Nangong Yu was a little speechless at his shock.
What was there to be so surprised about? The Ziyang Sect was, after all, one of the Five Great Sects and Eight Major Schools. Wasn’t it perfectly normal for them to have plenty of tricks up their sleeves?
She had already realized that Ruo Zhu was rather single-minded. When they had first met, his arrogance toward Liu Shun had made her think he was very capable. Now that she thought about it, he simply lacked common sense and social awareness.
“Yes.” She repeated herself. “If you don’t want to be caught, you’d better make preparations soon.”
After a pause, she added, “Don’t come here again. The Lin residence has been sealed off by the Ziyang Sect, and the Ziyang Sect can track the aura of demons.”
When Ruo Zhu heard that, he grew even more nervous. “I—I didn’t know. I’m sorry. Thank you, Little Yu.”
Nangong Yu became curious instead. “Where did you hide Yun Sheng?”
Ruo Zhu did not answer. His eyes grew faintly wary.
“He’s badly injured, isn’t he? What kind of pills does he need?” Nangong Yu asked with concern.
What a strange coincidence.
The Ziyang Sect wanted to find the mirage bird, but had no leads.
She had rescued the mirage bird and received a promise from him. Today, she had encountered Ruo Zhu again and discovered their whereabouts.
It felt very much like a choice of sides. If she chose to follow the path of a Ziyang Sect disciple, she could betray Ruo Zhu and the mirage bird in exchange for contribution points.
If she placed her bet on the mirage bird, she would have to go behind the Ziyang Sect’s back and help Ruo Zhu and the mirage bird escape.
Naturally, she chose the latter.
If she chose the Ziyang Sect, she would lose the mirage bird’s promise. If the Ziyang Sect failed to capture them, she would end up with nothing. And even if they succeeded, as a newly admitted disciple, she might not receive any worthwhile reward.
Choosing the mirage bird was different. A branch of the phoenix clan that had been wiped out a hundred thousand years ago had suddenly appeared again after all that time. No matter how she looked at it, it was worth betting on.
“You don’t trust me?” she called Ruo Zhu out. “We ate together, lived together, scooped poop together, and fed each other. Brother Ruo Zhu, you don’t trust me?”
Ruo Zhu could only say, “I do.”
He was thin-skinned. After Nangong Yu coaxed him a few times, he led her to where he was staying.
He had no spirit stones and couldn’t afford an inn, so he had taken Yun Sheng to stay in an abandoned courtyard.
“That day, Little Yun used all his strength to carry me out of the Lin residence. He passed out and fell before he had flown very far,” Ruo Zhu recounted what had happened that day.
The farther they walked, the more secluded the area became.
The city center was where cultivators lived, while ordinary mortals occupied the outskirts.
The lives of mortals were as precarious as duckweed drifting on water, and there were plenty of vacant courtyards. Carrying the severely wounded Yun Sheng, Ruo Zhu had slipped into the courtyard of a household that had been unoccupied for a long time.
The moment he entered, he began digging a hole.
“What are you doing?” Nangong Yu asked curiously from the side.
Ruo Zhu looked a little embarrassed. In a low voice, he said, “I’m digging up Little Yun.”
???
Were birds buried in the soil to heal?
Nangong Yu didn’t understand. But this was the cultivation world, so perhaps that was simply how the mirage bird species worked.
But wasn’t the mirage bird a branch of the phoenix clan? If it needed to be tossed somewhere, shouldn’t it be tossed into fire?
“He’s out.”
After digging more than half a meter down, Ruo Zhu finally pulled out a bamboo-woven cage.
He brushed aside the bamboo leaves covering it, revealing slender, resilient bamboo strips. Through the gaps, a hazy white glow could be seen.
“He’s badly hurt,” Ruo Zhu said bitterly. “He can’t even maintain his human form anymore.”
Nangong Yu thought of the mangled body she had seen, then remembered the white bird’s desperate final struggle. She nodded. “The fact that he managed to escape is already incredible.”
Ruo Zhu hugged the cage, his eyes full of hope. “Are you willing to save him?”
“I have some pills.” Nangong Yu took out some Rejuvenation Pills, Spirit-Replenishing Pills, and others from her storage space. “Can he take them?”
Ruo Zhu was visibly excited. “I’ll try. It should work.”
