Phoenix's Requiem

Chapter 481: Willing to Accompany Me

“Could they already have gotten away? That’s impossible!” the guard captain murmured, then pointed at Li Mo and Yun Ruoyan. “Guard the entrances to the temple. Make sure no one enters or leaves.”

Li Mo and Yun Ruoyan were both trying to find an opportunity to leave, immediately nodded and headed out the temple—then immediately ran off. Almost right after they fled, the silver dragon elder arrived. Most of the formations within the temple, restricting access to the inner sanctum, had been destroyed. In order to prevent anyone from accessing these areas, the silver dragon elder had to immediately restore the damaged formations, a complex and time-consuming affair.

As the silver dragon elder instructed the guards to scour the vicinity for any suspicious people, he began to restore the formations. Before he did so, however, he entered the secret chamber containing holy water. A large, crystalline receptacle took up most of the space in the chamber. In it was an eerily red substance, the blood that had been extracted from Long Yin and the other demonic dragon descendants.

A tube extended from the receptacle to another smaller vessel underneath it, out of which dripped a transparent liquid: holy water. There was still only a very limited quantity of holy water in the vessel, which the silver dragon elder would collect from time to time.

He walked up to the receptacle, flew to its top, waved a hand, cut his palm open, and allowed some of his own blood to drip within. When the silver dragon blood touched the demonic dragon blood, it instantly began to react. The liquid within the receptacle frothed and glowed with a strange light, speeding up the rate at which the demonic blood was converted to holy water.

This was an accidental discovery that the silver dragon elder had made while researching the production of holy water. Although silver dragon blood didn’t possess as extreme a regenerative power as demonic dragon blood, it was able to catalyze the effect of the demonic dragon blood.

This was why he had tasked Rong Yueshan with acquiring Li Yan at any cost. He believed that Li Yan, who possessed both dragons’ bloodline, would definitely be able to produce the highest-grade holy water.

The holy water that the silver dragon elder was producing now was only able to extend one’s natural lifespan, and he would need to continuously drink holy water to prolong his life. Once he stopped, he would quickly age and die.

His long-term goal had always been to produce holy water that would grant him eternal life, and he believed that that secret lay with Li Yan. However, Rong Yueshan had ruined his plans entirely—she had botched the kidnapping, died, and left Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo far more guarded than before.

The silver dragon elder returned to the ground and removed a talisman from his robes. The talisman hovered in mid-air and revealed a person’s image: the owner of the Yuelu Villa, Dong Tiehe.

“I greet the silver dragon elder,” Dong Tiehe said, bowing.

“How is your task going?”

“Elder,” Dong Tiehe replied, his face somewhat awkward. “That child’s under significant protection from both the Mo guards and a gigantic serpent in the Slaughtering King’s manor, and I haven’t found an opportunity to kidnap him.”

“A gigantic serpent?” the silver dragon elder asked doubtfully. “Tell me more about it.”

“It’s snowy-white all over, with scales covering its body, and two horns on its head.” Dong Tiehe described Whitey’s appearance to the silver dragon elder, who began to frown. That description sounded exactly like the fledgling form of a silver dragon.

Silver dragons were the forefathers of the silver dragon clan. Just like members of the demonic dragon clan, members of the silver dragon clan possessed a draconic bloodline, but not true draconic forms. Only through specialized cultivation techniques could they acquire a draconic form.

The silver dragon clan used to have three pureblood silver dragons, one of whom had fallen to a lower realm a thousand years ago after the war between the two draconic races. That particular dragon had been lost to the clan ever since, and the other two silver dragons had died during the war. Could that silver dragon fledgling be one of the descendants of the silver dragon who fell to the Chenyuan continent?

If that were the case, Dong Tiehe would have to catch both Li Yan and that ‘white serpent’ that he spoke of.

“I’ll give you something to subdue that serpent.” The silver dragon elder took out an orb larger than a baby’s fist, sparkling and resplendent. Murmuring an incantation, he threw the orb toward the talisman, which vanished and reappeared in Dong Tiehe’s hands.

“I won’t let you down, Elder,” Dong Tiehe replied eagerly, sensing the spiritual energy imbued in the orb.

After the disturbance that Yun Ruoyan caused within the silver dragon temple, security around the palace was tightened yet again. All the guards were searching for the intruders, but Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo had had proper alibis for the event.

The silver dragon elder’s surveillance of the holy maiden naturally relaxed—everyone was focused on those criminals daring enough to attack the silver dragon temple.

