Chapter 072
"I don't know... I really don't know..."
In a pool surrounded by spiritual energy, a tiny turtle, about half the size of a palm, was soaking.
Its shell was vibrant with colors, looking somewhat like the Brazilian turtles that are popular as pets on the market.
For some reason, however, a similarly colored little snake was coiled on its shell, giving it a slightly eerie appearance.
Xuanwu lay listlessly in the pool, with both heads submerged, and a look of despair filled all four of its eyes.
On its deep green skin, one could still discern the scars left by burns.
The original scars had faded thanks to the nourishing properties of the pool; freshly grown flesh covered the spots where wounds once were. The skin hadn't fully healed, revealing a pale pink color that mixed awkwardly with the original green patterns—red and green intertwined in an almost eye-searing way.
Confronted with the emotionless interrogation of Qing Luan, a glimmer of moist light surfaced in the eyes of Xuanwu's turtle component. "…If you don't believe me, look into my memories yourself. I truly did not see Phoenix!"
Because it had been completely controlled by evil energy, it retained no memories from its possession.
When its main consciousness awoke, its energy had been completely drained, and in the few seconds of clarity, it only had a hazy vision of continuous divine flames surrounding it. Beyond that, it couldn't remember anything.
Qing Luan had been questioning him over and over again for several hours already.
Xuanwu was already severely injured; add to that the mental torment, and it was on the verge of crying.
Qing Luan stared at it blankly. His gaze wasn't harsh per se, but it created an invisible pressure on Xuanwu, causing its already lowered triangular head to droop even further.
Suzaku off to the side nudged its clothes with its small beak upon seeing this, "Hey, don't worry. Phoenix is so strong, he must be fine."
In the straightforward reasoning of Suzaku, a Phoenix that could defeat evil spirits represented omnipotence.
Perhaps — just perhaps, the Phoenix just wanted to go out and clear its mind?
Suzaku empathized, recalling the days when it was so bothered by its duties that it would apply for fieldwork outside.
Qing Luan responded with a light 'hmm', waving away a wisp of spiritual fog that floated in front of his eyes, his face still looked serious.
He really hadn't expected that there could be something worse than Phoenix being possessed in this world.
—Phoenix disappearing.
It was unknown whether it had escaped voluntarily or been abducted.
At any rate, when he arrived in the magic formation, he only found a Xuanwu burned black and green.
Besides that, it was spotless — not to mention Phoenix, not even a single Phoenix feather was found.
Moreover, the spiritual energy in the magic formation had been fully absorbed as well.
It was as if bandits had ravaged the area.
Eventually, realizing he couldn't extract any more information out of Xuanwu, Qing Luan had to give up. He left with a stern command, "Take care and heal. As you know, the Judgment Office is currently understaffed, so you can't take a long sick leave."
Then he took Suzaku with him and left.
Xuanwu: "..."
Wait, did it just hear that right?
It was nearly burned to death by the boss (although it was also its own fault), and yet it was still being exploited by its superiors!
The sadness in Xuanwu's eyes was too deep to hide as it slowly sank to the bottom of the spirit pool.
After a very long time, it finally exhaled a chain of bubbles.
Work wasn't easy, and now it was retreating into its shell.
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Meanwhile, Su Zui was experiencing a similar moment of self-isolation.
He stared expressionlessly at the little bird fainting on his table, wondering how on earth he had a brain glitch and brought this creature home.
Now that Phoenix is gone, leaving only its true form behind and Qing Luan" remaining as the actual leader of the Judgment Office, his kidnapping "Qing Luan" left the Judiciary without a head, making chaos almost inevitable.
Surely, countless powers would pursue this missing bird.
Originally, his actions had been quite successful when he rescued so many people in the illusory array. All he needed to do next was to consolidate his effort a bit, then he could just lie down and watch the progress bar rise.
However, because of this bird, everything was different.
His situation became extremely dangerous in an instant.
If his theft of a mythical beast was discovered, his reputation would be ruined.
Out of caution, he hadn't dared to contact Xie Yu, nor had he dared to return home. He just rented a small inn and settled down.
Forget about the mission, he feared that the moment he appeared, he would be captured by the Judgment Office. He was beside himself with anxiety.
System 555 tried to console him delicately, [Host, it's like this. A lot of cases show that men, under the influence of hormones, can act impulsively. It's normal, and you shouldn't blame yourself for this.]
Su Zui: ???
Had he gone mad? Did his hormone levels rise because of a bird?
What exactly was the system misunderstanding about him?!
If possible, Su Zui really wanted to pry open the system's brain and see what kind of nonsensical code had been written into its source code.
