501, 502

501: Only in a Novel. . . 

In fact, he was the only participant from back then to survive to today. “

Then why are you OK?” Feng Wu asked curiously from Ming Xi’s arms.

The man smiled bitterly. “The young miss hates me and wants me to stay by her side so she can torture me slowly.”

He didn’t hate the little girl and didn’t blame anyone for his situation. It was what he deserved.

“Another question. The first woman among us to die here, was she killed by your young miss?”

Ming Xi couldn’t shake the feeling that Regina’s[notes] death was strange. A lot of other people died after her, but their deaths were all smiliar. It was only Regina’s death that was different.

He suspected it wasn’t a spirit that killed her, because after all, what did the undead care about living blood? Only two entities wanted human blood: one was the Blood clan the other was the Asura race.[notes]

The Blood clan were afraid of the sun while the Asura were afraid of the magic in air. Though the odds of either appearing in the desert were low, it wasn’t zero. Whether or not his guess was right or wrong, only the spirit would know.

“That girl wasn’t killed by the young miss. The young miss hates men. Because all the children used were girls, and the ones who defiled them were men, the children hate men the most. In their hearts, all men are bad people who will hurt them.

Whenever people break into the mansion, the young miss and the children will always kill the men first before the women. If the one you called Shani hadn’t taken the young miss’s doll, the young miss would not have touched her so soon.”

“Was the one who killed Regina among us?”

“I don’t know what you call the person; none of you ever called her by name, but she was distinctive. She always wore a black cloak and kept her face covered, so I never saw what she looked like.

By the way, beside her is a man who gives off the same aura.”

He thought a bit before explaining what he saw back then. He’d only managed to get out of the painting because the young miss was distracted by the adventurers. He remembered the humans had tried to kill each other. He didn’t interfere because he had no interest in stopping them.

Ming Xi recognized that the man and woman accompanying Hart fit the description. “Was there anything strange about the woman?” Ming Xi asked.

Strange? The man thought for a moment. “Yes, the strange thing was that she sucked blood. After she killed the woman named Regina, she sucked all her blood up. It’s not something humans would do, more like something a Blood clan would."

Though the Asura also liked blood, they preferred smearing it on their bodies.

As expected, there were Blood clan amongst them lurking on the mainland. The Blood clan seemed to be making a move, probably targeting the barrier around Blood Moon forest.

They wanted to unify the continent and feast on human blood.

It was likely some had got through the crack in the enchantment from the last time it was compromised.[notes] And not the ones who escaped were probably feeling restless. Some probably got in through the crack in the enchantment last time.

Ming Xi dismissed the middle-aged spirit after getting the answers to his questions.

Now the only people left in the hall were Ming Xi and Feng Wu. Ming Xi leaned Feng Wu into his arms when she began blinking sleepily.

The warm hug made her feel drowsy.

Ming Xi touched her little head and whispered, “Go to sleep. I’ll watch over you.”

It didn’t matter if Feng Wu stayed with him because of her abilities, he was still touched at the fact she stayed at all. His heart softened as he held her.

Feng Wu shook her head. “No, I’ll wait for Baby. He went to the spiritual world to find the seven-colored phoenix. When he comes back, we can all leave together.”

“Rui Baby is looking for Little Seven?”[notes] Ming Xi suddenly realized Rui Baby wasn’t with Feng Wu.

Feng Wu nodded.

Ming Xi smiled at that. “Seems we are lucky.”

He was the crown prince of the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom, of course he would have the means to protect himself. The problem was Feng Wu. She didn’t have the same blood in her veins. But even if Little Seven couldn’t make it in the end, he still had the ability to protect Feng Wu. It would cost him, but he would pay whatever price to keep her safe.

With Rui Baby’s help, their odds for a successful escape increased significantly though.

While Ming Xi and Feng Wu were waiting for Rui Baby, Mogefei contacted the school. He knew Ming Xi’s identity was special, so of course he would contact the school as soon as he could.

The school would send over several necromancers to handle the situation.

Odds were likely the area with all that acquired extreme yin was going to dust once the teachers arrived.

Both Zo and Ai Lin were worried about Feng Wu, Zo especially so because she was his savior. He wanted to save her but didn’t have a way. All he could do was secretly worry. He knew there were people from Star Marshall in the desert. If they acted, the odds of Feng Wu surviving would definitely improve.

As for the future emperor of the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom, he wasn’t worried in the slightest. That emperor was a child of destiny and had the blood of a god in his veins. He would definitely be protected by the world’s consciousness. It would fair to say it would be extremely difficult to kill him.

Feng Wu, the one in the most danger, had no such protection.

Ai Lin lamented that a girl like Feng Wu, who was willing to live and die with her beloved, didn’t exist in the modern world. Only in the novels. . . 

502: Ming Xi Gets Injured

Such a pure-hearted girl, it was a pity for her to die! Ai Lin thought.

While Ai Lin was thinking this, those around Zi Cheng thanked her for saving their lives. Zi Cheng repeatedly told them they didn’t have to be so polite, but everyone left a token keepsake with her before leaving anyway.

She won so many favorability points; it was an excellent harvest. The only people she didn’t get points from were Ai Lin, Tian Ya and Zo. Tian Ya, because of being pushed by Feng Wu, looked especially bad.

Tian Ya had grown up alongside the prince at the royal palace after being selected by Ming Xi to be his personal body guard.

His job was to protect the prince and yet he was the one to escape while the prince was the one who stayed behind. He was doing a horrible job as a bodyguard! Even though he had not intended leave, the result was still the same. It would have been strange if his expression wasn’t bad.

While they were busy being worried, Rui Baby and Little Seven finally made it back to the mansion. Little Seven, upon arriving, immediately sprayed the boundary covering the land surrounding the mansion with her flames.

The heavy rain stopped and a gap filled with bright sunlight opened up. Ming Xi grabbed Feng Wu’s hand and immediately jumped up, trying to reach the hole, but just as he did so, the little girl reappeared by his side with eyes full of anger.

She wanted revenge for the burn from Feng Wu earlier. She couldn’t touch Feng Wu, but she sure as heck could touch her man. Did they think they could hurt her without repercussion? Her eyes were filled with hate and her soft little hands approached Ming Xi without warning.

She sneered and touched Ming Xi just as he was mid jump.

Taken by surprise, Ming Xi’s reaction came too slow. He failed to dodge and could only hit her with some light magic.

The little girl smiled coldly and let his magic hit her. She watched as frost formed on Ming Xi’s hand. But unexpected the frost did not spread to the rest of his body as expected. Only his hand became frozen.

Feng Wu grabbed Ming Xi’s other hand and dragged him through the gap in the barrier.

The little girl let out an angry roar as she watched Ming Xi disappear with Feng Wu through the gap. That human! How could he not die from the extreme yin?! She couldn’t believe they were able to escape her mansion.

The long- missed sunshine shone on Ming Xi and Feng Wu.

“Classmate Ming Xi!”

The exclamation sounded as soon as they landed.

Within two seconds, an old man with a staff flew to Ming Xi’s side at a speed that belied his elderly age.

“Ming Xi, Feng Wu!”

Mogefei and the others rushed over soon after the old man and surrounded Feng Wu and Ming Xi.

None of the other groups were around. Mogefei and the rest of the team were still in the area because they were waiting for the teacher from the school to arrive.

Ming Xi had stayed behind and acted as a decoy in order to save them. Such a great favor, how could they leave? No, they stayed and waited for the teacher’s arrival.

They’d been there all day. The flow of time inside the barrier was different from the external world. Though it felt like they’d been inside the mansion for many days, in reality it had only been a day.

The teacher had been worried about Ming Xi and Feng Wu, so he had used teleportation magic to travel. It had only taken him an hour. Other necromancers were coming as well, however, they would not be able to enter the enchantment and save the students.

Fortunately, Feng Wu and Ming Xi came out on their own, otherwise when the teacher forced open the barrier, who knew if the two of them would still be alive.

“Ming Xi’s hand!” Zi Cheng covered her mouth in shock when she saw the popsicle that his hand had become.

The teacher’s face paled. “This is extreme yin!”

Extreme yin killed invisibly. If not for the divine blood protecting Ming Xi, he would have been dead.

“Jiji!” Little Seven flew over and chirped. She spat red flame out at his hand and melted the ice away.

“Look! The ice melted! The ice melted!” Ai Lin happily cried out.

The old magician hurried to check Ming Xi’s injury. His expression did not improve.

“Teacher, what’s wrong with my arm?” Ming Xi still couldn’t not feel his hand despite the ice being melted away.

Even if the teacher didn’t say anything, Ming Xi knew his hand was in trouble. Perhaps he would be unlucky and need to amputate.

“Multiple nerves in your hand have become necrotic. I must take you back to school immediately. If we wait too long, I’m afraid you may lose your hand!” The old magician spoke seriously.

“Then what are you waiting for Teacher! Take him away please!” Tang spoke up immediately. Ming Xi was his savior. He didn’t want his savior to be crippled!

“I’ll go too.” Feng Wu stubbornly held onto Ming Xi’s hand.

“No, you stay and complete the task. The mission is very important, and we can’t afford to fail. I’ll probably have to return home anyway. Even if the injury is serious, my family will have a solution, so don’t worry about me. Just wait, I’ll be back.” Ming Xi pulled his hand back from Feng Wu and used it to pat her head.

He knew his injury was serious and that the likelihood was high he would have to return home to the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom to recover.

He was worried the mission would be more dangerous, especially since now there were blood clan members with unknown intentions roaming about.

Feng Wu nodded expressionlessly as she looked at Ming Xi. “I’ll wait for you to come back.”

“Okay.” Ming Xi’s eyes were full of tenderness.

The old magician watched the ambiguous scene and sighed. Apparently even the next Moon emperor had a sweetheart.

Ming Xi left quickly after that, but before he did, he promised Feng Wu he would let her know about his injury.

Feng Wu stayed with the team and continued with the mission with everyone else. She was already missing him. He had said she didn’t know what love was, but he had said it was something akin to like. She definitely liked him. She wouldn’t have let him by Xiao Ye’s father if she hadn’t.

Back near the mansion, two gray-haired old men arrived not long after everyone left. In sync with their arrival, the little girl inside the mansion suddenly felt a strong forboding. . . 

503, 504

503:

“Xiao Wu, are you worried about Senior Ming Xi?” Ai Lin leaned over and whispered her question.

“I miss him.” Feng Wu nodded and answered honestly.

Aren’t you going to be a little coy at least? Ai Lin was speechless at how frank Feng Wu was.

“We’ll go back to campus once the mission is complete and you’ll be able to see him again then.” Though Ai Lin didn’t know how long Ming Xi’s injury would take to heal, they were in a world of swords and magic. As long as there was a possible cure, it would happen.

“Really?” Feng Wu’s eyes lit up.

“Well I’m not 100% certain but I’m pretty sure that’s how it will go.” Ai Lin didn’t dare make any guarantees, so she hedged her answer.

Ten days later, the group finally made it to the spot marked with an “X” on the map. Had they not been delayed by the mansion, they would have reached it before anyone else. But it wasn’t likely to happen now.

