Chase Game

The rain stopped and the moon appeared.

At the Meng family's residence at the foot of the mountain, Ling Yi stood in front of the courtyard and did not wait long.

The big black dog tied up under the shed heard the noise, stood up alertly, and barked loudly towards the forest.

The barking of the dog made the mother and daughter inside the house jump to their throats.

The little girl, Afang, asked in a low voice, "Mother, have Father and the others returned?"

Meng's mother was also a little unsure. The rain had stopped for a while, so shouldn't they be back by now?

Fortunately, this agonizing wait did not last too long.

The courtyard gate opened, and the third brother shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Mother, Mother...we're back! Quickly, fetch two basins of cold water..."

Afang's ears perked up, and she jumped out of her mother's arms, exclaiming with delight, "It's Third Brother!"

"Father and the others are back! Mother, I'll go open the door right now!"

The little girl didn't even have time to put on her shoes before she hopped to the door in a few quick leaps.

Mencius' mother breathed a slight sigh of relief, but then felt puzzled again.

Shouldn't you want to take a hot shower after getting caught in the rain? But the third brother asked for two basins of cold water. Why is that?

Puzzled, Afang had already opened the door.

Before she could even call out "Father," she was ushered aside.

Four large men squeezed in from the outside.

The father, the eldest son, and the second son stripped down to only their shorts and kept complaining about the heat.

Meng's mother was startled and hurriedly asked her only seemingly normal third son:

"Third brother, what... what happened to you?"

The third brother wiped the sweat from his forehead, threw the clothes containing the egg onto the table, and said urgently:

"There's no time to explain, Mother, Little Sister, quickly fetch some cold water!"

Afang was somewhat frightened by her father and brothers' strange behavior, but urged by her mother, she still went to fetch water.

Ling Yi stood to the side the whole time, watching the family members busy with their work and some lying on the ground.

He could see clearly that the three of them couldn't withstand the divine power of the divine bird's egg and were being harmed by its backlash.

With three people sharing the divine essence, plus the third brother's own talent, he was able to obtain the divine bird egg without being affected.

Unfortunately, simply obtaining the divine bird egg is not enough; only by integrating it into oneself can the contract be established.

"I hope it's all for nothing, like trying to fill a basket with water..."

Ling Yi continued to watch the plot unfold.

Meng's mother and the third son brought two basins of cold water, and even Afang carried a small bucket, swaying as she helped.

"Father...water, the water's here!"

The three people lying on the ground felt as if they had received a refreshing rain. They eagerly took the cold water and poured it on themselves without a care in the world.

Soon, the two large basins and one small bucket of cold water were all poured out.

The three were still not relieved, and said hoarsely, "Not enough... this water isn't enough!"

"Dad... I'm so hot... I feel like my whole body is on fire!"

"..."

Mencius' mother felt a chill run down her spine as she watched, her lips trembling as she murmured, "What on earth is going on...?"

Afang was standing to the side, anxious and upset, on the verge of tears.

But she knew that if she cried at this moment, she would only cause more trouble for everyone.

So she had to endure it.

The third son sighed and urged Meng's mother to continue fetching water, while also explaining the contract along the way.

Afang followed beside her. Although she didn't understand much, she knew that the culprit behind her father and brothers becoming like this was that egg!

The second batch of cold water was quickly consumed by the three of them.

However, the cooling effect was still not significant.

"No, this won't work... We need to go to the river and let the cold water keep washing over us!"

Even Meng's father couldn't bear the scorching heat and nodded in agreement:

"The boss is right, let's go to the river."

The second son hesitated, "But my legs are weak!"

Only then did Meng's mother realize that her second son had never stood up and seemed to have been helped in when he entered the house.

Upon further reflection, the other two also seemed off.

The father's eyes were unfocused and lifeless, and the eldest son's hands hung limply at his sides...

"Waaaaah..."

Mencius' mother finally couldn't hold back and burst into tears.

Her crying made Afang unable to hold back either, and she began to sob softly beside her.

The third brother looked at his father, eldest brother, and second brother, and their pained expressions made his heart ache.

Looking at the two women wailing, the third brother suddenly realized that at this moment, only he could take charge.

Even though he was only a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy.

He turned to his mother and said, "Mother, go find a large wooden plank."

"Little sister, go and get the thick hemp rope."

Having someone to direct you is better than being completely lost and helpless.

Soon, the planks and hemp ropes were brought over.

The third brother took the rope from Afang's hand and said:

"Second brother, I'm a good swimmer. You lie on the plank, and I'll go into the water and support you."

"Since my father couldn't see and my eldest brother couldn't move his hands, we tied one end of the rope to the shore and the other end to them."

"That way, they won't be swept away, and Father can help my older brother a bit."

Everyone knew that these were the only options available.

Mencius' mother lent a hand, moving the second son onto the back of the third, and then she took her husband's hand and headed towards the river.

Her father, brother, and mother had all gone over, and Afang originally wanted to follow, but the "thump" sound of something landing behind her caught her attention.

At this critical juncture, she certainly wouldn't care about ordinary objects.

But what fell to the ground was the divine bird egg wrapped in the clothes!

Ling Yi also noticed the strangeness behind him and stopped in his tracks.

Clothes were scattered on the ground, revealing the fiery red divine bird egg.

It rolled and rolled until it reached Afang's feet.

The little girl, as if possessed, bent down and stretched out her arms to pick up the egg.

Ling instinctively sensed danger and wanted to stop Afang, but he forgot that he was not a physical being.

His hand passed through Afang's hand, but at the same time, they touched the divine bird egg.

In an instant, the world went dark.

In the pitch-black space, a spark of light suddenly appeared, illuminating him and Afang.

Ling Yi noticed that the firelight was changing rapidly, as if it were swallowing up the darkness.

In a short while, all the darkness was banished, leaving only an endless sea of ​​fire.

And Afang and Lingyi, right in the center of the sea of ​​fire.

Afang still couldn't see Lingyi, but she saw a phoenix.

A phoenix covered in flames!

Would you be willing to enter into a contract with me?

Ling Yi could hear these words, but he knew they weren't spoken to him, but rather to A Fang by the will of the divine bird.

Afang felt somewhat lost and scared.

“Who…who are you?”

But no matter what the girl asked, the divine bird only repeated one sentence:

Would you be willing to enter into a contract with me?

Ling frowned slightly at first glance. Those who knew it was Phoenix might have thought someone's robot had crashed.

The little girl was also full of confusion.

"Will the contract... lessen the suffering of my father and brothers?"

At this moment, the phoenix finally stopped mechanically repeating the same thing.

[The divine essence is beyond the capacity of ordinary people to bear. By forming a pact with this deity and becoming a divine messenger, you will naturally be able to control a portion of this deity's divine essence.]

A spark landed on the girl's forehead, instantly making her understand the meaning of the "contract".

With that, the girl's gaze hardened, and she said, "If it can alleviate my father and brothers' suffering, then I'm willing!"

Ling Yi sighed softly and said:

"They spoke so resolutely, so without hesitation, as if the heavy price of that contract didn't exist..."

The moment the little girl agreed, the phoenix, along with all its flames, rushed towards her forehead.

Amidst Afang's pained expression, she completed her transformation.

From an ordinary little girl, she transformed into a divine messenger.

Perhaps it was to highlight the divine messenger's transcendent status and inviolable majesty—

A Fang radiates an inextinguishable flame from within.