Phoniex Requiem
Chapter 63: The Prince of the Beast

Chapter 63: The Prince of the Beast

Not long after, the servants that Madam An had sent out finally found Pei Ziao. His gaze was fixed on Yun Ruoyan as he approached the pavilion.

She was sitting next to her grandmother, her rose-colored dress making her look like a fairy, beautiful and graceful amidst the phoenix orchid flower background. From the side, she beamed like an orchid petal, so pale and pink that it made people want to reach out and squeeze her skin.

Pei Ziao was unwillingly rubbing his hands as he approached.

Yun Ruoyan and Matriarch Yun seemed to be laughing together about something, and they seemed to be unaware of his presence.

Pei Ziao was just about to ask where Yun Ruoyan was when he suddenly saw a girl lying on the floor, it was Yi Qianying's servant, He Xiang.

"Why is your maid kneeling here?" He asked curiously, glancing towards Yi Qianying.

Her red, swollen eyes showed that she had just cried. He opened his mouth slightly and tightly closed it again, the name "Sister Ziao" never escaped his lips.

"He made a terrible mistake, and the old madam punished him!" Madam An replied.

Due to his relationship with Yi Qianying, Pei Ziao was relatively familiar with He Xiang. She was beautiful and obedient, and would always blush whenever she approached.

"What's he doing?" Pei Ziao looked at He Xiang's trembling back, his tone pitying.

"He ..." Yun Ruoyu was about to speak when the matriarch Yun cut her down with a cough. He turned around, but did not face Pei Ziao. Coldly, he told her, “This is the Yun family matter, Young Master Pei.”

He used to like this handsome young man, but his current actions made him seem like a bad-reputable pervert.

"I'm tired, so let's go home," matriarch Yun said, before extending a hand to Yun Ruoyan.

“Yes, Grandma!” Yun Ruoyan grabbed his hand and walked out of the pavilion with him.

As he passed by Pei Ziao's side, he couldn't help but ask, “Ruoyan, I'm so worried that you accidentally ended up in an imperial hunting ground! Where are you?"

Yun Ruoyan smiled at him coldly. “Thank you for your concern, Young Master Pei, but you better ask Yi Qianying about that.”

When they finally returned home after an all-day excursion, Xi Lan excitedly told Peony what had happened during the day, starting from the seizure of the second carriage early in the journey, through matriarch Yun's kind words to Yun Ruoyan. "This is the first time I've seen our mistress pout!"

Xi Lan looked a little incredulous, then arrogant. "As soon as our mistress starts to frown, the old madam listens to her every word."

"Xi Lan, that's enough." Yun Ruoyan could not bear to hear his praise anymore. He sat on the sofa as he turned his head to look at Xi Lan seriously. "You can't repeat these words outside my room, okay?"

Peony patted Xi Lan's forehead with a smile. “The old lady may look old, and she does not directly interfere in family matters, but her heart is like a mirror. How can you say that he is blindly listening to someone's words? you better be wiser, or you'll cause a lot of trouble for all of us!"

Xi Lan stuck out her tongue before starting to smile once more. “I picked so many phoenix orchids today! Her stamens and pistils can be used to make snacks, and I will use her petals to make pillows, and.”.

And then he rushed out of Yun Ruoyan's room happily.

Peony poured a cup of hot tea for Yun Ruoyan. "Miss, why did you spare Miss Yi today?"

The way the Peony saw it, today was a good opportunity to avenge Yi Qianying. Although Yun Ruoyan did do so, she seemed to be rather compassionate, just getting rid of He Xiang.

“It's not time!” Yun Ruoyan sipped her tea.

Peony's eyes sparkled. If this is not the right time, does that mean there will be another opportunity in the future?

In the past, others had always conspired against their employers. Just a few months before, when Yi Qianying stole the old mistress' jade ornament, her mistress finally started to retaliate.

It was then that his master suddenly appeared intelligent and eloquent, not only managing to clear his own name, but also indicting Yi Qianying as a true thief.

It was then that Peony realized how completely, how drastically, his employer had changed.

Madam An also seemed to notice this change. In the past, he had made Ling Lan report to him only once every two weeks or so, but now, he was looking for her at least twice every week!

Her mistress would no longer be passive towards this humiliation and scheme.

Seeing the glowing eyes of the Peony, Yun Ruoyan wanted to test it out. “Peony, do you know when the time is right?”

Peony frowned while thinking hard. Even if Madam An tried to discipline her employer, it didn't mean she could avenge Yi Qianying, did it? And, according to Xi Lan, after Yi Qianying's punishment today, she would likely refrain from trying anything new for a while.

