I don't know how much time passed, but the surroundings were quiet except for the chirping of insects and birds outside the window.
Suddenly, there was another abrupt knocking on the door.
Feng Fei didn't react. Xue Tuan looked at Feng Fei, then at the door, and finally bit her lip and went down to open the door.
As soon as the door opened, Xue Tuan excitedly rushed out.
"Yuan Jue!"
Yuan Jue picked up Xue Tuan and calmly patted Xue Tuan's head, but his gaze toward Feng Fei was anything but calm.
Hearing the commotion, Feng Fei looked towards the door. He was puzzled for a moment when he saw Yuan Jue, but then his expression changed to surprise and excitement.
Yuan Jue silently took in Feng Fei's gaze.
As Feng Fei excitedly greeted him, he stepped into the room first.
Yuan Jue held Feng Fei's hands and calmly asked, "Are you... alright?"
Chapter Two: Feng Jin'er
Feng Fei looked at the hands held by Yuan Jue, his eyes flashing with an inexplicable light.
Although Feng Fei did not answer Yuan Jue's question, Yuan Jue was not embarrassed at all. Instead, he pulled Feng Fei to sit down at the table, looked at the food laid out on the table, and said with a smile, "So you knew I was coming. You've prepared all the dishes."
As he spoke, Yuan Jue released Feng Fei's hand, picked up his chopsticks, took a bite of the food, and sighed with satisfaction, "It's still the most comfortable thing to eat a hot meal. I haven't had a hot meal in a long time on the way here."
Upon hearing this, Feng Fei immediately looked up at Yuan Jue, her eyes filled with heartache.
"I'm fine," Yuan Jue said immediately upon seeing this, then paused, a happy smile spreading across his face: "It's been so long, did you miss me?"
A blush flashed across Feng Fei's face, as if she were shy, but Yuan Jue clearly saw a hint of ruthlessness hidden beneath the shyness.
Yuan Jue remained completely calm, continuing his usual banter with Feng Fei.
Seeing how happily Yuanjue and Fengfei were getting along, Xuetuan relaxed a lot and sat down next to Yuanjue, chattering about things that had happened recently.
Yuanjue listened to Xuetuan talk with a smile, occasionally feeding Xuetuan a bite of food. Xuetuan's little face turned rosy with excitement.
This meal was joyful and happy for Xue Tuan, but it made Feng Fei very uncomfortable. However, she didn't say anything at the moment, but instead said some things in a very cooperative manner.
The moment Yuanjue appeared, the black seal that had been wandering around the room suddenly disappeared without anyone noticing, except for Fengfei.
"Alright," Yuan Jue wiped Xue Tuan's mouth and said, "Go downstairs for a while. Your sister Fei Fei and I have something to talk about."
Xue Tuan nodded vigorously like a chick pecking at rice, winking at Feng Fei and Yuan Jue: "I'll take a good look around and come back, so you two have to talk nicely! Hehe~" After saying that, she turned and left immediately without waiting for Feng Fei's reaction.
Feng Fei subconsciously stood up, wanting to stop Xue Tuan, but Yuan Jue subtly blocked her: "What's wrong? We're so familiar with each other, why are we acting like strangers after being apart for a while?"
Yuan Jue wore an untamed smile, an air of languid ease and nonchalance emanating from his very bones. Feng Fei was momentarily stunned.
Just as Feng Fei was in a daze, Yuan Jue suddenly moved closer to her, his right arm encircling her waist without allowing her to refuse, and he smiled wickedly: "It's been so long, have you missed me? How about we..."
Yuan Jue's warm breath brushed against Feng Fei's ear. It blew away the stray hairs beside her ear, tickling her slightly.
Feng Fei flinched, but Yuan Jue held her tightly in his arms. Her face was flushed, as if she were drunk. Her lowered eyelashes trembled slightly, casting deep shadows on her face, creating a jagged scene. Yuan Jue seemed mesmerized. A seductive smile graced his face as his lips slowly approached Feng Fei's. Feng Fei's lowered eyelids were almost closed, so she didn't see the stern glint in Yuan Jue's eyes.
Yuan Jue also failed to see the resentment and venom filling Feng Fei's lowered eyes.
Suddenly, Feng Fei seemed to remember something. She covered Yuan Jue's mouth with her hand, her face showing a dazed expression, but her voice was firm: "Yuan Jue...we...can't..."
After saying that, she bit her lip and left Yuan Jue's embrace. Her body trembled slightly as she left, as if she couldn't bear to part with Yuan Jue.
