Riluo City (Blue Phoenix Book 1) (86 page)

Making his way up the stairs, dripping blood on the beautiful carpet, Hui Yue finally opened the door to see that Sha Yun was waiting for him. A smile appeared on his face as he recognized the familiar feeling of having her by his side, and he collapsed on the floor without saying a word.

Hui Yue was floating within a black abyss. Nothing seemed to be present apart from the black world expanding infinitely. While in this black abyss, Hui Yue sensed that it was possible for him to move around, and he slowly started floating further and further away from his previous location, yet all he saw was the black world where nothing was present, not even the ground or the sky, just the black abyss.

Hui Yue felt as though he had been locked within this realm for an eternity, before he finally came across a change. Within this black abyss, the first thing he saw was five flames with different colours and sizes forming a pentagon.

The yellow flame and the red flame were definitely the biggest of the five, closely followed by the silver flame. The green and the blue flames were both present, but neither of them had a decent size, making them seem to struggle for survival.

Looking at these flames, Hui Yue assumed it had something to do with his and Lan Feng’s elemental affinity, as the red flame and yellow flame could easily represent the affinities he had. What caused Hui Yue to be slightly hesitant about his theory, however, was that all the flames were present, when the phoenix taught him that it was only possible to have two affinities each.

Could it be that Lan Feng had been wrong? Furrowing his brows, Hui Yue felt as though he had been looking at the elements for what seemed like an eternity, but even while doing so, Hui Yue was not able to understand what they represented, and instead he decided to move on. Who knew what else he might find in this infinite abyss. Moving further away, Hui Yue once more travelled for an eternity within the black world, nothing was moving except him. The world seemed as though it had reached a standstill.

Finally, light was seen within the darkness, a light which seemed very familiar. Hui Yue was suddenly within a room which seemed exactly like his dantian cave, yet no colours nor sounds were heard. The Qi spiral was frozen in place, and so was Lan Feng who could be seen sleeping on the side.

The only light and movement came from the small caves which had been created on the dantian cave wall. The caves containing the blood red mist and the clear blue sky. Currently the two phenomena were moving around actively as though they had sensed Hui Yue, yet what drew his attention was no longer the two open caves. Instead he moved straight for one of the closed caves in front of him.

Hui Yue’s eyes grew wide as he felt a calling. A calling from the other side of the barrier, and ever so slowly, he raised his white pale hand and placed it upon the energy screen which kept the cave closed off, only to see it slowly dissipated below his hand, the energy shining brightly as it flew into the Qi spiral which in turn started turning ever so slowly.

At first he was blinded by the intense light of the energy, which shone out from within the room. A bright green and comfortable colour illuminated the otherwise black version of his dantian cave.

The previously frozen Qi Spiral was now revolving rapidly around itself, and the copy of Hui Yue was currently refining the energy which had been blocking the cave before.

Within the cave was a small green pearl which was floating around in a pattern similar to that of the Qi spiral. As soon as the doorway was opened and the pearl revolved around itself a few times, it ended up releasing long rays of green light, which exited the Qi cave and entered the Chong Mai meridian.

Hui Yue was unable to see anything else, as he once again found himself within the black abyss, floating around, yet now his body seemed to be aching slightly.

The aching turned into sharp pain and the pain seemed to grow in intensity. When the first sharp pain appeared, a white flash illuminated the abyss for a tenth of a second, and strangely the more pain he felt, the lighter the surroundings grew.

Little by little, Hui Yue seemed to return to the world as the pain was changing the surroundings. Hui Yue finally opened his eyes and looked at a worried Sha Yun, who had tears flowing from her eyes as she shook the wounded Hui Yue.

Hui Yue could not help but hiss in pain as the shaking was done. Sha Yun’s long and sharp nails were piercing his wounded shoulder, and he quickly made her stop what she was doing.

Looking down, Hui Yue saw how in front of him a green glow was causing the wound on his leg to heal before his very eyes. Although the speed was far inferior to that of a professional healer, it was definitely healing much quicker than Hui Yue had ever healed in the past.

The green light seemed so familiar and Hui Yue’s eyes widened in shock when he realised that this light was the one he had released in his black dantian cave previously, while stuck within the black abyss.

‘Come here.’ Lan Feng called out, and Hui Yue managed to sit down in a meditational position. Although it was uncomfortable with his leg which was healing and the shoulder which was injured it was still manageable, and Hui Yue allowed for his mental projection to slip down into the dantian cave.

Looking around, Hui Yue was stunned, despite having already guessed that something had changed. Within his dantian cave, the Qi spiral was so large and powerful that it was obvious that it brought him close to breaking through the bottleneck into the Master rank.

Not only had the Qi Spiral changed, but one of the closed gates had been opened and within was a green pearl about the size of Hui Yue’s thumbnail. The pearl was much smaller than when he had seen it within the black abyss world.

‘What happened?’ Lan Feng asked with worry and Hui Yue gave a quick account of the things which had happened during his state of unconsciousness.

‘I see.’ Lan Feng frowned slightly. ‘I’ve never actually experienced anything like this before.’ He continued. ‘You are a man of many secrets it seems. But I can confirm that the green pearl was larger before. It suddenly allowed for some of its power to seep out and your body started healing itself.’

