After Death, I Became My Shijie’s Palm-Sized Birdie – Chapter 31

Dream Trial

Her consciousness was drawn into her shijie¹‘s nightmare

“Sect Master!”

            

The cracked sky above Yunwu Mountain alarmed the entire sect. Someone noticed demonic qi rising from it, and the shadow of a century ago left them no time to spare—they rushed over immediately.

After going a long time without a response from Yun Heng, some elders even nervously summoned their artifacts.

“All is well. Those demon cultivators have all been executed.”

            

At the sound of Yun Heng’s voice, the people outside finally breathed sighs of relief.

Yun Heng braced against the table beside her and stood up. Aside from red-rimmed eyes and a pale face, she seemed otherwise unharmed.

But…

            

She felt the room shouldn’t be so quiet—it was as though a sound was missing.

That’s right. The little one that looked so much like Qingtuan was unusually quiet today, quite unlike her normally lively self.

These past days Yun Heng had been living in a daze. She only remembered that whenever she returned, the little one would always chirp at her, her voice crisp but never bothersome.

            

Yun Heng went to the cage and took a look. The little one was asleep, her breathing steady and healthy, with no signs of illness. The spiritual fruit she had placed earlier showed no signs of being touched—perhaps this little one didn’t care for it. She could try a different kind next time.

Yun Heng had lost count of how many varieties of fruit she’d tried for this little one. To her surprise, not a single kind had been to her liking. Though her temper was better than Qingtuan’s, she was also more finicky. Once Dong Shiyue returned, she’d leave the bird in her care—she probably couldn’t raise it well herself.

Yun Heng recalled when Dong Shiyue had left. It had been nearly a month now.

            

She had already decided on someone to succeed her as Sect Master. Once she arranged where this little one would go, she would have no lingering attachments.

Yun Heng lowered her eyes. So as not to disturb the little one’s sleep, she vanished from the room without a sound.

When the elders outside saw Yun Heng emerge, they hurried forward to ask what had happened.

            

“Sect Master, what just happened? Why was there demonic qi on Yunwu Mountain?”

Yun Heng swept her divine sense over the land that had been cleaved apart by Sword Intent. She had heard her shimei²‘s cry for help in the nightmare, and in her shock and fury, the thought of sparing any of them had never crossed her mind.

The strongest among those who came to rescue the Demon Lord was only at the Earth Immortal Realm. Decades had passed since the Ten Thousand Souls Demon Lord was captured. In a place like the Demon Realm, where strength reigned supreme and moral scruples were scarce, his life-or-death status was unknown. The greater part of his territory had been carved up, his forces scattered and fled. Those at the Golden Immortal Realm had all gone their own way. Of the subordinates still willing to risk storming an immortal sect for him, only one Earth Immortal Realm cultivator remained.

            

“The Ten Thousand Souls Demon Lord sent out a distress signal earlier, and the demon cultivators lurking in Dongzhao came to rescue him.” Yun Heng withdrew her divine sense.

So the Sect Master had been drawing the snake out of its hole. The elders’ faces lit up with sudden understanding. Everyone knew the Ten Thousand Souls Demon Lord hadn’t been slain on the spot by the Immortal Venerable, and that the Demon Lord always had loyal subordinates who believed he was still alive. That was why Dongzhao Domain had seen so much unusual activity lately—they had all suspected the Demon Realm was behind it.

The Sect Master’s move had resolved quite a few hidden dangers in Dongzhao Domain.

            

“Sect Master, should the Ten Thousand Souls Demon Lord… be dealt with?” Better to settle it before complications arose.

They understood the Sect Master’s desire for vengeance, but keeping that thing in their sect was always a hidden danger. No one wanted to bear the risk.

Yun Heng said nothing for a long time. An indescribable pressure spread through the elders’ hearts. They inexplicably felt a layer of cold sweat on their backs.

            

“I understand.” Yun Heng spoke, breaking the silence, and that pressure vanished with her words.

Some elders raised their hands to wipe the sweat from their foreheads, sighing inwardly. Decades had passed, and the Sect Master still hadn’t let go.

“I will deal with him before long. Rest assured—he won’t affect the sect.”

            

Yun Heng had always been steady in her actions and had never made a misstep. The elders felt reassured at her words. Yet none of them imagined how dangerous what Yun Heng was planning truly was—though that danger targeted not the sect, but only herself.

“Go back. Reassure the other disciples in the sect. Tell them there’s no need to panic.”

“Yes.”

            

The elders acknowledged the order and departed from Yunwu Mountain.

A moment later, silence returned to Yunwu Mountain. Enveloped in wind and snow, every blade of grass and tree here had not seen sunlight in a long time. Neither had Yun Heng. She stood beneath a tree, shrouded in its shadow, steeped in a heavy gloom.

Inside the room, the little white ball of fluff was still fast asleep—but in truth, she hadn’t fallen asleep by choice.

            

With her shijie’s condition so frightening, how could Wen Qiwu possibly sleep? She had been keeping watch over Yun Heng, until she noticed a faint layer of black mist coiling around her shijie’s body.

