the forest together with a human boy, and every year whenever they met, although she was incredibly happy to see her sister again, a slight grudge had been growing within her young heart.

  Worrying about how her sister would react, Sha Yun unconsciously slowed down when heading towards Bing Niao’s domain through the forest. Her heartbeat was slowly increasing and by the time the clearing was within view, her heart was beating frantically.

  Sha Yun paused, causing Shui Wu to do the same behind her, before she took a deep breath, with closed eyes, to steady herself.

  Unlike Shui Wu, Bing Niao was not currently fighting against any mercenaries, nor was there the scent of blood being emitted from the clearing. A disappointed expression was seen on Sha Yue’s face as she noticed the lack of blood. Because Bing Niao was usually easier to deal with after she had killed someone and allowed for herself to break the ice shell which encased her personality.

  Slowly slithering into the clearing, a shiver ran through the snake-woman’s body, as the drop in temperature was simply too extreme. Snowflakes fell from the clear sky, and the ground which should have been filled with beautiful healthy grass and moss was covered in a blanket of white snow.

  Within this white world a beautiful woman was standing in the middle. Her legs were that of an eagle, long and thin, with three sharp claws on each foot. Her body and face were that of a beautiful woman, yet the skin was layered with small white feathers covering her entire body, closely resembling the feathers of Lan Feng, only in a different colour.

  This woman had no arms, only two long and beautiful white wings which spread out to a metre and a half each. Her white hair was long and curly, framing her beautiful human face with the ice-blue eyes that seemed to allow for mercy no to be given out.

  This was Bing Niao, the youngest of the three sisters, but also the one who was the hardest to deal with. As soon as this white woman saw Sha Yun her face was filled with complicated expressions, yet it seemed as though anger won out as her wings suddenly flapped open and one spear of ice after another was tossed at the snake-woman.

  Although Sha Yun loved her sister dearly she usually did everything in her power to not enter her icy domain. Sha Yun was a snake-woman and that meant that half of her body was that of a snake. As a snake, cold weather was her nemesis and therefore she was unable to move at a decent speed, causing her to get grazed by a few of the ice spears which were thrown her way.

  A few drops of blood landed within the snowy world, tainting the purest white ground with these deep red drops, and a few hisses could be heard from Sha Yun’s lips. Even though those ice spears had only grazed her, Sha Yun had still felt the profound energy which was hidden beneath. Small threads of Qi had entered her body, slowly corroding and freezing her up from the inside.

  With a sigh and a flap of her wings, Bing Niao dispelled the cold Qi as she started walking towards her two sisters, furrowing her brows as she looked around to find the one human boy whom she detested more than anything.

  “Big sis, are you alone today?” Bing Niao asked curiously. “Why did you not visit us last year?” A pained expression was now evident on the usually cold woman’s face, showing just how disappointed she had been when her older sister did not return home to visit for once.

  “I am really sorry,” Sha Yun apologized, looking downcast as she too wished to have visited. Yet no matter what she wished, she was aware that Hui Yue needed the time for cultivating, as he had been through troublesome situations and currently each day of training was needed for him to reach the highest possible level before the war brewing in Riluo City broke out.

  “Hui Yue is not with me,” Sha Yun chuckled when she saw how Bing Niao kept looking around as if she was expecting Hui Yue to show up at any moment. “Things have happened within the city,” Sha Yun said with a serious face. “Do you remember that stone forest I told you about before?” The snake-woman asked, constantly contemplating about the best way to convince her sisters. Seeing that the two other human beasts nodded their heads excitedly, a smile appeared on Sha Yun’s face.

  Ever since the first time Sha Yun returned to the forest, she would spent the majority of her time explaining the outside world. Each sentence she spoke would cause her two younger sister’s eyes to gleam with excitement and a hint of longing would be visible.

  Yet these two had no intention of handing over their freedom to a cultivator, so instead they kept living the same kind of life that they had been living up until now.

  “The stone forest is about to have a major fight,” Sha Yun explained, deciding to try and make it understandable for the sisters. “Imagine that this forest had two Saint ranked beasts, not only Old Snake.” She paused to give the two sisters time to imagine what it would be like. “The entire horde of beasts within this forest would have to choose which of the two Saint ranked beasts they should follow. That is the current situation within the stone forest.”

  “Very soon, the two Saint ranked beasts and their followers will clash in an all-out battle to see who gets to call the stone forest their territory.” Sha Yun continued to explain it the best she knew, and she was smiling as she saw the shock evident on her sister’s faces.

  “Hui Yue has not planned to participate in this battle, but some things happened and now he is planning on making a stand. He told me to offer to see if the two of you want to join us.”

  “Has living amongst humans made you as dumb as them?!” Bing Niao exclaimed, as soon as Sha Yun finished her sentence. “If we join in a battle like that we could very likely be forced into submission by anyone we face!”

  Sha Yun smiled subtly, as she pulled out two cloaks which she threw to her sisters respectively. These cloaks were made for Hui Yue by a skilled inscriber. It was impossible for any aura to leak out from within the cloak and while wearing it no one would be able to tell that the two of them were magical beasts.

  “Before the fight you will be staying at my new home,” Sha Yun said excitedly, “During the fight no one will be able to tell that you are beasts, and even if you were to reveal yourself no one will b
e capable of doing anything to you. They will be far too busy trying to survive.”