Why was this? Well the desert wasteland had no vegetation, so an area with plants would naturally look suspicious and grab attention. The area where the heart was sealed was like a small oasis. Though the plants that grew there were ordinary, they grew in abundance, starkly contrasting with the rest of the desert.

Anyone with brains would be suspicious and investigate the area. And in fact, there was quite a crowd gathered around doing just that, waiting to see what kind of treasure would be unearthed.

The Heart of Wood was going to emerge in a few days and there were already so many people waiting. There was no way they could sneakily take it out without being noticed.

“What should we do now?” Huozhuo didn’t know what to do as he looked at the large crowd so he asked Captain Mogefei.

“We wait.” They couldn’t open the seal and take the Heart of Wood away in front of so many people.

Mogefei’s group stood outside on the outskirts of the green and waited for the Heart of Wood to emerge on its own. Once it emerged, they would fight to take it for themselves.

That was five days ago; now five days later, the air shook with wood-type magic. Wood aura appeared and plants sprang up within a radius of several thousand miles. The desert wasteland gave birth to many wildflowers and plants. The vegetation wasn’t anything precious or rare, but the fact that they existed in such a dire landscape was amazing.

As this was happening, a green water-drop shaped creature flew out of the ground. The little thing zoomed out in a single direction the moment it came out.

“The treasure’s out! It wants to run! Stop it!”

Few knew it was the legendary Heart of Wood, the one thing most coveted by wood magicians, but that didn't stop them from using flying scrolls to try to get it.

Both in the sky and on the ground, people were trying to catch it. They didn’t know what kind of treasure it was, but that didn’t matter. They needed to get it first; there would be time enough to study it later.

“Go!” Everyone in the team gave chase the moment Mogefei gave the order.

The instant Zi Cheng set eyes on it, she knew it belonged to her. It was the same feeling she had with the Heart of Water.

It was an inexplicable feeling that came deep from her gut. That droplet belonged to her!

When Ai Lin noticed Zi Cheng covertly drawing blood she realized something. Zi Cheng had forced a contract with the Heart of Wood with a blood contract![notes]

So that was how it was subdued! It wasn’t that the Heart of Wood[notes] voluntarily chose to contract with Zi Cheng; it had been forced!

The original text didn’t describe how Zi Cheng contracted with the heart, so it was only now that Ai Lin understood.

Ai Lin snorted disdainfully as she followed behind Zi Cheng, looking as though she was trying to help, but secretly intent on sabotage. She succeeded several times in thwarting Zi Cheng.

Zi Cheng was frustrated beyond belief, but she couldn’t scold Ai Lin. How could she explain herself if she did?

At the same time, Caesar and his team were also preoccupied with capturing the Heart of Wood. They had at least one holy level wood magician in their clan, but obviously having another was always good!

The strength of a clan was directly tied to how many powerful people it had. The more powerhouses a clan had the more rights it could take and the stronger its voice.

Zo didn’t care who got the Heart of Wood as long as it wasn’t Zi Cheng. The world would be destroyed if it fell into her hands.

So, while Ai Lin discretely hobbled Zi Cheng every chance she got, Zo was also doing his best to make sure Caesar couldn’t get a hold of it either.

Caesar had no idea his own little brother was sabotaging him. He was focused on protecting Zi Cheng first and getting the Heart of Wood second. His attitude toward Zi Cheng had changed since the mansion.

Zo suspected his brother had reached a 100% favorability rating with Zi Cheng. At this point, the only way to release his brother from Zi Cheng’s hold was if she died or if the world was destroyed.

Caesar getting the Heart of Wood was no different from Zi Cheng getting it, because obviously, if Zi Cheng wanted it, Caesar would surely give it to her. Because of this, Zo couldn’t risk letting Caesar get a hold of the Heart of Wood if Caesar’s rating really was 100%.

With both Ai Lin and Zo working together, Zi Cheng and Caesar made no progress toward getting the Heart of Wood.

The Heart of Wood was like a naughty child flying all around the sky. It couldn’t return to the ground like it wanted to because Caesar’s people were there and there was no place for it to hide on land.

Feng Wu, following behind Mogefei with her characteristically expressionless face, had to dodge a lot of people.

The crowded sky full of people trying to catch the Heart of Wood made it difficult for Feng Wu to move. Feng Wu stood still and blinked blankly. The droplet was really cute. What should she do if she wanted to grab it?

“Stop! Don’t run!”

“Hold it there! I’m about to catch it!”

“Hey! You all, get out of the way!”

People set traps all over the sky in hopes of catching it, but alas it as no use. The Heart of Wood flew around all of them. Even if someone was blocking it, preventing it from flying far away, within the area it was bound to, it could still evade easily.

The scene was a chaotic mess. No one was able to catch the small and nimble Heart of Wood. This was only natural, after all the elementals would have all been caught long ago if they were that easy to trap.

504: Ai Lin Messes with Zi Cheng

People were zooming around in the sky trying to catch the Heart of Wood for more than an hour with nothing to show for it. Caesar signaled to his people below to create a trap formation, while he created another trap formation in the sky.

The Heart of Wood, sensing the danger, flew over the crowd and directly toward Feng Wu.

Feng Wu suddenly felt something in her arms. She looked down to find a small, green, droplet shaped little guy staring shyly at her. It was strange because Feng Wu couldn’t see any eyes on it.

But she was never one to think too deeply on what she didn’t understand. She held the round, slightly cold, little guy more tightly.

Feng Wu was just hugging it when someone yelled out, “Hand over the treasure!”

People immediately pivoted to surround her. Their goal was the Heart of Wood.

“Protect Feng Wu!” Mogefei shouted.

Huozhuo immediately covered her and protected her from some of the people rushing to give her a hard time.

The entire scene made Zi Cheng’s heart tremble. The Heart of Wood belonged to her! She never expected it to actually fly into Feng Wu’s arms. But the Heart of Wood had not formed a contract with Feng Wu yet, so she still had a chance!

Would Ai Lin let Zi Cheng get her way? Of course not! Ai Lin also went over as fast as she could to Feng Wu. It wasn’t that she wanted to snatch the Heart of Wood away from Feng Wu, it was that she wanted to keep Zi Cheng[notes] from doing anything bad.

Her guess about Zi Cheng was spot on too.

Ai Lin rolled her eyes before handing Feng Wu a teleportation scroll that she purchased at auction some time ago. The scroll could position and teleport long distances.

Earlier, before she entered the wasteland, Ai Lin had marked the position destination in a small town just outside the desert.

The moment Feng Wu activated the scroll, she would teleport there and escape from everyone.

Feng Wu looked suspiciously at the scroll Ai Lin held out to her. Her eyes clearly said something to the effect of - why are you giving this to me.

“Go!” Ai Lin shoved the scroll into Feng Wu’s hand. Then, because she was afraid Feng Wu would remain in town and wait for the group, she added, “Leave here and don’t wait for us. Go back to campus immediately.”

Feng Wu signaled she understood by nodding her head and activating the spell. A formation one meter in circumference immediately encircled her and she was teleported away.

“What the heck!?”

“Where, where did she go?!”

No one could believe Feng Wu got away so easily. Those in Caesar’s camp had set up formations to prevent this exact scenario. It should have been impossible for anyone to use a teleportation scroll to leave.

They were puzzled but kept moving and searching. They had no idea where she went, so they could only try their luck and send people out in every direction.

Zi Cheng’s heart was practically bursting with resentment. She had to watch as Ai Lin helped Feng Wu right in front of her face. She tried to stop it, but by the time she reached Feng Wu, Feng Wu had already activated the scroll and disappeared.

How was she going to find Feng Wu in a desert as big as this?! If it weren’t for the fact that she couldn’t discretely attack Feng Wu in front of the others, she would have hit Feng Wu with a spell and anchored her in place, but Zi Cheng couldn’t turn against the school yet – she wasn’t strong enough and still needed their support, so she couldn’t risk becoming an enemy.

Mogefei gave Ai Lin a look of approval.

“Well done.”

None of the people who entered the desert were weaklings, so they wouldn’t have been able to cover Feng Wu against so many people. Ai Lin’s teleportation scroll really helped them out of a tight spot.

“It was what I should do in order to complete the task.” Ai Lin said modestly as she nodded in satisfaction while internally she was laughing gleefully at Zi Cheng’s loss.

Without the Heart of Wood to speed up her cultivation, the heroine wouldn’t be able to rise up meteorically and become a myth like Longze. Haha!

Mogefei nodded at Ai Lin’s modesty.

Half the task was done. Once they confirmed Feng Wu made it back to school with the treasure, their mission would be complete.

Zi Cheng’s acting was topnotch and she truly was worthy of being called the heroine, for though her heart was gloomy, none of it showed on her face, and instead, her expression radiated joy.

The only one who knew better was Ai Lin.

The group was pleased with the performance of the two second-year students. Since Feng Wu was gone, there was no reason to remain in the desert. Zi Cheng proposed they leave and meet up with Feng Wu.

Ai Lin knew Zi Cheng hadn’t given up on getting the Heart of Wood; there was no way she was going to let Zi Cheng get her way. Ai Lin suggested they take their time and meander around the desert in order to lose any tails following them. After all, it would be a waste of their efforts if they led the other groups straight to Feng Wu.

Mogefei agreed. The group took their time meandering around the desert leading the people following them on a wild goose chase.

The ones tailing them hated them for it. What was this walking around all over the place? Those guys were just teasing them! They were nearly in tears. It wasn’t easy walking around so much in such a hot desert!

Zi Cheng was not happy, but for obvious reasons, she couldn’t leave everyone and walk ahead on her own. Her group would most certainly be suspicious if she dared do it, which meant she would need to kill everyone on the team.

Zi Cheng felt so much regret at this point. If she’d known these people would get in her way, she wouldn’t have taken them out of the mansion with her. The extra points weren’t worth it. She so regretted it!

Yaoyue had stopped bothering the second-year girls ever since they left the mansion. She didn’t want to admit it, but the only reason she survived was because of Zi Cheng and Ming Xi.

505, 506

505: Days Without Ming Xi

It didn’t matter whether or not she liked it; she had already come to accept it. Ming Xi sacrificed himself to save everyone, while Zi Cheng used a boundary breaking talisman to get everyone out. It would have been unreasonable to continue to trouble Zi Cheng.

The team made their way slowly across the desert, and with Yaoyue no longer looking for trouble with the girls, they actually looked like a cohesive team.

While they were making their way around the desert, Feng Wu heeded Ai Lin’s words and had already left town.

To return to school, Feng Wu needed a teleportation array that went to Zhongyang where Xinguang Holy Academy was located. She found a mount and rushed to the nearest city with an array easily. It took her ten days, but she returned without issue.

She and the Heart of Wood had gotten to know each other and became friends in that time. It was only natural she didn’t want the vice principal to hurt her new friend. Feng Wu confirmed with him several times that he would not hurt the Heart of Wood before she willingly relinquished it to him. Had he intended to harm it, she would have refused to give it to him.

Before taking the Heart of Wood, the vice principal returned a much rounder faced Little Bun to Feng Wu.

“So fat.” Feng Wu commented upon seeing that even his limbs were also chunkier.

