TL-checked : Zaki, Edited : Animeart

  Note on Title:

  According to Xiao Xuan’s confession, things had become clear.

  First of all, Xiao Xuan had planted spies in the Phoenix Mountain Villa.

  The two dynasties had been hostile for a long time. The placement of spies from Northern Xia to Southern Xia or from Southern Xia to Northern Xia, was an extraordinary thing and was a normal operation.

  It was really easy to place spies in Phoenix Mountain Villa. Phoenix Mountain Villa accommodated orphans from all over the world, regardless of where they came from. Those with Immortal cultivation talent would learn martial arts, and those without talent were arranged to the following banks and shops. Northern Xia only needed to arrange an “orphan girl” who had the gift of Immortal cultivation and they would have their spy within the Phoenix Mountain Villa.

  However, Phoenix Mountain Villa had been standing for many years, since it dared to take in orphans without asking where they came from, it must have the means to ensure the innocence of these orphans. Somehow, Xiao Xuan’s spies had become, actively or passively, the mouthpiece of Phoenix Mountain Villa to Northern Xia.

  The information that Xiao Xuan knew through his spies was the information that Phoenix Mountain Villa wanted him to know.

  And the Empress knew that the Imperial family had a treasure that could kill the blood of the Phoenix. She wanted to get it – perhaps for security reasons. After all, a divine weapon that could control one’s life, leaving it in the hands of others, would not be reassuring.

  However, the Emperor would not tell anyone the location of the Yi Ri Divine arrow, unless he was dying and he would have to pass the information to the heir.

  The heir to the throne got the location of the Divine Arrow and it needed the blood of the Xiao family to open it.

  It stands to reason that opening the mechanism and taking out the magical arrow should be done by Xiao Lingyang, and then the Phoenix Mountain Villa, like a mantis catching the cicada, would take the Divine Arrow.

  But the question is, would Xiao Lingyang take the Divine arrow?

  Lin Shu thought: I’m afraid not.

  Xiao Lingyang was a good boy at heart

  He was raised by the Empress, and he still had affection for the Empress – not to mention that he was very much in favor of his sister.

  So it was not feasible for Xiao Lingyang to take the Divine Arrow.

  ——Then what was to be done?

  Naturally, it would be Northern Xia, which also had the bloodline of the Xiao family, and for the Phoenix Mountain Villa, if they wanted to get rid of it, they had to be quick.

  ——So there was the fact that the spy told Xiao Xuan the location of the Yi Ri Divine Arrow, and there was also the fact that Xiao Xuan deceived Xiao Lingyang on how he could get his hands on the Yi Ri Divine Arrow. Then the Empress intercepted the Divine Arrow and got it from Xiao Xuan. In this way, the Divine arrow came into the hands of the Phoenix Mountain Villa.

  There was nothing wrong with this matter.

  But it revealed a signal.

  The Royal family and Phoenix Mountain Villa had always been at odds with each other.

  The Royal family was on guard against Phoenix Mountain Villa, and Phoenix Mountain Villa was also on guard against the royal family.

  Moreover, even the death of the old Emperor was fueled by the Empress from behind the scenes.

  Combined with Lin Shu’s previous understanding of Phoenix Mountain Villa……

  The Phoenix was an innate Divine beast carrying the Heavenly Dao, and threatened the position of the Human Emperor, so the Emperor did not want to see the awakening of the Phoenix Blood.

  However, the peerless furnace constitution of the Phoenix family was something the Emperor could not abandon.

  ——Thereby leading to the current situation.

  Lin Shu thought for a while and said to Ling Fengxiao, “Maybe the Empress was eliminating all hidden dangers for you to ascend the throne peacefully?”

  Ling Fengxiao: “But why did she not mention a word to me?”

  Lin Shu did not know.

  Ling Fengxiao held him by the waist and took him flying to a tall flowering tree.

  The two of them sat on a branch.

  The flowers and trees were sparsely scattered, and a faint fragrance could be smelled in the air.

  It was not known what Ling Fengxiao was thinking. He changed back to Xiao Shao’s state.

  In recent days, the number of times when he became Xiao Shao had increased sharply. Lin Shu thought maybe because Xiao Shao was taller than Ling Fengxiao and it was easier to hold Lin Shu.

  ——As for whether it is a man or a woman, this person doesn’t care at all. Just a few days ago, the Big Miss and Fruit were cooped in a room for a long time. It was not known what they were doing there for so long. Finally, they came out with a concocted box of lip gloss, saying that it was mixed with fine gold powder along with cinnabar lip gloss, which had the luster of a sunset glow.

