WTYTIAAN Chapter 227

Chapter 227

Little Daeni’s eyes lit up, “Kitty is so amazing!”

Yan Yunqing glanced at her speechlessly.

“We need to hurry.” Little Daeni said softly, while hugging the little black cat and quickening her pace. The soft soles of her shoes made a “pochi pochi” sound as she stepped on the soft snow. “Big sister’s wedding is about to start, um.”

Little Daeni’s short legs didn’t run very fast in the snow, but the small mountain village wasn’t very big to begin with. With Yan Yunqing’s illuminating magic, the two of them and the cat quickly found Uncle Lowell’s house that Little Daeni mentioned.

This was a wooden house far away from the village, visibly dilapidated. It stood alone in the wind and snow, far away from other houses. It was surrounded by withered yellow weeds that had been crushed by the heavy snow, shivering in the cold wind.

The wooden fence around the house was mottled and crumbling. The wooden planks that were supposed to block the wind and rain had been eroded by the elements and were covered with mold spots from years of not seeing sunlight. They were corroded and pitted, revealing the rotten core inside. The broken window frames hung on the walls like a pair of hollow eyes, silently watching the village in front.

Time had left deep marks on this wooden house.

Can people really live in this place?

Yan Yunqing began to doubt. He wondered how long it had been since this house had been repaired. Forget about blocking the wind and snow, he even felt that staying here at night would be like being surrounded by enemies on all sides!

Everywhere he went, he could hear the howling, wailing, and roaring of the wind.

Little Daeni held up the little black cat, pointing to the little wooden house as if to claim credit, “It’s here!”

This time, Yan Yunqing jumped out of Little Daeni’s arms smoothly, without any resistance. He didn’t care whether he looked like a little cat or not. Anyway, Little Daeni’s attitude towards him was obviously not just towards a little cat, so Yan Yunqing was too lazy to pretend.

The door of the wooden house wasn’t closed tightly. Yan Yunqing pushed it open with his paw and walked into the dilapidated wooden house, his paws feeling a bit frozen by the snow. A musty, damp smell hit him in the face. What came into view was a layer of dust that had accumulated over time, rising and falling with the airflow as the wooden door was pushed open.

There wasn’t much furniture in the house, and the few pieces that were there were as dilapidated as the wooden house itself: a rickety wooden table, a rusty stove, and a fireplace in the corner filled with ashes. On the other side was a pile of messy Debris.

Yan Yunqing carefully examined the house. There were indeed fresh footprints in the wooden house. It was obvious that someone had entered the house after stepping in snow water, which then melted on the floor, leaving a series of dirty marks in the dust.

It seemed that Bishop Lowell had already returned.

But did he really intend to live in this environment for a day? Even Yan Yunqing, who wasn’t particularly picky, found this environment a bit difficult to accept.

Just as he took a few steps inside, a childish voice close to that of a child sounded –

“Someone’s here! Someone’s here!”

Yan Yunqing was startled. A dark shadow rushed over, stirring up a cloud of dust and causing Yan Yunqing to take a step back.

Fortunately, the dark shadow didn’t make any attacking moves. Instead, it twisted its body upward just as it was about to rush in front of Yan Yunqing, landing on the iron rack above the fireplace.

Yan Yunqing took a closer look and saw that it was actually a bird.

No, to be precise, it was a Phoenix bird.

Yan Yunqing, who had studied at Hogwarts Academy for more than half a year, recognized it at a glance. It was an extremely rare bird species on the Ermann Continent. They were a dark greenish-black color all over, with extremely beautiful dark patterns on their feathers, and a cluster of brightly colored crest feathers on their heads.

As pure birds, they also had a characteristic that no other creature could match: Phoenix birds possessed a special throat structure that allowed them to mimic human language. At the same time, they had an intelligence no lower than that of a seven- or eight-year-old human child.

