Chapter 39

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“It can’t be?” Zhu Yan hastily lifted up the child’s shirt and looked at him, “Everything is fine!”

The child calmed down and muttered, “Strange, it’s all right again.”

“Hey, it’s better not to touch this thing randomly.” Zhu Yan rushed to put the pendant close to her body and said, “Yuan has instructed me not to show it to others!”

She propped her chin up and looked at the paper cranes hovering under the lamp before saying blankly, “Unfortunately, although he gave me this pendant, he doesn’t like me… Maybe he already has someone special in his heart? I mean, you sharks, do you first take fancy on a woman in your heart before transforming into a man?”

The child raised his little face, seriously pondering for a moment, and said, “I’ve heard Aunt Ru talking about this, it seems to be true.” After a pause, he added, “But I haven’t changed myself yet, so I don’t know if it’s true or not.”

“Hey, when you grow up, you’ll be a stunning beauty!” Zhu Yan looked at the handsome and unparalleled good-looking child in front of her and couldn’t help but release a laugh, “Do you want to become a man or a woman? If you turn into a woman, you’ll probably be more beautiful than the legendary Autumn Water Songstress, right? I’m so looking forward to it…”

“I’m not turning into a woman!” Sumo clenched his fists and suddenly protested.

Zhu Yan froze for a moment, “Why so? Do you dislike women a lot?”

The child shook his head, a chill swept through his azure eyes, and whispered, “I… I don’t want to become like Ah-Niang.”

Zhu Yan’s heart sank, remembering Yu Ji’s tragic life, and knowing that this child’s heart had only been filled with shadows for a long time, she secretly sighed and changed the subject to another topic: “Hey, transforming into a male or a female, it’s not something you can decide for yourself. But you’re still so young, it will take decades before you get transformed. I guess I won’t live to see it…”

“No, you won’t!” Sumo suddenly became tense and shook his head, “You… you will live a long life. Longer than I will!”

She couldn’t help but giggle: the child seemed to have never experienced interacting with people before, and occasionally, when he said something nice, he seemed so awkward.

“Hey, in any case, I will never abandon you.” Zhu Yan sighed and lifted the child’s tiny jaw with her thumb, looked at him seriously and made a promise, “I will always take care of you, protect you and stay by your side until the day you will want to leave on your own – I am sorry for lying to you!”

The child lifted his eyes and looked at her as if scrutinizing, his eyes full of suspicion and hesitation.

She stuck out her finger and wagged it at him, “Pull the hook?”

The child looked at her, grunted softly and turned his head haughtily, without speaking. After a moment, however, in silence, he reached over and quietly hooked his little finger around hers.

That tiny finger. Just like a small promise.

“Call me Big Sister.” A warm feeling rippled through Zhu Yan’s heart as she smiled and said, “I’ve always been by myself, I don’t have a brother or sister, I’m also quite lonely.”

“Not a chance,” the boy twisted his head and grunted, “I’m seventy-one and you’re only nineteen.”

“Little brat.” Zhu Yan rebuked with a laugh and carefully pushed the window away by a crack and looked out, breathing a sigh of relief.

“The bird flew away?” The child was astute.

“Hmm.” Zhu Yan pushed the window wide open at once, “Finally, it’s gone! Wonderful!”

In that very moment, the wind from outside the window blew in, the paper cranes hovering around the lamp inside suddenly rustled, turned towards the window and flew out spreading their wings.

“Oops!” The child couldn’t help but exclaim aloud, reaching out to try and catch them. But how could he do it in time? A gust of wind blew in, and the silver sprites simply passed through his fingers into the breeze.

Sumo stood there, one hand hooked around her finger, disappointed.

“It’s okay, I’ll fold a few more for you later! Or, once you learn this spell from me, you can fold as many as you want yourself.” She rushed to comfort the distressed child and grabbed his little hand, “Let’s go and have dinner… Grandma Sheng must be urging!”

She led Sumo outside and smiled, “I’ll take you out tomorrow with me, okay?”

“Going somewhere exciting?” The child’s eyes shone brightly as he looked up to her.

“The biggest and liveliest tea house in Yecheng, Star Ocean Cloud Pavilion!” She said with a smirk, her eyes curved into a crescent moon of excitement, “Hey, it’s also said to be the most luxurious place in Yunhuang, I’ve been wanting to go and check it out for so many years!”

“…I’m not going.” The child’s expression suddenly changed, and looking with a strange look at the woman whose face was all smiling because she was going to visit a green house, he suddenly shook off his hand and said coldly, “If you want to go there, you will have to go by yourself!”

“What’s wrong?” She looked at the child who instantly lost his temper again and tried to coax him, “It is said that there are many beautiful people there, a paradise on earth, a golden cave with an abundance of luxury, a lot of good food and interesting things to do, don’t you want to go and have a look around?”

“I don’t want to!” The child just gave her a cold look, let go of the hand hooked around her finger, and walked on by himself, actually never paying attention to her any longer.

“If you don’t want to go, then you don’t go, who’s begging you?” Zhu Yan frowned and flicked the back of the child’s head with no good grace, “Little man, you are not able to do anything else, but you can turn your face over as fast as a flipping book!”

Sumo suddenly opened the grip of her hand and gave her a fierce glare. He struck hard, the look in his eyes, surprisingly, turned again into that of a small beast in a cage: guarded, cold, suspicious, hostile and distrustful of everything.

