"Divine Lord! How could you let her..."
The Goddess of the Green Mountains' face changed drastically. She took a step forward, intending to stop Yaohua, but was sent flying by a sound wave emitted from the Fuji Qin.
Yaohua's hand finally landed on the strings.
The light emitted by the strings grew from weak to strong, illuminating the entire divine hall.
In this light, the Divine Lord's face darkened. It took a while before she put away the qin.
The moment the Fuji Qin left, a great sense of loss welled up in Yaohua's heart.
"You may go."
After calming the pent - up qi in her chest, Yaohua slowly left the divine hall.
The Caged Bird Clan lived not far from Mount Danxue. However, unlike the prosperous Phoenix Clan, even though a long time had passed since the Great Calamity of the Industry Fire, this place was still a stretch of scorched earth.
Yaohua folded her wings and walked in.
Logically speaking, caged birds liked to prey on phoenixes. They should have reacted upon smelling the scent of a phoenix in their ancestral land. But why didn't they show any reaction even when she swaggered almost to their core area?
Yaohua frowned slightly. She released the half - breed caged bird.
"Speak. What happened here? Why is there no trace of the caged birds?"
The caged bird licked its lips and looked a bit aggrieved. "I was born in the Mansion of Zhaoying and have never been here."
"Where is the Mansion of Zhaoying?"
"I don't know." The caged bird was simply stupid.
Yaohua circled around nearby unwillingly but couldn't find any trace of the caged birds.
Had these caged birds all died in the Industry Fire?
Looking at the caged bird that was drooling at her, Yaohua slowly had an idea.
The Caged Bird Clan was connected by blood. Although this caged bird was a half - breed, it still had the blood of the Caged Bird Clan in its body. If she used its blood as a guide...
But her master had once said that she couldn't do this.
But her master...
He was no longer just her master now.
With a new bride by his side, a beauty like a flower, how could he still think of her?
Even if she did this, her master wouldn't find out.
Yaohua's eyes wavered between fierceness and hesitation, which made the caged bird extremely frightened.
Although it didn't know that the world outside was full of treachery, the intuition of a flying bird made it clearly sense the killing intent in Yaohua's eyes.
Yaohua walked up to it, half - squatted down, and gently stroked its head with her slender and warm fingers.
The caged bird trembled all over. Its pitch - black eyes were like two pieces of obsidian, wet as if it was about to shed tears the next moment.
Yaohua sneered softly and exerted a bit of force with her hand.
The caged bird trembled like a sieve.
"Don't... don't kill me. I'm very useful."
Yaohua pinched the black feathers on its neck and said in a voice so gentle that it made one's hair stand on end, "How could I be willing to kill you? You're my good helper."
"Is that true?"
Looking into those clear eyes, Yaohua felt no guilt at all. "As long as you do everything I say, I'll surely keep you alive. Now give me a tail feather."
The caged bird was entirely black, except for its colorful tail feathers used for courtship.
Hearing Yaohua's words, the caged bird immediately hugged its tail feathers, with tears in its eyes.
"Can you choose another one..."
There was a smile in Yaohua's eyes, and her expression was the same as before, but the caged bird could detect a trace of chill in her eyes.
The caged bird's tail feather could help find the general direction of the caged birds, which was barely satisfactory.
Yaohua pinched the tail feather and slowly landed in front of a sea area.
The sea breeze brought a faint smell of fish. Yaohua frowned instinctively.
"Go down and have a look. Don't even think about betraying me. The curse engraved on your soul is no joke."
"But I can't swim!"
The caged bird looked at the vast sea and trembled even more.
"You can." Yaohua smiled. "You have to be able to even if you can't."
The caged bird angrily but timidly stretched out its foot to test the depth of the sea water.
Yaohua decided to give it a hand. She sent out a spiritual force and pushed it into the sea.
Amid the caged bird's shrill cries, Yaohua slowly left the seashore.
The Caged Bird Clan didn't stay in their ancestral land but hid in the bottomless sea area. She had to send this news back as soon as possible.
Yaohua transformed into her phoenix form and soared into the sky. She immediately flew to the Celestial Realm.
As soon as she arrived at the divine hall, she saw a graceful figure. Tu Yang was gently stroking the konghou and talking to a young divine envoy.
Seeing Yaohua coming, Tu Yang stopped talking. She nodded coldly at Yaohua, then gave a few instructions to the divine envoy and walked over.
"The Divine Lord is in seclusion. You can tell me about the Caged Bird Clan."
Yaohua told her everything she had discovered. After listening carefully, Tu Yang suddenly said, "The sea area was originally under the jurisdiction of the Dragon Clan. There were some accidents a few years ago, and it became a deserted place. The Caged Bird Clan quietly migrated under the sea area without the permission of the Dragon Clan. You can ask the Dragon Clan for help to see what they're up to."
"That's a good idea."
"The internal strife in the Dragon Clan is about to end. I heard that Nan Feng was seriously injured and is now recuperating in the Cangling Hall. You can go and see him and discuss it with him."
"Thank you for your advice, Great Divine Envoy."
Yaohua folded her arms at shoulder level and bowed to Tu Yang.
Hearing that Uncle Nan Feng was seriously injured, Yaohua was deeply worried. When Tu Yang mentioned the Cangling Hall, there was something else mixed in her worry.
Yaohua bit her lip. For a moment, she didn't know how to face her master.
However, she thought that her master probably didn't want to see her either.
Cangling Hall.
Lu Ran was on duty today. He was scolded mercilessly by Xilan early in the morning, so he just lingered outside the hall and didn't want to get close to Xilan at all.
When Yaohua came, she happened to see him squatting lazily under the steps.
She tiptoed over and saw a row of ants on the ground. She didn't know where these ants in the Celestial Realm came from, and they even dared to move around swaggeringly here.
She lowered her voice. "Could these be spies sent by the Heavenly Demons?"
Lu Ran was concentrating on the ants on the ground and didn't expect someone to come. He was almost scared out of his wits. When he saw who it was, he let out a long breath.
"Little Princess, why don't you make any sound when you walk!"
"I was just looking around. How could I know you were so engrossed?" Yaohua scratched her head embarrassedly. "Sorry, Immortal Official Lu."
"Don't, don't. Just call me Lu Ran." Lu Ran was flattered. "Little Princess, are you here to look for the Upper God?"
Lu Ran didn't know that Yaohua had been here last time.
Yaohua shook her head. "I'm here to see Uncle Nan Feng. I heard that he's recuperating here."
"The Dragon King! Great. I can take you there."
Lu Ran grinned and led the way in front.
Yaohua followed behind him but unexpectedly bumped into Xilan head - on.
"Lu Ran, what are you up to again—" Xilan's annoyed voice suddenly stopped. She looked at Yaohua. "Why are you here again?"
This time, Yaohua didn't come for her master. She smiled calmly. "I'm here to visit Uncle Nan Feng."
Xilan looked behind as if she was afraid of being seen by someone. Then she sneered. "The Dragon King has been recuperating in the Cangling Hall for several days. You didn't come to visit him before, but you suddenly remember today."