The length of time felt uncertain before Feng Huo finally lowered his hands from Yu Ji's eyes.
Feng Huo panted softly, gazing at Yu Ji with fiery eyes. Then, he abruptly stood up and stumbled back several steps, his expression growing dazed.
What had he done?!
He had only meant to check if Yu Ji was sleeping well. Yu Ji was just his spiritual pet…
On the bed, Yu Ji slept silently, his lips a vibrant red.
Feng Huo stared blankly for a moment, then turned and fled in a panic.
That night, all four of them were plagued by unease, their hearts heavy and troubled until the sun rose.
Early in the morning, Feng Huo paced back and forth in the corridor. His steps only stopped when a sound came from Yu Ji's room.
"Yu Ji, did you sleep well last night?" Feng Huo paused at Yu Ji's doorway, feigning casualness.
Yu Ji touched his noticeably sore lips. Though somewhat confused, he still nodded.
Seeing the bewilderment in Yu Ji's eyes, Feng Huo felt a wave of relief, yet also an emptiness.
"That's good," Feng Huo said, turning his head slightly, his gaze shifting away from Yu Ji.
Yu Ji seemed to sense Feng Huo's unhappiness, his body stiffening slightly.
A few moments later, all four were ready and returned to the Nine Heavens.
*Gulp, gulp…*
The Wine Immortal sat before the chessboard at Zhaoxue's gate, tilting his head back and drinking. Soon, half a gourd of fine wine was gone.
After a burp, he looked forward blearily and saw Zhaoxue approaching.
"Hey, come play chess with me," the Wine Immortal slurred, staggering to his feet. It was clear from his speech that he had drunk a lot that day and likely hadn't stopped for a moment.
The Wine Immortal walked towards Zhaoxue, but Zhaoxue's steps didn't falter. He walked straight past the Wine Immortal and into his home.
*Bang.*
The Wine Immortal touched his nose, which had nearly been bumped by Zhaoxue. He immediately felt wronged, whimpering a few times before collapsing unconscious in front of Zhaoxue's gate.
Meanwhile, Zhaoxue entered his home and immediately buried himself in his quilt, curling into a ball.
He tightly clutched the Burntless Pearl in his hand and closed his eyes, through which his soul seemed to weep. After an unknown amount of time, he drifted into a state between sleep and wakefulness.
At this moment, Zhaoxue seemed to be transported back hundreds of years. Little Zhaoxue was carefully burying a simple wooden hairpin in the earth. The chatter of nearby immortal attendants sweeping the ground reached his ears.
"Have you heard? A phoenix with powerful spiritual energy hatched from a rock crevice yesterday."
"The sound it made when it hatched from the rock crevice was so loud, of course I heard."
"Alas, I heard that little phoenix was even taken in as an adopted son by the Desolate Emperor."
"Adopted son? So, we'll have another little prince in the Nine Heavens from now on."
"Indeed…"
"But that little Zhaoxue the Emperor brought back all those years ago didn't have such good fortune."
At this time, Little Zhaoxue was silently covering the hairpin with soil, seemingly unfazed by the words of the two immortal attendants.
…
In the blink of an eye, time had once again advanced to the point when Yun Shuni was nearing adulthood.
"The Imperial Daughter is almost of age. Do you think my boy has a chance?"
As dusk settled, painting the sky with twilight hues, the Phoenix Master and Water Master sat by a lotus pond near the peach forest, watching the koi swim leisurely while engaging in idle chatter.
After the Water Master spoke, he didn't receive a reply from the Phoenix Master and continued on his own: "A maiden's heart is hard to guess. I wonder if the Imperial Daughter already has someone in mind.
The Emperor's thoughts might be easier to fathom; nothing more than the rising talents among the young men."
The Water Master paused for a long time after speaking. The Phoenix Master finally responded: "Not so. If it weren't for Feng Huo, that dark horse who emerged from a rock crevice, it would likely be so."
The Water Master immediately understood, shifting his gaze from a red koi to the Phoenix Master: "You mean…"
The Phoenix Master remained calmly silent. The Water Master's mood gradually settled: "You are right."
The peach forest was a secluded area in the Nine Heavens.
These two never expected that their thoughts would be overheard by other immortals, nor did they imagine that the messengers would be the very fish before them.
After the Phoenix Master and Water Master left, Zhaoxue walked to the koi pond with fish food brought from the mortal realm by the Wine Immortal.
As soon as the koi saw Zhaoxue, they eagerly began to tell him what they had overheard that day.
"Feng Huo?" Zhaoxue's hand, clutching the fish food, gradually tightened. Soon, the fish food in his grasp turned into fine powder.
In his dream, Zhaoxue watched this scene from a third-person perspective, as if he could still feel the intense jealousy and panic of that moment.
The Zhaoxue standing by the pond in his vision grew smaller and smaller.
The scene shifted, and time jumped to when Zhaoxue was a few hundred years old.
That night, the peach forest was tranquil. Little Zhaoxue, still young, should have been asleep.
However, Little Zhaoxue kept vigil before the hairpin half-buried in the earth, dark circles under his eyes, staring unblinkingly.
"Little Zhaoxue, it's time for bed." Several immortal attendants approached Little Zhaoxue from behind, bending down to escort him to sleep.
"No." Little Zhaoxue directly refused them, his back to the moonlight, his gaze fixed on the hairpin.
The immortal attendant standing behind Little Zhaoxue started to speak but was pulled back by the one on his left.
"Alright, let's not bother. It's been hundreds of years since the Emperor brought him here. Has anyone visited him?
We just need to take care of the peach forest. Why worry about so much?"
The immortal attendant on Zhaoxue's right hesitated for a moment after hearing the one on his left, then finally straightened up and left with the attendant on his left.
Thus, Little Zhaoxue was left alone once more, his back to the moonlight, guarding the wooden hairpin.
Soon, a heavy scent of alcohol drifted over with the night breeze. Zhaoxue frowned, his hands protectively covering the wooden hairpin.
"Alas, little one, what are you doing?"
The person reeking of alcohol leaned in beside Little Zhaoxue, causing Zhaoxue's brow to furrow more and more tightly.
"Go further away," Little Zhaoxue's voice was hoarse, tinged with anger.
The old man wrinkled his nose and, with a bad-tempered puff, exhaled a gust of alcohol towards Little Zhaoxue: "Little one, you're so impolite."
"How about this? If you tell me what you're doing, I'll consider moving away from you."
Little Zhaoxue remained silent for a moment before finally speaking: "I'm planting a phoenix."