After a short moment, the surroundings began to morph into some sort of eerie looking forest. When Zero opened his eyes, he was greeted with the sight of barren lands, dries up trees, and a humongous castle. 

He looked around and found that the others have also safely teleported to the destination and went over to them. It wasn't their first time experiencing teleportation, so all of them quickly recovered from their slight dizziness. 

"Since there's nothing but this huge building, I'm assuming that this is the so-called secret base of our enemy?" Yang Zhelan scratched his head as he looked around, "I don't remember there being such a place in this realm, but then again, we honestly haven't been around much because Lady Liu was always keeping an eye on us. I wonder why she would even allow such a gloomy place to exist!"

"Can we focus on the main point? For all we know, Hua-er might be in danger, so we have no time for your rambling. Let's figure out a way to get inside without anyone noticing us.", Zero said.

"I don't think there's much use in that. There are practically no trees around and we're basically standing out in the open. I'm pretty sure they noticed us a long time ago and maybe even expected our arrival. The easiest way to get inside would be to just charge in from the front." Nan XiSheng was scared that his darling would misunderstand so he quickly tried to explain himself, "Of course, shixiong's suggestion was very good as well and it shows how he was worried about everyone..."

"It's okay, let's follow your suggestion. I didn't take those points into account and that definitely is the most efficient way to break into the enemy's base.", Zero replied, unknowingly softening his tone by a few degrees.

"Shixiong..." Nan XiSheng felt touched. His darling actually cared about him so much!

Zero just smiled at him, "Don't mind. It just shows how capable you are when it comes to decision making."

"Ahem!"

Zero looked at the person who just coughed while Nan XiSheng shot them a death glare. 

Yang Zhelan, the person who interrupted this sweet moment, rolled his eyes gave the two a 'you can stuff other with your stupid dog food after we resolve this' look.

*dog food = PDA (Public Display of Affection)

Zero, with his low ass EQ, didn't understand the underlying meaning behind his gaze, but Nan XiSheng secretly noted the other down as the number one person he wants to take revenge on in the future.

As the only observer in all this, Zhang Jing just covered her mouth and giggled at their silly actions. Suddenly all the gazes were directed at her and she instantly stopped laughing as she awkwardly looked the other way.

"Let's just.. barge in, yeah?"

This time, everyone just nodded without saying another word as they tactically started to advance towards the castle.

With nowhere to vent his feelings of frustration at being interrupted, Nan XiSheng went and smashed down the enormous door with a single kick.

As expected, the instant they decided the launch their attack, dark shadows rushed out from the opening left by the place where the majestic door used to be and rushed towards the four.

Right after they stepped outside, Yang Zhelan instantly swept his spear at the group of attackers and they instantly collapsed at the place where they were hit. 

When Zero got a better look at their faces, he realized that they weren't like the girl in the blood red dress they met inside the maze, but more like Eleven, who tried to attack him and Nan XiSheng earlier.

The four of them rushed in and started a massacre while screams of pain and anguish were constantly being heard. 

After clearing out every last being in sight, did the four stop to take a little breather.

"These people.. aren't they a little too weak?", Zero pondered.

"Isn't that a good thing? It'd be worse if they were strong!", Yang Zhelan retorted.

"But this just doesn't feel... right! Perhaps they were just cannon fodder being sent out by their master, but even so, they should've known that we were stronger and tried to back off. However, none of them did anything of that sort, but instead got even more aggressive in their onslaught. At least that girl, Eleven, knew when to stop!"

"Who's Eleven?", Zhang Jing asked.

"Oh, it's just someone who tried to assassinate Nan XiSheng and I when we were on our way back to Lady Liu's mansion. Anyways--"

"Brother-in-l--- I mean, Brother Liu, there's no use in thinking too much about it. It's just a waste of precious brain cells and we'd end up using up more time. How about let's just continue our advance towards the master?", Yang Zhelan groaned. It wasn't like he didn't care about all that stuff, but mainly because his head was hurting from all of Zero's suspicions and he utterly gave up on thinking. For people like him who are only good at fighting, attacking the enemy head on is the quickest and easiest way to resolve things.

