The answer to Chapter 123, The Three-Headed Bird.

A faint candlelight appears in the darkness.

Xia Zhu found that her body was gradually regaining sensation, and only when she was able to move completely did the ancient and mysterious body under the candlelight fully emerge from the shadows.

Its magnificent plumage, shimmering with an eerie glow in the dim firelight, resembled a priceless treasure proudly and gracefully displaying its beauty in a solemn and highly anticipated venue.

The five-colored three-headed bird is the guardian demon god of the Di Jun family, yet almost no one has ever seen her true face.

Xia Zhu stood at her feet, as tiny as a most devout believer. One had to tilt their head slightly to catch a glimpse of the divine bird in its entirety.

The Five-Colored Bird did indeed have three heads, sharing a single body and a pair of folded wings. Three pairs of eyes stared indifferently at Xia Zhu. She noticed that a candle flame floated above each head, but only the one in the middle was burning, while the other two appeared to have been extinguished for a long time.

"You've finally arrived." Three ethereal and solemn voices greeted Xia Zhu in unison.

She was somewhat delighted; such an opening gave her great hope.

The three-headed bird spoke with the familiarity of someone longing for an old friend.

Xia Zhu couldn't help but ask, "Does Senior know me?"

"Seniors?" The head on the left suddenly chuckled, its tone becoming much lighter than before, as if it had lost its composure. "My name is Huang, the one in the middle is Luan, and the one on the right is Feng. We're not seniors at all; we're just birds!"

After she finished speaking, she burst into laughter.

"Cough cough..." The Luan bird coughed lightly, and the Royal Bird immediately shut its mouth.

“We don’t know you, but we knew you would come sooner or later.” The phoenix leaned down and approached Xia Zhu, scrutinizing her from left to right with a critical gaze. The candle above her head swayed, its flame flickering uncertainly in the dim, boundless space.

"How long has it been in the outside world? A hundred years? A thousand years?" the phoenix asked, pushing the luan bird aside and sticking its head out in front of Xia Zhu. She had originally come to ask the three-headed birds questions, but they immediately started asking her all sorts of questions about how things had changed.

Xia Zhu answered one question after another, looking completely bewildered, until the three-headed bird finally shut its mouth thoughtfully. Only then did she curiously ask the question that had been bothering her.

"Senior, have you been here from the very beginning? Is this place the underground passage of the Jiang family?"

"An underground passage!?" the royal bird exclaimed.

"No way!" the phoenix chirped, and the two heads started arguing about the topic Xia Zhu had brought up.

"Shut up!" The Luan bird was annoyed by the noise. She raised her eyebrows and shouted to stop the sound waves from both sides. She gave them a stern warning before facing Xia Zhu again and narrowing her eyes.

"This isn't some underground passage, nor is it any 'place.' How do you humans describe us? By chance, you say, not entirely wrong..." She tilted her head slightly, seemingly lost in a memory, a memory that could easily span ten thousand years.

“Everyone knows that the Five-Colored Bird has the ability to foresee the future…” She glanced at Xia Zhu, “You must have come here for that reason as well.”

"Ten thousand years ago, my two sisters and I foresaw the death of a friend..."

“But she is too important to us!” said the Royal Bird.

“How can we just watch her leave like this? Humans are so fragile, with a lifespan of only a hundred years,” the phoenix added, its voice filled with a sense of helpless sorrow.

"So we told her that she would die in the near future for some reason, once, twice... which ultimately helped her escape her fate, but made her a nameless, faceless, unseen being, forever living a wretched existence in the world."

"And in the end, not only were we three sisters unable to stay with her forever, but we were also imprisoned here by the God of God for interfering in the cause and effect of life and death without permission..." The phoenix looked somewhat melancholy. Xia Zhu wondered if the friend the three-headed bird mentioned was the ancestor of the Jiang family, the human god Di Jun.

After all, in legends, she was a lost goddess, and no one knows her fate.

"But thankfully, you've finally arrived!" The royal bird suddenly moved close to Xia Zhu and tried to peck at her long hair with its sharp beak.

"Me?" Xia Zhu wasn't sure what she meant.

“You are the last one. Your appearance also means that our endless punishment has finally come to an end.” Luan Niao turned to look at her two younger sisters who had been by her side for ten thousand years. Xia Zhu could even see a relieved smile on her face. “We can finally leave this dark cage and die completely.”

"Death and soul dissipation? You will die?" Xia Zhu found it hard to accept that the three-headed bird would die because of her appearance.

Unexpectedly, the phoenix ignored her question with a disdainful look.

“Our life or death is none of your business. Now, the opportunity has come. The Five-Colored Bird is right in front of you. Ask us the questions that are deepest in your heart.”

The Emperor and the Phoenix stopped joking. The three-headed bird quietly watched Xia Zhu, waiting for her to find the answer and finally be freed from the endless sea of ​​suffering.

Xia Zhu took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, her gaze fixed firmly on the divine bird.

"Excuse me, who am I?" She thought for a moment, then added, "Or rather, who was I in the past?"

The phoenix in the middle lowered its head again, and Xia Zhu could see his own flickering reflection in the candlelight in her deep, star-like eyes.

Time passed silently, second by second. Her joy and anticipation slowly turned into trepidation. She even sighed inwardly. The three-headed bird simply brought its heads close to her, taking turns looking at her, but remained silent for a long time. In the entire space, only the lamp on the phoenix's head flickered and burned.

