They Are Archenemies, But They Have A Child - Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Phoenix Chicken

Yun Qingwu stared intently at Cold Lici, but the scene he anticipated did not happen. Cold Lici swallowed the lotus root, which contained an excessive amount of vinegar, with an impassive expression, chewing slowly and methodically.

?

Confusion flashed through his eyes.

“What? A dish personally prepared by the Sovereign Lord, but it doesn’t suit the Sovereign Lord’s taste?”

Cold Lici picked up another piece of sweet and sour pork, a hint of provocation in his words.

“How could it not?” Yun Qingwu gritted his teeth, reached out, picked up a piece of lotus root, and ate it calmly, simultaneously pulling the conversation back:

“They have already planted the seeds of doubt in the hearts of the citizens. Relying solely on brute force killing cannot solve the fundamental problem. That seed must be completely uprooted.”

“Then what is your brilliant idea?”

“Indulge their wishes. Make it a big spectacle.”

The two exchanged words, and with every sentence spoken, they ate a mouthful of food. Before they realized it, the dishes on the table were nearly empty, yet neither of their expressions had changed in the slightest, as if the dishes truly were delicacies.

It wasn’t until Yun Qingwu stepped out of the room and walked some distance away that his previously composed features suddenly lost control, scrunching up into a contorted grimace.

“Lord of the Nation? Lord of the Nation, what’s wrong?” Ah Ge quickly came to meet him when he saw his face.

“Water… I need water…” Yun Qingwu covered his mouth, trying hard to suppress the nausea churning inside him.

The moment the sound of footsteps completely faded, the demon inside the room finally brought the hand that had been hidden behind the table into view. It was utterly crimson, a testament to the force he had exerted on his fingers just moments ago.

Cold Lici’s face remained calm, but his movement to stand up was extremely swift, and his destination was clear. He picked up the water kettle from the outer room, opened his mouth, and poured the water down his throat.

Not losing is winning.

…

As the two expected, within a few days, a new deity named the Phoenix Chicken (Fengji) suddenly emerged in the populace.

“Thanks to the Great God Phoenix Chicken, my grandfather has now recovered.”

“Liu Gu,” holding a baby whose face was now rosy, handed it happily to a neighbor to see.

“Eh, it’s true, but who is this Great God Phoenix Chicken? We’ve never heard of him,” some people were still skeptical.

“The Great God Bai Ze has protected us for so many years. Why would we need to know about other deities? As long as a deity can continue to protect us, isn’t that enough?”

“Liu Qing” retorted.

“You also said that the Great God Bai Ze has protected us for many years. How could he suddenly leave?”

The Liu family member was about to say more when a person rushed over from another street, urgently grabbing “Liu Gu’s” hand: “This is bad. My grandmother has clearly passed the age of majority, but there is still no sign of her memory recovering! Where do you pray to this Great God Phoenix Chicken you speak of? Hurry and take me there!”

Pulled by this person, “Liu Gu” eagerly took his hand and walked off, saying to the others: “Since you don’t believe, just wait and see. We usually never get to see the Great God Bai Ze, but the Great God Phoenix Chicken is different. As long as you pray to him, he will appear!”

“I don’t believe it. I only believe in the Great God Bai Ze.” The others’ expressions were firm. They were unmoved by this farce and dispersed to their own business.

“Hmph. Your citizens are quite stubborn.” On the high slope, Cold Lici sat casually on the grass, his right hand lightly pulling, snapping a piece of foxtail grass.

Yun Qingwu half-crouched on the ground, his expression stern. He didn’t intend to respond to Cold Lici’s sarcasm: “Don’t mess up tomorrow.”

Cold Lici snorted again, stood up and turned to leave. The cushion on the grass disappeared with him: “You should worry more about yourself.”

The next day, “Liu Gu,” as the representative of the Liu family, was summoned into the palace. The Liu family was smug, causing the discussions about the Phoenix Chicken and Bai Ze to escalate rapidly among the people.

