Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Fire Phoenix: Crushing You Is As Easy As Breathing

What answered Bai Mu Mu was the System’s steady chimes:

[Ding: Feng He Yun favorability -12, current favorability 72.]

[Ding: Wen Xuan favorability -10, current favorability 70.]

Only then did the System reply to her question, explaining calmly: [Lu Shi Qing’s feelings toward Shen Sang Ruo are not simple hatred.]

[His feelings are complicated.]

[To put it simply, he hates her when she is alive, but if she truly dies, he cannot accept it. He loathes her, but he also cares deeply. That is why his reaction is unusually strong.]

Bai Mu Mu wanted to curse aloud. On normal days, Lu Shi Qing never gave Shen Sang Ruo a kind look. He even used the Seven Emotions Gu on her. Now that she was dead, he suddenly cared again? [Isn’t that just being rotten?]

Luckily, Shen Sang Ruo was dead now. Although the lost favorability left her badly hurt, she had removed the biggest hidden threat to this capture task. Gaining back the points was only a matter of time. She was very confident.

[Because the target Lu Shi Qing’s favorability has dropped below the 50-point warning line,] the System reminded again: [If a target’s favorability falls under 20, the capture task fails. He will no longer be a target.]

[Host, please raise Lu Shi Qing’s favorability in time.]

“I know,” she snapped, cutting off the link with the System.

Feng He Yun and Wen Xuan knew this matter had nothing to do with Bai Mu Mu, that it was an accident, and that she was hurt. Yet to say they felt no resentment would be a lie. Lu Shi Qing’s words had brought those feelings to the surface. They truly regretted it. If they had the chance to do it again, they would never trade Shen Sang Ruo’s life for Fire-Scale Vine.

Wen Xuan’s palm closed around the storage pouch holding the Fire-Scale Vine, and it felt especially hot. Without meaning to, he looked at the pouch with disgust and put it away. His reason still made him stand up for Bai Mu Mu as he said, steady but strained: “Third Junior Brother, don’t lose your cool.”

He added, forcing the words out though his heart rebelled: “Junior Sister is also a victim. Don’t take your anger out on her. She is innocent.”

“Enough. Third Junior Brother, don’t say any more,” Feng He Yun said, pulling Lu Shi Qing a step away.

But he kept his eyes averted, unwilling to look at Bai Mu Mu. It felt like if he looked at her one more time, he would think of Shen Sang Ruo, who had died because of her.

“Right now the most important thing is to find the exit of the Secret Realm and bring back Little Ruo’s… death to the sect,” Wen Xuan said quietly.

Pitifully, they could not even find Shen Sang Ruo’s body to take home. Shen Dao Chen, Master Ling Xiao, and Luo Chu would be as sad as they were when they heard.

They pulled themselves together, packed their feelings away, and were about to set out to search for the exit.

In the next moment, a phoenix cry split the sky. A familiar spiritual pressure rolled over them, pressing them down.

“It’s the Fire Phoenix. How did it chase us all the way here?” Feng He Yun stared at the huge red bird-beast in the sky, his face going dark.

Usually, a demonic beast in a Secret Realm only moves within a certain distance of the treasure it guards as its warden. Once you go beyond that range, it does not chase.

“Move. Dodge the Fire Phoenix first,” Wen Xuan decided at once.

Feng He Yun took the injured Bai Mu Mu up in sword flight. Wen Xuan and Lu Shi Qing poured spiritual power into their legs and sprinted.

The Fire Phoenix narrowed magma-red eyes and scanned the few small black dots crawling below. At last, it locked onto Bai Mu Mu.

It was all her fault for using evil arts to control it, nearly getting it roasted like a chicken by Immortal Lord Chang Li. The magma in its eyes boiled hotter. With another sharp cry, it spat a fireball straight at Bai Mu Mu.

Feng He Yun urged his spirit sword to dodge with all his strength, but he still could not move fast enough and the fireball hit. “Ah! My back!” Bai Mu Mu screamed as the blaze seared a patch of flesh.

Thanks to Bai Mu Mu blocking, Feng He Yun took only a burn on his shoulder. He shouted back in panic: “Junior Sister!”

“Just go,” Bai Mu Mu said through shivering lips, not daring to let Feng He Yun stop, afraid they would take more hits if they paused.

Feng He Yun had no choice but to keep flying.

“System, what is with this stupid bird? Can you still control it?” Bai Mu Mu asked in a rush.

[Sorry, host. The Fire Phoenix has regained its mind. The System cannot control it.]

The System could only control people or demonic beasts with weak wills or muddled minds. Bai Mu Mu cursed in her heart and could only accept it.

They fled far, and the Fire Phoenix did not seem to catch up. At last, they let out a breath and stopped to treat Bai Mu Mu’s and Feng He Yun’s wounds.

“Maybe we were too close to the volcano just now, still inside the Fire Phoenix’s territory. That’s why it attacked us,” Feng He Yun guessed. “Now it shouldn’t chase us anymore.”

As soon as he finished, that blazing-red shape flapped back into view overhead. The Fire Phoenix looked down and said in a lazy, almost cheerful way: “Hello.”

“…” Feng He Yun had no words.

The four had to run for their lives again. The Fire Phoenix did the same as before, spitting a fireball that hit Bai Mu Mu and Feng He Yun dead on. Blood soaked through the fresh bandages on Bai Mu Mu’s back. Why her again?

Feng He Yun wavered from the pain and took a bad hit too. The Fire Phoenix settled behind them, watched them pull away, and gave a huge yawn. When it judged the time was right, it flapped forward to catch up, leaving them exactly one breath to recover.

Gritting his teeth, Feng He Yun bound his shoulder and hissed, “It hurts so much. Tsk… This time it won’t catch up again, right?”

The Fire Phoenix drifted up behind them and gave a little wing-flick, as if greeting an old friend. It called out with smug delight: “Your daddy is here.”

Bai Mu Mu wanted to spit blood. [I knew Eldest Senior Brother would jinx us.]

At last they realized the Fire Phoenix was not failing to catch them. It was toying with them, like a cat playing with mice, catching and letting go, again and again, until they were worn down to death. Still, they could not figure out why the Fire Phoenix was so fixed on them.

Because Feng He Yun was injured, Wen Xuan now carried Bai Mu Mu and ran. The Fire Phoenix’s fireball still landed perfectly on Bai Mu Mu and Wen Xuan. They finally noticed the truth: the Fire Phoenix’s real target seemed to be only Bai Mu Mu.

Bai Mu Mu clenched her teeth so hard they might crack. Her back was a mess of blood and burns, and she was on the edge of passing out. [What grudge does this bird have against me?]

“Junior Sister, did you do something to the Fire Phoenix? Why is it only attacking you?” Feng He Yun shouted, voice hoarse.

“No, I didn’t do anything,” Bai Mu Mu said, but doubt crept into her heart all the same. Maybe it was because she had used the System to manipulate the Fire Phoenix before. Maybe that was why the Fire Phoenix hated her this much.