Even though a messenger like her was still a little thing among a mythic species like the phoenixes, a phoenix who stood half as tall as a person was already bigger than most birds in Li Fei's eyes. Setting her on a lap was out of the question.
"Thanks for the hard work, Little Sister Ailin."
After taking the letter, Li Fei stroked her head. The feathers were soft and silky, pleasantly warm without being hot to the touch.
The little phoenix wasn't shy around strangers either. She even nudged her head against Li Fei's thigh, clearly enjoying the human petting.
"Good girl."
Li Fei praised her in a gentle voice and bent down to feed her.
To treat the guest who had come all this way, the Young Madam had splurged a hundred Wealth Points at the System Store on top-quality acorns, the kind that could serve as ritual materials, and had pulled out a flask of overnight Lucky Fountain water from her spatial ring.
Customer relations start in the cradle. A hundred Wealth Points today would earn back double once Miss Phoenix grew up and came to patronize the tavern a few times. She might even bring along some of her kin. Li Fei had long envied the nine phoenix big sisters in Tingbao's household…
The little phoenix pecked up the acorns one at a time, so gently, as if afraid of hurting Li Fei's palm. She was very well-behaved.
But the Lucky Fountain water? She wouldn't touch a drop.
"Why aren't you drinking?"
Li Fei asked curiously. "This spring water is so sweet…"
The little phoenix let out a chirp as clear as a bamboo flute, though with a childish lilt. Li Fei hurriedly put on her [Erudition Earring] and understood.
"Auntie Nicole said… she said…"
Just hearing "Auntie Nicole" made the corners of Li Fei's mouth curl. She and Irena would never dare call the forever young and beautiful Dean that, or the consequences would be severe.
"One idiot who likes drinking foot-washing water is enough."
The little phoenix dutifully delivered the second half of the message.
The smile vanished from Li Fei's face.
"Little Sister Ailin, what exactly do you mean by that?"
She froze for several seconds before asking with a mild, pleasant smile.
"Big Sister Irena takes girls to…"
The little phoenix flapped her wings and began chirping out the inside story she knew.
Li Fei stared blankly for a moment, thought it over, and finally understood. She tapped the heel of her right fist lightly into her left palm.
"So that's why the taste was off."
Having weathered plenty of storms in her time, Li Fei stayed calm.
After all, in Loxibrook, a pretty girl's foot sweat was a bestselling item, sold by the gram. Pickles and wine pressed by bare feet were always oversupplied. A lady in the Bai Mansion even used a pair of little JK leather shoes that Tingbao had worn for a year as a tobacco pouch and called it art. Even Miss Top Courtesan herself had long been planning to sell thigh-rolled cigarettes and mouth-chewed liquor.
Mere foot-wash water was thin gruel by comparison, honestly.
With one hand hanging down, she lightly scratched her slender, snow-white fingertips at the roots of the feathers on the little phoenix's neck. With the other, she tore open the envelope.
The letter was short, written in elegant handwriting. Folded Space B-01 would open the day after tomorrow, so she had to set out for the Main Academy tomorrow. It was signed Lady Nicole.
Li Fei skimmed the contents in one glance, then turned her full attention to grooming the little phoenix. She even scooped her up in both hands and brought her nose close to sniff.
There was no animal odor at all. Instead she gave off a warm, sweet fragrance. With a blindfold on, it would be hard to guess that the scent belonged to a bird rather than a cute girl.
"N-not there. You can't…"
The little phoenix turned her head away shyly and covered her eyes with a wing.
Li Fei turned a deaf ear. She hugged the little phoenix tight and buried her face deep in the feathers, savoring the smoothest down in the world.
High-Sequence beings were walking treasure troves. Their feathers and blood were both extremely precious Transcendent materials, which Li Fei normally couldn't afford. Now that she'd finally gotten the chance, she was going to make the most of it.
A few minutes later, Li Fei fed her every last acorn and bade farewell to the reluctant little phoenix.
"Once I'm rich, I'm getting a whole phoenix-down mattress and bedding set like Tingbao's…"
Li Fei muttered, watching that graceful golden-red figure melt into the glow of the setting sun.
*
By the old rule, the night before heading into battle was for getting into proper condition. No snuggling.
Even though she was only going to the Main Academy the next day, Folded Space B-01 wouldn't open until the day after, and the odds of mortal danger were low, Li Fei kept to the rule anyway.
"Do you have everything ready?"
It was already light. Qin Zhihua stood behind her fiancée, gently combing that glossy, jet-black short hair.
"Mm-hm."
Li Fei tilted her head back and pursed her lips.
Qin Zhihua tucked the long hair on her right side behind her ear and leaned down tenderly.
Dark strands tangled together, and it was a mess again.
Qin Zhihua went back to combing her hair.
