Blue Phoenix Chapter 55 – Unwanted Guests

Looking at the Fanged Hog, Hui Yue sighed deeply. This beast was huge, yet its value was not worth anything near the amount of trouble that he had gone through to slay it. The beast core was ugly and muddled. The core was the lowest grade possible, and the beast’s meat held no unique qualities when eaten.

Even so, a beast like this had plenty of meat which would feed the village. Its skin was tougher than a normal beast hide and could easily be used to make shoes. Its bones were hard and would be ideal for crafting tools while the hair could be utilized for sturdy brooms.

Chuckling slightly, Hui Yue now understood how much change he had experienced as he headed towards the village elder’s home to inform him about the big hog which he had slain, and which Hui Yue would gift him.

Last year, Hui Yue would have been at a loss for how he was supposed to deal with a beast such as the Fanged Hog. Even if he had practiced the high-ranked martial arts skills that he possessed now, Hui Yue still was certain that he would not have been able to slay the big beast.

This year’s experiences had changed much in the mind of this reincarnated young man. His endurance and determination had been put to the test as he had trained harder than ever before. He had gained so much by doing so.

Hui Yue had amazing friends this year with whom he tried to be as honest as possible. These friends were the only ones who knew that deep within Hui Yue’s body resided an extreme expert who had once turned Riluo City upside down.

This year had also taught Hui Yue that he was currently walking down the right path. That cultivation was what he wished to do with his life. He felt deep within a burning desire to cultivate to the highest peak, to reach for perfection.

This desire was not a quest for worldly power, nor was it as a measure of survival. No, Hui Yue's cultivation was more than that. It was a journey through self-discovery and taxing trials. Only the very best and most dedicated could say that they stood on the peak. Only the four divine beasts had ever managed to reach such a heavenly realm of cultivation, the apex.

Upon looking back at this year, only one face appeared in Hui Yue’s mind causing his previously happy mood to turn slightly sour. Li Shing’s face. This young man was the first person Hui Yue had killed. Although the matter had not been pursued by anyone, it still had left a significant impression on him.

Hui Yue’s eyes turned ice-cold as they remembered the looks of Gao Yan and Wang Ju Long after the battle with Li Shing. A sneer appeared on his lips. Killing Li Shing was doing the world a favor. Who knew how many men Li Shing would later have gone on to kill, purely based on his philosophy of the stronger always wins.

Having walked through the village while reminiscing about what had transpired the previous year, Hui Yue finally arrived at the village elder’s house where he knocked on the door.

“Anyone home?” he asked, only to find that the door opened slowly and revealed an entourage of seven black-cloaked men.

Hui Yue froze. Not moving a muscle, he felt Lan Feng completely conceal himself within his dantian. Having gained the extra few stars of Disciple rank had not done much for Lan Feng’s disguise. However, the drops of spiritual power which he had gained from the Divine Flower now allowed Lan Feng to completely conceal himself.

As soon as the door opened, the seven experts all slowly turned around, facing towards Hui Yue. The young boy was unable to feel whether or not these experts were examining him. Their cloaks covered their entire bodies. The inscriptions which Hui Yue remembered all too well were currently only seen as embroideries on the black cloaks.

Within the room were two guards from the City Lord’s mansion and the village elder. All of which now stared at the young boy who seemed to have walked in on them.

“Excuse me,” Hui Yue said apologetically while giving a slight bow to the ones present. Upon which he tried to close the door in front of him.

“WAIT!” one of the guards shouted out, causing the white-haired boy to release a big sigh of despair. Clearly, things were not supposed to go his way today.

Straightening up, Hui Yue looked quizzically at the guard who had yelled wait just moments before. “Does your lordship need anything from me?” he asked with a honeyed voice and big eyes like those of a deer; his expression was the perfect expression of a naïve and incredibly harmless child.

After looking at this child, the guards had a hard time understanding how he could be the famous Hui Yue, a disciple of Li Fen.

These guards lived in the barracks at the City Lord’s mansion. They were aware that the black-cloaked men had been searching for something during the last half of the year, yet no one knew what they were looking for.

These black-cloaked men had shown no interest in anything, nor anyone so far. No one had heard them speak even once, yet last night Lord Rong Liang had ordered these guards to bring them to the small village where his children were currently visiting. With, of course, no explanation given to the guards.

When they arrived here, no one had been present in the village. Slowly the villagers started to emerge from a field on the northern side. Together with these villagers was the village elder. He instantly invited the men into his home as soon as they arrived.

These seven black-cloaked men followed without asking questions. In fact, they had shown absolutely no signs of a reaction to anything that had happened. Yet as soon as Hui Yue had opened the door, all seven had moved their head in unison.

Hui Yue was standing still, eyeing the seven black-cloaked men. With no warning, the inscriptions on the seven cloaks lit up with a silvery light. An eerie silence enveloped Hui Yue, a silence which he had experienced before descended.

The silence which had enveloped Hui Yue brought along with it a black sphere that completely blinded his senses. Hui Yue could see nothing, nor could he hear or smell anything within this sphere. Still the feeling of being constantly scrutinized remained.