“Wah!” Little Bun wailed at the comment. He was not fat OK?! Momma was bad!

Feng Wu brought her face to his and coaxed him. “Don’t cry, don’t cry,” she said.

Little Bun ignored her and cried his heart out.

Feng Wu expressionlessly handed Little Bun to Little White[notes] then walked back to the dorm by herself.

Little Bun became even more aggrieved when he saw his mommy walking away. His cries became so shrill they nearly brought the roof down. Jier, unable to take it anymore, picked up Little Bun and hugged him, coaxing him to quiet.

Mogefei and the rest of the team made it back to school three days after Feng Wu got back.

Zi Cheng gave up on the Heart of Wood because she knew it had already been turned in, but the feeling that something was wrong had been niggling at her ever since she lost the Heart of Water. She could feel deep in her gut the Heart of Water belonged to her, so how did it end up being in Zo’s possession?

The Heart of Wood was supposed to be hers too, but it ended up flying to Feng Wu and ultimately ended up in the hands of the school. Zi Cheng could not figure out what the problem was.

Tian Ya only attended Xingguang Holy academy in order to protect Ming Xi, so with Ming Xi returning home, there was no reason for Tian Ya to return to school. It wasn’t like anyone could stop him from leaving, but just because no one stopped him, it didn’t mean he wouldn’t suffer repercussions.

The school gave him a suitable demerit so other students wouldn’t follow his lead.

For Feng Wu, her days at school passed by calmly and was filled with general student activities. The only difference was now she couldn’t see Ming Xi because he had gone home.

She contacted him every two days through the communication crystal. Though he looked normal, his hand was still encased in bandages.

The school gave everyone in the group rewards for successfully completing the mission. They were also given lots of points that could be traded in for useful magic items.

The points were useless to Feng Wu though, so she hadn’t done anything with them other than storing them away for later use.

The storyline continued to progress as another three more months passed by in the blink of an eye.

Though Zi Cheng lost both the Heart of Water and Heart of Wood she had managed to get the inheritance from the two ancient magicians in the god tomb as well as gain an increase in reputation.

Ai Lin still dogged Zi Cheng and sabotaged Zi Cheng from time to time. There was nothing for it. Once she learned Zi Cheng would destroy the world, Ai Lin couldn’t keep her distance and mind her own business. She was afraid Zi Cheng would destroy the world before ascending and becoming a god.

Just because Ai Lin couldn’t be a heroine didn’t mean she wanted to be cannon fodder! In order not to progress her cannon fodder role, she had been diligent about sabotaging Zi Cheng. She knew though, that the more she did, the more obvious it would become, and the more likely Zi Cheng would notice.

In reality, it was too late. Zi Cheng was aware of Ai Lin’s antics and had been trying to find trouble for Ai Lin. It was to the point they clashed whenever they met – outside of school, in school, in the virtual world – it was obvious how incompatible they were.

Zi Cheng made it clear she did not get along with Ai Lin. As a result, Ai Lin got a lot of trouble from those who were brainwashed by Zi Cheng’s system.

But Ai Lin wasn’t without allies. Zi Cheng’s charm from the system was too powerful at times, and this caused many girls to lose their men to her.

It was a seesaw. The two sides fought, both winning and losing many times.

This had nothing to do with the well-behaved Feng Wu who continued to talk to Ming Xi every couple of days. By this point, it had become a part of her routine.

Every now and then, Jasmine would try to make trouble for her as well. And that was also a part of her routine.

Ai Lin and many people at school came to look favorably on Feng Wu. She was a girl who was willing to live and die with her beloved. She stayed with Ming Xi in a time of crisis and allowed other people to live. Truly admirable!

Quite a few of the boys were jealous of Ming Xi. How come they couldn’t meet a girl who loved them that much? The world was too unfair!

The girls’ opinions were also changed. Regardless what her moral standing was, whether or not she had a baby, none of them could deny FEng Wu's dedication to Ming Xi.

It was incredibly touching to hear she was willing to accompany her beloved in such dangerous circumstances. Even Ann[notes] was moved. However, it wasn’t enough to make her quit pursuing Ming Xi. Instead she approached Feng Wu and declared they would have a fair fight.

Feng Wu only blinked her eyes and it wasn’t clear if she understood or not.

Yanran hadn’t been idle either. She became famous because of her connection to Milty and Oleen’s deaths. She made headlines again after stealing another girl’s fiancé. Did she just really enjoy stealing other people’s fiancés?

506: The Blood Clan’s Invasion

Yanran went to visit Feng Wu several times, but Feng Wu was never receptive so she didn’t visit as often anymore.

Originally Feng Wu had no interest in Yanran gossip, but Annika and Xi[notes] loved talking about other people’s business.

“I’ve seen him before. He’s a good-looking guy and he’s ranked third in the fourth years. How did such an excellent male specimen fall for Yanran?” Xi shoved a cookie into her mouth and chewed on it as she thought about the situation. The more she thought about it, the more bewildering it became.

“I wonder the same thing. What’s good about her other than her face? These guys who like her are all blind!” Annika exclaimed. She was a single girl without any suitors, so seeing a terrible woman like Yanran attract so many guys was incomprehensible to her. She definitely did not like Yanran.

Feng Wu sat to the side as she held Little Bun. She was happy to snack on cookies and crackers, stuffing one in her mouth, then another in Little Bun’s. Swallow and repeat.

“The guy’s name is Aubre. He’s pretty well known amongst the fourth years; I think he’s amongst the most popular in the top ten in his grade. He’s good looking and a top student with dual proficiency in air and fire elemental magic.

Only thing is he comes from an ordinary background but the girl he’s engaged to is a noble girl. I heard she’s been in love with him since forever. Somehow or other, she forced her family to get a marriage contract with him. Who would have expected that after all this, she would still get dumped.”

Xi sighed. It wasn’t worth it. That noble girl, the guy never even showed interest in marrying. Why’d she go so far to get him? Wasn’t this just looking for abuse?!

“That’s how the engagement came to be?! Aiya, even though it was wrong of Aubre to fall for Yanran, the fiancée isn’t blameless either. Who told her to lower herself to such a disadvantageous position? Rushing off to have her family propose a marriage contract. For someone from nobility, that’s really embarrassing. Where is here dignity as a noble?” Annika couldn’t understand what went on in the girl’s head. How could she give up her noble dignity for a man?

Soon enough nighttime fell and it was time for Feng Wu to have her routine chat with Ming Xi. She sat on the balcony with the breeze blowing around her as she watched the scene from Ming Xi’s end.

“Annika said the girl doesn’t deserve sympathy, that she didn’t have the dignity of nobles. . . ” Feng Wu shared everything she heard honestly.

Black lines formed on Ming Xi’s face[notes] as he listened to Feng Wu. Would Annika cry if she knew Feng Wu was repeating nearly verbatim their conversation?

Feng Wu thought about it and couldn’t think of anything she hadn’t already recounted, so she said, “That was everything that happened in the past two days.”

A small, involuntary twitched appeared on a corner of Ming Xi’s mouth. He still remembered the first time Feng Wu contacted him. She had silently stared blankly at him for several minutes.

In an effort to alleviate the silence, he had asked her to tell him all the interesting things that happened in school. The unexpected result was her repeating nearly word for word what her classmates talked about.

Gradually, he got used to Feng Wu’s way of retelling it to him.

Her serious expression and the straight forward way she delivered her news was very cute.

“Xiao Wu. . . ” Ming Xi looked at the picture of Feng Wu fallen asleep while reclined in her chair on the balcony. Even though it was summer, the nights were still too chilly to sleep out on the balcony. Ming Xi was worried so he called out to her a few more times. It was no use though, so he ended up just letting her sleep. He spent all night watching over her through their communication crystal.

The past few months saw the situation on the continent deteriorate. The Blood clan were appearing everywhere, even in daylight. They wrapped themselves in a special cloak that protected them from the sun so they were able to walk around freely even in daylight hours.

It was so bad normal people were afraid to wear cloaks, lest they be mistaken for a Blood clan member and get arrested.

There was another emergency with the barrier at Blood Moon forest. A large number of Blood clan people escaped and were wreaking havoc in the human world because an unknown entity had broken the barrier.

The Ancient Moon Kingdom was sending people to reinforce the barrier, while Xingguang Holy academy was sending students to fight the Blood clan. Many sixth and seventh year students were sent, including Feng Yanran. Her mother FengTianxing, who had been involved with defending the barrier prior to teaching at the school, also went with her.

The second to fifth years were free to sign up and help as well. It was a rare opportunity; as long as they participated in battle, they would get points and if they performed exceptionally well, they could even be admitted to Star Marshall hall.

Ordinary people had to rely on their abilities and work hard to slowly build a reputation on the battlefield. With a reputation, they could get fame and money.

The Blood Moon forest event was an opportunity for everyone. There would be danger, but great opportunities often came with great danger. If they took advantage of it and played it the right way, they could conceivable make it big and get into Star Marshall hall all in one go.

A lot of people were interested in signing up. From the second years to the fifth years, at least half the student body signed up.

There were several reasons the other half decided not to go. Some didn’t have enough confidence in their abilities to stay safe. Others felt their family background was strong enough that they didn’t have to fight for merit so desperately. And of course there were those who just had no interest in joining.

Feng Wu was part of the group of people to sign up to fight. The only reason she joined was because in one of their conversations, she had found out that Ming Xi was going to Blood Moon forest to strengthen the barrier.

Even though Ming Xi's hand was more than halfway healed and he would return to school soon, Feng Wu wanted to see him even sooner. She took the initiative to sign up because she really missed him. She would never have bothered with the event otherwise.

507, 508

507: The Greatest War is About to Start

Feng Wu’s suitemates along with most of her friends had signed up as well. And now they, along with everyone else who signed up, were on their way to Blood Moon forest.

A powerful barrier seal was laid in the forest at the junction between the two worlds, but because the seal was damaged, high numbers of Blood clan people were flooding into the human world and feasting on human blood. It was a dangerous situation for humanity.

Ming Xi had participated in the repair work for the previous barrier seal,[notes] and though it had been successful, problems came up later.

The barrier being destroyed again only meant one thing: a human traitor. Someone was sabotaging the barrier from the human side and allowing the bloods to escape into the human world.

Many Blood clan members were taking advantage of the severely damaged enchantment lines and attacking and mutilating humans. The major forces and families on the continent put aside their differences and assembled people to fight the Blood clan.

So many people were there, including the elites of the major families. Even if they had differences and disagreements, the one thing all the families agreed on was fighting against the Blood clan. They couldn’t let the enemy take advantage of them, so they had to show a united front.

By the time Feng Wu and the others reached the forest, the aura of blood in the forest was thick and heavy with casualties from both sides. Who knew how much blood had already seeped into the soil.

The students had to stay on the outskirts of the forest. There was a house used to accommodate the patrol who watched the forest, but there were far too many people to all fit inside. Only those with the highest status used it. Everyone else had to set up tents outside or find some other accommodation.

Feng Wu’s group had arrived later, so they stayed in tents on the outskirts of the forest.

Someone called out to Feng Wu just as she finished setting up her tent.

