Thanks to Ruan Wei’s assistance, Shu Yang’s journey to the Phoenix clan’s headquarters was much faster. The trip, which should have taken months, was shortened to a mere seven days. Shu Yang should have been delighted, but for some reason, the moment he stepped off Ruan Wei’s back, his legs turned to jelly and he suddenly felt like vomiting.
Carsick? No, he was simply “dragonsick.”
However, Ruan Wei had traveled at high speeds for days without showing any fatigue. When he transformed back into human form, he remained full of energy. Seeing Shu Yang looking deathly pale, he looked at him with disdain and remarked, “Hah, how weak.”
Shu Yang: “…”
Ruan Wei was clearly holding a grudge about being used as a mount. He had been reckless the entire way, frequently performing ninety-degree upward flights or vertical dives at incredible speeds, almost shaking Shu Yang to the point of vomiting.
Watching Ruan Wei’s triumphant, eyebrow-arching expression, Shu Yang was so angry he laughed. He curled his lips and said coolly, “I am naturally not as miraculously powerful as the Young Palace Master.”
Ruan Wei placed his hands on his hips and snorted. “That goes without saying. I am the second…”
“But Heaven does not create useless people. Since Heaven created me and allowed me to serve under the Lord of Purple Star, it implies that I still have some utility.”
Shu Yang narrowed his eyes, watching Ruan Wei, whose speech had been abruptly cut off. He smiled brightly and asked, “Isn’t that right, Young Palace Master?”
Ruan Wei: “…”
Although he was a divine beast and his brain did not work as well as a human’s, he was not a fool. He immediately understood that Shu Yang was needling him, both overtly and covertly.
Seeing Shu Yang smile like a cunning fox, Ruan Wei felt unwilling to let it go. Yet, in order to learn news of Shu Yang, he had to lower his head. He scratched his face in embarrassment and muttered, “Uh…”
He seemed to want to concede, but he could not bring himself to do so. He struggled for a long time, unable to find a graceful way to back down. Finally, he could only mumble, “What you said is… is also a bit reasonable.”
Shu Yang: “…”
Watching Ruan Wei look so awkward that his dragon scales even began to sprout, as he tried to defend himself but failed, Shu Yang felt the corners of his lips twitch. Before he knew it, he had laughed out loud.
Seeing Shu Yang laugh, Ruan Wei’s hackles rose again. However, considering he still had requests to make of him, he bit his tongue and endured it in silence, though his face turned red from the effort.
Seeing that Ruan Wei was uncomfortable, Shu Yang was not a cruel person. After a while, he looked at Ruan Wei, straightened his expression, and smiled. “The Lord of Purple Star did not enter into a contract with any fairy maiden in Heaven.”
“Oh!” Ruan Wei froze for a moment, realizing Shu Yang was discussing serious matters. He responded a beat late, and after a long while, as if finally processing the words, his eyes suddenly brightened. “Really?”
“Really.” Although he did not know why Ruan Wei was so concerned about whether the Lord of Purple Star had entered into a contract with someone else, Shu Yang thought for a moment and added, “The Lord of Purple Star cultivates the Way of Supreme Forgetfulness and cannot enter into a contract with any person or immortal.”
Shu Yang had intended this as a simple clarification, nothing more. But for some reason, the moment he finished speaking, Ruan Wei’s eyes suddenly lost their luster, turning dim and lifeless.
Shu Yang: “?”
He looked at this little dragon, whose mood shifted between sunny and overcast, feeling baffled. He wanted to ask more, but Ruan Wei no longer wished to continue the conversation and walked silently toward the Phoenix clan’s headquarters.
His back seemed to carry a faint sense of disappointment, like a gloomy little mushroom.
The Dragon clan and the Phoenix clan had been on good terms since ancient times, often intermarrying. Now that the Phoenix clan was in trouble, the Dragon clan had sent their Young Palace Master to assist, showing the depth of their bond.
“Little Wei, you are here!”
The Phoenix clan leader was about the same age as Ruan Xiuzhen. She was a Fire Phoenix wearing feathered ceremonial robes. However, her hem was already stained, and the Phoenix clan’s love for beauty had vanished in the face of this flood. “Did your mother send you?”
