The office. Zhou Hui closed the door with his backhand and immediately reached out, “Quick, quick, give me a cigarette!”
Yu Jingzhong quickly fumbled for a “Little Panda” brand cigarette and handed it over. Zhou Hui lit it with a snap and took a deep drag. “Phew… I was stifled. Watch me, I’ll only smoke this one.”
From egg to fledgling, the little phoenix couldn’t be left alone during this process, so Zhou Hui had suppressed his nicotine craving until now. Finally, he could let the little phoenix out of his sight for half an hour. Even then, fearing the smoke smell wouldn’t dissipate completely after half an hour, he didn’t dare smoke much, one stick at most.
Yu Jingzhong and Zhang Shun stared at him with silent gazes. After a while, Zhang Shun suddenly said gloatingly, “…I suddenly remembered that my brother might need a thousand years or more to grow from infancy to adulthood, so your time alone, tsk tsk tsk…”
“Brother-in-law,” Zhou Hui said darkly, “I’ve killed a Buddha once. Are you sure you still want to provoke me?”
Zhang Shun immediately turned his head and stopped talking.
Yu Jingzhong smoothed things over with a laugh, introducing the current situation of National Security Group Six to the two long-absent members, discussing how everyone would rotate shifts and geographical distribution in the future, highlighting the now empty Fifth Group and the Fourth Group, which no longer even had a group leader.
Zhou Hui said naturally, “Jia Louluo. Jia Louluo is a brick, used wherever needed. In the future, the tasks of recruiting and training field agents will all be handed over to him. His salary should be appropriately increased, just another five hundred yuan a month…”
Deputy Yu said, “I was just about to ask you, the higher-ups called me the other day to ask how Jia Louluo compares to Phoenix Wisdom King?”
“How what? My second son is an idiot, how what?”
“…” Deputy Yu’s mouth twitched slightly, saying, “They were asking about the efficacy of wishes… Phoenix is a legitimate Wisdom King, so those big shots would come to offer incense and make wishes when they had nothing to do, like asking if the Development and Reform Commission should raise oil prices, and it was quite effective several times. They just wanted to know if the Great Golden-Winged Peng Bird also has similar functions, since he doesn’t have an official title, the big shots are unsure.”
Zhou Hui said, “Oh, in that case, Jia Louluo is not the one to ask. You should ask the little phoenix. Put him in a stroller and tie him with a safety harness, otherwise he’ll run around. Set up a prayer mat below for people to offer incense… Remember that the offerings must be fresh milk, candy, and honey. Don’t let him eat too much chocolate, I’m afraid he won’t sleep at night if he eats it.”
Yu Jingzhong nodded, taking notes, while Zhang Shun suddenly became unhappy. “Why can’t he eat chocolate?”
“…Huh?”
“When I was little, my brother often bought me chocolate to eat! Milk chocolate didn’t cause any problems!” Zhang Shun said excitedly, “Just say you’re stingy, why don’t you even let him eat chocolate?!”
“How can you take care of my brother like this! My brother is too young to know now, but no matter how much money a man has, it’s useless! Spending it on him is what truly matters!” Zhang Shun, with a blackened eye, immediately seized the opportunity to vent his anger at Zhou Hui, “You even took my brother away without buying him chocolate. Such a stingy man should be destined to be single forever!”
Zhou Hui looked a little off, staring at his indignant brother-in-law for a long time.
After a while, he turned to Deputy Yu and said, “Tell them they can bring chocolate when they come to offer incense… try to bring white chocolate.”
Yu Jingzhong: “…”
Just then, there were two knocks on the door, followed by it opening. Jia Louluo poked his head in, curiously looking at the Buddha, who looked like a fighting cock, and the deputy, who had a face full of black lines. Then he asked, “Father? Did you take Mother’s office key?”
Jia Louluo finally wasn’t wearing his old athletic T-shirt anymore—but the Great Golden-Winged Peng Bird was frugal and self-disciplined. Even with his dad’s credit card, he only went to the mall to buy a discounted shirt and jeans, and at the restaurant, he carefully selected and steamed the cheapest snake. He had just finished eating and returned to find himself locked out of Group Leader Chu’s office.
