Chapter 231: Rebirth Of The Phoenix (3)
The palace roofs were cold beneath his bare feet.
Ningyan sat atop the highest pavilion overlooking the hidden Phoenix clan below while night winds drifted through his long white hair.
Above him stretched endless stars.
The crescent moon hung silently between drifting clouds.
For a long while, Ningyan simply stared upward.
Then a black-red glow swirled into existence above his palm.
Dark spiritual pressure pulsed outward.
And within that glow, a red gold flute materialized quietly in his grasp.
Ningyan blinked.
The flute was exquisite. Its surface shimmered with gold inscriptions that almost seemed alive beneath the moonlight.
"...Where did this come from?" he murmured softly.
His fingers brushed against the instrument curiously.
Then slowly, Ningyan lifted the flute toward his lips and paused.
His gaze lowered.
Below the pavilion, Xie Zhenting stood quietly within the palace courtyard, looking up at him.
Xie Zhenting smiled softly and warmly.
Ningyan stared down at him wordlessly.
The strange feeling within his chest returned again.
That unbearable emptiness.
The flute vanished instantly from his hand in a swirl of black-red spiritual light.
Neither of them spoke.
Xie Zhenting simply bowed his head respectfully before turning away and disappearing back into the palace halls.
Ningyan remained seated alone beneath the night sky.
The cold wind swept around him endlessly.
He placed an arm over his raised knee and tilted his head back toward the stars once more.
This emptiness inside him... He did not understand it.
It gnawed endlessly at his chest like a bottomless abyss.
But one thing was certain. He wanted to fill it. With anything. Anything at all. No matter the cost.
The following day, the phoenixes descended upon the Beast Realm.
The skies burned with flames as the phoenix banners once again spread across the heavens after centuries of disappearance.
Leading the procession was Su Ningyan.
Beside him walked Xie Zhenting, while General He Yuting, Tu Ruilin, Shi Zekai, and Guo Manyu followed closely behind.
Their arrival at the former Phoenix Clan territory was swift.
Merciless.
The clan that had once belonged to the phoenixes had long since been occupied by other beast races after the fall of the ancient phoenix bloodline.
Now, the phoenixes had come to reclaim it.
The attack unfolded with terrifying efficiency.
Screams echoed through the streets as spiritual flames devoured buildings and Phoenixes swept through the city like a divine calamity. Panic spread rapidly among the residents as blood painted the stone roads crimson.
The resistance barely lasted.
Divine beast warriors from nearby territories hurried to reinforce the city, but they were crushed almost instantly beneath the overwhelming strength of the returning phoenix clan.
The battle lasted less than a day.
By sunset, the Phoenix Clan territory belonged to the phoenixes once more.
Only corpses and ashes remained behind.
Yet amidst all the slaughter, there was one strange thing everyone noticed.
Su Ningyan never harmed the children.
No matter how mercilessly he killed the adults, every child was left untouched.
Even when terrified young beasts crossed his path during battle, Ningyan simply walked past them as though incapable of striking them down.
It was the only softness that remained within him.
Though perhaps, he himself did not realize it.
^
That night, a celebration was held within the reclaimed phoenix manor.
Music echoed through the restored halls while everyone drank and laughed loudly beneath blazing lanternlight.
But Ningyan did not remain among them for long.
He wandered the manor grounds alone beneath the cold night sky, his black robes fluttering softly against the wind as he explored the territory silently.
Meanwhile, within the banquet hall, General He Yuting approached Xie Zhenting.
The phoenix lord sat comfortably with a cup of wine in hand, appearing perfectly at ease despite everything that had transpired.
He Yuting lowered her voice carefully. "My Lord... are you certain it was wise to bring him out of the hidden clan this early?"
Xie Zhenting glanced toward her lazily. "What troubles you?"
"What if he remembers?" There was genuine unease within her expression now. "What if His Greatness recalls his past?"
Xie Zhenting took another slow sip of wine before smiling confidently. "He will remember nothing."
The lanterns around the hall reflected calmly within his eyes. "I made certain of it."
His smile deepened. "Even if he stands before his husbands... even if he sees his children... nothing will return."
General He Yuting still looked unconvinced.
But she trusted him. Trusted the man who had devoted centuries toward resurrecting their home.
Xie Zhenting leaned back comfortably.
"We have not stepped foot within our homeland for hundreds of years," he said softly. "And now we have reclaimed it completely."
His gaze drifted toward the celebration around them. "So rather than worrying..."
He smiled. "Celebrate."
^
The news spread through the realms like wildfire.
The Phoenix Clan had returned.
Not only had they returned, they had reclaimed their territory within a single day.
