Little Phoenix Is Not An Immortal Chapter 12
Translated by Luen Translations
Edited by Siren and Birdie
Chapter 12: Sounds of Heaven, Phoenix Pirouette (2)
Early the next morning, Zhao Huajun took Tian Zhen, mounted the fire phoenix, and left the imperial court. Several heavenly officials saw them off for 8,000 miles on the orders of the Heavenly Emperor. Wen Xi hadn’t come. Tian Zhen expressed her understanding. ‘He’s now a messenger in the imperial court, so how could he move around as easily as before?’
With the battle settled, Zhao Huajun also wasn’t in a rush and intended to take Tian Zhen sightseeing to increase her knowledge and experience. With a bird who was capable of expressing sentient thought for company, compared to the past, there was much more joy present.
A famous mountain, an unusual valley, a peaceful forest, a mysterious lake, a desert full of yellow sand……
The wide back of the phoenix was like a big ship. Zhao Huajun was sitting with his hair draped across his shoulders. His slender fingers were holding a knife and he was right in the middle of carving a bamboo tube. He had easily plucked one when they were passing by Qiong Mountain.
Tian Zhen hopped around while unaware of what he was going to do.
Zhao Huajun winked and shook out the bits of bamboo on her body. “This thing is quite wonderful. In a little while, you’ll understand.”
His wink carried a bit of a playful notion and was very far from his usual image. The moment she saw that, Tian Zhen was startled for a second before she promptly lowered her head becoming silent.
Under the knife’s movements, the object gradually took shape. They were actually delicately carved bamboo pipes.
The wide, white sleeves were lifted by the wind. Zhao Huajun was neither fast nor slow in carrying the pipes to the edge of his lips.
The sound from the pipes reverberated. It was as clear as a phoenix cry and was too wonderful for words. It resounded through the clouds and sky as it carried an ethereal melody to it. Tian Zhen suddenly felt her consciousness shake as her mind was gradually muddled by the sound of the pipes. Her soul seemed as if it was being pulled. Subsequently, her body became light and graceful as it stood up. Both wings involuntarily flapped and carried her into the sky, spiraling in a dance.
The pipes’ sound was fair and gentle, and was as dignified as the king of the wind. The fire phoenix had also stopped and was craning its head while giving out a cry.
A light smiling expression rippled through those elegant phoenix eyes.
‘Where was this? What were they doing……?’
The song ended, the dance ended, and the lingering sound seemed to be echoing as it traveled through the clouds. Tian Zhen dropped back on top of the fire phoenix’s back. She hadn’t completely come to her senses yet and only felt disappointment and frustration within her heart as if she had lost something.
Zhao Huajun put the pipes away. “There are those who have cultivated into human form within our race. Soon afterwards, they must enter Yu Mo Heavenly Palace and honor this king. Male phoenixes sing while female phoenixes dance. Today, how about presenting a dance to this king?”
‘Presenting a dance to the leader?’ Tian Zhen was finally struck awake by this sentence. How embarrassing.
Zhao Huajun said, “I really like it. Is little phoenix willing to dance to a song for me again?”
Tian Zhen immediately stretched her head out from within her wings and, eyes brimming with tears, she shook her head. Seeing that he was going to play the pipes again, she immediately pounced and held onto his sleeve with her beak, pulling with all of her strength.
Zhao Huajun couldn’t help laughing. “Are you shy? The phoenix race is naturally capable of singing and dancing. What is there to be afraid of……”
While he was speaking, something flashed past in the distance.
‘The resting area! We missed the resting area!’ Tian Zhen promptly relaxed her mouth and chirped at him to indicate that.
His smiling expression hadn’t changed. It had only gradually dimmed. Zhao Huajun slowly moved the pipes away from the edge of his lips without saying anything.
Down below was a vast and desolate piece of land. Tian Zhen quickly understood and shut her mouth.
“One last time,” Zhao Huajun reached out his hands and carried her into his arms. He gazed into the dense fog swirling and softly said, “One last time, alright? If I can’t find her this time, then I’ll……let go.”
Tian Zhen didn’t make a sound.
The color of the night enveloped the land beneath them. There was no sound of cicadas nor any bird cries. The vast and wide desolate region was a land of silence. Compared to the scenery from back then when they resided here, You Po Mountain appeared to not have changed at all. It stood tall and upright against the wind, with an imposing air and its pitch black darkness was a bit cold, enshrouding the whole area with momentary stillness.
“This You Po Mountain was originally an Ancient God Mountain and was nourished by the sun and the moon’s spiritual energy. Later on, it was abandoned by the gods and because of its gurgling fury, it produced many demons and devils. It’s extremely dangerous, but there still remain many rarely seen spiritual medicinal plants at its top. She was peeved at me and had run to the top of the mountain to search for medicinal plants……”
Zhao Huajun placed Tian Zhen underneath the fire phoenix’s wing and quietly instructed, “Do not run around. Remember that?”
After having searched for twenty years to no avail, it was clear that there was no happy ending to this. Was this the final act of dedication? It wouldn’t be good for Tian Zhen to stop this nor could she stop this. She could only nod her head.
