Riluo City (Blue Phoenix Book 1) (3 page)

Chapter 1 - Rebirth

Hui Yue had been floating in a sea of blue flames for what seemed like an eternity. At first, he had been panic stricken , but the endless blue flames of sea was swaying his mind, quickly washing away the depressing thoughts that  still lingered within the soul of Hui Yue.

Currently Hui Yue found himself comfortable in a way he had never been before. His body was light and floated around in the sea. He was completely without any worries; instead he just casually moved around, observing the flickering blue embers which the sea was made of, and which in turn  engulfed him.

He was well aware that he had died.  Though the blue sea was doing everything it could to wash away his sorrows, there was a feeling of loss, which could not be filled.

Whenever Hui Yue thought about this, he remembered the face of Li Fen. He remembered their childhood together but most importantly the first time he realised  he loved her. He then remembered the smiles she would give him, and the fluffiness they brought him.

Although Hui Yue kept thinking about life with Li Fen, he also knew that there was no way he could ever return to his previous life. Death, however, did not seem as terrible as he had expected. There was no darkness. No monsters nor a long path of light leading towards stairs. There was nothing apart from this endless blue sea.

These blue flames were so calming that he soon lost the memories of  leaving behind Li Fen and his parents. His worries  subsided  into an unexplainable feeling that everything would be okay.

Suddenly, Hui Yue was startled as he heard a faint mumbling,  from a sound that came from far away. His soul became alert as the changes were happening and he strained his ears trying to pick up the words which were being said. Unfortunately, everything h was muffled and no matter how hard he tried, he was still unable to understand what the voices were saying.

For a long time, Hui Yue was as  tense as a bowstring; fear and panic was threatening to overtake him, however even if he wished to move away, it was currently impossible as his consciousness was completely trapped within the blue sea of flames.

Hui Yue focused his attention towards the sounds, but it took some time before he noticed how the previously still blue flames were starting to roar up into the blue sky.

The change of the sea caused the already alert Hui Yue to finally force himself to calm down and observe the changes which were happening around him.

While the flames grew larger the sea grew smaller and a suction force started pulling the alert Hui Yue towards the dark blue abyss. As this suction force appeared, Hui Yue noticed that the murmur he had heard previously originated within the abyss, and  he was heading straight for it.

Hui Yue felt his consciousness flicker slightly.  His consciousness was rushing down a dark blue tunnel, falling towards an unknown location. The initial fear had long since passed  since these events felt as if they took years to complete. Every stage, every meter of travel was clearly visible to the alert Hui Yue.

As Hui Yue noticed that he was rushing through a dark tunnel, falling towards an unknown location his speed suddenly picked up.  It  changed from just a few metres each year, to a few metres each day.   eventually fell to a high speed towards the end.

A hint of fear sneaked back into his heart, as he was unaware of what his future might bring. He had no idea how this blue sea and black tunnel was capable of controlling time, or at least his sense of time.  However, he forcefully calmed himself down with the thought that he had already died and with no body he should no longer be able to feel pain.

Hui Yue  focused on suppressing the fear, so that it would not cloud his alertness.  He attentively observed everything which was happening around him. Soon he felt how his consciousness had stopped moving, but it did not come to a harsh stop, rather the speed slowly calmed down before it softly disappeared.

Hui Yue noticed subtle changes within his surroundings, but currently he was unable to truly understand what was going on. His senses were still alert, just as before, however nothing seemed to be happening.

A moment of complete silence followed Hui Yue’s arrival, at wherever he was.  Nevertheless, after that moment he heard the previous voices which had been mumbling. These voices were no longer a low mumble, but hurried voices which were yelling right next to him.

The darkness had changed from a black tunnel to a lighter shade, a shade that Hui Yue was familiar with all too well.

Hui Yue needed a moment to understand what was happening around him.  Once he relatively understood his situation  he noticed that he was no longer just a consciousness but once again contained within a body. Shock filled his heart and increased the beat.

The darkness which surrounded him was from having his eyes closed, however opening them was not an easy task.

Hui Yue was rigid from fear and curiosity. He had been dead, of that he was sure, but now he suddenly found himself in a body. It was impossible for him to move in this body though, even opening his eyes seemed to be a cumbersome task, however even if he had to live his life as a vegetable it was worth it, as he could now once more see Li Fen and his parents.

His fear melted away as he thought of Li Fen and the terrified expression on her face.  His gratitude towards the heavens spread  within him as he knew that they might now be reunited. Maybe he could even get  this body moving again..

Hui Yue decided to try moving  the limbs, testing whether they were still attached to him, and shock flooded in over him as he noticed that they were somewhat following his orders. However, although they were following his orders, he could not help but feel that something was amiss.

Hui Yue’s entire body felt very different from what he was used to before the crash, but he decided that details like  this could be focused upon later. The most important part for Hui Yue was to once again seeing Li Fen’s beautiful smile.. The fact that he could control a body left him feeling relieved, and he focused all his energy into forcing his tired and sealed eyes open.

