The stone steps aren't long, but they are winding. 「Celestial Phoenix」 silently descends the stairs 伝記解放：「精衛」 「......」 Right behind me is a cute little girl. She's nimbly following after Phoenix, sometimes close to her and other times far away 「......」 The girl didn't say anything, either. Her silence was different from that of the Phoenix guardsmen—the girls were nonexistent people; every move she made had absolutely nothing to do with this world and her voice as well Aside from Phoenix, her existence meant nothing to anyone. And in this silent mountain, only Phoenix was able to hear the girl’s quiet whisper. 「Master, look—the mountain villa is on fire.」 When Phoenix turned around, a line of long and thin black smoke rose up from deep in the mountains like flowers blooming with ink. [em italic]（Suyi...）[/em] She puts strength into her feet. In an instant, she's moved over ten meters in length... 「...It's too late, Master.」

The girl speaks in a quiet voice.

She appears before me and blocks Phoenix's path. Ink flowers are quietly circling in the sky above her

 Phoenix stopped in her tracks, only staring vacantly. 「...Qin Suyi is dead, and the Sword Mountain Manor is destined to be with its master.」 The girl murmured. 「Master, there's no point in going back. When you show up it will bring ruin to the world and we cannot remove that from our minds!」 「They shouldn't have died.」 「So who should have died? You've changed, Master. The previous master would never care about whether a human lives or dies in the first place!」 「...You didn't mind?」

「All my master cared about was how to live—in other words, 『Stampede of qi』.

Hehe. If a human falls into that trap, they might as well be dead!」

 The girl shrugged her shoulders, glanced at the black smoke far away and asked further. 「Where is 『Sumizomeka』?」 「No matter how hard I tried, Suyi wouldn't tell me where Sumizome Incense was. Ahh... She died and many things were lost forever—」 「But Master won't give up, will he? No matter how much time it takes to find all the 『Hekihan』 『Disciple』s and get them back.」 Phoenix looked up at the sky and unconsciously nodded. 「Haha, I believe you can do it.」 Phoenix was shocked by those words, and instinctively turned her gaze to the girl’s face. The girl is looking straight at Phoenix.

Her gaze was very sincere, and her smile brimmed with shame.

Her words were filled with passion, full of respect and trust.

She's...

I feel like he knows her well.

I spent time with them long ago...

I've spent a very long time with them.

 Phoenix raises her brow, blinking. She was trying to get a clear look at the beautiful girl in front of them She looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old. That wasn’t strange—time was frozen in her world, after all The girl wasn't real, just one of the countless phantoms created by Phoenix’s wounded brain. But she was all that remained—the illusion appeared and disappeared; it faded away when brightly lit up —The woman who once killed him with her own hands. Would there be anyone who understood her more than the person responsible for killing him? 「Please tell me... What kind of person am I?」 「......」 The seemingly nonexistent girl smiles gently. 「I'm sure you are well aware of this. It is merely a memory, and the answer to any question that may arise from it cannot be solved at all!」 「Perhaps it's simply the result of my master asking herself a question, or perhaps an introspection that is difficult to accept. Or maybe our casual conversation and letters...」 「My answer is etched deeply into my master's memory, but it will be very difficult to determine whether or not that was true.」 「Master, all of your current pain is nothing more than an obsession with the past—but that history no longer exists.」 「Oblivion is a gift that removes all the burden of your past. And this world has such vastness to it, so you can go anywhere and do what needs doing—you're free as master!」 Phoenix said nothing. However, she knew this voice was coming from within her heart—her emotions hadn’t been murdered for an endless number of years; they were just buried alive and returned after the girl died 「――Please tell me.」 「You really want to know? Once you find out... once your decision is made, it will become Phoenix again. He'll be a person of the past and walk down his old path until he ends up with that same ending as before!」 「......」 The silence felt very long, but when Phoenix opened her mouth to speak it also seemed extremely short. It was as if she had never existed or hesitated at all 「I want to know.」 「...Yes, I understand.」 The girl closed her eyes. 「You're Phoenix, and you are our seven masters. My mother died in your hands when I was six years old... She lost control of herself as a result—and ever since that day she has been following me around with her head held high!」 「You had a strong, firm conviction. Immortality and unparalleled martial arts skills — there's no one in this world who can match you—and the first time we met was when I thought that nobody would be less impressed with your abilities than yourself」 「You look like a god, but I think that's something humans can never reach.」 「When we returned to the mountains with you, everyone rejoiced. The seven of us were all orphans and loved each other from our hearts—but as time went on for so long together...」 「That to you, we are temporary opponents and nothing more than pawns that can be thrown away once they're used.」 「You're the kind of person who, even if you are attracted to him at first... as time goes on and we spend together more often than not.」 Phoenix remained silent. A sadness like a summer rain poured down on her heart, unfettered by anything Finally, she voiced the question that had been weighing on her mind for over ten years. 「Zhaoyu, why did you try to kill me?」 The girl named Lin Zhaoyu opened her eyes wide and sighed. 「Master, I've been following you for thirty years. Thirty...」 伝記解放：「幻像」