In the office, Zhou Hui closed the door with a backhand motion and immediately reached out. “Quick, quick, give me a cigarette!”
Yu Jingzhong quickly fumbled for a Little Panda and handed it over. Zhou Hui lit it with a click and took a deep drag. “Hoo… I was suffocating. You guys watch me, I’m just having this one.”
From an egg to a chick, the little phoenix couldn’t be left alone during this process. So Zhou Hui had been forcibly enduring his nicotine addiction until now. He could finally let the little phoenix out of his sight for half an hour. Even so, he was afraid the smell of smoke wouldn’t dissipate after half an hour, so he didn’t dare to smoke much, one at most.
Yu Jingzhong and Zhang Shun both stared at him with a speechless expression. After a long moment, Zhang Shun suddenly said with schadenfreude, “…I suddenly remembered, it might take my brother a thousand years to go from childhood to adulthood, so your time of guarding an empty boudoir, tsk tsk tsk…”
“Brother-in-law,” Zhou Hui said gloomily, “I’m a man who has killed a Buddha once. Are you sure you still want to provoke me?”
Zhang Shun immediately turned his head and fell silent.
Yu Jingzhong laughed and smoothed things over, introducing the current situation of State Security Group Six to the two long-absent members. They discussed how to rotate shifts and the geographical distribution in the future, with a focus on the now-empty Group Five and the leaderless Group Four.
Zhou Hui said matter-of-factly, “Jia Louluo. Jia Louluo is a brick, move him wherever he’s needed. The tasks of recruiting people and training them for fieldwork can all be handed over to him in the future. His salary should be appropriately increased, another five hundred yuan a month will do…”
Deputy Chief Yu said, “I was just about to ask you, the higher-ups asked me the other day how Jia Louluo compares to the Phoenix Wisdom King?”
“What ‘how’? My second son is an idiot, what ‘how’?”
“…” Deputy Chief Yu’s mouth twitched slightly. “They were asking about the effectiveness of wishes… The Phoenix isn’t a proper King, is he? Those big shots would come over to offer incense and make wishes from time to time, asking if the NDRC should raise oil prices, and it was quite effective a few times. They wanted to know if the Golden-Winged Roc has a corresponding function. After all, he doesn’t have an official title, so the big shots aren’t sure.”
Zhou Hui said, “Oh, for that, looking for Jia Louluo is useless. You should go find the little phoenix. Put him in a baby carriage and fasten him with a safety harness; otherwise, he’ll run around. Set up a meditation cushion below for people to offer incense… Remember, the offerings should be fresh milk, candy, and honey. I don’t dare to let him eat too much chocolate, I’m afraid he won’t sleep at night if he eats it.”
Yu Jingzhong nodded and took notes. On the side, however, Zhang Shun suddenly protested, “Why can’t he eat chocolate?”
“…Huh?”
“When I was a kid, my brother often bought me chocolate to eat! Milk chocolate is clearly fine!” Zhang Shun said excitedly. “If you’re not willing to spend the money, just say so. Why can’t he even have chocolate?!”
“How can you take good care of my brother like this! My brother is just too young to know now. It doesn’t matter how much money a man has! Spending it on him is what really counts!” Zhang Shun, with a black eye, immediately seized the opportunity to vent his anger on Zhou Hui. “You tricked my brother away without even being willing to buy him chocolate. A man this stingy should be destined to be alone for life!”
Zhou Hui looked a bit off, staring at his indignant brother-in-law for a long time.
After a moment, he turned to Deputy Chief Yu and said, “Tell them they can bring chocolate when they come to offer incense… try to bring white chocolate.”
Yu Jingzhong: “…”
At this moment, there were two knocks on the door, and then it was pushed open. Jia Louluo poked his head in and looked curiously at the black-eyed Buddha and the speechless Deputy Chief Yu, then turned to ask, “Father? Did you take the key to Mother’s office?”
Jia Louluo was finally not wearing his old sports T-shirt—but the Golden-Winged Roc was frugal and self-disciplined. Even with his father’s credit card, he had only gone to the mall to buy a discounted shirt and jeans, and at the restaurant, he had carefully selected the cheapest steamed snake. He had just finished eating and returned to find himself locked out of the Team Four Leader’s office.