So long ago, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity seemed to have become a trial for her.

"How could this be?" Finally, the phoenix straightened up, and its three heads exchanged glances with each other.

"I'm sorry, we can't see your identity," the phoenix said.

"However, we can answer your questions about your past, future, and present... and provide you with a guiding path."

Xia Zhu didn't feel as disappointed as she had imagined. In fact, she was quite optimistic and thought that she was lucky to have gotten some information from the Five-Colored Divine Bird, so she nodded.

The divine bird stared intently for a moment.

Zuo Huang said, "The past is gone."

Zhongluan said, "It is here now."

Youfeng said, "The future will come."

Xia Zhu: "..."

Well, she mentally encouraged herself. Perhaps these three proverbs had a deeper meaning, which she would need to ponder more in the future; after all, heavenly secrets should not be revealed all at once. Perhaps the divine bird was simply telling her to cherish the present moment; she was Xia Zhu, nothing more.

Then she asked, "What is the path of guidance?"

The three birds exchanged a meaningful glance and spoke in turn.

"Nan, Huo, Shan".

Xia Zhu nodded. Bringing Yun Jiu with her was definitely the right decision. It seemed that Nanhuo Mountain was her next destination. Xia Zhu had never been to the South before. It was different from the North. There were towering mountains, clear skies, and flowing green waters. No matter what the outcome would be, she would just treat it as a trip to have some fun and take Yun Jiu home.

She was about to thank them when she looked up and saw the five-colored birds entwined, no longer looking at her, their colorful feathers shimmering with an undercurrent of light. The lanterns floating above the phoenixes moved erratically without wind, their flickering candlelight casting long shadows. She heard a woman's soft sigh from beyond the heavens, surging towards her like a tide.

The next second, the fireworks went out and disappeared into darkness.

She stood still, suddenly remembering what the three-headed bird had said to her.

They said she was the last one.

Then she remembered the lamps that had gone out above Huang and Feng's heads, and guessed that before that, there must have been two other people who had encountered the divine bird by chance.

The news was so well-kept that no one had ever heard of it.

In the void, without wind or sound, she couldn't help but imagine who the other two destined people were, what questions they asked the Five-Colored Bird, and whether, like herself, they had no clear answers but were guided by a path.

Just then, a cool breeze brushed her face, the sound of dripping water gradually faded, and a faint light appeared before her eyes. She saw Feng Feng's anxious face again.

"A-Zhu?" Feng Feng raised his hand and waved it in front of her eyes. "You're awake!"

She blinked, her vision gradually returning, and she could see everyone behind Feng Feng, as well as Ying Huo, who was leaning against the stone wall with a cold expression.

“I just…” She looked down at her hands.

“You have entered an opportunity.” Feng Mian suddenly spoke up, but the others did not show any change in expression.

“How did you know?” she asked.

Feng Feng took her hand and held it in his palm, stroking it. Perhaps her body temperature was a little low, so he cupped his hands together again.

“Actually, we didn’t know at first. You suddenly stood there motionless, your hands and feet were as cold as ice! Even the light in your eyes disappeared. It scared me to death. Azhu, you don’t know, Ying Huo even…” Feng Feng stopped halfway through his sentence, raised his eyelids and glanced at Ying Huo, who was gloomy and almost frozen, and chose not to continue.

Xia Zhu was startled and turned to look at Ying Huo, only to find that he had already turned and walked towards the cave entrance. So she turned back to Feng Feng, "Oh right, there was one over there just now..."

"There was a bear? Right?" Feng Feng immediately guessed what she wanted to say, then gently shook his head. "To be precise, it wasn't a bear, but a brown bear."

"Bear?" She recalled that among the four minor families under the Jiang family, there was a Bear tribe whose power could generate electricity.

Feng Feng gave a soft "hmm".

“Actually, it wasn’t a real bear, just a person wearing an animal skin.” She turned her head and glanced into the darkness behind her, then continued, “That person wearing the animal skin was one of Jiang Xiaqing’s aunts. She was the one who told us not to worry about you. She guessed you had probably gone to see the Five-Colored Bird.”

"I see, but why is her great-aunt here?"

This time, Feng Feng composed himself and looked somewhat serious. "I'm afraid we'll have to ask Jiang Xiaqing herself."

Xia Zhu was wondering whether to return to the ground first when she saw Feng Mian approach. His skin appeared even more translucent in the darkness, and his eyes still held a smile. "A-Zhu," Feng Mian called to her, "So, did you get your answer?"

Xia Zhu lowered her eyes and thought for a moment, then glanced in the direction Ying Huo had left.

"Not exactly. I did see the three-headed divine birds, but they couldn't see my origins. They just pointed me in the right direction."

"The road?" Feng Feng frowned.

"Perhaps this is the path that will lead to the final answer." She lowered her head slightly, looking at Yun Jiu, who had been standing close to her without saying a word. "Nanhuo Mountain."

"The three-headed bird told me to go to Nanhuo Mountain."

Yun Jiu tilted her little face up and smiled at her in a harmless way.

"That's good." Feng Mian's voice came from the surroundings, sounding somewhat unreal in this dark and sunless tunnel, rather as faint as a wisp of smoke.