  Lin Shu looked again and again with his aesthetics, but he didn’t see any “luster of sunset glow”, but only felt the gloss was only more glittering.

  After he finished slandering the “lustrous glow of sunset” in his mind, Lin Shu was held by Xiao Shao from behind, thinking about what had happened recently.

  Perhaps the Empress really loved Ling Fengxiao.

  She wanted Ling Fengxiao to live peacefully and safely.

  Lin Shu himself, actually, also hoped Xiao Shao could live forever.

  However, he thought, some things&#k2026; It would be better for Xiao Shao to decide by himself.

  However, one could not provoke the relationship between the Empress and Xiao Shao.

  After thinking again, he said, “Three years ago, the Great Wizard told me something.”

  Xiao Shao: “Hmm?”

  “When the eight peerless manuscripts were gathered together, they could affect the Heavenly Dao and have supreme luck.”

  “I have guessed the same.” Xiao Shao said, “The people of the Immortal world intended to destroy the eight peerless manuscripts so that they could not be gathered, lest someone in the world have too much power.”

  “En.” Lin Shu said, “But there is another way. If a person becomes the Human Emperor and unites the four seas under him, he would…… also be able to gather immense Qi Luck.”

  Xiao Shao gazed at him, as if he had smelled something unusual, and asked him in a warm voice, “And then?”

  “Then, you have the Phoenix Blood in your body, when the Phoenix Blood is fully awakened ……”

  \r \r \r

  Xiao Shao: “I will be similar to the ancient Phoenix?”

  Lin Shu nodded.

  Xiao Shao seemed to smile a little, not knowing what it meant but in any case, it was not a delighted smile.

  “However, the growth of the Phoenix needs the nourishment of Qi luck, but you are a human. Without such Qi, if the Phoenix Blood has been awakened, it will dry up and dissipate.”

  “En……” Xiao Shao said, “Then I have to gather the eight peerless manuscripts or become the Human Emperor.”

  Lin Shu: “En.”

  Xiao Shao did not say anything, but just hugged Lin Shu tighter.

  Then he said in his ear, “Baby……”

  The voice seemed to be soaked in peach blossom wine, which was obviously very light, but the aftertaste was long because it was deliberately suppressed, and after the strong wine burned, there was a gentle aftertaste of sweetness that could not be tied up.

  Every time Xiao Shao spoke to him in this voice, Lin Shu would slightly shiver and have the illusion of being immersed in wine and about to drown.

  Xiao Shao continued: “.…… You have been deceived.”

  Lin Shu: “??”

  He turned his head and looked at Xiao Shao.

  Xiao Shao took him into his arms, and Lin Shu could feel the slight vibration in his chest as he spoke.

  “I am guessing that it was the words of the Great Wizard who asked to gather the eight peerless manuscripts. And it was the Empress Mother who told you about the Human Emperor.”

  All right.

  There was a flaw somewhere.

  This Phoenix was too meticulous in his mind, and he couldn’t be easily deceived.

  “The Empress Mother doesn’t know my cultivation level. In her heart, I’m still in the early realm of the Tribulation stage and could still be controlled. The Pavillion Master of the Sword Pavilion is at the peak of Crossing the Tribulation stage. If you wanted, you could cross heaven and earth and do whatever you wanted.” Xiao Shao said quietly, then continued: “If I didn’t want to become the Human Emperor, the Pavilion Master would take me far away from the secular world. No one could stop you…… Therefore, after my mother came to know that you exist in the world, she would try to get you on her side. It happens that I have Phoenix Blood in me…… She deceived you by saying that if I don’t become the Human Emperor, I will die.”

  Lin Shu: “?”

  He was also deceived?

  Then wouldn’t he be at the same level of intelligence as Xiao Xuan and Xiao Lingyang?

  This was impossible.

  He did not believe it.

  He then said, “What if you really could die?”

  Xiao Shao said seriously: “En…… It’s also possible.”

  Lin Shu: “Then don’t you still want to be the Human Emperor.”

  “If I don’t become an Emperor, I will die. Even if I become an Emperor, I would be an Emperor every day during my lifetime…… I don’t really want to be an Emperor.”

  Lin Shu thought, what do you mean, or do you want to die?

  Xiao Shao continued: “It was said that the Phoenix Blood will gradually awaken. But after I dual cultivated with you, the Phoenix Blood has long since subsided. I have been with the Phoenix Blood for more than twenty years, knowing that it is just too fiery. Apart from the Lihuo Qi burning my meridians, usually practicing martial arts, using the sword will also reveal the Lihuo Qi, seemingly showing me to be exceptionally talented.”

