Chapter 75 Black Fire Stone Order (3)

  Liu Guan said: "Thank you, Water King! I was indeed feeling a bit stifled at Zhang Siye's house... Ah, Water King, have you lost confidence in Zhang Zuolin?"

  That person said: "Zhang Zuolin and his son Zhang Xueliang do not have the fate to contend for the world, and their skills are also insufficient. Zhang Zuolin is even more a short-lived person, who will not live beyond ten years! Among the five elements, the Fire King may still have some interest in him, so let's just drop it. You can also withdraw all the hooks from various places in Fengtian, no need to pay attention to Zhang Zuolin's situation."

  Liu Guan's family responded: "Yes!"

  He said, "Shuixinzhi, after we leave, you immediately let Sanzhi Liu and Qi Jian take the two surviving young men out of Fengtian, go to a small town in the south, and settle them down. Never allow them to return to Fengtian again, and tell them that Huo Xiaoyi is also dead. I don't want Huo Xiaoyi to worry about his so-called brotherly feelings anymore."

  Liu Guan said: "Don't worry, Water King, I will definitely make it beautiful."

  "He said: 'Alright! You go! I still have some things to do.'"

  Liu Guan's family bowed again and quickly drilled into the darkness, disappearing from sight.

  That man saw Liu Guan's family leave, stood still, his hand shook, and a very small yellow sparrow flew out from somewhere, landing on his finger, chirping softly. He stroked the feathers of this yellow sparrow with his hand, tied a small cloth bag to the sparrow's foot, and whispered: "Fly, go find Huo Xiao!"

  The canary chirped twice, as if it understood, and flapped its wings to fly high.

  The yellow sparrow circled in the air, looking down at Liu Guan's family, who was called Shui Wang. The man's appearance was surprisingly that of the young shop assistant from Huo Xiao's inn, but his eyes seemed to hold a deep and unfathomable pool of water, impossible to probe, not even a hint of the shop assistant's demeanor remained.

  The yellow sparrow chirped loudly and flew away in a straight line.

  The yellow sparrow flew over the top of Shuimei's head, and Shuimei was still whispering to Shuiyao: "Alright, alright, Shuiyao, don't think about that little guy anymore. Father is here, let's go back."

  The Water Goblin's eyes were red as she said: "Father, why have you come to Fengtian?"

  Shuimeier said: "Dad didn't tell me either, you know I'm used to following Dad's arrangements and doing things, unlike you who have some freedom."

  Shui Yao'er said: "Why did you deceive Huo Xiao Xie?"

  "Mei'er said: 'How could I cheat him?'"

  The water demon child looked into the eyes of the water seductress and said: "Because of your eyes! You haven't killed yourself yet!"

  The girl remained silent and expressionless.

  The yellow sparrow flew forward again, passing over the forest, made a circle in the air and flew straight into one side of the woods.

  The Water King released the yellow sparrow to find the little devil of fire, which is not a fantasy. In ancient times, there was indeed such a bird-training technique among the people. It is mainly divided into three types: Sparrow Holding Technique, Eagle Crying Technique, and Falcon Diving Technique. They all involve birds tracking targets in mid-air, locking onto them, and then reporting back to their owners or directly transmitting information. The most commonly seen are eagle crying and falcon diving, which are often used in mountainous and plain areas. Sparrow Holding Technique is usually used in cities and towns with dense buildings, where small birds like yellow sparrows and painted eyebrows fly low and navigate through the air, with the yellow sparrow being the most valuable. The Sparrow Holding Technique is the most difficult among bird-training techniques, and very few people have mastered it. Later, due to advances in communication technology, the Sparrow Holding Technique gradually disappeared from the folk tradition, and by modern times, no one knows how to do it anymore.

  Huoxiao Ye sat in the corner of a dilapidated house, this dilapidated house was where Huoxiao Ye and Lang Dabao, Lao Guanqiang, and Bi Hou often stayed, here they left countless joys, and were caught by Qi Jian'er countless times.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yé leaned against the wall, and the waves rushed towards them like they were right in front of him. He squeezed over to ask: "Big brother, big brother, what delicious thing did you steal?"

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié's face was frozen in a silly grin, his hand grasped at something, but ended up clutching nothing. Huǒ Xiǎo Xié lowered his head, pulled out the knife, and slowly pressed it against his own neck. With one swift motion, the blade pierced his skin, and bright red blood flowed out.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yī (Fire Evil) spoke in a low voice as if he didn't feel any pain: "I'll come find you guys right away."