Fear spread across both the Beast Realm and Heavenly Realm.
The brutality of the phoenixes’ attack became the subject of endless discussion among the clans, and whispers about the mysterious Phoenix Beast King began surfacing soon afterward.
A demonic beast god. A calamity born. A monster draped in black flames.
Stories about Su Ningyan grew more terrifying with every passing month.
And strangely, Ningyan did not dislike the fear.
No. He welcomed it.
After all, he fully believed the story Xie Zhenting had given him.
The Divine Beast Clans had betrayed the phoenixes. They had slaughtered his people.
And when he tried to protect them, they killed him too.
That hatred settled deep within Ningyan’s chest like poison.
A poison he willingly nurtured.
Within months, the restored Phoenix Clan flourished once more, overflowing with returning phoenix bloodlines who gathered beneath Ningyan’s rule.
Yet despite becoming the crowned Beast King of the Phoenix Clan, Ningyan himself remained hidden from the public eye.
And that made the fear surrounding his existence even greater.
^°^
The restored Phoenix Clan was lively deep into the night.
Lanterns floated through the air while phoenix descendants moved through the streets laughing, drinking, and celebrating the return of their homeland.
Music echoed endlessly from the manor halls, blending with the distant cries of phoenix beasts soaring through the skies above the city.
Yet amidst all the noise, Ningyan felt strangely detached from it all.
After leaving the celebration hall, he wandered quietly through the vast manor grounds alone.
The deeper he walked into the estate, the stranger the feeling within his chest became.
Everything here felt unbearably familiar.
The jade bridges. The carved phoenix statues.
The flowering trees swaying beneath the night wind.
It all felt like fragments of memories lingering just beyond his reach.
Ningyan slowed his steps.
Had he once lived here? In his previous life?
The thought lingered in his mind for a long while.
He almost considered asking Xie Zhenting.
But in the end, he did not.
Instead, Ningyan left the manor entirely.
He pulled a dark cloak over himself, hiding most of his white hair beneath the hood as he moved through the bustling streets unnoticed.
The city remained bright and alive around him.
Children ran through the roads laughing while merchants shouted loudly from stalls. The entire clan radiated victory and rebirth.
Then suddenly, Ningyan stiffened.
A strange prickling sensation crawled across the back of his neck.
His hand instinctively rose to touch it.
Someone was watching him.
His violet eyes narrowed.
Without hesitation, Ningyan diverted from the crowded streets and slipped into a quieter alleyway lined with empty buildings.
He concealed himself within the shadows silently.
Moments later, a figure appeared.
Ningyan’s eyes lifted.
And for a brief second, his breathing stopped.
A serpent beastman walked slowly into view.
Black hair. Emerald serpent eyes. Silver-framed glasses resting neatly against an impossibly beautiful face.
He was dressed entirely in white robes touched faintly with black, his spiritual presence hidden so perfectly that even Ningyan had barely sensed him.
Beautiful.
That was the first thought that crossed Ningyan’s mind.
No. Breathtaking.
The serpent beastman suddenly paused as though sensing something.
A faint crease appeared between his brows. A fleeting micro expression filled with something Ningyan could not understand.
Pain.... Or was it longing?
An emerald portal bloomed beneath his feet.
The serpent beastman vanished instantly into it. Gone.
The alley fell silent once more.
Ningyan remained standing there unmoving. And slowly, that unbearable emptiness returned.
His brows furrowed deeply.
He had not even realized the emptiness had disappeared while looking at that man.
Why?
Why would a serpent beast be secretly following him?
And why... Why had merely seeing him affected him this deeply?
Ningyan slowly stepped out from the shadows, lowering the hood from his head.
Moonlight spilled across his long white hair as cold wind brushed against his face.
His violet eyes lingered upon the empty space where the serpent beastman had stood moments earlier.
"...Who was he?"
^
Eventually, Ningyan returned to the manor.
The generals had already finalized several plans for expanding the phoenix influence throughout the Beast Realm before eventually setting their sights upon the Heavenly Realm itself.
War awaited them. Bloodshed awaited them.
Ningyan knew this.
And yet, as he lay upon his bed that night, staring silently upward beneath dim lanternlight, none of those thoughts remained within his mind.
Only that serpent beastman.
Those emerald eyes. That expression.
Ningyan’s violet eyes slowly opened wider within the darkness.
His chest rose and fell unevenly.
Then abruptly, he pushed himself upright into a seated position.
Confusion clouded his handsome face.
He could not understand it. He did not even know that beastman.
Yet somehow, the serpent beastman had lodged himself firmly within Ningyan’s thoughts as though he belonged there.