After a pause, Peony finally shook his head. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but I can't think of when that's gonna happen."

Yun Ruoyan took another sip of tea before lying down once more. “The right time is when Grandma finally got bored and started to dislike her granddaughter. At that time, even without any effort from me.”.

In the middle of his mind, Yun Ruoyan closed her eyes.

Facing twenty guards in the imperial region had harmed Yun Ruoyan enough. He wasn't hurt, but it was draining his attention and stamina.

Furthermore, trying to sense the main element of the fire had consumed a lot of his mental capacity lately, so much so that sleep threatened to overtake him whenever he lay down to rest.

Moreover, he ended up returning to his own residence, and he could be less vigilant of his surroundings.

The meeting of these three factors caused Yun Ruoyan to fall asleep in the middle of the speech. He slept very well, not even having a single dream.

When Peony returned to her room to bring her dinner and saw her sleeping figure, she covered him with a thin blanket.

The sky darkened as the sun set, and Yun Ruoyan's cottage was silent.

Suddenly, a creak rang out from the back window, and a shadow that was darker than night flashed in his room. An ice-cold blue gaze revolved around the room as Li Mo stood in front of the sofa, staring at the sleeping girl on it.

Qiuqiu, cultivating in the pocket dimension of the bracelet, suddenly felt the aura of a powerful ferocious beast approaching. It was very familiar with this aura, that of the Slaughtering King that Yun Ruoyan had encountered during the day, and was just about to wake Yun Ruoyan up when a cold and clear voice sounded in her mind.

"Qiuqiu, long time no see!"

Qiuqiu flinched, mental communication? Who else on this continent could communicate with him like this, transmitting their mental energy through that bracelet seal?

"Who are you?"

"Basic of small creatures... Have you lost your memory and your strength?" The cold voice was cold, unaffected.

“You recognize me? Who're you?"

"Your master!" The voice finally seemed a little angry.

“My master died decades ago! Who are you, and why are you trying to disguise yourself as him?"

“A boy bears his father's debt, his burden, and of course, his possessions!”

Qiuqiu stood up unsteadily with both feet. "You're the prince of beasts, Xun Mo ?!"

"Ha. Confession, finally.”

"Xun Mo, how did you become a Li kingdom noble?"

Li Mo did not answer Qiuqiu's question, but rather asked it himself. “As for you, how did you get here? I always thought that you would perish with Dad!"

Inside the bracelet, Qiuqiu slowly sat upright, his yellow eyes turning pale as he revealed a piece of history that had lost time.

“That was decades ago, when the Beast King and I were surrounded by those old cultivators. Someone had carried out a sneak attack against the Beast King, and he was injured so badly that he was not an opponent for them. I was mired in my own battle against Taotie [1] and the Four Animal Gods [2] , so all I could do was watch as he slowly succumbed to their attacks."

Qiuqiu closed his eyes slowly. Even through the mental barrier, Li Mo could feel his sadness.

“Despite all my efforts, I am no match for the combination of five beasts, and I thought I would perish with my master. For some reason, one of the cultivators spearheading the attack on the Beast King wanted to seal me instead. When I woke up once again, I found myself trapped in this bracelet, huge tears tore through my primordial spirit, my spiritual vortex barely spinning, it said, and it took me ten years to recover my body so far."

Qiuqiu lowered his head as he looked at his round and fat body before smiling bitterly.

“But to regain my true strength, I must rely on a master. When the master of the bracelet accidentally spilled blood on the bracelet, I made a blood covenant with him. That is why, Xun Mo, my current master is none other than Yun Ruoyan.”

Qiuqiu raised his round and soft head. “The Beast Prince was my previous master, but with his death ends our contract. I am not the one he left behind, and you have no right to be my master!"

"Oh? Did she?" Li Mo's clear and cool voice dragged down the question, sounding like a harsh winter breeze.

In the darkness of the night, his blue eyes landed on Yun Ruoyan's sleeping body, slowly filled with bloodlust.

“Qiuqiu,” murmured, his lips forming a grin that froze blood, his tone so cold that it seemed to freeze the world. "If I kill your new master, won't you become peerless once more?"

"Xun Mo, stop it!" Qiuqiu could feel his bloodlust and immediately tried to stop him.

But Li Mo had already raised five long and slender fingers, forming claws. Sharp nails slowly protruded from his nails and clawed at Yun Ruoyan's heart!

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1. The mythical beast of Chinese mythology. A glutton.

2. Four other mystical beasts are prominent in Asian mythology: the blue dragon, the white tiger, the black turtle, and the vermilion bird.