“Oh,” Zhou Hui said carelessly, “Your mother is learning to paint in there, don’t disturb him… Is the restaurant downstairs open? Get me some takeout.”
Jia Louluo turned to leave, but after two steps, he turned back suspiciously, “Mother is learning to paint in there?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Mother has shapeshifted?!”
Zhou Hui hadn’t even reacted when Jia Louluo lifted his foot and dashed upstairs. Zhou Hui immediately jumped up and yelled, “Your mother is mine! Don’t always go looking for him! Hey, don’t say anything to your mother!”
Jia Louluo’s outfit, in Zhou Hui’s eyes, was simply an outdated old man’s shirt. Who knew if the little phoenix would notice and remember it, and then one day suddenly regain his memory and strip Zhou Hui naked and kick him out of the house to avenge his little son. Helplessly, Jia Louluo ran with the speed of his mother, disappearing in a flash. Zhou Hui was about to chase after him when a dull “boom!” sounded from above.
Yu Jingzhong stood up abruptly. “What’s wrong?”
Boom!
The ceiling shook, and fine dust fell.
Zhang Shun’s face changed drastically. “—Upstairs!”
Several people rushed out of the office and went up the stairs, almost immediately locating the source of the vibrations—it was Chu He’s office upstairs, directly accessible by the internal elevator.
Many people poured out of their offices, looking around in surprise. Zhou Hui pushed past the crowd, took the stairs three steps at a time, and rushed directly to the door, shouting, “Little Phoenix!”
“Tell a few people to block off the restricted area, don’t let anyone come up.” Deputy Yu casually grabbed someone and instructed, then stepped forward, and with his footfall, another vibration sounded—boom!
Yu Jingzhong’s first reaction was that it was an earthquake, or that the building was undergoing foundation work. With that sound, Zhou Hui’s face immediately turned ashen. He lifted his leg and kicked the door flying with a fierce kick—bang!
The door slammed heavily against the wall, didn’t bounce back, and shattered into several pieces on the spot. The blinding light and heat instantly made several people recoil several steps. In the strong light, Yu Jingzhong’s retina was blank for several seconds before his vision gradually recovered. He saw that the commotion in the room was not an earthquake, but a fire!
—The little phoenix was painfully kneeling on the ground, clutching an old, dark blue thread-bound book that was so wrinkled its original appearance was unrecognizable. Golden-red flames raged around him, coiling up to the ceiling like a fierce ancient beast, and then letting out an explosive roar.
Zhou Hui was about to rush over, but Zhang Shun stopped him. “Wait!”
Yu Jingzhong shouted, “No! Why is there no heat?!”
“Mortal bodies can’t feel that kind of heat!” Zhang Shun shouted amidst the booming sound, “Wait a moment, it might be the unburnt Nirvana Fire from last time!”
The flames almost filled the entire room, turning it into a world of fire. Strangely, aside from the blinding light that made it impossible to open one’s eyes, the air temperature didn’t rise at all. The surging air currents violently swept through with the flames, forcefully pushing back Zhou Hui, who had broken free from Zhang Shun and tried to rush in.
“Phoenix! Phoenix, how are you! Phoenix Four!” Zhou Hui backhanded Zhang Shun, flinging him hard, and cursed, “Damn it! What the hell is going on?!”
Just then, the little phoenix finally couldn’t suppress a painful cry, his fingers spasmed and clutched tightly, tearing the thread-bound book!
—A crisp ripping sound, so faint amidst the crackling flames, yet so clear.
The next moment, a figure in white robes with wide sleeves and flowing hair suddenly rose from the torn and burning pages, hovering in front of the little phoenix!
“Brother… Brother?!” Zhang Shun, who had been pushed back a few steps by Zhou Hui, was stunned when he saw the illusion and immediately said, “Brother?!”
Zhou Hui looked up and was immediately stunned.
In the void, only the profile of the adult phoenix could be seen, his head slightly lowered, slender and solitary.
