GD Ch. 2

Chapter 2: Why She Steals

“Can’t even get through the door?” teased a light voice.

The gray-robed figure dragged into the room underwent a sudden transformation. The wrinkles and long beard on his face vanished completely, replaced by a devil woman in dark green attire. 

The once articulate woman didn’t dare utter a word. Her eyes stayed obediently lowered, not daring to glance up. With her head down, she discreetly glanced toward another direction, where black embroidered shoes caught her eye. On one embroidered shoe, a section of white ankle bone protruded slightly, leading up to a slender calf adorned with vine-like diabolic markings.

The denser the devilish energy emanated, the more markings adorned the feet owner’s body. This entity seemed truly comparable to the Devil Lord.

Hanzhu remained silent, her eloquence seemingly stripped away in front of her mistress. There was no trace of disdain or pride in her eyes; she behaved like a docile quail.

Her mistress was the one referred to as having succumbed to devilhood, none other than the breathtaking divine offspring of the Phoenix Clan.

Immortals had no surnames, and the same was true for the immortals who succumbed to devilhood. The name “Zhuyou” had become even less mentioned in the world these days.

Hanzhu discreetly lifted her gaze again, shifting it from the other woman’s pale ankle to the crimson waistband of her skirt. The contrast between black and crimson was stark.

The fallen divine offspring turned around with hands behind her back and took a few steps toward the distance, her dark floral veil trailing along with the black silk skirt beneath.

“Why didn’t you just kill the Second Phoenix, Mistress? Why come here?” Hanzhu wondered aloud.

“Look.” Zhuyou pointed her hand toward the distance, her sleeve sliding down to her elbow, revealing the clear black diabolic markings on her arm. “Kill her? She can’t die so easily.”

Hanzhu looked over and saw a white jade disc atop a flying dragon-shaped pillar. The disc emitted a faint blue light, presumably dragon energy. Several icy chains hung in the air, swirling around the pillar like a sparse net. The closer she approached, the more excruciating the pain became. It was as if her flesh were being sliced by ice blades, and yet, she saw no wounds.

The dragon energy swirling around the disc suddenly condensed into the shape of a dragon’s head, its gaping jaws lunging toward her.

Hanzhu was startled and hastily took a few stumbling steps back, nearly falling to the ground in fright. As she focused, she saw her mistress standing steadily while the dragon-shaped energy had dissipated on its own.

“Is that supposed to scare anyone? Quite amusing, though,” Zhuyou remarked, waving her hand in front of her face before continuing to fold her arms behind her back. “Did you see that?”

“Yes, the dragon energy was quite intimidating,” Hanzhu replied, still trembling with fear.

Zhuyou looked at her as if she were a fool. “I meant that thing on the pillar.”

Hanzhu then reevaluated the pillar she dared not approach, noticing an egg standing atop it. 

Indeed, it was an egg, adorned with ancient markings and shimmering with iridescence. It was quite large, requiring both hands to hold, resembling a vessel for a child within.

While beautiful eggs were a dime a dozen, a dragon egg covered in dark patterns was a rare find indeed.

“I originally intended to stir up some trouble. Since things aren’t going my way, I don’t want them to be satisfied either,” Zhuyou spoke casually. She turned back to look at Hanzhu, her eyes curving slightly, a smile appearing on her lips, though its meaning was unclear.

This unexpected smile caught Hanzhu off guard. Despite witnessing it countless times, she still found herself stunned.

Zhuyou’s right eye had a two-finger-wide black phoenix pattern at the corner. Her eyes were not as elongated as typical Phoenix Clan members. With slightly pointed corners and drooping ends, they even seemed somewhat innocent.

Hanzhu glanced sideways, hearing her mistress say, “Yet there seems to be something faintly drawing me to this place. I thought it was the karmic ties I formed while still in the Upper Realm, but I never imagined it would be an egg?”

“Are you going to smash this egg, Mistress?” she hastily asked.

Zhuyou smiled gently, far from the disdainful demeanor typical of most immortals turned dark. She calmly replied, “Naturally, I intend to take such a fine egg.”

Hanzhu was greatly alarmed. “This is a dragon egg. Bringing it to the Devil Realm might cause trouble.”

Unfortunately, as if fearing the world wouldn’t fall into chaos, her mistress reached out her pale hand toward the dragon energy on the disc.

“Well, isn’t this convenient? Haven’t seen you in a hundred years, and you’ve become much more timid,” Zhuyou remarked blandly.

Hanzhu hesitated for a moment but dared not intervene. Her life was given by her mistress. If it weren’t for her mistress rescuing her from the jaws of demons, she might not even exist in form, let alone her extremely poor aptitude that required her mistress’ personal instruction to learn even basic spells.

When she was first rescued, she had curiously asked her mistress about her reason for intervening. At that time, Zhuyou had simply said, “You resembled an old friend.” 

Back then, she couldn’t even assume a human form; she was no different from other peafowls, perhaps even uglier. She couldn’t fathom how her mistress saw shades of someone from her past in her.

