Another week quickly passed in the outside world, and massive changes had taken place in Damien’s situation.
His body, which had shown no signs of recovery for so long, was now encased in a strange greenish white cocoon. Inside the slightly transparent cocoon, Damien peacefully slept.
“Has anything changed since this thing showed up?” A woman’s voice spoke from the side.
“I can’t tell. No matter what I try, I can’t spy on what’s happening inside that cocoon. But, from what it looks like on the outside, his vitality seems to be slowly regenerating.” Another woman responded.
As she said, Damien no longer looked like a decrepit old man. His body inside the cocoon had gained a bit of vitality, and although he still looked aged, his skin had a certain luster to it that it didn’t have before.
“Agh! I can’t keep sitting around like this! If he’s healing, then it’s good, but we’ve been sitting here doing nothing for way too long. When he wakes up, this bastard better compensate us well!” Feng Qing’er grumbled.
“And how do you want him to compensate you? Perhaps…with his body?” Qing Tan responded with a sly smile.
“You…how can you speak such nonsense with a straight face? Do you not have any shame?” Feng Qing’er yelled as she blushed furiously.
“And why should I be ashamed? I’m obviously joking. Or don’t tell me…were you actually considering it? Ahh~ what will the outside world think if they learned that miss high and mighty, the Fire Phoenix Queen herself; had fallen in love with a boy! It would be an uproar!”
“Who has fallen for that bastard?! If anything, wouldn’t the aloof and mysterious Qing Tan diligently caring for a man for weeks on end cause even more ripples? Mm, that’s right! Since when has that free and unfettered woman ever taken the time to care for someone like this? All of your fans would go crazy!”
Qing Tan’s eyes widened in shock. “Wow, you can actually tease someone like this? You’ve really grown!”
“Hmph! Who do you think I learned it from?” Feng Qing’er puffed out her chest in pride.
“Well, going back to the main point I have to agree with you. Now that we know he isn’t in much danger, I think we should go out and get some fresh air.”
“Exactly! But, I’m still a bit worried about this cocoon thing. Where did it come from? How come it’s so powerful? There are too many questions that we don’t have answers to.”
Feng Qing’er frowned as she spoke. The feeling she got from the greenish-white cocoon bothered her immensely. A power that surpassed any she had seen before. Considering the fact that her mother was a 4th class existence more powerful than even the Demon Kings, it was natural that this feeling irked her.
“Answering those questions is something I want to do as well, but the best we can do is wait for this guy to wake up and ask him. You should’ve felt it too. Whether it be the voice from before or this cocoon, they are powers far beyond our scope of understanding. Carelessly messing with them will only be detrimental to us.”
“You’re right, but I can’t help it. I’m just too curious. Fine! When he wakes up, you tie him down and I’ll force him to tell us everything he knows!”
“My, my! How kinky!”
“You shut up!”
After bickering for a bit, the two went on to discussing serious matters again. As they had said, it was about time they started moving again.
After they had passed out a week prior, they had stayed asleep for 3 days straight. Over the course of those 3 days, their minds and bodies were relieved of any excess fatigue they had been enduring.
But when they woke up, they had found a strange light film wrapping around Damien. They had tried their best to combat it, but nothing they tried worked. Eventually, that light film grew until it was the cocoon they currently saw.
They then spent the next few days watching in concern that something terrible would happen, but in the end; the cocoon was a blessing rather than a curse.
“Hey, wasn’t this bastard planning to do some assassinations before he ended up like this?” Feng Qing’er suddenly questioned.
He hadn’t intentionally revealed it to them, but Feng Qing’er had managed to learn it at the last moment when they were escaping Acier together.
It was just a guess at first, but when coupled with the way he took out the old man Apostle, she was sure she was correct.
Qing Tan clapped her hands together in realization. “That’s right! Even if he wasn’t planning it, that’s a great idea. Assassinating the Apostles is far less work than trying to confront them head-on or at the same time. It’s the most effective way to kill them.”
“Exactly! Plus, we still have to get revenge on them for what happened on the mountain.”
“The question is, how do we lure them out of Acier?”
Feng Qing’er had the same doubt. Although they had been stationary for the past few weeks, they had gotten plenty of information from the geniuses outside.
During the raid on Acier, almost half of their numbers had been killed, so the rest of them stuck together in a big group to avoid dying early. Those who had followed Feng Qing’er’s faction in Astoria would sometimes visit Darknorth and relay some information to her due to their gratitude for her sheltering them back then.
According to those geniuses, there hadn’t been any large movements from Acier recently. Even the abomination raids had temporarily halted.
It could be explained if one considered the demons’ losses when Acier was raided. When it came to Demon Generals, only a few tens of them were killed, but most of the Captains had been massacred.
They had also lost an Apostle and a Demon King. These two losses were worth more than any others combined.
But even with this, Feng Qing’er didn’t think the silence was so simple. And she trusted her intuition.
“It’ll be difficult to move them. We need to find a way to incentivize them.” Qing Tan suggested.
“Right. We can use revenge as an incentive to draw out the stupider ones among them. There should at least be one or two that decide to recklessly pursue. After that, though, we need something more substantial that’s guaranteed to make them move.” Feng Qing’er replied.
“Ah, I got it! It’s a bit simple, but sometimes simple is best. Haven’t you heard the saying? Men die for wealth and birds die for food. Do we have any treasures that could incite their greed?”
“Treasures, huh…”
Feng Qing’er fell into thought. It was really a simple yet efficient idea. After all, the Primordial Undying Realm attracted so many geniuses due to the prospect of treasure. It was only after they entered that they realized the realm was completely different from expectations.
But the problem was, she couldn’t think of a treasure that’d incite those Apostles to move without care for their safety.
The two girls fell into thought for a while before Qing Tan’s eyes abruptly lit up.
“I got it! A treasure that’d make the Apostles overcome with greed!”
Qing Tan’s sparkling eyes fell on a certain location, and Feng Qing’er soon followed. When she saw what Qing Tab was referring to, she couldn’t help but exclaim.
A grin soon surfaced on her face.
“Indeed. If it’s that, let alone the Apostles, even the Demon Kings wouldn’t be able to hold themselves back!”
Qing Tan nodded in agreement.
“Good! Since we’ve figured this out, let’s start planning for real.”
Assassinating Apostles…Qing Tan felt that another wave of exciting adventures was about to be upon them. And frankly, she couldn’t wait.