"Who are you calling brother?! Arrghh, nevermind! It's always good to be careful, plus, if everything could be settled with our fists, then we might as well have all been born as dumbasses like you!", Zero groaned, "But we don't have enough time to deal with these matters, so we'll just follow your suggestion.."

"Why'd you say all that when we'll end up following my proposal anyways..", Yang Zhelan grumbled.

"Did you say something?", Nan XiSheng glared at him.

"Nonono, nothing at all!"

Strange... that boy was supposed to be his future brother-in-law's junior brother, right? Why did he feel so much pressure from that gaze..? He must be overthinking things.. Yeah, that's definitely it..

"Senior Brother Liu, Senior Brother Yang, Junior Brother Nan, I found something interesting here!", yelled Zhang Jing, who was inside one of the rooms, "It looks like some sort of secret passageway?"

"Wow, good job! How did you find this?", Yang Zhelan laughed heartily as he patted her on the back.

"Oh, well I was curious about the contents inside these rooms and wanted to see if there was anything that could be of use to us, and I couldn't find anything. However, just as I was about to exit the room I tripped and seemed to have accidentally triggered some kind of formation..", Zhang Jing explained.

While she was talking, Zero had a complicated look on his face, but didn't say anything.

Nan XiSheng, who always paid attention to his darling, was the first to realize Zero's odd behavior and he showed a look of contemplation.

Yang Zhelan... didn't really understand what was going on, but they found a clue, so everything's great.

The four hesitated for a while before cautiously going into the secret passageway. Since they already discovered it, it'd be a huge waste not to go in and see what was going on.

As they descended the set of stairs, they didn't notice the fact that the exit behind them was sealed by some mysterious force, leaving the four with no way out. When they reached the bottom, they saw a innumerable amount of cells. 

From the way they were laid out, Zero realized that this was something along the lines of an underground prison, which meant that Shi Lanhua might be kept here!

Of course, he wasn't the only one who noticed this, as Yang Zhelan was already rushing in at full speed.

"Wait, you blockhead! We can't afford to get separated!", Zero yelled as he ran after the lovesick man. Truthfully, he had also wanted to bolt off like that and search for his sister, but he knew that it was not a wise decision to make.

And so, the prisoners were greeted by the image of two men and a woman chasing after a burly man.

After hearing what Zero said, Yang Zhelan slowly came to a stop as the three quickly caught up to him.

"How about we go ask one of the prisoners if they saw Senior Sister Shi anywhere? It'd save us a lot more time.", Nan XiSheng told Zero.

Zero nodded as he turned towards the nearest cell and looked inside. Laying there was a skinny man who looked like he was suffering from sever insomnia and hadn't eaten anything for a long time.

"W-w-who are y-you? W-what do you w-want from me?" cried the frightened man.

"Excuse me, mister, but can you tell us if you saw a young woman being taken down here sometime today? She was wearing a pink dress and had a flower ornament in her hair."

Zero was speechless as he tried to explain the reason they were down there. Did his appearance startle the fellow so much that he had nearly burst into tears?

As if he knew what Zero was thinking, Nan XiSheng sent a glare towards the man, which only made him shrink back even more.

"I don't know, don't ask me! I don't know anything, just go to someone else and stop disturbing me!"

Zero sighed as he helplessly shook his head. These types of people were the hardest to deal with, so he could only take a more direct approach. 

Putting both his hands on the bars, Zero exerted some strength into them and ruthlessly tore them off. He then signaled to Nan XiSheng and the latter walked over to the trembling figure.

"I don't know anything! Please let me go.."

Nan XiSheng just stood there, glaring at him. Knowing that it was only talk or die, the man started to sputter incoherent sentences.

"I.. I don't know... much... only a little bit! I think.. I saw a woman like the one you described, but a little while earlier, she was... taken away!"

"Where to?"

"The place where you came from..", he said as he pointed upwards, "Above"

"Well, at least we know that she isn't here..", Zero grumbled, clearly annoyed at the fact that they spent all this time searching in vain.

"Lanhua, I'm coming to save you!", Yang Zhelan yelled as he rushed off once again. Zero thanked the man as the three ran back the way they came from.

