After Death, I Became My Shijie’s Palm-Sized Birdie – Chapter 64

Auspicious Union

Could the Little Highness perhaps prefer humans?

The demon kings had more or less accomplished the purpose of their trip. The Little Highness had said she’d return after a while, which gave them time to clean up Risun Palace in advance.

            

Qingluan King was relatively familiar with Risun Palace, so the task fell to her. She and Bifang King exited the Discussion Hall together, her gaze drifting unbidden toward the bird beside her with a smile still hanging at the corner of her mouth. She couldn’t shake the feeling that the other king hadn’t yet spilled all the dark schemes brewing in her gut.

“Bifang King, what are you plotting?”

Bifang King raised a brow and smiled, claiming she wasn’t thinking about anything at all.

            

Qingluan King narrowed her eyes. Did she honestly expect her to believe that?

“Watch your step.” Bifang King offered the reminder in a light, airy tone. Qingluan King halted immediately—another inch and she’d have kicked the two little creatures in the grass.

Wenshen Sect had by now become a paradise for birds. Rarely seen spirit birds were everywhere—such as the little one Qingluan King had nearly stepped on. It was a Zhiman, a bird that, according to the ancient legends of Cangwang Realm, could bring people good fortune in marriage.

            

“You’re here to see the Little Highness too?” The Zhiman hadn’t appeared in thousands of years. Qingluan King had assumed the species had long since gone extinct—she never expected to see a young Zhiman here.

“Chirp chirp!” The Zhiman bounced around in the grass, looking thoroughly delighted.

“We’re quite surprised ourselves. Her Highness is right inside—would you like to go see her?” Qingluan King could understand the Zhiman’s language.

            

The Zhiman tilted its head, then, at Qingluan King’s prompting, hopped its way toward the Discussion Hall.

Bifang King watched the Zhiman thoughtfully. “Legend says the arrival of a Zhiman brings good fortune in marriage. Do you suppose our Little Highness…”

“Her Highness is still young!” In Qingluan King’s eyes, Wen Qiwu had only recently hatched. Matters of romance were still a long way off.

            

“Her Highness is indeed still young. Which is exactly why I think she needs some younger companions around to look after her.” Bifang King beamed. Any feeling could be cultivated over time—what if one of the little ones from her clan caught the Little Highness’s eye?

“…Among all the Feather Tribe kings, you have the most cunning wits.” Qingluan King said it like a criticism, but her own mind was already turning.

Before long, Wen Qiwu and Yun Heng emerged from the Discussion Hall as well. The Zhiman followed alongside them, its round, plump body rolling along like a tumbling ball of fluff.

            

They walked together, talking and laughing, looking exceptionally intimate. The Little Highness in particular moved as though she were supporting Immortal Venerable Yun Heng, her careful, cautious manner reading like a protective stance.

Immortal Venerable Yun Heng did indeed look unwell. The rumors that she was still recovering from severe injuries weren’t entirely unfounded.

Even someone as dense as Qingluan King could sense the unusual atmosphere between them, let alone Bifang King.

            

“The Little Highness… she wouldn’t happen to prefer the Human Race, would she?” Qingluan King murmured.

“Tsk…” Bifang King clicked her tongue. She’d guarded against birds from every other clan, only to be preempted by a human.

Not far away, Wen Qiwu noticed her shijie seeming distracted and gave her hand a gentle sway, pulling her back to the present.

            

“What are you thinking about, Shijie?”

The two birds’ gazes were anything but discreet. Yun Heng naturally looked over. Though she hadn’t heard their earlier conversation, she was fairly certain those two birds weren’t discussing anything good.

So, under Wen Qiwu’s bewildered gaze, Yun Heng pulled her into an embrace—a posture that seemed to say no one could take her away, no matter who came.

            

“What’s wrong? Are your heart demons acting up again?” Wen Qiwu raised a hand to her shijie’s chest, channeling her power into her. Phoenix immortal power carried an innate force that suppressed evil entities.

“Not heart demons. Don’t worry.” Yun Heng spoke softly.

“Chirp chirp!” The Zhiman let out a crisp call, seemingly amusing itself with its own cheer.

            

Yun Heng had already recognized the Zhiman’s identity and knew the legends about this species. Given its auspicious connotations, this little one was perhaps the only outside bird that Yun Heng didn’t find insufferable.

Wen Qiwu’s face suddenly flushed faintly pink. She extended her hand for the Zhiman to land on her palm, then gently poked the little one’s head. “Don’t talk nonsense.”

The Zhiman tilted its head and stubbornly let out another round of “Chirp chirp!”

            

“What did it say?” Yun Heng asked, somewhat curious.

“Nothing.” Wen Qiwu cleared her throat. The little creature had just been chirping blessings appropriate for a wedding—where on earth had it learned that?

Calling it the Auspicious Bird of Good Marriage was certainly well-deserved.

            

Though Yun Heng didn’t know exactly what the little one had said, she could guess from the faint blush on her shimei’s cheeks. She reached over and ruffled the little bird’s head by way of encouragement.

Wen Qiwu looked at the Zhiman in her hand, its chirps growing ever louder and more resonant after her shijie’s encouragement, and a smile tugged at the corners of her own mouth without her noticing.

And so, amid the envious gazes of all the other birds, the Zhiman successfully secured a nesting spot closest to the phoenix.

            

Yunwu Mountain had never been so lively. Yun Heng gradually grew accustomed to the chirping and chattering of birds, though she couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d forgotten something.

Until one day, Xuetuan emerged from closed-door cultivation. When she returned to this place, she thought she’d taken a wrong turn. She circled around outside before confirming that this was indeed Yunwu Mountain.

