Chapter Six: The Peony Fairy

  It was late at night, and Zhi Yan lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. As she recalled the memories of Yun Tian and Yun Jing, she indeed felt something, and in that instant, she felt some fragmented pieces in her mind coming together, forming a small fragment of memory.

  Everything he saw in those fragments filled Zhi Yan with deep fear.

  When she read the memory of Yun Jing, she saw a middle-aged man in luxurious clothes pinching an infant's neck with his hand in the dark, without any mercy in his eyes. Just as the baby was about to suffocate, a blue light burst out from the baby's body, forcing the man to retreat to one side. After the light disappeared, he threw her heavily to the ground and left without looking back, leaving only the baby crying desperately alone.

  While reading Yun Tian's memories, the middle-aged man appeared again. She saw the middle-aged man standing in front of her with a cold and emotionless face, ordering someone to pass a long iron chain through her body from the collarbone, tying it tightly to a tree that shone brightly, so that even the slightest movement would bring piercing pain.

  She repeatedly recalled these fragments, only to feel her hands and feet turn cold, her body trembling with fear. She didn't know if these fragments were memories of her own past, who that man was, or what they portended, but having collected so many people's souls, this was the first time she'd encountered such a situation. Although these fragments were painful, it was ultimately a good thing, proving that what the book said wasn't false; as long as she continued like this, she would definitely find her past self.

  "Heh heh heh, have you finally started to wake up?" A strange male voice echoed in the darkness. Jingyan sat up with a start, looking around frantically but not seeing anyone. The room was surrounded by seals, and without permission, no one could enter. Whose voice was this?

  "Zhe ran... Zhe ran... where are you? Zhe ran..."

  Zhi Yan shouted, but the surroundings were quiet and somewhat abnormal, unable to hear any movement. For some reason, her head started hurting again, while the man's laughter kept echoing in her ears.

  "Stop... who are you?!"

  Zhi Yan suddenly sat up from the bed, wiped away the cold sweat on her forehead, and only then realized that everything earlier was just a nightmare. She let out a sigh of relief, preparing to go find Ze Ran, but discovered that there was inexplicably something lying beside her.

  "Ahh... ghost..."

  With a loud thud, a somewhat resentful voice rose up, "Don't... don't be so violent! And! I'm not a ghost!"

  Zeran heard the noise and hastily moved to Zhixian's room. Lighting the candle, he found a young man in red clothes sitting on the ground, looking about 15 or 16 years old, with a very handsome face, elegant and refined, as if he had walked out of a painting. He was rubbing his sore body, looking at Zhixian with a wronged expression, as if he was about to cry at any moment. When he saw Zeran, his eyes lit up, and he excitedly jumped up and pounced on him.

  “…………”

  "...... Ze Ran, is he... your son?"

  Zhang Yan raised an eyebrow and turned his face away, separating himself from him. He turned around to face Zhi Yan with an innocent expression, "I don't know him at all..."

  "Hey, who are you? What are you doing running into my room?" Zhi Yan looked at him with great displeasure. In the middle of the night, someone suddenly appeared beside her; fortunately, she had a good tolerance, otherwise she would have been scared to death.

  "I... I am the peony flower in the courtyard... Because I was stained with the spiritual energy of you two, and coincidentally cultivated into a human form under the right circumstances... It's cold outside at night, and there are terrifying insects, I'm afraid... So I cast a spell and entered the house..." The man looked pitifully at the two, his eyes flashing with crystal tears. "I have nowhere to go, it's because of you two that today's me was born, you must take responsibility for me..."

  Zhi Yan's face turned black as he listened to this sentence, which always sounded strange to him, as if he had really done something unforgivable and unrighteous.

  "Hey, you..."

  A certain flower immediately lifted its head, with tears in its eyes.

  “……”

  "Zhe Ran, otherwise we can take him in? He's quite pitiful on his own, and he can help with chopping wood, boiling water, washing clothes, and cooking. If all else fails, putting him in a vase as decoration would still be somewhat useful, what do you think?" Ze Yan walked up to a certain flower and happily pinched its small face.

  "I'm good, I'm good..." a certain flower immediately chimed in.

  Zeran looked at the two with a pleading expression, smiled lightly, "Yan'er said it's okay, I came to the mortal world privately and didn't know if it was true or not, I still need to go back once. With him accompanying you, I can be more at ease. Little flower demon, what's your name?"

