After they arrived at Grandmother Yun Zheng's simple wooden house, Ruoyan invited Mei Lin to freshen up first.
Once they finished cleaning up, Grandmother Yun Zheng called them to dinner.
At a round wooden table with chairs, Yao'er, Ruoyan, Mei Lin, and Grandmother Yun Zheng sat in a circle.
Grandmother Yun Zheng gazed at the three of them eating. "Ruoyan, how did you meet that man earlier? And who is this girl?"
Ruoyan let out a soft sigh, then began to explain. "Well, Grandma, I don't really know who that man was—he was silently watching us before approaching. And this girl is my friend, her name is Mei Lin. She has no relatives or home, so I decided to bring her here."
"Ruoyan…" called Grandmother Yun in a low tone.
"Yes, Grandma. I know I made a mistake, but I really couldn't bear to leave her alone."
Grandmother Yun just shook her head gently and sighed. Not wanting a long argument, they continued eating in silence.
After dinner, Ruoyan led Mei Lin to her room. "This is my room, Mei Lin. If you don't mind, we'll have to share a single bed—I don't have another one."
Mei Lin smiled, taking both of Ruoyan's hands. "Ruoyan, being able to stay here is more than enough. I don't mind sleeping anywhere as long as I'm not disturbing you."
Ruoyan immediately hugged Mei Lin gently and stroked her hair.
After their conversation, Ruoyan and Mei Lin decided to go to sleep.
Ruoyan's Subconscious Realm
Ruoyan walked slowly, looking around. "Is this my subconscious realm?"
She walked forward. Not far ahead stood a large altar, and on it she saw someone sealed.
Ruoyan approached the altar, looking at the person before her in confusion. "You look quite old, so I'll just call you 'Uncle.'"
"Hello, Uncle. How are you in my subconscious? Why does this place appear in my awareness? Who are you, Uncle?" Ruoyan asked, gently nudging the sealed figure.
The "uncle" lifted his head and looked at Ruoyan. "Phoenix…?"
"Phoenix? What do you mean, Uncle?" Ruoyan furrowed her brow in confusion.
The man chuckled with satisfaction. "Ahahahaha, the child of the Phoenix has grown up."
Ruoyan took a few steps back. "What do you mean, Uncle? What child of the Phoenix?"
"You—you are the child of the Great Phoenix… Feng Yanxi," the man replied in a soft tone.
Ruoyan chuckled lightly, which surprised him. "Why are you laughing? Do you think everything I say is a joke?"
"No, Uncle. I laughed because you claimed I was the Phoenix's child. Are you sure? Me? I don't even have any Phoenix powers." Ruoyan shook her head as she circled the altar.
The man smiled slightly. "That's because your Phoenix soul is still asleep. It will awaken if you're in a dire situation or if your anger becomes unbearable. Just trigger it, and your Phoenix soul will gradually merge with you."
Ruoyan raised an eyebrow and stepped closer. "Is that so? To be honest, I've never been in either situation you mentioned. So even if I am the Phoenix's child, my soul might never awaken."
"Your Phoenix soul will appear soon. When it does, you will be hunted by that selfish clan of gods," the man said, gazing angrily at the sky where the gods reside.
"Then where am I? Who are you? Why are you sealed here?" Ruoyan asked, staring at the seals.
The man sighed before answering. "This is the Xu Yuan Gate. A thousand years ago, your mother, Feng Yanxi, sealed a Black Dragon King, Xuan Long. And I am… Xuan Long."
"Your subconscious brought you here because of me. I used a bit of my spiritual power to enter your mind. Remember, you are descended from the Phoenix—awaken your Phoenix soul to avenge your mother's vengeance against the gods!" Xuan Long continued, before Ruoyan's realm collapsed and she woke from her sleep.
Ruoyan opened her eyes suddenly, looking around. "Why did that feel so real?"
Mei Lin, who had just finished helping Grandmother Yun in the kitchen, hurried to Ruoyan, who looked bewildered on the bed.
"Ruoyan, what's wrong?" Mei Lin asked, shaking Ruoyan's leg.