  Speaking of this, Xiao Shao smiled and said, “They all said that I was born with extraordinary talents, so I have a strong cultivation base since I was a child…… In fact, I think having the Phoenix Blood is just icing on the cake and everything is related to my character. Even if I am given a mortal body, I will not be hidden from everyone.”

  This little Phoenix fluffed up.

  The feathers all over his body fluffed up.

  Lin Shu patted the back of his hand and stroked along the fluffy feathers, agreeing, “That’s right.”

  Xiao Shao continued: “Maybe there is something strange about my Phoenix Blood, but now that I have taken the core of the resentment of heaven and earth, I won’t die easily. Even if there is something that can kill me, then it would only be because it was the will of the Dao of Heavens.”

  Lin Shu: “But……”

  In case?

  In the past, when he was in the Academy, the Big Miss often wanted to be with him.

  To put it bluntly, in case he fell, in case he was bullied, in case he encountered a demon, and so on.

  He was puzzled at that time, there are so many ‘in cases’ in the world.

  But now it felt that the phrase “in case” was really frightening.

  “Although it is possible, it is really strange.” Xiao Shao said: “I am afraid, what the Empress Mother and the Great Wizard have told you were just half-true and half-false.”

  Lin Shu: “Then what is true and what is false?”

  Xiao Shao: “What is false, I don’t know, but two things are true.”

  Lin Shu: “Hmm?”

  Xiao Shao: “The Great Wizard wants you to collect the eight peerless manuscripts, and the Empress Mother wants me to become the Human Emperor, these two things are true, and if these two things come true, something extraordinary would happen.”

  Lin Shu: “What are you going to do?”

  “We will see what happens.” Xiao Shao put his hands around his waist: “But ……”

  Lin Shu does not want to hear the word “but” now.

  But Xiao Shao continued.

  “The Empress Mother has always been a very gentle person.” His voice was faint: “But she……if she wanted something done……then that usually happened.”

  “When I was a child, if I didn’t cultivate properly, my Mother would punish me, but Empress Mother would not.”

  “My Empress Mother would just hold me in her arms and cry.” Xiao Shao’s voice was a little astringent: “But her tears…… were something that scared me more than punishment.”

  Lin Shu didn’t know what he wanted to express in words.

  All he knew was that the image of the Empress was very gentle and beautiful. When she was in the prime of her life, one smile could make a strange man obsessed for half a lifetime.

  Then a drop of her tears might break people’s hearts.

  He said, “I never had a mother.”

  Xiao Shao made him face himself and pressed his forehead against his: “Now, there are only two people in the world who can hurt and damage me.”

  Lin Shu understood what he wanted to say.

  He stretched out his hand to touch Xiao Shao’s cheek, and Xiao Shao leaned down and tasted his lips.

  The falling flowers rustled and covered his whole body. Xiao Shao hugged his waist, and kissed a little deeper. After a while, he let go of his lips, and still holding the person in his arms, he fell back to the ground.

  As soon as they landed on the ground, Xiao Shao changed back to Ling Fengxiao’s appearance.

  Ling Fengxiao: “I’m going to see the Empress mother.”

  Lin Shu nodded and asked, “Will you be okay on your own?”

  Ling Fengxiao: “I know discretion and will not overstep.”

  Lin Shu: “Okay.”

  Ling Fengxiao hugged him and kissed him on the side of his neck.

  Lin Shu thought that His Royal Highness Fengyang had coated his lips with the legendary “sunset glow luster” today, and must have left a “sunset glow” lip mark on his neck as well.

  His Royal Highness let go of him and left for the Empress’ palace, his red robe winding around his body, covered by the heavy flowers and trees of the Palace garden.

  Lin Shu looked at his back and touched the lipstick mark on his neck with his fingers. There seemed to be some change in his heart, but he couldn’t figure it out.

  When Ling Fengxiao’s back disappeared, he also turned around and went in the direction of Wutong Court.

  Halfway there, he heard a distant voice: “Pavilion Master, please stay.”

  Lin Shu stopped and saw Xie Zishe came out from the Palace wall on one side and walked towards himself.

  The distance was quite a bit far, it would have been hard for her to recognize him from so far away.

  Xie Zishe approached and said with a smile, “I saw you from a distance. I thought that only the Pavilion Master had such a snowy and jade-like immortal appearance in this Palace. Indeed, I was right.”

  Lin Shu thought that he was still dressed in the usual way. So he took Xie Zishe’s words as polite courtesy and said, “Elder martial sister, you are too polite.”

  Xie Zishe said, “I called you today, because there is something serious I need to say.”

  Lin Shu: “Please speak.”

