Don't Want to Be Human Anymore
For the next several days, Feng Qi never managed to find another chance to sneak out and see Ji Chaoyun.
The reason was simple. The elders had learned from the returning clansmen that Second Highness Feng had slipped out in the middle of the night and, of all things, crossed the mountains just to fool around on a cliff. They had nearly fainted from anger on the spot.
Those elders, whose combined ages amounted to well over ten thousand years, simply assigned even more people to guard both inside and outside Feng Qi’s hall. They even took turns keeping watch in his sleeping quarters, thoroughly locking him down.
This time, even Feng Ji could not help him.
As for Ji Chaoyun, although he was not directly confined to his quarters, an immortal attendant was sent to relay a message asking him not to visit Second Highness for the next few days, lest Feng Qi be unable to settle down and properly recuperate.
Ji Chaoyun had come from afar as a guest, so naturally he ought to respect his hosts’ arrangements.
But... it would be a lie to say he did not miss him.
Ji Chaoyun sat listlessly by the window, gazing at the high courtyard wall outside, and sighed softly.
Suddenly, a quiet “Aowu...” sounded outside the window.
Ji Chaoyun’s eyes lit up. He quickly leaned out to look, just as a tiny white tabby cat leapt through the window with a letter held in its mouth.
Feng Qi had been unable to come see him these past few days, but he had hardly settled down because of it. Whenever he found an opportunity, he sent the little white cat over with a letter.
The letters either contained amusing gossip and anecdotes about the Phoenix clan or told him about places with delicious food and interesting things to see, promising to take him there once his confinement ended.
Heaven only knew how Second Highness Feng knew so many strange tales and bits of gossip. He sent at least two or three letters every day. The poor mount of a dignified heavenly god had been reduced by him to a carrier pigeon.
This time, the envelope was unusually thin. Ji Chaoyun gently ran his fingertips over the plain white envelope before opening it.
There was indeed only a single sheet of paper inside. There were no words, only a painting.
A long silver dragon soared through a sea of clouds, overlooking the vast earth below. The light of the rising sun streamed through the clouds and fell across its body, making its silver scales shimmer brilliantly.
That was how he had once looked.
Ji Chaoyun’s breathing abruptly fell into disarray. He stared fixedly at the painting, lost in thought for a long while.
No one knew what this meant to him. Perhaps even Feng Qi himself had not thought much of it when he painted it.
“That is too unfair...” Ji Chaoyun took a deep breath. Only after a long while did he finally put the paper down.
The little cat sat beside the table, gently swaying its tail as it tilted its head at him.
No matter what Feng Qi wrote, Ji Chaoyun always sent a reply.
But not this time.
Ji Chaoyun carefully returned the painting to a small wooden box and placed it together with all the previous letters. Then he stood, stroked the little cat’s head, and asked, “Take me to see him, all right?”
“Aowu?”
“Just for a moment.” Ji Chaoyun lowered his voice. “I... miss him a little.”
“Aow!”
Ji Chaoyun carried the little white cat out of the hall.
Although he had been staying in Fengming Valley for several days, Ji Chaoyun rarely went out to wander around. However, he clearly remembered the route from the side hall where he was staying to Feng Qi’s sleeping quarters perfectlye.
Carefully avoiding the attendants, Ji Chaoyun was making his way toward Feng Qi’s sleeping quarters when he suddenly heard a commotion not far away.
“Stop!”
“Don’t run!”
...
A group of Phoenix clan guards were chasing a demon in his direction.
Holding the cat in one arm, Ji Chaoyun drew his sword with his right hand and flashed forward. In an instant, the blade was pressed against the demon’s throat.
The Phoenix clan guards stopped before Ji Chaoyun. The one in the lead bowed to him. “Many thanks for your assistance, Young Master.”
Ji Chaoyun withdrew his sword and allowed the guards to seize the demon. He asked, “What happened?”
The guard explained, “This demon was captured on Mount Sumeru that day and has been temporarily imprisoned in the dungeon. He must have taken advantage of a moment when the guards were distracted and managed to break free.”
“Be more careful in the future.”
“Yes.”
The guards escorted the demon away. Amid his struggles, something fell from inside his robes.
None of the guards noticed, and they soon disappeared into the distance.
Ji Chaoyun’s gaze flickered. He quickly stepped forward and picked up the object that had rolled onto the ground.
It was a pearl hairpin.
The hairpin was plain white and made from ordinary material, with a single small pearl decorating it. Ji Chaoyun crouched on the ground and examined it carefully for a moment before looking once more in the direction the demon had been taken.
