Phoenix's Requiem

Chapter 73: Death by Recklessness

Despite being unwilling, Yun Ruoyan had no choice but to obey the Slaughtering King’s orders—openly defying a legendary figure with all the members of the nobility present would surely be a terrible idea.

Yun Ruoyan lowered her head, walked obediently to Li Mo’s side, and poured some wine out of Li Qianhan’s flask.

“Will that be all?” She asked coolly, not looking at Li Mo outright.

Li Mo tilted his body slightly forward, leaning toward Yun Ruoyan’s ear. With an icy smile, he murmured, “You… can… I’m not in a hurry… you can leave later!”

“What do you mean?” Yun Ruoyan finally frowned and looked Li Mo in the eye. “Don’t try to use your drunkenness as an excuse.”

Not only did she stare him directly in the eye, she even pointed a finger at his nose.

The princes and princesses by Li Mo’s side couldn’t help but suck in a cold breath. Of course, Li Qianhan was among them. In his entire life, he’d never seen anyone so bold as to glare at Li Mo, let alone point a finger at him. Even his own father, the emperor himself, had never done so.

The entire court knew of the Slaughtering King’s irritable and mercurial moods. He was famous throughout the entire continent, and slaughtering even an emperor’s relative was nothing he would balk at. After all, even though the Yue emperor’s own nephew had been killed at his hands, the Yue emperor himself had no other recourse but to complain to the Li emperor.

How bold was this ugly girl from the Yun family to dare challenge his will?!

“Yun Ruoyan, what’re you doing? Quick, leave!” Li Qianhan hurriedly shouted as he made faces at her.

But Yun Ruoyan didn’t have any intention of listening to him. Her boldness was simply a side-effect of the aphrodisiac: after the entire mess, her unbridled vitality had had nowhere to go, and she was barely able to control herself.

Li Mo was equally frustrated himself, and he barely suppressed the desire to forcefully remove her fake birthmark, lead her to an isolated part of the gardens, and strip her clothes once more! As the disgrace from the last half-hour coursed through him, he drained his cup fully again.

Li Qianhan looked at the two of them, feeling particularly confused. He’d never before seen his uncle, as cold as ice, reveal such emotion on his face. For a time, he’d even suspected that his uncle wasn’t a person at all, because he didn’t seem to have the full set of emotions and desires that a regular human would have.

But now, he could clearly feel that his uncle was about to erupt in anger!

He just didn’t understand why. Who had provoked him? Was it the ugly girl in front of him? No, that couldn’t be… but they had both vanished for a little while, could something have happened then?!

What a pity that he hadn’t followed them!

“You…”

Li Mo slammed his cup on the table in front of him before pointing a finger at Yun Ruoyan’s nose. In a tone so low only the two of them could hear, he rumbled, “Now, immediately, at once, get the hell away from me!”

Yun Ruoyan raised her brows and replied in an equally low register, “You’re crazy!” And then she turned around and walked gracefully away.

As she retreated to a quiet corner to calm down, a taunting female voice called out, “My goodness! Who could that be but the ugly girl from the Yun family, back again?”

Once again, Yun Ruoyan became the center of attention.

She stood straight up, both hands clasped behind her back, as she quietly inspected a multicolored bouquet. The lilac dress she was wearing, patterned with the same multicolored flowers, accentuated her slender and elegant frame. She looked to be an orchid growing at the top of the highest mountains, unsullied by human hands.

If she hadn’t turned her head around, her image in profile would surely have lingered in many a young master’s mind. But she did turn her head, slowly, toward the speaker. Her birthmark, painted too dark and in stark contrast to her pale face, looked almost like a gigantic spider crawling down her body.

It was a frightening, horrendous sight!

“Ahh!”

“My goodness!”

Shrill shouts rang out amidst the quiet in voices both male and female. Even those scions who hadn’t screamed still sucked in a cold breath.

“Wasn’t she that girl who lost the first bout, Yun Ruoyan?”

“It is her! Her face looks even more frightening now after her change of clothes!”

“At first, I even thought she was a princess, but once she turned her face…!”

Murmurs began circulating around the crowd, but Yun Ruoyan was focused solely on the exquisitely dressed girl not five paces from her.

Her again!

“Yun Ruoyan, Yun Ruoyan. Who would have expected that the once-lauded genius of the Yun family would end up in this sorry shape after just three years?” The girl’s voice dripped with disdain and arrogance.

“Who are you?” Yun Ruoyan couldn’t help but frown. This girl seemed to have some deep-seated conflict with her to have taunted her once and again, but she couldn’t recall anything about her.

