Yan Lanyu’s eighteenth birthday was finally going to be celebrated.
After entering the Special Division, Little Brother Yan had always been very low-key, not saying an extra word or taking an extra step, silently doing his own thing. Yu Jingzhong only found out his birthday by looking at his file and wanted to invite everyone for a good get-together, but it was repeatedly delayed due to the large-scale invasion of the human world boundary marker by the Asura clan, followed by the phoenix’s nirvana and other events.
Now, Zhou Hui had finally returned from the hellish Mount Buzhou, the little phoenix had taken shape, and even Zhang Shun and Jia Louluo were staying in the human world. It was an unprecedented gathering. As the Spring Festival approached, Deputy Chief Yu finally had the thought of embezzling public funds, wanting to take this opportunity to gather everyone to celebrate the birthday and the New Year together.
Everyone was very supportive. Li Hu hung on Zhang Shun’s arm and asked, “But Little Beauty’s birthday isn’t on this day, right? Is that okay?”
“The birthday on his file is the day he was picked up by the Shingon school as a child, it was fake anyway,” Deputy Chief Yu said while checking the New Year’s Eve prices of hot spring hotels in the suburbs on his phone. “It’s fine. From now on, his birthday will be New Year’s Eve. Remind me to change his file later.”
Zhang Shun and Li Hu exchanged a look. The former asked in a low voice, “Why do I feel like Deputy Chief Yu is getting less and less cowardly lately…”
“I don’t know. He’s even willing to use public funds for food and drink, so he’s probably gone for broke,” Li Hu said stealthily. “I heard from Zhou Hui that Deputy Chief Yu wanted to get the party expenses reimbursed by the unit. He hesitated back and forth for half a month, and when he finally made the decision, he was like a new person, as if he had been reborn… Maybe from now on, Deputy Chief Yu will transform into a corrupt official. The small step he took today is a big step towards the dark abyss of corruption and public-funded feasting for the entire Special Division in the future.”
Zhang Shun deeply agreed, nodding repeatedly. Beside them, Wu Bei, Hou San, Shenwan Tiansi, and others had eager expressions on their faces.
·
Yu Jingzhong finally settled on a hot spring resort in the suburbs of Beijing. Through an acquaintance, he booked several private courtyards and took everyone out for a gathering, to soak in the hot springs, watch fireworks, and wait for the new year while watching the Spring Festival Gala.
The masses enthusiastically requested to participate, singing praises and unanimously expressing that Deputy Chief Yu was becoming more and more of a man. If this continued, it would be only a matter of time before his domineering aura surpassed Zhou Hui’s.
As the end of the year drew closer, supernatural incidents across the country gradually became rarer. Most of the team members were idle, spending their days holding tea cups and chatting in various offices. Comrade Wu Bei, the soul poet, brought several large sacks of northeastern specialties to the capital and distributed deer antlers and mountain ginseng generously throughout the Special Division. That afternoon, the entire building turned into an ocean of joy.
Situ Yingzhi and Li Hu went on a shopping spree together. Li Hu bought seven or eight new swimsuits for this hot spring trip. Many female team members, after seeing them, all expressed that Team Leader Six had an extraordinary and refined taste, but sharing a changing room with Team Leader Six felt a bit off, as if something was strange.
Yan Lanyu, on the other hand, received countless birthday wishes, something unprecedented in the first seventeen years of his life, which made him flattered to the point of being very embarrassed. This reached its peak when Jia Louluo gave him a birthday present—Jia Louluo had been broke for ten thousand years and was not as generous as Hou San or Wu Bei. After thinking about it, he didn’t know what he could give, so he plucked a brilliant golden feather from his own body. The giant feather of the Golden-Winged Roc was almost as tall as a person. Little Brother Yan almost vomited blood from exhaustion carrying it back to his office. Placed behind the door, it was dazzlingly brilliant, blinding countless people’s titanium alloy dog eyes.