Dots flickered across his mind, and Su Zui's voice gradually grew cold, "…Have you finished troubleshooting the bug?”
System 555: [……]
Sigh.
The host is such a heartless beast.
Su Zui: "Remember to mute before cursing at me, I can hear it."
System 555: […………]
Ying. (Note: Sound of crying)
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Su Zui was so distressed that he was tearing his hair out, and the bird at the heart of all his troubles still hadn't woken up.
Not only had it not woken up, it appeared to be deeply asleep.
Its thin little legs were limp, and it lay in bed like a fluffy ball, its tiny belly covered with soft down that rose and fell with each breath, resembling a black and red dandelion.
Round and fluffy, it looked very inviting to touch.
Su Zui's gaze lingered on the round belly for a while. His fingertips twitched, but he ultimately didn't reach out to touch it.
The chubby little bird was dreaming of something in its sleep, its tiny beak opening and closing from time to time, seeming to be savoring something in its dream.
With a reflex, Su Zui touched his lip corner, "…"
He really didn't want to know what it was savoring!
Alone, Su Zui silently suffered a headache for a while. He bent down and gently gripped the thin little leg of the bird with two fingers planning to move it somewhere else so he could rest in the bed himself.
After expending so much spiritual power and being on the run, he had finally found some stability. He was a bit tired, too.
However, before he could lift the bird, the feeling in his hand suddenly changed.
The soft and fuzzy bird had turned into a man.
A naked one, at that.
Su Zui was caught off guard and ended up seeing a naked man, "…"
Ah, his eyes!
He hurriedly shifted his gaze, but thanks to his good memory, the image he had just caught a glimpse of still left a shadow in his mind.
Did it look somewhat familiar...?
Su Zui's brows slowly furrowed.
Had he seen it wrong?
The system wouldn't be so outrageous as to use the same body data, would it?
With an unbearable headache, Su Zui decided against taking another look and stiffly withdrew his hand.
But because he was too hasty, the tip of his finger got tangled in a loose strand of hair, causing the other party's head to tilt.
Although such a tiny pain would probably be negligible for a man, Su Zui still felt a somewhat inexplicable guilt. He bent down to unravel the strand of hair that was wound around his hand.
But just as he untied the hair and prepared to stand up, a pair of hands pressed down on his back. Suddenly, he was sprawled over another body.
Caught off guard, Su Zui found himself staring into a pair of dark, deep eyes. They were beautiful eyes, like a deep pool, reflecting his own face clearly.
Su Zui froze.
He should have pushed the person away. At least, that's what his brain was telling him. However, in reality, he remained motionless.
At such a close distance, the feel of the embrace was particularly vivid and familiar.
So familiar that his body couldn't muster even the slightest sense of alertness.
Su Zui was reminded once again of the suspicion he had had earlier.
Su Zui furrowed his brows: ?
Upon closer inspection, he realized something he hadn't noticed earlier.
The man's dark eyes lacked their usual cold congealment and indifference, replaced by a touch of confusion and doubt.
The man asked again, "…Who am I?"
Su Zui realized that things were not as simple.
The man continued questioning, "…Where is this?"
The bewilderment in his eyes didn't seem feigned.
Su Zui was taken aback.
Su Zui fell into deep thought.
Su Zui seemed thoughtful.
A car accident (considering Xuanwu was sort of a ride), amnesia – these two elements had already assembled. Throw in an abortion, and they could potentially submit their story for the cliched soap opera award.
However, thinking it through, how could a grown man, incapable of getting pregnant, have an abortion?
Wait --
Su Zui halted his train of thought.
In this world, mythical beasts have different attributes compared to humans.
Many mythical beasts may appear as male/female, but this does not hinder their ability to bear offspring/impregnate others.
Despite looking like regular men on the surface, they might suddenly lay an egg at any moment.
It remains a mystery whether the "Qing Luan" follows the same setting.
With that thought, Su Zui's gaze uncontrollably drifted towards the spot necessary for carrying offspring.
However, upon seeing the tight eight-pack abs, he instantly snapped back to reality.
Su Zui: "…" What on earth was he just thinking about?
Silently discarding the odd thoughts in his mind, Su Zui climbed out of bed.
He picked up a quilt next to him to cover the man, acting as nonchalantly as a man who had just had a satisfying experience: "Oh, you fainted in the middle of the road, I'm just a Good Samaritan."
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Author's note:
Fat.Chirp: No, no. I demand a redo for this part! Q◇Q
Zui Zui: He~tui! x2 (Note: Onomatopoeia for spitting)
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