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié's hand tightly grasped the hilt of the knife, and for some reason, her hand paused for a moment before she took the knife away from her neck and placed it in her palm. The moonlight poured in like water through the broken window, casting a glow on Huǒ Xiǎo Xié's hand.

  On the handle of that knife, a "water" character is engraved.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yā Měng tightly grasped the knife and said, "Shuǐ Yāo ér..." Suddenly, all the scenes of his daily life with Shuǐ Yāo ér emerged.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié sighed and said, "Why do I need to find you? Why do I need to save you? Do you still need me to save you? What am I even doing?" It turned out that when Huǒ Xiǎo Xié left alone, he clearly heard Shuǐ Yāo ér's mournful cry behind him. But Huǒ Xiǎo Xié thought of his deceased brothers and steeled himself not to turn back.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yé let his hands drop down, and suddenly laughed: "I'm really a useless thing, I actually thought of dying just now. At least I should have burned some paper for my brothers before dying. Cough, no wonder Shuǐ Yāo ér said I'm a fool. Alright, alright, I won't die, I won't die."

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yè was about to get up from the ground when he heard a faint chirping sound coming from the window. He looked up and saw a yellow sparrow perched on the broken windowsill, chirping at him. Huǒ Xiǎo Yè felt strange and stretched out his hand, muttering to himself: "What's wrong, are you looking for me?"

  The yellow sparrow cried out again, spread its wings and flew over, circled around the top of Huo Xiao's head, and landed on the finger that Huo Xiao stretched out.

  The little sparrow's beady eyes stared, its mouth agape. Is there really such a fearless yellow sparrow in the world? It must have been raised by humans since it was young, for it gazed at me with an unwavering stare.

  The little canary was not afraid of Huo Xiao at all, and jumped on his finger, then used its beak to peck at the small cloth bag tied to its leg.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yè hastily stretched out his hand and walked forward, undoing the small cloth package. Huáng Què chirped several times at Huǒ Xiǎo Yè, flapping its wings once, as if telling Huǒ Xiǎo Yè to open the package, then flew onto Huǒ Xiǎo Yè's shoulder.

  Huoxiao Ye untied the rope of the bundle, and saw a black stone the size of a fingernail inside, with dense writing on the inside of the bundle.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié took out the black stone, but saw that there was a fire character carved on it, and couldn't understand. Hurriedly, he borrowed the moonlight to carefully read the text written inside the cloth package. Although Huǒ Xiǎo Xié was a thief, he wasn't illiterate. Around ten years old, he could recognize thousands of characters. Being a thief isn't like being a beggar, where you can't recognize a single large character. To reach a certain level as a thief, one must have very high culture. Not only must you be able to read and calculate, but also have good memory. Because sometimes, if you don't even recognize a single large character, you won't even understand dog shit, let alone steal it. You can't even find the door of a rich family's house, unless you treat the Three Character Classic as a Tang poem.

  Inside the cloth package was written in tiny characters:

  You, Huo Xiao Xie, have a fate with Yao Er, and Yao Er also loves you deeply. Unfortunately, your fire nature is too intense, and Yao Er's water nature is extremely strong. If you two were to combine, you would inevitably dissipate into clouds and fog. But I cherish Yao Er and want to help you one more time. The black stone you see is the token of the Fire King, one of the Five Elements Thieves, for recruiting disciples. I have a close relationship with the Fire King and often help him find talent when traveling the world, which is why I have this object. Take the black stone and arrive at the Qingyun Inn in Wangjiabao, Shanxi before June 15th this year, and someone will naturally look for you. If you have this opportunity and become a disciple of the Fire House, mastering the water-fire fusion technique, you can save Yao Er's life. I entrust Yao Er's lifelong happiness to you; don't let me down. - Shui Wang Liu Chuan

  Huoxiao Ye read it carefully and was stunned. Huoxiao Ye decided to return to Fengtian, and unexpectedly, his life had taken such a huge turn. Huoxiao Ye really never thought that this would happen.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yè quickly took another look, silently memorized it, and was about to fold up the cloth package when he saw a spark on the package suddenly ignite into a ball of flames, burning everything clean in an instant.

  The yellow sparrow perched on Huo Xiaoxie's shoulder chirped twice, spread its wings and flew away, disappearing into the broken house, leaving only Huo Xiaoxie standing alone in the room, holding a black stone for a long time.