He accepted a bottle of Spirit-Replenishing Pills, poured out one, and brought it to the little bird’s beak.
Yun Sheng was currently a palm-sized little bird. The pill was enormous to him, and since he was unconscious, he didn’t open his beak at all.
“Little Yun? Little Yun?” Ruo Zhu held the pill and gently tapped it against the little bird’s beak, growing anxious.
Nangong Yu leaned closer, pushed his fingers aside, and looked at the little bird in his palm.
It was completely white, with a fiery-red beak.
Its eyes were tightly shut, and it lay utterly motionless. Only the faint rise and fall of its body proved that it was still breathing.
At first glance, it looked no different from an ordinary bird, except for the halo of light surrounding it.
There was a red line across its chest and abdomen, though it was nowhere near as horrifying as it had been when he was in human form.
“Try this.” Nangong Yu brought out a medical pod, pressed a button, and opened the hatch. She gestured for Ruo Zhu to place the little bird inside.
Ruo Zhu was startled by the suddenly appearing contraption and gathered the little bird protectively against his chest. “What… what is this?”
“A healing furnace developed by medical cultivators.” Nangong Yu translated it into terms more familiar to this world.
Ruo Zhu examined the egg-shaped magical artifact, which was as tall as a person, and seemed somewhat convinced.
“Give it a try.” Nangong Yu lifted her chin.
After hesitating for a moment, Ruo Zhu carried the little bird forward and carefully placed it inside according to Nangong Yu’s instructions.
Beep—
[Life signs critically low. Initiating deep healing mode.]
Beep—
[Medical pod detected… Binding in progress…]
The two voices came respectively from the medical pod and the little bird.
Only then did Nangong Yu remember that she had previously given Yun Sheng a brainwave computer. The device had automatically activated and begun coordinating with the medical pod.
The hatch slowly closed.
Through the viewing window in the wall of the pod, they could see white mist spraying out and enveloping the little bird.
Ruo Zhu didn’t understand what was happening. His expression was panicked as he stared at the window without blinking.
Nangong Yu watched the treatment progress. It remained at zero percent, telling her that this would take a while.
Fortunately, she had stocked up on a few medical pods. She decided to give one to Yun Sheng and exchange it for two more promises later.
“It looks like you can’t bury this one in the ground.” Nangong Yu rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
Ruo Zhu immediately explained, “I don’t usually bury him. I was going out, and I was afraid someone would take him, so I…”
He didn’t know how to hide things. If he carried something with him, he was afraid of losing it; if he left it at home, he was afraid it would be stolen. So he had dug a hole and buried it.
Nangong Yu: “…”
Good thing Yun Sheng was a divine bird. Being buried for a little while wouldn’t kill him.
Ruo Zhu was hopelessly foolish. He only knew how to stare at the inside of the pod. Nangong Yu, however, had no intention of staying any longer. It was already completely dark.
“I’m leaving,” she told Ruo Zhu. “Can you protect it?”
She pointed at the medical pod.
Although this was an area where mortals lived, there was no guarantee that no one would wander in and discover this obviously valuable “magical artifact.”
“I can!” Ruo Zhu said firmly.
He waved a hand, and in the next moment, the medical pod vanished.
Immediately afterward, he seemed to be bent beneath some tremendous weight. His entire body hunched noticeably forward.
“As long as—as long as I’m still alive, I won’t let anyone touch Little Yun.”
He spoke with great difficulty, as though he were carrying an entire mountain on his back.
“Where did you put it?” Nangong Yu asked in amazement, circling him.
Only then did Ruo Zhu confirm that she really was human.
“Demons possess innate abilities that allow them to open up a space within their bodies. I stored the healing furnace in my inner space.”
Humans and demons had different innate talents, and their cultivation methods differed as well. Humans could refine spatial treasures, while demons could naturally open up spaces within their bodies.
It was hard to say which was more convenient, but clearly, Ruo Zhu’s inner space could store living creatures.
Nangong Yu was unbearably envious.
“Little Yu, thank you.” Ruo Zhu conjured a bamboo branch in his hand and used it to support himself. “When Yun Sheng wakes up, I’ll tell him that you saved him again.”
Nangong Yu had no reason to doubt him. After thinking for a moment, she took out a bag of spirit stones. “Take these and use them. Don’t go back to the Lin family ruins.”
