"The Phoenix Clan took it seriously," Chongming said, his eyes deep and his imposing aura spreading imperceptibly in the curling tea mist. He looked awe - inspiring.
Qihua didn't dare to meet his gaze directly. His back was slightly hunched as he asked, "Then, according to Your Excellency, what should we do about this matter?"
"That pheasant holds the token of the Phoenix Clan. The most urgent thing now is to find that person. If you have any clues, you'd better tell me quickly." Chongming put down his teacup. "Phoenixes are fierce and domineering. Even the Celestial Realm shows them respect."
Qihua looked worried. "I won't hide it from Your Excellency. That pheasant is my daughter, named Dianzhu. Since her mother passed away, she has been unruly. Now I can't even find her. If Your Excellency hadn't come here, I wouldn't have known that she had the audacity to provoke the Phoenix Clan."
Chongming picked up his teacup again and let his eyes fall on the surface of the tea.
Although His Excellency didn't explicitly ask Qihua to leave, the intention to see him off was quite obvious. Qihua wanted to say more, but he knew he couldn't challenge the might of His Excellency.
He lowered his head slightly and placed his arms level with his shoulders. "I don't dare to disturb Your Excellency's rest. Qihua will take his leave first."
At the same time, there was a sound of a vase breaking in the next room.
Chongming's eyes trembled slightly. He glanced at Yaohua, who was hiding aside, as if confirming something.
"Master, I'll go and see what's going on."
As soon as Qihua left, Yaohua followed him.
She saw Qihua peek into her room through the crack of the door first. He seemed to let out a sigh of relief, and then he suddenly pushed the door open.
"Princess?"
He looked around in panic, then quickly walked out of the room and knocked on Chongming's door.
"Your Excellency, something terrible has happened!"
"What's the matter?"
"The princess is missing!" Qihua trembled all over as he said this, as if he was extremely frightened. "Your Excellency, please go and have a look!"
The two of them walked to Yaohua's room.
There was a broken vase on the ground with a trace of demonic energy on it.
Qihua was shocked. "Could it be the Demon Clan?"
Yaohua saw all of Qihua's actions clearly. She had only suspected before, but after hearing him mention the demonic energy, she was completely sure.
Chief Qihua was related to the Demon Clan.
Under Qihua's nervous gaze, Chongming slowly said, "It is indeed the Demon Clan."
"What on earth do these demons want? Isn't it enough that they killed Immortal Lord Xingye? Do they still want to cause trouble in our clan?"
Qihua looked extremely disgusted. If he hadn't put drugs in Yaohua's food, Yaohua would almost have believed him.
"Chief!" Suddenly, a rough voice came from outside. Then a tall and burly young man walked in. He glanced at Qihua. "Chief, are you all right?"
"It's all right." Qihua waved his hand. "What happened?"
"Just now I saw a black - cloaked figure carrying the princess of the Phoenix Clan running out of the city, so I came to see what was going on."
"Then why don't you go after them quickly!" Qihua said hurriedly.
The young man blushed slightly and lowered his head in shame. "That black - cloaked figure was too fast. It seemed to be heading towards the territory of the White Heron Clan."
It was well - known in the Three Realms that the pheasants and the white herons had old grudges. Qihua immediately looked at Chongming hesitantly.
"Your Excellency, although it's our clan's negligence in supervision, the White Heron Clan is always difficult to deal with. I hope Your Excellency can step in and ask them to hand over the princess." A look of embarrassment flashed across Qihua's eyes. "Our clan will surely apologize to the Phoenix Clan."
Could it be that Qihua had gone to all this trouble just to get Master to leave the Pheasant Clan?
Other clans wished Master would stay permanently. It seemed that there was really something strange about the Pheasant Clan.
Yaohua stood behind Chongming. Then she thought again that as long as they apologized and handed over that pheasant girl who came out of nowhere, it would be fine. Their Phoenix Clan was always just. They rewarded kindness and avenged grievances, and would never harm others.
She sighed secretly and suddenly met Chongming's gaze.
Yaohua gave a knowing smile. Of course, she wouldn't let Qihua succeed.
Thinking of this, she walked back into the room. The decorative vase in the corner was very large, big enough to hold an adult.
Yaohua walked up to the vase and gave it a hard push.
Crack!
"What was that sound?" Qihua rushed forward and immediately walked into the room.
He saw Yaohua sitting on the ground, rubbing her sleepy eyes. "Uncle Qihua, what's going on?"
Qihua stared at her in shock. He never expected that Yaohua was still in the room.
But in just a moment, his shock turned into joy. "Princess, you weren't kidnapped?"
This was a very tricky question.
No matter how Yaohua answered, it seemed like she would fall into a trap.
She looked at Chongming sleepily. "Master, what's going on?"
"The Demon Clan launched a surprise attack. What were you doing just now?"
Chongming's gaze was stern. To outsiders, it seemed that he was scolding Yaohua.
"I... I saw that the vase was very big, so I wanted to try if I could get inside and play. Who knew I fell asleep in it." Yaohua yawned, and tears almost welled up in the corners of her eyes. "Master, did I cause trouble for everyone?"
Her hair was in a mess, her nose was slightly red, and her fingers were twisting the corner of her clothes. She looked so pitiful and helpless that no one could bear to scold her.
Chongming softened his gaze. "Don't be naughty."
"But this vase is really big!" Yaohua raised her arms and gestured up and down. Her little mouth pouted. "I've never seen such a big vase!"
"The princess has a childlike nature." Qihua praised her and bowed to Chongming. "Fortunately, there was no real danger. Now that the princess has been found, Qihua will take his leave."
When he left the room, he kindly closed the door.
Hearing the sound, Yaohua said aggrievedly again, "Master, I fell out of the vase just now. It hurt so much!"
"You're so willful."
"This vase is not fun. Master, can you give me a vase that won't fall down?"
"You're being naughty."
The sound outside completely disappeared.
Yaohua kicked away the broken porcelain pieces on the ground. "Master, he must know where Dianzhu is."
Otherwise, he wouldn't have tried so hard to distract them so quickly!
"We need to investigate the matter of Dianzhu carefully."
There was another sound of footsteps outside. The master and the apprentice tacitly shut up.
"Princess, this servant was ordered by the chief to clean your room."
The room was really in a mess. Yaohua opened the door and looked at the servant with a smile. "Thank you, sister."
No matter what Qihua was up to, it was true that there were demons in the Pheasant Clan. Otherwise, the demonic energy on the broken vase fragments wouldn't have been so strong.
Chongming was worried that Qihua would play more tricks, so he set up a restriction in Yaohua's room. Once he found any suspicious person, he would appear immediately.
Before leaving the room, he suddenly remembered an important thing.
"What about that paper puppet..."
"Don't worry, Master. I wrote a sentence on the paper puppet. They definitely won't suspect us."
Yaohua showed her teeth in a smile. Her crescent - shaped eyes sparkled with a sly light.
At this moment, the black - cloaked demon who had just arrived at the territory of the White Heron Clan suddenly felt a lightness on his shoulder. Then a piece of white paper fluttered to the ground.