As soon as his eyes opened, he instantly screamed. His heart fell as if it tried to escape his breast and fear shone in his eyes.

In front of him was the face of a giant. It was a rough looking man with a bearded face so close that Hui Yue was certain that he would reach it if he stretched out his arm.

After containing the scream, Hui Yue dared not make another sound let alone move a muscle. The fear within his eyes was evident for this giant as well, but he seemed to not notice.

Shock filled  Hui Yue deeply.

No way, Hui Yue thought deeply shocked. Was Harry Potter actually real?! It was now obvious that something impossible had happened.

Hui Yue’s first thought was to instantly escape and find a safe location from which he could focus on understanding this new world he had encountered. However right now, there was no way of escaping with a giant staring right at him.

At least this giant did not seem hostile in any way; however, it was still a dangerous situation to be caught in right after waking up in a new body, and being completely unguarded.

Hui Yue was scared. He had expected to see Li Fen and his complete mind-set had been positive, but everything had been thrown to scrambles and now feared for his future. He feared for his questionable new life.

“Don’t be that close, you are scaring him dear,” an exhausted but gracious voice sounded from the side, and Hui Yue slowly turned his head to look in the direction that the voice came from.

It was hard to move his head or even keep his eyes open, but he forced them to do so as he currently had no choice but to stay alert. To stay on guard and to understand what was happening around him.

As Hui Yue moved his head, he noticed that he was currently located in a worn out bedroom in a run-down shack. Looking at the shack made Hui Yue furrow his brows and wonder if he had travelled in time.  The interior resembled the interior of those wooden shacks used for commoners in ancient China.

Something about the air was much richer than the one he had been used to, not to mention that these giants were unlikely to exists within his previous world, and Hui Yue suddenly understood that he was in another world.

The bed within the bedroom was currently occupied by a woman who should have been beautiful, but right now her face was filled with exhaustion and pain. The lower part of the bed was smeared in blood and a young girl was washing the injured woman.

Hui Yue was both scared and confused as his eyes widened and he stared at the bed. The entire situation was something which he was completely unable to understand.

These giants  do not seem hostile, Hui Yue thought while observing the  two adults.

He continued to contemplate for some time, but reached the solution that the easiest way to gain information would be to simply talk to them .

Although he had decided to seek help from the friendly giants it still took a few breaths  for him to stabilize his breathing and calm his soul before he finally opened his mouth.

“goo goo.. Gah.. Uwhaa!” Hui Yue had tried to say something along the lines of ‘Excuse me, could you explain what is happening here?’ however the words that came out from his mouth made no sense. Hui Yue’s eyes widened as he got quiet and had a strange and rather uncomfortable premonition.

“Listen darling,” the bearded giant said as he reached down and carried Hui Yue towards the fatigued woman, “our son is already trying to speak.” There was tenderness in his voice, and the same tenderness was shown on the woman’s face.

The tenderness and care that those two people showed Hui Yue made his heart ache as he was reminded of his parents and the pain he  left behind in them with his early death.

Not to mention his own pain. Seeing these two adults made him wish for his parents. Made him miss how they would talk with him randomly or lovingly scold him if he broke items.

He also missed Li Fen. The woman whom he had given his life to save and the woman who had meant the world to him. He had hoped to be reunited with her, but now he realised that it was highly unlikely to ever happen. A clump appeared within Hui Yue’s throat and he had to fight it back to avoid crying.

Lying on his new mother’s bosom, Hui Yue forced himself to ignore the pain and sadness he felt from the loss of his parents and Li Fen. Instead he started thinking through everything that had happened to him.

He should have believed the old lady when she said that the hairpin was cursed, it truly did seem to have killed him, however he was not certain how he could have gone from death to resurrection.

‘Obviously it was caused by my astonishing power’, a self-satisfied voice drawled somewhere inside of Hui Yue’s mind, causing the already frightened young man to become even more frightened. The voice seemed faintly familiar.

‘Who are you?’ Hui Yue asked tentatively, while trying to remember where he had heard this voice before, however as soon as he had thought that he remembered. It was the voice that he had heard just as he was dying.

Hui Yue instantly turned alert and he did not allow for even the slightest muscle in his new body to relax.   He knew that he was in a dangerous situation. He was in the body of an infant, and he seemed unable to fight back in his current situation.

Is he the death reaper? Hui Yue questioned himself while refusing to say anything else. However, even if he did not say anything, it seemed as if it did not matter much as the voice was giving a healthy laugh.

‘You are not bad kid!’ The voice exclaimed happily, as if it was praising a good dog, ‘I am the legendary blue phoenix, and indeed I was sealed within the cursed hairpin which you bought.’

‘You are the one who killed me?’ Hostility  flared up in Hui Yue’s mind as he roared towards the hidden voice.

This voice belonged to the person who took away Li Fen from him.  The blue phoenix was the one who had taken away his hopes for a future and taken away his parents’ only child. This self-proclaimed phoenix definitely was someone who caused Hui Yue to be seething with rage.