After Death, I Became My Shijie’s Palm-Sized Birdie – Chapter 54
by Little PandaAccompanying You
Phoenixes Love Warmth, the Immortal Venerable Is Too Cold
Wen Qiwu had originally planned to wait until this matter was settled before finding somewhere private to have a proper talk with her shijie. Though she was somewhat angry, she had always kept in mind that her shijie was plagued by heart demons and was a patient. Upon learning that she had followed along, Wen Qiwu’s primary feeling in her heart was more of “as expected.”
She had already convinced herself in her heart, but she never expected such a turn of events. Seeing her shijie still being stubborn, she lost her temper and exposed the matter outright.
Her shijie’s back stiffened for a moment. Wen Qiwu gave a soft hmph.
She fluttered her wings and flew from the Qingluan King’s hand onto Yun Heng’s shoulder, pecking her shijie in a fit of pique. But she truly couldn’t bring herself to use any real force, so that peck was no different from a tickle.
Her shijie most likely wouldn’t try to argue her way out—unless she could come up with an excuse that would let her off the hook perfectly. Given her shijie’s personality in this kind of situation, she would rather just own up to it. And if her shijie truly had the ability to pull the wool over her eyes, she wouldn’t have exposed her identity so quickly in front of her.
“Ah Que…” Yun Heng’s voice carried a note of ingratiation, like a child who had done something wrong. She raised her hand and held it in front of her shoulder, wanting Wen Qiwu to hop into her palm.
But Wen Qiwu didn’t move an inch. Did her disobedient shijie still think she would get to pet something fluffy? She pecked her shijie’s fingertips again, refusing to let her touch her head.
Yun Heng withdrew her hand with a face full of disappointment. “Ah Que, I know I was wrong.”
She truly couldn’t feel at ease letting Wen Qiwu come alone to a dangerous place like the Endless Tree Sea. So the moment her shimei left, she left a puppet at the sect to mislead the Medical Immortal, then employed a secret technique to reach Wansen Domain in just half a day.
While she had been ill, she had coaxed her shimei into telling her more about what had happened in Wansen Domain. That was when she learned quite a bit about Gao Fu. So after arriving here, she engineered a chance encounter with her, and through Gao Fu’s introduction, naturally fell in with her shimei’s group.
She figured that as long as she helped her shimei obtain what she needed and escorted her out of this forest, she would immediately find some pretext to return. After that, the identity of Yu Hengwei would never appear again, and her shimei would never notice anything amiss.
Unfortunately, she had come in such a hurry that she hadn’t had time to cover her tracks properly. It didn’t take long before a small accident exposed her. Her shimei was definitely very angry—how should she coax her when they got back?
For a moment, Yun Heng couldn’t tell whether this matter was more troublesome, or the True Demon was more troublesome.
Her shijie was always the fastest at admitting her mistakes, but whether she would actually change was another question entirely. Wen Qiwu looked away. Her shijie was getting more and more skilled at playing pitiful, and she just happened to be soft-hearted.
“Let me deal with the True Demon remnant first, and then I’ll come back and accept my punishment, alright?” Yu Hengwei asked softly.
“…Shijie, do you remember how many injuries and ailments you’re carrying? A century ago, I wouldn’t have said a word, but how can you face an enemy alone in your current state?”
The True Demon remnant was temporarily trapped, but the barrier that had just been raised was already teetering on the verge of collapse. It wouldn’t be long before that thing broke out. A terrifying pressure permeated the surroundings. The only reason Wen Qiwu, at the Earth Immortal Realm, could stand here unaffected was because Yun Heng was shielding her from the True Demon’s might—but she could see the other birds trembling in fear.
This creature was no ordinary True Immortal Realm entity—it was a remnant from the God Realm. That half-baked Ten Thousand Souls Demon Lord from before couldn’t even compare to a single finger of it. A century ago, when her shijie bore no injuries and was free of heart demons, dealing with it would have been no problem. But the current shijie, even if she could defeat it, would likely find it very difficult to retreat unscathed.
“It’s only a remnant…” Yun Heng paused, then rephrased. “If we don’t stop it now, once it leaves the Endless Tree Sea and regains more of its power, the entire Cangwang Realm will become a purgatory.”
In all of Cangwang Realm, the only True Immortal Realm cultivator who could fight it was Yun Heng. Once this monster broke out, the one who would inevitably have to clean up the mess would also be her. This was the responsibility of an Immortal Venerable—and within it also lay Yun Heng’s private motive.
Because her shimei was here, she wanted the place where her shimei lived to be peaceful and free of worry.
Wen Qiwu naturally understood the consequences of letting this remnant continue to grow. That was why her question had been about how Yun Heng could face the enemy alone.
“I’m going with you,” Wen Qiwu said.
“Absolutely not!” Yun Heng rejected Wen Qiwu’s proposal without a second thought.
She couldn’t even guarantee her own safe retreat—how could she let her shimei accompany her? What if she got hurt? Yun Heng would never agree to it, no matter what.
“Shijie.” Having rested for a while and recovered some strength, Wen Qiwu transformed into her human form. She embraced her shijie from behind. The soft, sweet scent made Yun Heng’s gaze blur for an instant.
She couldn’t refuse her shimei’s closeness. The resolve she had just barely mustered softened against her will.
“Ah Que, you can’t face a True Immortal Realm opponent right now. Wait until later—” Before Yun Heng could finish, Wen Qiwu cut her off.
