Phoenix's Requiem

When Zhuo Yifeng emerged from the bucket, impossibly weary, Two, Three, Five, ..., and Ten all reared back in surprise.

“Brother, you mean he’s the clan head?” A thin, lanky youth pointed at Zhuo Yifeng. The others all looked at him suspiciously as well. None of them had ever seen the legendary head of the demonic enclave, but this man who had just been brought out of a food bucket, thin and pallid, wasn’t what they had envisioned at all.

“Two, don’t you dare disrespect—” Before Shorty could finish speaking, Zhuo Yifeng’s eyes turned pitch black. His gaze, sweeping over the gathered crowd, immediately caused them to quake and kneel, shaking incessantly.

“Head, please calm down! These are a few of the remaining members of the demonic bandits. I apologize on behalf of their poor cultivation and undiscerning eyes!”

The demonic spirit closed its eyes and said, “I need to rest and recuperate.”

The gathered members of the demonic bandits immediately cleared out a space for the demonic spirit to do so. When Yun Ruoyan and the others tried to leave, the demonic bandits stopped them.

“Shorty, what do you mean by this?” Yun Moxiao asked. Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo were both somewhat offended to have their path so rudely blocked, and only Yun Moxiao was able to speak with some semblance of civility.

“Since you’re all the head’s friends, we’re obliged to treat you well,” the only woman among the group of six began. “And our brother has a name, Huang Chuan.”

“Ah, my apologies. Brother Huang, what do you mean by this?” Yun Moxiao corrected himself.

“We simply want the three of you to stay here until the head’s back. If he comes out of closed cultivation without seeing any trace of you, he’ll surely blame us for treating you inconsiderately.”

“That’s not necessary,” Yun Ruoyan replied brusquely. “We still have tasks we need to get back to. Once your head’s feeling better, we’ll come back to find him. We’re currently living in the Lingyun Inn, and you can find us there as well.”

Huang Chuan frowned. “Quite honestly, we’ve never brought anyone who didn’t belong to the demonic bandits here. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but given that our head’s badly wounded, we don’t want to risk any complications at the moment. Please wait until the head’s recovered.”

Although Yun Ruoyan was somewhat displeased by their treatment, she agreed because the demonic bandits could potentially be useful allies when attacking the silver dragon castle.

“Brother Huang, do you remember the promise I made to the prisoners today? Could you arrange for them to get better food tomorrow?” Yun Moxiao asked.

“That’s no problem.” Huang Chuan had been bringing the prisoners food for years, and adding some quality food wouldn’t be a problem.

“Brother Huang, will the prison guards suspect you once they find out that the demonic spirit’s no longer in his cell?” Yun Ruoyan asked. Her question caused the other members of the demonic bandits to become quite nervous, and they all glanced at Huang Chuan worriedly.

“Don’t worry. No one has been to see the head in over a month, and it’ll be quite a while before anyone discovers that he’s gone missing,” Huang Chuan replied. The demonic spirit didn’t need any physical nourishment, and it was bound by the silver dragon himself. Under normal circumstances, no one would go looking for him unless the silver dragon elder specifically ordered it.

“I’ve been serving at the prison for a century, so even when someone discovers that he’s gone missing, no one would suspect a lowly midget like me.”

Five days later, when the demonic spirit finally recovered from its wounds, they began to discuss how to enter the silver dragon castle to achieve their own aims. The demonic spirit’s main objective was simply to acquire some holy water and reforge its body.

As for Yun Ruoyan and the others, not only did they want to acquire some holy water, they also had to find Empress Xue Tong’s physical body.

“The holy water’s kept in a secret chamber in the silver dragon temple. The security around that chamber is particularly tight, and only the silver dragon elder can enter and exit at will. I spent half a year trying to get inside, and I was just a single step away from my goal when that damned dragon’s ambush got me,” the demonic spirit muttered.

Li Mo had retrieved Empress Xue Tong’s map of the palace and laid it out on the table.

“Is this the silver dragon temple you’re referring to?” He was pointing at a particular mark on the map. When Empress Xue Tong handed them the map, she had emphasized that it was outdated information from a century ago, and it was only meant to serve as reference.

“Exactly. The demonic dragon forefather handed you this map before he died, didn’t he?”

Li Mo neither confirmed nor denied the claim. Instead, he changed the topic and asked the demonic spirit, “Do you know if the layout of the temple has changed?”