It was Yi Lin,[notes] who she hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Feng Wu, come here. My mother says she has something to tell you.” Yi Lin had been torn about passing on the word. She and Feng Wu weren’t friendly and had in fact left on bad terms with each other.

Yi Lin hadn’t seen Feng Wu since their last botched encounter,[notes] but she had heard gossip that Feng Wu was doing well.

Feng Wu thought it had to be Feng TianJiao. The two of them didn’t have much interaction so Feng Wu had a neutral opinion of TianJiao. She thought about it only for a moment before following Yi Lin to TianJiao’s tent.

In fact, TianJiao was only there because she was afraid something would happen. She had an inexplicable feeling the blood issue was related to TianXing.[notes] So despite not being welcomed, she still came to the forest. She didn’t care what anyone else thought about her. Her only goal was TianXing.

“Auntie.” Feng Wu blinked and called out expressionlessly upon entering the tent and seeing TianJiao in full battle armor.

“Hm.” TianJiao nodded and the words, “You’re too young to be in a place like this,” suddenly came out of her lips, but she quickly followed them with, “Forget it. Since you’re already here, just lay low and don’t stupidly rush forward to fight. There are so many other people here already. How can they make a little girl rush to the front lines? Remember this well, stay in the back and gain merit from there. . . ”

“Also be careful of your little aunt. She’s not as harmless as she makes herself appear. If she calls out to you, just ignore her. If she wants to meet in a secluded place, reject her.”

TianJiao didn’t like her brother, who was biased, and she didn’t care for her father, who was devoted to TianXing, but she nevertheless, still tried to protect her niece and nephew.

She didn’t know what her sister was up to, but she knew her TianXing would do something big soon. She came to obstruct whatever those plans were.

In the meantime, afraid that her dense niece would be fooled by TianXing, TianJiao had asked Yi Lin to fetch Feng Wu so she could give the little girl some words of warning.

Feng Wu blinked. Little aunt? Did she mean Feng TianXing?

“Xiao Wu has remembered well Big Auntie’s words.” Feng Wu looked at TianJiao seriously.

That was it? Shouldn’t this little girl be going on about how her little aunt was a good person and would never do her harm and yadda yadda? TianJiao was taken aback by the agreeable answer from Feng Wu.

It didn’t feel right.

TianJiao coughed uncomfortably, feeling awkward at how easy it was to talk to Feng Wu. She had only warned the little girl out of duty and never expected Feng Wu to believe her.

After saying a few more words, TianJiao had Yi Lin take Feng Wu back. But before Feng Wu left, she told Feng Wu to come find her if she needed to talk. Feng Wu obediently responded.

It was a pleasant conversation with zero issues.

Feng Wu returned to her tent and found some dried food to eat with the others. They obeyed orders from the higher ups and pulled out a map to familiarize themselves with the environment.

Soon enough the first day ended without Feng Wu even realizing it. She hadn’t even had the chance to find Ming Xi.

A battle strategy meeting with several extremely powerful people was being held in the house outside the Blood Moon forest. There were teachers from the academy, saints from Star Marshall hall, elders from the various powerful families, and a few high-level representatives of the trade houses. In total, there were more than a dozen people.

Seated in the main seat was the vice principal of Xingguang Holy academy. Since the two races were fighting, it was only natural a representative of the school attend. Star Marshall hall sent four saints, but they were young and newly appointed, so having the vice principal preside over the meeting was appropriate.

Ming Xi sat silently next to the vice principal, while behind him stood Tian Ya. It was natural for Tian Ya to be there since he was Ming Xi’s personal bodyguard.

508: A Suspicious Person

The Ancient Silver Moon kingdom was the most powerful amongst the four empires when it came to enchantments and seals, so it was expected they would send a representative.

This slot was given to Ming Xi.

In ancient times, the war between the gods and demons affected all the races: from the humans, to the bloods, to the Asura[notes] and more. The races all suffered a tremendous amount of damage from the battle.

The Asura king of the Asura people and the Blood emperor of the Blood clan got together and created a world for the two races to hide away from the fight between gods and demons. The Asura king and the Blood emperor took their people and departed to that world which they named Asura world.

However, there were blood people who were comfortable living in the human world drinking human blood. They were reluctant to leave and go to live in a smaller world.

The ones in the forest now were not these. These were the descendants of the ones who left, and after such a long time, their population had grown considerably.

The human world would fall into chaos if they entered through the broken seal, especially now with their mastery of sun protection.

“There must be a traitor. If we don’t find who it is soon, it won’t matter if we repair the barrier; it’ll just break again!” An adventurer representing the Adventurer’s guild slapped the table angrily.

“Elder Roy’s words are reasonable. This traitor must be found as soon as possible, otherwise we will surely suffer at the hands of our enemy!” Elder Al of the Magician’s guild spoke up.

“Who is the traitor? Do you have any clues?” An elder of the Jia clan was concerned about the same issue.

Everyone knew finding the traitor was far more important than killing the bloods. Whoever the traitor was, the person was familiar with Blood Moon forest and knew the weak points in the enchantment. A dangerous person like that had to be found, otherwise there wouldn’t be peace and their current military campaign would be in jeopardy.

“Teacher Feng TianXing, you’ve guarded Blood Moon forest for so many years, do you have any ideas?” asked the vice principal.

“This. . . ” TianXing looked at the elders with some embarrassment. “I do have a suspect in mind, but I hope it is not him.”

“You’re referring to your senior brother Lunza?” The vice principal asked.

Only a small number of people knew about Lunza. He disappeared without a trace, along with their master and the four elemental elder protectors.

Essentially all the powerful masters who guarded Blood Moon forest had disappeared, likely having met with misfortune. The only one who avoided the calamity was TianXing.

Lunza was the main suspect in the disappearances so there was file on him at the academy and at Star Marshall hall. His relationship with a blood woman had come to light in the course of a detailed investigation. This was why he was the most likely suspect.

“I don’t think it’s Lunza. He was already gone by the time the first barrier was damaged. I made this second one. Being gone, how could he know where the weak points were?” Ming Xi raised an objection to it being Lunza. He was the most likely culprit, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be someone else. In his opinion, everyone who guarded Blood Moon were possible culprits. They were in the best position to contact the Blood clan; plus, it would have been impossible to tell if any of them had been brainwashed.

“His Royal Highness Ming Xi is correct. We shouldn’t only look at one person. I also don’t think Lunza could have destroyed the barrier this time,” said another elder. This elder was very old and was a half-step from reaching saint level. But considering his age, it was unlikely he would be able to break through, which was why he volunteered to lead the expedition for his clan. He wanted to fight for his juniors.

Several elders also voiced their support for Ming Xi’s view. By the end of the meeting, it was clear the older people who guarded the forest would be locked away in custody for a time.

Lunza was suspicious, but he was missing. Feng TianXing, on the other hand, was the only high-level guard still present. Everyone placed her on the list of suspects mentally but refrained from saying anything out loud out of respect. They would not speak their suspicions in public but they would investigate her privately.

It didn’t look like she would be part of any important future meetings, but TianXing wasn’t worried. If they wanted to investigate, then let them. She doubted they had the ability to find anything. If they had, she would never have been able to stay at the academy for so long.

She wasn’t fooled. She knew the people at Star Marshall hall had arranged for her to teach at the academy so they could keep her close by. They hadn’t found anything after she’d been there for so long. Another investigation wasn’t going to give them any new information.

Of course, Feng Wu and the other students didn’t know anything about the contents of the meeting. The next day Feng Wu took Rui Baby with her to go and see Ming Xi. She was so excited. She hadn’t seen him in a long time and missed him terribly.

Ming Xi was staying in the house on the outskirts of the forest. It was the house the forest guards and TianXing had lived in while guarding the forest. That Ming Xi was staying there showed how important he was.

Because all the important people were staying in the house, guards stood watch outside. It was obvious at a glance the guards were from the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom based on their uniform.

This didn’t register with Feng Wu at all. She just told the guard she was there to see Ming Xi and she was let in.

Ming Xi was inside reading a book.

The seal had never been so damaged before. And this time it would be a lot harder to repair. At this point, the only bloods that couldn’t leave the sealed lands were the prince-level powerhouses.

They would have to push the bloods that entered the human world back inside before redoing the seal. It wouldn’t be easy, but it would be catastrophic if they closed the barrier with the Blood clan people still free in the human world.

509, 510

509: Together, Finally

Anything that endangered the continent had to be destroyed so Ming Xi was busy studying and trying to find the issue with the seal. The problem with the seal was a strange one. He remembered using Xiao Chun’s purification ability to clear away all the blood people last time. Everything had been purified and the seal reinforced. He even kept the weak points secret.

And yet the seal broke, from the human side no less. This was what made it so incomprehensible to Ming Xi. Not many people people break his barriers. Amongst those that could, none of them would have helped the Blood clan, so who did it was even more of a mystery.

Ming Xi was consulting the classic texts in order to devise an unbreakable seal and had made some progress by the time Feng Wu arrived.

Feng Wu approached when she saw him raise his head.

“Senior Ming Xi.” Feng Wu said before slowly stepping inside. Her steps were firm and her eyes clearly expressed her attachment.

Ming Xi waved to her and said, “Come here.”

Feng Wu walked over obediently. She stood in front before squatting down to his level. She held up his injured hand and inspected it. It was still cold, but now it wasn’t stiff and could flex a little.

“Does it hurt?” Feng Wu held his hand like it was a treasure.

“It doesn’t hurt. Do not worry.” Ming Xi patted her lightly on the head.

“I miss you.” Feng Wu spoke seriously as she turned to look up at him. She had missed him and thought about him every day. Was this love?

Feng Wu didn’t know. All she knew was that Ming Xi was a very important person to her. She wanted him to be Xiao Ye’s father and the three of them to be a family together forever.

It was just how Feng Wu was: simple and direct.

Ming Xi’s eyes trembled slightly when he heard her. “I. . .  missed you too.”

Yes, he had missed her. In fact, not a day went by when he didn’t think of her and her expressionless face. There was no expression on her face now, but somehow he thought it was really cute.

“Xiao Wu...” Ming Xi whispered her name softly.

“What?” Feng Wu blinked her eyes which were a little misty.

“Would you like to be my sweetheart?” Ming Xi could feel the sweat forming on his hands. His heart was racing and thudding so loudly it was like a drum in his ears.

“If we're sweethearts, then we’ll definitely get married!” Feng Wu’s voice was filled with expectation as she looked at Ming Xi, her face utterly seriously.

Marriage?! This... was a little fast!

Jier was on Feng Wu as soon as she returned to the camp area. He knew she’d gone to see Ming Xi and he wasn’t optimistic about the couple’s prospects. Ming Xi would be the future ruler of the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom, and his wife would therefore be the future queen. With Feng Wu’s temperament, would she make a good queen?

Honestly, as long as Ming Xi was willing to spoil her, Feng Wu could live a good life as queen even if she chose not to participate in worldly affairs.

Wasn’t the current queen doing just that? After she gave birth to Ming Xi, the youngest prince, she moved and lived alone in a different courtyard and spent her days gardening and raising birds. The king accompanied her every day and their relationship was still going strong.

Maybe Feng Wu could live her life privately behind closed doors away from the public eye, like the current queen.

