Chapter Fifty: The Phoenix Appears

Long Fei came to a halt, suddenly turning his head and asking, "How long do you plan to follow me? Don’t you have a bed in the school dormitory? Why aren’t you going back there?"

Ye Qian was taken aback. "Why do you care? Yes, I have a bed, but I don’t want to use it. What’s it to you?"

"You’re not in love with me, are you? Trying to stop me from picking up girls?" Long Fei fixed his gaze on Ye Qian’s eyes and suddenly burst out laughing.

Startled, Ye Qian looked away, as if a lizard had its tail stepped on, bristling with fury. "What? Me, fall in love with you? Give up that dream already. Look at yourself—neither handsome nor rich nor influential. Why would I ever fall for you?"

"But I’m a good fighter!" Long Fei thought to himself, this is bad—could this demoness really have fallen for me? That would be a disaster.

Ye Qian quickly regained her composure, shooting him a disdainful look. "So what if you can fight? Can you handle a gun?" She suddenly remembered how Long Fei had saved her from heavy fire just days ago, and hurriedly added, "Even if you can deal with guns, can you take on planes, cannons, missiles, or nuclear weapons?"

This woman’s imagination really was something else. Long Fei sighed. "I can’t deal with any of that, but the more you say, the more it sounds like you have a guilty conscience. I really think you might be in love with me. But don’t worry—even if I’m not much to look at, I’m still young, I still have my pride. I’m not about to settle for just any woman. If I ever do, I’ll pick someone more... well-rounded. As for skinny little tomboys like you, I have absolutely no interest."

Long Fei’s words were as sharp as they were biting. Ye Qian’s face changed color, her emotions—barely controlled these past few days—finally erupting. "Long Fei, you bastard! I hate you!"

Watching Ye Qian run off toward the dormitory, Long Fei let out a long sigh.

Shaking off this demoness really wasn’t easy. But maybe his words had gone too far this time; did he actually hurt her? Was she crying just now?

With a heavy heart, Long Fei walked toward the teaching building.

On the rooftop of the teaching building, Long Fei stared at the girl across from him—a figure of stunning grace, her face veiled tightly with a black scarf. Dressed in flowing black, she looked anything but out of place in this season; instead, her attire heightened her air of mystery, enveloping her in an atmosphere both serene and lethal.

When the Phoenix appears, even the gods yield.

The Phoenix—an assassin shrouded in the utmost secrecy and terror.

The Xiang Yu Blade—when drawn, all devils and ghosts are vanquished. Legend had it this was the blade worn by Xiang Yu himself. The “Chronicles of Princes and Nobles” recounted: “Dong Zhuo, as a youth, found a sword while plowing the fields. It bore no inscriptions, but the clouds on its four sides rose in relief, and it felled kings as easily as wood. Once Dong Zhuo rose to power, he showed it to Cai Yong, who said: This is the Xiang Yu Blade.”

If anyone deserved credit for Long Fei’s current martial prowess, it was Phoenix. It was precisely because of this that Long Fei maintained his ambiguous, half-close, half-distant relationship with the girl who had been at his side since childhood. Whenever he recalled the past, his heart ached unbearably—and he knew that Phoenix’s heart ached just as much.

He could only blame fate’s cruel hand; all guilt he laid at the feet of the Creator. Yet deep down, he did not regret that reckless act—after all, Phoenix possessed a body of pure yin, while he himself was pure yang.

Phoenix’s beauty surpassed even that of the Dragon Maiden, and her gentle attentiveness toward Long Fei outstripped even Yang Danni’s. Having grown up together, she had always regarded Long Fei as her entire world—solving one problem after another for him, eliminating opponent after opponent.

Phoenix seldom spoke, but she once confided to Iron Ox that she wanted to become Long Fei’s shadow, destroying every enemy in his path. If Long Fei wished to ascend to heaven, she would become a Buddha on the spot and follow him there. If Long Fei descended into hell, she would continue killing until her sins condemned her to the eighteenth level of hell for all eternity—so that she might become a demon and follow him still.