Amidst the enthusiastic atmosphere of everyone, only Zhou Hui seemed a bit withdrawn.
Because the phoenix still showed no sign of waking up, and during this period, he had burned twice in a row.
The first time was when Zhou Hui was feeding him water. A golden-red flame suddenly burst out from his seven orifices, instantly engulfing his entire body, and only extinguishing suddenly after a full few minutes. The second time was in the middle of the night. The brightness of the flames had forcibly woken Zhou Hui from his sleep. He opened his eyes to see the little phoenix had actually fallen off the bed, then staggered to his feet and stumbled towards the door.
Zhou Hui lunged forward. He saw the little phoenix’s face was blurry in the flames, and only a spastic, somewhat chilling expression was vaguely visible—it was completely an adult’s expression, which was even more terrifying on a child’s face. Zhou Hui didn’t know what he was dreaming of and could only do his best to block him from wandering outside. After the little phoenix struggled silently for a long time, he was knocked unconscious by a chop to the back of his neck.
After these two episodes, the phoenix’s body grew rapidly, already reaching the size of a thirteen or fourteen-year-old child. His bones began to show the obvious characteristics of his adult form before nirvana: hollow, light, and extremely hard, which made his weight very light.
His features were increasingly shedding their babyish immaturity, vaguely revealing the outline of his former self. His eyes were tightly closed, his complexion pale, looking thin and tired.
Zhou Hui didn’t know when the next burning would occur. All of the phoenix’s growth processes were random. Even if he had made arrangements in secret before nirvana, no one knew what his plan was or what pace he would follow.
He was just that kind of person. When he lost enough trust, he would say nothing, letting all plans and secrets be buried in the long river of time.
Zhou Hui didn’t know what to do. All he could do was wait.
·
At first, Zhou Hui didn’t really want to go to the hot springs for New Year’s. Later, a group of people took turns trying to persuade him to go. Deputy Chief Yu even specially booked a honeymoon suite so that the little phoenix could rest quietly. Only then did Zhou Hui relent.
On the day, several cars drove majestically to the hot spring hotel. The conditions were quite good. The room’s terrace faced a huge artificial garden and a golf course. In the garden, there were also saunas, spas, and massage chairs. A stone path led to the hot spring pools shaded by bamboo groves. After getting their room cards, everyone dispersed with a whoosh. Some went to play mahjong, some to play Killer, some to the spa, and some jumped into the hot springs like dumplings. Deputy Chief Yu and Jia Louluo carried a three-tiered cake into the courtyard together, preparing to cut it while watching the fireworks after dinner.
The little phoenix enjoyed special treatment, sharing a couple’s suite with Zhou Hui. When Zhou Hui carried him into the room, he saw red rose petals scattered on the large bed, and two white towels were folded into the shape of swans with their necks intertwined. It looked very romantic under the lights, and he couldn’t help but give a bitter smile.
“Rubbing salt in the wound…” he sighed and gently placed the little phoenix on the bed.
The little phoenix’s forehead rested against Zhou Hui’s palm, looking very docile. His sideburns contrasted with his cheeks, which were as white as snow, giving him a slightly pitiful look.
Even an ancient divine bird could not avoid growing pains in human form. As his bones matured rapidly, the pain in his joints and other places tormented him constantly. Even though he couldn’t say it, he would often show a pained and distressed expression in his sleep.
Zhou Hui would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night to massage him, gently smoothing the frown between his eyebrows, then lean down to give him a gentle and patient kiss.
“Come back soon…” he said softly, gently rubbing the little phoenix’s cold, delicate cheek with the bridge of his nose. “Even if it’s yours forever, you can’t really make someone wait forever.”
The little phoenix, perhaps sensing something in his sleep, sensitively shrank his head.
Zhou Hui looked at him and suddenly noticed a hidden, shy smile appear at the corner of his lips. Then he buried his face in the pillow, as if he were secretly having a good dream.
—He had slept for so long, and this was the first time he had shown a happy rather than pained expression.
