Yan Yu, Audun and Susu all carried the books that contain all the relevant information that was relate the drawing to the magic circle that was provided by Kuan-Yin. A pile of book fell on the table that was surrounded by everyone in the group, "After reading all the books in the archives of Magic we were able to narrow down all the book relevant to this research to about 20 books," Audun brought out a board which was covered with drawings and explanation and pointed to them, "From all the research we have looked through. The closest magic circle that matched the one over the country is the one that would be the summoning ritual of the faceless arch demon."
Jingwei was playing around with a brush, Kuan-Yin who sat next to her pushed the brush down, "Jingwei listens to this," Kuan-Yin listened to the rest of the lecture.
"I don't get it!" Jingwei complained, "I don't understand the terms you use."
"Basically what Audun was saying was the magic circle is extremely complex and it requires four superior mythical beasts," Kuan-Yin explained in simpler terms for Jingwei. "Also it requires a Dou Ancestor at Black Gold rank and above cultivator."
Jingwei slammed the table hard until crack formed into the sturdy wooden table. Her eyes were brightened to a vermillion red, her feathers were enveloped in red phoenix flames. "Superior mythical beast? Just who are they to use our kind for such purpose!"
Everyone tried to calm the furious Phoenix girl who was wreaking havoc. Kuan-Yin stood up, the sound of her chair creaking was noticed by the other, "Jingwei cool your temper outside!" Kuan-Yin told Jingwei. Jingwei huffed as she walked out of the mansion, transforming into her Phoenix form to fly off somewhere. Susu tried to go after Jingwei, "Stop Susu there is no need to go after her and even if you were to follow her you would not be able to catch up to here." Kuan-Yin stared off into the sky where Jingwei flew off.
Yan Yu transformed into a phoenix and flew out of the mansion to follow Jingwei. His dull purple feathers were ruffled after a long time after being inside for so long, he had a hard time catching up with Jingwei since he was unfit. Jingwei frustratedly destroyed a massive chunk of the forest and mountains. Yan Yu perched himself on top of the waterfall until Jingwei had exhausted herself.
From morning to late night Jingwei continued to wreck everything in her way. Eventually, Jingwei fell to her knees, crying. Clenching her fist, Jingwei punched the soil sobbing hysterically. She had exhausted herself and laid on the ground. Yan Yu transformed himself back into a human and carried her back to the mansion where everyone was fast asleep. Yan Yu placed Jingwei to sit at a window seat which she stared out of the window with tears flowing down her cheeks.
Yan Yu came back with two cups of tea, one for himself and the other for Jingwei which was lightly sweetened. Jingwei calmly accepted the tea, she felt so drained after crying for so long. "What's wrong?" Yan Yu questioned after sipping his tea, the slight florally flavour of the tea made him sighed in exhaustion.
Jingwei sniffled which Yan Yu offered her tissues which she used generously. Blowing her nose and wiping her tear-stained face. She sipped on the sweeten floral tea that Yan Yu had given to her, the flavour was very familiar to her, "Is this hibiscus tea?"
Yan Yu nodded in response to Jingwei's question. "This is one of my favourite tea that I drink often."
The slightly sour but florally scent penetrated her sense of smell as she stated at the liquid in the cup swirling inside. Turning her head to the window which viewed the horizon that many did not see often or appreciate it. A coming of a new day and a new beginning. "This is also my favourite, " Jingwei sighed heavily, "Back when I was a hatchling 5,000 years ago. My family often had this flower growing at our homeland."
"5,000 years ago? Just how old are you?" Yan Yu was surprised by her age.
"5,250 years old and I'm gonna turn 5251 this year." Jingwei stirred the tea with her finger, adding her phoenix flame to reheat the now cold tea. "My family were one of the prominent Phoenix families, all my family members were taken to be sacrificed for the ritual that we discussed today." Tears came running down her cheeks as she reminisced about her past.
Yan Yu comforted the crying Jingwei. Not knowing much with how to deal with crying women since he never interacted with them. "Cry it all out." he could only mutter these words.
With those words, Jingwei again cried, "I thought I would move on and forget about my family after 5,000 years." Her body shook as she sobbed. "I thought the pain would disappear after all that time."
Yan Yu couldn't sympathise with her since he couldn't remember any of relatives. He could only comfort the crying female phoenix that was in his arms. After she finished crying, her eyes were rimmed with red and puffy eyes, her nose was slightly pink and her face was flushed. "You feeling better now that you crying it out?"
Jingwei nodded rubbing her tired eyes. Yan Yu heaved as he lifted Jingwei to move her to a couch nearby in his library. He slept on the chair of his desk, using the books as his pillow.
•••••
Soft sunlight rays weaved through the sheer curtains of the room where Kuan-Yin slept. Chen was snuggled with Kuan-Yin in the comfy bed until she left his arms to get out and walk around the demon realm. Dressed in her waterproof clothes, she took Faust and the Koi Beast out from her Black Jade Sky Space to have them explore the demon realm.
Soft oranges, pinks and purples paint the sky as the new day is welcomed. How wonderful the sight of the colours was right now. How she wished for this moment to last forever. Faust and he Koi Beast pulled her towards the forest where they lead her to a waterfall which fell into a crystal clear lake. The sun shone on the water surface and bright shimmers were reflected off by the crystals that were residing in the lake.
Seeing how beautiful the lake was Kuan-Yin had an urge to swim in it. Diving into the water disturbed the tranquillity of the scenery. She happily swam into the lake, playing with the Koi beast. Faust was happy to stay on a rock watching over them play and the Koi beast when to dry off near Faust's location.
