After Death, I Became My Shijie’s Palm-Sized Birdie – Chapter 62
by Little PandaA Formal Title
“After I recover from my illness, could you give me a formal title?”
“Actually, I can go by myself. Shijie, you can keep resting. Take your time getting up—put on your robes, don’t catch a chill.” Wen Qiwu helped her shijie sit up, then fetched an outer robe and draped it over her shoulders.
Though there was no need to worry about an Ice Spiritual Root immortal catching a chill, Yun Heng thoroughly enjoyed her shimei’s concern. She took the opportunity to pull her shimei into her arms, exceptionally clingy.
“Shijie? The elders are all waiting.” Wen Qiwu didn’t push her away, assuming the Heart Demon’s influence was still at work.
“Ah Que.” Yun Heng’s breath brushed against Wen Qiwu’s ear, making the person held in her arms feel ticklish.
Perhaps because Wen Qiwu had kissed her on her own initiative, a glimmer of hope now stirred in Yun Heng’s heart. “After my illness is cured, could you…”
But with the words at her lips, she bit down on her lower lip instead. From love springs worry—she dreaded hearing another rejection, so she stopped halfway and said no more.
“Could you what?” Wen Qiwu waited a while without hearing her shijie’s voice, so she asked on her own.
Her shijie seemed to have been hesitating all along. After a long moment, she finally gathered her courage and said, “Could I have a formal title?”
A formal title?
Wen Qiwu was momentarily stunned. As intelligent as she was, how could she not understand her shijie’s meaning? Her face grew hot before she even realized it. A formal title…
They had kissed and they had held each other—so a “formal title” naturally could not mean an ordinary relationship.
“Ah Que, once I rid myself of this Heart Demon, you won’t need to be afraid anymore.” Yun Heng could clearly distinguish that her feelings for her shimei were not influenced by the Heart Demon, but she also knew that as long as the Heart Demon existed for even a day, her shimei would harbor doubts. Her shimei always accommodated her and never voiced these concerns, and after Yun Heng learned of her shimei’s past experiences, she no longer pressed Ah Que for an answer now.
Ah Que had endured so many grievances—how could she let her stay by her side, trembling in fear that everything would revert to how it was once the Heart Demon was gone? So she had to excise every last trace of that thing from herself, and only then would she be worthy of her shimei’s future.
Wen Qiwu lowered her gaze, hiding the scattered light in her eyes.
“Ah Que, could you give your shijie a chance?” Yun Heng’s voice trembled slightly, as if from the fear of being rejected.
Could she?
In truth, Wen Qiwu had her answer a very, very long time ago.
If her shijie truly harbored romantic feelings for her, rather than an obsession born of the Heart Demon…
Wen Qiwu’s thoughts drifted unknowingly far away. She thought of her past self—the self from a century ago would probably have laughed even in her dreams. And now?… She was probably just as hopelessly soft-hearted as ever.
The corners of her lips curved upward in the faintest smile, gone almost as quickly as it appeared. Because Yun Heng was holding her shimei in her arms, she missed this subtle change.
But because Wen Qiwu remained silent for so long, Yun Heng began to grow nervous.
The moment she wavered, the Heart Demon seized the opportunity to mock her. Earlier, Yun Heng had actually dared to sling mud at it—and letting such an insult go unavenged was simply not the Heart Demon’s style.
【See that? Ah Que is hesitating. She just doesn’t know how to refuse you. A hundred years have already passed—who would still wait for you in the same place? It’s only because Ah Que is soft-hearted that she hasn’t tossed you aside to fend for yourself. Zuo Lan was right—there are plenty of people out there who are a proper match for her…】 The Heart Demon picked the cruelest words it could find, tearing Yun Heng down from head to toe.
The Heart Demon knew Yun Heng’s weaknesses better than anything else. It knew exactly how to pry open her wounds and make the blood flow anew.