  Xie Zishe: “By order of Her Royal Highness Fengyang, I have to give His Royal Highness an hour of lecture every night to teach him the ways of governing the country and the people. This had been the case everyday for the past three years. Today, when I returned to the court, I thought that His Highness must have missed a lot of homework, so I went there early, but His Highness was nowhere to be seen in the Luofeng Palace. I asked the Palace staff but they didn’t say anything clearly. Does this matter have something to do with the Big Miss?

  Lin Shu thought about the wording: “His Highness the Crown Prince …… is reflecting on his mistake.”

  Xie Zishe raised her eyebrows: “Could it be that he has been placed under house arrest?”

  After that, she sighed: “It’s fine, I guessed it already. Nowadays, there is a lot of discussion in the court and the public, saying that Phoenix Mountain Villa wanted to change the throne — I feel in my heart that Big Miss does not have such an intention, however, I also feel that if this is the case, this matter is not a bad thing.”

  He just listened as she continued, “In any case, I always stand on the side of the Big Miss. But His Royal Highness …… is also intelligent, and I feel a little regret. ”

  Lin Shu heard the unusual meaning in her words and asked, “Why do you say that?”

  “His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince is not poor in talent, but he didn’t have a good foundation when he was young. He learned the arduous and obscure classics like 《Six Strategies》 at the beginning of his education. But when he grew up, he learned meaningless metaphysics such as the 《Zhu Lin》. For more than ten years, he has not learned real and practical knowledge, and because of this, he was extremely averse to reading. Even if His Majesty later asked a Great Mentor to teach him the 《Imperial Strategies》, it would be difficult to make up for all the years of missed learning.” She smiled: “However, it is said that His Highness the Crown Prince had always been raised by Her Majesty the Empress, and so I can’t say anything about it.”

  Lin Shu: “Elder martial sister, be careful of what you say.”

  “Naturally, I speak cautiously in front of other people, but in front of the Pavilion Master, it is possible I could talk about it.” Xie Zishe looked at his neck and smiled.

  Lin Shu naturally knew that there was a deeper meaning in Xie Zishe’s words, and she was only passing on a message to Ling Fengxiao through him. Perhaps, even Xie Zishe’s had seen the clues in the Empress’ heart, so she came to let him know.

  After all, there was a rumor in the Academy that Xie Zishe, the Eldest martial sister of Confucianism and Taoism Institute, did not like men, but admired the Big Miss very much……

  While it was said that the Elder martial sister admired the Big Miss, Xie Zishe never said anything special about Ling Fengxiao, but instead she liked to flirt with Lin Shu verbally, so Lin Shu felt that her attitude has been a mystery.

  After talking about the matter, Xie Zishe did not leave, but looked at him: “Speaking of which, I have a confusion in my mind.”

  Lin Shu: “Please speak.”

  “I heard that the Sword Pavilion’s skill is a Heartless skill that does not enter the world, but I don’t know why the Pavilion Master has re-entered into the world.” Xie Zishe said.

  Lin Shu said: “Emotional or Heartless Dao …… I can not yet solve it. Going out of the world and re-entering into the world, just depends on how you follow your heart.”

  Xie Zishe pursed her lips and smiled: “Then Zishe wishes the Pavilion Master and the Big Miss a happy life.”

  Lin Shu: “Many thanks.”

  After seeing Xie Zishe off, Lin Shu stood in the same place for a while.

  Xie Zishe had asked the right question.

  His answer was also true.

  The world of mortals was so pervasive to him that it had always been like a maze that it could not be crossed easily by him.

  After his cultivation base was restored, all forms and colors in the world were as plain as water, and the faces of the people in the world had all become the same, but the little Phoenix had always been very beautiful.

  He didn’t quite understand.

  He didn’t quite understand why the first seven moves of the 《Everlasting Yearning》were all so solitary and cold and then the eighth form ‘Concept of one’s life’ had become a self-injurious sword technique that was meant to protect the person behind his body.

  He didn’t quite understand why, when Xiao Shao leaned down to touch his lips, the world was quiet, but he could hear his own heartbeat.

  In the slow night breeze, he looked at the Wutong Garden in the shadow of the lights, slightly confused.

  He didn’t understand, but at the same time, he did understand.

  It was said in ancient books that only the lowly mortals are mired down by the worldly emotions; the enlightened put the emotions at the back of their minds. But with his Heartless Dao, now in the empty silence, he could see what love was clearly.

  The author has something to say:

  Great Men’s forgetfulness is quoted from : “Shi Shuo Xin Yu · Mourn for the Death”.

  There are changes, the original sentence “The sage forgets the love, the most inferior to the love; what is the meaning of the love is in my generation.”

  For more information on quote