Had this happened before Hui Yue received the Divine Flower, then Lan Feng would not have been capable of hiding himself as skilfully as he did now, and thanks to this, nothing was visible to the seven crusaders.

As soon as the feeling of being scrutinized appeared, Lan Feng gaped as he saw how the cave-ins containing the red mist and the blue cloud sealed themselves, allowing for nothing to enter it or be seen.

Hui Yue had no idea of how long the scanning went on. Neither could he determine whether or not they managed to uncover the secrets which were hidden within his body. Ever so slowly, light started to appear from a distance, then it rapidly advanced and brought along with it the senses which Hui Yue previously had lost.

Looking around, Hui Yue saw that the cloaked men had vanished. Along with them, the City Lord’s guards were nowhere to be seen. He was currently laying down on a bed within the cottage belonging to the village elder. Hui Yue glanced around with a confused expression on his face.

In front of him, all his friends were seated. Worried expressions shone on their faces as they came towards the boy who had just opened his eyes.

“Are you okay?” Rong Xing asked, worry shining in her eyes as she grabbed Hui Yue’s hand and measured his pulse.

Not only was Rong Xing worried. Hui Yue saw concern in all of their faces, even Deng Wu who had been contacted by Little Dragon. A small hand signal showed Hui Yue that Deng Wu wished to speak with him in private afterward.

“I’m fine. I'm all right,” Hui Yue said with a slight smile on his face. It was good to be cared about like this, but his body did feel as though he had been given a beating. Sitting up straight, he asked his friends, “What happened?” He asked because his memory was still quite fuzzy.

“The village elder told us you collapsed,” Ma Kong quietly looked over at Hui Yue as if to convince himself that the younger child was actually fine. “Did you have any injuries from when you caught that Fanged Hog earlier?” he asked as he could not think of any other explanation for why Hui Yue would have collapsed.

Hearing this question, Hui Yue went quiet for some time. It was evident that the village elder had not mentioned the guests who were just visiting. Hui Yue had no interest in telling them either. It was obvious that the only thing it would accomplish was to make them all worry.

“That must be it,” Hui Yue said with a sigh as he allowed his body to fall onto the pillow once more and closed his eyes. An annoying headache was starting to form. He was anxious about what the cloaked men had discovered that would cause them to run away this quickly.

Looking at Deng Wu, Hui Yue understood that the other boy knew something about these men, or more accurately, Little Dragon knew something about these men, which could be of great use to Hui Yue. He had to come up with a way to speak with Deng Wu alone rather than with everyone present. Hui Yue slowly rose up once more standing on unsteady legs. He made his way towards the door, pretending to head back to his tent to rest.

At first, everyone present all offered to help him move, but Hui Yue insisted that he could move on his own. That was until he reached Deng Wu where he almost fell over his own legs and accidentally kicked Deng Wu in the thigh while falling.

“Oh no!” Hui Yue exclaimed, the naïve boy act automatically appearing on his face. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bump into you. Maybe I really am unable to walk on my own.”

“Right,” Deng Wu said through gritted teeth as he pitied himself. His leg was hurting quite severely considering the kick came from a small boy. Regardless Deng Wu knew that this was the only option Hui Yue had for the two of them to be alone for a while.

“I am really sorry about this,” Hui Yue said with a sigh. He truly was sorry for this, but he had no other option to get the information he needed fast. After walking out, a thought suddenly hit Hui Yue. He turned around looking at the four friends who still waited inside, all looking concerned for him.

“I’m going to rest for another few days. During this time get as many Fanged Hogs as possible. We will need the beast cores.”

Hearing this, they all furrowed their brows. All of them agreed that Hui Yue needed to rest for some time. Even so, they could not see why Hui Yue would need the cores. Still, none of them questioned his words; instead, they shrugged their shoulders, and Rong Ming suddenly smiled.

“Let us have a tournament to see who can catch the most hogs!” he said. Before waiting for an answer, Rong Ming rushed out the door making his way to the outskirts where Hui Yue had been hunting that morning.

Gao Yan was roused by the suggestion of Rong Ming, and he quickly followed his best friend. Rushing past Hui Yue, Gao Yan gave him a slap on the shoulder which caused the young boy to topple over, in turn causing Deng Wu to snicker. What comes around, goes around.

Staying back in the village elder’s house was Ma Kong and Rong Xing, both of them having doubt in their eyes.

“He was not wounded, was he?” Ma Kong asked with a quiet voice as he looked at the door from where the others had escaped.

“No,” Rong Xing answered with a melodious voice. “Deng Wu seemed to know what it was about though,” she commented afterward, her face showing a mix of expressions.

“He will tell us one day when he is ready to do so,” Ma Kong said with a sigh as he slowly started moving towards the outside, intending to join the two others in the intense Fanged Hog hunt.

As she stood left behind in the house, a hurt expression was evident on Rong Xing’s face as she mumbled. “Is Deng Wu actually more trustworthy than I am?”