“Yes, Aunt Qing.” Ruan Wei hurried forward to support the swaying Xuanqing. “Are you alright?”
The Fire Phoenix Xuanqing gripped Ruan Wei’s hand tightly, wanting to speak but hesitating. After a long while, tears rolled down her cheeks, and before she could even wipe them away, she said, “The Lord of Purple Star has fallen to the mortal realm, and the seven stars have also plummeted. I calculated that when the Kaiyang Star descended, it accidentally shattered the Demon-Locking Tower within the Phoenix clan’s territory. Now, demons are scattered everywhere, and their evil aura has even corrupted the Kaiyang Star into a complete demon star.”
The more Xuanqing spoke, the more she wept. “I have led my people to fight with all our might, but most of the Phoenix clan’s territory is now ruled by the demons. I am helpless.”
“Aunt Qing, you need not worry.” Ruan Wei said quickly, “I will help you.”
Xuanqing asked, “How will you help?”
Ruan Wei: “…”
Everyone knew he was not particularly sharp. He froze, scratching his head in embarrassment. Under the gazes of the Phoenix clan heirs, who were torn between pity and suppressed laughter, he pulled Shu Yang from behind him. “He, he knows!”
Ruan Wei said, “He said he is an immortal attendant serving under Shu Yang and came here specifically to track down Shu Yang’s whereabouts!”
Shu Yang: “…”
He was just about to correct the title of “immortal attendant” when the Fire Phoenix Xuanqing saw him and froze as if she had seen a ghost. After a long while, she abruptly bowed and said in terror, “Immortal Lord!”
Shu Yang: “…”
Had this been before, he might have accepted the grand gesture. But looking at Ruan Wei’s bewildered expression, he paused, leaned over to help Xuanqing up, and nodded. “Clan Leader, please be at ease.”
Shu Yang remembered his assumed identity and whispered, “I am not the Lord of Purple Star.”
“But you clearly…”
Xuanqing wanted to say that she clearly felt the star energy on Shu Yang, which could not possibly belong to a mere immortal attendant. However, seeing Shu Yang’s tone, he did not seem to want to admit he was the Lord of Purple Star.
Xuanqing thought for a moment, and wisely decided not to press the issue. She still accorded Shu Yang the treatment of a guest of honor. “Please, this way.”
On the way to the Zitong Forest, the main base of the Phoenix clan, Clan Leader Xuanqing gave a rough overview of the Phoenix clan’s current situation. The Phoenix clan originally possessed a holy relic called the Water-Guiding Pearl, but it had accidentally fallen into the hands of a flower demon under the Demon Star Kaiyang. They had to retrieve the pearl from the flower demon before they could force the Demon Star Kaiyang to reveal himself.
“A flower demon?”
Shu Yang said, “Can’t your Phoenix clan defeat a mere flower demon?”
Xuanqing was embarrassed at the question, and replied in a tiny voice, “Because he possesses the star energy given to him by the Kaiyang Star.”
In a sense, star energy was immortal energy, which was far more powerful than the spiritual energy of the mortal realm. Although the amount was small, it was concentrated and infinite in its power. This was part of the reason Shu Yang had been unwilling to use his star energy to purify the Sui; it was a precious resource, and using it for such a trivial matter felt like overkill.
Although Xuanqing spoke very quietly, Shu Yang was standing near her and heard it all. Since he held the core of the star energy, and he had given away most of his power without keeping much for himself, he felt rather embarrassed after hearing Xuanqing’s words.
If he hadn’t been so resentful and jumped off the Executioner’s Platform while drunk, the other stars would not have lost their master star or fallen into the mortal realm. In the end, it was all Shu Yang’s fault.
Thinking of this, Shu Yang sighed softly.
After a long while, he cautiously asked, “In that case, can you tell me where that flower demon is currently located?”
“That flower demon’s movements are hard to predict and he does not easily appear in public. My daughter and I have tracked him several times, but we have failed.”
Xuanqing led Shu Yang into the Zitong Forest, invited him to the seat of honor, and asked him to sit. The young Phoenix clan heirs sat in descending order. “However, I recently discovered a method that might lure the flower demon out.”