Ruoyan, still dazed, only smiled and shook her head.
Mei Lin sighed softly, then remembered something to tell her. "Ah, Ruoyan. Grandma said the village is being plagued by a lot of miasma right now. So Grandma told me to warn you not to go to the village."
Ruoyan's eyes widened. She looked seriously at Mei Lin. "Are you serious? All the more reason I have to go, then."
Ruoyan climbed down from the bed and hurried to get ready. Once she was done, she prepared to leave the house with Mei Lin and Yao'er to descend to the village.
"FENG RUOYAN!" called Grandmother Yun as she walked toward the three of them.
Seeing that, Ruoyan grabbed Mei Lin's hand and immediately fled down the mountain. Grandmother Yun watched them leave with a hint of anger.
Upon arriving at the village, Ruoyan and Mei Lin donned veils, wrapped themselves in cloaks, and cast protective spells that Grandmother Yun had taught them.
Ruoyan looked around; silence reigned. Almost no one was moving, and several corpses lay gruesomely by the roadside.
Their destination was the healing hall. When Ruoyan, Mei Lin, and Yao'er arrived, they saw many villagers being healed by magic administered by a few young men and teenage girls.
One girl approached them. "Who are you?"
"We're from the mountain peak, here to assist with the healing. I'm Ruoyan, this is my friend Mei Lin, and this is my parrot, Yao'er," Ruoyan answered kindly.
The girl nodded, then said, "I'm Luo Xinyi. The young man on my right is Wen Qiren, and on my left is my friend Han Fei."
Ruoyan smiled and nodded. After a brief chat, Mei Lin and Ruoyan joined in treating the miasma-stricken villagers.
As time passed, the number of afflicted didn't decrease but increased. They were overwhelmed from overusing their powers.
"If this continues, we won't finish. We must eliminate the miasma's source," suggested Wen Qiren, a young man blind since birth but with extraordinary hearing and intelligence.
"You're right, Qiren. We should go now," said Han Fei, an agile and clever youth.
"Mei Lin, Ruoyan, you stay here to protect the villagers, okay? Leave the rest to us," Ruoyan instructed, and they both nodded.
Without delay, the four of them set off to find the miasma's origin.
After a long search, they reached a place thick with negative aura and dense miasma—it was along the Yu He River.
Upon arrival, they found three youths badly wounded, bleeding, and one unconscious.
"What happened to you? Why are you like this?" Ruoyan asked, her face filled with concern.
One of the conscious young men spoke haltingly, "Th-they're controlling the m-miasma."
Suddenly, the man fainted. A cloaked figure emerged from the thick miasma. "We meet again, naughty girl."
Ruoyan froze. This was the same man whose right shoulder she had stabbed with a dagger the previous night.
Xinyi looked at Ruoyan in confusion. "What do you mean? You two know each other?"
Ruoyan shook her head quickly. "It's not like that. He's the cloaked man I encountered in Jingyou Forest last night. Long story short, I stabbed his right shoulder with a dagger."
The man chuckled softly. "You still remember what you did to me."
Ruoyan glared at him in fury. "Why did you bring the miasma here? You've endangered every life in this village! You'd better remove this miasma before I resort to force."
"Force, huh…" he murmured, lowering his head, then looked back at Ruoyan with a sneer.
He then caused Mei Lin—unconscious and afflicted by miasma—to appear.
"You! Let her go!" Ruoyan yelled.
"Let go? For what? Ahaha." The cloaked figure laughed at Ruoyan's anger.
Slowly, Ruoyan's body was lifted five meters into the air. Flames burst forth around her, and her eyes turned fiery red.
"Prepare to die!" Ruoyan formed a magical formation, then mercilessly hurled a fireball at the cloaked man.
Luo Xinyi, Wen Qiren, and Han Fei joined in, creating a formation to restrain him.
The cloaked man was slammed into a tree, coughing up fresh blood. He gazed at Ruoyan with satisfaction, thinking to himself, "The Phoenix has awakened—my new pawn."