Huo Yulie stared at the man who had caused her so much trouble, not knowing what to think. He was the reason she had endured two decades of almost complete isolation. He was the one who had forced the great phoenix to send her away with the last of his strength. The reason she had been hiding for so long in the wilderness, the reason she had endured unending loneliness, and the reason she almost died numerous times from magical beast attacks.
It was all him.
And yet, now he was laid low, completely defeated, and all she saw was a pitiful man who was so caught up in his desire for power that he had lost sight of everything else.
“Nǚ’ér, thou shalt decide what to do with this cretin. Doth thee wish to seeth him gone?” asked the great phoenix.
The other phoenix scoffed. “Why are you asking for her opinion? This is not a matter for her to solve. This man tried to take advantage of a phoenix. He should obviously die by being burned.”
“Nǚ’ér suffered grave injury and insult to this man. Tis her right to decide his fate,” the great phoenix argued.
But the other phoenix was not having any of it. “That is not how this works. The strong decide what to do with the weak. That is the only intransmutable law of the heavens. What did your daughter do to deserve the right to decide this man’s fate? Nothing. Do not let sentiment for this human cloud your decision making.”
The great phoenix sighed like he was tired. “I seeth you and I still do not agree on matters of principal. It seemeth my reasons for leaving ‘ere long ago were well-founded.”
“Shut your fucking mouth. Look how your actions turned out,” the other phoenix said. “You took those humans under your wing, gave them your powers, and they abused you and almost forced you into mating with a human girl. Can you still tell me that you were in the right?”
“Yánhuǒ Tiānzhǐ,” Wu Jian suddenly interrupted with an odd look. “You and the great phoenix know each other?”
So the name of this other phoenix is Yánhuǒ Tiānzhǐ, thought Huo Yulie.
Yánhuǒ Tiānzhǐ snorted. “Of course we know each other. How many phoenixes do you think live here? There are barely a handful of us, and most are little more than unintelligent beasts. Also do not call this moron ‘great.’ He does not deserve the title.”
“We are members of the same brood,” the great phoenix said with a sigh.
“So you are siblings,” Huo Shuchang said, joining the conversation. “You know, I kind of agree with Yánhuǒ Shisho. No offense, Great Phoenix, but blessing my family only seems to have backfired on you.”
The Great Phoenix stared at him with what Huo Yulie knew was a frown. “Perhaps if one only looked at matters from the perspective of what happened here, correct twood they be, but mayhaps consider this from another perspective. If this one had not deigned to bless the Huo Clan with thine powers, Huo Yulie would have never been born, and the world would be worse off for it.”
“That’s a really good point,” Shuchang muttered.
“That was all it took to convince you?” Yánhuǒ Tiānzhǐ asked in disgust.
“What? My sister is the greatest treasure this world has to offer,” Shuchang said with a shrug.
“Of that, this one and you are in agreement,” the Great Phoenix said.
It was during this time that Huo Huangdi slowly stirred. He opened his eyes blearly and looked around. Huo Yulie was the first to notice, and when she looked down, so too did the others.
“Thou art awake,” the great phoenix said.
“I hope you are prepared to suffer for what you have done,” Yánhuǒ Tiānzhǐ sneered.
Huo Huangdi was oddly calm for someone clamped between two phoenixes. Yánhuǒ Tiānzhǐ was emitting a killing intent that caused her to shudder, and while the great phoenix released no such intent, the pressure of his power was enough to overwhelm her. But maybe she was the odd one? Wu Jian and her brother were perfectly fine with the power these two were releasing.
“I have nothing to say to either of you. Go ahead and kill me if you want.”
Shuchang frowned. “Are you not even going to put up a struggle, old man? How pathetic.”
Huo Huangdi glared at his son. “I have spent my entire life attempting to gain power. I have killed and used others for my own goals, as is the right of the strong. If I lost, it simply means I was not strong enough. It is a great shame I will not accomplish my goals, but I will not beg for mercy either.”
“I should burn you where you stand,” Yánhuǒ Tiānzhǐ growled.
“N-No,” Huo Yulie spoke. “That will not do.”
Yánhuǒ Tiānzhǐ turned to her, and she flinched, almost hiding behind the great phoenix. It was only her willpower that allowed her to stand firm before this unfathomably powerful creature.
“What did you say? Did I not tell you that you have no right to speak or judge this man? I am the one who defeated him.”
Huo Yulie gulped but began again. “As the victor, thou art of course able to determine his course, but twood killing him not be a light punishment? One would think destroying the very essence of his cultivation would be far more humiliating.”
Yánhuǒ Tiānzhǐ blinked. The great phoenix blinked.
Yánhuǒ Tiānzhǐ turned to the great phoenix after a moment of silence. Then he hooked a thumb at Huo Yulie. Even Shuchang looked a little stunned. Huo Yulie glanced at Wu Jian to see what he thought and found him smiling at her as though he approved.