“That temple’s sacred territory for the silver dragon clan, and only the silver dragon elders and the holy maidens of the clan can step foot in it. I’ve only been there once, so how should I know anything about its layout?” The demonic spirit frowned as he considered Li Mo more carefully. “Why are you asking such questions? Do you have some other objective beyond acquiring holy water?”

Li Mo eyed the demonic spirit, contemplating whether or not to tell him about Empress Xue Tong. If they were to enter the silver dragon temple together, they might need its assistance. If the spirit were to harbor any doubt toward them, it would surely hurt their cohesion.

After some thought, Li Mo told the demonic spirit about Empress Xue Tong. “Our goal is both to acquire holy water and to recover my mother’s physical body,” Li Mo stated.

“That’s not easy. My failed attempt to invade the temple has surely led to increased security around the area, and the silver dragon must be guarding against the three of you as well. Obtaining holy water is already a difficult mission, and it’s almost impossible to retrieve this physical body from an unknown location as well.”

Li Mo sat down in deep contemplation: what the demonic spirit had pointed out was what he had feared.

“In that case, we might as well try to kill the silver dragon elder. Without him around, everything will be far simpler,” Yun Ruoyan proposed. “If we all work together, it’s not impossible to kill him.”

Her confidence lay in Qiuqiu, who was currently in her silver bracelet. Qiuqiu was her secret weapon, which she had kept hidden as a trump card. 𝑓re𝘦𝔀𝗲𝘣𝘯𝘰νℯ𝒍.c𝗼ｍ

“It’s not so simple.” The demonic spirit clicked its tongue. “That silver dragon boasts an impressive cultivation, and he’s usually deep within the palace, in heavily guarded territory. Trying to kill him when the environment’s not in our favor is near-impossible.”

Silence again dominated the room.

“If we take a different perspective...” Yun Moxiao mumbled, almost to himself.

“Brother, do you have an idea?” Yun Ruoyan asked.

“Not a concrete plan, but... can’t we try to lure the silver dragon elder out of the palace? If we can lure him into an ambush before sneaking into the palace, we might be able to pull this off,” Yun Moxiao proposed.

“Head, I have something to report.” Huang Chuan, who had been standing by the side of the room listening to the discussion, bowed to the demonic spirit.

“Speak.”

“My three brothers were originally guards in the silver dragon palace, and they learned of an interesting piece of information not too long ago,” Huang Chuan said. “The current holy maiden of the silver dragon clan apparently likes sneaking out of the palace in disguise. Could we use her as bait to lure the silver dragon elder out?”

Huang Chuan had already been thinking along these lines, but neither the demonic spirit nor Yun Ruoyan’s group had made an appearance by then. Based on just the few bandits that remained, they had no chance of killing the silver dragon elder even if they were able to lure him out.

Now, however, there were six bandits who were all sword saints, Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo, themselves also sword saints, and the demonic spirit, whose cultivation was beyond what they could imagine. If they were to target the silver dragon elder together, it was quite possible that they could kill him.

“I once heard Mother mention how important the holy maiden is to the silver dragon clan. IF we can catch her, then the silver dragon elder will surely be quite anxious,” Li Mo added.

The importance of the holy maiden was evident from Empress Xue Tong’s treatment. When she escaped to the Chenyuan continent, the silver dragon elders had spared no expense and manpower in looking for her. Once they did so, they had retrieved her body and kept it within the silver dragon temple.

Empress Xue Tong had told him about how dull it was to be a holy maiden. Their freedom was heavily restricted, and they weren’t allowed to make any contact with men. That was why she had so desperately tried to escape, and the current holy maiden seemed to be acting along the same lines as Empress Xue Tong.

“This could be a workable plan,” the demonic spirit muttered. He commanded Huang Chuan, “Tell your three brothers to keep an eye on this holy maiden. Report to me immediately after she escapes from the palace again.”

However, Huang Chuan replied miserably, “When they found out that you were captured, Head, my three brothers accidentally exposed their identities while trying to discover your whereabouts. I’m afraid they’ve all perished.”

The demonic spirit revealed a rare expression of affection. He stood up and intoned, “I’ve seen your loyalty. Your brothers will be avenged.”

“My gratitude, Head.” Huang Chuan bowed again.

“Brother Huang, given how long you’ve been living here, are you able to sneak us into the palace so we can approach the holy maiden on our own?” Yun Ruoyan wondered.

After thinking about it for a moment, Huang Chuan replied, “As far as I know, she’s quite ill-tempered, and her personal servants generally don’t last a month.” He turned to Yun Ruoyan. “If you’re willing, Miss Yun, I might be able to get you into the palace as her personal servant.”