After presenting her gifts, Qingluan Queen stayed for a few days at the invitation of several elders, bringing her daughter along. Princess Huaiqing visited the animal pens and, upon her return, pleaded with her mother to find a way to take away the “pitiful” featherless Fire Feather Birds.
Seeing her daughter’s pouty lips, Qingluan Queen couldn’t resist her pleas. She reluctantly put aside her pride and subtly approached Yun Heng, hoping to exchange other treasures for the Fire Feather Birds.
While the Fire Feather Birds were spiritual beasts, their power was mediocre and they were not skilled in combat. Besides their beautiful feathers and a faint, negligible phoenix bloodline, they were almost useless to humans. An exchange would put Qingluan Queen at a disadvantage.
However, the transaction could not be made. Yun Heng, recalling her junior sister’s teasing from that day, decided it was best to clarify some misunderstandings first.
“The Fire Feather Birds willingly offered us their feathers; I did not coerce them. Moreover, they are only staying here temporarily and do not belong to the Wen Shen Sect. Therefore, if Qingluan Queen wishes to take them, she only needs to discuss it with them.”
The Fire Feather Bird tribe had eccentric tempers and were incredibly stubborn. Their rearing difficulty was extremely high; if their keeper displeased them even slightly, they would rather die than compromise. As a result, very few people could raise these birds.
The Fire Feather Birds in the Wen Shen Sect’s animal pens had come to them voluntarily. Yun Heng remembered when her junior sister was only in her teens. Shortly after returning from a secret realm, these birds began flying in in flocks.
Qingluan Queen understood every word Yun Heng spoke, but when put together, they confused her. Did this immortal master mean the Fire Feather Birds willingly gave her their feathers? And that they even chose to reside at the Wen Shen Sect?
Something was wrong, very wrong. This did not seem like something the Fire Feather Birds would do.
The last time the Fire Feather Birds acted unusually was when they presented feathers to His Majesty, successfully overshadowing the other feather tribes. Qingluan Queen still felt resentful remembering it. What were these birds up to now?
If she weren’t certain His Majesty had perished and had no possibility of rebirth, Qingluan Queen would have suspected these creatures had encountered His Majesty…
“I will speak with them later. I won’t disturb you, Immortal Master.” Qingluan Queen decided to personally question the Fire Feather Birds in the animal pens.
Unfortunately, the Fire Feather Birds in the animal pens were young, with low cultivation and just beginning to gain sentience. They couldn’t answer Qingluan Queen’s questions, merely tilting their heads and looking at her.
Qingluan Queen could only vaguely sense emotions like “liking” and “wanting to be close.” Did this mean these little ones liked Immortal Master Yun Heng very much, which was why they gave her their feathers? Judging by the sheer quantity of feathers, it wasn’t just one or two Fire Feather Birds that felt a fondness for that immortal master. Did the entire Fire Feather Bird tribe like humans as cold as ice?
Qingluan Queen, mistakenly believing the Fire Feather Birds had given their feathers to Yun Heng, pondered the matter for a long time without understanding.
Wen Qiwu also felt puzzled. These past two days when she went to the animal pens, she felt a gaze watching her from the shadows. But whenever she went to check, she found nothing.
If it happened once or twice, she could dismiss it as her imagination. But with repeated occurrences, if Wen Qiwu weren’t foolish, she would have guessed someone was secretly watching her.
The other party’s strength was likely above her own, at least one major realm higher, and they were skilled in concealment.
Sensing Wen Qiwu’s wariness, the feather tribes in the animal pens all subtly revealed a defensive posture, and the bird on her shoulder puffed up its feathers.
The one following her wasn’t from the sect, Wen Qiwu frowned. Since there had been an inside traitor not too long ago, she didn’t dare to be careless. Wen Qiwu pretended not to notice anything and quietly told her senior sister about the situation.
Just as Wen Qiwu was preparing to set a trap, a biting cold swept through the entire animal pens. Except for the ground where Wen Qiwu stood, all other areas were covered in a thin layer of ice.
Princess Huaiqing, who had been secretly watching Wen Qiwu for days, instinctively wanted to flee. But she found her feet stuck to the ground, and the power within her body felt frozen, completely unable to circulate.
Even more terrifying was a sword intent carrying killing intent descending from above. Although the sword intent didn’t touch her, the space it cleaved also cut off a few of her hairs.
“The Princess of Qingluan?” Yun Heng’s tone revealed a rare trace of surprise.
“Princess Huaiqing?” When Wen Qiwu rushed over, she saw the Qingluan princess trembling under her senior sister’s sword intent. The one who had been secretly watching her these past few days was this person?
Wen Qiwu remembered that Princess Huaiqing had disliked her upon their first meeting. If that was the case, why was she still… secretly following her for days?
Huaiqing’s face flushed and paled. She wanted to know why even more! Her mother had explained the misunderstanding, and she knew she had wrongly accused them.
Huaiqing recalled the cold shoulder she’d given when they first met and felt very embarrassed. She had originally intended to avoid Wen Qiwu, but two days ago, she saw her junior sister, this disciple of Immortal Master Yun Heng, in the animal pens again. Huaiqing should have slipped away quietly, but a strange instinct to be close to her made her stop. When she came to her senses, she was already hidden in the nearby bushes, with several birds beside her striking the exact same pose!
Huaiqing didn’t understand what it was about this human that attracted her and these birds. Thus, she decided to observe for two more days, but before she could find an answer, she was caught.
