Riluo City (Blue Phoenix Book 1) (2 page)

Hui Yue had walked past the clothing, emblems, and books to reach the counter where he saw jewellery. The moment he arrived he saw something which caused him to freeze and take in a deep breath to mentally steady himself.

In front of him was the most beautiful Phoenix Crown he had ever seen, an astonishing Fengguan. It was far more exquisite than the one that had been found in the tomb of the Wanli Emperor, and Hui Yue had never even heard of such a treasure being found before. This shop was filled with surprises.

The crown was on display on the middle of the counter, it was, without a doubt, the most stunning piece he had seen in the shop so far. The crown was, oddly enough, not locked down or guarded with anything, it was just standing there allowing the customers to examine it through a mere glass cabinet.

Interestingly enough Hui Yue once again withdrew his gaze from this stunning piece to look around the counter for other intriguing items. A large grin was spreading across his face as his eyes had fallen on a box in a corner that had a sign that read ‘anything in this box is 
¥
600’

Hui Yue had noticed a blue shade that was extraordinarily similar to the one he had seen on the Phoenix Crown, he immediately went to the box and removed this beautiful item.

It was a hairpin that was unlike anything Hui Yue had ever seen before. It was a blue phoenix, it had a body formed into an oval from an incredibly pure piece of white jade framed with golden swirls. The wings were made from sapphires and ended in more perfectly white jade. Jade, gold, and sapphire were swirling around each other creating elaborate patterns, beautiful tail feathers, and a long delicate neck towards a beautiful beak and face. Multiple pearls lined the face towards the wing, completing the look.

“Oh, you like the Blue Phoenix?” an old voice sounded from the corner. Hui Yue was startled as he had completely forgotten about the elderly lady, but he quickly looked at her with a respectful gaze and noticed a complex expression on her face.

Hui Yue gave a short nod as an answer to her question before once again looking at the beautiful hairpin. It had to be an exquisite antique, and he had no way of understanding why it would have been tossed into this cheap box. A worrying premonition appeared within his heart as he felt that he liked the hairpin more and more each passing moment.

“Was it placed in the wrong box?” Hui Yue asked with a worried voice pointing to the sign that read ‘anything in this box is 
¥
600’. He could understand that she might feel cheated taking such a low price for this masterpiece. This being the case, no matter the price, Hui Yue felt that he needed to own this particular piece of jewellery.

“No, the price is right,” The elderly lady said with some hesitancy.

Hui Yue frowned upon hearing the old woman's reply, but said no more as he waited for an explanation. He was certain that it was from either the Tang or Ming dynasty, and most likely from the same place as the beautiful Phoenix Crown. How could it possibly be sold for such a low price? For some reason Hui Yue felt insulted that this crown was considered cheap. Insulted as if it was he himself that had been considered cheap.

“It is cursed,” the old lady finally said with a sigh. She had noticed how obsessed this young man had become after holding the hairpin, even though it had been for such a short time, “Death will descend upon the owner of this hairpin.”

Hui Yue was about to snort in disbelief. His upbringing, however, had taught him to never show arrogance in front of others and he managed to restrain himself. He understood that people would be superstitious when there was a lack of knowledge; although in this day and age something like a curse could not scare him. Especially not since this beautiful hairpin felt as though it was a part of he himself, he could not bear to part with it already.

“Young man, do not make fun of curses, they are more real than you might imagine,” the elderly lady warned as she stood up and walked towards Hui Yue and the blue phoenix hairpin. Although Hui Yue had tried to contain his contempt, the lady had easily understood his thinking, and she wished for this man to survive. She did not wish for him to become another target for the Blue Phoenix.

“It arrived in our shop three hundred years ago,” the lady started, as she took the hairpin from Hui Yue’s hands and moved behind the counter, “We sold it almost immediately, then the owner died three days latter, having been assaulted by thieves.” Hui Yue kept quiet as he did not believe that thieves could be blamed on the hairpin, unless they had aimed to steal it.

“Those thieves were then killed by relatives of the buyer and so the hairpin went to his oldest son, however he died from a lightning strike.” Hui Yue crooked his brows slightly. It was very unlikely for anyone to die from a lightning strike unless they intentionally sought out the locations where lightning would hit them. He chose to not believe the story so far as it was more than a hundred years ago and the story must have been exaggerated.

“After that,” the old lady continued, as she noticed that Hui Yue had doubt in his eyes, “it went from one person to another, and every one of those people died. Eventually they delivered it back here. We have sold it a few times since then, however the results have always been the same.”

The elderly lady sighed and hoped that Hui Yue would give up. She did not mind selling the cursed hairpin to wicked people. After she had seen the genuine excitement and admiration that Hui Yue had shown while looking at the treasures in the store, and she wished for him to live a long and prosperous life.

Hui Yue felt the hesitation and he sent a blinding smile towards the elderly woman, and took the hairpin back into his hands at once while politely saying:

“I wish to purchase this hairpin, and then I will just have to hope that my luck is stronger than the curse.” His smile left no space for discussion and the elderly lady sighed once again as she accepted the money. After all, she had never personally experienced anyone being affected by the curse so maybe the youth was right, perhaps the curse was just superstition.

