Phoniex Requiem
Chapter 88: The Devil Ring

Chapter 88: The Devil Ring

As if it could understand Yun Ruoyan's words, the little snake wriggled its body as it crept towards Yun Ruoyan.

Yun Ruoyan knew that, the higher the level of a snake-type magical beast, the worse her eyesight was. This little snake that had just hatched had a pair of eyes that were as big as ink, like two flawless black pearls.

Yun Ruoyan could not help but recall Li Mo, whose eyes were similar. The snake continued to move all the way to the front of Yun Ruoyan, staring at her through the glass panel.

Yun Ruoyan raised her finger and placed it on the glass. As he did so, the little snake smelled the glass that touched his finger on the other side.

"Wow!" Yun Ruoyan. He had to fight with the snake twice in the imperial territory, and had long since lost all his good intentions towards such a beast. At first, he even opposed Lin Qingchen bringing the snake egg back into place.

But when he saw this little snake, he was fascinated by how cute and adorable it was. He turned towards Lin Qingchen. “I didn't expect him to be so obedient at such a young age!”

“Whitey is still a child of snakes, like a baby just a few months old. How could he know what we said?” Lin Qingchen responded. "This is actually a very temperamental, non-compliant beast at all."

"But ... his behavior?" Yun Ruoyan was shocked.

Lin Qingchen smiled mischievously before showing his left hand to Yun Ruoyan. "Just because it's quiet."

On Lin Qingchen's middle finger was a dark-colored ancient ring, on which was engraved the image of a snake.

"Isn't this the ring we found in the imperial territory?"

Over a month ago, during their expedition, they managed to obtain quite a lot of treasures in the wild vines spirit nest deep within the mountain cave, and the ring of this serpent was among the loot. Lin Qingchen fell in love with her at first sight, and just then decided to give it to her. Yun Ruoyan did not notice at all when Lin Qingchen first wore it.

“I accidentally discovered that this ring can actually be used to control snake-type animals.” Lin Qingchen moved her left hand back and forth, and the little white snake began to dance following her movements.

When Lin Qingchen stopped, the white snake also stopped.

“Grandfather tells me that this is a ring filled with demonic powers.” Lin Qingchen took off the ring and gave it to Yun Ruoyan, gesturing for her to wear it.

The moment Yun Ruoyan did so, a pair of black eyes, completely black, including a sclera, suddenly flashed across her mind, giving off a cold aura. It only appeared for a moment, but Yun Ruoyan felt as if her entire body had been stripped bare. Being shocked, he turned towards Lin Qingchen.

Before he could ask about what happened, Lin Qingchen spoke up. “The first time I saw this pair of eyes, I was shocked too. When I handed the ring to Grandpa, he told me that this eye belonged to the previous owner of the ring. The owner had long since died, of course, but the demonic energy he had injected into the ring was still there to this day, giving rise to the power of this ring."

Mimicking Lin Qingchen's actions, Yun Ruoyan pointed the ring at the snake and shook her finger, but the snake was lying there without responding to her actions.

Lin Qingchen had Yun Ruoyan inject some of her spiritual energy into the ring. As he did so, a pair of eyes once again appeared in his mind. But this time, they remained in the eyes of his mind without disappearing.

Yun Ruoyan could feel a pair of eyes staring at the snake through her eyes, and then the snake began to move following Yun Ruoyan's actions.

“Does demonic energy really exist in this world?” Yun Ruoyan looked at the ring in her hand, almost in disbelief. Demon realms, demonic energies, demon artifacts.This, to him, has always been nothing but a fantastic story that might be repeated by poets and storytellers in teahouses and bars.

One of his favorite stories is about the great war between humans and demons that took place over a millennium ago. Armed with their spiritual energy and cultivation, humans were able to cast demons out of the land for good.

Yun Ruoyan enjoyed her story, but did not believe that such a war had actually happened.

“Grandfather said that a millennium is a long time, and historical truths have long been confused and deflected. When he was young, he had even spent a lot of time investigating whether or not the demon race actually existed, but he had not managed to find a lot of reliable information. But I think these rings are a real proof of their existence.”

Yun Ruoyan returned the ring to Lin Qingchen. As he put it back on, he happily continued, “Although I don't have any talent as a beastmaster, I can control and command snake-type monsters with this ring. Whitey here will be my first magical beast.”

In the evening, Yun Ruoyan bid farewell to her sister and grandfather and returned to Yun's house.

When he entered his cottage, he found Xi Lan was drying the petals of the phoenix orchid he had picked up during their trip to Minghuang mountain.

When Xi Lan saw Yun Ruoyan, she happily waved at him. "Madam, look how beautiful these petals are!" Xi Lan grabbed a handful of petals and threw them into the air. As they floated back, they emitted a faint fragrance.

"May I ask if your mistress is present?" Suddenly, a strange female voice sounded from behind Yun Ruoyan.