Zhou Hui couldn’t help but be stunned.
·
Dinner was eaten in the glass conservatory in the garden. Yu Jingzhong, along with several team leaders, Yan Lanyu, Zhang Shun, Jia Louluo, and other non-staff members, got each other drunk as if they hadn’t eaten and drunk on public funds for eight hundred years. Li Hu almost climbed onto the table to striptease but was knocked down by Zhang Shun with a plate thrown in the air, falling under the table with a thud.
Jia Louluo was calm at all times. He sat at the table playing with his phone and suddenly raised his camera to take a picture of the little phoenix in Zhou Hui’s arms with a click.
Zhou Hui immediately and sensitively pulled the little phoenix behind him. “What are you doing?”
Jia Louluo didn’t answer and lowered his head to send a WeChat message. Zhou Hui’s mouth immediately twitched when he saw it. The recipient’s profile picture was, shockingly, a peacock that was bathed in golden light, roaring at the sky with great heroism.
“Maha wants to see what Mother looks like after transforming,” Jia Louluo explained. “If I don’t show him, he might come to the human world for New Year’s Eve dinner. You don’t want that, do you?”
Zhou Hui: “…”
The photo was sent, and a reply came three seconds later. Maha couldn’t type and could only send voice messages. He asked haughtily, “Mother, I saw it. Who’s the ugly bastard behind him?”
Zhou Hui: “…”
·
After dinner, everyone began to cut the cake. They surrounded Yan Lanyu, singing the birthday song, and clamored for him to make three wishes, and to say them out loud. Yan Lanyu was rather embarrassed. He blushed for a long while before making his first wish, that every year would be like this, every day like today, with flowers blooming, the moon full, and people always together.
Li Hu said, “Cheh—I don’t understand! Make it simpler! Do you want me to sing you ‘Eighteen Touches’?”
Situ Yingzhi said drunkenly, “Little Beauty Li doesn’t understand la, just ask Old Yu to pay for it every year, and everyone can come and have a HIGH la…”
Without another word, Yu Jingzhong slapped Li Hu and Situ each, sending them under the table, from where they didn’t get up for a long time.
“The second… the second wish is for a discount at the hotel,” Yan Lanyu said hesitantly. “I don’t know how much tonight will cost. It’s… not good to spend too much public money on a gathering.”
The crowd immediately started to clamor, rolling up their sleeves to go and have a talk with the hotel owner about life. But when they stood up, they were all so drunk and dizzy that they all agreed to go tomorrow, New Year’s Day, after they had sobered up. They then continued to press for the third wish.
“There really aren’t any more,” Yan Lanyu said helplessly. “I don’t have many wishes to begin with. This is good enough… No, no! Don’t make me drink that! Can I think about it and say it later? No, I really can’t drink anymore!”
Yan Lanyu threw down the knife and tried to run, holding his head, but was immediately caught by Shenwan and Li Hu and forced to cut the cake, trembling. So a group of drunkards came up to pour him drinks and snatch cake. Everyone wanted the “Happy Birthday” chocolate plaque on the cake, but were slapped back one by one by Yu Jingzhong. In the end, the chocolate plaque and the candied strawberries all went to the birthday boy.
Li Hu wanted the candied strawberries but didn’t get them. Very dissatisfied, she declared she would make the birthday boy drink three large glasses. Yan Lanyu fled the crowd in a panic and happened to hide beside the little phoenix. Seeing his slightly open mouth as he slept, he picked up half a strawberry and fed it to him.
“Can he eat it?”
Zhou Hui glanced at it and nodded. “He can eat it. Feed him in small pieces.”
The little phoenix, in his sleep, subconsciously chewed a couple of times, swallowed after a long while, and smacked his lips.
Yan Lanyu found it interesting. He gently rested the little phoenix’s head on his shoulder and fed him another small piece, watching him chew and swallow in a daze, his lips turning slightly red, as if they had been dyed.
