The emperor read the story book in the memorial

Seeing the boy crying so miserably, Li Jianyu smiled from the bottom of his heart, and stepped forward to coax him.

Under the coercion and lure of the two, the boy whispered out.

"My grandma is sick... I originally wanted to earn money for grandma, but old man Wu didn't want me to work, so I... then..." Having said all that, the boy simply went all out and said, "I beg you two My lord! Then give me the money in the purse, let me save my grandma, okay! After buying medicine for my grandma, I will work for the two adults. Although I am young, I can really work! And I can still read!"

Li Jianyu smiled and said: "Take us to your grandma's house. If what you said is true, I will give you the purse. How about it?"

"Ah...? But, is it okay?" The boy was a little flattered, and looked at Li Jianyu in a daze.

Li Jianyu nodded.

The boy was very happy, he sniffed, pulled himself together and led the two of them up the mountain together.

After passing through a forest, what came into view was not the dilapidated hut in Li Jianyu's imagination, but a temple!

Li Jianyu and Zhao Linxu looked at each other.

what happened?

"This is your house?"

"Yes, I live here with my grandma."

The temple house looked dilapidated and crude, with only a few sticks of incense inside, perhaps provided by the boy and his grandmother.

What surprised Li Jianyu was that the carvings on the walls and pillars were not dragons or gods that are common in temples, but phoenixes.Spreading their wings to fly, lingering and resting, the phoenix in various forms is lifelike.But on the divine table in front of him is a statue of a birdman. The so-called birdman has a human-like body, but with a bunch of wings on its back, it is just about to take off.

Perhaps outsiders may not be able to see what it is, at most they think it is a big bird, but Li Jianyu has been close to Phoenix since he came to this world, so how can he not see it.

"Does no one come to this temple?" Zhao Linxu asked after looking at the divine case and the dust everywhere.

"No... just my grandma and I are here." The boy thought for a while and said, "I have never seen anyone come, and the people in the village don't know. I told them, and they said that my grandma worshiped not a god." .”

Li Jianyu frowned slightly.

Phoenix is ​​not really a god.

"grandmother!"

The boy bypassed the ruined temple and went to the small courtyard at the back. The small courtyard is very large and there are many courtyards, but they have been in disrepair for a long time. They are either collapsed and leaking or covered with moss. There is only one room that can live in. .

Li Jianyu and Zhao Linxu followed the boy into the room in the small courtyard, and saw a skinny old man lying on the bed.

"Little Jiuer..."

The old man's voice was weak, and he said with a smile: "Where did you go? You brought guests..."

"They said that grandma can be cured!"

The old man was taken aback for a moment, and turned his head to look at Li Jianyu and Zhao Linxu with some difficulty.

"Hello grandma, I'm Li Jianyu, the lord of Fallen Leaf City." Li Jianyu sat on the wooden chair beside the bed and said softly, "Why do you live here alone with your grandson? You can go to the village. There is a philanthropic hall in the village. Xiao Jiu My son can also go to school. Grandma can’t work anymore, and little Jiu’er doesn’t need money to go to school.”

Li Jianyu felt a little uncomfortable in his heart.

He didn't expect that there were people living such a hard life under his jurisdiction.

"The city lord...?" The grandmother squinted her eyes, trying to see Li Jianyu's face clearly.

"Yes." Li Jianyu lowered his head slightly.

"Ah...! Ah!" The old lady was startled suddenly, her eyes widened and she stretched out her hand to hold Li Jianyu desperately, and murmured softly: "Phoenix, Phoenix..."

The voice was not loud, but Li Jianyu heard it, and his heart couldn't help shaking.

"Xiao Jiuer, take that gentleman out, go out..."

The grandma pointed at Xiao Jiu'er in a dazed manner.

"it is good!"

Seeing that the old man seemed to have something to say, Zhao Linxu didn't force it, and left with Xiao Jiu'er.

The shabby little room only had a bed, a table and chairs, and the grandmother's clothes were randomly folded under the bed, and there was a half-burned candle on the table.

Only the old man and Li Jianyu were left, and the old man was still holding Li Jianyu's hand, trembling slightly.