With her back to Yuan Jue, Feng Fei's shy voice came from behind: "When we...get married..." Feng Fei suddenly stopped, seemingly too shy to continue.
Yuan Jue, standing behind Feng Fei, no longer concealed his expression, looking at Feng Fei with a cryptic and cold demeanor. Hearing Feng Fei's words, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but his voice held a hint of complaint: "It's not like it hasn't happened before... really..." He seemed extremely unwilling, but didn't continue.
"Alright," Feng Fei turned around, pulled Yuan Jue to sit on the table, and said in a coquettish tone, "Don't be angry! I'm also... I'm not feeling well... please don't be angry, okay?"
A glint of light flashed in Yuan Jue's eyes, and he sighed regretfully, but still said cooperatively, "I know!"
Seeing Yuan Jue's perfunctory attitude, Feng Fei was somewhat displeased, but she didn't say anything more and simply rested her head on Yuan Jue's shoulder.
Yuan Jue stroked Feng Fei's dress absentmindedly, but his thoughts drifted away.
Feng Fei leaned against Yuan Jue with her eyes closed, seemingly asleep, but the occasional movement of her eyes told one that she was not asleep, but thinking.
In truth, this is no longer the original Feng Fei, nor even Feng Fei's predecessor, but a soul re-infused into the body. All of this is related to Feng Fei's encounter at Bihan Pool and the black seal.
Although Feng Jin'er was the biological mother of Feng Fei's predecessor, she never cared about this daughter. In the Vermilion Bird Kingdom, each empress could only give birth to one girl as the next successor, and Feng Fei was the child born to Feng Jin'er under these circumstances. However, Feng Jin'er was a maverick among the empresses of the Vermilion Bird Kingdom. She revered love and deeply disliked children born without love in the Vermilion Bird Kingdom, which was one of the reasons why she suddenly disappeared from the kingdom.
Although the Azure Cold Pool was a forbidden place for the living, it was an extremely unique place for Feng Jin'er. With the help of the Black Seal, she proudly carved out a unique cave dwelling within the Azure Cold Pool, where she lived. However, she later suffered some severe blows, and Feng Jin'er suddenly disappeared from this world, unable to take even the Black Seal with her. The Black Seal, left behind, gradually lost some of its abilities and fell into a deep sleep, before being swallowed by the snake-tailed fish-headed monster.
Later, by chance, Feng Fei entered the belly of the snake-tailed fish-headed monster and found the black seal. During his battle with Blood Shadow, he was injured and bled, and it was this blood, containing Feng Jin'er's bloodline, that fully activated the black seal. It was because of this activation that the black seal knew where Feng Jin'er was and how to find her. This led to everything that happened at the Azure Cold Pool.
Subsequently, Feng Jin'er successfully entered Feng Fei's body. Her temperament caused Xue Tuan some doubts, but she forcibly suppressed them.
Feng Fei's soul, being a soul in itself, though far inferior to Feng Jin'er's in terms of power, was ultimately a fusion of two souls. Therefore, no matter what Feng Jin'er did, she could not completely destroy Feng Fei's soul. Or perhaps Feng Jin'er considered that this was her daughter and thus refrained from taking drastic measures. It is precisely because of this that "Feng Fei" was able to occasionally reveal her unique characteristics.
Chapter 3: The Gray Cloth Wrap
However, none of this escaped Yuanjue's discerning eye.
At first glance, Yuan Jue noticed something amiss with Feng Fei. However, he was also extremely familiar with Feng Fei's aura, knowing that this was indeed Feng Fei's body. Furthermore, many of the subtle movements and habits of this Feng Fei were the same as the Feng Fei he knew, meaning that the person before him was very likely the Feng Fei he knew.
Where exactly did things go wrong? Yuan Jue couldn't quite figure it out for a moment, and was lost in thought.
“Yuan Jue…” Feng Fei suddenly spoke, as if he was about to say something, but then there was a knock on the door.
Feng Fei suddenly looked up, his expression stern.
"Sister Feifei..." came Xue Tuan's voice from outside the door.
Feng Fei felt a sense of relief and said softly, "Come in."
Xue Tuan walked in with a grin, carrying a gray cloth bundle in her hands.
"Sister Feifei, this was placed outside the door. I don't know who sent it." Xue Tuan's words were full of doubt, and she wanted to open it to take a look.
"stop!"
Feng Fei suddenly stood up straight and sternly stopped Xue Tuan.
Xue Tuan timidly withdrew her hand, looking at Feng Fei with eyes brimming with tears, as if they were about to fall at any moment.