Hui Yue’s mood did not have any of the previous self-pity and instead he was ecstatic as he left the antique shop. He knew that no one would use such a hairpin in this day and age, however it was incredibly beautiful and he could only think of one person who matched its beauty. He could not wait to gift it to Li Fen and see her happy face, just thinking about it made him show a silly smile.

“Hui Yue!” A brilliant voice called out to him the moment he stepped back onto the pavement and he noticed that Li Fen had finished her shopping, she had been waiting for him outside of the lingerie store. As she saw Hui Yue leave the antique shop with something in his hand Li Fen was overtaken by excitement. She wanted to show Hui Yue what she had purchased as well as see what he had found, so without thinking she stepped onto the busy road.

Hui Yue scratched his head slightly as he realised that he had most likely spent more time than expected within the shop, but coming out he really felt as though it had been worth it. Li Fen’s happy smile was quickly replaced by an expression of shock when she heard a loud honking, and as she looked to the side she saw a truck heading straight towards her. The driver was doing everything he could to avoid collision, but Li Fen was like a deer in the headlights, frozen by fear and disbelief, and her body refused to move.

The silly smile and the happiness which had bubbled within Hui Yue was instantly killed. Seeing Li Fen frozen, with the truck only a few meters away, Hui Yue’s body moved on its own.

Hui Yue’s heart was filled with the fear that he might not make it in time, as images from their twenty-four years of friendship was passing in front of him enhancing his feelings for her.

Hui Yue jumped onto the road and arrived next to Li Fen within a second, the horrified expression on his face was scaring Li Fen, but as they were close to each other the fear quickly subsided from Hui Yue’s face.

All this happened within seconds, and it was only possible for Hui Yue to swiftly react and succeed in his rescue due to the truck have hit the breaks so hard that the entire road was filled with screetching sounds,

He had borrowed the power he had gained with his swift speed and quickly pushed the girl as far back as he possibly could. Li Fen ended up flying two metres back and landed safely on the pavement before she realized what had happened.

Although the push was hard and she was bound to get some bruises, she would be alive. A relieved smile appeared on Hui Yue’s face just before the truck hit him, sending him flying over ten metres and causing him to bounce off the ground a few times.

Hui Yue had expected himself to be struck by fear and horror, but the moment he was hit, he felt no fear, only relief that Li Fen was safe. Hui Yue attempted to protect himself and raised his arms before the initial impact, but his eyes widened as he noticed that he was still tightly grasping the Blue Phoenix Hairpin. Only now it was shining with an odd, almost mystical, blue light.

As soon as the truck hit him, the impact against his arms caused the hairpin to pierce his skin going between his ribs to pierce his heart.

Hui Yue felt as though time was standing still; then shock filled his eyes as he had a sudden whimsical thought. Would he die because of the truck or could it be the hairpin? Suddenly, while looking at the hairpin, he noticed that it was disappearing, turning into blue flames that gathered just outside of his chest.

Hui Yue was shocked upon noticing how he could sense every single thing that was happening to him, and it all appeared to happen in slow motion. Fortunately, either the impact from the truck or the stabbing hairpin must have killed him instantly as he felt no pain from the injuries that he was observing.

Hui Yue diverted his attention from his injuries to the unusual fireball which was currently hovering above his heart and a shocking sight met him. Not only was the fireball hovering above his heart, it had also begun to suck his blood, and Hui Yue was completely unable to comprehend what was happening to him. A chill ran through his already dead body while his mind filled with fear at this unknown phenomenon occurring to him.

Shortly thereafter he felt his consciousness move from his beaten body into the ball of blue fire that was rapidly growing in size. This caused panic to spread throughout Hui Yue’s mind. A futile struggle began and in spite of how hard Hui Yue tried, it was impossible for him to resist the suction force coming from the fireball.

As Hui Yue had entered the fireball he was able to look down on his old body and notice how people were rushing towards him, however due to the powerful impact there wasn’t any sign of life upon his body. Hui Yue was completely broken and even he had a hard time recognizing his body.

Hui Yue himself was fully aware that his soul had departed his body, but he still felt an urge to linger around for longer. He did not feel as if he was ready to depart just yet. Hui Yue had a lingering regret whenever he thought that he would never see Li Fen again. To know that her smile would be lost forever. At least she was with him in his dying moments.

A profound sadness appeared in his heart as the image of his parents flashed before him. He could not help but be saddened when he thought of his parents who had given him everything he could ever wish for, however now as he was dead, he wouldn’t even have the chance to say goodbye.

Hui Yue looked at Li Fen who was crying while touching the bloody corpse, trying to convince herself that he was still alive, that there was still a possibility to save him, and a wave of sadness flooded in Hui Yue’s heart.

He had never wanted to make Li Fen feel this pain and he was very aware that his parents were going to be as heartbroken as she was, but he was also certain that he had made the right choice.

Hui Yue was not a selfless person, nor was he a charitable person, however there were three people in this world that Hui Yue would give his life to save. Li Fen happened to be one of those people, therefore Hui Yue had no regrets.

To save the woman he loved by sacrificing his own was the right choice, however death was still a frightening thing.

“Live well,” Hui Yue whispered towards the crying Li Fen, before he attempted to mentally brace himself for the awaiting death that should be coming to claim him. However, instead of death, Hui Yue heard a mocking voice from within the Blue Fire which drawled

“What a sappy love story.”