“I heard that the Lord of the Nation is also starting to feel unwell. Did the Great God Bai Ze really leave us?”

“Impossible. The Lord of the Nation is the one who can speak directly with the Great God Bai Ze. It can’t be.”

Inside the main palace hall, “Liu Gu” held up a statue of the Phoenix Chicken God with both hands, looking at Yun Qingwu seated on the high platform. He saw a fiery red, eight-tailed fox brazenly sitting beside him, its golden eyes looking down at him with disdain.

This made his voice involuntarily tremble for a moment, but he forcibly stabilized himself:

“Lord of the Nation, this is the idol of the Great God Phoenix Chicken. As long as you offer him incense and sincerely make a wish to him, the Great God Phoenix Chicken will appear.”

Yun Qingwu rubbed his forehead. His body weakly stood up, and he walked down, solemnly accepting the idol and placing it on the altar that had been prepared in advance.

“Liu Gu” was familiar with this look of desperate yearning barely concealed by an unhealthy state and didn’t suspect anything. He handed the already prepared incense to Yun Qingwu.

After three bows, amidst the curling smoke, a middle-aged man wearing a colorful robe and a red feather on his head appeared out of thin air in the hall.

“Lord of the Nation, what do you wish to ask for?”

Yun Qingwu coughed a few times, covering his mouth: “Recently, all my citizens have shown symptoms of weakness. Great God Phoenix Chicken, how do you think this matter should be resolved?”

The so-called Great God Phoenix Chicken touched the red feather on his shoulder, his expression heavy: “This God can briefly inject divine power into the Lord of the Nation to alleviate this symptom, but the root cause of this matter stems from the loss of divine power in this land. To completely solve the problem, a new divine power must reside here permanently.”

Yun Qingwu nodded, pretending to be moved, and asked: “To be honest with the Great God, the auspicious deity of our Nanze clan has indeed been absent for a long time, but he has protected us for many years…”

“This God can completely understand the feelings of the Lord of the Nation. However, if the divine position is vacant for too long, the long-term balance will be broken. In minor cases, you will no longer be able to achieve longevity and will eventually perish due to a lack of descendants. In severe cases, your lives may be in immediate danger.”

“Is that so? With just your divine power?”

The red fox walked down, its eight tails swaying casually as if in a demonstration of power.

The Phoenix Chicken God’s gaze narrowed. He pinched the pad of his index finger with his thumb, just stopping himself from taking a step back. He couldn’t determine the identity of this fox, so he only looked inquiringly at Yun Qingwu.

A trace of difficulty flashed across Yun Qingwu’s face: “Little Fire is a Divine Attendant of the Great God Bai Ze. The Great God Bai Ze brings many Divine Attendants with him every time he visits the Nanze Kingdom, and Little Fire was specially left behind.”

The Phoenix Chicken God’s eyes rolled, then he smiled: “Naturally, this God is not alone. It’s just that today was sudden, and there was no time to bring them to meet the Lord of the Nation.”

“I will carefully consider the Great God’s proposal. I wonder when there might be an opportunity to meet the other Divine Attendants? After all, this concerns the auspiciousness of the country, and I must be cautious.”

“That is natural. How about in three days? This God can first alleviate the physical discomfort of the Lord of the Nation today. The Lord of the Nation can summon this God with incense again in three days.”

Saying this, the Phoenix Chicken pulled a feather from his head and swept it over Yun Qingwu.

“Then, we shall meet again in three days.”

Having finished all this, the Phoenix Chicken disappeared from the spot.

“As expected, they have chicken brains. Can their meager abilities really ruin your credibility in the Nanze Kingdom?”

After “Liu Gu” left, Cold Lici reverted to his human form, coldly looking at the so-called idol next to him.

A trace of doubt flashed through Yun Qingwu’s mind, then vanished into nothingness.