No one noticed that the man's eyes were bulging after they left and with a plop, his figure fell to the ground, devoid of any life.

When the four reached to top of the stairs, they were startled to have come to a dead end. A huge wall seemed to be blocking the exit, ridding them of their only way out.

"Damn, it was a trap!", Yang Zhelan cursed.

"Let's just go and see if there's any other way out of here.", Zero sighed, though he expected as much. How could they have easily entered without any obstructions? It was too much of a coincidence to be true...

"No, we should just punch through this wall! Breaking it into rubble should be an easy task for cultivators of our rank", Yang Zhelan rolled his eyes as he pointed out.

"I agree with Senior Brother Yang", Zhang Jing said, "It is too time consuming to find another way out of here and Senior Sister's life may be in danger at this very moment. The fastest way to get to the place where she is kept is to force our way through!"

Zero gave him one long look and sighed, "Okay, fine. But if something bad happens to her, I am putting the blame on both of you."

"No problem!" 

Yang Zhelan rolled up his sleeves as he gathered all the surrounding spiritual power on his fists. Then, he stepped forwards and punched the wall with tremendous strength and the whole underground dungeon started to shake.

"Crack"

The wall started to fall apart and within a few seconds, it had completely collapsed.

Wasting no time whatsoever, the three rushed out of the passage and was met with a different scenery from the one the saw when the went into the underground prison. Instead of the tidy room filled with books, they were met with a dimly lit hallway that had no rooms and only one direction to travel in.

"Seems like the master of this place wants us to follow this route" Nan XiSheng said, "Shixiong, would you like me to scout ahead for possible dangers?"

"It's okay XiSheng. We are running out of time, so it'd be best for all four of us to keep running along this path. It's not like we have any other way to move in, is there?"

"If shixiong says so, then I'll comply."

The group speedily travelled down the hallway, but were surprised that they weren't met with any dangers along the way. However, the hallway seemed to go on forever, without ending and something started to seem very wrong.

"Is it just me, or have we been running for a very long time already?", Yang Zhelan asked.

"It seems like we haven't moved at all from the place we were initially standing", Nan XiSheng said.

"What?", Zhang Jing cried out, "How could that be?"

"Look behind you."

She turned around and had a horrified expression when she say the pile of rubble behind them.

"But we've been running for at least five minutes by now! How could it be that we haven't moved a single step from where we started? I know that I was definitely moving, so either I'm hallucinating right now, or we're in big trouble."

"No, we are already where we need to be", Zero said.

"What do you mean! Are you blind or what?", Yang Zhelan shouted.

The other three might not be able to see it, but being born as a phoenix, Liu Feng's body possessed the power of cleansing. There's a fire that naturally travels to all parts of him, even his eyes. That's why the illusion may have tricked the rest of the group, but not him.

The body does not lie, and they have indeed been running for quite a while. That is why they have already arrived in the place they need to be. Surrounding them was a large room  with stairs. At the top of the stairs sat a cloaked figure and an unconcious girl.

That girl was none other than Zero's sister, Shi Lanhua.

"As expected of shixiong, you've already seen through the deception.", Nan XiSheng smiled as he waved his hand.

All of a sudden the surroundings started to ripple and instantly dispersed.

"You--! What do you want to do with Lanhua!", Yang Zhelan screamed at the figure sitting down.

"Let's play a little game..", they suddenly said.

"Game your mom! Who the heck has time to play games with you! We only came here for one thing and it's my beloved that's right beside you!"

The person seemed to ignore Yang Zhelan's useless protests as they continued, "I'll ask a question, and you answer. Then vice versa. If you do not tell the truth, this woman can say goodbye to her life."

"Wha--"

"Okay", Zero interrupted before Yang Zhelan could make the situation any worse. If it is just answering questions, then it is a small price to pay in comparison to his sister's life.

She may not be his real sister, as this is just a task world, but the moments they spent together were real and he would give up everything to protect her.

"Two little birds were trying to escape their burning nest. On the way, they encountered a ferocious snake. Six pierced the little bird and the large snake exploded. In order to kill the bird, the snake paid a heavy price, yet why is the little bird still alive?"