This scene was actually very cute, but for some reason, Yan Lanyu was suddenly reminded of the first time he had seen Chu He, when he had shot that earth-shattering arrow at the Peacock Wisdom King in the grotto, and later, when he had revealed his true form in Beijing, his gentle, majestic, and aloof posture.
He suddenly felt a little sad.
“—If my third wish is for His Highness the Phoenix Wisdom King to wake up today, will it come true?”
Yan Lanyu muttered to himself, then suddenly felt that the idea of making a wish on his birthday and expecting it to come true was very childish. He had actually gotten emotional about it, and couldn’t help but shake his head and laugh.
What he didn’t notice was that the moment he made his third wish, the little phoenix’s eyelashes trembled.
…Wake up?
Wake up?
…So I haven’t woken up yet… have I?
The phoenix’s fingers moved, but in the noisy environment, no one could see clearly. It was almost twelve o’clock. Many people moved lounge chairs to the garden to watch the fireworks, and the sound of the countdown could be heard in the distance.
Zhou Hui stood up, picked up the little phoenix and draped him over his shoulder, saying, “It’s getting cold. I’ll take him back first.”
He passed through the drunken, staggering crowd, carefully stepped over the mess of cups, plates, and cream on the floor, and walked through the garden towards the winding corridor. In the distant sky, the first firework suddenly shot up, streaking across the night sky like a meteor, and then exploded into brilliant, colorful light, which reflected on the little phoenix’s sleeping face.
…So bright, the phoenix thought.
He squinted his eyes in a daze, unable to tell if he was in reality or a dream. He only saw the majestic, hellish Mount Buzhou beneath his feet. Then, the vast sky in front of him suddenly burst into flames, instantly burning the nine heavens and ten earths into a sea of brilliant fire.
“You want to kill me too?!” Sakyamuni’s roar echoed in his ears. “—You want me to die too?!”
Only then did the phoenix realize that he was holding the Buddha’s bone knife, facing Sakyamuni’s furious face. In the distance, Zhou Hui was rushing towards him, braving the great fire. The entire Mount Buzhou was burning into a towering golden pagoda in the flames of nirvana.
“If you don’t die, none of this will end. The chaos and fighting will continue…”
“Farewell, Sakyamuni.”
With a flick of his wrist, the phoenix plunged the tip of the knife into Sakyamuni’s throat.
—Blood gushed out. In that instant, the raging wind suddenly stilled, and then time and space fast-forwarded crazily.
Images from countless parallel worlds were completely mixed together, forming tens of thousands of silhouettes of the phoenix—young, lonely, crying, pleading, waiting expectantly on the city wall, desperately reaching out to Zhou Hui on Mount Buzhou…
The vortex of mottled colors converged into a torrent, all reflected in the phoenix’s eyes.
The next moment, Sakyamuni screamed and departed. A golden Buddha statue rose from the Buddha’s bone, towering over the ten-thousand-foot lotus fire sea, facing the phoenix from afar.
“I have to go back…” the Buddha said.
The phoenix couldn’t hear anything, as if all the noise in the world had turned into a silent tide, receding from his ears with a whoosh.
“Thank you for all these years, Phoenix,” the Buddha’s young face, which belonged to Zhang Shun, showed a hint of loneliness. “You are about to achieve nirvana, so it will be difficult to meet again in the future. Do you have any last wishes? If you want the peacock’s divinity…”
“No,” the phoenix suddenly interrupted hoarsely. “I don’t need that now.”
The phoenix turned his head to look at Zhou Hui. This simple action was very difficult due to his severe injuries and weakness.
In the frozen time and space, Zhou Hui stood there, his furious and anxious eyes also fixed on him, shining brightly in the sea of fire.
“I want to see the right person the first moment I open my eyes after nirvana…” the phoenix gasped. “I want to be raised by that person with peace of mind, to be cared for, to be carefree, even if it’s just for one day…”
Even if it’s just for one day.
