Nantian City
Feng Qing'er's eyes darted around, and a wicked idea immediately sprang to mind.
Since she couldn't beat him with force, she'd try a softer approach.
Far from getting angry, she moved closer and leaned toward Sun Qi's ear, her warm breath brushing gently against it.
"If I can't call you stinky monkey..." She lowered her voice, drawing out the last words in a soft, gentle tone. "Should I call you Brother Sun instead?"
The warm breath slipped into his ear, sending a jolt through Sun Qi's whole body. He nearly sprang off the cloud.
He jerked his head away and scratched his ear vigorously, its rosy rim looking as though something had scalded it.
"Are you in heat or something, you silly bird?!" Sun Qi glared at her, his face full of wariness. "Let me make this clear first: Old Sun's Golden Cudgel isn't yours to borrow!"
Feng Qing'er froze for a moment, then realized what kind of filthy nonsense the monkey was spouting.
Her pretty face flushed bright red, the color spreading from her cheeks to her ears, even tinting her neck pink.
"Sun Qi! You perverted monkey!"
She stamped hard on the cloud and shot away as though she'd been burned. Her blue-green wings unfurled with a rustle, and she flew back to Fei Tian's side without looking back.
Sun Qi rubbed his ear, still muttering, "That stupid bird's getting more and more out of line," but a small patch behind his own ear quietly turned red.
When all was said and done, he was still an innocent little virgin monkey.
Fei Tian hovered nearby, having witnessed the whole thing from start to finish.
Expressionless, he looked at Feng Qing'er as she flew back, then at Sun Qi pretending nothing had happened atop the cloud. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
So neither of these two even regarded him as a person.
Then again, one was a bird and the other a monkey. Neither was human to begin with.
Feng Qing'er hid on Fei Tian's other side and turned her head away, biting her lower lip. The blush on her face refused to fade.
She cursed Sun Qi eight hundred times in her head: stinky monkey, damned monkey, shameless perverted monkey. She hurled every nasty name she could think of at him, but the more she cursed, the hotter her ears grew. The sensation of leaning close to his ear and speaking was seared into her mind like a branding iron, impossible to shake off.
No one spoke for the rest of the journey.
Feng Qing'er stayed tucked behind Fei Tian, far away from Sun Qi. She didn't so much as glance his way, let alone speak to him.
Sun Qi was uncharacteristically quiet too. He sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, resting, only lifting a hand to scratch his ear now and then.
Three people, one cloud, and two wings flew on in silence for nearly half a day.
The outline of a city gradually rose on the horizon ahead. Its walls towered high, people came and went through its gates, and Dou Qi fluctuations were as thick as a market-day crowd.
Nantian City.
The largest city on the border of the Southern Region, and the only place within a hundred li with a Space Wormhole.
Sun Qi put away his Somersault Cloud and landed outside the city gate.
Feng Qing'er folded her wings and landed too, standing three paces away from him with her head still turned so she wouldn't have to look at him.
Fei Tian walked between the two and cleared his throat.
"Taking Nantian City's Space Wormhole to Tianbei City in the Northern Region is a cross-region journey, which will take at least two and a half months. It's already late today, so I suggest we rest in the city for the night and set out tomorrow."
Sun Qi nodded and headed for the city gate.
Feng Qing'er pursed her lips and followed behind, still keeping three paces away.
Fei Tian looked at the monkey in front, then at the bird behind him, and sighed helplessly before resigning himself to following them.
The three picked an inn near the Space Wormhole and checked in.
Sun Qi lay on the bed with his hands behind his head, staring blankly at the ceiling for a while.
The moon shone beautifully outside the window, and the occasional voice still drifted up from the street below. Feng Qing'er was staying next door, and when she'd come upstairs earlier, she'd deliberately slammed her door with a thunderous bang.
Sun Qi didn't take it to heart. From what he knew of Feng Qing'er, she'd be fine after a night's sleep.
While Sun Qi slept soundly, Feng Qing'er didn't sleep a wink all night.
Just then, the family jade pendant in Feng Qing'er's Storage Ring suddenly received a message.
Feng Qing'er took the message pendant out of her Storage Ring and glanced at its contents, displeasure on her face.
"Qing'er, you've been out amusing yourself for months. It's time to return to the sect and cultivate. The family sent you to the Wind Lightning Pavilion to cultivate and learn Three Thousand Lightning Movement, not to go out and play!"
Clearly, the Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan had long since learned that Feng Qing'er had left the sect.
Three Thousand Lightning Movement was a movement Dou Technique to begin with, and it was extremely fast. The Heavenly Demon Phoenixes were a magical beast race said to be the fastest on the Dou Qi Continent. Combining the two could naturally bring a Heavenly Demon Phoenix's speed to a whole new level.
Not to mention that the Wind Lightning Pavilion also had a subsequent volume, a clone Dou Technique called Three Thousand Lightning Illusory Body.
As long as Feng Qing'er succeeded in raising her cultivation realm and strength, the standing of their branch within the clan would rise considerably, bringing them greater benefits.
But Feng Qing'er was in her rebellious phase and felt some resistance to her family's control.
Yet she had no way to go against them.
After putting the jade pendant away, Feng Qing'er lay on the bed, staring blankly.
"I really envy that stinky monkey. It's bad enough that he's more talented than me, but he's also so free!"
For a moment, she couldn't tell whether it was envy or jealousy she felt.
Because of her identity and her family's mission, Feng Qing'er couldn't find a single person she could confide in at the age when she needed friends most. And she was about to part ways with the only person who didn't care about her identity or background.
"Tch! I, Feng Qing'er, don't need any friends! I don't care for them one bit!"
With that, Feng Qing'er grabbed the quilt and pulled it over her head...
The next morning, the sun had just come out.
Sun Qi got up early and prepared to set out for the Space Wormhole.
He came to Feng Qing'er's door... Knock, knock, knock!
"Feng Qing'er, get up! We still have to go to the Northern Region!"
Feng Qing'er hadn't slept a wink the night before. She'd finally begun to feel sleepy, only for Sun Qi to wake her up.
The frustration that had built up in her heart erupted instantly.
She flung the door open, grabbed Sun Qi, and brought her face close to his as she shouted, "Stinky monkey! Are you asking to die?!"
"Coming here to knock on my door so early in the morning-are you really that eager to get to the Northern Region?!"
Sun Qi scratched his head. Taking the Space Wormhole to the Northern Region would take quite a while, so he wasn't really in a hurry.
"What, or do you hate me so much that you can't wait to part ways with me?"
Faced with such an unreasonable question, Sun Qi was suddenly overcome by a sense of helplessness.
No wonder his master had run off the moment he heard that several of his prospective mistresses from Pill City had come looking for him back then, leaving Sun Qi to deal with them.
"Actually, I don't hate you. It's just... it's just that the weather looked nice today, and the air was fresh, so I called you up to get some fresh air!"
He'd come up with a rather lousy excuse and had expected Feng Qing'er to fly into a rage.
To his surprise, Feng Qing'er didn't curse at him again. Instead, she released his collar, a hint of shyness on her face.
But she quickly returned to her usual proud manner. "Tch, so you're concerned about me? I... I don't need your concern!"
Hearing this, Sun Qi thought Feng Qing'er was about to get angry again. "I see. All right, then I won't bother you."