Treacherous waves, shifting clouds (Part two)

Their squad was called "Seven Killings." Ancient texts called the Seven Killings star the "General's Star"; it belonged to fire and was the sixth star of the Southern Dipper.

The Seven Killings star symbolized "valor and might" and governed "grim slaughter." Generally, a squad's name reflected its commander's fighting style.

This squad's commander was not Xu Shang, vicious and ill-tempered, with razor-sharp attacks.

Nor was it Wu Dongyan, immovable as a mountain, calm and deadly.

Xuan Feng was the squad's commander.

Whether compared with the Azure Dragon Rider, the Black Tortoise Guard, or the White Tiger Commander, in sheer killing power, Vermilion Bird's Qian Gate Spellcaster ranked indisputably first.

Lady Xuan Feng, who had come from the imperial capital, was outstanding even among them. Her Fire Spirit Technique wielded astonishing power, and her past was shrouded in mystery, so Wu Dongyan and Xu Shang had remained exceptionally wary of her throughout the journey.

That was also why the three of them had reached Phoenix-Cry Mountain a step behind Xu Ming.

With such a fearsome lady in their squad, who could feel safe traveling at full speed?

Seeing that the two had finally quieted down, Xuan Feng approached with her hands behind her back and a smile in her voice. "There's no need to keep arguing over whether Hundred-Household Officer Xu died in battle. I'll write a letter now and send a Long-Beaked Messenger back to the Prefectural Headquarters, requesting its records of his Long-Beaked Messenger's movements as part of an investigation into Hundred-Household Officer Xu Ming's disappearance."

All three were elite members of the Demon Suppression Bureau and naturally understood the purpose of the Long-Beaked Messengers.

Within the Demon Suppression Bureau, everyone ranked Hundred-Household Officer or above was provided with a Long-Beaked Messenger. First, it made issuing assignments from the Prefectural Headquarters easier. Second, the bureau's field agents faced Demon Ghosts year-round and suffered even higher casualty rates than ordinary soldiers. Since they also operated alone, tracking each agent's movements was essential.

The [Fate-Command Palace] possessed profound soul arts and placed a special spell on every Long-Beaked Messenger. Even if an agent and their Long-Beaked Messenger both died, the Prefectural Headquarters could use that spell to trace the messenger's movements during the six hours before its death.

Xuan Feng continued in a relaxed tone, "A Long-Beaked Messenger is linked to its Demon Suppression Bureau agent's soul. If Xu Ming truly intended to defect, his Long-Beaked Messenger would immediately fly back to the Prefectural Headquarters to report it. If he died rather than defected, we can investigate his death at the place where his Long-Beaked Messenger last appeared."

Wu Dongyan nodded. "That's our only option."

Xu Shang, however, did not simply go along with Xuan Feng's words. Instead, he raised a question. "It'll take a Long-Beaked Messenger at least three days to fly from Phoenix-Cry Mountain back to the Prefectural Headquarters. Are we supposed to sit here waiting all that time?"

Xuan Feng shook her head. "In three days, the Prefectural Headquarters will transmit Xu Ming's final movements across a thousand miles to your Long-Beaked Messengers. In the meantime, we'll split up, each choosing a direction to investigate. Then we'll meet at the Phoenix Arrival Inn in Yao Town to the west."

An hour later, Xuan Feng tied the finished confidential letter to the Long-Beaked Messenger's leg. The blue-green Mechanism Falcon spread its wings and rose into the air, vanishing into the horizon within a few breaths...

With everything done, Xuan Feng stood alone before the burned-out Mountain God Temple and murmured to herself, "Which direction should I investigate?"

The three of them had come from the eastern border and found nothing unusual along the way. If they were splitting up to search for the culprit behind this incident, they should choose south, north, and west.

Xuan Feng smiled. A blue-green current of wind gathered before her, eventually forming a translucent hummingbird, only the size of her little finger and extraordinarily lively.

"Go!"

The hummingbird circled once, then shot skyward in one direction. Within a few breaths, it vanished into the dense woods.

A long while later, a speck of blue-green light suddenly appeared in the distance. A streak of blue-green radiance raced toward the Mountain God Temple at an astonishing speed.

Strangely, despite moving so fast, the blue-green light made not the slightest sound, as though it had merged with the mountain breeze, utterly silent.

At the same time, Wu Dongyan, who was sitting cross-legged in the clearing, and Xu Shang, who was dozing beneath a beam inside the temple that had not burned through, both opened their eyes and looked toward Xuan Feng.

The hummingbird then dissolved into a burst of blue-green light, slipped beneath her black veil, and flowed between Xuan Feng's crimson lips, disappearing.

"Did you find anything?"

As Demon Suppression Bureau field agents, Wu Dongyan and Xu Shang possessed knowledge far beyond that of ordinary people. Both had recognized the Qian Gate spell "Empathic Bird," an excellent means of covert reconnaissance.

The "Empathic Bird" did not share its vision with its caster. It had to return safely before it could share what it had seen and heard.

That was its sole weakness. If it was discovered on its return journey and intercepted and killed by an enemy, the caster would gain nothing.

Now that the "Empathic Bird" had returned safely, both men waited anxiously for Xuan Feng's answer.

If Xuan Feng's "Empathic Bird" had found traces of the enemy, they would no longer have to waste their time here like headless flies.

Her black veil concealed her expression. From beneath it came Xuan Feng's gentle voice. "Nothing, but I'd like to investigate to the west. I'll leave the east and north to you."

Xu Shang had no objections, but Wu Dongyan spoke up. "Since the 'Empathic Bird' found no information at all, why choose west?"

Xu Shang, who had been about to leave, stopped at those words and turned back toward Xuan Feng, seemingly waiting for her explanation.

"You two are martial warriors and can travel far faster than I can. Our meeting place in three days is Yao Town to the west. Don't you think west is the most suitable direction for me?" The voice beneath the black veil remained as gentle and composed as ever, never hurried, never slow.

There was nothing wrong with that reasoning. Xu Shang and Wu Dongyan delayed no longer. They released their respective Long-Beaked Messengers to widen the search area, then sped off east and north.

Once the two had left, Xuan Feng turned west and walked leisurely away. Beneath her black veil, an intensely amused smile spread across her stunningly beautiful face.

Elsewhere, still within Phoenix-Cry Mountain's territory, the deathly silence of a secluded mountain hollow was broken by the buzzing of flies.

A woman's corpse lay motionless in the damp soil. Large patches of rotting leaves had already accumulated on her naked, deathly pale body.

Her face was as white as paper. Her once-vibrant skin had lost every trace of blood and taken on an unnerving blue-gray hue.

Her eyes were wide open, staring blankly at the sky, as though in the final moment before life left her, she had witnessed the most horrifying thing in the world.

Now, swarms of green-headed flies frantically gathered around her eyes, greedily enjoying this "feast" of death. They crawled over one another in writhing layers, turning those eyes into two nauseating black whirlpools. Occasionally, a few flies took flight, only to return swiftly, seemingly unwilling to relinquish the nourishment of her rotting flesh.

The woman's corpse was intact from head to toe, without a single visible wound. Clearly marked on the exposed skin of her right arm was a bird spreading its wings to take flight—a Vermilion Bird!