"Grandma...do you know me?"

The old man sighed, fixed his eyes on Li Jianyu and said, "I don't know you, but I know the blood in your body..."

"Son, you are a phoenix."

Li Jianyu paused.

"Grandma, you are mistaken." Li Jianyu said, "Look, I am just like you, with five sense organs and four limbs, and no feathers on my body."

Li Jianyu thought to himself, maybe it was because he had been with Fenghuang for many years that the old man mistook him for the aura of Phoenix on his body.

"No, no, phoenixes don't have to be like what you said. Phoenixes that have absorbed the sun and moon for a hundred years can transform into human forms, and they look indistinguishable from humans. And you... child, you You have both phoenix blood and human blood on your body, you are the barrier between the refined phoenix and human beings."

The old man took a few breaths before he had the strength to continue. He patted the back of Li Jianyu's hand and said, "Your parents, one of them is Phoenix!"

Li Jianyu stared blankly at the old man.

Li Jianyu tried hard to recall any clues about his parents.After he traveled to this strange world, his parents were gone, and the original owner was raised by his uncle.

The uncle once told Li Jianyu that the original owner's father died of illness when he was two years old, and the original owner's father disappeared after losing his husband, and no one saw him again.Yes, the original owner has no mother, but has two fathers.At that time, it took Li Jianyu a while to digest the fact that men in this world could have children.

"Sacred beasts should be immortal. The generations of the Li family are no different from ordinary people. My father also died of illness, so it shouldn't be a Phoenix? Dad, maybe..." Li Jianyu thought for a while and said, "Uncle once said that my father is unusually beautiful, And the face is not old."

"That's right, all Phoenixes are like this. Their appearance is overwhelming, and they will live forever."

Li Jianyu frowned slightly.

If he is a child of Phoenix, will he also live forever?

The concept of immortality is very unfamiliar to Li Jianyu, and he has only seen it in movies.And movies are generally written very bleakly, saying that the immortal person walks alone in the torrent of time, watching all the people close to him leave and die, leaving only himself alone.

Seeing Li Jianyu lowering his head and wondering what he was thinking, the old man smiled and said, "Don't you believe what the old woman said?"

Li Jianyu raised his head slightly.

"Grandma, how do you know this?"

"A long, long time ago, before the dynasty was established, there were mythical beasts on land, in the sea, and in the air. They coexisted peacefully with humans and created civilization." The old man seemed to find it difficult to talk while lying down, so he put his hands on the bed and wanted to get up. Li Jianyu then reached out to help her.

The old man leaned on the bedside and said, "It's a pity that human beings became more and more greedy later on, coveting the divine power of the beasts, and wanting to enslave them. They asked the Merman to give them expensive pearls, and asked the Phoenix to hand over the heart of immortality... and the war broke out. , The divine beasts started fighting with humans, the number of divine beasts was originally small, and the number of such a dozen will be even fewer."

"Later, my ancestors, the god witch He Ju, persuaded the king of the beasts to take them back into hiding. Pixiu hid in the clouds, and Xuanwu lived in seclusion in the deep sea... So the war gradually stopped and formed It's what it looks like now."

"Nowadays, not many people know the real existence of divine beasts." The old man smiled and said, "Maybe this is the best."

Li Jianyu didn't know what to say, but just looked at the old man quietly.

"The mission of our Heju clan is to protect the divine beasts, but I don't have much time..." The old man smiled and shook his head and said, "Otherwise, I can serve you. In order to ensure the purity of blood and the preservation of mana, we have married within the clan , but now because of this, only Xiao Jiuer and I are left..."

Li Jianyu said: "I will take care of you and Xiao Jiuer, and I will take you down the mountain."

The old man has guarded the Phoenix Temple all his life, even though the glory is no longer there.

But regardless of whether the old man is a witch or not, he will lend a helping hand to both of them.

"No no...the old woman has a few days to live, and I really don't want to mess around. I just ask you one thing." The old man took Li Jianyu's hand and said seriously: "Please take care of Xiao Jiuer. Xiao Jiuer is He Ju The little witch at home, and you are a phoenix, you will be better with him by your side, he must be useful to you."