“Oh,” Zhou Hui said nonchalantly, “your mother is in there learning to draw. Don’t disturb him if it’s not important… Is the restaurant downstairs open? Get me some takeout.”
Jia Louluo turned to leave, took two steps, then turned back suspiciously. “Mother is learning to draw in there?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Mother has transformed?!”
Before Zhou Hui could react, Jia Louluo bolted upstairs. Zhou Hui immediately jumped up and said angrily, “Your mother is mine! Don’t go looking for him all the time! Hey, don’t talk nonsense in front of your mother!”
In Zhou Hui’s eyes, the outfit Jia Louluo was wearing was basically an out-of-season old man’s shirt. Who knew if the little phoenix would see it, take it to heart, and when he suddenly regained his memory one day, strip Zhou Hui naked and kick him out of the house to avenge his young son. Unfortunately, Jia Louluo ran like his mother, with the wind. In an instant, he was gone. Just as Zhou Hui was about to chase after him, there was a muffled—BOOM! from above his head.
Yu Jingzhong shot up. “What was that?”
BOOM!
The ceiling shook, and fine dust fell.
Zhang Shun’s face suddenly changed. “—Upstairs!”
Several people rushed out of the office and up the stairs. They almost immediately pinpointed the direction of the vibration—it was, shockingly, Chu He’s office upstairs, accessible by the internal elevator.
Many people poured out of their offices, looking around in astonishment. Zhou Hui pushed through the crowd, took the stairs two or three at a time, and rushed straight to the door, shouting, “Little phoenix!”
“Get a few people to block off the restricted area, don’t let everyone run up,” Deputy Chief Yu casually grabbed someone and ordered, then walked forward. As he set his foot down, there was another vibration—BOOM!
Yu Jingzhong’s first reaction was that it was an earthquake, or that they were laying foundations in the building. With this sound, Zhou Hui’s face immediately turned ashen. He raised his leg and kicked the door flying—BANG!
The door slammed heavily against the wall, didn’t bounce back, and shattered into several pieces on the spot. The scorching light and heat instantly made several people retreat a few steps. Under the strong light, Yu Jingzhong’s retinas were blank for several seconds. A moment later, his vision gradually returned. He saw that the commotion in the room was not an earthquake, but a fire!
—The little phoenix was kneeling on the floor in pain, tightly clutching a worn, dark blue, thread-bound book, which was so crumpled it was unrecognizable. He was surrounded by raging golden-red flames, which shot up to the ceiling like some ferocious ancient beast, and then let out another explosive roar.
Zhou Hui was about to rush in on the spot but was stopped by Zhang Shun. “Wait!”
Yu Jingzhong shouted, “That’s not right! Why is there no heat?!”
“Mortal bodies just can’t feel that kind of temperature!” Zhang Shun shouted over the roar. “Wait first, it might be the unburned fire of nirvana from last time!”
The flames had almost filled the entire room, turning it into a world of fire. Strangely, apart from the strong light that made it impossible to open one’s eyes, the air temperature hadn’t risen at all. The surging air currents rushed wildly with the flames, pushing back Zhou Hui, who had broken free from Zhang Shun and wanted to rush in.
“Phoenix! Phoenix, how are you! Phoenix Four!” Zhou Hui threw Zhang Shun aside with a backhand motion and cursed, “What the hell is going on!”
Just at this moment, the little phoenix finally couldn’t hold back a cry of pain. His fingers spasmed, and he tore the thread-bound book apart!
—With a crisp tearing sound, so slight yet so clear amidst the crackling flames.
The next moment, a figure with white clothes, wide sleeves, and long, flowing hair suddenly rose from the torn and burning pages, appearing in the air 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 phantom. “Brother?!”
Zhou Hui looked up and was instantly stunned.
In the void, only the side profile of the adult phoenix could be seen, his head slightly lowered, slender and lonely.
