Runes • Rifles • Reincarnation
93. Phoenix City

Jin Shu walked through the shimmering blue void of the slipspace, a child on his head, a person clinging to his back and two others holding his hands.

If anyone could see them, it would be a ridiculous sight—but luckily, they were alone in this space.

“Wow! So pretty!” Yin’er exclaimed from atop his head.

She reached out, trying to grab a floating mote of light that shimmered like blue starlight, only for her fingers to pass right through.

“Aww, I can't touch it.” She pouted.

“You need control over the Water element to interact with anything here,” Jin Shu explained.

Biyu, eyes filled with curiosity, glanced around. “How does this work?”

“You mean this dimension?” Jin Shu clarified before continuing. “I don’t know why or how it exists. All I know is that you need Wind to open a doorway here and Water to move through it.”

“It feels like we’re just walking, how is this faster than normal?” she asked.

“We are walking at normal speed,” he said. “But each step here is equal to about a dozen steps outside. Also, time feels different here—an hour passing here would feel like just a second outside.”

“Really? How does that even work?” Tian Li asked, frowning.

Jin Shu instinctively tried to shake his head—only to nearly knock Yin’er off. Instead, he settled for a shrug. “No clue.”

“Hmm… didn’t you say the aunt from your… other life taught you?” she pressed.

“Yep, she invented this technique—Ripple Walk, she called it.”

“What’s it like?” Li Xue suddenly whispered into his ear.

He flinched at the unexpected closeness. “What’s what like?”

“Having memories of past lives.”

Jin Shu hesitated, then said, “Confusing… but oddly comforting.”

“How so?” Biyu asked, momentarily tearing her attention away from the scenery to look at him.

“It’s like…” He searched for the words. “There are all these different versions of me, but we’re still the same person. So I’m never really alone.” He paused. “It also gives me new perspectives, even if they aren’t always the best.”

“Which version are you right now?” Biyu asked.

The question caught him off guard. Not because he couldn’t answer it—just because he hadn’t expected it.

“Right now? I’m this Jin Shu. But I always am, even when I’m not… I guess.”

“…What?” Li Xue blew softly against his ear again.

A shiver ran down his spine. He briefly considered tossing her off, but tracking where she landed outside the void sounded like too much trouble.

Before he could reply, something caught his attention. His expression shifted.

“We’re here,” he said, mentally opening a portal back to the outside world.

“How can you tell?” Tian Li asked, spreading her Qi outward but failing to sense anything.

“I can feel the surroundings outside using the Wind element,” Jin Shu replied, already stepping toward the portal.

They emerged from the shimmering blue void into the vibrant real world.

Tian Li and Biyu stumbled slightly as they stepped out, unprepared for the abrupt shift. Jin Shu steadied them, having expected their reaction.

“Whoa! That’s bizarre!” Li Xue exclaimed from his back.

Once Biyu and Tian Li regained their balance, Jin Shu let go of their hands and reached up to pull Yin’er off his head.

He waited.

Several seconds passed.

Li Xue didn’t move.

“Li Xue, get off,” he said, deadpan.

“Nope. I like this. I’m staying.”

“If she gets to stay, I wanna ride on Mommy’s head again!” Yin’er piped up.

Jin Shu sighed. “She’s not staying, and you don’t need to ride on my head.”

He tried prying Li Xue’s arms from around his neck and her legs from his waist, but she clung on like a stubborn leech.

“Seriously. Let go.”

“Nope.”

“Please?”

“Hmm… for a—”

“For a kiss. Yeah, yeah,” he cut in before she could finish. “Get down first, and I’ll give you one.”

“Yin’er wants a kiss too!” Yin’er flapped her wings excitedly.

Jin Shu sighed. At this rate, his lips were going to fall off from overuse.

“I was going to say for a little longer, let me stay on your back,” Li Xue said.

“Oh…” He scratched the back of his head—only to end up scratching hers instead.

“Ah~ a little to the right,” she said, leaning into his touch.

Jin Shu relented, scratching her head for a moment. When her grip loosened from pleasure, he swiftly pried her hands off and tossed her down.

Li Xue twisted midair and landed perfectly on her feet.

“Hehe!” She grinned, flashing a double peace sign. “Stuck the landing!”

Jin Shu turned away without another glance.

“Boo!” she protested.

Ignoring her, he surveyed their surroundings.

They stood in an open field at the base of a mountain range. A few hundred feet away, a stone wall enclosed a large wooden gate, which stood open as disciples passed in and out.