Who could this person from the past be? Was it someone from the Immortal Realm? Hanzhu didn’t want to speculate. After her mistress saved her, she embraced devilry, becoming a foe of the Immortal Realm. Yet, even after some time had passed, she still couldn’t decipher who this person from the past might be. Later on, her mistress went into seclusion.

Before seclusion, Zhuyou’s health wasn’t great. Every now and then, she would go blind for a few days, and Hanzhu couldn’t fathom what caused it. Now, after a hundred years of seclusion, she wondered how much her mistress’ eyes had healed.

Hanzhu bit her lip, snapping out of her reverie. She wiped the half-dried blood, which was caused by the spiritual inscription on the door, from the corner of her mouth.

In the center of the stone chamber, the white jade disc rested within the array, surrounded by dragon energy. Each step closer brought excruciating pain throughout her body, yet Zhuyou’s hand pierced through the cold dragon energy effortlessly. The moment her hand touched the dragon energy, the chains hovering in mid-air suddenly buzzed, emitting an extremely piercing sound, almost like writhing white dragons.

Ignoring the silver-white chains, Zhuyou scoffed and waved her hand to disperse the dragon energy. However, when her fingertips touched the dragon egg, she furrowed her brows.

“Mistress!” Hanzhu’s heart sank, quickly rushing toward her mistress. Yet, just as she took two steps, Zhuyou silently raised her hand to stop her.

The frigid dragon energy emanated from the egg, causing Zhuyou’s silver hair to abruptly rise into the air and the ink-colored ornaments on her head to rattle softly.

Hanzhu halted, her heart pounding with urgency as she watched as the terrifying dragon energy scraped Zhuyou’s pale hand until it was bloody, revealing a glimpse of bone. It must have been excruciatingly painful. 

Hanzhu couldn’t bear to see her suffer. If her own flesh were scraped like that, she would be writhing in agony. Yet, Zhuyou remained unchanged, even bearing a serene smile. Reserved and calm, she hardly resembled the monstrous evil creature she was made out to be. After all, with just a slight curve of her eyebrows and a faint smile, she looked far too innocent.

“Mistress, your hand…” Hanzhu trembled as she spoke.

Zhuyou glanced back at her, composed as if her hand had merely received a scrape, casually remarking, “I’ve endured worse than this before.”

Hanzhu knew all too well. From what she had heard from others, she had gleaned some of her mistress’ experiences in the Upper Realm.

The grand array suddenly stirred, and with a crack, the white jade disc shattered, and spikes protruded from the ground in successive waves. The dragon energy, fierce as a gale, swirled out from the disc, resembling curved blades.

Zhuyou’s expression shifted slightly. With a twist of her wrist, her pale hand descended from mid-air, forcefully pressing down the spikes and dragon energy. Despite the complexity of the formation and the abundant, icy dragon energy within it, she effortlessly reverted the array back to its original form, showcasing her profound cultivation.

Hanzhu swallowed nervously, still feeling a bit frightened by the blade-like dragon energy.

Zhuyou chuckled softly, then completely covered the cold dragon egg with her soft, pale palm. It felt as cold as snow atop a mountain, causing her to involuntarily retract her fingers. She furrowed her brows and blinked, seeming somewhat uncomfortable.

“Please let me handle it, Mistress!” Hanzhu hastily pleaded.

“Don’t move,” Zhuyou said before turning her head slightly and blinking uncomfortably again.

In the midst of their conversation, she had taken the egg out but left the pillar with a replica, identical egg.

“Why is the egg still there?” Hanzhu glanced at the white jade dragon pillar before looking at her mistress’ hand, her heart aching as if cut by a knife. 

In the Devil Realm, such protectiveness toward one’s master was rare. Probably only seen in someone like her, a half-devil—someone who only followed the devil’s path halfway, abbreviated as a half-devil.

Zhuyou cradled the egg and squinted as she examined it closely while the flesh on her hand rapidly regenerated and healed. “It’s a false one,” she began. “After all this time of teaching you, how can you not see through this?” Tucking the egg into her embrace, she murmured, “It’s a bit heavy.”

As she spoke, the egg in her arms seemed to move.

“Why is it moving? Is it about to hatch?” She lowered her head in confusion, but the egg had stopped moving.

“If you find it heavy, let me take it, Mistress,” Hanzhu quickly suggested.

Zhuyou glanced at her, her gaze somewhat unfocused. “A phoenix is the master of fire. If I hold it for a while, it might just hatch.”

Hanzhu vaguely felt that her mistress’ gaze was not quite right, but she didn’t dare say anything. She looked back at the tall stone door instead. “Do you still want to face the Second Phoenix and the Dragon Clan?”

“No. I’m too weak. This is just a strand of my consciousness, and I can’t bear any more disturbances,” Zhuyou replied while holding the egg.

Hanzhu nodded and saw her mistress beckoning with her finger, so she hurried over. Zhuyou pressed her shoulder, her gaze seeming completely absent.

“Mistress, your eyes…” Hanzhu was slightly surprised.

“Just support me,” Zhuyou said calmly as if it were a routine occurrence.