“I am him. May I ask who you are? "Jawab Yun Ruoyan was puzzled.

"Ruoyan, you're Ruoyan!" The woman's shock quickly turned into excitement.

“Do you not remember me? I'm your father's second concubine!” The woman walked over and touched Yun Ruoyan's hand. “You have grown so beautiful over these three years. At that time, I even thought that you might not be able to live.”

Yun Lan had four concubines. The second concubine, Qin Jianmei, was one of the better known Yun Ruoyan.

Madam An and Lin Yuemei had entered the Yun household roughly at the same time. Madam An and Yun Lan had arranged the engagement as minors, whereas Lin Yuemei and Yun Lan had found closeness to each other as adults.

Madam An was meant to be Yun Lan's wife, but no one thought Lin Yuemei would show up before their marriage could take place. In the end, Madam An had no choice but to become her first concubine.

When Lin Yuemei died and Madam An became the wife of the household, Yun Lan took three more concubines in quick succession. The second concubine gave birth to Yun Ruoyu, and she had no heir with the other two concubines.

For some reason, the other two concubines had been sent to an outer property belonging to the Yun family, and only Qin Jianmei was left in the main house.

In her impression, Qin Jianmei was a friendly and peaceful woman who did not like fighting for power. As a godly woman, she spent all day praying, and almost never left her residence. What caused him to appear in his cabin out of nowhere?

"Miss Qin, what brought you here today?" Yun Ruoyan smiled happily.

When Madam Qin's expression turned awkward, Yun Ruoyan immediately understood that she must have come to beg for forgiveness for her daughter, Yun Ruoyu.

Ever since Yun Ruoyu tried to poison Yun Ruoyan, she had been under house arrest on the orders of matriarch Yun. It had been more than two weeks since the incident, and matriarch Yun had announced that house arrest would only be lifted when Yun Ruoyan allowed it. In the intervening period, Yun Ruoyan was so engrossed in her cultivation that she forgot altogether.

"Ruoyan, I know Ruoyu is really exaggerating this time," Madam Qin finally started. “As her biological mother, I claimed responsibility for her upbringing. Are you willing to help me and spare him this once given our past interactions?"

Yun Ruoyan looked at Madam Qin's sincere gaze and couldn't help but think back on the period of time right after she was expelled from the family academy.

To Yun Ruoyan, that period was like a transition between heaven and hell. She went from being a genius in cultivation to a discarded trash, from the second daughter of the Yun family to an ugly and unfortunate girl who did not want to interact with anyone.

Everyone in the Yun family who had ever bowed down to him now took this as an opportunity to spit on, resist, and trample on him. Among all of them, only Lady Qin showed her kindness and respect. He kept calling her Miss, even when no one else did.

After her serious injury during the match with Rong Yuehong, it was Lady Qin who put in great effort to take care of her for three days and three nights.

In the past, Yun Ruoyan did not return this gratitude. He spent days and nights blaming himself for being incompetent without trying to repay the kindness that others had given him.

However, after his rebirth, this was a debt that Yun Ruoyan could not afford not to pay.

“Of course,” Yun Ruoyan replied solemnly, clasping Lady Qin's hand in her hand, “Mistress Qin, thank you. Although you may not be interested in fighting for power, I know you understand very well what tactics are going on in this household. Ruoyu was obviously incited to do this by someone else. He's stubborn and temperamental, and I'm sure he hates me after all this. Nevertheless, Lady Qin, I hope you can persuade her to give up on revenge. Otherwise, if there's a next time, please don't blame me for being rude."

After obtaining permission to release Yun Ruoyu, Lady Qin nodded in gratitude before rushing to Yun Ruoyu's cottage to give her some good news.

Inside Yun Ruoyu's hut, Xiangcao's servant tried to apply medicinal ointment to Yun Ruoyu's face. However, his hands trembled, and he did not seem to have the courage to touch the affected part.

"Dark-nosed! Can't you do something like this, can you ?! ” Yun Ruoyu shouted in frustration before grabbing the gauze in her servant's hand.

Xiangcao was so frightened that he immediately knelt on the floor and started apologizing.

Yun Ruoyu looked in the mirror, her chest heaving. Under his neck and collarbone was an angry red patch. Some of the wounds had been scabbed, but the flesh of the others was still visible. On a humid summer night, a strange smell came out from his body.

With trembling hands and gritted teeth, Yun Ruoyu pressed the gauze against her wound. Instantly, the pain spread throughout his body. He could only shout, sweeping the mirror on the table, as well as the bowl filled with medicinal ointment, onto the ground.

The moment the bowl fell, its contents splattered onto Yun Ruoyu's open wound and triggered immense pain. Shouts of pain and frustration quickly began to emerge from Yun Ruoyu's cottage.

Lady Qin could hear her daughter's screams from afar. He gripped the handkerchief in his hand tighter as he rushed to look at his daughter once more.