Therefore, whether or not Phoenix birds could be considered an intelligent alien race had always been a research topic for human scholars. Of course, in the end, this topic often failed to be classified as an alien race because Phoenix birds didn’t have humanoid forms.

However, because of their rarity, beauty, and ability to speak, many nobles regarded keeping a Phoenix bird as a symbol of wealth and status.

Yan Yunqing wondered if the fact that Phoenix birds had never been recognized as a special alien race had anything to do with the efforts of these nobles.

The Phoenix bird perched on the iron rack above the fireplace looked a bit unkempt. It was still very beautiful, but its magnificent feathers were messy, as if they hadn’t been properly groomed for a long time, or as if it had been on a great adventure in this messy Debris.

The little green bird, certified to have the same intelligence as a seven- or eight-year-old human child, stared at the obvious intruder with its beady black eyes, but flapped its wings and howled, “Welcome, welcome!”

Yan Yunqing: …

Where did this stupid bird come from?

“Eh? It’s Fini!” Little Daeni heard the commotion and poked her head in, spotting the little green bird on the iron rack. She exclaimed in surprise.

The Phoenix bird also saw the round head poking out from outside the door. It fluttered its wings and flew over, circling around Little Daeni. “Daeni! Daeni! Like! Welcome!”

Little Daeni reached out and caught the little green bird, cuddling its messy little head. “I like you too, Fini!”

“Daeni! Daeni! Good baby!”

Yan Yunqing: …

Confirmed, this bird was most likely raised by someone in the village, possibly even by Little Daeni herself. After all, the two of them looked particularly close. No one would believe it if they said there was no connection.

But how could Little Daeni’s pet bird be in this house?

Wasn’t this Bishop Lowell’s house?

Yan Yunqing felt strange in his heart, but he didn’t dwell on the question too much. His purpose here wasn’t for this little stupid bird.

Yan Yunqing quickly scurried back and forth in the dilapidated wooden house, looking for possible clues. However, he searched the entire house but still found nothing.

The only thing he could be sure of was that Bishop Lowell hadn’t lived here for many years. The traces of dust in the wooden house couldn’t have been left in just a month or two. But there were also some footprints from different time periods in the wooden house. Based on the depth of the shoe prints, it could be determined that they were from the same person.

In other words, Bishop Lowell had occasionally returned to the village in recent years, but he had only come to this so-called home, and then left, his whereabouts unknown.

Judging from this, Bishop Lowell really had a big problem.

Then, did the village that Bishop Lowell often returned to also have a problem?

Yan Yunqing didn’t really want to think about this question, but it was unavoidable.

After all, Merlin had explicitly pointed out that this village was very likely to be descended from the Demon King’s people. As a remnant of the Eternal Empire, and also involved with the Eternal Church…

Yan Yunqing found it hard not to think that this Eternal Church really had some connection to the former Eternal Empire.

That would be a truly sick joke.

This was a possibility that he had dismissed from the very beginning. But after investigating for so long, he discovered that the enemy was actually one of his own…

Yan Yunqing couldn’t help but feel a headache. At this moment, he could only pray that what Belos had said before—that the Demon King’s people would never disobey the Demon King’s will—was true.

The noisy little green bird started circling around Yan Yunqing again, chirping and chattering, “Little kitty, little kitty!”

Yan Yunqing: …

The little black cat leaped up, pouncing and knocking the little green bird to the ground, pinning it down with its paws.

The little green bird was clearly a little flustered, struggling and flapping its wings. “Don’t eat me! Don’t eat me! Little kitty is eating a bird! Daeni, save me! Daeni, save me!”

Little Daeni squatted down beside the cat and bird. “Kitty can’t eat Fini. Fini doesn’t taste good. Is kitty hungry? Should I take kitty to find something good to eat?”

The little green bird wailed, “Little kitty is eating a bird! Little kitty is eating a bird! Help, Daeni, help!”

Yan Yunqing found it even more annoying. He scratched the little green bird’s head with his paw, giving it a big slap that made the bird dizzy and confused. “Little kitty! Little kitty!”

