Bai Qingwu did not want to admit it, but the pathetic little bird before her was without question a divine beast— a Phoenix.
"Kill her! Kill her! What are you waiting for? Can't you see your master is injured?!"
She shouted furiously at the colorful bird in Yao Ranran's hands.
The black iron hammer was lifted high, stirring a violent gale across the once-quiet surroundings.
The Phoenix, which had just flared up moments ago, immediately shrank back. Its slender, lively eyes darted nervously toward the weapon Yao Ranran held.
"Jii-jii-jii!"
If you want to fight, you go! It might be a Phoenix, but it wasn't stupid!
All it could think about was the enormous crater Yao Ranran's hammer had smashed into the ground earlier.
"Jii-jii-jii, jii-jii-jii!" The Phoenix fanned out its dazzling tail and rubbed itself fawningly against Yao Ranran's feet.
Yao Ranran hesitated, glancing at the stunned Bai Qingwu. "Is this really a pure-blooded Phoenix?"
Bai Qingwu's face turned ashen. "No. It's just a mutt!"
"Oh, I see," Yao Ranran said calmly. "A hybrid then."
"Jii-jii-jii!!" The Phoenix seemed to understand her insult. It shot forward and pecked Bai Qingwu right on the face.
"Hiss! Damn you, mongrel Phoenix! Do you know the price of defying your master's contract?" Bai Qingwu roared, her face burning with rage.
The Phoenix raised its head and let out a piercing cry.
The illusory Phoenix shadow once seen at the Yan Fortress now manifested into its true, colossal form.
Its fiery crimson tail feathers flared high like a blazing inferno, sending waves of searing heat rolling across the air. The wind lifted Yao Ranran's hair and purple skirts, her face glowing faintly in the firelight. Her clear eyes shimmered with sparks of red, ethereal yet striking.
Half-kneeling on the ground, Shen Yuefu's gaze unfocused. From his wide sleeve, a plump, vivid mushroom tumbled out, rolling by chance to Yao Ranran's feet.
She blinked, hooked it up with the Demon Staff, and mused, "This little mushroom looks just like those tasty ones I once picked!"
Tasty mushrooms?
Shen Yuefu, who had been dazed and fuming, suddenly steadied at her words. He forced open his pale blue eyes, straining to see the woman before him.
But the bloody sky and earth blurred together in his vision, a murky haze blocking his sight.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The Phoenix's resonant cry rang by his ears. He finally caught sight of blazing flames surging toward the woman before him.
In that instant, the fire illuminated her porcelain-like features. Memories of Shu Xi Palace surged through his mind.
And in the end, only three words remained.
Yao Ranran.
Impossible.
Even on one knee, even half-dead, he had never bowed his body.
But after learning this truth, his composure wavered. Cracks spread across his cold, stoic mask.
"Yao Ranran… little Yao… Miss Yao…"
Shen Yuefu's lips trembled, his long-frozen expression shattering to dust.
"Yao Ranran, you've deceived me again!!!"
"Who's yelling at me? My ears hurt…"
Yao Ranran pressed her hands over her ears, turning toward the voice. Her pupils widened as she stared at the man before her.
"Elder Shen? If you have something to say, say it properly. No need to shout, I can hear you just fine."
"Yao Ranran… Yao Ranran…" Shen Yuefu's mind was in chaos. His eyes burned with fury, mirroring the Phoenix's blazing flames.
Wild and consuming.
The fire swallowed Yao Ranran and Bai Qingwu whole.
At the last moment, Bai Qingwu heard her surprised, melodious voice.
"This Phoenix… it belongs to Pei Xianqiao, doesn't it?"
She didn't deny it.
The Phoenix had indeed been stolen by her.
She didn't know exactly when Yao Ranran had crossed into this world, but she was sure it couldn't have been much earlier than her.
From the moment he arrived, she had constantly clashed with Pei Xianqiao over fortuitous encounters.
Most of the time he lost, but this Phoenix—bound by blood—she had won by sacrificing half her life's essence.
And yet…
Bai Qingwu's pupils contracted. Her heartbeat thundered in her chest.
The blazing flames wrapped her up like an egg. Her limbs were immobile, her lifeblood draining away in torrents.
"This is… the master contract unraveling!"
Realization struck her, and fear turned his blood to ice. Still, the outflow of essence did not stop.
Panic surged. He screamed, "Yao Ranran! Yao Ranran! What did you do to my divine beast?! It's mine! It's mine! No one can take it from me!"
Her voice grew hoarse, her face paler by the breath. Her lips lost their color, her eyes dulling with exhaustion.
At the heart of the flames, Yao Ranran sat down cross-legged, shutting her senses to the world, unmoved by their frenzied shouts.
"Yao Ranran, Yao Ranran… how can you be Yao Ranran?"
Shen Yuefu muttered, half in disbelief, half delirious. His words looped again and again, the lingering fragrance at his nose pulling at his heart.
"Say something! Answer me! You can't just play dead!" Bai Qingwu raged, her fury burning her alive.
Yao Ranran frowned, irritated. "What are these two yelling about?"
It made sense for Bai Qingwu, possessed as she was…
But Shen Yuefu? What was his problem?
Yao Ranran's gaze lingered on his maddened face, his lips trembling with endless words. She smiled faintly.
"Since Elder Shen is so talkative today, I'll let Bai Daoyou keep him company."
Her fingers flicked, guiding the Nine Lotus Rings to carve a path through the fire, shifting Bai Qingwu's position closer to Shen Yuefu.
"It's mine! Mine! No one can steal it!" Bai Qingwu roared hysterically.
Across from him, Shen Yuefu howled like a man possessed. "You can't be her! You can't possibly be her!"
"It's mine! And so what if I'm not her! It's mine now! Hahaha, what can you do about it?" Bai Qingwu's bloodshot eyes blazed with madness.
"I… I'll duel you to the death!!"
Shen Yuefu, half-delirious, heard a woman's voice answer him. His buried emotions exploded. He raised the Lushuangyun Immortal Sword, slashing out torrents of icy sword qi like a storm of frozen stars.
Bai Qingwu had not expected such a sudden and vicious strike.
The rain of blades within the firelight drove the blood from her face. She fled in panic.
"You monster, striking without honor!
Yao Ranran, you damn transmigrator! If I make it out alive, I'll expose your identity to the world!"