Even now, Yun Heng still felt a pang in her heart when she heard these words, but not the agony the Heart Demon had hoped for—because Ah Que had told her that no matter what the Heart Demon said, she should tell her.
In such matters, Yun Heng was exceedingly obedient. The moment the Heart Demon finished speaking, Yun Heng relayed every word to Wen Qiwu.
Wen Qiwu’s expression turned ugly for an instant. She held her shijie as carefully as if cradling a piece of fragile porcelain, her heart aching as she helped curse the Heart Demon for the wretched thing it was.
“Shijie, tell the Heart Demon this… I am someone who cherishes the past, and those hundred years were but a fleeting moment to me—not nearly enough to erode any of my feelings.”
Yun Heng’s eyes lit up at once. Seizing the moment while her shimei was blushing, she stole another kiss from Ah Que.
【…】 There was no need for Yun Heng to relay it—the Heart Demon had naturally heard Wen Qiwu’s words.
Yun Heng didn’t bother addressing it either, and that silence conveyed a kind of disdain for the Heart Demon, as if to say: You see? No matter how much you say, you’ll never drive a wedge between her and her shimei.
Wen Qiwu’s words gave Yun Heng the resolve to withstand the Heart Demon.
The Heart Demon looked at its own hands. They were growing increasingly illusory, and the power it held was gradually diminishing. This meant Yun Heng was healing her heart’s wounds, little by little—and once she fully recovered, it would be the moment of its own annihilation.
【Heh. I truly envy you.】 The Heart Demon scoffed.
As the Heart Demon, it was Yun Heng’s other face. In a certain sense, it harbored its own obsession with Wen Qiwu—only that obsession was far more twisted.
If the Heart Demon won, the day it replaced Yun Heng, it would surely drag Wen Qiwu down with it into the abyss—even in death, it would take her along. This was the twisted nature of the Heart Demon.
【How fortunate you are, to have met such a gentle Ah Que. I was on the verge of succeeding, but alas…】 The Heart Demon felt it had lost without injustice. It only pitied that Ah Que’s gentleness was wasted on a blockhead like Yun Heng.
Yun Heng frowned slightly, but she was in a good mood, so she only said, “Ah Que despises you, and her pet name is not yours to use.”
The Heart Demon gave a cold laugh and fell silent, though it had no intention of listening to Yun Heng and changing how it addressed her.
“Shijie, are you still up to seeing the demon kings?” The Heart Demon had seized the opening to appear unexpectedly, and Wen Qiwu was worried about Yun Heng’s condition. She wanted only for her shijie to stay here and rest.
“It’s fine. The demon kings won’t come looking for a fight. Just discussing matters with them is manageable.” Yun Heng’s pale, sickly appearance was heart-wrenching, and Wen Qiwu resolved that she absolutely would not give those demon kings any chance to lay hands on her shijie.
The demon kings had no idea that their Little Highness hadn’t even reached the Discussion Hall yet, and her heart was already hopelessly biased beyond recovery.
Yun Heng suppressed the corners of her mouth from rising, then added, “A phoenix is something special to the Feather Tribe demon kings. They will certainly want to bring you back to Risun Palace.”
“I know, but… if I go to Risun Palace, I probably won’t have any peace from then on.” Wen Qiwu understood what Risun Palace represented. Though she possessed phoenix blood, in demon territory, might made the ruler—and having only just reached the Earth Immortal Realm, she couldn’t hold the seat of Risun Palace. The future would likely bring endless trouble.
“Then stay on your shijie’s side for now, and go back once your cultivation is stronger.” Yun Heng sounded as if she had been waiting for those exact words—her tone lacked its usual composure. Even Wen Qiwu caught a hint of something and looked at her shijie. Yun Heng averted her gaze with a light cough and said, “The Phoenix Lord entrusted you to me, not to those demon kings. She must have had her own considerations, so it’s best to stay at Wenshen Sect.”