The little phoenix looked up, his tender white face still streaked with tears, gazing blankly at his adult self, his eyes still dazed from the intense pain; while Phoenix Wisdom King leaned down and stared at him motionlessly. After a long while, he stretched out his hand in the firelight and caressed the child’s delicate and soft cheek, then revealed a slight smile.
“…”
He mumbled something, but the distance was too far, and the firelight drowned out all whispers.
Immediately after, his phantom descended from the air and instantly merged into the little phoenix’s body!
Zhou Hui’s pupils constricted like needles. “Phoenix!”
The fierce fire suddenly receded, then was rapidly sucked away, completely disappearing into the whistling air within seconds, as if nothing had happened.
Zhou Hui finally lunged forward, grabbed the little phoenix, and tried to pick him up, but saw him stumble and fall to the ground!
“What’s wrong? How are you? Where does it hurt?” Zhou Hui held the little phoenix’s face, forcibly pried open his eyelids with his hand, and at the same time pressed his philtrum to prevent him from losing consciousness. However, the little phoenix was convulsing all over, almost immediately struggling free in pain. His small body curled up tightly in a ball, trembling, and after a while, he tremblingly grabbed Zhou Hui’s sleeve.
Zhou Hui backhanded his icy fingers, his heart aching. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the half-burnt thread-bound book on the ground, and clearly saw three words written on it—
Bao Shi Zi (Embracing the Corpse Child).
That was Phoenix’s diary!
“Zhou… Zhou… Zhou Hui…”
The little phoenix gasped for air, cold sweat rolling down his pale cheeks, his voice hoarse and weak: “You… you wait… you wait for me…”
He hadn’t spoken since he was born. Those few words were very awkward and difficult. Zhou Hui leaned down to his mouth and could barely hear him say, “Wait… wait for me, don’t go, I’ll just…”
“I’ll be quick… just…”
His sharp, violent gasps disappeared, and then he collapsed limply.
Zhou Hui suddenly looked up and cried out, “Phoenix!”
But the little phoenix had already lost consciousness. He was so uncomfortably unconscious that pain and worry still lingered on his soft little face. The hand that had previously clutched Zhou Hui’s sleeve was still tightly held, so desperately, as if all his strength had been poured into it.
“Where are you going?” Zhou Hui said, trembling. He grabbed the remaining “Bao Shi Zi” and flipped a few pages forcefully: “What is this, what the hell is going on?!”
“Don’t flip it.” Zhang Shun walked over, squatted down, and pressed his hand on him, saying, “You can’t see anything.”
Zhou Hui stared at the empty pages and said angrily, “What the hell is going on with this?!”
“The ‘Bao Shi Zi’ isn’t what you actually see. Only through Phoenix’s eyes can its true form and the things recorded within be seen. Perhaps Phoenix arranged some mechanism inside it, specifically to prevent memory loss after Nirvana… Ancient divine birds existed even before the formation of Sumeru Mountain. Some things even the gods of heaven and Buddha can’t explain clearly.”
Zhang Shun took the “Bao Shi Zi,” flipped a few pages, and said helplessly, “It’s blank to me too. Perhaps the things recorded inside have already been absorbed.”
Zhou Hui turned to the little phoenix in his arms, recalling the scene where Phoenix Wisdom King’s phantom had completely entered him. At that moment, although his face didn’t change, his heart pounded frantically.
Was his memory absorbed?
Although Phoenix seemed outwardly calm, inwardly he was a careful and strategic person. Perhaps he had anticipated these events long ago and hidden a part of his memories in his diary…
Zhou Hui’s back molars tightened slightly, and a hint of irritable restlessness was hidden in his deep brows.
However, his movements were very careful. He tried to pry open the little phoenix’s hand that was clutching his sleeve tightly but gave up for fear of injuring his still soft and delicate bones. He then picked up the little phoenix with one hand.
“Let’s wait until he wakes up,” Zhou Hui said, getting up. “I’ll take him home first.”
Zhang Shun nodded worriedly.
However, there was one thing Zhou Hui hadn’t anticipated: the little phoenix didn’t wake up after they got home, nor did he wake up the next day.
Three whole days passed, and he still showed no signs of waking up.