“I’m not discussing this with you, Shijie.” Wen Qiwu, who had always been as soft as a ball of cotton, turned her voice cold. She had almost never shown such a forceful side in front of her shijie. Yun Heng’s lips trembled slightly, and for a moment, she couldn’t find words.
“Don’t worry, I know my own limits. I won’t engage the True Demon directly.” Wen Qiwu softened her tone again. “I’m just going to help you, Shijie, manage your injuries.”
Her fingertips traced over Yun Heng’s heart. Her shijie had suffered no light injury there—Wen Qiwu had once inadvertently seen a faint mark still lingering. But external wounds could always be treated with medicine. The problem was the obsessive, delusional thoughts seeping from the wound in her heart—those had no cure, and only she herself could overcome them.
Flames ignited across Wen Qiwu’s body—pure white tinged with cyan, not the least bit hot to the touch, but possessing an immense suppressive effect against evil and malevolent entities, heart demons included.
She had learned many Phoenix Clan inheritance secret techniques during this time, and one of them happened to be exactly what was needed now.
Her figure blurred and vanished. In the end, a wisp of flame slipped into Yun Heng’s heart.
Crack! The barrier above let out a mournful wail—the True Demon remnant was about to break through.
The Qingluan King had served the previous Demon Emperor for many years and was familiar with quite a few Phoenix Clan secret techniques. She recognized at a glance what technique Wen Qiwu had employed—she just didn’t understand why Wen Qiwu would use it at such a critical juncture.
It wasn’t until True Immortal Realm-level pressure erupted from that human cultivator’s body that the Qingluan King, even as she frantically ushered the juniors of her clan to the rear, stammered through trembling lips: “Immortal Venerable Yun Heng?”
That sword intent, interwoven with ice-attribute immortal power, openly and unmistakably proclaimed her identity.
That cultivator who had been trying to snatch the phoenix from them was Immortal Venerable Yun Heng?
Tch. How troublesome.
A few restless birds clicked their tongues inwardly. It seemed the plan to steal the little phoenix would have to be shelved for now. If the other party had only been at the Golden Immortal Realm, those plans wouldn’t have been entirely out of the question.
But they didn’t give up entirely. So what if she was an Immortal Venerable? As long as someone competed with the Feather Tribe for the phoenix, the birds would absolutely not stand for it.
Wen Qiwu helped conceal Yun Heng’s injuries. It had been a long time since Yun Heng had felt her body so unburdened and her consciousness so clear. Though the duration was limited, as long as those injuries and ailments weren’t dragging her down, this remnant was nothing to fear.
She pressed her hand over her warm heart, and the smile at the corner of her lips sent a chill down the spine of the Qingluan King, who was nearby and well acquainted with the Immortal Venerable.
She drew her divine sword and took the initiative to pierce through the barrier above.
The True Demon remnant, caught off guard, was run straight through.
Its body leaned more toward the formless, but even an ethereal soul could be frozen by Yun Heng’s ice.
Under Yun Heng’s all-out assault, the remnant retreated step by step. Half of its body shattered into chunks of ice. The blood-colored mist seeping from within it moved in tandem with its body, and even the “clouds” raining down from the sky turned into slabs of solid ice.
Yun Heng’s sword intent cleaved through the sky, severing the remnant’s supply line of “rainwater.” The monster let out a piercing shriek, but all its attacks against her divine sense were intercepted by the Phoenix secret technique.
The Feather Tribe had already withdrawn to a safer distance. Many of the weaker birds had reverted to their original forms, fluffing their feathers to keep warm.
The Immortal Venerable’s techniques were quite a sight to behold—wherever they passed, everything was draped in silver and white. It was just a bit too cold.
“It’s too cold around that Immortal Venerable. Won’t the little phoenix freeze?” one worry-prone bird said with concern.
“The True Demon remnant won’t hold out much longer. Once the Immortal Venerable returns, we’ll definitely need to warm up our little phoenix. Achoo!” An Earth Immortal Realm bird sneezed.
Phoenixes loved warmth, and that Immortal Venerable was like a block of ice. She truly wasn’t suited for raising a phoenix. The Feather Tribe Kings exchanged glances—they really did need to bring the little phoenix back.
Not until the last fragment of the True Demon’s body turned to solid ice did Yun Heng sweep a strand of sword intent across it, shattering it into countless snowflake-sized pieces.
She sheathed her sword. The flames around her body and at her heart coalesced into a human form beside her. When that wisp of fire departed from her heart, Yun Heng felt a sudden sense of loss.
Wen Qiwu’s face was somewhat pale. She had to sustain the souls of those birds while simultaneously maintaining the secret technique—the drain on her immortal power was considerable.
But as long as her shijie hadn’t been hurt, that was all that mattered. Seeing Yun Heng’s face full of worry, Wen Qiwu instinctively wanted to offer a reassuring smile—but then she remembered what her shijie had done and realized she couldn’t show her too kind a face right now. So she tightened her expression back up.
“Ah Que…” Yun Heng didn’t dare say much more. She tried to take her shimei’s hand, but Wen Qiwu dodged, leaving her only the edge of a sleeve.
A sleeve would do. Her shimei was still soft-hearted toward her—at least she hadn’t left her standing there alone.
Yun Heng held onto Wen Qiwu’s sleeve and comforted herself with that thought, then quickened her pace to catch up, wanting to talk to her shimei.
But just then, within a shard of ice, a demonic pupil suddenly lit up with divine light that should have been extinguished. The ground beneath their feet gave way without warning.
Only then did the rift entrance to the Phoenix Lord Tomb burst open, and endless flames erupted forth from within.
0 Comments