But before she’d gone into seclusion, the mountain had been wrapped in a howling blizzard. How had it turned into this spring-like, all-seasons-warm scene? And why were there so many birds on Yunwu Mountain?! Had the Immortal Venerable started keeping birds now?

            

Xuetuan raced up the mountain, brimming with questions, only to be pecked several times by highly aggressive fierce birds. Patches of fur on her head had gone bald.

She couldn’t worry about that, though. Xuetuan had witnessed Yun Heng’s despair and self-destructive tendencies right after she’d “lost” Wen Qiwu. She was afraid. Things out of the ordinary must herald trouble—this sunny, radiant scene on Yunwu Mountain was somehow less reassuring than the previous blizzard.

“Immortal Venerable!” The big snow rabbit charged all the way to Yun Heng’s quarters, but she couldn’t stop in time and crashed straight through the door, tumbling in.

            

Her timing was spectacularly unfortunate. The instant the door burst open, she caught a glimpse of Yun Heng leaning against the bed, kissing an unfamiliar woman. Beside them sat an empty medicine bowl. Xuetuan’s sense of smell was exceptionally keen, and the bitter stench from that bowl nearly made her retch.

Xuetuan had never moved so nimbly in her life. After her head slammed into the wall, she immediately kicked off with her hind legs and shot back out, pulling the door shut behind her.

She crouched outside the door, patting her chest with a paw. Thank goodness she’d left in time—barge in and disturb them now, and she’d probably end up as a bowl of braised rabbit meat.

            

Wen Qiwu sat bolt upright in alarm. When she turned, she caught only a flash of white vanishing through the crack in the door.

“Shijie!” Wen Qiwu shot her shijie a reproachful glare. She’d said that this time shijie would eat the sweets herself, but she’d been coaxed into feeding her again!

Yun Heng held her in an appeasing embrace, earnestly admitting her mistake—though she had a feeling she wouldn’t change.

            

“Ah Que, Xuetuan doesn’t know you’ve come back yet.” Yun Heng finally remembered what she’d forgotten. Not only had she failed to tell Xuetuan, she hadn’t even gotten around to informing the rest of the sect.

Back when her shimei had met with disaster, Xuetuan had cried for days. Then, afraid that something might happen to her, she’d stayed on Yunwu Mountain guarding Yun Heng, only leaving when she’d had no choice but to go into closed-door breakthrough recently. As a result, she’d missed Wen Qiwu’s return entirely. If Xuetuan hadn’t gone into seclusion, Wen Qiwu might not have been trapped in that Custom Birdcage for so long.

“She’s probably frightened. I’ll go find her.” Wen Qiwu had heard about her shijie’s life over these years. She was deeply grateful to Xuetuan for braving cold that even she couldn’t have endured, staying on that mountain to keep her shijie company.

            

“She’s right outside the door.” Yun Heng’s divine sense had already detected Xuetuan at the entrance.

Wen Qiwu first settled her shijie against the bed, then opened the door and stepped out.

Xuetuan crouched on the ground, her head still spinning. She remembered that before she’d gone into seclusion, the Immortal Venerable had been half-dead. And now, the moment she came out, she saw the Immortal Venerable being… that intimate with a woman.

            

She’d only been in seclusion for a few months, not years or decades, right? Though the Immortal Venerable moving on from the past was a good thing, something about it all felt strange. She rubbed her little head.

Just as she was pondering, a shadow suddenly loomed over her. Then the scruff of her neck tightened, and she found herself dangling in midair, being carried inside.

Rabbit instinct told her this person was far more powerful than she was—struggling would be useless. She cast a pitiful look toward Yun Heng, hoping the Immortal Venerable would save her, but the Immortal Venerable’s smiling gaze remained fixed on the person holding her, without a sliver of attention to spare.

            

But…

Xuetuan dangled and swayed, blinking her wide eyes. This technique of being lifted by the scruff of the neck felt so familiar. For some reason, she thought of Wen Qiwu.

“Did you hurt yourself?” Wen Qiwu rubbed Xuetuan’s head. The two successive crashes when she’d burst through the door had sounded rather serious.

            

Xuetuan was indeed a bit dizzy—otherwise, why would she think the person standing before her was her master, who’d passed away a hundred years ago? She enjoyed the head rubs, so comfortable she nearly rolled over on the spot.

But before long, she snapped awake and bolted from Wen Qiwu’s arms, retreating to a corner and eyeing her warily. This wasn’t her master! She couldn’t let herself be deceived!

She looked so much like her master… had the Immortal Venerable… been fooled?

            

“Xuetuan, you don’t recognize me?” Wen Qiwu asked with a gentle smile.

That tone, that expression… Xuetuan had only ever seen them on one person.

Xuetuan’s little brain was already struggling to keep up. She instinctively looked to Yun Heng, hoping the Immortal Venerable would give her an answer. The person reclining on the bed gave a slight nod, telling her that Wen Qiwu had returned.

            

Xuetuan opened her mouth, her entire body trembling with excitement. But she still cautiously tested first: “Do you still remember where you found me?”

Wen Qiwu accurately named the mountain. “You’d been chased out because you ate too much, and then I brought you back…”

The details of that day were known only to the two of them. Xuetuan pinched herself hard. The pain told her this wasn’t a dream. Great tears rolled down the rabbit’s eyes. It was her. Her master had returned! She was alive!!

            

Xuetuan let out a loud wail and lunged toward Wen Qiwu’s embrace—but just as she was about to wrap her arms around her, a cool hand pressed against her head, holding her back.

She didn’t need to look to know it was Yun Heng.

Barred from throwing herself into her master’s arms, Xuetuan cried even louder. The Immortal Venerable was so stingy!

            

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