After Death, I Became My Shijie’s Palm-Sized Birdie – Chapter 41
by Little PandaPhoenix
If Shijie is obedient, I’ll keep transforming into a phoenix for you to pet.
The Phoenix Lord Tomb lies deep within the Endless Tree Sea. Many powerful Feather Tribe cultivators had attempted to venture deep into the Endless Tree Sea to retrieve the Phoenix Lord’s remains, but all had returned in defeat.
Medical Immortal gave Wen Qiwu a map marking the approximate location of the Phoenix Lord Tomb.
Since no one had ever truly reached the heart of the Phoenix Lord Tomb, the most precise map had yet to be produced. The one in Medical Immortal’s possession was payment she had received for saving a life—the most detailed map available—but Wen Qiwu would still need to search on her own once she arrived.
“This is the location of the Phoenix Lord Tomb?” Wen Qiwu was slightly surprised when she saw the map. She carefully compared it and discovered that the place where she had hatched from her phoenix egg fell within the boundaries of the Phoenix Lord Tomb marked on this map.
Did her current body truly have some connection to that Demon Emperor?
“This should be the place. The Demon Emperor slumbers here, and the power she left behind in the mortal realm still suppresses the vengeful souls of the demon hordes, so that place will be rather dangerous. Your phoenix bloodline may help you find the true Phoenix Lord Tomb, but those lingering remnant souls of the demon masses wandering the Endless Tree Sea remain a significant threat.”
The Demon Realm of ten thousand years ago was incomparable to the present. The True Demons of that era had been at the God Realm, the other Demon Lords were all at the True Immortal Realm, and Golden Immortal Realm powerhouses were countless. Their burial grounds overflowed with resentment—encountering even one at random would be a massive problem.
Though the phoenix bloodline was special, Wen Qiwu had not yet had sufficient time to grow. Going there with only Earth Immortal Realm strength… was still somewhat dangerous.
It would be best to have someone accompany her, but even a Golden Immortal Realm cultivator would not be of much use there.
“Why not let Sect Master Yun accompany you…” Medical Immortal thought that if Wen Qiwu went to the Endless Tree Sea, Yun Heng probably would not be able to rest and recover in peace anyway—it might be better for her to go along to Wansen Domain.
Yun Heng, who had been standing to the side wanting to speak but hesitating, brightened at these words and cast Medical Immortal a grateful look.
Unfortunately, before Medical Immortal could finish, she met Wen Qiwu’s gaze—seemingly gentle, but with a chill in its depths.
The more even-tempered a person, the more frightening their anger. Even Medical Immortal, seeing her expression, did not dare bring up the matter again.
Never mind, never mind. This young woman was seriously upset; the resolution she had made now was probably something even Yun Heng could not change. Better not to get involved.
“I am fairly familiar with that place and know how to avoid the dangers. You do not need to worry.” The wind on Cloudmist Mountain was still somewhat cold. Wen Qiwu pulled Yun Heng’s robes a little tighter around her. No matter how pitiful her shijie’s eyes looked, she did not relent.
“Ah Que…” Yun Heng tentatively reached for her shimei’s hand. When Wen Qiwu did not pull away, a hint of joy finally crept into the Immortal Venerable’s desolate expression.
“The Immortal Venerable needs more rest. Stay away from all that fighting and killing.”
Yun Heng held Wen Qiwu’s gaze for a moment before lowering her eyes and murmuring, “Ah Que is right.”
Medical Immortal’s lips curved into an irrepressible smile. She had been driven half mad by this disobedient patient over the years—now there was finally someone who could keep her in line.
“By the way, there is one more thing you should be aware of.” Medical Immortal caught sight of the birds perched on the branches and suddenly remembered the situation in Shiling Domain. “After the Demon Emperor died tens of thousands of years ago without leaving any bloodline heirs, none of the other kings could command everyone’s allegiance, so Shiling Domain fractured into factions large and small. Many demon clans never gave up searching for the Demon Emperor’s remains, and whenever Wansen Domain opens, they go there. Among those demon clans, some genuinely wish to bring the Demon Emperor home, while others covet the Demon Emperor’s bloodline. Even though the Demon Emperor is dead, extracting even a single thread of bloodline from her remains would be enough to drive all demons mad with desire.”
“When you are out and about, you should conceal your bloodline power. Leaving aside the other demon clans for now, even the Feather Tribes that serve as the phoenix’s vassals might not be entirely without ulterior motives—especially those powerful demon kings. Your strength is not great enough yet; it is inadvisable to appear before them too soon.” Medical Immortal voiced her concerns.
The Ancestral Phoenix bloodline was the equivalent of a stepping stone to the God Realm. Given time to grow, Wen Qiwu would become the demon with the greatest hope of breaking through to the God Realm in this world. If she possessed the Demon Emperor’s strength, the demon hordes would naturally rally to her—but if her strength was insufficient, the phoenix bloodline would surely invite countless disasters.
“I understand.” Wen Qiwu nodded. She had no plans to go to Shiling Domain for now. All she wanted at present was to stay by her shijie’s side and help her recover.
“The Endless Tree Sea nurtures many rare spiritual herbs. Does Medical Immortal need me to bring any back?” This map was precious, and Wen Qiwu could not accept it without offering something in return.
“If you see any unusual herbs, bring them back. But that place is dangerous—do not force it.” Medical Immortal had no intention of letting Wen Qiwu take that risk either. “Then I will not disturb you further. Keep the map safe… and spend more time with her.”
