Chapter 38: Kill Him, or…?
“Squeak squeak squeak!”
In the mountain forest, a small phoenix angrily fluttered its wings, pecking randomly at Long Ling.
Long Ling knew he was in the wrong and let it peck him in grievance. But even when his phoenix pecked him, it was gentle, without any force.
So, he felt as if he had been pecked by his phoenix many times.
Of course, Long Ling only thought so in his heart and didn’t say it out loud. After a while, the little phoenix huffed angrily, folded its wings, and landed in Long Ling’s palm, ignoring him.
Long Ling touched its small head and was lightly pecked again.
“It wasn’t me who plucked it off,” Long Ling said aggrievedly, “I didn’t use any force. It feels like it fell off by itself.”
The phoenix’s feathers were shiny and beautiful. He couldn’t bear to touch them, let alone pluck one.
So it must have fallen off by itself!
Little Phoenix: “Squeak!”
That’s because you rubbed it off!
It wouldn’t have fallen off originally!
“If it can be rubbed off by me, it means it was about to fall off anyway,” Long Ling said, “and if it falls off, the phoenix can grow even more beautiful feathers. Isn’t it good to trade old for new?”
He made a lot of sense. The little phoenix stared at him for a few seconds as if convinced by him.
Then it turned back into a human, spread out its right hand towards him, and said, “Give me the feather back.”
Long Ling pretended not to hear this and awkwardly changed the subject, saying, “Phoenix, take a look at this jade pendant. Does it feel familiar to you?”
Su Muluo thought to himself, he stole my feather again, how outrageous.
But he didn’t really intend to snatch back that feather. Instead, he examined the jade pendant in his hand.
The jade pendant was clear and pure like snow, without any impurities. It was carved with exquisite patterns, resembling a phoenix wing about to take flight.
Su Muluo’s eyes narrowed slightly. He felt that this jade pendant was very familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before… but thinking about it, he knew he couldn’t possibly remember now.
Long Ling saw his phoenix engrossed in it and asked, “So, do you remember anything?”
“…No,” Su Muluo said, “I just feel it looks familiar.”
He had indeed been affected by the jade pendant just now, feeling sleepy and unable to open his eyes. But after a while, he felt better, and now his dragon qi had cleared his mind.
However, it wasn’t quite as he had expected. He thought he might see something in this jade pendant or instantly recall some memories.
“It’s okay, anyway, the bird clan has already given us this jade pendant,” Long Ling said. “The phoenix just received it, so it might take some time to discover anything. Maybe it will come to you later.”
Su Muluo agreed. There was no rush anyway, and their past was definitely not easy to unravel.
So he put away the jade pendant and said, “Let’s go back.”
Long Ling nodded and walked shoulder to shoulder with Su Muluo on the way back to the bird clan… As they walked, for some reason, he felt a bit dissatisfied.
Clearly, he helped his phoenix obtain the jade pendant, yet there were no kisses exchanged, and he got pecked by his phoenix several times.
What a loss!
Long Ling turned his head to look at Su Muluo. Though he didn’t say a word, his gaze was deep and his face clearly showed displeasure.
Su Muluo met his gaze and remained silent for a few seconds.
Slowly, he leaned over and kissed him on the face.
Long Ling: “!”
His pretense of being unhappy immediately vanished, and he couldn’t help but smile. He joyfully took his phoenix’s hand and took advantage of the situation, “One more.”
Su Muluo: “No, just one.”
Long Ling: “But this one doesn’t count as a kiss!”
Su Muluo: “How does this not count as a kiss?”
Long Ling said, “A kiss should be on the lips, and it should last at least five minutes. So, this from the phoenix doesn’t really count as a kiss, it’s just a peck!” Then he justified confidently, “Since it doesn’t count as a kiss, the phoenix can peck me a few more times, right?”
Su Muluo: “…”
Su Muluo felt his reasoning was absurd, so he ignored him and continued walking forward.
