Chapter 256: Keep Searching
"Did you hear? The Divine Beast Kings are all in Water City."
"I also heard Divine Beast Prince Yan Wuhen is here."
"What do you think happened?"
"Who knows? But all of them gathering in one place... it gives me goosebumps."
Ningyan sat by the open window of the bustling tea house, his bamboo hat casting a shadow over the upper half of his face.
One hand held his chopsticks while the other rested lazily beside his bowl as he quietly enjoyed breakfast, listening to the lively chatter drifting from every table.
At those words, however, his chopsticks paused halfway to his mouth and his violet eyes blinked once beneath the shade.
Yan Wuhen...
The Divine Beast Kings...
They’re all in Water City?
He slowly lowered his chopsticks before turning toward the nearest table. "Excuse me."
The large bear beastman sitting closest looked over with a frown. "What?"
Ningyan reached into his sleeve and produced a small pouch of spirit crystals, placing it gently on the table. "You may have this."
The bear beastman’s eyes immediately widened. Even his companions stopped talking. "...For me?"
Ningyan smiled. "If you’ll answer a few questions."
The bear beastman exchanged suspicious looks with his companions before cautiously standing and carrying his bowl over.
He sat opposite Ningyan, his gaze lingering on the pouch as though expecting him to snatch it back.
Ningyan simply smiled.
After last night’s encounter with the strange forest qilin, his mind had become even more chaotic.
Why had she cried? Why had she looked so terrified? Why had she stared at him as though she had seen a ghost?
There were too many unanswered questions.
Since he couldn’t solve those mysteries for now... He might as well focus on the reason he had come to Water City in the first place.
And perhaps... The heavens truly favored him today.
"What would you like to know?" the bear beastman finally asked.
Ningyan folded his hands beneath his chin. "Tell me everything you know about the Divine Beast Kings."
The bear beastman puffed out his chest proudly. "Well... I know more than most."
His gaze drifted meaningfully toward the pouch of spirit crystals.
Ningyan chuckled. "Eat while you talk."
Satisfied, the bear beastman immediately picked up his chopsticks. "The Divine Beast Kings are the strongest rulers of the Beast Realm. Every one of them could shake mountains with a single step..."
"Are they all unmarried?" Ningyan interrupted without hesitation.
"...Or..." He tilted his head. "I heard there was once a phoenix among them."
The bear beastman blinked. "Oh. Him."
He shook his head. "No. He’s dead."
"I’ve heard." Ningyan’s expression remained calm. "How long has it been?"
"Three hundred years." The bear beastman instinctively leaned across the table, lowering his voice. "They say... he was killed by his own kin."
Ningyan’s fingers tightened imperceptibly around his teacup.
For the briefest moment... A cold, violent aura rippled from him.
He suppressed it almost instantly.
Killed by his own kin...? His thoughts stirred uneasily.
"Oh." Ningyan rested his chin on one hand as the bear beastman finally relaxed and began eating.
"You really want the whole story, don’t you?"
"I do."
The bear beastman swallowed his food before speaking again. "The phoenix beast was a legendary figure. His name spread across the Three Realms. It’s already been three hundred years, and countless beasts like me have lived and died since then... yet his story has never faded."
His voice unconsciously lowered with reverence. "They say he was so powerful that even the Divine Beast Kings couldn’t compare to him in his prime."
Ningyan’s brows lifted slightly.
"He slew the tyrants, Jun Yongrui and Lan Yunlai, ending an age of bloodshed. Every storyteller knows that tale."
The bear beastman smiled faintly. "He was deeply loved by his husbands."
Ningyan paused. "...Husbands?"
The beastman nodded as though stating the most ordinary fact in the world. "They had three children together."
Ningyan’s chopsticks slipped from his fingers with a soft clatter. "...Three..."
I... have children? His heartbeat quickened.
"What... so all of the Divine Beast Kings..." His voice trembled somewhere between disbelief and excitement.
The bear beastman began counting on his fingers. "Lan Meishan of the Abyss Serpent Clan, Jun Haoxuan of the Azure Dragon Clan, Rong Yue of the White Tiger Clan."
Before he could continue....
"...Yan Wuhen of the Vermilion Fox Clan." The words escaped Ningyan’s lips on their own.
The bear beastman blinked. "That’s right."
He frowned. "Every beast knows this. Have you been living under a rock?"
Ningyan couldn’t help laughing. "I suppose... you could say that."
Yet his smile slowly faded.