Jier was thinking of ways to help Feng Wu, but Ming Xi had to accept her, and perhaps just as important, the people of the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom had to accept her as well.

Feng Wu had a rough background and she wasn’t your average girl. Then there was Xiao Ye; this little guy was part of the package. Would the people of the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom accept her as their queen?

The odds were low.

Jier couldn’t bear it when he thought how cruel reality would be for Feng Wu. He didn’t want to watch her jump into the vortex, but he didn’t know how to stop it. Honestly, if it wasn’t for Ming Xi’s status, they would have made a perfectly fine couple.

Feng Wu didn’t understand human social interactions, but she was simple and pure. Ming Xi was clever and open-minded with a big heart. Jier had no doubt Ming Xi would take good care of Feng Wu if they got together.

But Ming Xi’s background was too high! And Feng Wu already had a child. For Feng Wu to be together with Ming Xi would be incredibly difficult!

The more Jier thought about it, the more his head ached. It was too early to think about it now, but it would be too late to think about later.

Jier had been chatting with Feng Wu for a while when it suddenly hit him. The nearly impossible had happened! They had gotten together!

Jier was so shocked when he realized it. This was too scary! There were no warning signs! My goodness, this was purposefully scaring people to death!

Jier could see Feng Wu was in a good mood. It looked like she had made progress with Ming Xi.

Jier couldn’t bear to burst her bubble, so he kept his concerns to himself.

Forget it, just let her be happy for a while. Telling her would only give her problems.

Jier ran back to his tent after finishing his conversation with Feng Wu. He needed time to digest everything.

He was sighing so much, his roommates had to ask if something was wrong.

“Xiao Wu finally got together with Senior Ming Xi.” Jier sighed after sharing.

“Isn’t that a good thing? Feng Wu has liked Senior Ming Xi for so long now, and now her wish is fulfilled. I bet she’s probably dying of happiness right now.”

“What’s there to be happy about?! Those two aren’t suited for each other at all. I’m afraid Feng Wu is going to get hurt later on.” Jier bemoaned.

“There’s nothing to worry about. Senior Ming Xi knows proper moderation. If he’s decided to be with Feng Wu, then for sure, he won’t make her sad.”

Ming Xi was one of the few seniors who didn’t have any romantic drama attached to his name, and yet, was still loved by so many female students.

“Huh? How can things be that simple? You guys don’t get it.” Jier stopped caring what his roommates thought. He sighed and walked away.

The confused roommates: How can we understand if you don’t explain!

510: Feng Family’s Father and Son Worry

Everyone was busy preparing for the next big battle, so only those close to Feng Wu were interested in watching the romance between the couple.

Feng Tianhang and Feng Juntian[notes] were both there on behalf of the Feng family clan to support the war efforts. Feng Ting[notes] had also tagged along, hoping to earn some merits in battle and improve her reputation in the family.

Feng Ting and Feng Yanran had stayed together since arriving at Blood Moon forest. They didn’t know what was going on, but they kept getting closer to the action in the forest.

They had arrived a day earlier, but had been too busy to meet with Feng Wu, but today Feng Wu’s father finally found some time to meet with his daughter.

Tianhang loved his daughter, but he was a serious man and was uncomfortable showing affection. Juntian was like his father and was also a serious brother and had not been close to the original Feng Wu.

“Brother!” Feng Wu rushed into her brother's arms as soon as she saw him coming. She received a nice head rub as a result.

After patting her head, Juntian took her to the tent he was sharing with his father.

Originally, Tianhang could have lived in the house, but he chose to live in a tent with his son instead. He was so busy, he didn’t have time to take care of the kids. It was rare for him to have free time, so when he did, he liked to share meals with them.

The cook was just setting up the food when Feng Wu arrived. Feng Wu obediently greeted her father before sitting down between him and Juntian to eat. All three ate silently.

Tianhang wanted to talk to his daughter, unfortunately she was not cooperating. Feng Wu had been focused solely on her bowl from the moment she sat down. She hadn’t even bothered to spare him a glance.

He was so sad! Didn’t his daughter love him anymore?!

While his father was lamenting the situation, Juntian didn’t even give it a thought. He even helped Feng Wu with a dish here and there from time to time. Neither siblings were talkative. Communicating with just looks was sufficient.

“Xiao Wu, Xiao Ye is slowly growing up. You should start thinking about the important things in life. Your grandfather has selected a few good candidates from the families in the ancient east. You should go and see them next time you come home. Pick the right person and start settling down.”

The people on the continent were accustomed to late marriages and childbearing, but Feng Wu’s situation was a little different. Her already having a child would make things more difficult. Things wouldn’t be as bad since Little Bun was still so small, but things would only become more difficult as he grew bigger, so Feng Wu really needed to marry soon.

Young children were easier to raise, and as they got older, they would come to understand and inevitably have their own thoughts on not being a biological child.

Tianhang wanted to have Feng Wu marry before Xiao Ye could recognize people.

Unfortunately, Tianhang had no idea his small grandson already recognized people and was speaking.

“Hm?” Feng Wu didn’t understand, and her eyes were filled with question marks.

What was ‘the right person’ and what was settling down? She didn’t understand.

“Father wants to find a marriage partner for you, that way Xiao Ye can have a father. Don't worry about choosing the wrong person. The whole family is behind you. No matter who you pick, the person won’t dare treat you poorly.”

Juntian could see his little sister was confused so he explained the situation in blunt, clear terms.

“No need. Xiao Ye has a father and I have found someone to marry.” Feng Wu swallowed the last bite of her meal before replying. She looked at her father with big, bright, serious eyes.

“You have a boyfriend? Which boy is so discerning?” Tianhang was worried about the boy having bad intentions.[notes]

Despite his thoughts, Tianhang kept his face neutral.

“It’s Senior Ming Xi. Senior and I are sweethearts now. I will marry him in the future.” Feng Wu was very serious when she said this.

What?! Father and son were dumbstruck. Who did she just say she was going to marry?! Wasn’t Ming Xi the name of the future ruler of the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom? Was she talking about the same Ming Xi? It had to be.

They had to admit, Feng Wu was very cute. But this was the heir to an empire they were talking about here. How could he associate with a woman who already had a child? No way! On second thought, it was too hard to believe!

“Haha. Xiao Wu, you really know how to choose them. This person actually has the same name as Prince Ming Xi of the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom. Haha...” He laughed a few times to hide his discomfort.

Father and son looked at each other, feeling as though their hearts were quaking.

“Ming Xi seems to be the prince of the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom, yes.” Feng Wu confirmed.

No way! It was the same person!

“No, absolutely not. I don’t agree with you two being together. Xiao Wu, that kind of royal family is no good. What they do best is play around with naïve girls like you. So you must break up with him immediately, and afterwards keep your distance!”

Tianhang nearly yelled, but he restrained himself. He did not want some princeling to play around with his precious daughter. He was afraid that once Ming Xi was done playing around, he would wash his hands of her and walk away. His daughter would be left all alone. How could he, as a father, bear that?!

People will point their fingers mercilessly at her. What if she died from the pain and left Xiao Ye without a mother?!

The picture in Tianhang’s imagination grew worse and worse. Ming Xi had no idea he was being painted as a scumbag by his future father-in-law.

“Father is right. Ming Xi’s status is too high. You’ll have a lot of pressure when you’re with him; plus, his family and clansmen aren’t likely to accept you and Xiao Ye either.” Juntian spoke solemnly in agreement with his father.

Feng Wu’s reply was unexpected. “Why should I have Ming Xi’s parents accept me? What does this have to do with his parents?” Feng Wu blinked doubtfully. She had never learned about these things. White[notes] had never taught.

White never thought anyone could bully his little disciple as long as he was alive. So for the man’s parents, it didn’t matter if they agreed or not to the marriage. White wasn’t concerned at all. As long as Feng Wu took a liking to the young man, White had planned on just kidnapping the guy and bringing him to the mountain. After all, who wouldn’t like his adorable disciple?

511, 512

511: Feng Ye’s Father is. . . 

A pity White never thought he and his disciple would travel to another world and get separated. He never told Feng Wu that two people who wanted to be together needed to have their respective parents come forward and betroth them. So in this regard, Feng Wu didn’t have the same common sense others had.

In her mind, as long as Ming Xi agreed to be Xiao Ye’s father and marry her, they could be together as a family. It had not nothing to do with anyone else.

Father and son didn’t think it was that simple. Ming Xi was a prince, and the future ruler of the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom. His marriage announcement wouldn’t be that simple.

Though the four emperors had a right to freely choose their spouses, it was impossible for any of them to choose a woman already with child.

Never mind the fact that no one would do such a thing. That kind of spouse wouldn’t be accepted by a royal family.

Father and son were practically dying of sorrow upon learning it was Ming Xi. Feng Wu thought it was just between her and Ming Xi, but they knew it wasn’t as simple as that.

Could the current Ancient Silver Moon emperor and his empress accept a daughter-in-law who already had a child with someone else before marriage?

If they firmly opposed, what could Feng Wu do?

It was heartbreaking. Tianhang felt like he’d aged a few years.

It didn’t really make sense, so the father and son angrily went to Ming Xi after the meal.

Ming Xi was studying the seal and had not expected to see Tianhang and Juntian. From the looks on their faces, it didn’t look like it would be a good visit.

He knew who they were and had a good guess why they were there.

“Uncle Feng, Big Brother Juntian, please have a seat.” Ming Xi put down his book and stood up from his chair.

“There is no need. We, father and son, are only here to ask Prince Ming Xi one thing.” Though Tianhang had already formed an opinion about Ming Xi, he did not show it in his voice, because no matter how angry he was, the person he was speaking to was the future ruler of one of the great kingdoms on the continent.

Ming Xi was not someone his family could afford to offend.

“Of course, Uncle Feng.” Ming Xi replied with a smile good naturedly.

It was a light smile but beautiful and soft as the moonlight.

Unfortunately, neither father nor son were in the mood to appreciate it.

“I heard that Your Highness and my house’s Xiao Wu are becoming quite close?” Tianghang began tactfully.

“Yes, Xiao Wu and I are dating.” Ming Xi didn’t beat around the bush, but freely admitted his relationship with Feng Wu.

“Your Royal Highness is so direct. We father and son shall also be as direct.” Feng Juntian continued. “My sister, Feng Wu, is an ordinary girl. I’m afraid her identity will not match with Your Highness’s identity. Please, if you can, keep your distance from her.”

Ming Xi frowned at this. “Did I do something inappropriate?”

“No, Your Highness worried overly. It is simply that my little sister has many shortcomings and is not a worthy fit for Your Highness.”

Tianhang stepped forward and said, “Yes, I believe, with Your Highness’s status, it should not be difficult to find a young lady better than my daughter. My family’s Xiao Wu is not suitable for royal life. Please Your Highness, let my daughter go.”

“No matter how good the women in this world are, they are not Xiao Wu. I wish to be with Xiao Wu.” Ming Xi looked at both father and son seriously as he made his declaration.

“What about your family? Will they accept Xiao Wu? Do you know that Xiao Wu has a child? Can you, as the future emperor of the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom, accept someone else’s child?” Juntian pushed.

