Blue Phoenix

Leaving the forest, Hui Yue was silent. His blue eyes narrowed slightly, observing everything which happened around him, and shined vigilant in the dim light the moon cascaded down upon them.

The fields were empty. Tools were stacked up at the corner of each field, as the farmers had left them there before retreating back into the city at dusk.

The City shined with light that was visible from far away. No wall was protecting this place; instead, many farmhouses surrounded the outskirts of the city, with animals resting inside small barns.

The eerie silence was occasionally interrupted by the sound of weak and domesticated demon beasts growling or howling in the air in response to the scent and sounds of young people who made their way through the dusty streets.

The houses seemed to be built from good quality wood and were well looked after. None were worn down nor destroyed by demon beasts. By the look of the houses alone, one could tell that the citizens within the city had very safe lives when it came to magical beast attacks.

Walking on the streets, Hui Yue noticed that, although light was streaming out the windows, no one was walking on the streets, leaving them completely deserted. Happy voices could be heard from the houses, causing a frown to appear on Hui Yue’s face. Everyone seemed cheerful, yet no one left their houses. The white-haired young man grew increasingly alert.

A tense atmosphere grew between the four friends as they slowly made their way past the farming houses and towards the urban areas of the city, all aiming to find an inn.

Walking further into the town made them become even more vigilant in their lookout. Even here, no one walked on the streets, only allowing for the light and laughter from within houses to stream into the empty world.

Making a swift decision, Hui Yue gestured with his hand and all four turned around. None of them said a word, and while moving they were all as quiet as shadows while retreating out of the city once more.

The sun was rising in the sky by the time the four made it back to the forest and gathered behind the trees. They were hiding for the sake of not allowing any citizens to see them waiting.

As the sun rose in the sky, Hui Yue was seated quietly in the shadows of the forest, where he observed how the workers appeared under the rising sun, which shone down few rays upon them. The weather was everything like a usual autumn day, and the workers seemed to plow the soil and plant the seeds with a routine that had long since been integrated into them.

There were absolutely no signs of additional sunshine or amazing energy ripples, which one would have expected from having Sun, one of the strongest laws, held captive.

From what he had been told, Sun should have been taken to this city, and he had expected that this would result in the city being filled with sunshine, radiating immense heat, yet looking at the city and fields, one would not be able to tell this place was any different from any other city.

Having waited a couple of hours, Hui Yue finally rose to his feet and stretched his stiff body before a splendid smile appeared on his face.

“Let’s see how they welcome visitors,” he said as he turned around and walked towards the fields and citizens with steady and confident steps.

Walking out from the forest, not many of the farmers noticed them, yet with each step they took, more and more farmers would stop in their tracks as they stared at Hui Yue and the others, their mouths agape as though they had seen a ghost.

Seeing that they had such a reaction but did nothing to stop them, Hui Yue kept his blinding smile and nodded or winked every now and then to the pretty girls who were walking in the fields.

The calm and carefree expression which Hui Yue showed was not possible to be mirrored by any of the others, but seeing Hui Yue walk in front of the three, especially someone as exotic as Sha Yun, the farmers instantly took Hui Yue to be someone they should not mess with. Instead, the girls whom he nodded to got red cheeks and felt their hearts flutter, since this esteemed person had shown them favour.

Great curiosity as to whom this person was, and from where his entourage appeared, caused many of the farmers to follow them as they made their way to the city at a leisurely pace; Hui Yue attentively showed interest in everything around him.

From the very start only a few farmers had seen them, yet by the time they made it to the farmhouses, they had an entourage of over two hundred farmers following them. Even while so many followed behind him, Hui Yue still walked at a leisurely pace, as though he were used to having that many followers.

Respect for Hui Yue bloomed within the three friends, as his demeanour had changed completely into that of a young master. The four friends were especially astonished as they had to admit that even they was slightly uncomfortable with showing their backs to this many unknown farmers, and some strains of displeasure were visible on their faces. This, in turn, further fueled the theory of Hui Yue being a young master who was travelling with his magical beast and two retainers.

Although Hui Yue moved slowly to seem as a young master who feared nothing, he also walked slowly to observe everything around them in the daylight.

These farmers clearly belonged in the farm houses, and people from within the houses quickly gathered along with their families, whispering to one another, causing the many voices to group together into the loudest murmurs Hui Yue had ever heard before.

The farmers’ houses were of good quality, but, even so, Hui Yue was able to tell that these were the lowest ranked within the city, information he made sure to note down.

Looking around, Hui Yue frowned as he quickly exited the areas where animals were held, and his speed once more slowed down as he entered a paved road with smaller, yet clearly better, houses.

They had now come as far as they had the night before, yet everything was the complete opposite of what it had been, making Hui Yue to chuckle slightly. The chuckle, however, quickly changed to a frown as he looked around but could not locate an inn.