“I think I like her,” he decided suddenly.
***
Wu Jian returned to Divine Moon Hall alongside the others. They had dealt with Huo Huangdi, destroying his cultivation entirely and shattering his dantian. It seemed that while he did not fear death, he did fear mediocrity. The struggle he had put up after discovering what they were going to do had been something, but in the end, it was for naught. They had left the man half dead and delirious at some random village. Wu Jian did not know what would happen to this man, and he did not care.
“We’re staying here for now,” Wu Jian told the group.
Shuchang stared at the massive floating palace and whistled. “So you’ve taken over Divine Moon Hall’s place? Nice. Nice. It seems you’ve gone up in the world while I was gone.”
“Anyway, I’ll show you guys around and then let you choose what rooms you’d like to stay in,” said Wu Jian with an eyeroll.
“I suppose this place will do. Give me whatever your largest and most opulent room is,” Yánhuǒ Tiānzhǐ said.
“Not in your wildest dreams,” Wu Jian shot back.
“Excuse me?” Yánhuǒ Tiānzhǐ narrowed his eyes.
“I am the one who took this place over and killed its leader. That means this place is mine to do with as I please. I’m not giving you the best room in the palace. That belongs to me and my women,” Wu Jian said.
Wu Jian might have feared the phoenix once upon a time, but he felt nothing anymore. Yeah, the phoenix was still more powerful than him, but it wasn’t like his power was that much greater. Wu Jian was certain that if he went all out, he could at least match the powerful creature--and if he teamed up with Wu Meiying… well, this phoenix wouldn’t stand a chance.
Yánhuǒ Tiānzhǐ clicked his tongue.
Before they could even make their way into the palace, Wu Meiying, Hou Jingshu, and Zhou Lihua were there.
Wu Jian first looked at Hou Jingshu. She had been seriously injured, and it was clear that she still wasn’t completely recovered. In fact, she looked pale just standing there. Wu Meiying and Zhou Lihua were both at her sides as though ready to assist should she fall. Then he glanced at the other two.
“Has something happened?” he asked.
Wu Meiying shook her head. “No… not quite.”
“Not quite…” Wu Jian raised an eyebrow. “Meaning something you were expecting to happen did not?”
“It would be better if Lili told you,” Wu Meiying said.
“Lili?” Wu Jian turned to her.
Zhou Lihua gave him a small but troubled smile. “I was hoping to find my father here. I do not know what happened to him after I betrayed the Zhou Clan.”
Wu Jian closed his eyes for a moment. “He’s not here?”
“He is not,” she confirmed.
“Hmmmm.” Wu Jian thought about that for a moment, then turned to Wu Meiying. “And you cannot find him through the world’s timeline?”
She nodded. “I believe he was taken prisoner and is being held somewhere that blocks my perception.”
“I see.”
Wu Jian looked again at Zhou Lihua. Even though she was trying to be strong, it was clear that she was worried about her father. It had been a very long time since they had seen each other. Even before she betrayed the Zhou Clan and was forced to flee, she had left the Zhou Clan’s Zahn City branch and never returned to visit.
He reached over and pulled the young woman into his chest. Her curvaceous figure might have been seductive like a fox’s, but she was still so small and slender that she fit easily into his arms.
“It will be okay. We will find him,” he reassured her.
Zhou Lihua sniffled for a moment, then pulled him close. “Thank you, Jian Gēge.”
He chortled. “It’s been a while since you called me that.”
“It has,” she allowed.
“You should keep doing it,” he said. “I like it when you call me Gēge.”
Zhou Lihua pulled back a bit to look at him, then smirked and leaned over to whisper in his ear. “Oh? You like it when I call you brother? I suppose I should keep doing that then. Jian Gēge, thank you for being so good to me.”
Wu Jian growled into her hair. “There’s the minx I remember.”
“Ahem,” a cough interrupted them.
It was then that Wu Jian remembered they had an audience. Wu Meiying looked… put out. But that was old news. Even though she had been the one to push him into forming a harem, she did not actually like the idea and only begrudgingly accepted it. Hou Jingshu was smiling though. She didn’t mind at all. It was a strange reversal of roles.
More importantly, the other four were all a mixed bag. The great phoenix looked concernedly at Huo Yulie, who stared between him and Zhou Lihua with some really mixed emotions. It had been a long time since they’d seen each other, but he remembered how quickly she had grown attached to him. Shuchang was sighing. He just seemed resigned. Meanwhile, Yánhuǒ Tiānzhǐ gave him a disgruntled look.
“If you two wish to flirt, then do it in your own time. Show us to our rooms already. I wish to be left alone,” he said with a sneer.
“You are one testy bird,” Wu Jian said with a sigh. Before Yánhuǒ Tiānzhǐ could blow his top, Wu Jian gestured for everyone to follow him. “Come on, I’ll show you all to your rooms.”