Yang Han heard the voice and chuckled, "You must be the consciousness left behind by the Wood Family's deity inside Melody Wood, right?"
"That's right. You sure know a lot, kid. You'd better not try to steal this power, or if I find you, you're dead." The voice threatened.
"I don't intend to steal it. I'm going to erase your consciousness instead." Yang Han smiled.
"You dare!" The entity was shocked upon hearing this.
"It's not about daring or not. As for your power—heh—it won't be yours anymore." Yang Han laughed.
The entity was about to continue threatening Yang Han, even roaring, "You'd better not mess around, or you're dead."
But Yang Han was never someone to be threatened. He began to slowly peel away the consciousness, then seal it. This process took quite some time, and Melody Wood appeared to be in pain, since this consciousness had long been hidden inside her.
Outside, Lynn Lin and Ember Yang waited. Meanwhile, the birds that had been secretly tracking them to the lake couldn't wait to leave and hurried back to report to their king.
The bird resting in the deep cave listened to their report and asked in surprise, "You say they went to that lake?"
"Yes, that's right. Exactly."
"That's a forbidden zone. Other birds can't enter at all. Even if I go in, it would take a lot of power. But I'm still recovering, and I need that Fire Phoenix girl's strength." The bird king sounded troubled.
"We've tried everything we could, but we just can't get close," one of the birds said.
"Keep watching them for me and report any updates immediately," the bird king ordered.
The birds followed the king's instructions, while Yang Han and the others were still on the island.
"How much longer is this going to take?" Lynn Lin grumbled.
"Sister Lynn, what do you think Dad is doing for Sister Melody?" Ember Yang asked curiously.
"Sister Melody is sick. Your dad is treating her," Lynn Lin replied.
"So that's what's going on. How long will it take? It's already been three days," Ember Yang said in her childish voice.
"I don't know, maybe a long time," Lynn Lin answered.
"Really? Are we just going to stay here like this?" Ember Yang asked in surprise.
"So, is there anywhere fun around here?" Lynn Lin asked curiously.
Ember Yang's eyes lit up. "Of course there is! I was just thinking about exploring."
"Oh? Really? Where? Is it far?" Lynn Lin asked, intrigued by Ember Yang's suggestion.
"It's right by the lake. Come on! No one else can enter this lakeside, and when we get back, Dad and the others probably still won't be done." Ember Yang said.
"Alright, let's go. Quick in, quick out," Lynn Lin said, eager to see what wonders the magical lakeside held.
At the magical lakeside, Ember Yang led Lynn Lin to a certain area and said, "Sister Lynn, I can sense it—it's right below us. Let's go down."
"Okay." Lynn Lin nodded and followed Ember Yang into the water.
The water was very deep. Lynn Lin complained, "Why is the water so deep? It's pitch black down there."
"I have a Firestone that can light up the area. Let's go take a look. As for how deep it is, I don't know either," Ember Yang said.
Hearing that Ember Yang didn't know either, Lynn Lin grew even more curious about what lay below. With the Firestone's light, everything around them became clear. Below were algae and some artificial mountains, all very tall.
The two of them went down through a mountain crevice and finally reached a cave entrance. Ember Yang said, "It's right in here. Let's go check it out."
"Okay." Lynn Lin nodded and followed Ember Yang inside.
Inside was a membrane. When they stepped through, the water pressure disappeared. The cave was filled with Firestones and other beautiful stones. Lynn Lin exclaimed, "It's so beautiful here."
Ember Yang smiled, "This is it. Pretty, right?"
"It really is pretty. I wonder why this place exists," Lynn Lin asked curiously.
"I don't know. I just remember there's a beautiful spot here, but nothing else," Ember Yang replied.
"You don't know? Let's explore together," Lynn Lin said.
Lynn Lin scanned the surroundings and found a tunnel lined with various crystals. They followed it deeper inside.
Inside, there was a warm current. Lynn Lin felt uncomfortable, but Ember Yang was quite at ease. After entering, they found a statue.
The warmth was emanating from the statue.
"How can this statue give off such intense heat? And what exactly is it?" Lynn Lin asked, full of curiosity.
"I don't know, but I feel really close to it." Ember Yang placed her hand on the statue and leaned her face against it.
Lynn Lin examined the statue carefully and noticed it bore a resemblance to Ember Yang.
"Could this be the great Phoenix?" Lynn Lin wondered to herself.
At that moment, endless darkness appeared around them. Ember Yang and Lynn Lin were startled and quickly backed away, but the darkness vanished just as suddenly.
