The group's beloved wife: She is the phoenix, she is the king

Chapter 708 A Decision Must Be Made

Time always gradually brings things to the forefront, presenting both challenges and opportunities. —Epigraph

"Are you sure you want me to see this?" Fan Nuoxi slowly straightened up, hesitant.

Anyway, the news can't be too bad, and there might be some positive developments.

Tan Ying stepped forward, subtly pushing Qu Kuo aside, and solemnly placed the letter in Fan Nuoxi's hand.

Fan Nuoxi looked at the totem on the top letter that wasn't unique to the Lin Realm, and her heart trembled slightly.

It seems that some other force has made contact with the Rinkai...

Fan Nuoxi hesitated for a moment, but still opened the letter to read it.

But for some reason, as soon as those letters were opened, the words on them seemed to come alive and suddenly vanished into nothingness.

Seeing that Qu Kuo and Tan Ying didn't seem surprised, Fan Nuoxi knew that special measures must have been taken to seal the letter.

Fan Nuoxi ran her fingertips over the letter for a few breaths, and then she sensed a subtle energy fluctuation on the letter. The next moment, the letter turned into a stream of light, which coalesced into a semi-transparent figure that stood before everyone.

The other letters seemed to trigger a chain reaction, with several semi-transparent figures appearing one after another.

There were both men and women among them, and their appearances were indistinct, perhaps because of the distance, but their voices were clearly audible.

"Owner!"

"Master, it really is you!"

"Master, you are finally back!"

"Owner……"

"..."

Fan Nuoxi's lips twitched. "Um... if you have something to say, say it. Don't make up names..."

She's a modern woman, how come she's acting like a slave owner here...?

Noticing that Fan Nuoxi seemed somewhat embarrassed, Dongfang Junyan gently held Fan Nuoxi's hand, as if to comfort her.

The phantoms, who were originally about to cause some trouble, immediately stood still upon hearing the sound, though their gazes towards Tan Ying and Qu Kuo were somewhat resentful.

Qu Kuo tried to ignore their stares and intervened to defuse the situation, saying, "Ahem...get to the point, don't beat around the bush..."

One of the women, looking heroic and spirited, glanced at the other excited phantoms beside her, tried to control her emotions, and slowly spoke, "Master, we have indeed encountered something very important this time."

"In many places, a strange force has appeared for unknown reasons, devouring living beings in various ways."

"There are also many terrifying monsters, their bodies emitting green mist, black smoke, or white smoke, leaving nothing but desolation in their wake."

"Those monsters have a very regular pattern of activity. They come out today and don't come out tomorrow, but when they reappear, they are much stronger than before."

Another man added, "They will also actively search for things, and their favorite places are places you've been before."

"It's rather strange, many of the places they went to were already destroyed and could not be approached by ordinary forces, but the monsters went there intact and came out intact."

"I wonder what those monsters found..."

"Furthermore... the place we are in is also on the verge of disappearing..."

“This is a very important matter, Master. We are afraid they will find this place soon, so we sent someone to deliver a message.”

"Firstly, I wanted to check if you were alright; secondly, I wanted to find a way to deal with those monsters; and thirdly... we're almost at our limit and need help..."

At this point, the atmosphere visibly became somber and sorrowful.

"What should we do?" Qu Kuo subconsciously looked at Fan Nuoxi, clearly waiting for her to make a decision.

Fan Nuoxi pursed her lips, then sighed and rubbed her forehead in exasperation. "You all seem more capable than me. How can you possibly have any ideas about things I don't even know?"

Every day feels like a crisis; it feels like the end of the world could happen at any moment.

What she could think of, they could think of too. Finding a way out was like trying to stick a sparrow in a chicken feather—nothing could be relied on!

“Since they dared to come, they must have other clues, such as the approximate location of the monster’s base, the monster’s leader, and how the monster got to those hard-to-reach places…” Dongfang Junyan looked at the phantoms and comforted Fan Nuoxi.