Ming Xi smiled when he thought of the cute little dumpling. “Xiao Ye is adorable. Royal Father and Mother will like him.”

“No matter how adorable Xiao Ye is, he is not a child born between Your Highness and Xiao Wu. Will the emperor and empress truly not mind?” Tianhang didn’t believe it.

If Juntian had brought a woman with child home and declared he wanted to marry her and raise her child, Tianhang knew perfectly well how angry he would be. It would have been strange if he didn’t slap mother and son to death.

Could the emperor and empress of a kingdom accept something even he himself, who wasn’t that high in status, couldn’t accept? Not a chance!

“They will not mind.” Ming Xi declared definitively.

“This is enough of your nonsense!” Tianhang lost it. He cursed after hearing such a preposterous and irresponsible remark.

“Father!” Juntian pulled his father’s arm. This was the future Ancient Silver Moon kingdom’s ruler. They couldn’t scold him!

Tianhang knew what he said was offensive, but he didn’t intend to apologize. If this man could fool around with his daughter, then he could damn well be scolded!

Ming Xi pretended not to hear. The other party was the father of the girl he liked, so he couldn’t be angry.

“Uncle Feng, Big Brother Juntian, do you know who Xiao Ye’s father is?” Ming Xi asked abruptly.

“We do not. Are you trying to say Xiao Ye is your son?!” Juntian’s eyes widened in shock at the possibility.

Tianhang was also staring hopefully.

Ming Xi shook his head. “No, I am not Xiao Ye’s biological father.”

“Since you’re not, why did you ask us? Do you know who he is?” Juntian guessed.

Ming Xi shook his head again. “I do not know who Xiao Ye’s biological father is either.”

“Then what did you mean by mentioning it just now!?” Was it fun to tease them like this?!

Father and son glared at Ming Xi, thinking he was doing this on purpose. This person was too bad. How could he joke about such an important matter? Everyone said Prince Ming Xi was warm and polite, that he knew when to advance and retreat, but it looked like whoever made those evaluations were deceived.

“What I wanted to say was, Xiao Ye does not have a father.”

The words were like a blast of thunder to Juntian and his father.

They had been trying to find out who assaulted Feng Wu for over two years now. It was something that had bothered everyone in the family. To actually hear Ming Xi say it, that Xiao Ye didn’t have a father, it sounded like a joke. How could Xiao Ye exist without a father?

The only other possibility was the Motherhood fruit. Could Feng Wu have eaten it and become pregnant? But how could something like that have been possible? Xiao Wu knew what the fruit looked like. How could she have foolishly eaten one?

“Both of you, please do not be surprised. I understood the truth after listening to the vice principal’s explanation. Ming Xi proceeded to retell the secret of Xiao Ye’s birth as it was related by the vice principal.

By the end of it, the two men walked out of Ming Xi’s temporary study with stunned expressions. Please, could someone explain to them how the elf king became a member of their Feng family? Too illogical!

The elf king had disappeared long ago, as far back as before the war between gods and demons in the ancient times. Everyone said he reverted back to the earth after sacrificing himself to strengthen the seal between heaven and earth.

512: Xiao Ye’s Past

According to legend, the elf king was a natural born god who was merciful, kind, and benevolent. He was the first god born in the world after the creator left. Except for the creator’s descendants, there wasn’t another god more respected or venerable.

This noble existence exhausted all his strength in the war ten thousand years ago. It was not in the battle between gods and demons, but during an intrusion between worldly planes of existence.

The barrier between the planes had been destroyed and many extraterrestrial creatures entered, killing everything in sight.

The gods intervened and drove away the creatures, however the barrier enchantment remained damaged. This was when the elf king appeared. He came and used all his divine power to repair the enchantment and restore peace to the realm. He and all the other elves disappeared afterwards. The tree of life, which was the elf king’s birth tree, also withered away.

Not a single elf had been spotted on the continent since. There were the occasional mixed elves, but no pure-blooded ones. It was like they existed in fairy tales and were now only found in the annals of history.

And yet Ming Xi was here telling them the elf king wasn’t just alive, but had been reborn as a member of their Feng family!

A joke! It had to be a joke!

Xiao Ye’s past was too shocking. They had to try really hard to calm themselves down.

Feng Wu felt they were acting strangely. They visited her when they had nothing to do and often asked to see Xiao Ye so she would bring him out of her space ring for them. Originally, she kept Xiao Ye inside and only brought him out when she was free, but with two more babysitters, she was able to bring him out more often.

Anyone else would have wondered if the sudden interest was because of some conspiracy. But with Feng Wu, the thought never crossed her mind. The girl was just happy someone else could help look after Little Bun.

Though Little Bun didn’t like to cry, he was super clingy. And ever since he started talking, he was an incessant chatterbox and constantly asked questions.

Feng Wu was not a talkative person, but now she had a baby who loved to ask questions. He was quick becoming someone she wanted to avoid.

“Er, can Baby be quiet for a little bit?” was a constant refrain.

Now with her brother and father in the picture, Feng Wu felt a freer. Even when she slept, there was someone to watch her baby. There was none of the noise from all his questions.

She expressed her satisfaction and welcomed her two new babysitters.

Now that they knew Xiao Ye’s identity, Tianhang and Juntian stopped worrying about the royal family not liking Feng Wu. Instead they began discussing Feng Wu’s dowry.

Feng Wu still had no idea about any of it. She only new Little Bun came from her. Other than that, his identity was unimportant.

When Feng Wu told Ming Xi about her father and brother’s strange behavior, he had touched her head and smiled. Then he hugged her and said, “Xiao Wu, we will get married after you graduate.”

This made Feng Wu frown.

“But that will be many years from now. That’s too long. I’ll be an old maid by then.”

There wasn’t a single girl who lived at the foot of Yuehua mountain who wasn’t married by the time she was in her twenty. Feng Wu was going to be twenty in a few years; she would be an old maid.

“Can we get married sooner?”

Ming Xi helplessly wondered if she shouldn’t be more shy. She really did dare say anything.

. . . 

It wasn’t long before the Blood clan launched an all-out war against humanity. They were fighting every day and the Blood Moon forest lived up to its name.

The smell of blood grew stronger as the days passed, with casualties mounting on both sides. Feng Wu was assigned to the rear and did not see action in the front lines at all.

Many second-year students were assigned to the rear as support personnel. They were tasked with taking care of the wounded, cooking and delivering meals. It didn’t sound like much but it was still busy every day.

Feng Wu had no option but to keep Little Bun in the space ring. He stayed inside for several days without once coming out; fortunately though, Little White[notes] was there to take care of him so he wouldn’t go hungry.

Feng Wu knew several of the other girls who were also assigned the same work: Feng Ting, Feng Yanran, Yi Lin, Jasmine, Annika, Xi, Diane, Ai Lin, Zi Cheng, Yifu and Zi Cheng's new friend Nelly. The list went on and on...

Zo would have been so surprised if he saw Nellie,[notes]the female saint who had been brainwashed by the system into loving Zi Cheng. The poor girl had destroyed her beloved family because of Zi Cheng’s favorability system, and by the end of the era, she absolutely hated Zi Cheng with every fiber of her being.

Zo had promised Nellie he would stop her from getting close to Zi Cheng and repeating the same mistake that led to her tragic fate.

This time around, although the timing happened later, the two girls still met, and it was obvious from their interaction they were good friends.

Ai Lin was watching the girls as well. She was trying to think how to stop Nellie from falling into Zi Cheng’s hands.

Rui Baby was nestled atop Feng Wu’s head, flapping his wings every now and again. He had no interest in the war between humans and bloods.

Feng Wu was focused on washing the vegetables. After experiencing her cooking once, no one in the group dared try it again. They would rather go hungry and eat grass than eat her cooking. Eating it would have been fatal. They wouldn’t have to worry about the bloods killing them; they would probably die from food poisoning.

513, 514

513: Feng Ting’s Death

From then on, Feng Wu’s duties didn’t involve any cooking, instead she was assigned food preparation. Everyone was safer this way.

As for Ai Lin, she was troubled and preoccupied thinking of ways to keep Nellie away from Zi Cheng. It was really difficult because she wasn’t on good terms with Zi Cheng, but Zi Cheng was friendly with Nellie. This meant Nellie wasn’t likely to pay her any mind. She touched her chin thinking about it and finally came up with some ideas. Now as to when she should implement them. . . 

She really was a good teammate to Zo; truly worthy of his trust.

The blood moon, characteristic of the Blood Moon forest, shown brightly in the red sky. It was a symbol of the blood race, and some even said it was the source of their power. Whether it was true or not was anyone’s guess.

“What?!”

“Bite! Hurry and bite quickly!” TianXing stuffed a brocade handkerchief into Yanran’s mouth, afraid her daughter would bite her tongue.

Yanran’s forehead was covered in cold sweat and every inch of her body hurt. Even her bones hurt. The two bloodlines in her body were repelled against each other, fighting and clashing hard, neither side retreating.

The pain was so unbearable, she wanted to die. It had gotten worse with time, going from yearly, to monthly to now every few days.

The ordeal lasted an hour but Yanran survived.

Her face looked weak and clearly distressed as she fixed her clothes that had become a mess. Her mother fed her a bottle of recovery potion.

Yanran’s face looked better after drinking the recovery potion from her mother.

“Mom, I can’t take it anymore.” Yanran leaned pitifully into her mother’s embrace. The pain just now was so powerful, she felt like she had nothing left in her body. Even after drinking the recovery potion, she still felt weak all over.

“Don’t be afraid. Mommy will figure out a solution to this. You’ll be fine baby.” A light flashed in TianXing’s eyes, as though she had finally come to some kind of decision.

“Ah!” A scream pierced the night.

Nellie took several steps back out of fear and bumped into Ai Lin, who had run over because of the scream.

A chorus of questions came from the group of students.

“What’s going on? What happened?”

“What’s happened?”

“Who screamed? Did something happen?”

“Does anyone know what happened?”

A group of boys, not far away, had rushed over as well. They had just returned from battle and had been taking a break with the other soldiers.

The bloods harassed them from time to time, so everyone worked in shifts to guard the area.

One of the boys had a bad expression on his face because the scream yanked him awake just as he was about to fall asleep. He was going to be pissed if the scream was because of a bug.

“Ah!” Nellie screamed again. She was so frightened that she squatted down and buried her head between her knees. It didn’t look like she was going to stop screaming anytime soon.

Ai Lin dragged Nellie up and slapped her hard. “Stop screaming. Tell us what happened.”

Though the gesture was rough, it had the intended effect. Nellie stopped screaming and came back to her senses.

With trembling fingers, Nellie pointed to some bushes nearby and said, “Feng Ting is dead!”

One of the boys ran over, and sure enough there was a corpse in the bushes; its body drained of all blood. Murder!

“How could a blood come to our camp?!”

“The bloods are everywhere, even here.”

“How am I going to be able to sleep peacefully now?”

“It won’t be possible now. If a blood comes to dine on you in the night, you’ll be dead in your sleep!”

There was so much discussion that eventually even the higher ups called for an investigation. They were afraid some bloods had mixed in their group. A large-scale inspection of the entire camp was done.