"What just happened?" Lynn Lin asked in confusion.
"I don't know, but I feel awful," Ember Yang said, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Don't cry, silly girl." Lynn Lin had never seen Ember Yang cry before, but the statue and the darkness had made her tear up. Lynn Lin could only comfort her helplessly.
"Sister Lynn, I really want to meet the owner of this statue," Ember Yang said.
"What's wrong? Do you know her?" Lynn Lin asked.
"I don't know. It feels weird. Just like with Dad—if she's not by my side, I feel sad. I want to find her," Ember Yang said.
"Don't worry. Once your dad finishes treating Sister Melody, we'll come back down and ask him to help find the statue's owner," Lynn Lin comforted her.
"Okay," Ember Yang said, tears streaming down her face.
Not wanting Ember Yang to stay upset, Lynn Lin led her out, but Ember kept glancing back until she finally left.
Back on the island, Ember Yang was gloomy. If she used to be lively and fearless, now she seemed heartbroken, sitting alone by the shore lost in thought.
Seeing Ember Yang like this, Lynn Lin didn't know what to do. She wanted to find Yang Han, but he was still busy, so she could only watch over Ember Yang, hoping nothing would go wrong.
Ember Yang kept asking Lynn Lin to accompany her back to see the statue. Each time Lynn Lin went with her, they returned sadder than before.
Time passed little by little. About a month later, a noise sounded behind Ember Yang and Lynn Lin. Lynn Lin looked back curiously and said, "They must be done."
But Ember Yang was still lost in thought, so Lynn Lin waited, hoping Yang Han would come find them.
At that moment, Yang Han was feeling relieved. Over the past days, he had returned all the power to Melody Wood and sealed away the consciousness.
However, Melody Wood still needed time to absorb the power, so Yang Han placed her inside the Strange Spiral Shell before going to find Ember Yang and Lynn Lin.
He found them sitting on the beach and frowned. "It was so loud just now—didn't they hear it?"
Curious, Yang Han walked over and saw Lynn Lin waving at him, while Ember Yang remained motionless.
"What's wrong with you two?" Yang Han sensed something was off and asked. Ember Yang, unlike before, just sat there absentmindedly.
"Come here, let me tell you." Worried about upsetting Ember Yang, Lynn Lin pulled Yang Han aside.
Curious, Yang Han asked, "What's wrong with her?"
Lynn Lin explained everything. After hearing it, Yang Han frowned. "Are you serious?"
"Yes, that's exactly what happened," Lynn Lin said.
"Looks like I need to go check it out. You stay here and watch over her," Yang Han said.
"Okay." Lynn Lin nodded, and Yang Han followed her directions to the lake, dove down, and quickly reached the destination.
In the deepest part, he saw the statue.
After looking at the statue, Yang Han muttered, "It really does look familiar."
In such deep water, with a cave and a statue inside, it was clearly extraordinary. What surprised Yang Han most was that the statue resembled Ember Yang.
"Let's take a look inside." Remembering Lynn Lin's warning about the darkness, Yang Han walked over, imitating Ember Yang by touching the statue. Sure enough, the dark space appeared.
It was like a void, with only the statue within it.
The statue seemed to be looking at Yang Han.
Yang Han looked at the statue suspiciously and asked, "Can you speak?"
A voice came from the statue: "Of course, young man."
Yang Han had seen statues before—like divine birds and dragons—but this was his first time seeing a human-headed, phoenix-bodied statue.
So Yang Han tried asking questions. Hearing the voice, he was surprised and then smiled, "You can hear me?"
"Of course. You carry my daughter's aura. She's very close to you, so naturally you can sense me," the voice said.
"Your daughter? You mean Ember Yang is your daughter? Then you are...?" Yang Han asked suspiciously.
"I am the previous generation Phoenix. I encountered a powerful being and was forced to seal myself. I used thirteen incarnations to guard my daughter until she could awaken one day. I didn't expect you to bring her out early," the voice said.
"Sorry, I didn't expect it either. At the time, I just..." Yang Han said awkwardly.
"It's fine. Her early awakening isn't a bad thing. But I hope you'll take good care of my daughter until her memories return and she grows up," the voice said.
"Senior, don't worry. I treat her like my own daughter. I won't neglect her," Yang Han promised.
"Good. Hearing that, I'm relieved," the voice laughed.
"What about this darkness around us?" Yang Han asked suspiciously.
"It's a spatial effect, just to prevent people from moving my statue," the voice replied.