Chapter 49: Secrets
Upon discovering Su Muluo had broken his formation, the man first fell silent, then looked astonished.
“It seems I’ve underestimated you,” he said, “I didn’t expect that thousands of years later, you would still be—”
Before he could finish his sentence, a dragon roar thundered from outside the small building, sweeping away all shadows with its overwhelming presence. Long Ling charged into the building, saying, “Phoenix!”
Su Muluo replied calmly, “I’m fine.”
In reality, he had only been trapped by the formation for a few seconds. The reason he was caught was because he hadn’t been on guard.
Long Ling, upon hearing this, was still not entirely reassured. He sniffed the scent on the Phoenix and confirmed that he was indeed uninjured, before casting his icy gaze into the air—
Now that the formation had shattered, a dragon bone floated in mid-air, surrounded by dark electric light, emitting an ominous hue.
At the sight of the dragon bone, Long Ling’s pupils contracted suddenly. In an instant, Su Muluo sensed the soaring hostility and murderous intent emanating from his own dragon’s spine.
He knew why, because that was the spine of his dragon.
He had once had a nightmare, in which his dragon lay bathed in blood, collapsing into his arms… At this moment, that dream finally had an answer.
Su Muluo wanted to move forward with Long Ling, but was stopped by him.
“Don’t move, Phoenix,” Long Ling’s eyes, tinted with a dark golden hue, were icy, yet his tone remained gentle when facing Su Muluo. “This is mine. I must reclaim it.”
Su Muluo looked at him and nodded after a few seconds. “Alright.”
The man obviously could hear their conversation, sneering coldly. The dragon bones flew out of the small building enveloped in black electric light — at the same time, Long Ling chased after without hesitation.
The next moment, two loud dragon roars almost simultaneously echoed. Su Muluo quickly stepped out and saw a large golden dragon soaring in the sky above the valley, instantly entangled with another black dragon.
“Oh my god!” The spirit of the jade pendant was shocked speechless, “I-Is that… Lord Long Ling’s kin?!”
Su Muluo remained silent with a calm expression. He had previously speculated whether the man behind the demonic spirit was a dragon, and now it seemed his speculation was confirmed.
The golden dragon was obviously fully grown, its scales shining like pure gold, standing majestically above the valley, resembling a sun ruling over all.
But if it was a sun, then the black dragon was a bottomless abyss, swallowing all light. It matched the golden dragon in size and was equally imposing, unaffected by the golden dragon’s brilliance, exuding an equally overwhelming aura.
The battle between the black and golden dragons was like two mountains colliding, their roars shaking the surroundings, their claws splitting mountains and shattering rocks. For a moment, darkness engulfed the sky, and the valley floor trembled, yet the small building stood firm, unaffected.
Spirit of the jade pendant: “Ahhhh, so frightening!!”
After all, it was just a spiritual entity and could not withstand such an impact like Su Muluo, who was the Phoenix himself. It immediately wanted to retreat into the jade pendant… But as it turned around, it suddenly saw something inside the small building and exclaimed.
“Lord Phoenix! Look there!”
At this moment, all of Su Muluo’s attention was on the battle of his dragon. It took several calls from the spirit of the jade pendant to distract him — it was this glance that caught his eye.
Inside the small building, a shadowy figure in a black robe with silver hair sat quietly in a chair.
It was a young man with silver hair loosely tied behind him, wearing a white shirt adorned with white feathers and dr4p3d with a black robe. His slender fingers rested on the table, knuckles slightly bent, eyelashes lowered as if contemplating, yet also waiting.
His skin was pale as snow, his features delicate and beautiful like a serene lake — Su Muluo silently watched him, a profoundly strange feeling welling up inside him.
This was himself.
The difference was that he now had black hair, while this version of himself had silver hair.
Outside, the battle between the black and golden dragons continued to intensify. Su Muluo waited for a few seconds and noticed that the shadowy figure hadn’t moved at all, seeming to be merely an illusion. He turned to go back to observe the battle.