After another moment’s thought, she brought out several more bags of spirit rice, a few vats of water, and some prepared ingredients rich in spiritual energy.
They were all things she had collected from the kitchen earlier. “Try not to go outside unless you really have to.”
She also packed up a bundle of talismans for him. “Protect yourself.”
She had given him far too much—so much that Ruo Zhu was moved to the point of choking up. “Little Yu, you’re still just a child. You’ll be going to one of the major human sects in the future. You can’t go there empty-handed.”
He actually refused to take them!
Nangong Yu was both exasperated and helpless. “I still have more.”
Her generosity was practically that of a sect master’s daughter coming down the mountain to gain experience.
Ruo Zhu couldn’t make sense of it, so he stopped trying. “Little Yu, thank you. You’re a good person.”
After thinking for a moment, he added, “You’re the very, very best person I’ve ever met.”
He had always thought that humans were all terribly wicked—evil, greedy, cruel, cold-blooded, vicious…
But Little Yu, although she was human, was so kind. Clever and adorable, she was practically like one of their demon kind.
“I’ll take good care of Little Yun, and I’ll take good care of myself too.” He looked at her seriously. “Once Little Yun gets better, I’ll take him to the Ziyang Sect to visit you.”
“A friend from afar comes to visit?” Nangong Yu thought it over. That actually sounded pretty fun. She nodded readily. “All right. Then it’s a promise!”
Just before she left, Ruo Zhu called out to her again. “Wait.”
He plucked a few hairs from his head, and they transformed in his palm into slender bamboo leaves.
His hands were nimble. In just a few swift movements, he wove the bamboo leaves into a fan. “Take this with you. If you’re somewhere with mosquitoes, just wave it a few times. They won’t bother you.”
Nangong Yu wasn’t afraid of mosquitoes to begin with—their bites couldn’t even pierce her skin—but she loved the fan’s design.
The bamboo leaves were a deep green, like black jade, while the handle was a fresh green, like jadeite. In the night, it shimmered with a faint glow. It was exceptionally beautiful.
“Until we meet again!”
Waving her new bamboo fan, she stuck an invisibility talisman to herself and vanished from the little courtyard.
Only after leaving the commoners’ dwellings did she remove the invisibility talisman. She fondled the fan, unable to put it down, then stored it away in her space.
These items carried demonic energy, so she couldn’t take them out casually.
Suddenly remembering something, Nangong Yu opened the compartments of her space.
One compartment held two feathers: one large and one small.
The smaller one was something Nangong Yu had found among the debris in the abandoned courtyard of the Lin family. It glowed, so she had taken it with her.
Only after storing it away did she realize that the feather was extraordinary. A single feather occupied an entire compartment, leaving no room for anything else.
That day, Yun Sheng had transformed into a white bird and gifted her a beautiful dream. When she awoke, she found a white feather in her hand, radiating a faint white light. Its shape seemed strangely familiar.
She stored that feather in a compartment as well, and it occupied another compartment all by itself, preventing her from putting anything else inside.
She tried putting them together and discovered that the two feathers—one large and one small—could share the same compartment.
Nangong Yu wandered around the streets, buying a huge bag of pastries. She went everywhere trying to win over spirit beasts, feeding one this and petting another.
Only after covering herself in a jumble of mixed scents did she hop back to the inn.
“Little Yu’s back!”
The Ziyang Sect had the best location in the inn, seated in an open area with a broad view. Any movement inside could easily be seen from there.
The moment Nangong Yu appeared at the entrance, one of her senior brothers spotted her.
She looked over and waved. “I’m back!”
There was one more person among the sect members today. She tilted her head slightly as she studied the unfamiliar face.
“This is your Senior Brother Zhao.” One of the senior brothers slung an arm around Zhao You’s shoulder. “He went out to gain experience before and happened to be passing through this area, so he joined up with us.”
Then he said to Zhao You, “Zhao You, you haven’t met her yet. This is our newly recruited junior sister. Although she’s still a mortal, she’s already inspired two senior brothers and sisters to break through, so she was specially admitted into the sect ahead of schedule.”
Zhao You had an extraordinary appearance, with sharply defined features and a cold, striking face. In the cultivation world, where handsome men and beautiful women were everywhere, his looks were still exceptional.
He listened quietly until the other man finished speaking, then turned his gaze toward Nangong Yu and slowly nodded.
“Hello, Junior Sister.”