Sensing someone’s approach, Zhao Huajun stood aside and watched.
Three white light streaks settled on to the ground and turned into the appearances of three heavenly officials. The one in the lead was an old man of fifty years or more. He had a benevolent appearance with his white hair, white eyebrows, and white beard. His hand grasped a whisk. He wore a snow white Taoist robe inlaid with a nine temples and eight trigrams pattern. The robe was blown by the wind and floated in the air. There was a kind of an aged immortal style feeling as he seemed like the Taishang Laojun within the paintings.
(T/N: Taishang Laojun is a high Taoist god. He is the Taiqing which is one of the Three Pure Ones, the highest divinities of Taoism.)
“Could it be that Zhao Huajun is present here?”
“Jiufu-taigong?”
Mutually recognizing their counterparts, Zhao Huajun and the old man simultaneously cupped their hands and paid their respects.
Zhao Huajun looked at the other two people and said, with a smile on his face,“Yuchen-shaogong is also here.”
That black haired and black bearded Taoist wearing a purple robe hurriedly smiled and said, “This lowly immortal and taigong accepted orders from our emperor to come to this territory to deal with some affairs and were passing through here. I didn’t think that we would actually meet Zhao Huajun. What a coincidence.”
He paused and then probed, “Zhao Huajun coming to this You Po Mountain, could it be that it’s still in order to……”
Zhao Huajun said, “We’re returning from the imperial court and were passing by this place.”
Jiufu-taigong shook his head.
Yuchen-shaogong knew that he was unwilling to continue this subject and so smiled while politely saying a few words, “We are occupied with the emperor’s orders. Forgive us for not being able to stay longer. We will take our leave first. May Zhao Huajun not be offended by this.”
Zhao Huajun nodded his head. “May His Majesty the Immortal Emperor live a long and prosperous life. In a couple of days, my emperor will also dispatch an emissary to the Immortal Realm.”
Those three people also praised the Heavenly Emperor and then left.
Jiufu-taigong was an elderly official from the previous dynasty and his prestige within the Immortal Realm was extremely high. Yuchen-shaogong was actually the biaoxiong of the mother of the current emperor, Guanhe Yuewu. Guanhe Yuewu had dispatched him and Jiufu-taigong to travel together, but in truth, it was to keep an eye on Taigong. He was afraid that Taigong would seize the opportunity to look for the former crown prince, Guanhe Yuewei. Nowadays, the situation in the Immortal Realm was chaotic and everyone hoped that the former crown prince would return. It was no wonder he was this agitated.
Zhao Huajun smiled. He turned into a ball of golden light and disappeared.
‘These people came from the Immortal Realm?’ Based on all the conversations she had heard in the past few days, Tian Zhen had already more or less understood the current situation and within her grew the seedling of interest on this matter. ‘Both the Immortal Realm and the God Realm were looking for Guanhe Yuewei. Where is he hiding?’
It was a chilly dark night. The pearl’s light was cast dim.
The white wind blew and the coldness crept in. Fortunately, the fire phoenix’s wing was quite wide and Tian Zhen was small in size. Hiding underneath and being completely covered by the plumage was unexpectedly extremely warm.
You Po Mountain was this treacherous. It was unknown whether or not Zhao Huajun was in danger……
Being able to make him infatuated to the extent that he hadn’t forgotten her even after twenty years, even if that Dragon Girl had died, she should have been satisfied.
With Zhao Huajun gone, from start to end, Tian Zhen slept restlessly as she was stuck in a half-asleep half-awake state. In the middle of the impending night, a bizarre sound suddenly reached her ears. It startled her into opening her eyes.
Through the small crack in between the plumage, she saw a pair of black boots in front of her.
Zhao Huajun’s boots were white.
‘Who is it?’ Tian Zhen was on alert.
“Zhao Huajun, Heaven’s heavenly king and the one that the Heavenly Emperor relies upon the most. Recruiting him would greatly benefit us, so why does His Majesty insist on eliminating him? It’s so strange……” That person seemed puzzled. After a while, there was the sound of laughter.
That voice sounded very familiar. Tian Zhen didn't have to think much to remember. ‘Wasn’t this “that” Yuchen-shaogong from before?!’
‘Listening to the meaning within his words, the Immortal Emperor wanted to kill Zhao Huajun?!’
This matter was extremely important and having accidentally eavesdropped on this secret, if she were to be discovered, it was obvious what kind of ending would await her. Tian Zhen was both alarmed and afraid. She didn’t dare to put on air even while hiding underneath the phoenix’s wing. Even when the pair of black boots had disappeared, she still didn’t dare to recklessly move around.
For a long time, there was no activity in the surroundings.
Tian Zhen secretly used her beak to peck at the fire phoenix. Who would have thought that the fire phoenix was in deep sleep so it didn’t respond. She had no alternative but to stealthily stretch her head out and look around. Only after confirming that Yuchen-shaogong wasn’t there did she jump out from underneath the phoenix’s wing.