But this time, it was again the spirit of the jade pendant that reminded him, saying, “Lord Phoenix, it seems like this illusion is about to disappear!”
Su Muluo halted, seeing the shadow on the chair gradually becoming transparent, as if about to dissipate. In that moment, as if guided by some force, he subconsciously walked over, lifted his hand, and touched the illusion —
At the same time, the illusion completely dissipated, a faint light merging into Su Muluo’s body, his pupils slightly contracting.
In an instant, he felt as if he had fallen from a great height once again, plunging into a cold abyss. The familiar sensation enveloped him, but this time, he truly seemed to sink into the depths, unable to breathe… It wasn’t until several seconds later that the suffocating feeling slowly faded away.
Boom!
A thunderous roar tore through the dark sky, and heavy rain poured down. Su Muluo realized he was no longer in the valley, or perhaps not in the time a thousand years later, but back thousands of years ago, in the original territory of the Phoenix clan.
He was dr4p3d in a white robe, drenched from head to toe in rain, his ink-black hair clinging wetly to his face. He coughed violently from the lack of oxygen… But as he lifted his head and surveyed his surroundings, he froze.
A dark sky hung over the land, rain washing away everything. He saw devastation all around, the exquisite pavilions reduced to rubble, only fragments remaining.
Mud and water flowed over the charred land, the air still tainted with the smell of blood and burnt flesh. This was supposed to be the ancient territory of the Bird Clan thousands of years ago, yet it resembled little of the vibrant valley of Tujian today.
Su Muluo looked around bewilderedly, intending to search for traces of his kin, only to realize he had been kneeling in the rain for who knows how long. His legs had gone numb, and as soon as he stood up, he collapsed into the cold rainwater.
His hands pressed against the ground, a stabbing pain shot through his fingers and spread throughout his body. When he lowered his head, he saw his hands drenched in blood, nails broken, fingers caked with mud…
Suddenly, a tremendous sense of panic engulfed him. It was a feeling of helplessness, as if everything had already happened and he could only watch, powerless. Ignoring the pain and numbness in his legs, Su Muluo struggled to stand up, staggering through the rain.
With each step, his heart sank deeper. The torrential rain seemed to have washed away everything, and he found nothing, saw nothing, about his people… It was as if they were all gone.
Suddenly, Su Muluo stopped in his tracks.
He saw a feather.
A bloodstained… blue feather.
This feather pierced into Su Muluo’s eyes like a sharp needle, tearing open the bloody truth. All his hopes shattered completely, as if plunging into an icy abyss, uncontrollably trembling.
At the same time, countless images flooded into his mind, his brain felt like it was splitting with pain, and he bent over in agony.
Accompanied by these images rushing in, he saw countless thunderbolts descending from the sky, like a torrential waterfall pouring down from the heavens, instantly swallowing the entire Phoenix territory —
The silent pavilions and towers vanished without a sound, the sorrowful cries of many Phoenixes echoed through the sky, blood-stained feathers fluttered, flesh and bones rapidly disintegrated, layer upon layer of blood splattered on the earth, staining the soil crimson…
This hellish scene lasted only a moment, but within an instant, it was over.
Then came the pouring rain, lasting for days, as if the heavens wept cold tears of destruction, washing everything away… The Phoenix clan also perished in this torrential rain.
His head felt like it was being gnawed by countless insects. Su Muluo knelt to the ground, feeling his internal organs torn apart, his flesh and blood severed, unbearable pain engulfing him.
Why… Why did it have to be like this…
Looking up, tears of blood streamed from the corners of his eyes. His once dark hair now turned white with shock. He wanted to speak, but could only utter hoarse and brief syllables — at that moment, he had even lost the ability to speak.
It was then that he heard a very faint sigh.
The sigh was close, right by his ear, and very familiar. It was his own voice.
“Some things, perhaps it’s better not to know them than to know.”
The voice spoke softly,
“Thousands of years ago, my clan was destroyed by the Heavenly Dao. I expended all my Nirvana power but couldn’t save them… It was then that I glimpsed some secrets of the Heavenly Dao.”