[Her heart demon still remains. Ordinarily she may not be able to distinguish between the heart demon and reality, so… before her heart demon is eliminated, indulge her more. Be careful not to let her heart demon deepen.]
Wen Qiwu bit her lip gently, then replied via voice transmission: [Understood.]
“Ah Que, what did she mean by phoenix bloodline…?” Yun Heng thought she had misheard. When her shimei had “passed away” a century ago, many people had witnessed with their own eyes her body being destroyed because it could not withstand the surging power—that body was certainly unusable. It was only expected that her shimei now had a different appearance. As long as she could return, that was all that mattered. As for how this body came to be, Yun Heng did not care.
At most, she worried about whether her shimei had suffered out there all these years, whether she had been bullied, and things of that nature.
But the implications of a phoenix bloodline were far-reaching. Medical Immortal had thought of it, and Yun Heng had thought of it too—if the demon clans in Shiling Domain learned that a phoenix had appeared in the world, they would never let the matter rest. Since stepping outside, Yun Heng’s attention had been entirely on Wen Qiwu, and only now did she notice that her Cloudmist Mountain had grown much livelier.
Cloudmist Mountain was perpetually dusted with snow and its temperature ran low; for most of the Feather Tribe, it was not an ideal place to dwell. Yet today, perched on the trees, nestled in the shrubbery, huddled beneath the eaves, and everywhere in between sat all manner of birds.
She instinctively drew her shimei closer, shielding her from those birds’ stares. Those little creatures’ gazes were altogether too fervent, and Yun Heng felt rather displeased.
And after her gesture, it was the birds’ turn to be displeased. They chirped and chattered, voicing their dissatisfaction.
Her shimei had been beloved by the Feather Tribe from childhood—even those proud Fire Feather Birds were willing to offer their feathers… Was it because of this?
Right now, these were only ordinary, weak members of the Feather Tribe, but in time, the powerful demon kings among them would surely come seeking her as well. No—her shimei was hers. She did not want those demon kings taking her away.
Though it had not happened yet, Yun Heng was already beginning to worry.
“I slept for a very long time. When I woke up, I found myself in a phoenix’s body.” Wen Qiwu raised her head from her shijie’s embrace and gently waved her hand. The little creatures settled down at once.
Yun Heng suddenly felt that Cloudmist Mountain was better off quiet—just her and her shimei, the two of them alone. These birds disturbing the peace should be tossed into the Beast Garden.
Phoenix… phoenix…
She recalled the records stating that the Demon Emperor of ten thousand years ago had a body of pure white, with only her tail fading into gradient cyan—slicing across the sky like a tongue of flame.
A white body and cyan tail… Qingtuan had looked exactly like that. The bird that child Dong Shiyue brought back had looked the same.
Yun Heng lifted her hand and gently stroked her shimei’s cheek. The sensation was just like the soft down of the bird in the cage.
No wonder her shimei had said those things in her dream…
Her hand trembled slightly. Her shimei had truly stayed by her side for so long—it was only she who had been lost in the past and failed to realize it.
“Ah Que, did it hurt when you fell?” She thought of how her shimei had thrown herself against the birdcage to stop her—inside the birdcage, her power would have been suppressed, and without immortal power to protect her body, she must have been hurt.
That cage truly deserved to be melted down!
“It does not hurt. I have a phoenix’s body now—how could a fall hurt me?” An Immortal Beast’s physique was all about sturdiness. It was merely a tumble from a tabletop to the floor; she had not sustained a single injury.
When her shijie said nothing, Wen Qiwu knew she had sunk back into self-reproach.
Of course Yun Heng was reproaching herself. In the end, it was her shimei who had taken the initiative to enter her dream and tell her. If her shimei had not been able to enter her dream, would they have missed each other entirely?
All those days when she left early and returned late, leaving her shimei alone in the cage, and she had not even taken proper care of her!
A dim light churned in Yun Heng’s eyes. Her self-reproach gradually fermented into self-destructive impulses.
Wen Qiwu’s heart clenched. Though she could not see her shijie’s expression, her subconscious intuition sounded an alarm.
She could not let her shijie keep drowning in her own emotions!
“Does the Immortal Venerable think I am nice to pet in my phoenix form?” Because the topic had come up, the words Wen Qiwu casually spoke startled even herself.
After she said it, a faint flush crept across her cheeks. Actually, she felt her shijie probably did like it—her shijie did not normally have the habit of petting animals, but she had stroked her many times while holding her.
The red mist in Yun Heng’s eyes dissipated in an instant. She blinked, recalling the soft little bundle her shimei had become in the palm of her hand. The voice of her restless heart demon abruptly fell silent.
Even as the heart demon tried to shred her mind, employing every method to drive her toward self-destruction—looking at that soft little bundle, she felt the wounds in her heart being filled by gentle feathers. Xuetuan was fluffy too, but she had never felt this way about the rabbit. Now she understood why—that had been her shimei.
There had been so many anomalies hinting at the truth, yet she had never realized them.
“I like it… I like it very much.” Yun Heng whispered beside her shimei’s ear, thick with longing.
Her shimei in that form was just the right size to nestle in the palm of her hand, hidden from the eyes of any person or demon—especially those birds coveting her shimei.
“Then be good and listen, and I will transform back into a phoenix for you to pet, alright?” Wen Qiwu coaxed her.
Yun Heng gazed into her eyes, an indescribable soft sweetness welling up in her heart. She knew her shimei was the most tender-hearted of all.
“Alright.”
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