“What method?” Shu Yang asked. “Tell me.”
“Demons are demons because their desires outweigh their reason. They cannot restrain themselves and thus fall into demonic paths.”
“Desires are categorized into money, lust, and power.”
Xuanqing sat on Shu Yang’s right. “And I have observed that this flower demon is especially lustful, and especially, especially…”
Seeing Xuanqing’s hesitant expression, Shu Yang was puzzled. “Especially what?”
Xuanqing felt her old face burning, and her eyelashes fluttered rapidly. “Especially fond of beautiful married women.”
Shu Yang: “…”
Shu Yang: “?”
He repeated, “Married women?”
“Yes,” Xuanqing said. “Every time a beautiful married woman passes through the territory governed by the Demon Star, she is kidnapped. Now, within the Phoenix clan’s territory, many men have lost their wives.”
Shu Yang: “…”
He found it hard to stay composed. What kind of obsession is this? “Then have you ever thought of using a person… using a beautiful woman to lure him out?”
“We have tried,” Xuanqing said frankly. “We have even used our own Phoenix clan women to test it, but they were all abducted by the flower demon, none spared.”
Shu Yang: “…”
“And because he has been tricked too many times, the flower demon is now very cautious. He only strikes when he sees a family of three out for an outing with their child, confirming the woman is indeed married.”
Xuanqing said, “The divine beasts have difficulty bearing offspring. For the Phoenix clan, no new eggs have been born for decades. Naturally, there are no cubs to use as bait.”
The implication was that even if they wanted to fake it, they couldn’t find actors to play the part.
Shu Yang rubbed his temples and said nothing.
The current situation was that to lure the flower demon out, they needed a beautiful married woman. But because the demon had been fooled too often, even a beautiful married woman might not entice him unless they had a “family of three” setup to lower his guard.
But where could they find a family of three?
Xuanqing, seeing Shu Yang’s cold expression, offered voluntarily after a moment, “If the Immortal Lord does not mind, I have a daughter who could disguise herself as a married woman and travel with you to lure the flower demon out.”
“Is your daughter betrothed?” Shu Yang tapped his fingertip on the table. “Since this flower demon likes married women, I wonder if he can distinguish between a wedded woman and an unmarried one?”
Xuanqing thought about it, embarrassed, and admitted, “My daughter is indeed not betrothed.”
She thought for a moment and added, “If the Immortal Lord does not mind, you could kill two birds with one stone…”
“Forget it.”
“No!”
Before Shu Yang could finish speaking, a sudden, extremely intense protest echoed in his ears: “I do not agree!”
Shu Yang looked in surprise at Ruan Wei, who had puffed up his cheeks and seemed quite angry. “No!”
“Why?” Xuanqing asked. “Little Wei, why are you so excited?”
Ruan Wei suddenly realized what he had said and froze. He stood awkwardly in place for a long time before slowly sitting down, muttering, “Anyway, it just won’t work.”
Because he had a face so similar to Shu Yang’s, Ruan Wei found it easy to imagine Shu Yang getting married to someone else, which made Ruan Wei quite angry.
Since Ruan Wei was a guest of the Phoenix clan, Xuanqing could not refute him on the spot and embarrass him. Moreover, the Phoenix clan was the one in trouble; if she offended Ruan Wei, the Dragon clan might not assist them again. Xuanqing thought it over and threw the initiative back to the only person present with the authority to decide: “Immortal Lord, what do you think?”
Shu Yang: “…”
I’ll sit and watch.
He pondered for a moment and said coolly, “Since the Phoenix clan has already lost several women, do not send any more to lure the flower demon for now, or the Phoenix clan will be severely weakened.”
Shu Yang said blandly, “As for the two baits to lure the flower demon out, we shall select other candidates.”
Xuanqing was stunned, pondering the leader’s words like a subordinate. After a long while, she cautiously asked, “Since we are not choosing a Phoenix clan woman, then… Immortal Lord, does your meaning imply that you intend to disguise yourself as a woman to do it?”
Shu Yang: “…”
Shu Yang: “?”
How did you come to that conclusion?