He remembered clearly that the man’s face had been covered in demonic markings and his eyes had been blood-red, no different from any of the other demons he had encountered.
Yet this object...
“Aowu?”
Ji Chaoyun remained lost in thought for a long while. It was only when the little white cat gave a quiet cry that he finally came back to himself.
Ji Chaoyun tucked the pearl hairpin into his robes and set the little cat down. “Something came up today, so I will not be going over after all. You...”
He thought for a moment, then lowered his head and gently kissed the little white cat on the forehead.
Ji Chaoyun was rarely so straightforward, and the tips of his ears grew slightly warm. He straightened and quickly said, “Go on. This can be my reply. If he does not understand... then let him remain confused.”
“Aowu...”
The little white cat left, seeming only half to understand.
A short while later, the little white cat returned empty-handed to Feng Qi, climbed up his trouser leg, scrambled all the way to his face, and gave him a loud smacking kiss.
Feng Qi was so furious he nearly threw the little white cat out.
“You didn’t even bring back a reply. All you know how to do is take advantage of me. What use are you?!” Thus spoke Second Highness Feng.
☁
Another two or three days passed, and Feng Qi’s cultivation finally began to gradually recover.
That day, after seeing off the immortal physician who had finished examining his pulse, Feng Qi returned to the desk and was just about to write Ji Chaoyun another letter when he suddenly heard a faint sound from the window in the inner room.
Feng Qi paused, then quickly walked over and pushed open the window.
Yet there was no one outside.
A moment later, a tiny silver dragon slipped through the gap in the window.
Feng Qi stood there, completely stunned.
The little dragon landed on all four paws upon the floor of the hall. Its slender tail swayed, seemingly somewhat a bit ill at ease.
When Feng Qi remained silent for a long time, the little dragon raised its head and spoke in a human voice. “What are you staring at?”
“N-Nothing!” Feng Qi hurriedly bent down and offered his hand for the little dragon to climb onto. “What brings you here?”
Ji Chaoyun did not answer.
He was no larger than a palm now, curled like a tiny snake in Feng Qi’s hand, his beautiful, watery slit pupils gazing up at him.
Come to think of it, they had not seen each other for seven days.
The years of cultivation were long and boundless. To immortals, even several years could pass in the blink of an eye.
Ji Chaoyun had never thought seven days could feel so long.
Feng Qi carried the little dragon back to the desk. Seeing that Ji Chaoyun was still lost in thought, he chuckled. “I have not visited you these past few days. Did you miss me?”
Ji Chaoyun jolted as though someone had stepped on his tail and declared righteously, “No. I am... I came because I have a serious matter to discuss with you!”
“All right, all right. Serious matter. I will stop teasing you.” Feng Qi stroked his head. “What did you come to see me about?”
Ji Chaoyun extended a front paw. Only then did Feng Qi notice a spirit storage ring clutched in his tiny claws.
Feng Qi took it and was about to open it when Ji Chaoyun pressed a paw against his hand.
“Feng Qi, you have to promise me that no matter what you learn, you absolutely cannot tell anyone else.”
Ji Chaoyun had never spoken to Feng Qi in such a tone before. Feng Qi gazed into those clear and beautiful slit pupils and said softly, “I promise you.”
However, he did not immediately open the spirit storage ring. Instead, he asked, “What’s inside?”
Ji Chaoyun said, “Do you remember when I told you before that I suspected the Demon Clan’s stronghold might be in the mortal realm?”
“I remember.”
“When I confronted Xi Chen in the stone cave that day, he already admitted that the Demon Clan was able to appear in such large numbers because of Jun Jue’s assistance,” Ji Chaoyun said. “Since their stronghold may be in the mortal realm, I asked Ah-Zhuo to find me a map showing the locations of every temple in the mortal realm dedicated to worshiping Lingyuan Sea. That map is inside.”
Feng Qi’s brows drew together slightly. “You suspect Jun Jue is using Lingyuan Sea’s temples as strongholds to hide the Demon Clan?”
“It isn’t that simple.” Ji Chaoyun was silent for a long moment before saying softly, “I now suspect that the demon army we saw on Mount Sumeru were not truly demons.”
Feng Qi did not understand. “What do you mean? If they were not truly demons, then what were they?”
Ji Chaoyun did not answer. Instead, he said, “Open the spirit storage ring.”
Feng Qi cleared the objects from the desk and opened the spirit storage ring as instructed. A map of the mortal realm appeared across the tabletop.
At the same time, a pearl hairpin fell out.
“This is...”