Yan Yunqing gave the little green bird a few more scratches. After a few big slaps, the little green bird’s eyes finally cleared up, and it stopped wailing and quieted down.

Yan Yunqing was satisfied.

As expected, cats and birds couldn’t coexist.

After wandering around the vicinity again and finding no other clues, Little Daeni hugged the little black cat and went back. This time, the little green bird went back with them as well. It proudly perched on Little Daeni’s head, grabbing a small tuft of hair on top of her head, and marched forward with its head held high, shouting, “Bad cat! Bad cat!”

Yan Yunqing: …

Yan Yunqing gave the little green bird a sinister glare, scaring its voice into a change of tone. “Bad cat—caw!”

Then it quieted down again.

Only then did Yan Yunqing feel that his ears were liberated.

Back at Little Daeni’s house, Yan Yunqing was finally released. Alice had been looking for him for a long time, and she finally breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the little black cat’s figure. She took the little black cat from Little Daeni’s hands.

“Give me the kitty.”

Little Daeni looked at the little black cat with some reluctance, but still obediently let go. “Can kitty play with me again later?”

Alice was a little embarrassed. She couldn’t make decisions for her teacher. She looked at the little girl who was one size smaller than her, and then at the little black cat. Seeing that the little black cat didn’t have any special expression, she said, “Then why don’t you come over and ask kitty later? If kitty is willing.”

Little Daeni nodded obediently, while the little green bird perched on Little Daeni’s head flapped its wings in dissatisfaction. “Bad cat! Bad cat! Daeni doesn’t want a bad cat!”

Only then did Alice notice the disheveled bird on Little Daeni’s head. A hint of surprise appeared in her eyes. She obviously recognized the little green bird’s species and didn’t expect to encounter this famous noble bird in this remote mountain village.

But how did the teacher offend this bird?

*

Taking advantage of the mealtime, Alice hugged the little black cat and found a corner to exchange information.

“Teacher,” Alice said, placing the cat on her lap and sitting on the steps herself. “I asked around. Bishop Lowell isn’t really from this village.”

Her voice was very low. Under the cover of the lively voices, it was difficult for anyone to hear her. Only Yan Yunqing, who was closest to her, could hear her clearly.

“Bishop Lowell is an orphan. Decades ago, someone abandoned him in the mountains, and he was adopted by a kind couple in this mountain village. That couple has been dead for more than ten years. Bishop Lowell left the village after his adoptive parents died.”

Alice said, “Later, somehow it was rumored that he had tested positive for affinity to the Light element and joined the Light Church. At first, he wasn’t in Castella City, but in another, more prosperous city, working as a deacon.”

“Later, he slowly climbed up the ranks and had an opportunity to become a bishop, so he took the initiative to transfer to Castella City, saying that he was born here and wanted to return to his hometown to be a bishop.”

Alice told Yan Yunqing what she had inquired about. Yan Yunqing frowned after listening to everything. “In that case, this village may not be involved in the Eternal Church’s affairs?”

Alice nodded slightly. “Regarding this, I did try to probe. This village is indeed descended from the Demon King’s people, but they’re a bit wary of us outsiders and unwilling to say much. I could only ask about a little bit.”

“The village’s origins can be traced back more than a thousand years, not long after the Eternal Empire was destroyed. Because of… um, certain wars, to escape persecution, these villagers fled into the mountains and finally settled down here.”

Alice was a little embarrassed to mention the war. No matter how much she didn’t want to admit it, she was indeed a princess of the Bato Vita Empire.

The war at the beginning was, to put it bluntly, a war launched by the original founders of the two great empires under the banner of “humans don’t need alien rule.”

The Eternal Empire was officially destroyed because the two great empires relentlessly pursued and massacred the remnants of the Eternal Empire. And if the Eternal Empire continued to resist, it would only be the bottom-level civilians who would suffer the massacre.