A deep, familiar voice sounded behind her, cold and devoid of any emotion. Even without turning around, Celeste Grant knew the person who had just grabbed her shoulder to steady her was Javier Sinclair.
"The Exalted One."
"Your subordinate greets The Exalted One."
"Greetings, Exalted One."
Standing to the side, Nerida bowed slightly, placing a hand over her chest. A few other disciples from the Bloodfiend Den also appeared nearby, kneeling on one knee and bowing their heads in greeting.
Javier Sinclair waved his hand dismissively.
"All of you, withdraw."
"Yes. Your subordinates will take their leave."
The moment Javier Sinclair finished speaking, Nerida and the others vanished from sight.
"Hey…"
Celeste Grant reached out, her face twisting into a grimace.
'Why did they all leave?'
'Don't just abandon me here!'
'The pressure of facing him alone is immense. How did I ever have the guts to grab his clothes, let alone his sash?'
Celeste Grant shrank back, then turned her body slightly and took a few steps away to put some distance between them. Only then did she force a laugh and offer a greeting. "Haha, what a coincidence, Exalted One… what are you doing here?"
Javier Sinclair's face was cold. "If I hadn't come, would I have just watched you, pregnant belly and all, get my son killed?"
The area was now a sea of fire. All the buildings in the small town had been incinerated into ash by the Vermilion Bird Fire, leaving not even a whiff of smoke. The roaring flames stretched as far as the eye could see, illuminating the entire world around them.
Even in this inferno, she could clearly see his grim face and the annoyed furrow of his brow.
'What's with him? He can't possibly be worried about me.'
"What do you mean, 'get him killed'? Our son is perfectly fine," Celeste Grant said, rubbing her belly. "He's even moving."
He stared into her eyes and said coldly, "You chose to live here because you knew in advance that a Divine Beast would be born?"
He was right, but of course, Celeste Grant wasn't about to admit it.
She shook her head slightly. "Of course not. I didn't know before I came, but after I got here, I did realize something was going to happen."
Javier Sinclair raised a slight eyebrow and said casually,
"Do tell."
'Okay, so listen…'
But inwardly, she thought,
'Listen to the story I'm about to make up.'
'I can't just tell him I have the script for this whole world, so I'll just have to spout some nonsense with a straight face.'
"It's like this. Ever since I was little, I've noticed something different about myself. It's my dreams. Sometimes, I dream about bad things happening, and then they come true a few days later."
Seeing him look at her, Celeste Grant spread her hands. "See? You don't believe me either, do you? I know it sounds ridiculous, but that's just how it is. Take this time, for example. After I moved here, everything was fine at first. But a few days ago, I had a dream where I saw this place engulfed in a sea of fire, and everyone died."
Celeste Grant wasn't lying about that part. According to the original plot, everyone here was supposed to die.
"I was scared to death when I woke up. At first, I didn't want to get involved, but my conscience wouldn't let me rest. The images of those people struggling as they died were stuck in my head."
"I figured I could earn some merit for my unborn child, so I had Nerida and her people evacuate everyone from town, moving them ten *li* away and guarding them to make sure they didn't come back."
Just as Celeste Grant was wondering if he would believe her, she saw Javier Sinclair lower his head, deep in thought. Then, he spoke.
"Are you from the Dreamcloud Clan?"
Celeste Grant froze.
'He believed me?'
'He believed me that easily?'
'But what is he talking about?'
"The Dreamcloud Clan? What's that? I'm not, I've never even heard of them."
'Even this trashy Cultivation novel never mentioned them.'
Seeing that she genuinely didn't know,
Javier Sinclair explained, "The people of the Dreamcloud Clan live in the Frostfell. They have the ability to peer into heaven's secrets. It is said they can foresee the future."
Celeste Grant was surprised. "Wow, that's really impressive. But I'm not part of some Dreamcloud Clan."
'The Cultivation World really has all sorts of things. If I get the chance to meet them, maybe they'll have a way to get me back to the real world?'
As she was thinking,
She heard him say, "Whether you are or not, it's best not to let others know about this ability to predict the future. To the outside world, I will say that our Bloodfiend Den received the information in advance."
Celeste Grant looked at him.
"Are you worried about me?"
Javier Sinclair just sneered without a word.
Celeste Grant gave a faint smile.
"Well, thank you for the warning."
"But my lips are sealed. No one knows besides you. I would never tell outsiders something like this. Otherwise, think how dangerous it would be if I fell into the hands of those Evil Cultivators."
As for him, Celeste Grant had already considered it. She would inevitably have more contact with him in the future. After all, they had a child together; it was impossible to draw a clear line between them. So, rather than hiding it, it was better to let him know she could predict certain things. This would be enough to prove she was on his side.
It would make things easier later on.
And as it turned out, he truly had never intended to harm her from the very beginning.
"Let's not talk about that for now."
'My Divine Beast.'
Celeste Grant turned and walked toward the spot where the Vermilion Bird Egg shell had fallen. The shell, split in two, was slightly larger than a bowl and had jagged edges.
But when she strained to bend over and pick it up, she found the shell was empty. Thinking she had seen wrong, she even tipped it over a couple of times.
"Huh? Where did it go?"
'Did it run away while the fire was raging?' She looked around at the flames but saw no sign of the Divine Beast.
'No way. Did I go to all this trouble, even knocking out the female lead, only for the Divine Beast to run off and find her on its own?'
She turned her head, scanning the area, but saw nothing.
Just as Celeste Grant was gritting her teeth in disappointment, Javier Sinclair walked up beside her and held out his hand. A small chick appeared before her, held upside down by its leg between his two fingers.
The little chick had a tuft of red feathers on its head and was currently flailing in his hand, cheeping away. It was fluffy and actually quite cute.
Javier Sinclair spoke nonchalantly. "Are you looking for this?"
Seeing the thing in his hand,
Celeste Grant stared at it for a couple of extra seconds.
"A little chick?"
The thing he was holding must have been what hatched from the Vermilion Bird Egg. 'But… does it really look like this? It just looks like a little chick. It's so tiny and doesn't seem dangerous at all.'
"Doesn't this just look like a newborn chick? It caused such a huge scene, and this is it? Such a big egg for such a tiny thing."
'Author, are you serious?'
'Okay, it is a little different. Look, it has an extra tuft of red feathers on its head.'
Perhaps sensing it was being underestimated, the little chick held by Javier Sinclair spat a mouthful of fire directly at Celeste Grant.
"CHEEP CHEEP…"
'I'm a Vermilion Bird, not a chick.'
'I'm very fierce, cheep cheep.'
Watching the little puff of fire, Celeste Grant took a step back and muttered, "It really is a Vermilion Bird. It's just that the fire it spits is a little small."
Javier Sinclair's eyes turned cold as he glanced at it. He tossed it into the air, then snatched it back, his fingers tightening their grip.
With the force of his grip, the chick-sized Vermilion Bird nearly rolled its eyes back into its head.
'I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die! Somebody save me!'
'Help!'
'Help!'
'Bad man, bad man!'