The mood was calm, with none of the sorrow of parting. For a young Transcendent household, more time apart than together was simply normal. With such long lifespans, leaving for three or five years of training was no problem at all, whether to complete an Ascension Ritual or to gather rare materials. More often, a mercenary job or a stretch of seclusion to study some spell would eat up a few months.
Li Fei would be back in a little over a week. It barely counted as a business trip.
Once Qin Zhihua had gone downstairs to prepare breakfast and greet the guest, Li Fei walked straight into Eva's room, planted a kiss on Little Yawen's cheek, and then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, started ordering her daughter-in-law around.
"Dress me."
A few days earlier, the Azure Mint had gone to her head and Li Fei had done a few things not conducive to family harmony. Sofia was obviously not the type you could leave to neglect play, so to keep her from withdrawing into herself, Miss Mother-in-law had to take the initiative and hand her a chance, a yuri-chance.
Sofia had just gotten up. Her golden hair hung loose behind her, and her black nightgown outlined a slender, willowy figure and set off her cold, pale skin all the more. Her crimson lips gleamed with a captivating light, the charm unique to the blood clan.
A cool, elegant face and the gentle air of a mature young mother coexisted in her, creating an irresistible contrast.
"But…"
Surprise and delight clearly flickered in those ruby eyes, only to be swallowed by a tangle of feelings: grievance, anticipation, restraint, guilt, anxiety, a stirring she couldn't quite hold down… In the end she stood rooted to the spot, helpless and bewildered.
"Go on, then."
Eva, still lazing in bed, urged her in a soft, sleepy voice.
"What, are you really afraid Eva will get jealous?"
Miss Mother-in-law snorted, slapped the table with a nasty edge to her voice, and rose to leave. "Forget it, then. I'll do it myself, so I don't trouble you."
"No, I'm not!"
Sofia rushed forward and caught Li Fei's hand, then let go as if she'd been shocked, glancing instinctively at Eva and Yawen.
"That's more like it."
Only then did the young and beautiful wicked mother-in-law sit back down. With a wave of her hand, a stream of Transcendent items lined up neatly before the dressing table, gleaming in the morning light.
Sofia's eyelids fluttered. She bit her lower lip and carefully lifted Miss Mother-in-law's hand.
For the residents of Loxibrook, hands were an especially important part of the body, because they weren't merely charged with caressing children, gripping weapons, and lifting tableware.
According to City Hall statistics, local women spent up to 97% as much on hand care as on facial care, which was unimaginable in other cities. Even a noble's daughter would use nothing more than high-end hand cream and a manicure. Loxibrook was different. It had a whole industry chain built around hand care, using every method imaginable to pursue perfect suppleness and fineness of skin, even softening the fingernails.
It was no exaggeration to say that every well-off female citizen of Loxibrook was a gifted pianist. The nimbler the hands, the sweeter the melody.
And Li Fei's hands were especially beautiful.
True, her knuckles weren't broad and her fingers weren't anything to brag about in length. She was about on par with Lady Zhihua and couldn't hold a candle to Chloe, which might invite a sneer from certain alluring women of other races.
Yet those hands possessed a structural beauty that seemed shaped by the gods themselves: skin like ice, bones like jade, slender and soft as carved nephrite, even the fingertips glowing a rosy pink, radiating a bewitching allure.
Cradling that soft, boneless hand, Sofia felt its warmth seep through the snowy skin. Her cold heart could not stop pounding and clenching, and her blood-red eyes grew a little hazy.
She picked up the exquisite pair of black openwork hand stockings with some difficulty and slipped them onto her mother-in-law's hands, holding her breath.
The sheer, light black layered over the pearly, graceful skin, hazy and bewitching. Even the natural curve of those slender fingers carried a lazy, elegant charm.
The [Succubus's Light Kiss] were hand stockings, yet Li Fei wore them with more allure than most women managed with leg stockings.
Next came two earrings, the [Silence Earring] and the [Erudition Earring].
A pink sleeveless dress that fell to the knee, then lengthened, thickened safety shorts with a half-moon notch at the tailbone so that Miss Tail could breathe.
The [Belt of Strength] cinched a waist narrow enough to span with two hands. On the index and middle fingers of her left hand sat two rings, one green and one white: the [Fairy Whisper] and the [Angel's Perch].
"Uh-uh."
Li Fei suddenly raised a hand and poked Sofia's forehead, stopping her from trying to tuck a glittering green gem into her collar.
The [True Sight Gem] had to be carried on her person to counter stealth. Kept in the spatial ring, it did nothing. By Li Fei's old habits, tucking a small item like that into her collar was certainly convenient.
But since the exchange tournament she had been spending plenty of time at the War Academy, and her bad habit of stuffing loose change into her collar had earned her a painful lesson.
That dame Kova had shown no mercy during sparring. One iron-mountain shoulder strike had not only snapped two of Li Fei's ribs but also driven several gold coins into her flesh. If flat coins hurt that much, a gem that big in her collar, followed by one more punch, was a consequence she didn't dare imagine.