Beautiful women—both young and old—filled the area, their flowing robes embroidered with phoenix motifs marking them as members of the Immortal Phoenix Sect.

This was the sect’s heart—a sprawling city nestled between mountains, home to both outer and inner sect disciples. Over the years, it had evolved from simple housing into a thriving, exclusive city for sect members.

Jin Shu stood watching the women come and go when a chill ran down his spine.

A sense of danger prickled at his instincts.

Glancing left and right, he stiffened.

Biyu’s icy stare could freeze an ocean.

Tian Li’s smoldering glare could melt steel.

“Do you see any more goddesses?” Biyu asked, echoing the same question from the first time they had arrived here.

Jin Shu shook his head rapidly, like a rattle drum.

“Only the three beside me,” he said with a weak smile.

“Oh? You throw that word around quite a lot, don’t you?” Tian Li’s voice dripped with sarcasm—and not-so-subtle menace.

His head wobbled even faster, feeling like it might snap right off his shoulders.

“It’s because I’m surrounded by the world’s most beautiful women,” he said hurriedly. “So breathtakingly beautiful that I forget how to breathe when I’m near them.”

“And which women would those be?” Tian Li pressed.

“The three standing beside me, of course.”

“What about me?” Yin’er chimed in, bouncing up and down. “Am I a beautiful goddess?”

“Yin’er is the cutest little princess. Right, Tian Li?” Jin Shu said, deploying his ultimate distraction tactic.

It worked better than expected.

“Of course! Our Yin’er is the cutest, most precious princess!” Tian Li gushed, immediately reaching out to scoop her up—only for Yin’er to dodge effortlessly.

Jin Shu exhaled in relief.

Crisis averted.

Or so he thought.

Another chill crept down his spine.

Right. He’d forgotten someone.

Turning, he met Biyu’s frosty gaze and offered his most innocent smile.

“Hmph!” She snorted, flipping her hair as she turned on her heel and strode toward the distant gates.

A reassuring tap on his shoulder made Jin Shu turn, only to find Li Xue beaming at him.

“I don’t mind if you find a few more goddesses to marry,” she said brightly. “Just no more than six—counting us three.”

“What?” He blinked. “I feel like I shouldn’t ask this… but why six?”

She shook her head, as if he had just asked the dumbest question in existence.

“It’s obvious,” she said, her tone suddenly wise, as though imparting ancient, time-honored wisdom. “If each wife has two children, that’s twelve. Add your six wives, and that’s eighteen. Then with you and Yin’er, the total is twenty! And that’s the perfect number of family members.”

Jin Shu sighed and walked away.

“…What did I expect from an idiot?”

“Who are you calling an idiot?!”

“Oh… did I say that out loud?” he asked, utterly monotone and insincere.

Li Xue shot forward, aiming a kick at his back, but Jin Shu had been expecting it. Sensing the attack with the Wind element, he coated his back in a barrier of air, deflecting her foot to the side.

She reacted instantly, spinning mid-step to redirect the momentum into a second kick—this time aimed at his other side.

Rather than blocking again, Jin Shu caught her calf and yanked her toward him.

She gasped, trying to regain her balance, but she had been caught off guard. With a startled yelp, she tumbled straight into his arms.

For a moment, he considered giving her another kiss to distract her, but… no. Better to ration those out. A reward system would be far more effective in the long run.

After all, he needed a way to keep each of them in check.

As bad as that sounded, he reasoned that if he didn’t have countermeasures, they would eventually find ways to overpower him instead. So, it was only fair.

…That said, he still wasn’t sure what Biyu’s weakness was.

Setting that thought aside for later, he gently patted Li Xue’s head and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

“Be good, and I’ll give you a reward later.”

She shuddered in his arms, blushing furiously as she nodded up and down like a chick pecking at rice.

“I like this voice the most,” she mumbled, gazing up at him with large, watery eyes. “Can you keep it?”

He paused.

Right… his voice was currently altered by the talisman he was using for his disguise. Since he couldn’t hear the change himself, he made a mental note to check it later.

“We’ll see,” he said, releasing her and walking off to catch up with the others—Li Xue following a step behind.

As he walked, his gaze flicked up to the bold, fiery calligraphy above the city gates—Phoenix City.

A strange premonition settled over him.

Many things were bound to happen during their time in this small city.

Whether they’d be good or bad… he had no idea.

But knowing his luck? Probably both.