Wen Qiwu stared until Yun Heng grew somewhat nervous. A moment later, Wen Qiwu suddenly burst out with a pfft of laughter, and Yun Heng finally realized her shimei had been teasing her.
Yun Heng reached out and gently pinched her shimei’s cheek—a small punishment for her mischievous streak.
“Of course I’ll stay at Wenshen Sect. Shijie, don’t worry—your injuries haven’t healed yet, so how could I leave?” Even if she were to leave, she would probably take her shijie along. But her shijie was the Wenshen Sect Master and couldn’t stay in demon territory indefinitely. If she remained at Risun Palace… living apart across two domains—she simply couldn’t rest easy.
Yun Heng muttered under her breath, “Don’t leave even after they heal…”
Wen Qiwu chuckled softly, then took her shijie’s hand and said, “Let’s go. We can’t keep our guests waiting too long.”
“Alright.” Yun Heng clasped her hand tightly, then wrapped an arm around her shimei’s waist and cast the Divine Stride. In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the Discussion Hall on Wendao Mountain.
By now, the Feather Tribe demon kings had each found a seat. They radiated the unmistakable air of visitors harboring ill intent. The demon kings made no effort to restrain their power, and even a sliver of Golden Immortal Realm pressure leaking through was enough to make the weaker disciples’ limbs go weak—nearly causing them to collapse onto the floor in disgrace.
Eventually, the elders could no longer stand it and hurriedly dismissed the junior disciples. As for serving tea and pouring water, they left that to one elder’s puppet automaton.
“Your Excellencies, I truly haven’t lied to you. Our Sect Master has remained within the sect these past few days and hasn’t gone out, so it’s impossible that she stole your treasure. There must be some misunderstanding here.”
“Hmph.” A brawny demon king snorted coldly, and the entire hall seemed to tremble slightly with his snort.
“Do you think we old fossils have nothing better to do? Without solid evidence, would the lot of us travel all this way together?” That brawny demon king’s voice was like a booming bell, his eagle-like eyes revealing a piercing sharpness.
There were also rivalries among the Feather Tribe demon kings, and these few rarely appeared together. Yet today, they had all come at once! Fortunately, they had come alone without bringing their clansmen—otherwise, Wenshen Sect would have suspected they were declaring war.
Could it be that the Sect Master… really took something from them?
The elders began to waver.
Just as the elders were truly struggling to handle these demon kings, the Sect Master they had been desperately longing for finally arrived.
The kings had not given the elders so much as a pleasant look, but when Wen Qiwu and Yun Heng walked in, every gaze converged on Wen Qiwu at once. The biting pressure that had filled the room moments before instantly softened into a spring breeze.
Before the elders could even figure out what was happening, Yun Heng—who had taken the host’s seat—told them to withdraw first.
The elders couldn’t have asked for more. They were already exhausted to the bone from hosting these demon kings, and the moment Yun Heng said they could leave, they scrambled out faster than each other.
Now only those who knew Wen Qiwu’s true identity remained—human and demon alike.
Yun Heng set up another barrier to prevent anyone from eavesdropping on their conversation.
Once the barrier was in place, the demon kings dropped their imposing airs. Nearly every single bird wanted to fuss over whether Wen Qiwu was doing well at Wenshen Sect. Had Yun Heng not been keeping a watchful eye the entire time, her shimei might have “accidentally” disappeared.
Several invisible forces were silently clashing in the surrounding space. Eventually, that frosty power proved too overbearing and successfully suppressed the other undercurrents. Yun Heng’s complexion improved considerably, while the Feather Tribe demon kings’ expressions turned decidedly sour. If they reverted to their original forms, every last one of them would likely be puffed up with ruffled feathers.
There was nothing for it. Their Little Highness had landed squarely in the hands of Cangwang Realm’s one and only True Immortal Realm immortal. Even if they wanted to steal their Little Highness back, it would be exceedingly difficult!
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