Sofia understood. She knelt on one knee, the very picture of a meek little wife.
"Mm-hm."
Miss Mother-in-law gave a satisfied hum and sank leisurely into the soft chair beside her. She lifted a toe and, without the slightest ceremony, rested the weight of her long right leg on her daughter-in-law's pale, slender, delicately boned shoulder, utterly spoiled and domineering.
Sofia's heart raced faster. She held the tender ankle in one hand and picked up the [Bai Mengtian's Handmade Garter] with the other.
The pure white lace garter slid over the snowy toes and traveled up the smooth, taut line of the leg, until it closed around the thigh with a soft snap, biting in just enough to dimple the flesh.
The [True Sight Gem] was fastened inside the garter.
Last, the vampire wife reverently cupped those pearly, tempting feet in her palms, as gently as she had once held her newborn daughter.
"Ssss."
Li Fei drew in a small breath. The coolness of those soft palms against her warm feet was quite a difference in temperature and startled the delicate skin. But she only curled her toes slightly, adjusted quickly, and waited quietly for the Snow White of the Toredo clan to put the crystal slippers on the wicked queen.
But just as the vampire wife reached out for the shoes, Miss Mother-in-law gave a displeased little huff through her nose and began making things difficult for her daughter-in-law.
"Hm? It's only been a few days since you last paid your respects, and you've forgotten the rules already?"
"N-no, I haven't…"
Sofia shot an awkward glance at her wife and daughter. After a moment's hesitation, she closed her eyes in front of them, and with her long lashes trembling, bowed her head and completed the foot-kiss.
She looked at her wife again, and only when she saw that Eva wasn't upset did she breathe easier. Yawen's clear, curious big eyes, however, made Sofia's face burn.
The vampire wife turned her gaze back to her palms and slipped the vivid scarlet high heels, [Heartshatter], onto those lovely feet. Skin and red crystal heels gleamed together in the soft morning light, like forbidden fruit hanging from a branch, like a rose dripping with poison, alluring and deadly.
Sofia stood up, a little reluctant. She knew these few minutes each day, joy and torment in equal measure, were about to end.
Still, she dutifully served out the last shift of the day for the little wife. After helping Miss Mother-in-law into the [Guardian Mage Robe], she picked up the [Gold-grade Mage Apprentice Brooch], meaning to pin it on for her.
"Use that one."
Li Fei shook her head again and glanced toward the silver-grade brooch.
She naturally understood the principle of wearing brocade in the dark. Until she held an overwhelming advantage, a low profile was better.
Sofia understood. She pinned the silver brooch to the collar of the robe, where the neckline strained against what lay beneath, then smoothed out the creases in the fabric.
"One more thing."
The robe shivered, and Miss Tail wriggled out from under the hem, nimbly hooking the brass ring from the table.
Is this… something I'm allowed to touch too?
Her bloodless heart gave a violent tremor. Sofia obediently held the long black tail and took the [Tightly Bound Love].
Even a vampire could feel how cold the brass ring was in her hand, and a little heavy too, a sharp contrast to that lively, warm tail.
Sofia felt an odd twinge of pity. She slowed her movements, held the brass ring in her palm and tried to warm it with her own low body heat. She dawdled a full ten seconds or more before gently fastening the tail ring at the base of the tail.
Miss Tail climbed up onto her palm like a proper lady, and Sofia had no choice but to perform the hand-kiss yet again.
Li Fei closed her eyes and quietly felt the power stirring and multiplying within her.
When she opened them again, flames seemed to dance in the depths of her dark eyes.
She lowered her gaze and looked at the white ring on her hand.
The [Bronze Medal of Honor: Nature] and the other brooches were stored inside. Their attributes couldn't stack, but enchantment effects like the Cleaning Spell could be used in rotation and recharged, so she had to keep them on her.
The dagger [Dark Night], the wand [Quietsong], and the one-handed sword [Blade of Joy] were in there too, ready to be drawn for battle in a single thought.
With the Dawn-grade hand stockings [Succubus's Light Kiss], the [Midas Gloves] were naturally redundant. They were now kept with Senior Sister Annesia, who used her Chaos Casting Innate Talent to farm gold with them.
Beyond that, under the rules and restrictions, the [Blood Demon Scripture], [Bai Mengtian's Handmade Crown], [Bai Mengtian's Stone of Deceit: Pink], the [Black-and-White Pendant], and the [Ten-Thousand Ghost Gourd] were all useless here. As for [Justice's Judgment], it had been doomed to gather dust from the moment it came into her hands.
Finally, the other ten pieces of storage gear, together with 17,000 tons of white gunpowder and the [Nimbus 6S Edition Flying Broom], had been safely stowed in the spatial ring.
"All is ready, save the east wind."
Li Fei murmured, pushed the door open, and went out to meet the guest at the breakfast table.
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