Zhang Shun, Yu Jingzhong, Yan Lanyu, and all the group leaders from the Special Department came to take turns seeing him, but none could explain what was happening. The little phoenix’s condition was more like a deep slumber than a coma, and he wasn’t sleeping peacefully. He tossed and turned several times in nightmares and even made confused and very painful moans in his sleep.
Zhou Hui outwardly managed to hold himself together. When Situ Yingzhi and Wu Bei came, he could still greet them with a smile. However, anyone with eyes could see the anxiety and violence hidden within him, becoming increasingly obvious with each passing day, almost reaching an unstoppable point.
Zhang Shun comforted him, “Don’t be so anxious. My brother will definitely remember something now, and his condition after waking up will definitely be better than now. Just wait patiently, okay?”
However, Zhou Hui only gave him a cold glance and said hoarsely, “…Thanks for the kind words.”
The first change occurred seven days after the little phoenix fell into deep sleep. Late that night, Zhou Hui was sleeping with him in his arms when he was suddenly awakened by violent gasping. He looked up and saw that the little phoenix seemed to be having another nightmare, struggling particularly hard, with layers of cold sweat soaking through his pajamas.
Zhou Hui immediately held him in his arms, patting and comforting him. After a while, he heard the little phoenix mumbling something indistinctly, turning over and over a few times, then suddenly called out very clearly and urgently, “Zhou Hui!”
Zhou Hui thought he had finally woken up and immediately sat up and turned on the light. He saw the little phoenix opening his eyes weakly and fearfully. The moment he saw Zhou Hui, he seemed to sigh in relief and gasped, “…You’re still here…”
“I won’t leave. How are you? Come on, drink some water to wake up—Little Phoenix!” Zhou Hui’s voice suddenly turned sharp, “Don’t sleep! If you sleep, you won’t wake up!”
However, the little phoenix’s eyelids seemed very heavy. He blinked with effort but couldn’t lift them. He struggled and sank repeatedly between dream and reality, reaching out into the air, as if desperately trying to grasp something.
Zhou Hui grabbed his icy fingers tightly in his palm. At this moment, he heard the little phoenix whisper in a particularly desperate and bewildered tone, “Why… why didn’t you save Maha?”
Zhou Hui was suddenly stunned.
The next moment, he realized that Phoenix was talking in his sleep, just like many times before, he was dreaming of Maha suffering divine punishment in the Tibetan snow plains.
“…” Zhou Hui had no idea what to say, his throat felt blocked by a bitter lump, unable to utter a single word. Fortunately, after asking that question, the little phoenix lost consciousness. He fell into a deeper dream, his body trembling violently, cold sweat pouring out of every pore as if from a floodgate. His hair was drenched and stuck to his face, and the bedsheet was instantly soaked in a large patch.
Zhou Hui decisively fed him water and kept him warm. It took a lot of effort to get him to drink because his jaw was clenched. Then he constantly found dry cloths to wipe his body and wrapped the little phoenix tightly in a new down quilt. It took several hours for the shivering and trembling to finally stop. By then, the sky had already brightened, the bedroom was dim, and the little phoenix’s weary cheek in the gloom revealed a pale gray hue.
Zhou Hui carefully carried him back to bed and changed the sweat-soaked quilt. Suddenly, he was stunned.
—The little phoenix’s body had grown.
He had just shapeshifted and was only a five- or six-year-old child, so tender that water could be squeezed from him. Now, overnight, he had grown two or three years older, his height increased, and his eyebrows and eyes had undergone extremely subtle changes. At a glance, he even had a hint of a young man’s shadow.
Zhou Hui was completely frozen in place.
“—Don’t leave, please wait for me to come back.”
Are you going to follow the old shadows, to find yourself lost in the raging fire?
Are you asking me to wait for you to trace back up the long river of memory, to return to me as an old friend?
Zhou Hui’s gaze fell on Phoenix’s sleeping face. In the shadows, the little phoenix’s eyelids were tightly closed, and the curved arc of his lashes had an incredibly delicate and fragile feel, as if they would shatter into countless pieces with a touch.
Zhou Hui took a breath, lowered his head in the misty morning haze, and gently touched his sweat-soaked forehead with his lips.