Eventually, they found a blood clan member. And though they caught him in the forest, he chose to detonate himself instead of saying anything.

This meant they had no one to question. The only witness who knew anything was Nellie, who shared what she knew honestly.

She and Feng Ting had met up to do some laundry together. Halfway done, Nellie accidentally dropped her basin in the river. She had to chase after it before the current took it too far and the clothes were lost. By the time she got back, Feng Ting was gone.

Nellie complained a bit, annoyed that Feng Ting hadn’t waited for her. She quickly resumed her washing and was twice as fast since she was now by herself. She was about to return with her wash basin when she passed by the bush and saw Feng Ting’s body. . . 

Nellie never expected it and had screamed in fright. That was when everyone showed up.

Panic ran through the camp because of Feng Ting’s death. Everyone was afraid a blood clan member would come out and suck their blood. Security became much stricter, and no one dared be alone, lest they become a victim.

The higher ups were having a hard time. Feng Ting, though she wasn’t a favored child, was a concubine daughter of Feng house, so her death was a big deal.

The Feng house was a powerful clan with a long history and high status in the ancient eastern kingdoms, and one of their daughters had just died.

514: Lunza Appears

Tianhang was saddened to learn his daughter was dead. No matter what, he had raised her for so many years. It was like raising a pet; after so many years, of course there would be some affection. How could he not be sad?

Juntian sighed. Although he wasn’t as close to Feng Ting as he was to Feng Wu, he never considered her an outsider. He was also sad at the news.

How a blood clan member got in and managed to feed on Feng Ting was a mystery.

TianXing went to comfort her elder brother after Feng Ting’s death. Sometimes she would even personally cook and accompany her brother and her nephew at meal times.

The battle between the two races intensified a few days later. After one particularly big battle, something strange happened – everyone from the Feng house vanished.

Ming Xi immediately sent people to look for Feng Wu upon learning about her disappearance. But it was useless; they couldn’t find anything.

Other families who sent their elite children to investigate didn’t do any better.

What could have happened to make someone as strong as TianXing and Tianhang disappear without a trace? There were also Feng Wu, Juntian, and Yanran. They were all gone.[notes]

The similarity to how the four elders disappeared was eerie; the elders had also vanished inexplicably.

Feng Wu awoke to find herself on the ground with her brother and father. They were unconscious so she couldn’t tell if they were injured. Feng Wu thought back to what happened.

After the battle that day, TianXing came over and cooked for everyone. She had Yanran ask Feng Wu if Feng Wu wanted to eat together. At that time, Rui Baby had gone to Ming Xi to help him study the barrier, so she followed Yanran to her father’s tent alone.

The last thing she remembered was eating the soup Yanran made.

TianXing and Juntian woke up just as Feng Wu was recalling the events.

“What is this place? Why are we here?” Tianhang’s voice came out a little hoarse because he was dazed from just waking up.

“Father, are you all right?” Juntian was in better condition because had eaten less than his father did.

Feng Wu ate the most, but because of her constitution and the treasures living insider her, Pure Flame and Xiao Chun, she wasn’t as affected and woke up the soonest. She was a little sleepy but didn’t suffer any adverse reactions.

“I’m all right. Juntian, why are we here? Where are your little aunt and Yanran?” Tianhang was worried because he did not see them amongst his children.

Juntian shook his head. “I just woke up too, so I didn’t see Little Aunt or Yanran.”

They tried to support each other up, but found they had no inner qi in their bodies. At this point they realized they’d been drugged.

“Xiao Wu, are you all right?” Juntian asked his sister, who was standing in a daze in a corner, after helping his father up.

“I’m fine.” Feng Wu shook her head to show she was fine.

The three Feng family members, after making sure they had no other injuries, became seriously concerned about where they were. The room they were in wasn’t big and they were able to walk around it easily. From one of the windows they could see the small trees below. It looked like they were in tall tower.

No wonder the window wasn’t secured. They weren’t going to be able to escape through there, not without their qi.

It would be impossible until the medicine wore off.

The blood moon was outside, so they had to still be in Blood Moon forest. But they didn’t recall ever seeing such a tall tower in the forest. . . 

So where were they? Could they be. . . 

Father and son looked at each other incredulously at the thought that occurred to them.

If it was as they guessed, how did they end up here when they were just at the outskirts of Blood Moon forest?

While the two were busy puzzling it over, Feng Wu had already walked to the door and was pulling at it.

It opened with a rattle.

Tianhang and Juntian looked on in surprise. Even the door wasn’t locked!

If they were where they thought they were, then there was no need for locks. No human would escape alive from the place.

The three of them left the room and picked a random direction to walk down. They didn’t see a single guard. Unlocked doors were one thing, but to have no guards, well that was truly a lot of confidence!

After checking the entire floor and not finding anyone else, they moved down to the next floor. They heard cursing as soon as they went down the stairs.

“Feng TianXing! You human traitor! If you have the ability to kill me, then you go ahead! Because I swear, as long as I live, I, Lunza, I will reveal your crimes!”

The man started another round of yelling directly after finishing the first one. His yelling lacked energy, but his hate showed loud and clear.

TianXing and Lunza. Hearing those two names caught the father and son by surprise.

Lunza! The person yelling was Lunza!

But didn’t he elope with someone from the Blood clan? How was he here spewing so much hate for TianXing?

The questions swirled in both mens minds. An obvious answer came to them, but it was hard to believe.

Tianhang took his children and walked into the room Lunza was being held in.

They found an emaciated Lunza with his hands chained. It was obvious he was in a lot of pain. Scars, caused by sharp objects, crisscrossed his body, while numerous bite marks littered his skin. They would have been difficult to spot unless you were looking closely. The puncture marks were characteristic of the Blood clan.

515, 516

515: Shocking News

Who knew how long the person claiming to be Lunza had been in that cell. His unwashed hair had grown past his waist and his beard was already at chest level. His clothes reeked of excrement and urine because he hadn’t washed in so long.

“Are you humans?!” Lunza was excited. He hadn’t seen a single human in so long that his face flushed with excitement.

"You are Lunza?” Tianhang asked uncertainly. He had never met Lunza in person, but he had heard that TianXing’s senior brother was named Lunza.

“You know me?!” Lunza was a little surprised, but he wasn’t shocked by it. He was kind of famous for guarding Blood Moon forest, so it wasn’t that strange for someone to recognize him.

“Rumors outside say you fell in love with a woman from the Blood clan and that you helped them break the barrier. That you are a traitor to humanity.” Juntian explained.

“Me? A traitor to the human race?!” Lunza burst out laughing. It was a laugh filled with pain and saddness.

“It was Feng TianXing who said it, wasn’t it? That hateful bitch. The thing I regret most in this life is not seeing her true face sooner and killing her in time!” Lunza growled.

“You say it was Feng TianXing. But she’s a respected daughter of Feng house. Why would you hate her so much?” Tianhang cautiously asked his question without sharing his own identity.

“Daughter of Feng house?! Yes, she is a daughter of that house, but she’s also a lowly woman. That lowly woman had an affair with a prince of the Blood clan and gave birth to his evil seed. She used her identity as a guardian of the forest to help them find the weak spots in the enchantment barrier.

She helped break the enchantment and harmed ordinary people outside the forest. The four great elders, the master and I, we were all ruined by her evil hand. She poisoned our food and brought us all here when we found out who she really was.

She acted like she was letting us live, but she was only keeping us to feed the Blood clan. They came to suck our blood every day.

Master and the four great elders were unable to bear it and perished. If I hadn’t met you, after I died, I’m sure this matter would never see the light of day.”

Lunza had a wry smile on his face. His beard was long and thick and blocked much of his lower face, but Tianhang and his children could guess his expression based on the tone of his words.

Tianhang couldn’t believe his ears. He couldn’t believe his younger sister, who had always been a soft and gentle child when she was younger, would actually tie herself to a blood prince and have a child with one. What was even more frightening was her helping the Blood clan to break the seal.

It couldn’t be his sister! His heart became unsteady.

“No it can’t be true. You are spouting nonsense! TianXing has always been a sweet and kind person. There is no way she would betray humanity!”

Tianhang had his suspicions, but he could not believe the sister he’d loved for so many years was that kind of person.

The revelation was such a blow to him that he would have collapsed if Feng Wu and Juntian weren’t there to support him.

“You are from Feng house!”

Lunza easily deduced this from Tianhang’s reaction. He never expected, after so long without human traffic, that the first people to come through would be related to TianXing.

“Yes, I am Feng TianXing’s older brother, Feng Tianhang. Tell me what you said is not true. My younger sister would never betray humanity like this. You must be wrongly accusing her!” Tianhang, who was normally stoic and calm, almost couldn’t bear the blow.

Though he suffered a strong blow, Wuliu[notes] would suffer an even stronger one. Tianhang's heart ached just thinking how upset his father would be.

“I have wronged her? Me? Heh. I have lived in Blood Moon forest for so many years and I’ve only ever seen your sister wrong others. When would someone even have the ability to wrong her?” Lunza smiled coldly.

He could only guess what these people from Feng house were there to do. But he knew it was unlikely Tianhang would share what he learned today to the world. The damage to their reputation would be too great if it was revealed someone from their house was a traitor. Lunza was sure they wouldn’t make it public.

No matter the situation, TianXing was head of house. He adjusted his mentality and cleared the expression off his face.

“Little girl, how did you get here?” Lunza didn’t feel like paying any more attention to Tianhang so he focused on the only girl in the room.

Feng Wu glanced at him and thought for a while before replying. “We had a meal with Aunt TianXing then woke up here.”

How they ended up in this place, Feng Wu had no idea.

Lunza’s eyes shook when he heard this. “No! You must leave here at once! Feng TianXing means to take your blood for her bastard!”

“Explain yourself. What do you mean?” Tianhang asked with a frown.

“Ah, you really don’t know anything. Feng TianXing’s daughter is named Feng Yanran. That girl is destined to have a short life because she’s a human-blood hybrid. If Feng TianXing wants to save her daughter, she will have to purify the blood from her human side to 100% Feng family blood.”

“What do you mean?” Tianhang asked.

“Basically, it’s about purifying the blood in in her body. The Feng family bloodline in her body right now is not strong or pure. This is part of the reason she can’t live long. The stronger bloodline from the blood race in her will instinctively suppress the weaker one.

I believe you are aware that family bloodlines like yours are not common. People inherit different amounts from their lineage, with some getting 30%, 50% or even 80%. How pure the blood is, the greater the future talent.

Feng Yanran’s blood purity is too low. If she wants the human blood in her body to become 100% pure, she must devour the blood of people in the same bloodline as her.

The strongest member of the Feng family currently should be Old Master Feng. I believe Feng TianXing will want her daughter to devour him the most, so she will definitely target him. Old Master Feng’s body has pure magic and strong blood purity. If Yanran can consume him, she will gain immense strength. It’s likely she’ll be the next blood emperor.”

516: Prince Nicolas

“Is that how it works?” TianXing suddenly thought of Feng Ting and her strange death. Could TianXing have given her to Yanran?