Walking further the houses were changed out with mansions, and eventually, Hui Yue and the entourage were in the middle of town, looking at an astonishing pagoda, yet there was no expression of astonishment on Hui Yue’s face. Instead, a look of annoyance could be seen, as though he had not even noticed the beautiful pagoda.

Mustering all his courage, a young man stepped forward and cleared his throat. Hui Yue intentionally ignored it a few times before he finally turned around and looked at the youth with a noble but gentle expression in his face.

“Can I help you?” Hui Yue’s voice broke through the air like a sharp sword through a body, cutting right into the bone; deadly yet so beautiful and alluring that everyone would gladly listen just to hear it once more.

Swallowing a few times, the youngster opened his mouth and stuttered, “My.. milord, is there anything I can do for you?”

Looking at the young man, Hui Yue noticed how he cowered in front of what he thought to be a young master, and the white-haired young man almost pitied him, yet in his world the ones who mattered to him were his friends and himself. He had already learned that within this world, mercy was a luxury he could not afford.

“I am looking for an inn,” Hui Yue said, his voice floating over every peasant who had followed him so far, but the square no longer only contained farmers. It contained any kind of citizen within the small city, but as soon as they heard the word “inn,” a collective gasp sounded out followed by loud murmurs.

Hui Yue frowned as he saw that, and the man he had spoken with earlier was looking at Hui Yue with veneration equal to that of a dog to its master. From within the crowd, sentences such as “He is from a city with inns.” “He is used to rest in an inn.” could be heard.

Deep inside, Hui Yue could not help but be fairly shocked when he saw such a strong reaction to something as small as an inn, but outside, he showed nothing in his facial expression. Instead, he looked around impatiently as multiple citizens gained the courage to appear in front of him.

“Perhaps your lordship would consider staying at my humble abode?” a man asked very politely. But before Hui Yue had the time to answer, another person pushed his way in front and asked the same question.

Within a few moments a fight had broken out, causing even guards of the city to force their way into the middle of the horde, trying to break them up, yet little good that did. Hui Yue looked at the Disciple ranked guards and sighed.

“Take care of it,” Hui Yue said, his voice seemingly arrogant and ordering, but as soon as they heard the order, Deng Wu, Wang Ju Long and Sha Yun moved forward, ready to do just that.

It was not that Hui Yue usually spoke to his friends in such an arrogant way, but the fact that all three had fallen into the roles which the audience had assumed for them.

Walking towards the fighting people, the surrounding audience quickly retreated as they saw the three arriving.

Sha Yun let out a low hiss in displeasure, as she had to work, and with a sweep of her tail, three men were instantly blown out of the bundle of fighting men. One of the three was thrown so far back that he landed on top of two other citizens who were watching the fight; all three of them crashed to the ground, blood sprayed everywhere and the white from broken bones was visible in the cluster of flesh and clothes the poor visitors turned into.

The two others were not as lucky, but the audience was relieved as soon as they landed against the pagoda with blood spraying from their mouths and slumping down, collapsing on the ground with no signs of life.

It was a selfish relief which flooded through the audience, as although some of the citizens died, they died on their own, not dragging innocent bystanders with them to death.

The smell of blood caused the fight to still, and shock was plastered in their faces as they saw the unfortunate people who had been picked up by Sha Yun. Even more shocked were they when they saw the menacing expression on her beautiful face. It was obvious that she was strongly opposing the fighting they had seen.

The guards stood still, limbs frozen by fear, as they contemplated what they should do with the young master who had appeared with such a strong force. They all knew that if they were to go against him, they were not his match.

It was not long before now that Hui Yue noticed all the citizens were around the student rank while the guards were practitioners. In the entire area around the pagoda, no one seemed to have even unlocked the middle dantian.

Everyone was completely quiet and shocked, yet from the distance, Hui Yue noticed a ruckus, as someone tried to make their way to the centre. His attention was on them from the very start, and an interesting gleam appeared in his eyes, the smile never once leaving his lips.

The ones who were coming were all Practitioner ranked experts, and Hui Yue guessed that within this city, that was considered a rather high cultivation base, yet the group was nothing more than an appetizer for Deng Wu’s soul shadows.

Breaking through the horde of humans, a group of twenty men made it to the square where Hui Yue stood leisurely while his friends were by his side, ready to attack the arrivals should Hui Yue wish for it.

The twenty new arrivals were clearly all of a different rank than the guards who had appeared so far. Their faces were very arrogant, and their uniforms were all bright red, though as soon as they laid eyes upon Hui Yue, shock was evident in their expressions, and the man in front took a few steps forward.

“Young lord.” His voice still had a slight arrogance, yet he showed all signs of courtesy as he bowed to Hui Yue. “The City Lord would like to welcome you to our humble city.”