Every beast knew. Every single beast.
Even the humans knew.
Yet the phoenixes... Not one of them had told him.
Not He Yuting. Not Xie Zhenting. None of them.
A bitter feeling settled heavily in his chest. They hid everything from me...
If only he had asked a random passerby sooner.
He almost wanted to laugh at himself.
But before meeting Lan Meishan... He hated every divine beast. He never would have cared enough to ask.
"What..." Ningyan looked back at the bear beastman. "...was his name?"
The bear beastman stared at him as though he had asked the most ridiculous question imaginable. Then his eyes drifted toward the pouch of spirit crystals.
He leaned closer and lowered his voice. "Su Ningyan. Who else?"
He glanced around cautiously. "I wouldn’t say that name too loudly if I were you. The Divine Beast Kings have never truly recovered from his death."
His expression softened. "It was too sudden."
He sighed before stuffing another bite into his mouth. "What a tragedy..."
Across the table, Ningyan sat completely frozen.
Su... Ningyan. The name echoed endlessly inside his mind.
"So..." His throat felt dry. "It really was me..."
The bear beastman looked puzzled.
"I told you. Everyone knows this story." He chuckled. "You really were living under a rock."
Ningyan barely heard him.
His thoughts were already racing.
What do I do now?
Hearing Yan Wuhen and Lan Meishan say it... was one thing.
But hearing a complete stranger confirm it without hesitation... That was something else entirely.
It made everything feel terrifyingly real.
He slowly raised his head. "Where are they?"
The bear beastman blinked. "...Who?"
"The Divine Beast Kings." Ningyan pushed the pouch of spirit crystals across the table. "Tell me."
The bear beastman’s eyes widened before they immediately lit up. "They’re staying at the Central Manor."
He quickly stood. "I—I can take you there."
Ningyan rose to his feet as well. "...Alright."
^°^
Meanwhile, at the far end of the same tea house, Rong Yue sat in silence.
His robes were plain, no different from those of an ordinary traveler. A wide bamboo hat cast a shadow over his handsome features, hiding the golden tiger ears that rose through his golden hair. His aura had been suppressed so completely that no one spared him a second glance.
Exactly as he intended.
He did not even dare look directly at Ningyan.
He knew his husband too well.
Ningyan had always been frighteningly perceptive. Even a lingering gaze would make him notice. Instead, Rong Yue calmly lifted his teacup, watching the ripples across the amber liquid while listening to every word exchanged between Ningyan and the bear beastman.
From beginning to end, Rong Yue saw no shock on Ningyan’s face. Only conflict, confusion. Questions.
A heart desperately trying to piece together fragments of a life it no longer remembered.
His fingers tightened slightly around the teacup.
Good... Keep searching. Come back to us.
The rumors surrounding the gathering of the Divine Beast Kings in Water City... He had spread them himself. Not to lure Ningyan into a trap, but to give him a path.
Su Ningyan was no longer the phoenix they once knew.
He was a demon beast whose hands had been stained with the blood of countless clans.
He was unstable and powerful enough that forcing him would only end in catastrophe.
So Rong Yue had chosen another method. He would let Ningyan come of his own accord.
The corner of Rong Yue’s lips curved faintly.
Truthfully, among the four of them... Only he, Jun Haoxuan, Su Ruo, and Su Miao were currently in Water City.
Yan Wuhen was nowhere nearby.
The fox had run off to pester Lan Meishan after discovering that Meishan had successfully entered the Hidden Phoenix Clan. Ever since then, Wuhen had shamelessly followed the serpent everywhere, insisting Meishan teach him how to bypass the clan’s restrictions.
Just thinking about it made Rong Yue shake his head.
He truly did not understand Lan Meishan.
Since Ningyan’s return... Meishan had been the one who had spent the most time beside him.
He had spoken with him, held him. Even kissed him.
Yet somehow... He remained the most restrained among them all. As though every emotion was locked behind an invisible wall.
Wuhen, on the other hand... Restraint had never existed in his vocabulary.
He had simply broken into the Phoenix Clan and openly followed Ningyan wherever he went.
Jun Haoxuan... The dragon beast had chosen to remain in the shadows. Even after learning Ningyan had returned, he refused to rush forward.
Perhaps... It was because the Su Ningyan before them was no longer only their husband. He was also the Demon Beast King. The very existence feared throughout the Three Realms.
Each of them wanted to save him. They simply did not know how.
Or perhaps... Each believed their own way was the right one.