During this time, Wen Qiwu hadn’t been idle. She had been working hard to digest the Inheritance Memories of the phoenix clan. This body of hers seemed somewhat special—it even possessed the Ancestral Phoenix bloodline—so the Inheritance Memories she received were more extensive than those of an ordinary young phoenix.

She searched through those memories for a way out of her predicament, looking for any technique that could pass through the Custom Birdcage’s restrictions. Not until yesterday had she finally found a method that seemed feasible.

            

She used the Ancestral Phoenix Secret Technique to extract her consciousness. Consciousness, as a concept, transcended the divine soul—it possessed no offensive capability whatsoever, and was least restricted by the birdcage.

The only trouble was that without the divine soul to guide it, her consciousness could easily lose its way. So she could only experiment a little at a time.

After seeing the ominous black mist appear on her shijie’s body, she had no choice but to try her luck with a half-learned technique, to see if she could send a dream to someone nearby. But when her consciousness was fully extracted, Wen Qiwu finally understood how difficult it was to control a consciousness that drifted like duckweed on water.

            

She couldn’t even find her bearings, let alone perform something as demanding as dream-sending.

Just as she was burning with anxiety, Wen Qiwu suddenly heard a chirp chirp sound.

She hadn’t made any bird calls herself—where was this sound coming from?

            

Wen Qiwu turned her head and saw a fluffy little creature hopping up beside her.

Two little balls of fluff pressed together, like looking into a mirror.

No—if you looked carefully, their feathers were still somewhat different, though it would take close, meticulous comparison to tell.

            

Qingtuan?

Wen Qiwu stared at it in disbelief. The little creature that had appeared beside her was none other than the real Qingtuan!

“Where have you been all these years? No wait—how did you find me!” Wen Qiwu’s eyes were filled with disbelief.

            

Her previously drifting consciousness settled down, no longer seeming as though it would scatter at the first gust of wind.

Wen Qiwu knew she didn’t have that level of control. So had Qingtuan helped her?

Qingtuan didn’t speak. If this little creature was still alive, going by its lifespan it must have reached Core Formation by now. In truth, demon beasts at the Heart-Contemplation Realm already possessed the ability to speak, but Wen Qiwu had never heard it talk.

            

Qingtuan fluttered its wings and flew ahead. Wen Qiwu followed it instinctively—she knew this little one was helping her.

After flying through the illusory channel of consciousness, Wen Qiwu plunged headlong into a place reeking of filth and despair. The churning black mist around her was laced with so many negative emotions that she was nearly affected upon entering. But Qingtuan beside her suddenly let out a resonant cry, and the filth dissipated rapidly as though it had met its nemesis.

“That’s amazing.” Wen Qiwu seemed to recall something. She looked at Qingtuan with a complicated expression and said in an uncertain tone, “Qingtuan, you’re a phoenix too, aren’t you?”

            

Qingtuan glanced at her. Wen Qiwu knew she had guessed right—though it didn’t really require guessing. The two of them looked so alike now; clearly they were related.

“Could it be… are we sisters?” After all, the two of them looked like twins.

“…” Qingtuan’s expression seemed to carry a trace of helplessness. It pecked Wen Qiwu on the head—much more gently than before—then flew ahead to lead the way.

            

So not sisters. Then what?

Wen Qiwu followed behind it, but when she looked down, she noticed her feet had become ethereal.

This was her first time extracting her consciousness. Maintaining it for this long was already impressive. This wisp of consciousness would soon return to her body.

            

“Qingtuan!” Wen Qiwu’s tone carried urgency. “Is your body here beside me? I’m locked in a cage right now—I need someone to open it from the outside. My shijie’s condition is very bad. I have to wake her up!”

Before she could finish, Qingtuan spread its wings and flew into the air. Its talons tore open a rift in the darkness. Through that rift, Wen Qiwu saw her shijie’s figure—and the “her” beside her shijie.

“This is…” Wen Qiwu froze for a moment. She didn’t know what Qingtuan had done, but the words spoken by that distant “her” came through clearly.

            

She was tempting her shijie to her death!

This time she ignored Qingtuan’s warning and charged forward, only to tumble to the ground halfway there. Her wings had begun to dissipate too.

Qingtuan looked up in another direction. On its fluffy little face, one could actually make out a grave expression.

            

This time it fluttered its wings, and another scene appeared in the black mist: a group of skulking demon cultivators sneaking up Yunwu Mountain, soon to reach the mountainside where the Ten Thousand Souls Demon Lord was imprisoned.

Wen Qiwu couldn’t get close to Yun Heng. She could only choke back tears as she called out loudly to her shijie, who was on the verge of being dragged into the abyss by that “her.”

Fortunately, her shijie responded to her voice. But that thing that seemed to be a Heart Demon was despicable and shameless—it had nearly taken her shijie away! Left with no choice, she had to endure the pain of using those words to wake her shijie.

            

The moment the nightmare shattered, her consciousness was expelled as well. As she slipped peacefully into darkness, Wen Qiwu thought she heard a strange yet gentle sigh.

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