The little phoenix raised his head, tear stains still wet on his tender white face, and looked at his adult self blankly, his gaze hazy with the lingering pain. And the Phoenix Wisdom King bent down and looked at him motionlessly. After a long moment, he reached out his hand in the firelight, caressed the child’s tender, soft cheek, and then revealed a smile.
“…”
He murmured something, but the distance was too great, and the firelight drowned out all whispers.
Immediately after, his phantom image descended from the air and instantly disappeared into the little phoenix’s body!
Zhou Hui’s pupils constricted like needles. “Phoenix!”
The great fire suddenly receded and was then quickly sucked away. Within a few seconds, it had completely vanished into the whistling air, as if nothing had ever happened.
Zhou Hui finally lunged forward, grabbed the little phoenix, and was about to pick him up, but he just 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 and forcibly pried open his eyelids with his hand, while at the same time pressing on the philtrum to prevent him from fainting. However, the little phoenix’s whole body was convulsing. He immediately struggled free in pain, his small body curling up tightly in a ball as he trembled. After a long moment, he哆哆嗦嗦 (duō duō suō suō – tremblingly) grabbed Zhou Hui’s sleeve.
Zhou Hui grabbed his cold fingers in return, his heart feeling as if it were being cut by a knife. His peripheral vision caught sight of the half-burnt thread-bound book on the floor. Shockingly, he saw three characters written on it—
Bao Shi Zi.
That was the phoenix’s diary!
“Zhou… Zhou… Zhou Hui…”
The little phoenix gasped for breath, cold sweat rolling down his pale cheeks, his voice hoarse and weak. “You… you wait… you wait…”
He had never spoken since he was born. The sounds of those few words were very clumsy and difficult. Zhou Hui leaned close to his mouth and could barely make out what he was saying, “Wait… wait for me, don’t go, I’m just…”
“I’ll be quick… just…”
His sharp, violent gasps disappeared, and then he went limp.
Zhou Hui jerked his head up and cried out, “Phoenix!”
However, the little phoenix had already lost consciousness. He had fainted so uneasily that his soft little face still held traces of pain and anxiety. The hand that had been clutching Zhou Hui’s sleeve was still holding on tightly, so desperately, as if all his strength was being used for this.
“Where are you going?” Zhou Hui said, trembling. He grabbed the remaining part of Bao Shi Zi and flipped through it forcefully. “What is this, what on earth is going on?!”
“Stop flipping,” Zhang Shun walked over, squatted down, and held his hand. “You won’t be able to see anything.”
Zhou Hui stared at the empty pages and said angrily, “What the hell is going on?!”
“Bao Shi Zi is not what you see physically. Only in the eyes of a phoenix can its true form and the things recorded inside be seen. Perhaps the phoenix arranged some mechanism inside, precisely to prevent memory loss after nirvana… Ancient divine birds are older than the formation of Mount Sumeru. There are some things that even the gods and Buddhas of the Heavenly Dao can’t explain.”
Zhang Shun took Bao Shi Zi, flipped through a few pages, and said helplessly, “It’s blank in my eyes too. The things recorded inside may have already been absorbed.”
Zhou Hui turned to the little phoenix in his arms, remembering the scene just now where the phantom of the Phoenix Wisdom King had completely merged into him. At that moment, although his face hadn’t changed, his heart had been pounding wildly.
Were the memories absorbed?
Although the phoenix didn’t show it on the surface, he was a cautious person who planned every step. Perhaps he had long foreseen all this and had hidden a part of his memories in the diary…
Zhou Hui’s back molars tightened slightly, a trace of fierce anxiety hidden in his deep-set eyes.
But his movements were very careful. He tried to pry open the little phoenix’s hand that was tightly clutching his sleeve, but gave up for fear of hurting his still-soft finger bones. He picked up the little phoenix with one hand.
“We’ll talk when he wakes up,” Zhou Hui said, standing up. “I’ll take him home first.”
Zhang Shun nodded worriedly.
·
However, there was one thing Zhou Hui hadn’t expected. The little phoenix didn’t wake up after they got home, nor did he wake up the next day.
After three whole days, he still showed no sign of waking up.
