Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 85 - 6: Do you want the gold axe or the silver axe?

Chapter 85: Chapter 6: Do you want the gold axe or the silver axe?

This world isn’t just populated by cranes.

There are also egrets, pelicans, seagulls, and geese.

Though Jiuyue collectively referred to them as "white-feathered fowl," she could distinguish the subtle differences between each type of bird sub-species; in her own words, she wouldn’t forget the selfless contributions of every friend and would eternally hold the warmth they brought to her heart.

But Duan Mingyuan was different.

He had almost no interest in bird species, and among the aforementioned birds, he could only identify the geese as being somewhat different from the rest.

With the help of Jiuyue, the avian expert, Duan Mingyuan gradually managed to revert Miss Yun Lin back to her original form, and when her red feathers on her head returned, Yun Lin was almost moved to tears.

But immediately after, her eyes started to dart around nervously.

"So everything’s all right now?"

Duan Mingyuan scratched his head apologetically.

"On the surface, it looks fine."

The usually cold voice of Yun Lin was a bit lighter than usual, as if lacking some confidence.

"On the surface?"

"I may not have mentioned this before, but I possess the Phoenix Bloodline in my body."

In her eyes, Duan Mingyuan had transformed into the genial River God, and she admitted that she might not be a good child, but faced with what could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, she still wanted the Golden Axe.

Just thinking about returning to the academy and loudly chanting before her clan, bursting into golden light and transforming into a phoenix to ascend into the clouds in front of everyone, made Yun Lin almost unable to contain herself.

Just moments ago, the respectable and endearing "River God" had explained his ability to her, saying that he could accomplish rebuilding as long as it was within his cognition.

Yun Lin tried her best to be spirited, making sure she didn’t show any slips, "At critical times, I can actually turn into a phoenix."

What she was before didn’t matter; what was important was that from now on, she was a phoenix.

"A phoenix?" Duan Mingyuan looked perplexed, "What does a phoenix look like?"

"A phoenix is..."

"Mr. Mingyuan, let me explain," Jiuyue interjected, squinting at Yun Lin.

The little crane looked quite serious, but she was far from sincere, "A phoenix is a sacred bird born from fire, able to command all flames of this world. As far as I know, there is only one way for a phoenix to be reborn from fire - to be placed upon it and roasted. Those who can rise from the ashes are true phoenixes."

"And if it can’t be reborn?"

"Then you can’t let it go to waste."

Seeing the barbecue sauce that Jiuyue had brought out, Yun Lin turned ashen-faced and immediately said, "I’m sorry, I was wrong, I don’t have the Phoenix Bloodline, I won’t dare again!"

The "River God" was kind and genial, but in the pond lived a fearsome ogre.

Oh, the detestable ogre!

She picked up the scroll with her beak again and said, "We must hurry back to the academy and inform the headmaster about this; the other messengers may have also been ambushed."

The rest of the journey was smooth sailing, and before dawn, Yun Lin arrived at the base of Qing Chi Peak with the scroll.

Of course, this might have had a direct connection with Duan Mingyuan’s decree of "No Lucky Braised Chicken served in the teahouse," and as he stepped out of the scroll with his luggage, Duan Mingyuan quickly understood why Yunhai Academy had remained undiscovered by the corporate world for hundreds of years – Qing Chi Peak was enveloped by a Barrier, and the cave behind him was the only entrance into the Barrier. Entering here likely required some special methods.

This was precisely why the Messengers kept the people entering and leaving Qing Chi Peak within the scrolls, for even if one found the entrance, they would merely wander within the caves without this method.

But this was just the first line of defense set by the ancestors at Qing Chi Peak.

"The peak is filled with mechanisms. A slight misstep could lead you astray, so stay close. I will guide you through once, and you must remember the path up the mountain," he said.

Yun Lin led the way at the front of the group.

Duan Mingyuan in the group was fully alert. This was the true purpose of the ability he advocated. When the Extraterrestrials had descended hundreds of years ago, there were others who shared his vision.

Subsequently, the principals of Yun Hai Academy, through generations, used all they knew to create this true utopia.

"The scrolls are the passageway, the melody in the mountains the guidance, and the inscriptions on the steles are the clues. If you look down from the mountaintop, you’ll see the array within the mountains is like a chessboard... what are you doing?"

Yun Lin turned to see, to her surprise, that four people had simultaneously taken out their phones and began taking photos.

"Taking pictures,"

Jiuyue said with conviction. She wasn’t interested in rote memorization and preferred modern methods, "Can’t we just take photos of each mechanism in order?"

"Oh, ah, well, that’s one way to do it,"

Yun Lin mumbled for a long while, pressing the prepared interpretations of verse, calligraphy, and chess strategy back into her heart. She still remembered the academy elders saying in her childhood that to not get lost in the mountains, one needed to understand the meaning behind each mechanism, the crystallization of wisdom from predecessors, which often took years for successors to comprehend.

But now, times had changed.

The photo function on their phones completely eliminated the time for understanding and comprehension.

For some reason, Yun Lin suddenly felt an intense sense of defeat.

Thereafter, she fell silent as they passed the last ink painting, and the grandiose Yun Hai Academy unfolded before their eyes.

It was the darkest hour just before dawn, yet the academy buzzed with unusual activity. Seeing Yun Lin and the others, people from the academy surged forward, and an elderly man with white hair and an air of immortality, dressed in a simple and ancient blue Taoist robe, approached them urgently asking, "Did you encounter anyone else outside the mountain?"

The light from the fire dispelled the darkness, and all eyes turned to Yun Lin.

That night, all the teachers of the academy had stayed awake, and just an hour earlier, the teacher sent to scout the situation had lost contact, leaving the academy like an isolated island.

Yun Lin was the only Messenger who had returned to the academy in the past few days.

Yun Lin bowed respectfully to the elder and answered, "We were ambushed on the way, and it was Teacher Mingyuan who saved me. Beyond that, we did not encounter anyone else."

Upon hearing this, the crowd erupted into a clamor, and the teachers of the academy exchanged solemn looks.

Although they had a premonition, fear inevitably spread among them when Yun Lin brought back confirmation.

Reflecting on the attack, Yun Lin said, "If the other Messengers were also attacked by the same group, it’s likely to be more bad news than good, and this includes the new students recruited... "

"Who are the attackers, and what are their motives?" a teacher from the crowd asked sternly.

"To silence by killing and then infiltrate Yun Hai Academy under the guise of a ’Defensive Against Evil Spirits’ teacher,"

Duan Mingyuan answered.

As he spoke, he observed the expressions of everyone present.

The other teachers looked bewildered, but the white-haired elder first froze, then said, "It’s getting late. Yun Lin, you take the newcomers back to rest. Teacher Mingyuan, please come with me."