“If we cannot completely uproot the hidden danger, the Nanze Kingdom will suffer endless drought afterward. You cannot demand that people maintain rational analytical abilities when facing life and death.”

“Is that so?”

Cold Lici chuckled softly and left the main hall.

His eyes were dark. His intuition told him that things might not be so simple. He needed to observe the situation further.

Three days later.

Summoned by Yun Qingwu, the Phoenix Chicken arrived as promised, bringing a whole half-room full of “Divine Attendants.” The moment they appeared, the room instantly transformed into a net of heaven and earth, stopping any possibility of them escaping.

For a time, the sounds of screams and clucking mixed together.

The leading Phoenix Chicken wiped the fresh blood pouring from the corner of his mouth and questioned: “Lord of the Nation, what is the meaning of this?”

“What meaning?” Cold Lici sneered, brandishing the Bone Sword. The sword immediately flew into the air, its body continuously extending to encircle all the chicken demons in the room within a barrier.

“It means to give you some self-awareness.”

Saying this, the sword body was enveloped in a layer of Fox Clan True Fire. The temperature inside the circle abruptly soared. The smell of burning fur wafted out, and screams were incessant.

“As demons, you attempt to bring disaster to the human world and replace a deity. This is an unforgivable sin. But if you are willing to publicly apologize to the citizens and clarify the rumors, I may consider sparing your lives.”

Yun Qingwu dropped the gentleness from his face, coldly looking at the embarrassed chicken demons inside the barrier, while also giving Cold Lici a meaningful glance out of the corner of his eye.

Cold Lici caught the warning and returned an unapologetically sarcastic look.

“I am a God! For you to try and execute a God is a violation of the Heavenly Way, an act against Heaven!” The Phoenix Chicken ignored his clansmen who had already reverted to their original forms behind him, clinging stubbornly to his words.

But the moment he finished speaking, a splash of fresh blood sizzled onto his neck.

A chicken next to him trembled and fell to the ground, dead.

Cold Lici retracted his fingers. The jutting Bone Sword immediately withdrew back into the barrier.

“Then I shall see if the Heavenly Way will cry out on behalf of you, a chicken demon.”

The Phoenix Chicken’s face turned pale, and he fell silent. Only the stubborn refusal remained in his eyes, clearly intending to stand firm until the end.

But this refusal was finally replaced by panic after one chicken demon after another became a corpse. He gritted his teeth and yielded: “Fine, I promise you.”

The news of an impromptu new sacrificial ceremony spread, causing much discussion among the people, while the palace was also somewhat uneasy.

During the family dinner, Meng Ping picked up her chopsticks and then put them down, looking worriedly at her son: “I’ve heard the rumors among the people. What are your plans for tomorrow’s sacrificial ceremony?”

She understood her son and she understood Bai Ze. The bond they had since childhood would not be easily provoked.

“Don’t worry, Mother. All rumors will be broken tomorrow. The so-called Phoenix Chicken is already under my control,” Yun Qingwu comforted her.

“Huang’er, have you seen the Great God Bai Ze recently? Does he know about the situation here?” Qu Ping, as the former Lord of the Nation, was thinking on a different level.

No matter what, they could not create bad blood with Bai Ze and hurt his feelings.

Yun Qingwu paused in the act of serving food, feeling inexplicably guilty, which was quickly covered by the words that left his mouth: “Of course, I have. If it weren’t for Ah Ze, we wouldn’t have been able to uncover the trick so quickly.”

“Heh.”

A short, subtle laugh sounded.

The voice was very low, but it accurately reached Yun Qingwu’s ears. Because of Cold Lici’s previous provocative remarks, he was already inwardly irritated. This sarcastic laugh directly pierced through that irritation.

He turned his head and glared fiercely at Cold Lici.

Then, he picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a piece of highly spicy zhuyu pickled fish, and placed it in Cold Lici’s bowl, forcing a thin smile: “Eat more.”