The Little Peacock Raises a Snake (GL) Chapter 71

The immortal officials in heaven each had their own duties. Even the little immortal children in the Matchmaker’s temple had to tug red strings and do work every day.
Before Zhiming went to Mount Kunlun to propose marriage to the Blue Luan, the Blue Luan had always been the divine messenger bird by the Queen Mother of the West’s side. She lived in Kunlun and often traveled between the four seas and eight wilds.
Do not look at how lazy and idle she was now. When she was young, she had also once worked hard.
If the Queen Mother of the West had not feared that keeping her in Kunlun for too long would make Zhiming unhappy, she would not have become the most idle fairy in all heaven.
“Delivering messages is running errands. Finding someone is also running errands. Since this is my old profession, it cannot defeat me.”
Thinking this, Yun Su began asking around the city by herself.
The aura on her body came from the devil bone of a red-eyed blood wolf devil, so walking through Yuntian City was indeed very convenient.
If she sat in a teahouse and casually chatted a little, she could learn at least some news.
The waiter saw that the little girl before him, who claimed to have come from Luoye City, was pretty and talkative. At this hour, the teahouse was about to close, there were not many customers, and he only had to serve her, so he became a little warmer.
Yun Su had many questions, and he told her almost everything he knew.
It was said that the Devil Venerable’s body grew worse by the day, and his mind was becoming more and more muddled. Fortunately, he had still been clear-headed on his last birthday. He named Second Highness Chi Heng as crown prince and also mentioned the marriage between the crown prince and the future crown princess, seeming to urge them. The crown prince agreed on the spot.
The Devil Venerable had chosen the crown princess a thousand years ago. Not only that, nearly half the devil realm’s power was in the crown princess’s hands. Did that not mean whoever married the crown princess could inherit the Devil Venerable’s seat?
If not for that, why would His Highness Chi Heng, who only liked men, be willing to marry a woman?
It was only that everyone knew the crown prince did not want to marry her, so he had kept delaying the matter and made the crown princess wait.
From that day on, the crown princess had never left Yuntian City again.
In the blink of an eye, five months had passed.
The crown prince had finally chosen an auspicious day and decided to marry the crown princess on the fifth day of next month, to bring some joy to the old Devil Venerable who was nearly unable to hold on.
But who in Yuntian City did not know that the former Second Highness Chi Heng did not like soft beauties, only young men?
Seeing that he would marry the crown princess early next month, the crown prince had still been catching demon men in the city and bringing them into the palace lately. One would be tormented to death every two or three days. He truly knew how to enjoy himself while he could.
“The crown prince has been catching demon men lately. When I entered the city today, I saw several demons. Why do they not run?” Yun Su asked.
“How should I put it?” The waiter scratched his wolf ear and thought for a moment. Then he lowered his head and whispered, “Little sister, you do not know this. In the past, the crown prince did not have this taste either. He only suddenly became interested lately. Maybe he will get tired of it after a while? There were not many demons in Yuntian City to begin with. Those who can live here mostly have homes and businesses. The ones who wanted to run fled several days ago. The rest cannot bear to leave, so they either hide or have someone backing them.”
Yun Su propped her chin up and thought for several seconds. She took two sips of tea and asked, “Someone backing them?”
“Exactly. Any demon in the city with even a little beauty has either been caught or frightened into fleeing. The rest either have someone protecting them or are hiding so tightly they do not dare step outside.” The waiter sighed with a face full of mockery. “This crown prince has always lived in wine and pleasure. Back then, most of the handsome youths in the city served him before. He treated our own people somewhat better. When he tired of them, he gave them money and sent them away. He would not treat them like demons, where he kills them after playing with them. Now all the demons in the city are frightened.”
“Do those with ordinary looks also have to hide?” Yun Su asked curiously.
“If one looks proper enough, dressing up a little can always make him presentable. The people above have to deliver someone, after all. Who told the crown prince to want demons lately? If someone is too ugly, that is different…” As the waiter spoke, he saw that Yun Su’s teacup was empty, so he casually filled it again. “In my view, in a few more days, the crown prince will not be able to find any decent ‘toys’ in Yuntian City.”
