The Immortal’s "White Moonlight" Reborn - Chapter 13

After delivering her gifts, the Blue Phoenix King accepted an invitation from several elders to stay at the sect for a few days. Princess Huaiqing took the opportunity to tour the spirit beast pens; upon her return, she pleaded with her mother to find a way to take the “pitiful,” bald Fire-Feather Birds away with them.

Seeing her daughter’s pout was long enough to hang a lantern on, the Blue Phoenix King couldn’t withstand several rounds of acting spoiled. She eventually braced herself and paid a visit to Yun Heng, delicately suggesting an exchange of other rare treasures for the Fire-Feather Birds.

While the Fire-Feathers were spiritual beasts, their power was mediocre, and they were not suited for combat. To humans, aside from their beautiful plumage and a trace of Phoenix blood so thin it was practically negligible, these birds were largely useless. In any fair trade, it was actually the Blue Phoenix King who would be at a loss.

However, the deal still could not be struck. Recalling her junior sister’s teasing from the other day, Yun Heng decided it was best to clear up certain misunderstandings first.

“The Fire-Feathers gave us their feathers of their own free will; I did not coerce them. Furthermore, they are only staying here temporarily—they do not belong to the Wenshen Sect. If the Blue Phoenix King wishes to take them, she only needs to discuss it with the birds themselves.”

The Fire-Feather tribe was notoriously eccentric and stubborn, making them incredibly difficult to raise. If a keeper did anything to displease them, they would rather die than settle for less. Consequently, very few people successfully kept them.

The Fire-Feathers at the Wenshen Sect had actually arrived on their own. Yun Heng remembered that when her sister was only in her teens, shortly after returning from a certain secret realm, these birds had flown in as a massive flock and made themselves at home.

The Blue Phoenix King understood every word Yun Heng said, yet the meaning baffled her. The Immortal was claiming these birds gave up their feathers voluntarily? And that they had invited themselves to stay at the sect?

Something was wrong. This was entirely unlike the behavior of the Fire-Feather tribe.

The last time they had acted so out of character was when they presented their feathers to His Majesty, successfully outshining all the other winged tribes. Even now, the Blue Phoenix King felt a pang of resentment. What were those birds up to now?

Had she not been certain that His Majesty had fallen and left no possibility of nirvana or rebirth, the King would have suspected these creatures had encountered the Lord himself.

“I shall go speak with them later. I won’t trouble the Immortal further,” the King said, deciding to ask the birds in person.

Unfortunately, the Fire-Feathers in the pens were all low-level creatures who had only recently gained a glimmer of intelligence. They couldn’t answer any of the King’s questions and simply tilted their heads to stare at her.

The Blue Phoenix King could only sense faint traces of “affection” and a “desire to be close.” Did this mean these little things simply liked Immortal Yun Heng so much that they gave her their feathers? Judging by the sheer volume of plumage, it wasn’t just one or two birds who harbored feelings for the Immortal. Did the entire Fire-Feather tribe have a thing for humans who acted like ice blocks?

The King pondered the matter for a long time but could never quite wrap her head around it.

Wen Qiwu was equally perplexed. For the past two days, whenever she visited the beast pens, she felt a gaze following her from the shadows. Yet, every time she turned to look, she found nothing.

Once or twice could be written off as a trick of the mind, but Wen Qiwu was no fool; after several occurrences, she knew someone was stalking her. The person was likely stronger than her at least one major realm higher and exceptionally skilled at stealth.

Sensing Wen Qiwu’s wariness, the winged tribes in the pens began to take on aggressive, defensive postures. The small bird perched on her shoulder even puffed out its feathers in a threat.

It’s likely not someone from the sect, Wen Qiwu thought with a frown. Having just dealt with a mole, she didn’t dare be careless. She feigned ignorance and quietly sent word to her sister about what she had encountered.

Just as Wen Qiwu was preparing to set a trap, a piercing chill swept through the entire beast pen. Aside from the small patch of ground where Wen Qiwu stood, everything else was instantly covered in a thin layer of frost.

Princess Huaiqing, who had been secretly watching Wen Qiwu for days, instinctively tried to flee. To her horror, she found her feet stuck to the ground, and the power within her body felt as though it had been frozen solid, refusing to circulate.

Worse yet, a blast of lethal sword intent descended from the heavens. Though the strike didn’t hit her directly, the space shredded by the intent managed to neatly sever several locks of her hair.

“The Blue Phoenix Princess?” Yun Heng’s voice held a rare note of surprise.

“Princess Huaiqing?” Wen Qiwu rushed over, only to find the princess trembling under the weight of her sister’s sword intent. So, the person who had been following her in the shadows all this time was her?

Wen Qiwu remembered that during their first meeting, the princess had been quite cold toward her. If that was the case, why had she… spent days following her in secret?

Huaiqing’s face flashed between red and pale. She wanted to know why as well! Her mother had already cleared up the misunderstanding, so she knew she had wrongly judged the girl.

Thinking back on how she had given Wen Qiwu the cold shoulder during their first encounter made Huaiqing feel incredibly awkward. She had planned to avoid the girl entirely, but two days ago, she had spotted the Immortal’s sister in the pens again. Huaiqing should have slipped away, but a strange, instinctive urge to be close had made her stop. By the time she realized what she was doing, she was already hiding in the bushes, joined by several other birds who were mimicking her exact posture!

