[Lanyang City... the earth's core... a legacy...]
At those words, Mo Xie's eyes widened, and his body began to tremble.
Lanyang City, the earth's core, a legacy... Put together, those words pointed to an astonishing possibility.
Deep beneath Lanyang City... there might be a legacy left by the Vermilion Bird!
The news shook him, but it also raised several questions.
First, why had the Vermilion Bird told him this? Did it mean something special?
Second, why had he understood that strange incantation?
And finally, why did it feel so familiar, as though it were an old friend he had known for years?
He had felt the same way when he saw the feather. It was strange, and he couldn't explain it.
He looked down and was startled to find the Vermilion Bird looking back at him. Across the vast starry sky, the man and the Totem gazed at each other like old friends reunited after a long separation.
Perhaps it was his imagination, but he thought he saw a humanlike flicker of remembrance in the Vermilion Bird's bright eyes.
The Vermilion Bird had a powerful, graceful form: the head of a chicken, the chin of a swallow, a snake-like neck, a phoenix-like body, a fish-like tail, and feathers patterned in five colors.
When its tail feathers spread, they resembled a dazzling fan of flames, beautiful and majestic.
Its feathers burned like fire, blazing with such brilliant, gorgeous light that it was impossible to look directly at them.
But then the light radiating from the Vermilion Bird abruptly faded. It withdrew from the head and tail feathers until only one feather still glowed red.
It seemed those few words had exhausted the last trace of its consciousness, sending it back to sleep.
Mo Xie frowned. The entire Vermilion Bird had been