“Later, I sealed away my memories and part of my power, entering a deep slumber. However, I advise you not to unlock all the seals, because the final truth may not be what you wish to know.”
“But if one day he faces danger and your current power cannot protect him… then unlock the last seal.”
“Even if everything cannot be undone, at least you can save him.”
The voice faded gradually from Su Muluo’s ears. He clenched his fists tightly, feeling as if he was submerged in icy water, chilling him to the bone.
Those were words left to him by himself from thousands of years ago, and the “he” in the last sentence referred to Long Ling.
Su Muluo could even recall his expression back then, one of resignation and sadness… But why?
Why did he seal his own memories and specifically warn himself not to unlock the final seal?
And the secrets of the Heavenly Dao… were they related to him? Were they related to the demise of the Phoenix clan, and why he was the only Phoenix left?
Su Muluo’s mind felt like it was about to split apart. In those few short seconds, countless questions flashed through his mind. It was as if he had touched upon another world, one that he had never encountered before but was extremely perilous…
Cold sweat dripped from his forehead, his vision began to darken, and as the scenes of that great rain and the Phoenix territory faded from his sight, he finally lost consciousness and fell down.
—
Boom!
The sound of mountains collapsing echoed through the entire valley. A golden dragon slammed heavily into a cliff, causing the rocks beneath it to crumble inch by inch, turning into rubble.
It let out a cry of pain and anger. Its tough scales were torn off forcibly, revealing a deep wound on its abdomen that exposed bone, blood splattering and forming a bloody rain in the valley.
“If my power had fully recovered, how could I let you, you lowly…”
The golden dragon gritted its teeth, looking up at the black dragon towering above it with deep hatred in its eyes.
“Just you wait!”
Before finishing its words, the golden dragon disappeared from its original spot, while the black dragon did not pursue.
Although it had severely wounded the golden dragon, it too was injured. Just like how the golden dragon couldn’t kill it, it couldn’t easily kill the other either.
Moreover, there was something more important—just now, it sensed no trace of the Phoenix.
Returning to the small building with its dragon bones, the black dragon landed and reverted to its human form.
“Phoenix!” Seeing his Phoenix lying on the ground, his expression changed suddenly. He rushed over and held Su Muluo in his arms. “What happened to him?!”
The latter half was spoken to the spirit of the jade pendant. When Su Muluo passed out, the spirit transformed into a barrier to protect him, and now seeing Long Ling, it immediately recounted everything that had just happened.
“Lord Phoenix saw the apparition left behind from thousands of years ago, walked over to it, and stood there motionless. I called out to him many times, but he seemed not to hear me.” The spirit of the jade pendant said, “Just now, he suddenly passed out.”
After finishing speaking, it observed Long Ling’s condition and hesitated, “Wait, Lord Long Ling… are you injured?”
Long Ling did not speak. Just now, he had noticed that something had happened to the Phoenix. Even if he had to be injured, he had to deliver a fatal blow to the golden dragon quickly.
And now, his Phoenix lay in his arms, eyes tightly closed, perhaps trapped in a nightmare, with a pained expression.
Long Ling lowered his head and gently rubbed Su Muluo’s soft face against his own ear, gently coaxing him until his Phoenix’s expression eased somewhat, then he lifted him up.
When the man stood up, his eyes were dark, like a sea about to set off a storm, so much so that even the spirit of the jade pendant felt fear.
It silently shrank back and returned to the jade pendant.
Ignoring it, Long Ling hugged his Phoenix and turned away.
T/N: Hello hello! There is plenty more where that came from, so stay tuned! And stay healthy! Straighten your posture, so some stretches and drink some water before continuing hehe~
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If you like cats, check out Revenge of the Garfield
If you like dragons, check out I’m Pregnant with the Hope of the Entire Planet and The Dragon and the ‘Princess’
How about some mystery or showbiz? Check out Morbid Addiction & Perfection
What about the perfect, most non-toxic male lead ever? Laws of Love
How about MC nursing ML back to health? Forced into the Deep
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