Huaiqing didn’t understand what it was about this human that attracted her and the other birds, so she decided to observe for a couple more days. Before she could find an answer, she had been caught.

Huaiqing felt there was no longer any place for her in the Wenshen Sect. No, more accurately, she never wanted to set foot in the Dongzhao Domain again. If it were possible, she’d like to leave the realm entirely.

“Does Princess Huaiqing have business with me?” Wen Qiwu asked, tactfully avoiding the word “stalking.”

“I… a few days ago, I had a misunderstanding regarding you and the Immortal. I came to apologize. I’m sorry… if there’s nothing else, I’ll be going!” Huaiqing didn’t even dare look them in the eye. She scrambled for an excuse and fled.

“A misunderstanding?” Wen Qiwu didn’t have a chance to ask for details. The princess, having reverted to her true form, was incredibly fast and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Had it not been for the fact that she was waiting for her new friend to arrive, Huaiqing would have charged straight out of the sect’s main gate.

“What a strange princess,” Wen Qiwu mused, confused. “Does she hate me that much?”

Hate?

Yun Heng looked toward the horizon where the Blue Phoenix had flown. The princess had looked back secretly after gaining some distance. Yun Heng was certain the girl had been looking at her junior sister and that cautious, lingering gaze was anything but hate.

Yun Heng’s expression darkened slightly. In the past, she wouldn’t have overthought it, but ever since she learned of her sister’s friendship with the Yuxi Saintess, her mind kept drifting in that direction…

Surely she was overthinking. Such feelings couldn’t be that common.

“Qiwu, did you two know each other before?”

“Not really. Today was only the second time we’ve seen each other. The first time, we didn’t even exchange a word.” The princess had only given her an inexplicable snort. Was that the “misunderstanding” she was talking about?

Only a second meeting, and she was already following her in secret?

Yun Heng didn’t speak further. With her eyes lowered, she appeared cold and detached, as if she didn’t care about the matter. Yet, anyone who knew her could tell the Immortal was feeling a bit… prickly.

The emotion was inexplicable, and Yun Heng couldn’t even put a name to it herself, let alone expect Wen Qiwu to guess it.

“Sister, have you been very busy lately? I haven’t seen you at Mount Yunwu or Wendao Mountain at all.” Unable to guess her thoughts directly, Wen Qiwu tried a different angle.

“I was preparing a gift for you, so I had to go elsewhere.” Yun Heng suddenly remembered the gift from the Blue Phoenix King. She pulled the jar of wine from her storage pouch.

Wen Qiwu’s eyes lit up. “Is this my birthday gift?”

“Yes. It was sent by the Blue Phoenix King,” Yun Heng said.

The moment she heard it was from the King, the spark of interest died in Wen Qiwu’s eyes. It was just a formal gift; she had hoped it was something her sister had made for her. The disappointment was written clearly across her face.

“My gift still needs a little more time. I promise it will be ready by your birthday.” Yun Heng couldn’t help but reach out and pat her head.

“Is Sister forging a divine artifact herself?” Wen Qiwu couldn’t think of anything else that would take her sister so long to prepare.

“It is not a divine artifact.”

A trace of tenderness touched Yun Heng’s features. Though it wasn’t an artifact, the gift was something far more taboo—something she hoped would finally resolve the threat hanging over her sister.

If not a divine artifact, then what? Wen Qiwu began counting the days until her birthday on her fingers. She would find out soon enough!

“Is this wine that the King sent?” Wen Qiwu suppressed her curiosity and turned her attention back to the jar. She pulled the seal, and a rich, heavy aroma of fruit wine filled the air.

“It is a vintage brew of the Blue Phoenix tribe. It isn’t intoxicating; you can have a taste.” Because the King had emphasized it wasn’t strong, Yun Heng felt safe giving the whole jar to Wen Qiwu, who had a notoriously low tolerance for alcohol.

“It really does smell wonderful.” Wen Qiwu tucked the jar into her storage pouch, thinking she would save it to share with her sister on her birthday.

However, as they walked, Wen Qiwu found the scent of the wine seemed to linger around her, teasing her senses and tempting her to take just one small sip.

Yun Heng, walking half a step ahead, didn’t notice the faint, rosy blush slowly spreading across her sister’s cheeks.

It was only after they returned to Wanya Mountain that Yun Heng turned around and saw her sister’s strange state.

Wen Qiwu stood there quietly, her face unusually flushed. Her beautiful eyes held a trace of intoxicating allure as she stared directly at Yun Heng.

“Qiwu?” Yun Heng stepped toward her, only to have her sister wrap her arms around her waist.

“Sister~” her voice was exceptionally sweet. Her warm breath fanned against Yun Heng’s neck.

The breath shouldn’t have been hot, yet it made Yun Heng’s pale skin flush red. Her sister had hugged her many times as a child, but this felt entirely different.

Ever since the night of the medicinal bath, things had felt… strange.

Yun Heng’s mind flashed to a certain thought, and a rare look of fluster crossed her cold eyes. She didn’t even know where to put her hands.

Wen Qiwu’s eyes narrowed slightly. As the scent of the wine began to dissipate, her expression was replaced by a look of pure, dazed confusion.

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