Zero took a few seconds to process the information and his heart immediately sunk to his stomach.

"Y-you.. I thought you were dead. No, I know you are dead. I killed you...", he said with a shaky voice.

"Wrong answer", the man laughed.

"You damned dragon! Why? Why aren't you dead!"

"How pathetic. You phoenixes are capable of rebirth, so how could our race be any more inferior to yours?"

"Bullsh*t!"

That's right. The moment he finished the sentence, Zero knew that the one in front of him must have been that dragon that attacked him and Shi Lanhua during the war back then. He had barely managed to escape alive, yet the other party, who was presumably so dead that even his bones couldn't be found, was healthy and alive right in front of him? How is that possible!

"Enough with this touching reunion.", he said as he grabbed Shi Lanhua's neck and raised her into the air, "As much as I would love to kill you, seeing your beloved sister die would be many times more painful than death itself. Isn't that right, little birdie?"

"Do that and I swear, you'll live to regret it for the rest of your life!"

"Oh, but my dear little birdie, that would be impossible! After all, who ever said anything about being alive?"

"W-what..?"

"Heehe--"

Before the man could finished the sentence Nan XiSheng had already swung his sword down on his neck.

"Woop! Careful there~ Would want to hurt one of your own kin, right?"

Nan XiSheng narrowed his eyes and he growled, "Who are you? How do you know shixiong?"

"It's nothing much... We are just old acquaintances~"

"Acquaintance my ass! We only met once before this and you were the one who tried to kill me back then! All my sister an I had wanted to do was escape, but you just had to be there!"

"My my, little birdie! Following your logic, wouldn't it be your fault for not running fast enough and being right in my line of sight? With such an irresistible prey in front of me, it would be like dumping gold into the ocean if I didn't take my chance to kill the two of you~"

"You--!"

"Clang!"

Swords met in the air as Nan XiSheng once again swung his blade down with an extremely murderous look in his eyes. Seeing his beloved in so much distress had put him in a very bad mood and right now, his only objective was to kill the target in front of him so that his darling could be happy again.

"A feisty one, aren't you? Singe you're also a fellow dragon, I was thinking of going easier on you, but I've changed my mind. Might as well bring you with me after all this~"

"Shut up"

"Dragons? Phoenixes? Birdie? Death? What are you guys talking about? I can't seem to follow the conversation here!", Yang Zhelan cried out in confusion.

"Just be--"

Zero could no longer finish off his sentence because in front of him was a sword being pierced through his sister's body and a wobbling figure of Nan XiSheng.

Even with the main character aura supporting him, the difference in levels was just too large and ultimately, the child who had not yet fully matured was brought to his knees.

"Thinking of beating me with your meager strength? Dream on!", the man laughed.

"You bastard! How dare you harm my beloved Lanhua!", Yang Zhelan roared as he rushed us the stairs and sent a powerful wave of spiritual energy towards the man. 

However, a few feet in front of him, the seemingly strong energy instantly disappeared, only leaving an unharmed figure and a flabbergasted Yang Zhelan.

Despite knowing that he didn't stand a change against the enemy, Yang Zhelan still gritted his teeth and rushed towards the man without a second thought.

Two powerful beams of energy shot towards him and instantly punctured two holes into Yang Zhelan's body. He had tears in his eyes as he tried to reach for Shi Lanhua, but fell down the stairs instead. The pain was unbearable, but he still had to fight. If he didn't then he knew that he wouldn't be able to live on with himself. However, his body betrayed him and because his vital areas got penetrated, it was a miracle that he was still alive at the moment. Unlike Zero, Nan XiSheng, and Shi Lanhua, he was only a mere human after all.

Zero clenched his fists and he glared at the hateful man on top of the stairs. Without wasting another second, he transformed back into a phoenix and flew towards the figure while breathing fire at him. However, it seemed like nothing could touch or even faze the man as the flames dispersed a few centimeters away from him.

All of a sudden,  Nan XiSheng got up and stabbed the man in the back, causing him to let go of Shi Lanhua.