Suddenly, Kuan-Yin's legs knitted together and with her flesh bound together, she sprouted fins. It was agony as the process occurred. Kuan-Yin sank into the depths of the lake, air escaped her lungs through bubbles. Water rushed into her lungs to replace the air she once breathed, her lungs burned from the foreign matter entering.
After a while, Kuan-Yin opened her eyes only find that unbelievable clarity in the water. She could breathe normally in the water, some discomfort still remained but it was bearable.
The Koi beast grabbed her with his tail and pulled her out of the water to only find out the person he pulled out a half fish person. Faust moved to Faust worried about Kuan-Yin, wrapping her body around Kuan-Yin's.
Kuan-Yin sat on the edge with her tail submerged in the lake, comforting the worried snake. A series of footsteps entered the area they were, showing Chen huffing and puffing. Worry was clearly etched on his face as he saw Kuan-Yin sit on the edge of the lake petting the snake.
Seeing Kuan-Yin sitting on the water edge, Chen ran over to her engulfing her into a tight embrace. "Don't leave me like that again!" Chen's tears poured down his face and on to Kuan-Yin's body. "I don't know what I would do if you disappeared again."
Kuan-Yin instantly felt guilty for making Chen worry so much. Returning his embrace, "I'm sorry for worrying you." Kuan-Yin smoothing it his messy bed hair, "I won't be leaving you for a long time."
Chen stared at Kuan-Yin in the eye, "You better not do this again." Placing his forehead on Kuan-Yin's wet forehead, "You are the only reason why I am living right now."
Chen was able to carry Kuan-Yin but he felt a slippery sensation on his hand. Looking at the source of the slippery sensation, he stared at the bluish lilac tail was connect to Yin'er. He pointed at the tail, "Is that yours?"
Kuan-Yin chuckled at Chen, "Have you forgotten I'm a half mermaid?"
"I scored the lottery if I'm able to have a beautiful mermaid wife." Chen grinned widely at Kuan-Yin who blushed like crazy. Chen took Kuan-Yin up in his arms, "Now we will have to ask your relatives how to get your legs back."
Chen carried Kuan-Yin back to the mansion at a leisurely pace using his qi gong. The Koi beast and Faust followed behind them using their body to move across the forest and buildings.
It was now morning where everyone was already eating breakfast. The sight of Chen carrying a mermaid to his mansion was shocking to everyone. Everyone in the mansion dropped their chopsticks in shock except Kuan-Yin's maternal side of the family. Hua Ling immediately started rubbing on Kuan-Yin's tail admiring the colour, "You have such a beautiful colour variation for your tail, your scales are beautifully grown with little to none growth problems, your fin shape is very suited for speed and agility." Hua Ling was analysing the condition of Kuan-Yin's tail, lifting her in shape and out of reflex Kuan-Yin's tail slapped Hua Ling.
"I'm so sorry!" Kuan-Yin apologized profusely, " I'm not use to the tail! I can't control it!"
Hua Ling's eyes glistened, "Your tail is extremely powerful judging from the slap! Imagine how fast you would be in the water and knew how to control your tail."
Su Ming and the Dowager both sighed in annoyance, "Her rambling is happening again." The Dowager signalled to the general to deal with her. The general took Hua Ling away from Kuan-Yin to stop her groping her tail. Hua Ling whined by obeyed the general since she knew it was useless to resist.
Kuan-Yin laughed at Hua Ling. "But how do I get my legs back?"
The Dowager taught Kuan-Yin to revert back into her legs and transform at will. Fan knelt on one knee, "Mistress there is an invitation from the Emperor to attend the Coronation of the crown prince." Fan handed the letter to Kuan-Yin.
"We finished our research, " Kuan-Yin was covered by a cloak and veil by Susu. "Looks like we have to leave. Fan can you ask Zhong Ying to prepare outfits for the coronation."
Fan nodded and left. Everyone walked out of the mansion to see a huge beast playing with a Faust snake. Princess Audun stared at the koi beast, "You. Where did you get that beast?"
"Smugglers had smuggled this beast into our country through but all of them died." Kuan-Yin explained herself before any misunderstandings could occur.
"Smugglers?" Audun was shocked, "To smuggle our national beast is equivalent to waging a war between our two countries."
Kuan-Yin frowned her brow, "But why smuggle a powerful beast for?" Then an idea struck her, "No way! Could someone be planning to use this beast for something big?"
Audun stared at Kuan-Yin and then to the Second Prince, "It will have to be something major for someone to smuggle such a powerful beast."
Kuan-Yin nodded in response, "But who? And for what?"
"Come on we better hurry otherwise we will be late for the coronation, " Chen guided everyone into the carriage. "Go ahead of me I will be there later."
•••••
As soon as the carriage teleported out of the demon realm. Chen called on a shadow guard, "Report."
"Master! I have confirmed the smugglers were hired by the Glory Sect." the shadow guard reported his findings, "The smuggler group behind it are the infamous Silver Rings."
"Silver Rings? Glory Sect?" Chen scoffed, "They dare Utilise beast for their own purposes and hurt my wife! Hmph!"
The shadows guard trembled in fear, "Also the crown prince is conspiring with the Glory Sect to take control of all of the Foreign Lands through the use of the summoning ritual of the faceless archdemon ."
"When?"
"During the coronation."
"CORONATION!" Chen shouted, "Get every shadow guard to go to the South Ming's Emperor's palace. NOW!"
A/N: I'm sick so updates will be slightly slower.