At this moment, Feng Fei suddenly realized that Yuan Jue was in the room. He immediately withdrew his imposing aura and awkwardly explained, "This thing has an unknown origin. I don't know if there's anything bad inside. If Xue Tuan recklessly opens it and gets injured as a result, I'll feel guilty and uneasy..."
Yuan Jue nodded indifferently and waved to Xue Tuan. Xue Tuan walked over to Yuan Jue and obediently handed him the item.
Yuan Jue took the book and placed it on the table. After looking at it for a while, he said to Feng Fei, "Be careful when you open it. It's getting late, so I'm resting in the next room. Ming Feng will be here soon, so I'll take Xue Tuan over to wait for him. Ming Feng will be overjoyed to see Xue Tuan!"
When Xue Tuan heard that Ming Feng was coming, a happy smile immediately appeared on her face.
Feng Fei stared intently at Yuan Jue. She always felt that Yuan Jue seemed to have figured something out, but he concealed it well, and there was nothing amiss. She pursed her lips and nodded.
Yuanjue took Xuetuan and left the room directly.
After watching Yuan Jue close the door, Feng Fei slumped down at the table. But when his gaze fell on Bao Bao, his eyes gleamed with a strange light.
Maybe it was sent by that person.
Feng Fei was filled with excitement, wondering if that person was alright, after so long...
Feng Fei's thoughts drifted away. It took him a while to return to his body, which was wrapped in gray cloth.
After thinking for a moment, Feng Fei first summoned the black seal to protect himself before slowly opening the package.
Inside the package was a wooden waist token and a black short sword. Both appeared to be some kind of identification. Feng Fei, seeing that there was nothing else in the package besides these two items, was extremely disappointed.
"Is it... still impossible to forgive...?"
Feng Fei murmured to himself, looking at the wooden plaque and short sword in his hand. His gaze was unfocused.
In the room next to Feng Fei's, Yuan Jue sat at a round table, with the adorable Xue Tuan sitting beside him.
"Xuetuan, you mean... Feng Fei obtained a black seal?"
Xue Tuan nodded vigorously, firmly stating that what she said was true: "Yes, that seal seemed really powerful. It helped Sister Fei Fei expand her meridians and even raised her cultivation to the Innate Realm! And also, the seal took us to a secret chamber. There was a futon there that could accelerate cultivation..."
At this point, Snowball seemed puzzled and muttered softly, "Huh? We were swept into the secret chamber by the whirlpool in the water... Why did I say that the seal led us there? That's strange..."
Yuan Jue naturally didn't miss Xue Tuan's quiet mutterings. After carefully considering the matter in his mind, Yuan Jue continued to ask, "What happened after that?"
Xue Tuan told Yuan Jue everything that happened afterward, and Yuan Jue fell into deep thought after hearing Xue Tuan's account of her experiences in the Bihan Pool.
After a long while, Yuan Jue suddenly straightened up. He had thought of a possibility. In terms of timing, that is, when Feng Fei and Xue Tuan broke through from the Azure Cold Pool, it was precisely when the entire Four Directions Continent was experiencing a violent tremor. If what Xue Tuan said was true, then the cause of this alarming tremor had been found.
Thinking of this, Yuan Jue suddenly revealed a meaningful smile.
Xue Tuan tugged at Yuan Jue's sleeve and suddenly asked shyly, "Is Ming Feng really coming? When... will he arrive?"
Yuan Jue smiled and patted Xue Tuan's head, saying, "It'll be soon, it should be before dawn. Go to bed and sleep first, I'll wake you when he arrives."
Xue Tuan nodded obediently, walking towards the bed while turning back every few steps. Just as she was about to reach the bed, Xue Tuan suddenly ran to Yuan Jue and whispered in his ear, "I'll tell you a secret, but don't tell anyone else!" Xue Tuan cautiously glanced around, seemingly to make sure no one was watching. "Sister Fei Fei is acting a bit strange... Sister Fei Fei has been in a bad mood ever since she came out of Bihan Pool. She kept throwing things at the inn, it was so scary... And... Sister Fei Fei is always yelling at me, she never used to be like this..."
After saying that, Xue Tuan's eyes filled with tears, and she pouted in grievance.
"Oh? Is that so?" Yuan Jue said with a smile, as if he had become interested.
"Yes!" Xue Tuan's voice was so loud that it startled even herself. She patted her chest and continued, "Xue Tuan never lies!"
"Does Xue Tuan dislike Fei Fei Jie?"
"No! How could Xue Tuan dislike Fei Fei Jie? Fei Fei Jie is the best to Xue Tuan!"