Zhang Shun, Yu Jingzhong, Yan Lanyu, and all the team leaders of the Special Division came to see him in turns, but none could figure it out. The little phoenix’s condition was less a coma and more a deep sleep, and not a peaceful one. He tossed and turned several times in the middle, having nightmares, and even let out some muddled and very painful sleep-talk.
On the surface, Zhou Hui was still holding on. When Situ Yingzhi and Wu Bei came over, he could still greet them with a smile. However, anyone with eyes could see the hidden anxiety and ferocity in his heart, which became more and more obvious as the days passed, almost on the verge of being uncontrollable.
Zhang Shun comforted him, “Don’t be so anxious. My brother must be remembering something now. The situation will definitely be better than it is now when he wakes up. Can’t you just wait patiently?”
However, Zhou Hui only gave him a cold look and said hoarsely, “…I’ll take your word for it.”
·
The first change in the situation occurred seven days after the little phoenix fell into a deep sleep. That night, Zhou Hui was holding him in his arms while sleeping when he was suddenly awakened by a violent gasp. He looked up and saw that the little phoenix seemed to be having another nightmare, struggling particularly hard, layers of cold sweat soaking his pajamas.
Zhou Hui immediately held him in his arms, patting and comforting him. After a long while, he heard the little phoenix seem to be muttering something vaguely. He tossed and turned a few times, then suddenly called out very clearly and urgently, “Zhou Hui!”
Zhou Hui thought he had finally woken up. He shot up and turned on the light, only to see the little phoenix opening his eyes weakly and fearfully. The moment he saw Zhou Hui clearly, he seemed to let out a sigh of relief and gasped, “…You’re still here…”
“I won’t leave. How are you? Come drink some water and wake up—Little phoenix!” Zhou Hui’s voice suddenly turned sharp. “Don’t sleep! You won’t wake up if you sleep!”
However, the little phoenix’s eyelids seemed very heavy. He blinked with effort but couldn’t lift them. He struggled repeatedly between dreams and reality, reaching out into the air as if trying desperately to grab something.
Zhou Hui grabbed his cold fingers and held them tightly in his palm. Just then, he heard the little phoenix mutter with particular despair and confusion, “You… why didn’t you go save Maha?”
Zhou Hui was suddenly stunned.
The next moment, he realized the phoenix was talking in his sleep. Like many times before, he was dreaming of the scene when Maha suffered the Heavenly Punishment on the snowy plains of Tibet.
“…” Zhou Hui didn’t know what to say at all. His throat felt like it was blocked with a sour, hard lump, and he couldn’t get a single word out. Fortunately, after asking that one question, the little phoenix lost consciousness. He fell into a deeper dream, his body trembling violently. Cold sweat poured from every pore of his body like a flood, soaking his hair to his face, and instantly drenching a large patch of the bedsheet.
Zhou Hui acted decisively, feeding him water and keeping him warm. Because his jaw was tightly clenched, it took a long time to get any water in. 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 barely stop. By then, the sky was already brightening. The bedroom was dim, and the little phoenix’s tired cheek had a grayish pallor in the dim light.
Zhou Hui carefully carried him back to bed, changed the sweat-soaked quilt, and was suddenly stunned.
—The little phoenix’s body had grown.
He had just transformed and was only a five or six-year-old child, so tender that you could squeeze water out of him. Now, overnight, he had grown by two or three years. His height had increased, and there were extremely subtle changes in his eyes and brows. A rough glance even showed a hint of a teenager.
Zhou Hui was completely stunned.
“—Don’t you go, please wait for me to come back.”
Are you going to follow the light and shadow of old times, to find the self that was lost in the raging fire?
Are you asking me to wait for you to trace back through the long river of memory, in the guise of an old friend come back to my side?
Zhou Hui’s gaze fell on the phoenix’s sleeping face. In the shadows, the little phoenix’s eyelashes were tightly closed. The curve of their ends had an incredibly delicate and fragile feeling, as if they would shatter into countless pieces with a single touch.
Zhou Hui took a breath. In the misty morning haze, he lowered his head and gently touched his sweat-soaked forehead with his lips.