Hui Yue nodded, he had guessed that the orb was the cause of his healing. However, this orb was very different from the red mist and the blue cloud. It was not an emotion which seemed to struggle against the barrier. Instead it seemed as though it was patiently waiting within his Qi cave and was slowly absorbing some of the essence which it refined into the green energy, allowing for the pearl to very slowly grow in size.

Chapter 74 – Food with Iron

‘How long was I unconscious?’ Hui Yue asked Lan Feng, as he slowly circled around the small green pearl, observing it from every angle possible.

‘Only a few moments,’ Was the answer. Lan Feng was also walking around the pearl, yet no matter how much the two looked at the pearl, no clues could be found.

‘The only thing we know is that it is connected with that red mist and blue cloud somehow. We just don’t know how yet.’ Hearing this Hui Yue nodded. ‘Don’t forget to mention its healing properties. It looks like my body is healing fast thanks to it.’

‘That’s true, but you can’t rely on it indefinitely,’ Lan Feng pointed out, feeling as if Hui Yue was suddenly being too joyful. Everything had a certain limit, and it was obvious that this pearl had one to.

‘Although it healed you it has diminished in size. We don’t know how long it will take for it to regain its previous size, but for now, just act as if you do not have this healing ability. It is always better to be cautious.’

Hearing this, Hui Yue smiled bitterly but he nodded his head nonetheless. He had indeed gotten slightly ahead of himself, but that was one of the reasons why he appreciated the bird with whom he shared his body.

After checking his body, Hui Yue finally stopped meditating and smiled gently at Sha Yun, who had been waiting patiently by his side. She had panicked at first, but seeing how quickly he regained consciousness, not to mention the healing, she had calmed down and kept vigilant watch over him.

To Sha Yun, Hui Yue was the most amazing person in the entire world. He treated her well even though she was just a magical beast with human blood, and he even allowed her to have her own opinions or hobbies, as long as they did not conflict with his. In general, Hui Yue never used the bond of master and servant, instead he went for the idea of being friends.

A new life Sha Yun had sought for year after year within the Magical Forest was finally being fulfilled, and Sha Yun could not help but feel grateful to the person who allowed for it to happen.

“I’m fine already.” Hui Yue said, though his complexity was still ashen, and even though he felt rather dizzy as he tried to stand up. Although Hui Yue’s wounds had been healed, he was lacking blood. It did not seem as though the green light was capable of increasing his blood count.

Taking a deep sigh, Hui Yue moved from his seated position and went to the bed where he allowed for his heavy body to collapse once more, before he found a small memory stone in which he left a message.

“Yun can you do me a favour?” Hui Yue asked gently, as he leaned back on the soft pillow, and Sha Yun instantly moved her tail to pick up the stone, “Just tell me what to do.” she said with determined yes.

“This message, I need you to deliver it to Deng Wu. I would go myself, but I think I need some rest first.” Having said that, Sha Yun nodded her head before she went out the door with a final glance at her friend. Her silvery snake-eyes were glistening with malice as she thought of someone inflicting these severe injuries.

“This is from Hui Yue?” Deng Wu asked, as he received the memory stone but Sha Yun just nodded in reply before she rushed away. She would do any favour which Hui Yue asked of her, but she was not thinking calmly right now as  the defenceless young man was lying alone in their hotel room right now.

Sha Yun had not heard of any murders last night, so it was obvious that Hui Yue had not managed to kill the perpetrator, which caused the snake-woman to feel uneasy as she rushed through town like the wind before finally reaching the inn once more.

The first few times Sha Yun had stayed at the inn, the manager treated her as a beast, yet now she was treated like a valued customer, and Sha Yun nodded in greeting, before she swept up the stairs and entered the rented room once more.

Hui Yue was currently deeply asleep on the bed, and there was no evidence of anything having happened while she was gone. A feeling of relief flooded over the snake-woman, as she breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

Sha Yun once more exited the room before she went downstairs. There she ordered all the food she could think of that contained a noticeable amount of iron. It was her time to spoil Hui Yue and do her best to help him regain the blood he lost.

Across town, while Sha Yun was focused on food, Deng Wu held the memory stone in his hand, and he quickly checked the message. 
We have to go house viewing tomorrow instead. Something came up and I need to stabilize my Qi today.

Reading the massage over and over, Deng Wu furrowed his brows. Hui Yue was not a person who would change his plans unless something unexpected had happened. And if that was the case, Hui Yue would never have asked Sha Yun to bring him the information unless it was something very serious.

Deng Wu could not help but worry about Hui Yue when he got the message, yet at the same time he decided to just let his friend rest and stabilize their Qi. It was obvious that Hui Yue did not wish for Deng Wu to know about what had happened, and Deng Wu respected that. After all both of these two friends had secrets which they could not tell the other about.

“Young Master Wu!” Someone called from outside of Deng Wu’s courtyard. “It is time for the meeting with the Wang family. You have been requested to participate this time.” Hearing this, Deng Wu no longer thought about the memory stone, instead he circulated his Qi through his body and to his hand where he used the energy to shatter the memory stone.

Crunching sounds could be heard as Deng Wu stepped on the broken stone on his way down the stairs towards the main hall.

“We all have our little secrets.” He mumbled, as he swiftly passed the servants which had called for him. “Some secrets are bigger than others. Don’t hate me for this little Yue.”