Facing Long Fei, Phoenix’s body trembled slightly as well. She felt she must have belonged to him in a previous life; aside from Long Fei, she regarded all other men as worthless.

Even the old man who had taught them—she never took him seriously. This was his greatest headache; he had even considered ridding the world of her, but never had the chance. Phoenix quickly rose to become the number one killer in the underworld, her ruthless madness even causing the old man to dread her.

According to the old man, Phoenix was born to be Long Fei’s guardian spirit, born to be a killing machine, born a martial prodigy.

At times, Phoenix felt aggrieved. She didn’t understand why Long Fei, who had always been by her side, had suddenly left. Yet she never regretted her decision—to use her body of pure yin to unlock Long Fei’s pure yang, not only truly making herself his, but elevating his martial abilities to new heights. She never thought herself wrong; if she had erred, it was only in taking advantage of Long Fei’s drunkenness. But if he hadn’t been drunk, would he have accepted her?

After Long Fei left, abandoning her overseas, she was heartbroken and desolate. She killed ceaselessly, her reputation soared, her skills grew, but her heart turned cold. If Long Fei hadn’t summoned her back to China this time, she wasn’t sure how much longer she could have endured.

For Phoenix, losing Long Fei was like losing the sun, the sky—life lost all meaning. So ever since Long Fei returned last year, she put away her favorite pure white robes, instead donning her current black attire and veiling her face. She refused to show her purest, most devastating beauty to any man but Long Fei.

A woman in love can become wild, even mad. After experiencing a love that sears the soul, she may see all other men as nothing.

Phoenix was such a woman.

To see Long Fei again moved her deeply. But she was prepared—so long as Long Fei needed her, she would continue to kill for him, continue to be his shadow. As long as he allowed her to stay by his side, that was her greatest happiness.

It was no exaggeration to say that Long Fei was Phoenix’s faith. Compared to her, even the most fanatical devotees—who might strap bombs to themselves and storm the White House at the Dragon Maiden’s offhand command—were not as crazed.

"You’ve lost weight," Long Fei finally managed to say, then turned away, closing his eyes for a long moment.

Phoenix stepped closer to him, but Long Fei shifted ever so slightly away, making her heart ache unbearably.

"From today on, you’ll stay in Shanghai for now," Long Fei said, his own heart wracked with pain.

"Who does Young Master want killed?" Killing was what Phoenix did best; apart from thinking of Long Fei, it was all she ever considered. In fact, she couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Well, she could perhaps cook for Long Fei too. But aside from killing and cooking, all she could do was guard him from the shadows.

This was a peculiar mindset. When someone excels in one thing, they begin to feel they’re only suited for that, and a sense of uselessness creeps in, prompting them to work even harder at it—and so they become exceptional.

So it was with Phoenix and killing.

One could say her rise to the pinnacle of the assassin world was, in large part, thanks to Long Fei.

Love can change a person—especially a woman—and change them utterly.

"This time, no killing. I want you to protect someone—a woman," Long Fei said, opening his eyes at last. He turned, resting his hands on Phoenix’s shoulders. His gaze was still evasive, but less so than before.

"If Young Master orders me to kill, I’ll kill. If Young Master orders me to protect someone, even if I die, I won’t let her die," Phoenix replied with utter sincerity—so pure it made Long Fei feel a deep sense of guilt.

As Phoenix turned to leave, Long Fei suddenly called out, "Protect yourself too. I don’t want you to die."

At the stairwell, Phoenix’s body shuddered violently. She turned back, her voice resolute: "If Young Master commands me to die, I’ll die. If Young Master forbids it, I’ll live—a long, long time."

At that moment, only one thought filled Phoenix’s mind: she must live as long as possible, and then, when Long Fei finally left this world, she would go before him. For she truly did not know how to live without him—not even for a day, a minute, a second. That would be the greatest cruelty.

Phoenix, who feared neither heaven nor earth, was afraid of two things.

First: that Long Fei would ignore her.

Second: that Long Fei would die before her.