Zhu Yan froze for a moment, not knowing at what point did she poke him again, and could only resent him.

The magnificent white bird Chongming fluttered through the heavens, soaring several times over Yecheng, before finally landing in a graceful motion, transforming into a snow-white bird the size of a parrot in the inner courtyard, and resting again on the shoulder of the Divine Master.

“Chongming, have you found it?” Shi Ying asked gently, “Where is that shark’s hideout?”

The Divine Bird nodded proudly and cooed a few times into his ear.

“Surprisingly, he went there?” The Great Priest frowned slightly, looked down somewhat hesitantly at the pair of clean white silk footwear on his feet, and whispered, “Such a filthy place…”

The sacred bird shrugged, its four eyes swirling around with a slight smirk of amusement inside them.

“Still, it’s better to go there!” Shi Ying lowered his eyes, “After all, there is a lot at stake.”

However, as he lowered the curtain and was about to leave, he suddenly appeared to sense something, and stood still sharply under the veranda, looking back – the night sky was clear and cold, and the full moon hovered high, reflecting the lights all over the city. In the wind, a stream of glittering fireflies seemed to be twirling.

How could there be fireflies on a day of March? With a flick of his sleeves, the few points of light were swept through the air and came to rest obediently into his hand. He lowered his head to take a look and was suddenly taken aback.

They were paper cranes, folded from thin candy paper, still smelling of candied fruit. The paper crane had been folded using the Nine Weight spell, but the folding was done sloppily, the trimming was not very neat, the wings were crooked, and the necks were crudely turned sideways, like a poorly crippled bird with broken wings.

He only took one look at it, and a faint smile suddenly appeared into his eyes. That smile on such a face, which had been as cold and silent as an ancient well all year long, was no less than a shock to the sky, and caused the poor Chongming to jump back a little in surprise, shaking its feathers and making a repeated “coo” sound from one side.

“That girl, she is indeed, also in Yecheng…” He whispered, cupping up the paper crane, “Who else but her could make such a crooked and broken paper crane?”

The Divine Bird rolled its four eyes and also showed a joyful expression, cooing and clawing at Shi Ying’s shoulder, seemingly impatient. Yet the Divine Priest merely shook his head, unmoved: “What’s the hurry? Let’s go find her tomorrow when we’ve finished our business.”

The sacred bird muttered in discontent and slumped her head.

“What’s wrong?” Shi Ying looked at the snowy white bird, a little puzzled, “Don’t you hate that little girl who always wants to pluck your tail feathers?”

The Chongming Divine Bird turned its four crimson eyes in a circular motion and glared at the Priest, then looked at the cold moon above the courtyard and cooed lowly – not knowing what exactly he was talking about, Shi Ying twitched his eyebrows and suddenly raised his hand and shoved it off his shoulder with a heavy thud!

The sacred bird was caught off guard and crashed headlong into the railing, embarrassed.

Shi Ying looked at it and said coldly, “If you talk nonsense again, I’ll cut off your tail!”

Probably because she had never heard such a grim tone before from her Master, Chongming shivered and dejectedly lowered her head, flying back to the golden shelf without a word, tucking her head between the wings and silently muttering the same words she just uttered before…

“How long will you keep your pride in death, and how long will you be able to put up with it?”

The next morning, Zhu Yan was eager to get up early and freshen up, disguised as a young man, and prepared to sneak off to the Star Ocean Cloud Pavilion to feast her eyes on the scenery without Grandma Sheng’s knowledge. The housekeeper knew that the Princess had a fierce temper and could not be stopped by him, so he simply pushed the boat along and accompanied her out.

The two people rode into the Jade Palace in a carriage without the insignia of the Red King’s Clan, accompanied by twelve competent guards, all dressed in civilian clothes, keeping a low profile and being discreet, escorting them from both sides.

However, as soon as she stepped into the Star Ocean Cloud Pavilion, Zhu Yan knew why Sumo had suddenly lost his temper yesterday and never spoken another word to her – this is the largest brothel in Yunhuang, and it is truly luxurious, with beautiful decorations of gold and jade, ladies singing and dancing around, brocades as barriers and ointments as candles, the exquisite furnishings and extravagant decorations were so amazing that even the Princess of the Red Clan, who has seen a lot of the world, could not help but be astonished. And in the luscious pavilion, all those beauties who were as beautiful as fairies, were all sharks!

They were all beautiful and graceful, either shining on the waves or holding lamps under the flowers, walking under the promenade or leaning against the jade railings, laughing in pairs or groups – they must have been trained carefully by someone, the way they speak and behave is so seductive that one would be immediately captivated at the first glance.

This Star Ocean Cloud Pavilion, did they specialize only in the business of sharks? Zhu Yan was stunned and stopped to take a closer look, only to see that the sharks were all in their prime, mostly women, but occasionally some men or sharks of indeterminate gender, all with extremely beautiful faces and graceful bodies.

The sharks, adorned with beads and jewels, were all located in a very large courtyard. The courtyard was surrounded by a seven-storey high pavilion with a long corridor. The foreign guests were brought upstairs and moved around along the corridor, repeatedly looking down on the beauties in the courtyard, all the way to the seventh floor, and if they saw anything they liked, they showed it to the turtle slaves following them.

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