Phoenix's Requiem

Chapter 424: Assassination

Li Mo continued supporting Yun Ruoyan as they returned to their tent. Even if Yun Ruoyan wanted to walk just a little faster, Li Mo would suddenly turn anxious.

“Li Mo, I still haven’t had Qingchen and Feng Bo inspect my body. It’s quite possible that my periods are just delayed,” Yun Ruoyan suddenly said. “If I’m not pregnant, will you be disappointed?”

“No,” Li Mo replied instantly. “Whatever will come will come. Shall I have them inspect your body tomorrow?” Despite his words, Li Mo still continued to support Yun Ruoyan carefully. “Yan’er, no matter what happens, make sure you live on.”

Yun Ruoyan nodded. “No matter when, no matter why, we’ll put each other first and foremost.”

“Alright.” Li Mo smiled and gripped Yun Ruoyan’s hand tightly.

Within the darkness, Zhuo Yifeng glanced at Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo’s retreating backs, a complicated expression marring his face. These last few days, while Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo were away in the Pi city, Zhuo Yifeng had worried the entire day for Yun Ruoyan. When finally she returned safe and sound, he found that he didn’t even have the courage to appear in front of her and apologize for his actions.

Zhuo Yifeng hated that he had, somehow, in a drunken haze, violated Yun Ruoyan. He was certain that her impression of him was the absolute worst, that she wouldn’t want to see him again for as long as she lived.

“Come, now.” A malicious voice spoke up in Zhuo Yifeng’s mind. “I’ve already helped you take the first step, so do you still not dare to take the second step?”

The voice instantly turned Zhuo Yifeng’s helplessness and shame into anger. He clutched a vine by his side, so angry that he didn’t feel the sharp spikes on the vine penetrating his hand.

Fresh blood landed on the soil, trailing down his palm and arm.

“If not for me, you’d never even have touched the hand of the woman you love in your entire life. But with my assistance, you’ve even tasted her,” the demonic spirit whispered, his voice once again taking on a hypnotic lull. “Wasn’t it sweet, Zhuo Yifeng? Don’t you crave more of that forbidden fruit? As long as you listen to me, I can promise that you’ll obtain Yun Ruoyan all for yourself. What say you?”

“Dream on!” Zhuo Yifeng shouted. “If there comes a day when I can’t control you, I’ll definitely commit suicide. Look forward to that!”

“You—” The demonic spirit hesitated, then seemed to shrug. “Forget it. One day, you’ll see how marvellous it is to simply follow your base desires.”

“That day will never come,” Zhuo Yifeng swore. “Even if I have to die, I won’t harm those whom I love.”

The next day, Li Mo called Lin Qingchen and Feng Bo to where he and Yun Ruoyan were staying. Lin Qingchen first took Yun Ruoyan’s pulse; the moment her fingers touched Yun Ruoyan’s wrist, she gaped in surprise.

“Sister Ruoyan, you’re… you’re expecting!”

Yun Ruoyan glanced toward Lin Qingchen, her beautiful eyes filled with delight and anxiety. “Qingchen, are you certain?”

“Of course I am,” Lin Qingchen replied. “I’ve been training to be a physician, and the first thing I learned was how to test for pregnancy. I’m sure of it: Sister Ruoyan, you’re pregnant!”

“Ruoyan, you… you… I won’t let you fly on your own from now on,” Li Mo finally said. Although the two of them were prepared for the news, they couldn’t help feeling a sense of eagerness and anticipation—especially Li Mo. His usual calm veneer had evaporated, and he seemed as frantic and excited as a child.

Yun Ruoyan and Lin Qingchen both smiled at his appearance.

“It looks like there’s nothing for me to help with here, haha,” Feng Bo joked.

“Yan’er’s been running back and forth with me these last few days, so I hope you’ll be able to give her a checkup regardless,” Li Mo replied seriously.

Lin Qingchen made way for Feng Bo to take Yun Ruoyan’s pulse as well.

“She’s in good health,” Feng Bo evaluated. “Miss Yun—no, Madam Yun, is perfectly healthy.”

Because Yun Ruoyan didn’t seem like a married woman, everyone was still accustomed to calling her Miss Yun. Now that she was about to be a mother, however, it would be inappropriate to do so.

Feng Bo stilled. As though he had discovered something amiss, he began to frown.

“What’s the matter, Feng Bo?” Li Mo hurriedly asked.

“Have you been practicing some sort of dual cultivation technique?” Feng Bo asked. “You have to stop.”

Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo glanced at each other, and Yun Ruoyan’s cheeks flushed a bright red.

“Of course, Feng Bo! Is there anything else we have to keep an eye out for?” Li Mo asked.

“Not at the moment,” Feng Bo replied, then continued, “I’ll concoct a few spiritual pills to help stabilize the baby in case of an incident of some sort.”

“Tomorrow’s the day of the attack. As the general, you must be busy, and there’s no need to waste your time,” Yun Ruoyan replied. “Li Mo and I are both pillmasters, so if you’d give us the recipe, we could concoct it on our own.”

Li Mo nodded in assent.

“In that case, let me write out the recipe for you. Keep the pills with you in case of an emergency.” Feng Bo walked up to a table and began writing down the recipe. “There’s no need for either of you to participate tomorrow. We’ll need to conserve your energy for when the Pi elites show up.”

Just then, Feng Yicheng suddenly rushed in from outside. “Feng Bo! Where’s Feng Bo? Help!”

It was rare to see Feng Yicheng lose his cool, and it was obvious that something serious had happened.

“Yicheng, what’s the matter?” Feng Bo immediately asked.

“Quick, head to Lord Feng. He’s just suffered an assassination attempt!”

Assassination! Everyone gathered immediately followed Feng Yicheng toward Feng Yanyang’s current residence.

“Lord Feng!” Feng Bo shouted, then began running into the rooms as soon as he landed. Outside the door was a pool of blood, one that snaked all the way into the house.

Feng Bo rushed in to see Feng Yanyang collapsed in bed, fresh blood staining the bedsheets red. His face was pale, his eyes half-closed, clearly suffering from blood loss.

Six guards stood by Feng Yanyang’s bed, the swordsmen that Feng Bo had assigned to Feng Yanyang for his protection.

Li Mo, Yun Ruoyan, and Feng Yicheng quickly arrived at the scene. Both Li Mo and Yun Ruoyan were shocked to see Feng Yanyang so badly hurt. It wasn’t unusual or even unexpected for an assassination attempt to take place on Feng Yanyang, but for him to receive such a severe injury, under the protection of such skilled experts, in his own rooms?

After a temporary period of shock, Feng Bo immediately stepped up and began to treat Feng Yanyang. He fed him a series of pills brimming with spiritual energy, then transferred spiritual energy from his body to Feng Yanyang’s, finally restoring a hint of red in his bloodless face.

However, fresh blood continued to seep out from Feng Yanyang’s chest. Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo both offered up their own pills to counteract blood loss, but none of the high-grade, and even sage-grade, pills seemed to have any effect. Clearly, the wound was no light injury.

“What on earth happened?” Feng Bo finally thundered at the gathered guards, all of whom immediately knelt down. Their heads were hung, but no one dared speak.

“I know what happened,” Feng Yicheng said, kneeling by Feng Yanyang’s bedside.

“Tell us! Who’s the assassin, and where is he?” Feng Bo looked toward Feng Yicheng.

“The assassin was… Young Master Feng,” Feng Yicheng replied.

“What? Who?” Feng Bo couldn’t believe what he had heard.

“Uncle, Lord Feng was hurt by Young Master Feng,” Feng Yicheng repeated, staring Feng Bo in the face.

“How could it be? Why would he try to assassinate his father?!” Feng Bo’s eyes went round in shock and disbelief.

“Feng Bo, it truly was Young Master Feng,” Old Lin said from the side. “If the assassin were anyone but the young master, would we have allowed him to succeed? None of us were expecting Young Master Feng to strike against Lord Feng, so we weren’t guarded at all. I’ve made a grave mistake. Please, punish me!”

“Punish us!” All the swordsmen shouted.

“The young master? But why… why?” Feng Bo took a step back.

“Feng Bo,” Feng Yanyang called out weakly.

“What is it, Lord Feng?”

“Bring me my wayward son,” Feng Yanyang forced out.

Feng Bo immediately commanded the swordsmen beside him to catch Feng Mian. After stabbing Feng Yanyang, Feng Mian rushed out during the commotion. Given his identity, no one stopped him, but his cultivation didn’t allow him to rush too far.

Feng Yanyang’s wound was by his heart. When the dagger was drawn out, his heart had received a serious shock. However, with Feng Bo and a large supply of spiritual pills around, even that life-threatening injury shouldn’t have been a problem. What no one had expected was that Feng Mian’s dagger had been coated with a vicious poison, one that prevented wounds from healing and sped up the rate of blood loss. There was no antidote for this particular type of poison, and those struck by it had only one outcome: death.