Li Jianyu shook his head and said, "I'll take you down the mountain to find the imperial physician."

"Son... don't you understand? I am a witch, and I know how many days are left of me. My fate is fixed and cannot be changed. Let me return to this temple with peace of mind. After I die, bury me Behind the temple, this is Heju's glory."

Li Jianyu bit her lower lip, not knowing how to answer, so she simply didn't answer, got up and left the room.

Outside the house, Zhao Linxu and Xiao Jiuer, one big and one small, were sitting on the steps in the yard playing with stones.

Xiao Jiu'er looked no longer afraid of Zhao Linxu, and had a good time with him.

"What's the matter?" Zhao Linxu saw that Li Jianyu's complexion was not good, so he patted Xiao Jiu'er on the head and said, "Go in and talk to your grandma."

After Xiao Jiu'er left obediently, Li Jianyu sat beside Zhao Linxu and said, "Grandma wants me to take Xiao Jiu'er down the mountain and take care of Xiao Jiu'er. After all, it's not right for a child to grow up in the mountains all year round."

"Yes." Zhao Linxu nodded.

"But she doesn't want to leave." Li Jianyu lowered her eyes and said, "This is a Phoenix Temple, and the old lady is the witch who protects the beast. She said she has magic powers and knows that her time is numbered."

"Witch?" Zhao Linxu was taken aback.

After all, Zhao Linxu is not a bad person, and this is no secret.Li Jianyu then omitted the part about being Phoenix, and relayed what the old man said to Zhao Linxu.

"So that's how it is...but." Zhao Linxu said with a smile: "It's more because the old lady is attached to this place, she is reluctant to leave."

Li Jianyu turned to look at Zhao Linxu.

"Don't blame yourself. What we think is good may not be good for others. Since she insists, what we can do is to send some food and daily necessities, so that the old lady can spend the last part of her life with peace of mind."

Seeing Zhao Linxu's open-minded look, Li Jianyu felt that the slight discomfort in his heart disappeared.

"you're right."

The two went back to the room again, and saw Xiao Jiuer crying in the old man's arms. Presumably, the old grandma told Xiao Jiuer to let him go down the mountain alone.

Xiao Jiu'er turned her head to see the two, her face wrinkled, and she wanted to cry again.

"Xiao Jiuer, be good." The old man said, "Be obedient. How did grandma teach you before?"

Xiao Jiu'er choked with sobs and said: "Life, life and death have been decided, there is intention to get together... woo..."

After finishing speaking, Xiao Jiu'er couldn't bear it anymore, and tears fell down.After all, Xiao Jiu'er was just a baby who spoke with a milky voice, so she just covered her eyes and fled out of the room in embarrassment.

The old man sighed slightly.

"Why don't you let Xiao Jiuer stay here for a few more days?" Li Jianyu couldn't bear it.

"Your arrival is the guidance of fate. The Phoenix Temple is so remote, but you still came. Today is today." The old man was unexpectedly stubborn.

Seeing that Li Jianyu and the old man had nothing to say, Zhao Linxu politely asked, "Grandma, can I ask you a few questions?"

Li Jianyu froze.

Sure enough, Zhao Linxu came to the bedside and asked, "Excuse me, if a person has a phoenix totem on his body, is he the descendant of the phoenix or the incarnation of the phoenix?"

Worthy!

Li Jianyu tried his best to wink at the old man, but the old man was old and his eyes were dim, so he couldn't see.

"Ah... this old woman doesn't know."

The old man thought in his heart that the phoenix totem would appear on Li Jianyu's body, but this person who came with Li Jianyu didn't know it, and Li Jianyu didn't want to tell him.The master doesn't want to say it, so how can she say it.

Li Jianyu breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhao Linxu seemed a little disappointed, and asked again: "Then is there a witch like my mother-in-law around here? She is not tall, and her face is full of pockmarks."

"The old woman has never heard of it. I'm sorry..." The old man really didn't know.

"It's okay."

Zhao Linxu sighed slightly.

Li Jianyu was behind thanking God.

Every day in fear, this day is really sad!