According to plan, Yun Ruoyan handed Yin Xiao a letter allegedly from the holy maiden, who invited him to tour the silver dragon city with her. Yin Xiao was very excited after receiving the letter. He had lusted after the holy maiden for many years, but had yet to see even her face. The holy maiden was protected by his father himself, and he didn’t dare touch her. What he hadn’t expected was that she would invite him out of her own accord.

Under usual circumstances, he wouldn’t have dared to bring her out of the palace, but over the last few days, his father, the silver dragon elder, had been occupied with the intruders who had wrecked the silver dragon temple. Unsupervised, Yin Xiao boldly accepted the holy maiden’s invitation.

The holy maiden told Yun Ruoyan that she had snuck out of the palace in the past because she had been unable to bear the boredom of the palace. Yun Ruoyan asked her how she had done it—after all, the security around the palace was still quite tight.

“Madam Li,” the holy maiden replied. “Madam Li has served me ever since I entered the silver dragon palace as a holy maiden, and she was only transferred elsewhere because she was getting old. She watched me grow up, and she now manages half the servants in the palace. When the silver dragon elder didn’t keep so many tabs on me, Madam Li would help me sneak out of the palace once or twice every few months.”

“Is she trustworthy?” Yun Ruoyan asked. “This time, you’re not just sneaking out to play, after all.”

“I believe her,” the holy maiden replied.

Despite the holy maiden’s assurance, Yun Ruoyan couldn’t help but feel uneasy when she recalled how she had taken spirit crystals from Huang Chuan. She had never believed that a greedy person could be particularly loyal.

Following Yun Ruoyan’s request, the holy maiden didn’t reveal the truth behind her actions to Madam Li. Instead, she used her boredom as an excuse to try to get out of the castle. She disguised herself as a palace servant and followed Madam Li out of the innermost part of the castle, but she was stopped at the outer gates.

“Remove your veil,” the guard instructed her.

The holy maiden had always veiled herself. Because other servants were responsible for helping her change clothes and wash up, even Yun Ruoyan had never seen the holy maiden’s appearance for herself.

“This girl’s recently caught a cold, so she can’t be exposed to the chilly air. Won’t you accommodate us?” Madam Li smiled.

The guard was new and unfamiliar with Madam Li, so he insisted on the holy maiden removing her veil.

“Forget it, Madam Li. Let me remove my veil.” Since the guard and Madam Li seemed to be at a standstill, the holy maiden decided to step in.

“No!” Madam Li was absolutely aghast at the idea. How could the holy maiden reveal her appearance to just anyone? Better that she not leave the castle than to expose herself!

Just then, however, Yin Xiao appeared. He was able to roam the palace freely given his status as the silver dragon elder’s son. “Are you new?” He grabbed the guard by the neck. “Don’t you know who Madam Li is?”

Because of Yin Xiao’s presence, the holy maiden was able to make it out of the castle successfully.

“You can return now, Madam Li,” the holy maiden told Madam Li.

“But…” Do you really want me to leave you alone with Yin Xiao? The holy maiden detested him, so why would she chase her away and be with him alone?

“What’s the matter, Madam Li? Are you afraid I’ll gobble up your holy maiden?” Yin Xiao asked coldly.

“No, no!” Madam Li hurriedly shook her head. “But the holy maiden is my responsibility, since I brought her out. If I don’t supervise her and something goes wrong, I’d lose my life!”

Madam Li actually stood firm even in the face of Yin Xiao’s threats.

In the end, the holy maiden had to pull her aside, take off her veil, and reveal a pretty face that… didn’t belong to the holy maiden.

“Who are you?!” Madam Li almost jumped in shock. She was about to scream, but Yun Ruoyan hurriedly clutched her mouth. “I’m Yun’er, the servant you brought in! The holy maiden’s still safe and sound within the palace.”

“You’re Yun’er? How could that be? She’s so ugly!” Madam Li’s mouth was agape.

“This is a disguise.” Yun Ruoyan patted her undisguised face. “The holy maiden sent me to give Yin Xiao a lesson. He keeps bothering the holy maiden, and it’s been annoying her.”

Yun Ruoyan’s words finally got Madam Li to leave. What Madam Li really cared about was the safety of the holy maiden. Since the person with Yin Xiao wasn’t the holy maiden, even if something were to go wrong, it wouldn’t be too hard to find the holy maiden a new servant.

Yun Ruoyan watched Madam Li walk back into the castle. She replaced her veil and turned to Yin Xiao. “Master Yin, I heard that there’s a particularly scenic location by the castle grounds. Would you accompany me there?”