Phoenix's Requiem

“The first condition, of course, is to get me out of here,” the demonic spirit began.

“And how are we to get you out?” Yun Ruoyan could see that he was being restricted by some unseen binding or another. The demonic spirit’s cultivation was far more advanced than either Yun Ruoyan’s or Li Mo’s, and if he wasn’t able to deal with the binding himself, how could they?

“You’re both sword saints now, aren’t you?” The demonic spirit probed at Yun Ruoyan and suddenly widened its eyes. “A second-rank sword saint? How did you improve so quickly, Yun Ruoyan?”

The demonic spirit clearly remembered that Yun Ruoyan was still an eighth-rank blademaster on the Mingyuan continent. How had she managed to rise to the realm of a second-rank sword saint in less than a year?! 𝐟𝘳𝑒𝗲𝘸e𝒃𝘯𝒐𝐯e𝚕.c𝒐𝒎

“The demonic dragon forefather helped me,” Yun Ruoyan replied truthfully. “But even without his help, I’m sure I would have been able to break through to the realm of a sword saint.”

“The demonic dragon bloodline certainly seems to produce quite a number of talented humans. No wonder that silver dragon was willing to go to such lengths to get you,” the demonic spirit murmured. “I’d thought that, no matter what, a purer bloodline would be stronger than a mixed bloodline, but...”

The demonic spirit’s words weren’t particularly pleasing, but he wasn’t wrong. Yun Ruoyan’s blood was mostly human, and, despite its purity, she had only inherited a small fraction of the demonic dragon bloodline. Nevertheless, her draconic power seemed to be stronger than even pureblood demonic dragons.

“This binding was placed by the silver dragon himself. If I hadn’t been injured, it wouldn’t have been able to trap me, but the silver dragon wounded me with a trap,” the demonic spirit continued. “With your help, and with my own cultivation, we should be able to break through the binding.”

“Alright, we’ll—” Yun Ruoyan was just about to agree when she suddenly thought better of it. “We can rescue you, but you have to promise to return Zhuo Yifeng’s body to him.”

“Naturally. Haven’t I already promised that?”

“I don’t believe your words!”

The demonic spirit chuckled. “Alright. In that case, let me reveal my true motive for coming to the silver dragon castle: to steal some of the silver dragons’ holy water for myself. Apparently, it’s able to restore my original body. Zhuo Yifeng’s body isn’t too bad, of course, but it’s far inferior to my original body. And once I manage to reforge it, who cares about Zhuo Yifeng?”

Then, he hissed. “But the silver dragon predicted that I would try to steal some holy water, and I fell into his trap. That’s why I’m willing to cooperate with you. Free me, then we’ll work together to kill the silver dragon elder and retrieve some holy water for ourselves. Once I have my body back again, I’ll happily discard Zhuo Yifeng’s.”

Yun Ruoyan was silent for quite a while before replying, “I still don’t believe you. Would you be willing to swear on it?”

“You want me to make a vow?!” the demonic spirit was clearly enraged. Vows were binding for cultivators, and only rarely did cultivators encounter matters of such importance that they would put their lives on the balance. This was especially true of advanced cultivators.

“If you’re not willing to swear on it, then forget it,” Yun Ruoyan replied. “Rather than allowing you to escape and commit crimes with Zhuo Yifeng’s body, I’d rather leave you in here.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll swear on it!” The demonic spirit finally relented.

Yun Ruoyan’s eyes gleamed. “Repeat after me: I swear that, after I obtain some holy water, regardless of whether I successfully reforge my body, I’ll return Zhuo Yifeng’s body to him. Otherwise, may my heart and soul perish, and may I never reincarnate.”

“No!” the demonic spirit immediately yelled out, so shrilly it hurt Yun Ruoyan’s ears. “If I can’t reforge my body and have to discard even Zhuo Yifeng’s, then won’t I become just a spirit again?”

“Surely Zhuo Yifeng isn’t the only suitable host for you,” Li Mo began. “Given how many people are in your bandit camp, I’m sure at least a few will be suitable and willing to sacrifice themselves for you.”

“You know about the demonic bandits too?” The demonic spirit seemed as though he was trying to hide his anger. “Alright, I’ll promise to let Zhuo Yifeng go as long as I manage to reforge my body or if I find a new body to host me.”

Yun Ruoyan pursed her lips, then nodded. “Alright. You can make the vow now.”

After the demonic spirit did so, Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo hacked the door open with their swords, then helped him break out of the binding.

“I need to recuperate immediately, so we have to escape at once.” The demonic spirit was particularly weak—or, rather, Zhuo Yifeng’s mortal body was particularly weak. There were many deep cuts on his body, so deep they had touched bone. Although the wounds had been bandaged, he still required immediate treatment.