Please don’t make the one I love wait too long. Just one day, and I will do my best to rush back to his side.
The golden Buddha followed the phoenix’s gaze to Zhou Hui in the distance, sighed, and said, “Alright.”
With that word, the phoenix showed a tired smile and slowly closed his eyes. The frozen wind around him instantly started to blow wildly again. Time and space returned to normal, and the great fire swept up. Zhou Hui madly rushed through the heavy smoke and clouds towards him, so much so that he didn’t even notice his sleeves and the corners of his clothes catching fire.
The phoenix heard Zhou Hui’s roar of extreme fury. He could feel his body being devoured by the fire of nirvana bit by bit.
Goodbye, my Zhou Hui.
Please let me see you the first moment I open my eyes again. Please let me wake up peacefully in your gaze.
You only need to wait for one day, and it will be enough to repay my hopes and waiting of ten thousand years in this life.
The next second.
Time and stars shifted. In the human world, in Chu He’s office, the little phoenix opened the drawer containing Bao Shi Zi. From the opened diary, the phantom of the adult phoenix emerged, bent down, faced his childhood self, and gently wiped away the tear stains from the corners of the little phoenix’s eyes. “The wish has come true…” he said.
“You can go home now.”
—I can finally go home now.
In the garden, the New Year’s countdown reached its final moment. The hands of the clock returned to zero, and fireworks filled the sky.
Countless layers of colorful light exploded in the sky. Cheers echoed through the long sky, converging into a torrent and rushing towards the land of China.
Zhou Hui stopped by the railing of the winding corridor, looking at the magnificent fireworks in the sky. Suddenly, he felt a movement in his arms. He looked down and saw the little phoenix open his eyes, then close them tightly due to the sudden light. After a while, he opened them again and blinked a few times.
“Zhou Hui…” he said softly.
Zhou Hui could hardly believe his eyes. For a moment, he thought he had misheard. But then he watched with his own eyes as the little phoenix smiled. Although the smile was still a bit pale and weak, his eyes shone with a familiar expression.
“Thank you… for always waiting for me.”
The phoenix paused, the fireworks in the sky reflecting a gentle, water-like glint in his eyes. “—I’m back. Happy New Year.”
Zhou Hui’s throat was choked with emotion. His shoulders trembled strangely, and his vision was blurry. In the haze, he held the phoenix tightly, opened his mouth several times but couldn’t get a single word out. In his ears, there was only the sound of the jubilant crowd celebrating the New Year in the distance.
At that moment, the fiery trees and silver flowers, the peaceful and prosperous scene, all turned into silence, receding into the faint glow of the distant night sky.
“I thought I would have to wait a long time…”
Zhou Hui closed his eyes, and a hot liquid slid down his cheeks.
He lowered his head and pressed a trembling kiss on the phoenix’s temple. “…Welcome back, my dear Highness.”
Behind their embracing figures, the old times swirled up, carrying with them the countless love and hate, smoke of war, tears, and partings of the past, converging into a river and rushing towards the distance, disappearing into the vast and boundless sky.
The fireworks dissipated, and all was silent.
The bell for the New Year rang at that moment.
__
Author’s note:
This is the end of the main story. Content that hasn’t been covered, such as Maha’s divinity and Yan Lanyu’s follow-up story, will be released in the extras~
Added author’s note:
Many adults said the ending was rushed. It’s like this: the outline was set for the story to end the moment the phoenix regains his memory. Da Mao’s divinity, Zhou Hui’s lifespan, the Yu-Yan CP, daily sweet sweet sweet and meaty meaty meaty content cannot be developed when the phoenix’s memory has not been restored, so they are all in the extras. If conditions permit, the Tokyo Shingon School arc will be added to the extras. In short, this one is like the last one, Galaxy extra, where Hilda was just born. The extras bear the responsibility of concluding the plot, that’s it~
Extra: Tokyo Esoteric Sect Arc