She randomly looked around, but there wasn’t anything suspicious. In the end, she didn’t know what kind of trap he had set up……
‘Wanting to plot against Zhao Huajun, what method would be the most effective?’
Tian Zhen contemplated for a short while before shifting her line of sight to the fire phoenix.
As expected, the fire phoenix was sleeping very deeply. It seems like it was a passive trap.
Tian Zhen flew up to the fire phoenix’s back and carefully examined it. A phoenix’s eyesight was naturally excellent and it allowed her to discover an abnormality——a small feather that stood out from the rest.
The tip of the feather was as sharp as a needle. Mixed among the fire phoenix’s feathers, there was a slight difference in its color. Were it not for her careful examination, it would have been hard to distinguish with the naked eye.
Television shows had played a large part as well. Tian Zhen had accumulated a great deal of experience in regards to scheming. In her heart, she knew that it was possibly extremely poisonous. If by any chance she were to be pricked by it, the consequences would be very dangerous. Consequently, she calmed down as much as possible and very carefully pushed aside the surrounding feathers. She then used her beak to hold the base of the feather and pulled it out.
“Little crow is actually ruining my work!” A gloomy voice rang out.
‘He came back!’ Tian Zhen was frightened and unconsciously flapped her wings and cried out in fear. That plucked out feather also gently fell from her mouth. Amidst her panic, Tian Zhen suddenly felt her right wing hurt and it was closely followed by a sense of numbness. Then, her entire body became rigid and she naturally tumbled down from the phoenix’s back.
The needle point of the feather had pierced her right wing and the poison had entered her blood.
Yuchen-shaogong had already raised his hand, but upon seeing this, he put it down again.
Although this poison was intense, it wasn't enough to harm the Phoenix King’s life. After Zhao Huajun was poisoned, he would have had to immediately take action. He had waited at the side in order to seize the opportunity to attack. Meeting with a mishap in this place, of course the Heavenly Emperor wouldn’t suspect the Immortal Realm. Only, he hadn't anticipated that after calculating a thousand times and then another thousand times, he still miscalculated. There had been a small one hidden away underneath the fire phoenix’s wing and everything had been seen by her eyes.
“The ending for ruining my work is death. A single crow doesn’t require me to take action.” he sneered.
‘The shout just now. Did Zhao Huajun hear it or not?’ Tian Zhen was inwardly anxious.
The poison feather floated up from the ground and flew inside his sleeve. He wasn’t foolish. The moment this little crow dies, its godly aura will also disappear. Zhao Huajun was usually cautious and shrewd and wouldn’t necessarily be fooled. He absolutely couldn’t let him see that it was an attack set up by the Immortal Realm. It would still be better to deal with this little crow’s corpse and then quickly leave.
This kind of careful thinking was admittedly thorough. Unfortunately, it was already too late.
Suddenly, an intense oppressive feeling came forth, followed by a strong desire to murder. It surrounded the area from all sides and made it hard for people to breathe.
The deep night. The pearl’s dim light. They seemed as if they were within a dark and bottomless cave.
Loneliness and fear gradually arose.……
There was even an impending premonition of death.
Within this period of time, Yuchen-taigong became restless for no reason at all. As if he was fixed there, his two legs became abnormally heavy and he couldn't move even half a step. Not only him, this kind of terrifying atmosphere was sensed even by Tian Zhen who was beside him on the ground.
“Plotting against someone behind their back.”
A deep and slightly nasal voice came from somewhere and echoed for a long time within the area. An endless imposing air penetrated through with a tinge of anger like a predator locking onto its prey.
‘This was……was……’ all the feathers on Tian Zhen’s body stood up.
Within the blink of an eye, a tall figure appeared over six meters away. He was bedecked in a black robe with wide sleeves and golden edged belt, along with golden forehead and hair ornaments. His long, long black hair was blown into a mess by the wind and brushed against his high-bridged nose. Half of his face was covered in a shadow that exuded a kind of dark perfection.
Yuchen-shaogong clearly knew his identity and was extremely alarmed. Even his voice changed, “You……”
“Despicable immortal. You. Should. Not. Exist.”
The moment those phoenix eyes narrowed and those wide sleeves were raised, a powerful godly force struck. There was not enough time for Yuchen to put up any response and his body was already crumbling away like scattered desert sand.
The scattered grains of sand were blown by the wind and landed atop her body. Tian Zhen felt her blood run cold. ‘Bone ash, bone ash!!!’
In the gap of a few seconds, that tall figure was already standing in front of her.
‘Devil God Lo……Lo…… Lord Lucifer!’ Tian Zhen’s small heart, liver, and plumage, all petrified. She stared at those dignified, long and narrow phoenix eyes and began to pray. ‘He, he doesn’t have the habit of narrowing his eyes, right?’
The Devil God lowered his eyes to look at her and after a while, opened his mouth. “Gray bird.”
Tian Zhen’s cheeks immediately streamed with tears.
‘Even if I don’t look like a phoenix, you can still call me a crow……’