  "Le Er, I'm calling Le Er~"

  "Le'er..." Ze Ran gazed at Le'er's gentle smile, "What a great name. From now on, you'll stay here. However, your cultivation is still shallow and you've just transformed into human form, for your safety, remember not to leave this courtyard casually."

  A certain flower nodded obediently and sat in the room, foolishly happy, laughing with joy.

  Looking at Ze Ran's smile, Zhi Yan suddenly felt a faint sense of loss in her heart. She couldn't remember when she last saw Ze Ran smile. For some reason, Zhi Yan always felt that Ze Ran was avoiding her, and there was a hint of intentional or unintentional estrangement in his care and concern for her. She had wanted to ask him many times but didn't dare to, fearing it would push their relationship to a worse situation. Since Ze Ran didn't want to say anything, she was happy to pretend to be ignorant. Sometimes asking too clearly would only end up hurting herself.

  Zeran noticed Ze Yan's abnormality and gently placed his hand on her shoulder, softly saying: "What's wrong? Is there anywhere uncomfortable?"

  Xie Yan smiled lightly and quietly moved Ze Ran's hand away, "I'm fine, just a bit tired, I want to sleep well. Trouble you to arrange for Le Er, thank you."

  “……”

  The bright moon is in the sky, and Ze Yan stands in the courtyard, looking at the beautiful moonlight with a hint of sadness on his face. The moonlight shines like a thin gauze on his silver hair, adding to the sorrow. He gazes steadily at the sky for a long time, as if he has made up his mind, and quickly recites a few incantations, enveloping the room where Zhi Yan is in a bundle of blue light.

  "Yan'er, I can sense that you've remembered something. I also wish you could remember me, but those memories are too cruel, and all they'll bring you is pain... Please forgive my presumptuousness... I have no choice but to reinforce the seal on your memories of me once more..."

  He leaped into the air and transformed into his true form as the divine beast Ice Phoenix, letting out a mournful cry as he flew up to the Ninth Heaven.

  The Star God Tree shines brightly on the dark side of the Night Court Palace. The stars in the sky represent all things in the six realms, and each life in the six realms has its corresponding star. The stars of the living hang in the night sky, while the stars of ghosts return to this tree, waiting for their masters to reincarnate again.

  He transformed into a human figure, quietly sat down beside the tree, stroking the cool trunk, listening to the wind blowing through the divine tree making a crisp tinkling sound, as if he had returned to the era of a thousand years ago.

  "Zeran, can you transform into a phoenix for me to see?"

  "What is the world like after all."

  "In human world, loving men and women will get married, then why can't we? I'll marry you, how about that..."

  Looking back on everything that happened in the past, Ze Yan's eyes shone with a warm and gentle light. If only things could be like they were before, how wonderful it would be.

  "Feng Huang, you're here again......" Tian Jiang Lian Qiao, who was patrolling the area, saw Ze Ran and let out a soft sigh. What a lovesick fool.

  "Feng Huang? Tian Jun has indeed given me face, and hasn't stripped me of this Feng Huang title yet." Ze Ran's smile carried a hint of mockery, more towards himself than Tian Jun.

  Lian Song sat down beside Ze Ran, patted his shoulder and said, "Most of the Phoenix clan are fire phoenixes. Since the birth of the Phoenix clan, there has only been one ice phoenix like you. Previously, you accompanied the Female Silkworm Empress and did so many things for the six realms' creatures. If you don't become the Phoenix Emperor, who else can take on this position?"

  "None of these matter..."

  "Feng Huang, although I know some things shouldn't be said, but after all these years of knowing each other, I really don't want to see you ruining yourself because of emotions. You'd better not come here again in the future."

  “……”

  "Feng Huang, you must understand, she can't come back! Even if you wait here for thousands of years, tens of thousands of years, she won't be able to return. Once a god falls into the devil's path, there is only one outcome: eternal damnation. If you continue down this path, you will eventually follow in her footsteps." Lian Song consoled, recalling the bloody scene from back then, which still sent shivers down his spine. The peaceful and serene divine realm, which had been calm for tens of thousands of years, was suddenly filled with dark clouds, and the bright red blood stained the clouds, sun, moon, and stars crimson. On that day, the divine realm seemed to have turned into hell...

  "Who told you to spout this nonsense to me?"

  "That's what I mean."

  "Do you also think she deserves to die?"

  "I... am not... I just want to see the Phoenix Emperor once again."

  "Hehe... The former Feng Huang? The former Feng Huang had long since disappeared with her, now the one here is only Zeran, her Zeran..."

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