Huaiqing felt that the Wen Shen Sect no longer had a place for her. No, to be precise, she didn’t want to set foot in the Dongzhao Region again. If possible, she wished to leave the Cangwang Realm.
“Princess Huaiqing, is there something you need from me?” Wen Qiwu kindly avoided using the word “stalking.”
“I, I had some misunderstandings about you and the Immortal Master a few days ago, so I came to apologize. I’m sorry… If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going now!” Huaiqing didn’t dare to look at them. She made up an excuse and turned to flee.
“Misunderstanding?” Before Wen Qiwu could ask what kind of misunderstanding it was, the Qingluan, now in its original form, moved incredibly fast, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
If she didn’t have to wait for her new friend to arrive, Huaiqing would have already rushed out of the Wen Shen Sect’s main gate.
“What a strange princess,” Wen Qiwu mused. “She seems to dislike me?”
Dislike…
Yun Heng looked at the departing Qingluan. After flying a certain distance, the princess secretly glanced back. She was certain the other party was looking at her junior sister. That cautious, somewhat reluctant gaze was definitely not dislike.
Yun Heng’s expression unconsciously deepened. In the past, she wouldn’t have thought much of it. But after learning that her junior sister was good friends with the Saintess of Yu Xi Sect, she often found herself thinking along those lines…
It was likely her overthinking. How could such feelings be common?
“Qiwu, did you know each other before?”
“Not really. This is only our second meeting today. We didn’t even exchange a word the first time.” That Qingluan princess had just inexplicably snorted at her. Could the misunderstanding she mentioned refer to this?
After only their second meeting, the Qingluan princess was secretly following her junior sister?
Yun Heng remained silent, her lowered gaze appearing cold, as if she didn’t care about the matter. However, those who knew her well could vaguely discern that the immortal master seemed to be experiencing a tiny bit of awkward emotion.
This emotion came out of nowhere. Yun Heng herself couldn’t explain the reason, let alone expect Wen Qiwu to guess it.
“Senior Sister, have you been very busy these past two days? I didn’t see you when I went to Cloud Mist Mountain and Mount Wendao.” Unable to directly guess her senior sister’s thoughts, Wen Qiwu tried to approach the matter indirectly by asking about recent events.
“I was preparing a gift for you, so I went elsewhere.” Yun Heng suddenly remembered the gift Qingluan Queen had given her junior sister and took out the jar of wine from her storage pouch.
Wen Qiwu’s eyes lit up. “Is this my birthday gift?”
“Yes, it was from Qingluan Queen,” Yun Heng replied.
Upon hearing it was from Qingluan Queen, the interest in Wen Qiwu’s eyes instantly vanished.
So it was from Qingluan Queen. She had thought Senior Sister had prepared it for her. Wen Qiwu’s look of disappointment was unconcealed.
“My gift will take a little more time. I will definitely have it ready by your birthday.” Yun Heng couldn’t help but reach out and gently pat her head as she saw her expression.
“Is Senior Sister personally forging a divine artifact?” Otherwise, Wen Qiwu couldn’t imagine what kind of gift would require such a long preparation time from her senior sister.
“Not a divine artifact.”
Yun Heng’s eyebrows softened slightly. Although it wasn’t a divine artifact, the gift was something more forbidden than a divine artifact. She hoped to resolve the hidden danger within her junior sister with it.
If not a divine artifact, what could it be? Wen Qiwu counted on her fingers how many days were left until her birthday. Soon, she would know what the gift was~
“Is this wine from Qingluan Queen?” Wen Qiwu suppressed her curiosity and shifted her attention to the jar in her hand.
She removed the seal of the wine jar, and a rich aroma of fruit wine wafted out.
“This is a fine wine of the Qingluan clan. It’s not intoxicating, you can try some.” It was precisely because Qingluan Queen had said it wasn’t intoxicating that Yun Heng dared to confidently give the entire jar to Wen Qiwu, who had a low tolerance for alcohol.
“It smells very good indeed.” Wen Qiwu decided to save it for her birthday to share with her senior sister and placed the wine jar into her storage pouch.
However, gradually, Wen Qiwu felt the wine’s aroma lingering around her, making her want to take out the wine jar and have a small taste.
At this moment, Yun Heng didn’t notice the faint blush gradually appearing on her junior sister’s face, which was half a step behind her.
It wasn’t until they returned to Myriad Elixir Mountain that Yun Heng turned around and saw her junior sister in a somewhat peculiar state.
Wen Qiwu stood obediently to the side, her complexion unusually rosy. Her beautiful eyes held a hint of seductiveness, and she was staring intently at Yun Heng.
“Qiwu?” Yun Heng walked over to her, only to be hugged by her junior sister around the waist.
“Senior Sister~” Her voice was exceptionally sweet, and the breath she exhaled landed on Yun Heng’s neck.
The breath shouldn’t have been hot, yet it caused Yun Heng’s fair skin to flush.
Her junior sister had hugged her before when she was little, but this felt different.
Ever since that night of the medicinal bath, she seemed to have felt a bit strange.
Yun Heng, perhaps thinking of something, had a flicker of awkwardness in her cool eyes, unsure where to place her hands.
Wen Qiwu narrowed her eyes slightly. As the scent of wine gradually dissipated, a hint of bewilderment appeared in her expression.
Good work 👏