Zero turned around to go catch her, but Yang Zhelan got to it sooner and the two shared a look of understanding. Carrying the injured maiden, he rushed our of the mansion as fast as he could, ignoring his severe injuries.

"Hmph, so that little bitch escaped, huh? No matter, the two of you are still here, so it's all right."

"Two of you..?"

Zero's eyes widened as he prepared to turned around and dodge, but was faced with a barrage of spiritual arrows raining down. Unable to fully dodge them, he was struck by a few, only to realize that they were injected with poison.

"Zhang Jing!", he shouted, "I knew you were a traitor the moment we entered the underground prison! Coincidence my ass! It was painfully obvious that this was all planned out by the two of you!"

"Aiya, Senior Brother Liu! You really cannot blame me for your own weakness. If you knew, then you should have gotten rid of me earlier instead acting like a naive brat. Since you so graciously spared me then I--"

Before she could even finish off, Nan XiSheng appeared behind her and chopped her head off.

"I'm sorry for being so useless, shixiong. This is the least I can do to take the burden off of you.", he grimaced.

"No, thank you so much for helping XiSheng. Everything you've done up until now had been a great help.", Zero smiled as he secretly came to a decision in his heart.

Ignoring the other party in the room, he went up and hugged Nan XiSheng. Stunned speechless by his actions, Nan XiSheng could only stand there like a statue.

"Take care of my sister for me, won't you?"

Realizing that something was wrong, Nan XiSheng tried to push Zero away, but he wouldn't budge. Instead, the surroundings around him warped and he was sent back to Lady Liu's residence.

"My my~ sending that little dragon away, you must be quite aware of your current situation, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am"

"Oho? I wasn't expecting such an honest answer~"

"I just wish.. I could have stayed with everyone for a while longer..."

Without warning, the man shot another beam at him and this time, it ruptured his guts and sent him flying.

His chest hurt.

His head was throbbing.

The decapitated body of Zhang Jing was right in front of him. 

No... Familiar corpses were scattered all around him.

He recognized them as his past clansman from the phoenix tribe... But why were they here? Perhaps that pain was so unbearable that he was starting to have hallucinations.

It was a living hell. It's like history was repeating himself.

Why...

Why had this happened?

Everything was going well... right?

Where did he go wrong?

His whole entire body was in immense pain, but he couldn't stop.

He still had to save them. He had to save her. As long as she escapes, everything will be fine.

And the only way to do that was to give himself up.

With one final push, Zero latched himself onto the man.

"What are you doing!", he said as a little panic started to seep into his voice.

"You died and I know it. That means someone or something had revived you. Necromancy is part of devil cultivation, which I know a little bit about. The medium cannot be far away from the source of power, which means whatever is allowing you to function must be hidden in this mansion. The reason our attacks don't faze you is because as long as the source isn't destroyed, the medium is completely unharmed."

"Y-you! What are you planning to do?"

"Nothing much. Just... bringing the both of us down."

"You madman! Are you crazy? What about your sister? If you kill the both of us, who will take care of her?!"

"Relax, it'll be fine.."

Zero transformed into a phoenix and crushed the man's body under him. Like many years ago, his whole body glowed a bright red color, indicating that he was ready to self-detonate.

"Damn you..!"

And then, the world around them turned black.

KaPi

Have any of y'all ever watched Danganronpa? It's soooooo goooood and I love everyone on the Despair side, especially Junko! (I'm sorry)
Komaeda (who is definitely gay, I tell you) is the baby that I have sworn to protect and I'm mourning for my poor sleepy gamer girl, Chiaki!
Ironically, I actually love Juzo (mostly cause he's gay.. im sorry) because honestly, everything he does is for the sake of the one he loved, even if those feelings were never conveyed as the died for his love... But I mean, the world did kinda end cause of him... ehhh... whatever, I still love him!
Kokichi is just super high school level gae boi.
Welp, if none of this interests you, then I just wanna say, I'm very sorry for what has occurred in this chapter and if you want, the comments section is there for you to vent your feelings of frustration...
Also, I'm LAZY AF so don't actually expect me to update anything sorry TwT