Yun Su nodded. She thought that since Yuntian City was almost out of stock, with Fu Zhuochen’s looks, getting caught would only take a day or two.
“But after he marries the crown princess, the crown prince should restrain himself a little, right?”
Yun Su thought for a moment. “Is the crown princess pretty?”
The waiter shook his head. “What kind of status does the crown princess have? People like us, with no money, no power, and low cultivation, cannot see her.”
“Then how could someone see her?” Yun Su asked again.
The waiter said, “You cannot. Unless you can enter the imperial palace.”
Yun Su said, “Ah… Why would the crown princess marry him when she clearly knows the crown prince will not like her?”
“For power.” The waiter looked around. Seeing that there was no one nearby, he continued, “The crown prince marries the crown princess for the power in her hands. As for the crown princess being willing to marry, is that not because she wants to control the crown prince too?”
As he spoke, he lowered his voice and leaned close to Yun Su’s ear. “I heard that three hundred years ago… the crown princess overthrew His Highness Chi Qiong and supported His Highness Chi Heng because His Highness Chi Heng had been useless since childhood, lacked the people’s support, and was easier to control… These things are not something we should worry about. Little sister, do not discuss this with others elsewhere.”
“Ah…”
“Many things are clear to everyone. They are only hard to say.”
The sky slowly darkened. After Yun Su asked the rough direction of the devil imperial palace and paid for the tea, she rose and left the small teahouse.
Qu Linyan had guessed correctly. The rules the old Devil Venerable had set in the past were not something Chi Heng could overturn for now. Even if the old Devil Venerable died, as long as Chu Yuebai remained, Chi Heng could not fully control the devil clan’s power.
Right now, aside from the hidden green lizard clan, many forces loyal to the Devil Venerable still obeyed Chu Yuebai. As for the so-called crown prince Chi Heng, before marrying Chu Yuebai and inheriting the devil clan’s throne, most people did not think highly of him.
One could even say that even if he married Chu Yuebai and inherited the Devil Venerable’s seat, in other people’s eyes, he would only be a puppet emperor who acted according to Chu Yuebai’s expression.
Perhaps it was exactly because of this that Chi Heng had become so extreme. He practiced evil arts and used such a cruel method as refining a living puppet to grasp everything in his palm.
It could only be sighed that from ancient times to now, power and status had most easily smoked the human heart.
In this world, those with deep cultivation could usually spend spiritual power to change shape easily. Therefore, demons and devils recognized people by aura.
Yun Su’s aura had been completely covered by the refined power of Black Tortoise. Sneaking into the palace without being discovered was very easy for her.
She found her way outside the palace walls. Seeing that night had grown deep and no one was around, she hid the devil bone on her body, covered the devil aura, and changed into a small blue-green bird, flying into the devil imperial palace that had recently become especially tightly guarded.
There were clearly many more guards inside the palace than outside. As the guards patrolled, faint currents of spiritual power slowly flowed everywhere, weak but spread across heaven and earth.
This spiritual power was used to sense anything unusual. It floated and moved through the whole palace, weaving a patrol net that no one could avoid.
Yun Su could not help feeling secretly shocked. If she had not received Zhiming’s help, she definitely could not have sneaked into this place so easily. She would likely have had to find another way in like Fu Zhuochen, then act under the watch of many people.
What surprised her even more was that even ordinary maids and servants here had higher cultivation than most devils outside the palace. If anyone caused trouble, the guards would not even need to come. These maids and servants could turn out beast claws and fight at any time.
Even if Yun Su’s cultivation was far higher than theirs, she could not withstand their numbers. If she accidentally exposed herself, she would likely fall into real danger.
A dragon’s pool and tiger’s den was probably no more than this.
The devil imperial palace was very large. If she did not use spiritual power to search, just flying through every place would take a great deal of time.
But in a place like this, where everything was covered by a spiritual net, Yun Su did not dare use even the slightest magic. She feared causing even one ripple of spiritual power.
With this search, an entire night passed.
At night, no one cared about the existence of a bird. But once day came, Yun Su always felt that countless pairs of eyes were watching her from the corners of their vision.
She flapped her little wings in fear, flying and stopping everywhere. Whenever someone happened to raise their head and look at her, she would lift her head and gaze into the distance, pretending to look at the scenery.