Upon hearing Dongfang Junyan's voice, the illusory figures fell silent, followed by a burst of incredulous exclamations.

"How...how could he be here?"

"He's not...he's not..."

"I thought I was seeing things..."

"I thought it was just a resemblance..."

"Obviously..."

"..."

"Hey? Can't you guys have a proper conversation?" Qu Kuo interrupted them, seeing that Dongfang Junyan was unmoved by their words and looked surprised.

Tan Ying echoed, "The important thing is business."

Upon hearing this, Fan Nuoxi gripped Dongfang Junyan's hand, her brows furrowing slightly. "Since you don't want to have a proper conversation, I think you should leave this matter to yourselves..."

Why do these people act like this whenever they see Ayan?

Whom did they mistake Ayan for?

Before he could finish speaking, he was met with a chorus of apologies.

"Master, we were wrong..."

"Master, please don't abandon us..."

"You're all we can rely on right now..."

“Master, we’re sorry, we shouldn’t have disturbed your…companion…”

"We were just too excited, we didn't mean to be rude..."

"..."

"Alright, let's get down to business." Fan Nuoxi's tone was a mix of impatience and helplessness.

She could understand rationally, but was a bit frantic emotionally.

What past are they talking about? Whether she was personally involved or not, the people she likes and cares about have no right to judge her like that.

The phantoms clearly noticed Fan Nuoxi's change in mood, and they all lowered their heads.

Even Tan Ying didn't dare to speak at this moment.

Dongfang Junyan gently wrapped his arms around Fan Nuoxi's waist from behind, a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth, to assert his dominance.

After a brief silence, the atmosphere shifted from one stalemate to another, requiring a more serious approach.

Through their extensive investigations, they discovered that the monsters' stronghold was neither in those annihilated places nor in Xu Nuan, but in a chaotic and uncontrolled area—the Anvil.

The exact year that place was formed is unknown, and it has been a forbidden zone that inspires fear since it was first discovered.

Very few people manage to come out of there; most are either dead or badly injured.

The only person who went there and was unharmed was Fan Nuoxi, or more accurately, the unapproachable master who was still by Tan Ying's side at that time.

As for why she left, no one knows.

Naturally, no one could know what was inside.

Now that so many years have passed, the situation there is completely unknown.

Their location is constantly changing, and it took them a lot of effort to be able to identify them.

Therefore, they deduced that those monsters were able to appear in so many places thanks to some kind of secret treasure.

"So you're saying that as long as someone goes there to investigate, the truth will come out, and I'm the most suitable person, is that right?" Fan Nuoxi broke free from Dongfang Junyan's embrace, tugged at her sleeve, and continued.

"No...that's not the case!"

"We think that there might be some magical artifacts left behind by the master there, so we want to know if the master can sense whether there are any of your magical artifacts in that place..."

A phantom figure quickly shook its head and explained.

“We don’t intend to put you at risk. Instead, we would like you to give us some ideas so we can place you in a relatively safe place.”

We really don't want to lose you!

"Master, please don't get stuck in a rut and risk your life!"

"We haven't even had a chance to come to your side yet, so please don't make a mistake!"

The other phantom figures quickly tried to dissuade them.

"Yes, Master, you shouldn't take the risk. If anything happens to you, Yingying would rather go with you than live alone!" Tan Ying's eyes were already red, and she reached out and grabbed Fan Nuoxi's wrist tightly, as if afraid that she would go there in the next second!

“But I think the bigger the storm, the more likely there might be a solution,” Fan Nuoxi tried to persuade them. “Look at the current situation, we’re all struggling to take care of ourselves. Besides, I think that place might be the key stronghold that can resolve all of this.”

"The saying goes, 'To catch a thief, first catch the king.' If we can just capture this most dangerous 'culprit' and take him down, why worry about not having a chance to stabilize other places?"

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This chapter's screenwriter: Fan Nuoxi

Art Direction: Qu Kuo

Guest appearance: Phantom