Meanwhile, the bird clan had already divided and imprisoned the disciples of the Elder Grandpa faction, but surprisingly, one fish slipped through the net.
“What? Muge escaped?” Feng Xuan exclaimed, “The entire bird clan can’t find any trace of him?!”
“Yes,” reported the bird demon, “We searched high and low throughout the bird clan and questioned his accomplices, but no one knows where he is… It’s as if he disappeared into thin air.”
Feng Xuan frowned deeply. When he saw Su Muluo and Long Ling entering at this moment, his eyes lit up. He stood up and asked Long Ling, “Sir, when you defeated the Elder Grandpa, was there someone like this with him?”
He briefly described Muge’s appearance, and Long Ling replied, “No.”
Su Muluo noticed Feng Xuan’s troubled expression and asked, “Did someone escape?”
“Yes, Muge ran away,” Feng Xuan said, “He should have escaped before Elder Grandpa was captured, so no one saw him leave or knows where he is now.”
After pondering for a few seconds, he told the bird demon beside him, “Continue the search. Alone, he shouldn’t be able to cause much trouble.”
The bird demon acknowledged and left. Feng Xuan invited Su Muluo and Long Ling to sit down and said, “Mr. Su, we want to interrogate the Elder Grandpa. Could I ask you and Sir to stay nearby?”
Su Muluo understood that he was worried about the Elder Grandpa escaping during the interrogation and nodded without objection.
Feng Xuan thanked him and had the Elder Grandpa and his daughter brought up.
At this moment, both the Elder Grandpa and his daughter were bound by the demon’s ropes, both now prisoners. The Elder Grandpa’s daughter still cursed angrily, while he himself remained silent.
“Elder Feng,” Feng Xuan said, “the reason I address you as Elder is because you have been in the clan for eight hundred years and have made contributions to the Bird Clan… But now I must ask you, is Feng Xuan’s death related to you?”
“What a foolish question,” the Elder responded indifferently, “didn’t you already know it was me who killed him?”
His gaze swept across everyone present, finally settling on Su Muluo and Long Ling, with a disdainful chuckle. “If it weren’t for these two outsiders, you wouldn’t even dare to bring this matter to my attention.”
“In that case, my apologies,” Feng Xuan said expressionlessly, “you’ve relied on your demonic power for eight centuries to oppress us, forced the clan leader to his death, committed various atrocities. It’s no wonder we sought assistance from these two esteemed guests.”
“Heh,” the Elder’s eyes held a mocking glint as he raised his head. “I might as well tell you another thing. Feng Xuan’s father—my predecessor as clan leader—I killed him too. But don’t get too pleased. Though I may fall into your hands now, in the end, the victor won’t be you.”
Feng Xuan dismissed his bravado. “Unfortunately, you won’t have the chance. By tomorrow, you and your daughter will face execution before the entire clan.”
Upon hearing this, the Elder’s daughter panicked. “I can’t die! Father, father, save me! Quickly contact that—”
Before she could finish her sentence, her expression froze abruptly, and her words ceased.
Feng Xuan stared at her, witnessing black blood trickle from her lips… The Elder’s daughter fell silently to the ground.
Feng Xuan stood abruptly. “You poisoned her!”
He recognized the poison, a rare and deadly venom specific to their Bird Clan, something he had encountered before from Muge.
Seeing his daughter’s death, the Elder showed no sorrow. Calmly, he said, “I’m going to die sooner or later. It’s better to die by my own hand than to be disgraced by you.”
Feng Xuan was speechless with astonishment. Beside him, Su Muluo spoke up.
“Is that so?” He said calmly. “Wasn’t it because your daughter said something she shouldn’t have?”
He distinctly heard the Elder’s daughter’s last four words before dying: “that person.”
This implied that behind the Elder, there might be someone else.
The Elder remained silent, calmly meeting Su Muluo’s gaze… After a few seconds, he coughed up a mouthful of black blood.
Su Muluo frowned, watching the Elder collapse beside his daughter. Feng Xuan quickly checked his pulse, then shook his head.