“Ha.” The girl laughed incredulously. “Have you really forgotten who I am? You severely wounded me three years ago during a friendly spar. Don’t you remember?!”

Yun Ruoyan frowned and thought back to the past. Because she had rebirthed, what had been three years ago to others were more than ten years ago to her.

Eventually, faintly, Yun Ruoyan seemed to recall something. At that time, the poison in her body hadn’t yet revealed itself, and her cultivation was unparalleled in her age range. During a spar with the younger generation of another family, a girl had tried to attack her with underhanded means. In blocking the attack, she had unintentionally injured her severely. That was likely the girl in front of her now.

In her mind’s eye, that girl, not even ten years old, lay on the ground as she pointed at Yun Ruoyan. “I, Rong Yuehong, swear I’ll get back at you one day!”

“Ruoyao, how did your elder sister manage to secure an invitation to this party despite being so weak and ugly?” Rong Yuehong turned and asked Yun Ruoyao, who had been sipping her tea and enjoying the show. “Were you just trying to scare me when you bragged about how strong she was just now?”

An embarrassed expression flitted over Yun Ruoyao’s face, but it quickly vanished. She smiled and replied, “Miss Rong, you must be joking. My second sister is certainly skilled and talented in her own ways.”

Rong Yuehong sighed and spoke loudly, so one and all could hear. “Ruoyao, you’re far too kind. Don’t you know that the kindest people are the ones who get bullied? Given your cultivation, if not for your kindness, you would certainly be the heir apparent to the Yuns instead of her! Doesn’t everyone agree?”

“That’s right! Who knows what the head of the Yun family is thinking, letting such an ugly, weak girl take that position!”

“If I weren’t familiar with Yun Ruoyao, I’d have thought that the Yuns had no other children!”

The crowd immediately exploded with agreement and accusation after accusation. It was amidst this commotion that Yun Ruoyan finally spoke. “Rong Yuehong, when you attacked me in an underhanded fashion three years ago, simply sparing your life was gracious of me. Are you back to court death today?”

Yun Ruoyan had a stomach full of anger, and someone had stepped right up to be her punching bag.

“Oh?” Rong Yuehong laughed. “You used to be skilled, but now it seems all you can do is talk.” Her face turned downcast. “If you have the guts, have a fight with me. Then we’ll see who’s courting death!”

Yun Ruoyan leaned down and picked up a flower stalk from a bush, pointing it straight at Rong Yuehong. “I accept!”

Seeing that Yun Ruoyan had accepted the duel but was planning on using a flower stalk as her weapon, she couldn’t help but turn even more disdainful. Was she trying to show off even despite her lack of talent?

She took two steps back and took off her ornate gown in one fell swoop, revealing form-fitting clothes underneath. It was clear that she had been prepared to shine during the flower-viewing party.

“Yuehong,” Yun Ruoyao tugged on her sleeve and spoke lightly, “My sister has been a little unusual these last few months. After three years, she finally broke through to fourth rank within the imperial territory, so don’t treat her lightly!”

But Rong Yuehong didn’t seem to care. “I was already a sixth-rank blademaster a month ago. Just sit back and watch me defeat her!”

When she heard that Rong Yuehong was already a sixth-rank blademaster, Yun Ruoyao stopped talking and began to look at Yun Ruoyan with a smirk.

She’d seen Yun Ruoyan’s explosive power during a battle, but she had attributed that to the Peis’ high-grade spear that Yun Ruoyan was using, not to Yun Ruoyan herself.

And now that Yun Ruoyan was trying to face a sixth-rank blademaster with nothing more than a flower stalk…

Rong Yuehong picked up the willow branch with which she had initially defeated Yun Ruoyan as she moved to face her. “I’m not taking advantage of you, you see.” She raised the branch in her hand. “When I beat you later, you’ll only have yourself to blame!”

“Is that so?” Yun Ruoyan smiled coldly. “Same to you.”

“Uncle, this eldest miss of the Rong family’s pretty strong, and I’m worried the ugly girl won’t be her match!” Li Qianhan muttered as he leaned closer to Li Mo. Li Mo handed him the empty cup in his hands, and he immediately filled it. “Shall I help her out during the match?”

Li Mo pinned him with a glance. “Don’t be a busybody!”

Li Qianhan immediately shut up.

Everyone else’s gaze turned to the duo about to fight. People who were speaking halted their conversations halfway, and even the princes and princesses who had been the heart of attention turned toward the two girls.

Almost at the same time, the girls rushed toward each other. The flower stalk and willow branch, imbued with spiritual energy, clashed like two steel swords...