Chapter 42 – The Echoes of the Phoenix Reign
---
The drive back to City A was unusually silent.
Xueqing sat in the passenger seat of Mo Chen's sleek black SUV, her fingers tapping a restless rhythm on the door. Outside, dawn had broken fully, painting the horizon in shades of orange and gold—but the light did little to ease the storm within her.
"What are you thinking?" Mo Chen finally asked, his gaze flicking from the road to her profile.
"That he knew the glyph," she said flatly. "The phoenix glyph I carved in the tomb centuries ago—before I died."
"You're sure you didn't speak of it in this life?"
She turned to him slowly. "Do you think I'd forget a symbol carved from my own blood?"
His jaw tightened. "Then he's like us. A transmigrant."
Xueqing nodded. "Or worse. A survivor."
Mo Chen frowned. "You mean…"
"A soul that never left. One that carried hatred so deep, it refused reincarnation."
They pulled into Mo Chen's private compound. Lin Nuo and Meng Zhihao were already there, eyes red and jittery from lack of sleep, hunched over a laptop.
"The chip decrypted halfway," Lin Nuo said, lifting his head. "But you're not gonna like what we found."
He turned the screen. A series of grainy images filled it—each one an overhead scan of Xueqing's movements over the past month: her visits to Bai Corp, her late-night runs, even her secret apartment. Labeled. Catalogued. Obsessed over.
Xueqing's face darkened. "He's been watching me since my return."
Mo Chen's expression turned thunderous. "He knew where to find your old bloodline mark. He knew about the tomb's triggers. He's been five steps ahead."
"And he knows about you too," Lin added. "There's a whole section in the files marked 'Mo Chen – Countermeasure Required.'"
Mo Chen chuckled, though it didn't reach his eyes. "He thinks he can counter me?"
"He's tried before," Xueqing said. "Back then… he didn't succeed. But this time, he's not alone."
Lin clicked again. A grainy image loaded—of a woman, dressed in crimson robes. Her face hidden behind a red veil.
Mo Chen stilled. "She's familiar."
"She should be," Xueqing murmured. "That's General Hua Lian."
Lin's mouth fell open. "But she died with you in the last war."
"She must've been reborn too," Mo Chen said grimly. "Which means this isn't just a spy game anymore."
"No," Xueqing whispered. "It's a war reborn."
---