Then she would chirp a few times and fly naturally, without looking forced, to another branch like an ordinary bird.
In this way, Yun Su searched without sleep or rest. When she was hungry, she ate wild fruit from trees. She perched on branches and rooftops, poking her little head toward every open door and window.
On the way to find Chu Yuebai, she happened to pass by the crown prince’s residence. By coincidence, she saw Fu Zhuochen tied together with several other demons and being escorted there by several devils.
Fu Zhuochen had said he absolutely could not flatter or please others, yet at this moment, he was very much in character. Although he could not change his own aura, he relied on his cultivation to weaken and restrain it greatly. This way, in other people’s eyes, he was only a weak little demon with low cultivation.
Not only that, even his usual cool air had changed at any moment. His whole person looked especially fragile. In his peach blossom eyes, which were born with a touch of charm, it seemed he was suppressing fear from deep inside. Anyone who saw him would not be able to stop pity from rising in their heart.
Who would have thought Fu Zhuochen could act so well?
Seeing this, Yun Su wanted to laugh but did not dare. She stopped on a branch nearby and chirped several times until she drew Fu Zhuochen’s attention. Only then did she flap her wings and fly away.
Fortunately, heaven did not disappoint those who worked hard. After circling round and round for several more loops, she had already become familiar with the imperial palace. At last, on the afternoon of the third day, in a room she had passed countless times before, whose doors and windows had always been tightly shut but whose window was finally open today, she saw a face from her memory that had almost blurred with time.
Yun Su gently landed on the window sill and tilted her little head toward Chu Yuebai, who sat motionless before the dressing table inside. A trace of pity flashed through her eyes.
She remembered that three hundred years ago, that “Miss Shen” had been lively and clever in every word and action. How could she be like this now, wearing gorgeous clothes and sitting quietly here, her eyes as still and lightless as dead water in a deep pool?
If Qu Linyan had not insisted on coming to save her, this would be Chu Yuebai’s whole life. She would forever lose herself under another person’s control.
From then on, everything she had would sink with her into Chi Heng’s possession. Not only what the Devil Venerable had given her, but also the people she had worked so hard to hide and protect would be controlled by Chi Heng because of her.
Yun Su suddenly felt a little ashamed of herself.
When she first learned that Qu Linyan intended to come back and save Chu Yuebai, she had resisted it from the bottom of her heart.
She simply had not understood why Qu Linyan, who was already half-dead herself, still had to care about someone else’s safety.
Even after she recovered her memories and remembered that past when they had once traveled together, she had still held a small hope that Qu Linyan could let go of everything in the lower realm.
If she had not known how determined Qu Linyan was, if she had not understood that Qu Linyan would regret it all her life if she did not make this trip, she absolutely would not have agreed to let Qu Linyan bring Ciyin and Fu Zhuochen into danger.
But at this moment, when she saw with her own eyes an old friend become like this, she finally understood how cruel that selfishness in her heart had been.
Thankfully, there was still someone in this world unwilling to give up on Chu Yuebai.
She believed that the woman from before, the one who had pulled her along to build snowmen and watch fireworks, who had sung devil clan songs softly at night, who had used all her strength to protect her in the Withered Lamp Blood Slave killing formation, would one day return.
Qu Linyan had said that only by cutting off the puppet strings from Chi Heng’s side could they possibly wake Chu Yuebai, whose mind was controlled by puppet technique. Before that, they absolutely could not startle the snake in the grass, or the whole plan might be affected.
At that time, Yun Su had asked, “The devil imperial palace is an important place. It will definitely be hard to test with spiritual power. How can I tell whether the puppet strings have been cut?”
Qu Linyan had answered, “If the puppet strings break, something unusual will happen to Chu Yuebai. When that time comes, wake me.”
Yun Su watched Chu Yuebai and thought for a long time. In the end, she did nothing. She only flew silently up to a branch and gave a huge yawn.
Her task was done. As for everything else, she could only wait for news from Fu Zhuochen. It was useless for her to go anywhere now. She might as well guard this place.
Thinking this, Yun Su shook out her wings, closed her eyes, and rested on the branch.