Chapter 720: Suppression

　　‘No, no. I’m just a little lucky.’ She has the cheek to say that?! How is that just a little lucky? Her luck is obviously off the charts! Is she trying to put all of us to shame?! Elder Qiuxi’s face was flushed, and he had a hard time breathing. He pointed a trembling finger at Chu Liuyue but was unable to spit out a single word despite his quivering lips.

　　What else could he have said though? Everyone saw what happened, so he couldn’t denigrate Chu Liuyue even if he wanted to. Besides, there was nothing he could do since the red-tailed phoenix had already contracted with her.

　　Chu Liuyue looked at him in concern. “What’s wrong, Elder Qiuxi? Is everything alright?”

　　Elder Qiuxi stiffly retracted his hand, flinging his sleeve powerfully in the process as he turned his head away. What I can’t see won’t hurt me!

　　Having seen right through Elder Qiuxi, Chu Liuyue sneered in her heart. He just wanted Tuan Zi for himself; otherwise, why isn’t he concerned about Shangguan Wan’s safety anymore? Apparently, the thought of whether he deserves to own Tuan Zi didn’t even cross his mind. It’s been so many years, but his greedy nature still hasn’t changed!

　　A green shadow flew over just then.

　　“Hong Yao?” Chu Liuyue looked up. I was a little worried when I saw Hong Yao bump into the barrier, but by the look of it now… Yep, it should be fine.

　　Upon receiving a furious glare from Hong Yao, Tuan Zi turned around and ignored it. What’s there to look at when we’ve seen each other for so many years?

　　Hong Yao was so angry that its small body was all puffed up like a ball. With a whoosh, its body lit up with green fire. I sensed something amiss with Tuan Zi long ago, and by the look of it now, I was right! Tuan Zi is Little Nine! To think that I mourned its death for so long back then! But as it turns out, it’s alive and kicking! It even broke through to become a legendary fiend!

　　Hong Yao’s annoyance grew when it realized that the gap between Tuan Zi and itself had widened even further. At the thought that it wasn’t even a ninth-grade fiend, Hong Yao began crying. I definitely won’t be able to defeat Tuan Zi in the future!

　　In its misery, fat teardrops fell from its eyes. It quickly looked away and wiped the tears away with its wings. But they soon became wet, for its tears flowed nonstop like a leaky faucet. It’ll definitely seek revenge on me since I bullied it so much in the past… Woo woo woo…

　　Chu Liuyue was caught between laughter and tears. She was just about to walk over to it, but she suddenly stopped and cast a helpless look at Mu Qinghe instead. “Lieutenant Mu…”

　　Mu Qinghe was feeling a minor headache as well. While he could put up with Hong Yao’s little tantrums, he was helpless when it came to times like this. “Come back, Hong Yao.”

　　Hong Yao didn’t want to move, but it obediently flew back to its master while sobbing because there were many people watching them at the moment.

　　Mu Qinghe frowned slightly. “Why are you crying when you’re not injured?”

　　What do you know?! Hong Yao shot him a glare before turning its face away.

　　Mu Qinghe—who got despised for no rhyme or reason—was rendered speechless.

　　“You are… Ms. Chu Liuyue, right?” The man standing beside Chu Liuyue finally spoke. From his calm expression and the hint of a smile on his face, it appeared that he wasn’t shocked by the turn of events.

　　Chu Liuyue’s eyes lingered on him for a moment before nodding. “May I know who—”

　　“Qin Yi.” With slightly squinted eyes, the man swept his gaze over Chu Liuyue and the red-tailed phoenix on her shoulder and smiled. “You’re really lucky, Ms. Chu. We’ve been guarding this red-tailed phoenix for a long time, but we didn’t expect it to choose you in the end.”

　　“S-sorry about that…” Chu Liuyue let out an awkward cough.

　　“It’s fine. Fate is predestined by heaven, so the fact that it chose you out of the many people here shows that some things are fated to be,” replied Qin Yi. The way he spoke was slow and calm, just like a spring breeze.

　　A hint of gratitude showed on Chu Liuyue’s face. “Thank you for your kind understanding, Brother Qin, Brother Lei. I appreciate it a lot.”

　　Your Highness, you shouldn’t address me as ‘Brother Lei’ even if you want to keep up with the act! I don’t deserve it! The corners of Lei Laosi’s eyes twitched hard, and he almost went down on his knees due to his legs going soft. He quickly glanced at Qin Yi, only to realize that he was looking as calm and composed as before.

　　“You’re too kind, Ms. Chu.”

　　Lei Laosi’s respect for Qin Yi rose when he heard that. Kudos to you…

　　Chu Liuyue said sincerely, “Since I owe both of you a favor regarding this matter, I’ll do my best to make it up to you in the future. Is that okay?”

　　“No need, no need! It’s yo—cough! We can’t do anything about it since the red-tailed phoenix chose you on its own accord! Even if you weren’t here, there’s no telling if it’d just leave without contracting with a human!” Lei Laosi blurted out.

　　Their appearance and auras might be different now, but their tempers… haven’t changed at all. Amusement shone in Chu Liuyue’s eyes as she regarded Lei Laosi. She thanked them once more and didn’t say anything more about this matter.

　　“By the way, where’s the Third Princess?” She looked around, her gaze eventually landing on the spot where Shangguan Wan had vanished.

　　The hole had been filled with the tree’s roots and soil at some point.

　　It was only when Chu Liuyue posed this question that everyone remembered that Shangguan Wan had disappeared for quite some time. They had been so distracted by the red-trailed phoenix that they forgot about her altogether. Thus, everyone fell silent and was at a loss about how to answer the question. Do we… have to go down to look for Shangguan Wan?

　　Chu Liuyue looked behind, her eyes on Jiang Yucheng. “Eldest Young Master Jiang, the Third Princess has gone missing for a long time. Aren’t you worried about her?”

　　Jiang Yucheng was just about to speak, but the ground started shaking at that moment. Red mist spread from all directions, and the surrounding trees started withering quickly.

　　The roots of the huge rolling leaf fir in the middle suddenly surfaced as well.

　　With a darkened expression, Qin Yi said, “Someone has touched the seal of this tree!”

　　“This tree was sealed?” asked Chu Liuyue in surprise.

　　Qin Yi stared at the rolling leaf fir that looked like it was going berserk. “Retreat!”

　　Just as he said that, countless howls could be heard coming from the forest. It sounded as if thousands of people were crying out in pain.