Ji Chaoyun said, “A few days ago, I happened to encounter a demon who had escaped while I was out. This fell from his robes.”
Feng Qi picked up the pearl hairpin but could see nothing unusual about it. “It’s just an ordinary pearl hairpin. You could find one anywhere. What does that prove?”
“You’re right that you could find one anywhere, but why would a demon have one?”
Ji Chaoyun explained, “The materials used to make this hairpin are extremely poor. The pearl on it is actually an imitation made from paraffin wax. As far as I know, some impoverished mortals cannot afford genuine jewelry, so they buy imitations instead. One common method of making such imitations is to use paraffin wax.”
“You mean this came from the mortal realm?”
“The Demon Realm has been sealed for a long time. A demon should not possess something like this.” Ji Chaoyun gazed at the pearl hairpin and said softly, “If this hairpin truly came from the mortal realm, then its owner...”
Feng Qi closed his eyes and said in a strained voice, “May also have been mortal.”
Ji Chaoyun said, “When Xi Chen infiltrated Hongmeng Academy, he possessed Immortal Venerable Yaoguang’s body without any of us noticing. If they used the same method to possess mortals...”
Feng Qi said, “That’s too outrageous. Endangering mortal lives like this is simply...”
To endanger mortal lives was forbidden by the Heavenly Dao. If Lingyuan Sea truly had any involvement in this matter, the Dragon clan’s foundation and reputation, built over tens of thousands of years, would be destroyed in an instant.
No wonder Ji Chaoyun had demanded secrecy.
This matter absolutely could not be allowed to spread. No one else in the Immortal Realm could be permitted to learn of it.
Feng Qi paused before asking quietly, “What are you planning to do? Should I take you to the dungeon to examine those demons?”
Ji Chaoyun shook his head. “You and I fought the demons on Mount Sumeru ourselves, yet we noticed nothing unusual. Besides, the Phoenix clan should have thoroughly investigated those demons over the past few days. Going there now would accomplish nothing.”
His slender dragon tail swept across the map. “I want to return to the mortal realm and investigate.”
Feng Qi lowered his eyes and considered this for a moment. “We can certainly go, but if we ultimately discover that this matter truly is connected to the Dragon clan, what will you do?”
The little dragon raised his head and met Feng Qi’s gaze.
Calmly, he said, “I will clean house myself.”
Feng Qi stared at him for a moment before suddenly chuckling.
“What are you laughing at?”
“Nothing. It’s just that you look especially adorable saying something like that when you’re so tiny.” Feng Qi rubbed the little dragon’s head with his fingertip and asked warmly, “Why not change back before talking to me? I have not seen you properly in so long.”
“I...” Ji Chaoyun shrank back slightly and lowered his head in embarrassment. “I forgot to bring clothes.”
“Is that all?” Feng Qi said. “Come with me.”
Feng Qi carried the little dragon into the inner room and placed him on the bed. He took a clean set of clothes from the wardrobe and set them beside him.
“Put these on. I’ll wait outside. Don’t worry, I won’t peek.”
With that, Feng Qi turned and left.
He returned to the desk, his gaze once again sweeping across the map while his fingertips tapped lightly against the tabletop.
Lingyuan Sea governed all the seas of the mortal realm, and countless temples there were dedicated to its worship. Yet they had little time. It would not be easy to investigate every single one. Feng Qi frowned slightly and gradually became absorbed in thought.
A moment later, soft footsteps approached.
“Finished changing? Come look. I think we can start investigating from here...”
Feng Qi raised his head as he spoke, and his gaze abruptly stopped.
The clothes he had casually found for Ji Chaoyun were a set of inner robes made from soft, comfortable fabric.
However, every garment in Feng Qi’s room had been cut and sewn according to his own measurements. On Ji Chaoyun, they were far too large.
The inner robes that normally fit comfortably against Feng Qi’s body hung loose and empty on Ji Chaoyun. The shoulder seams drooped, while the sleeves had been rolled several times to expose his slender, pale wrists.
Lower down, his bare feet rested against the floor. The overly long trouser hems pooled over the tops of his feet, leaving only a few small, rounded toes peeking out.
Ji Chaoyun tugged awkwardly at the collar and quietly muttered, “What kind of clothes did you find for me? They don’t fit at all...”
Feng Qi’s heartbeat thundered wildly.
Suddenly, he did not want to be human anymore.
☁︎₊˚⊹ The Author’s Jade-Slip Aside ⊹˚₊☁︎
Feng Qi: I am a phoenix. Why should I be human???
Same as yesterday, there may be a bonus chapter sometime between six and nine tonight~
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