Chapter 532: A Cheng is a formidable child

"Xiao Jiu, take A Cheng and run! Hurry up!"

That was a juvenile fire phoenix, its size a bit larger than the previous snow phoenix.

She spread her wings, wingspan actually two or three meters long, blocking the rolling black energy coming from behind.

The black energy kept rising, getting higher and higher, gradually overflowing from above, and soon completely submerged that fire phoenix.

Even after the fire phoenix was completely swallowed by the black energy, her voice still came out hysterically: "Xiao Jiu, take A Cheng and run, you must protect A Cheng well."

Boom!

At the moment the fire phoenix's spirit body exploded, that eye also completely disappeared before my eyes.

The room fell into darkness, with only my ragged breathing left.

My head hurts.

An unprecedented pain, as if my head were about to split open, and also as if a hand were constantly stirring in my mind.

I don't know why, the scene of the fire phoenix's spirit body just displayed made me feel extremely familiar, as if I had personally experienced it before, too real.

At this moment I'm a bit uncertain—whether I'm recalling some past memory, or this is a memory-altering sorcery?

If it is a memory-altering sorcery, then it shows that Dìshì must be somewhere around the pawnshop.

How could that be possible?

Most of the Three-Legged Crows are currently on the way to the Zàng Qū; not in the Zàng Qū, so they must be in the Wǎngsǐ Chéng.

If it's not Dìshì, then who could it be?

Eyes...

My vision suddenly brightened—it was A Cheng!

A Cheng has come down from the mountains; he had been to the pawnshop before.

Last night, as I returned, I kept feeling something behind me staring at me; now it seems it was that eye.

In other words, the one staring at me was A Cheng.

Then, what exactly was the scene shown in that eye just now—did it truly happen before, or is A Cheng trying to impose it on me?

What exactly is my relationship with A Cheng?

Just then, a series of eagle cries suddenly came from above the roof.

Now I'm especially sensitive to this cry; instantly it makes me think of Dìshì and Kong Ji!

I immediately got out of bed, put on a coat, and hurried outside.

I opened the pawnshop's main door, looked up, and immediately saw a dozen or so hawks gathering in a direction.

I sprinted over there; before I got close, I saw a headless youth standing up on the roof of a two-story building.

A hawk pecked at his arm; I don't know what it bit, but that thing instantly exploded in the hawk's beak, and immediately a fire phoenix's spirit body appeared in midair.

That fire phoenix was much larger than the one I had just seen; at the moment it appeared, a vast sea of fire surrounded its body.

He fought in the sea of fire until the very second he died.

The eye exploded, and the spirit body completely vanished.

Seeing this, my head hurt even more, making my whole body tremble.

Some blurry memories kept rolling in my mind.

I seem to have remembered: A Cheng is not a bad person.

I feel like I once promised someone that I would definitely protect A Cheng for her.

Those hawks kept circling in midair, each dive aimed at the eye on the headless youth's body.

One by one, eyes were pecked by the hawks and burst open; segment after segment of memory flashed in this night like an outdoor movie, quickly appearing and then quickly disappearing.

Every scene, to me, was so familiar it made my heart race.

And the headless youth on the roof was completely enraged; I only saw his hands quickly forming seals, and in the next instant a talisman appeared between his palms.

The moment the talisman was thrust out, it instantly swelled to several times its size; the huge talisman was launched, booming loudly, and several bolts of lightning struck the hawks, two of them exploding directly, feathers flying, flesh and blood splattering...

As if receiving some command, the remaining hawks retreated in a certain direction.

I was about to step in to help, but I heard a cold laugh emanating from the headless youth's chest, tinged with sinister amusement: "So it's you, old thing! You're asking for death!"

After saying that, the headless youth grabbed the cloth bag in his hand, chased the hawks across the roof with a few leaps, and vanished.

I stood where I was, my eyes following the direction the headless youth had gone, for a long, long time.

My head went from an excruciating pain, as if it were about to burst, to gradually calming down.

I temporarily couldn't piece together those fragmented memories, but I realized that the headless youth is A Cheng, and A Cheng is not a bad person.

We used to know each other, and he is very likely a member of the Feng Clan.

Someone once entrusted him to me at a life-or-death moment; I lost him, and I owe him an apology.

He still remembers me.

That's why he came to find me.

He obviously knows the owner of those hawks just now; his daring to chase them without hesitation shows he is capable of confronting that opponent.

A Cheng is a formidable child.

The hawks have reappeared—are they targeting A Cheng, or the pawnshop? I need to go back and check.

I fear this is a 'lure the tiger away from the mountain' scheme.

After all, Bái Sōnglán has been captured, and they have also moved against Hui Moqiong and Huáng Fán.

Just after I returned to the pawnshop, I heard my phone ringing in the room.

Everyone in the Big Family had risen; Li Qingying took my phone and came out, saw I had returned, sighed in relief, handed me the phone, and said, "It's Director Fang calling; this is the second ring, seems urgent."

I answered the phone: "Hello, Director Fang..."

"Xiao Jiu Zhanggui, something serious has happened!" Fang Chuanzong didn't let me finish, urgently saying, "I just received news that the Kong Ji people are very likely now in Wufu Town; you all must be careful!"

Emptiness?

My heart gave a thump, so the 'old thing' A Cheng went after just now—could it be Emptiness?!

My voice grew tense as I said: 'Old Fang, he might have already come.'

Fang Chuanzong immediately asked: 'Were you ambushed? How's your side? Do you need me to rush over now?'

'No, not needed.' I replied, 'His target doesn't seem to be Dang Pu.'

I hesitated a moment, but still briefly told Fang Chuanzong about A Cheng's matter.

It's not that I don't want to elaborate; it's that I don't know much about this child either.

Li Qingying and the others nearby also heard what I said, each looking at me in surprise.

When Fang Chuanzong heard me say 'bag-eye,' he fell silent and didn't respond for a while.

I probed, asking: 'Old Fang, what's wrong? Do you have something to attend to over there?'

'Nothing.' Fang Chuanzong said, 'Just hearing your description, I inexplicably feel somewhat familiar, as if I've seen a similar situation in some file. Xiao Jiu Zhanggui, give me a moment—I'll look it up.'

Fang Chuanzong acted quickly; in less than ten minutes, the phone rang again: 'Found it, Xiao Jiu Zhanggui—the Special Affairs Office's records on the Ancient Feng Clan's witchcraft mention something about bag‑eyes…'