“We’ll bring you out immediately.” Li Mo helped Zhuo Yifeng climb onto his back.

“Shorty, we can go now,” Yun Ruoyan whispered.

The short laborer came back and stared angrily at Yun Ruoyan.

“Don’t stare at me! Think of a way to help get your head out of here.”

“Head!” Only then did Shorty see the man on Li Mo’s back. His voice quavered as he bowed.

“Bring us out immediately,” the demonic spirit instructed.

“Of course. Follow me.” Shorty brought them back to the main prison complex, where Yun Moxiao had finished distributing food and was chatting with a few of the prisoners. As someone who had lived at a barracks for much of his life, he had both an official’s bearing and a soldier’s demeanor, a curious combination that seemed to work... well on him.

“Brother, it’s time to leave!” Yun Ruoyan shouted.

“Alright, I’m coming.” Yun Moxiao stood up and waved to a few men. “I’ll see you again if we’re fated to, brothers.”

“You promise we’ll be full tomorrow?” one gray-haired middle-aged man pressed Yun Moxiao.

“Of course! No matter who’s coming to bring you food, I’ll make sure you’re all full.” Yun Moxiao grinned.

So desperately were the prisoners dreaming of a good, filling meal that few of them noticed that Li Mo was carrying someone on his back. A few nearby prisoners did notice, but they ignored it in favor of thinking of food instead.

“Get into the bucket,” the shorty instructured. Li Mo deposited Zhuo Yifeng’s body into the largest of the wooden buckets. Although he had gotten rather thin, he was tall enough that fitting into the bucket was still a hindrance. Luckily, he managed to get in by hunching over and hunkering down.

The three of them then headed outside the castle. Leaving was as easy as entering, so much so that Yun Ruoyan couldn’t believe how easy it was. Could there have been some trap that they’d missed?

Even when the wagon was far from the castle, Yun Ruoyan was still furtively glancing back in the direction of the castle, and she had had Qiuqiu scouting the area to make sure that there weren’t any silver dragon guards giving chase.

“Don’t worry, lass.” Shorty could tell that Yun Ruoyan was still alert. “I’ve been delivering food to the prisoners for over a hundred years by now, and those prison guards are old friends of mine. Furthermore, the silver dragon elder personally bound the head, so the guards will hardly suspect that we’ve managed to get him out.”

“Is that so? I must be overthinking things, then.” Yun Ruoyan turned to the shorty, which she inspected critically for the first time. He had short-cropped silvery-gray hair, thick and burly, thick eyebrows, and deep-set eyes. His nose was large, and his mouth was covered by a thick mustache.

When he saw Yun Ruoyan looking at him, he suddenly turned around and smiled grotesquely, scaring Yun Ruoyan so much that she jumped in shock. His nose had suddenly perked up, and although his eyes were emotionless, he truly did smile.

“Our head has vanished for almost a millennium, but he’s back now.” He was so agitated that his body was trembling. “The demonic bandits will finally rise up again!”

“Shorty, where are we headed?” Yun Moxiao asked.

“To the demonic enclave.” Shorty peered at Yun Moxiao. “Outsiders aren’t privy to the location of our base, but we’ll make an exception for you as the head’s friends.”

After they left the silver dragon castle, Shorty took over the reins from Yun Moxiao. They made a dizzying number of turns in the alleyways of the silver dragon city, seemingly without purpose. Yun Ruoyan knew that he was trying to wind his way through a misdirection array, but this particular array seemed exceptionally complicated. Of the arrays she had seen of this sort, none had required more than half an hour of winding back and forth to enter.

“Shorty, how much longer will it take?” Yun Ruoyan asked. “Your head’s badly injured. If you don’t hurry up...”

“We’re almost there!” Shorty wiped his forehead, already beading with sweat. After two hours, the wagon finally stopped by a small alleyway.

“Alright, we’re here. Give me a moment.” Shorty leapt off the wagon and rapped a particular brick six times in quick succession. Then, he retreated to the side of the wagon. After about six breaths, a small entrance appeared by the previously unremarkable wall.

“Alright, let’s go.” Shorty jumped back on the wagon and drove it into the wall. What appeared before the three stunned cultivators was a courtyard of middling size.

“Two, Three, Five, ..., Ten!” Shorty called out a string of numbers.

“Brother, you’re back!” From all corners of the courtyard appeared a group of people, who surrounded the wagon.

“Brother, did you see Four and the others today?”

“Brother, how’s the head now? Is Four locked up with him?”

“Brother, why don’t we enter the silver dragon castle and rescue them? I can’t wait!”

“Quiet! Welcome the head of the demonic bandits!” Shorty uncovered the bucket containing Zhuo Yifeng’s body, and Li Mo lifted Zhuo Yifeng out of the bucket...