Chapter 64: The Phoenix’s Attack
That night, Li Jianyu fell asleep leaning on Li Guan hui’s shoulder. He did not sleep well, but Li Jianyu had not had a peaceful sleep for several days.
And then, after the large ship had been drifting on the sea for two or three days, it finally arrived at the island on the map.
It was said that ordinary people could not go to Phoenix Ridge, because after drifting on the sea for several days, they could not see the island unless there was a phoenix on the ship. And even if they did, without the phoenix’s permission, ordinary people could not break through the barrier, could not see anything, and would be lost in the dense forest.
In ancient times, people had tried their best to capture phoenixes to have them lead the way.
From a distance, the island was a sea of green.
After the ship docked, Li Jianyu had the team stay on the ship to guard the ice coffin, while he himself led Xing Huan and a few others through the barrier on the beach and slowly moved forward on the narrow forest path.
The three phoenixes circled in the sky. Perhaps because they had returned home, they were particularly excited at this moment. The little phoenix in his arms was even jumping up and down.
Li Jianyu stopped. With his eyes closed, he could feel the abundant spiritual energy and the long, drifting cries in his ear.
“Wow…!” Chong Xi exclaimed. “This is a paradise on earth.”
After passing through the small path, what came into view was a sea of golden yellow. The towering trees before them seemed to be hundreds of years old, or even older. They were so tall that their tops could not be seen, but they were not dense, so there was still enough space for the phoenixes to spread their wings.
And the leaves of these trees were all golden, and under the refraction of the sunlight, the surroundings were a dazzling golden yellow.
Swoosh—
A phoenix passed through the forest, paused when it saw Li Jianyu and the others, and then quickly flew away, probably not used to outsiders, especially humans.
Besides his own, this was the first time Li Jianyu had seen other phoenixes on the island, and his heart clicked in amazement.
He had never expected that besides his own, there were still phoenixes in this world, and so many of them.
He could feel that there were many phoenixes on this island, but the island was too large, and there were many hidden places, so he might not necessarily be able to meet them.
“City Lord, here.” Dan Xi waved at Li Jianyu.
He saw a dilapidated stone tablet under one of the old trees at the side. The stone tablet was carved with dense curves and some characters.
Dan Xi looked at it for a while, then at the ghost-like drawings, and shook his head. “I can’t understand it.”
“It’s the phoenix’s script,” Li Jianyu said, squatting down in front of the stone tablet. He looked at it for a while. “This is a map, a map of the island… Here!”
Li Jianyu pointed to a place on the map. “This is marked as the Hall of Immortality. It must be our destination.”
The place marked on the map was in a cavern halfway up the mountain. After finally reaching their destination, just as Li Jianyu and the others were about to enter, they were swept out by a strong, hot wind from the cavern.
“What’s going on?”
Wan Yunliu pulled up Li Jianyu, who had fallen to the ground, his hand on the hilt of his sword at his waist, his eyes full of vigilance as he stared at the entrance of the cave before them. Xing Huan also held Dan Xi with one arm and opened his fan with the other.
Looking in from the outside, the cave was pitch black, and the sound of rushing water could be vaguely heard. It was impossible to tell where the fierce wind was coming from.
“Calm down.”
Li Jianyu pressed on Wan Yunliu’s hand and turned his head. “Look, Dabao and the others aren’t reacting. The one inside is probably not an enemy, but most likely another phoenix.”
“Perhaps the inside is that phoenix’s territory, and it doesn’t want us to break in.”
Xing Huan said, “Then what should we do? It clearly doesn’t want to negotiate with us.”
Li Jianyu frowned at the entrance of the cave.
“Let’s try one more time.” Li Jianyu snapped his fingers, had Dabao lower itself, and climbed onto its back. “You all wait outside.”
Li Jianyu had Dabao fly in.
As soon as they entered, a sharp, long cry resounded through the entire cave entrance.
Li Jianyu saw that the space in the cave was extremely large, and there were also many passages and small cave entrances, like a palace in a cave that one could move through.
Before him was a huge phoenix, its eyes as beautiful as black gems. Unlike Dabao and the others, this phoenix had a pair of watery eyes, full of affection and tenderness.
It looked just like a person.
Li Jianyu was stunned. However, before he could say anything, the phoenix before him let out a long cry and swung a hurricane at them with its wings.
Although its eyes were as gentle as water, its temper seemed to be bad at this moment.
Li Jianyu sighed in his heart, shrank into Dabao’s feathers, and said in a low voice, “Let’s go.”
Li Jianyu held onto Dabao and did not intend to let it fight back and turn it into a battle.
After Li Jianyu came out, Wan Yunliu immediately came forward. “How was it?”
Li Jianyu rubbed his ears, which were ringing. “That phoenix is unwilling to let us in. We have to find another way.”
“It’s getting late. Let’s find a place to stay,” Chong Xi said with a smile. “This is the phoenixes’ old nest. I saw many caves and shady spots on the way.”
This island was very safe. The other phoenixes did not seem to want to harm them, just a little wary. So, Li Jianyu had someone move the ice coffin up as well. The team rested in a large cave, and the three phoenixes were perched on the branches of a large tree outside.
Li Jianyu said that it was too cold in the cave. Even with a fire, it was still cold, and there were other people inside. He couldn’t burn the whole cave with torches like the other phoenixes, so he went outside to sleep in Dabao’s arms with the phoenixes.
“Where is the City Lord?”
At night, the island was quiet. Xing Huan had taken Chong Xi out to hunt, but found that there was no prey here. After returning empty-handed and seeing that Li Jianyu was not there, he asked casually.