“He’s dead,” Feng Xuan said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the whereabouts of Muge from him.”
Neither of them had expected the Elder to poison himself and his daughter. With their deaths, the long-standing dispute within the Bird Clan seemed to have ended.
Su Muluo fell silent for a moment before saying, “Can we find Muge as soon as possible?”
He felt that the Elder and his daughter’s deaths were meant to conceal something. If they had chosen suicide out of humiliation, they could have done it when captured, rather than now.
Moreover, the Elder’s daughter’s last words, “quickly contact that person,” were deeply thought-provoking.
Who exactly was “that person,” hiding behind them, truly manipulating them?
Was the Elder’s quest for the Phoenix relic somehow related to “that person”?
However, these were merely Su Muluo’s conjectures without evidence. For now, the only breakthrough seemed to be the whereabouts of the missing Muge.
Feng Xuan said, “Mr. Su, rest assured. We will do our utmost to find the whereabouts of that traitor.”
After Su Muluo’s reminder, Feng Xuan also felt that something was amiss about the Elder’s death. He wondered who could manipulate the Elder from behind… After all, he was an ancient demon of eight centuries.
Realizing this, Feng Xuan felt a chill. He had thought everything was internal strife within the Bird Clan, but now it seemed there were deeper waters.
Thanks to Mr. Su and his companions, otherwise, relying solely on them, not to mention protecting the young master, they might not even have been able to ensure a straightforward death for themselves…
Su Muluo inexplicably felt that Feng Xuan’s gaze towards him suddenly became several times warmer, but he didn’t have the energy to figure out why now, because he was tired again.
Long Ling watched as Su Muluo, with the Phoenix nestled on his shoulder, buried his head in his shoulder in front of everyone, a hint of amusement in her eyes. She lifted the Phoenix and said, “He’s tired. I’ll take him to rest.”
“Feng Xuan certainly won’t object,” he nodded repeatedly, then added, “Your Excellency, tonight we will hold a banquet specifically to thank you and Mr. Su. If you have the time, please do come.”
Long Ling replied, “If he wakes up, I’ll bring him.”
With that, she left, carrying her Phoenix.
On the way back, Su Muluo rested his head on Long Ling’s shoulder, still clutching the jade pendant in his hand, its faint glow unnoticed by anyone.
As the light merged into Su Muluo’s body, his consciousness became fuzzy, his soul seemingly detached from his body and drifting to another place.
In his blurry vision, he saw a misty world, and heard a voice ringing in his ears, clear and crisp, like that of a young girl.
“This jade pendant was left by you a thousand years ago,” the spiritual form floated out from the jade pendant, wavering before him. “Back then, you infused Phoenix blood into the pendant, which gave birth to me, the spirit of this jade.”
Su Muluo barely managed to open his eyes, observing the spirit hovering before him.
“And later, you gave half of your heart’s blood to Lord Long Ling to save him, binding your lives together in the cycle of reincarnation,” the spirit continued. “But entering this cycle means your souls with Lord Long Ling are in an extremely unstable state. As he grows stronger, he will consume more of your life, causing various conditions in your body. If he stays by your side, these conditions may lessen, but it’s only treating the symptoms, not the root cause.”
Pausing, the spirit circled Su Muluo and whispered, “Continuing like this, he will inevitably consume all your life… because the Black Dragon’s fate is destruction, to destroy everything in the world.”
Su Muluo fell silent for a few seconds before asking, “How can this situation be resolved?”
“There are two ways,” the spirit replied. “The first, kill him.”
Su Muluo’s face turned suddenly cold. “That’s impossible.”
“I know you wouldn’t choose that method,” the spirit said, floating around before finally speaking slowly, “So there’s a second option, simpler, something you can do.”
“What is it?” Su Muluo asked.
The spirit remained silent for a moment, then drifted just out of Su Muluo’s reach before reluctantly saying, “The second method is… to mate with your dragon.”
Su Muluo: “…”
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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Also, check out the other series we have on HoH!
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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