Chapter 1744: Chapter 1743: The New Clan Leader of the Phoenix Clan
Xiao Wen cautiously stepped forward, but nothing changed. Unlike before, when waves of intense and murderous heat rushed at her, suffocating her and drenching her in sweat, as if she were standing at a volcano’s mouth.
But now that feeling was gone. She walked step by step until she stopped four steps away from Chu Chengfeng, looking up at the towering Chu Chengfeng, pursing her lips but not speaking.
However, Gu Qiaoqiao keenly noticed that as Xiao Wen approached Chu Chengfeng, he underwent a noticeable change. His body seemed to exude a murderous aura, a suppressed yet crazily surging air.
At this moment, Chu Chengfeng’s gaze had changed. He no longer looked at Xiao Wen with the usual tenderness, no longer acted like a puppy circling around her.
And unlike before, when seeing Xiao Wen, it seemed as though everything around them faded away.
A sardonic smile even appeared at the corner of his mouth, with both hands behind his back. At this moment, Chu Chengfeng’s demeanor changed again.
He seemed to become another person.
He glanced at Gu Qiaoqiao beside him, his brow furrowing slightly as he calmly asked, "Gu Qiaoqiao, you’re from the Mystic Sect."
He didn’t even call her sister-in-law anymore.
Gu Qiaoqiao simply stared directly at him, although her hands were already prepared to attack at any moment. Meanwhile, Xiao Wen stood there calmly, not calling Chu Chengfeng by his nickname as she used to, nor playfully twisting his ear.
At this moment, Xiao Wen seemed to sense something, though she couldn’t be certain, nor did she want to be.
Xiao Wen’s face was unusually pale, her lips, usually as rosy as petals, had lost their color. Her typically flamboyant beauty had a trace of panic, even trembling slightly. Her fingers were also moving, but Gu Qiaoqiao knew that this wasn’t an attack gesture, it was a bewildered reaction.
Seeing Gu Qiaoqiao so guarded, Chu Chengfeng smirked.
He murmured to himself and then looked into Gu Qiaoqiao’s eyes, seemingly trying to recall, "Your name is Gu Qiaoqiao, so naturally your surname is Gu. Gu... Gu... Gu..."
Chu Chengfeng kept murmuring those syllables, then he opened his eyes, seemingly in disbelief but still probing, "Do you know Gu Junbai?"
It was unclear whether Chu Chengfeng was friend or foe at this moment, but Gu Qiaoqiao didn’t intend to hide her identity. Even though everything seemed fine, this sudden change caught her off guard after having been at peace for so long. But she still calmly replied, "Gu Junbai is my ancestor from the Gu Family, I am his successor."
"Oh... no wonder, your eyes do resemble Gu Junbai’s quite a bit."
He then looked at the girl standing silently in front of him, a smirk on his lips and his voice carrying a hint of mockery, "Isn’t this the daughter of Elder Sima, the one who sided with Gu Junbai, Sima Xiaowen? You’re still alive?"
Upon hearing these words, both Xiao Wen and Gu Qiaoqiao widened their eyes in surprise.
Gu Qiaoqiao quickly stood beside Xiao Wen, grabbing her arm, then holding her hand tightly. She glared at Chu Chengfeng, "Chu Chengfeng, what are you up to? What did you just say, what happened to you, why are you treating Sister Xiao Wen like this, did you forget? You..."
Before she could finish speaking, Xiao Wen beside her covered her mouth.
Tears began to glisten in Xiao Wen’s eyes. She looked at Qiaoqiao and let go of her hand, "Qiaoqiao, don’t ask, I know what’s going on now."
"You know what’s going on?" Chu Chengfeng’s eyes were sharp and cold, "Sima Xiaowen, if you still have some memory, you should know that the internal conflict in the Phoenix Clan started because of you. The clan’s divine artifact was also destroyed by you. Although you’ve found it now, thousands died because of you. How do you intend to settle this score? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten everything..."
This unfamiliar and terrifying Chu Chengfeng spoke with such cruelty, each word cut into Xiao Wen’s heart like a knife.
"You are the clan leader of the Phoenix Clan, you’ve returned?" Xiao Wen gritted her teeth and spoke.
But Gu Qiaoqiao heard a slight choke in her trembling voice and hands. Clearly, her mind had just regained some clarity but now it was muddled again.
She suddenly recalled what Elder Sima said when she met him.
He had talked about a person born with both Phoenix and Phoenix Clan blood, who would be the future clan leader, merging both clans and leading them to find the Divine Land...
Though Elder Sima had said much, Gu Qiaoqiao couldn’t recall it all at once now.
However, at the next moment, Chu Chengfeng spoke again, coldly and emotionlessly, "Sima Xiaowen, you are wrong. I am not just the Phoenix Clan leader; I am the leader of both Phoenix and Phoenix Clans. Originally, I should kill you, but since you’ve found the Phoenix Clan’s divine artifact, I’ll spare you this time. But if you ever dare to conspire with outsiders to sabotage and steal the Phoenix Clans’ treasures again, I won’t spare you; I will expel you and your father from the Phoenix Clan."
With these harsh words spoken by Chu Chengfeng, the room fell into a dreadful silence.
Stunned, Sima Xiaowen watched the familiar yet unfamiliar Chu Chengfeng as his words echoed in her ears.
Distant memories surfaced, blurred and forgotten.
She hardly recalled what he said; it was as if she had forgotten everything.
Yet in the depths of her memories, Chu Chengfeng seemed to merge bit by bit with another shadow.
That shadow, cold as snow, decisive and merciless, devoid of human warmth or emotional speech...
And who was this person, she’d forgotten, even left with a trace of fear, confirming that in her memories, such a figure did exist within the Phoenix and Phoenix Clans.
Yet it felt so remote, she didn’t remember.
Suddenly, Xiao Wen flung away Gu Qiaoqiao’s hand, her own hands gestured, and a massive Fire Phoenix spewing flames suddenly appeared, charging with her towards Chu Chengfeng. She roared, "Give me back my little Chengfeng!"
Yet at the next moment, Chu Chengfeng also made his move. Gu Qiaoqiao, well-experienced in battle, also struck at the exact same moment as Xiao Wen, aiming straight at Chu Chengfeng.