Wan Yunliu was by the fire, wiping his sword. “It’s too cold here. He’s sleeping outside with the phoenixes.”
“The City Lord is really different from us,” Xing Huan said with a smile, sitting beside Wan Yunliu with emotion.
Wan Yunliu lowered his eyes slightly.
Dan Xi shook his head. “This is an insurmountable obstacle between His Majesty and the City Lord.”
“Jianyu is indeed different from us, but he’s probably not sleeping outside because it’s cold, but because he wants to act alone,” Wan Yunliu said with a bitter smile. “I’m sure Jianyu wants to force his way in and fight with that phoenix. We mortals can’t withstand a battle between mythical beasts. Jianyu is probably worried that we will get hurt and plans to deliberately hide it from us and go out.”
Xing Huan and Dan Xi looked at each other.
And Wan Yunliu was indeed right. In the deep of night, when everyone except the night watch was asleep, Li Jianyu woke up.
Dabao sensed the movement of the person in its arms and lazily raised its eyes to look at Li Jianyu.
Li Jianyu poked Dabao’s stomach. “You guys wait here. Don’t follow.”
Dabao shook its head in dissatisfaction.
“Be good.”
Phoenixes were always obedient. Although they were dissatisfied, they did not disobey their master’s will. So, Li Jianyu quietly leaped down from the tree and went to the Hall of Immortality by himself.
XXXXXX
Rustle… rustle…
After Li Jianyu had quietly slipped into the Hall of Immortality, his ears were filled with the sound of rushing water.
Li Jianyu didn’t want the phoenix to notice, so he carefully lightened his steps and moved quickly through the rocks, hiding his body.
Following the phoenix’s heat, Li Jianyu slowly approached the cave where it was.
The sound of the water grew louder and louder, and now it was as if it were right in his ear.
It was the sound of a waterfall.
Li Jianyu hid behind a huge rock, peeked out, and saw the phoenix nestled on a stone bed not far away, its eyes closed in rest, its wings seeming to be wrapped around something. And behind the stone bed was a clear, rushing waterfall.
In the dim cave, a phoenix was sleeping before a water curtain, the golden light on its body and the light from the water behind it complementing each other, looking very beautiful.
The thing under the phoenix… was it the legendary jade bed that could replenish the qi and blood of the living, and bring the dead back to life?
Li Jianyu took a deep breath.
What should he do to get the jade bed without harming the phoenix?
Splash————
The huge rock before him cracked in response. Li Jianyu’s thoughts were immediately interrupted. He saw that the phoenix had already woken up, had noticed him, and had launched a powerful attack at him.
Worried that he would be injured, Li Jianyu decisively transformed into a phoenix, spread his wings, and dodged the furious wind blades.
The two phoenixes charged into the air, flapping their wings, trying to knock each other down. For a moment, the top of the cave was filled with wind blades and heat waves.
Crash—
The stone walls were subjected to one crazy impact after another. The entire cave was shaking, and rubble kept falling.
Both phoenixes were worried about destroying the stone bed, so the phoenix charged into the waterfall, and Li Jianyu naturally followed closely.
However, Li Jianyu had miscalculated. This was the phoenix’s territory. He didn’t know how long it had been here. It was naturally more familiar with the terrain than he was.
After charging into the waterfall, they were hit by the water flow, and the fire spirit power of the two phoenixes was reduced a lot by the water vapor. Li Jianyu tried hard to maintain his posture, wanting to find the phoenix’s tracks, but he couldn’t see anything but the white water.
Splash————
Finally, the phoenix suddenly flew out from a large crevice in the waterfall, with a wind blade, and slapped Li Jianyu away with one wing.
Li Jianyu was hit dizzy, and his body was thrown out of the waterfall, falling heavily on the bank of the river.
With such an impact, Li Jianyu’s secret art could no longer hold up, and he slowly returned to his human form.
The phoenix pursued him relentlessly. It had originally wanted to attack again, but it was stunned when it saw Li Jianyu.
I’m sure the phoenix is also very confused, Li Jianyu thought. After all, ordinary phoenixes cultivate from their beast form to their human form, so if their secret art can’t hold up, if they are in human form, they will be beaten back to their beast form. But he was the opposite.
Li Jianyu curled up his body, inhaling and exhaling, adjusting his breathing.
Although he was not injured, it was quite a shock to suddenly return to his human form.
The phoenix landed beside Li Jianyu, its eyes staring straight at him.
“I… cough, cough…” Li Jianyu held his head defensively. “I don’t mean to harm you! I just want to borrow this place for a while. I really need it.”
And then, the phoenix also transformed into a human form.
Li Jianyu was stunned.
The only one in the phoenix clan who could transform into a human form wasn’t…
Slowly appearing before him was a slender man in a white robe. Like Li Jianyu, he had soft, black, waist-length long hair. The long hair, wet from the water, was draped casually, but it was very neat.
But what shocked Li Jianyu was that the man looked almost exactly like him.
The man approached Li Jianyu a little nervously and held the Li family heirloom jade pendant at his waist.
“Li Jian… Yu?”
Li Jianyu stared at the man with wide eyes.
“You…” Li Jianyu opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say.
And then, the man pulled his hand back as if struck by lightning, turned his head away, not daring to look at Li Jianyu, transformed into a phoenix, and flew away.
And so the cave returned to its tranquility, with only the sound of the lapping water.
Li Jianyu lay on the bank, staring blankly in the direction the phoenix had flown.
