Chapter 24
When I opened my eyes again, it was another beautiful day. As I sat up, rubbing my eyes, something that flashed a brilliant gold floated to the ground. A closer look revealed it to be a phoenix feather. Even a single feather of Phoenix gleamed so radiantly–he truly was an arrogant bird who knew no humility.
But the bird himself seemed to have disappeared. I let out a breath of relief–now I no longer had to find an excuse for swindling him out of an extra 300 years of magic.
Ch. 23
Yet, just as I was enjoying myself, his eyes suddenly snapped open and with a piercing glare, he cried: “Who dares?!”
I watched in bafflement as he yelled at me, then closed his eyes in satisfaction. I couldn’t help feeling a bit miffed–how is it that, even in his dreams, he doesn’t forget to bully me. But if I think about it carefully, this is pretty much his mantra. Kind of like how the Monkey King,* regardless of whom he’s up against, always yells: “Demon, where do you think you’re going?” Or like how humans, regardless of the time, always begin their conversations with, “Have you eaten?”**
So thinking, I forgave him.
I bent down next to him and whispered in his ear, “Phoenix, do you remember that you still owe me 600 years of magic?”
His breaths were deep and even, his demeanor at peace.
“Could it be that you’re going back on your word?” I continued asking him in complete seriousness.
His breaths remained deep and even, his demeanor remained at peace.
“It’s the law of nature to repay your debts. Thus, I shall retrieve the magic myself and save you the trouble.” I can’t imagine that there are many considerate creditors like me left in the world.
A note: I took a long break from translating because I’ve been working on other things and because it seemed like there wasn’t much interest anyway. I appreciate all the comments I’ve received though. Thank you guys! As there seems to be some interest, I am going to continue to chug along and see if I can finish. 🙂 As always, would love to hear your thoughts on the story!
~~ Chapter 22 ~~
The moon this evening was especially round and bright, illuminating the garden’s small stone bridge and decorative rocks. Phoenix, Run Yu and I sipped wine around a table–a harmonious scene, I thought.
“Have some fun?!” Phoenix repeated my question with disbelief. I felt a chill down the back of my neck. “I came to look for you!”
I wasn’t sure what came over the mortals in the room; they all stared at Phoenix unblinkingly. The fat man from the next booth swallowed hard and said, “Truly, he is the creme de la creme! A god among men!
Although you couldn’t say that Phoenix was friendly to me on the whole, he nonetheless was someone who kept his promises. The day before last, he promised he’d come to visit me in the Flower Realm, so today, he will definitely come.
The tomb of the late Flower Goddess was inconspicuous as always, no additional flowers having bloomed in the hundred years I’d been gone. When I still lived in the Water Cave, my favorite day of the year was the Flower Goddess’s memorial, because that was when the High Priestess parted the barrier and let us little fairies out. Though we were only out for a limited amount of time, we still cherished those moments of freedom and were secretly overjoyed.
Chapter 16
Lao Hu once said, “Beautiful people usually aren’t too bright, because all the nutrients go to their looks” I realized today that the same could be said of Phoenix.
The High Priestess is a busy person with barely any time to spare; to bother her for some measly herb is folly itself and would surely anger her. And once angered, she would of course refuse you the herb. This has nothing to do with enmity between the two realms.
Chapter 15
Pu. I heard the sound of needle piercing flesh, followed by muffled cry of pain, which sounded like it came from Phoenix.
“Hurry, go!” The body that pushed me down rolled off and I was able to crawl to my feet. Before me stood Phoenix, shielding me from a pale-faced, spear-wielding creature just steps away. Upon seeing its blood stained lips, it dawned on me that I was in trouble; I turned to run.
Chapter 14
“Hmph!” I heard a provocative voice say from above me. I looked up and saw a girl pointing her sword at the two figures in the water, seething. “Who is that woman?” she demanded.
Noticing her rage, I subconsciously hid my face in my hands before remembering that Phoenix had disguised my features from the eyes of others with his spell. I dropped my hands and replied easily, “No idea.”
Chapter 13
This time, Phoenix flew much more steadily and I didn’t roll around in his sleeves as I did last time. The only issue now was that the journey was quite long. I fell asleep twice before the wind stopped whistling in my ears. We arrived, I gathered.
“You wish to cross the river, sir?” asked a raspy old voice.
From the Eye of the Snail 