Chapter 66: A Turning Point
Another three days passed.
“What should we do now?”
Outside the cave, the few of them were at a loss.
Li Jianyu had blocked the entrance to the room he was in. They couldn’t just leave him here, but now they couldn’t get in either. Were they supposed to blow up the cave?
Thud!
Chong Xi stared blankly as Xing Huan and Wan Yunliu brought explosives from the ship. He said in disbelief, “Are you really going to blow it up?”
Dan Xi frowned. “This is a sacred phoenix ground. It’s not good to blow it up.”
Li Guan hui smiled comfortingly. “They’re not really going to blow it up, just trying to scare Little Carp. But if Little Carp doesn’t come out soon, we’ll have no choice. These explosives aren’t very powerful. After we blow up the largest boulder, we can move the smaller ones by hand and with our internal energy. It won’t affect the Hall of Longevity.”
Dan Xi nodded.
Looking at Chong Xi, who was standing not far away without a word, Dan Xi went forward and asked, “What does the Princess Consort think? Do you think… this is the best choice?”
“I don’t know.”
Chong Xi lowered his eyes.
If Feng Ju Qianli died, he would not live alone. His life, everything he had, was given to him by Feng Ju Qianli. Chong Xi was not someone who cared about the world, held great power and responsibility, or had a family of old and young to support. He only had Feng Ju Qianli. And wasn’t Li Jianyu the same?
Such a thought treated life and death too seriously, and yet too lightly. But he would do it.
So he didn’t know if he should stop Li Jianyu at this moment, but they couldn’t just let him go to his death, no matter what. This was perhaps selfishness.
“Do your best and leave the rest to fate,” Chong Xi said, shaking his head.
XXXXXX
The room in the cave was very quiet, with only the sound of flowing water from a distance.
Li Jianyu was holding Zhao Linxu, sleeping soundly, his consciousness a little hazy. At this moment, because he had not had a drop of water for three days, his body was covered with the phoenix tattoo, which was glowing with a dim golden light.
“Li… Jianyu.”
Li Jianyu was stunned.
Was he dreaming?
The entrance here had been blocked by him. An outsider couldn’t possibly get in, right?
“This cave has a secret passage, not just one entrance.”
Li Jianyu turned his head with some difficulty and saw a man slowly walking towards him.
Was it… Yun Jian?
“Silly child… he won’t wake up even if you keep watch over him like this,” Yun Jian murmured, pinching Li Jianyu’s chin and forcing him to tilt his head up, bringing the lotus leaf in his hand to his lips.
Li Jianyu felt a cool liquid slowly flow into his mouth from the corner of his lips.
At this moment, Li Jianyu had no strength to resist. He just stared blankly at this father who had been absent for so many years.
Yun Jian sat down by the jade bed and looked at Li Jianyu. “If you want to save him, I can teach you. His time is not yet up.”
Yun Jian lowered his eyes and looked at his own hands.
Li Jianyu’s arrival was like a clap of thunder, reminding him that after guarding that person for so many years, perhaps it was really time to let go.
Yun Jian just couldn’t accept it. Why did he have to watch that person leave, life after life? And even after they were finally together, they still couldn’t defy fate.
But it was fate. He had tried for thousands of years and still couldn’t reverse it.
After Li Guan zhi had died, Yun Jian had suddenly felt that life was meaningless, and all his efforts had lost their meaning. But now, looking at Li Jianyu, Yun Jian seemed to see himself.
“…You can?” Li Jianyu’s eyes flashed. He used all his strength to prop himself up. “You know how?”
Yun Jian nodded lightly.
This jade bed was just a medium for the ancient art of resurrection. The main thing was the secret art and formation that only phoenixes could perform. But these had all been lost.
And Yun Jian had studied the few words from the living elders of his clan and ancient books, wanting to let that person share the same lifespan as him. After several thousand years, although he could not defeat death, he could still save people.
“But there is a very great price,” Yun Jian said. “Do you know why only phoenixes can perform this art of resurrection?”
“Because there is some special magical power in our blood?”
“No,” Yun Jian said, holding Li Jianyu’s hand. “Because in this world, only we have such a long lifespan. Only we can share our lives with others. And you are not a pure-blood phoenix. Therefore, if you give half of your lifespan to the person on the jade bed, you will no longer be immortal. You will be like an ordinary human, and you might not even live for a hundred years.”
Li Jianyu looked at Yun Jian and blinked.
So that’s how it was.
Yun Jian held Li Jianyu’s hand with one arm and stroked his head with the other. “Child, you should think it over carefully.”
“Teach me!” Li Jianyu was overjoyed, his voice even trembling a little. “I want to save him!”
“You are still young. There are many things you don’t understand…” Yun Jian sighed and said slowly, “What if that person has a change of heart? Is it worth it for you to give up half of your lifespan for him? You could have spent these long years with us here, carefree.”
Yun Jian held Li Jianyu in his arms. “Stay with Daddy in Phoenix Ridge. Here, you won’t have to see the life and death of the mortal world.”
“Then was it worth it to follow that person’s every reincarnation?” Li Jianyu looked at Yun Jian.
Yun Jian was stunned.
Li Jianyu smiled. “There’s no such thing as worth it or not. I want to be with that person for a lifetime. I can’t imagine what would happen if one day, all the people around me were gone and I was still alive… I don’t want to be lonely anymore. I think I might not be ready for immortality. I just want to live with him like an ordinary person.”
It was rare for Li Jianyu to say such things, to admit that he was afraid of being lonely, even though the person opposite him was someone he had only met twice.
But that was his father, someone he could act spoiled with.
Yun Jian paused for a moment, then slowly shook his head.
What Li Jianyu had said was also his extravagant hope. How could he not understand?
“My Jianyu has grown up… He used to be just a little white egg, then a little furball that couldn’t even chirp. And now…” Yun Jian lowered his eyes. “I’m sorry… I didn’t take good care of you. I left you. You’ve been all alone all these years… I’m sorry.”
He had finally said it.
Yun Jian felt a sense of relief. He had always been afraid to face Li Jianyu, to face this child he had irresponsibly abandoned. Fortunately, Li Jianyu did not blame him.
And opposite him, Li Jianyu was petrified.
…
An egg?
An egg????
Li Jianyu understood. He was half-human, half-bird, and his partner was also human, so he was born from a womb. At least Zhao Lang had come out as a person. But Yun Jian opposite him was a real bird!
“You should get some sleep. I will help you with everything. It will be alright when you wake up…” Yun Jian gently tapped the forehead of Li Jianyu, who was still immersed in the fact that he had been an egg, and caught him as he lost consciousness and fainted.
“When you wake up, everything will be back to how it was…”
Yun Jian’s eyes were full of smiles. This silly child. What would have happened if he hadn’t been here?