“For all of you to be brought here. . .  could it be Feng Yanran can’t hold on anymore? So Feng TianXing has moved her timeline up? Could she be planning to have Feng Yanran devour you first, then go after Old Master Feng later?”

Lunza was truly TianXing’s senior brother. He knew her very well.

TianXing was unaware the Feng family and Lunza had met and were already sharing so much information. She was preoccupied with helping Yanran take care of her little sweetheart, Aubre, who had been seriously injured in the battle with the Blood clan earlier. Yanran had brought him into the Blood clan territory because she wanted to save him.

“Yanran, go and rest first. Mom will take care of Aubre.” TianXing lovingly touched her daughter’s head as she spoke.

“No, I want to take care of him personally, so just let me stay.” Yanran’s eyes were bloodshot.

“Well fortunately, Mom already brought Feng Wu and the others to the castle. As long as you devour all their blood, your blood should become much closer to 100% pure.

Then when the time comes, we’ll think of a way for you to drink your grandfather and aunt. Your blood will be so pure you’ll be crowned the clan’s new blood emperor for this generation.”

TianXing painted a beautiful picture of Yanran’s future and Yanran’s mood lifted. The two smiled at each other.

“But Mother, do I really have to devour Uncle Feng and my cousins? They’re relatives and I’m afraid I won’t be able to.” Yanran complained sullenly.

“Hey now, don’t be afraid my darling child. Your uncle loves you the most. He would gladly give you his blood if he knew it would save you.”

TianXing knew how much her father and brother loved Yanran, so she didn’t believe they would mind making the sacrifice. There was no way they would mind if they genuinely loved her and Yanran. In fact, they shouldn’t even hesitate to help with Yanran’s blood purification.

How could she believe their feelings were sincere if they were unwilling to make a single sacrifice for her daughter? If they disagreed, then their love was a sham. In which case, she needn’t worry about their familial relationship with her anymore.

This was TianXing’s black and white logic. If you loved her and cared about her, then everything you do should be for her sake. So, if her father and brother loved her and Yanran, then they should be willing to let Yanran devour them without hesitation.

This was how they showed they loved her and Yanran.

If they disagreed, then they were hypocrites and they didn’t truly love her or Yanran.

But whether they agreed or not, their fates would be the same.

Yanran was going to devour them.

The men in the Feng family would have vomited a gallon of blood if they knew TianXing’s thought process.

A soft groan came from the bed, and seconds later, Aubre opened his eyes to find Yanran staring at him anxiously. He reached for her hand and wanted to say he was fine so as not to worry her, but he ended up coughing instead.

“Don’t talk yet. Your throat is dry. Here, drink some water.” Yanran frantically poured a glass for Aubre and brought it to his lips.

Aubre felt much better after drinking and his throat didn’t feel so scratchy.

“Yanran, what is this place? And why are we here?” It was only then that Aubre realized they weren’t at camp outside the forest, but were instead inside a luxurious room. They would never find such a room at camp. Even the crown prince of the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom didn’t have it so luxurious.

“This is my father’s home.” Yanran lowered her head so he wouldn’t see her eyes. She didn’t know if Aubre would still like her once he found out she was a Blood clan princess. Would he stay or would he leave?

“Your father? Didn’t your father pass away some time ago?”

Everyone at school knew about Yanran’s history. Her father was a hero who died fighting against the Blood clan. That was why she lived with her mother. It was common knowledge everyone at school knew.

“I’m sorry; I lied to you. My father is not dead and has in fact been alive the entire time. It’s just that people may reject his identity. That’s why my mother lied and said he was dead. My father is alive and well.” Yanran whispered.

“Let me tell you a story.”

TianXing stepped in once she saw Yanran didn’t have the courage to tell the truth. She intended to speak for her beloved daughter. If this man couldn’t accept her daughter’s identity, then he wasn’t worthy of her love. There was no reason to keep a person like that. She would hand him over to Yanran’s father and let him take are of it.

Aubre had no idea the challenge he was about to face. TianXing would never let him live if he expressed any kind of dissatisfaction with Yanran.

“Teacher TianXing! You’re here too!” Aubre was surprised when he saw TianXing in the room.

“Of course teacher is here. Otherwise did you think Yanra, this little girl, could have saved you?” TianXing joked.

“Thank you Teacher, for saving me.” Aubre solemnly thanked her.

TianXing nodded. She was becoming more and more satisfied with him.

“Teacher, what did you want to tell me just now?”

“It is about Yanran’s father.” TianXing suddenly turned to the door and the smile on her face grew even brighter.

“Honey, you’re here.” TianXing’s voice was feminine and charming and her eyes were so warm and soft that honey could have dripped from them.

A handsome man in black appeared by the doorway. “Yes, I am. Is this the boy Yanran likes?”

The newcomer was exquisitely beautiful and held himself gracefully. It was obvious from a glance of his noble demeanor that he was from a good background with strict education. His every move was like the standard for others to aspire to.

“Yes, isn’t he a cute boy? Our family’s Yanran has good eyes.” TianXing boasted proudly.

The man in black, Prince Nicolas, walked over to TianXing and hugged her waist.

517, 518

517: Is There Any Familial Love Between Us?

Nicolas nodded in satisfaction after sizing up Aubre.

“This young man is talented and will be a good match for our Yanran."

As one of the top three blood princes in the Blood clan, Nicolas was the highest level saint magician and commanded tens of thousand.

Though Aubre was weirded out by Yanran's father, the man had a strange aura and was just too good looking, he was careful to not let it show on his face.

Aubre was about to ask something else when a noise came from outside the door.

“What happened?” TianXing asked.

Nicolas smiled slyly. “It’s nothing. The little piglets you caught are trying to escape is all.”

TianXing immediately understood. Her expression did not change as she looked at Nicolas and smiled.

If it wasn’t for the absolute security of the castle, would she have left the doors in the tower unlocked? Her brother and his children were underestimating the castle if they thought they could escape.

“Bring them up.” Nicolas directed an order to the door.

Two beautiful blond people brought the Feng family in.

Aubre was instantly dumbfounded when they came in. Wasn’t this Master Feng and Young Master Feng Juntian? And the girl in the distance, she was Yanran’s cousin, wasn’t she?

What was going on? Why were Yanran’s cousins and the Feng patriarch brought up in such a manner?

“TianXing! It really was you who colluded with the Blood clan! I didn’t believe it at first, but I can’t deny it now.” Tianhang looked at TianXing in disappointment. He could have continued deceiving himself if he hadn’t seen her, but seeing her here was undeniable proof. The last glimmer of hope faded from his heart.

“Brother, Nicolas and I truly love each other. I was only helping my darling. I wouldn’t calling it collusion.” TianXing smiled happily in Nicolas’s arms.

“Are you crazy?! The Blood clan live on blood – our blood! We’re food to them! He will suck you dry!” Tianhang growled at his sister.

“Nicolas won’t hurt me. We’ve been together for so many years now; if he wanted to suck my blood, he would have already done so. There’s no reason to wait to now. He loves me so much; he would never do anything to hurt me.”

TianXing looked at Nicolas affectionately.

“Well said. I would never hurt the woman I love.” Nicolas affirmed affectionately back to her.

The couple looked at each other lovingly. If the situation wasn’t the way it was, it would have been a beautiful picture.

Yanran’s face was full of emotion when she looked at her parents. Ever since she was little, she had envied the love her parents shared. She had always wished to find a man who would love her as deeply. Now that she founded Aubre, she could only hope he would love her as deeply as her father loved her mother.

Aubre had no idea what Yanran was thinking. He was still reeling from what TianXing had said. Yanran’s father was a member of the Blood clan! No wonder there was such a strange aura around the man.

“Feng TianXing! You are crazy!” Tianhang knew it was useless to argue. He looked in disappointment at the sister he had once been so proud of. It felt like that sister he knew was gone forever.

“What are your intentions for kidnapping my family?” Tianhang didn’t bother trying to reason with her. He just wanted to confirm that the sister he’d love for so long was really intent on killing the entire family.

“Brother, Yanran has been tortured because of her blood lineage. She needs the purest Feng blood to heal. Brother, do you not love Yanran the most? You don’t want to watch her die right? As long as you donate your blood to Yanran, she will survive.

You’ll be able to save Yanran. Brother, you love me so much. You love Yanran so much. You will definitely save her, right?”

Yanran looked expectedly at Tianhang.

“If you wanted me to donate all my blood, why did you kidnap Juntian and Xiao Wu?” Tianhang asked coldly. His heart was just as cold.

“Well naturally they will have to donate their blood as well.” To the children she said, “Juntian, Yanran is your cousin. Acting as an older brother, shouldn’t you sacrifice yourself for a younger sister? And Xiao Wu, Yanran is your cousin. It would be unbearable for you to see her die. As a younger sister, you would definitely protect an older sister, right?”

Tianhang and Juntian did not how to talk to TianXing anymore. It was obvious the woman would twist things around to always be in the right. She was the embodiment of selfishness. In her eyes, it was only natural for others to sacrifice for her and her daughter.

“She’s not my sister.” Feng Wu didn’t believe Yanran was her sister. She had one brother, Juntian, but not a sister.

“Xiao Wu, you are a naughty child for disregarding familial love like that.” A cold light flashed in TianXing’s eyes.

“Familial love? Is there such a bond between us?” Feng Wu looked to her father suspiciously.

How come she didn’t know she held family affection for TianXing and Yanran? Feng Wu couldn’t figure out after thinking it over.

Tianhang couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s right, it was there once, but it no longer exists.” Because no matter how much loved his sister, he would never harm his children for her.

“I don’t want to do your small favor for you. It would appear we no longer share any familial affection for one another.”

Tianhang’s complexion had completely changed once he made his declaration. His eyes had turned cold and firm.

Juntian was speechless. His aunt really thought them giving up their lives was a small favor? Then what was considered a big favor?!

“Aubre, as you can see, Yanran’s father is a prince of the Blood clan. She is my daughter as well, so she has both blood lineages in her body. Unfortunately, she will die soon because of the clash between the two bloods. Her human blood is too weak. The best way to resolve the issue is to have her absorb the blood of all those in the Feng house. This will improve her human blood and she will be blessed with a long life.

I hope you don’t dislike my daughter just because of her blood. She is a brave and kind girl who is unwilling to hurt anyone. She does not like to drink human blood. She is very kind. Do you understand? I hope my daughter can be as happy as I am. Aubre, can you treat her well?”

TianXing walked over and held Yanran’s hands in her own as she expectedly looked over at Aubre.

Aubre looked at the beautiful girl in front of him. He knew perfectly well how kind and lovely Yanran was. He had never seen her drink human blood even though she was a blood descendant. She really was a wonderfully good and kindhearted girl.

How could he not want her just because she was related to the blood clan?!

518: Beyond Disgusted

“Teacher TianXing, do no worry! My love for Yanran will not change no matter what happens. Even if she is a descendent of the Blood clan, I will still love her.” Aubre looked solemnly at TianXing.

TianXing nodded in satisfaction. Her daughter really did have excellent taste.

Yanran turned to shyly look at the man she loved. She loved him so much! And she was so grateful she hadn’t chosen the wrong person. Aubre really did deserve her heartfelt dedication!

What a touching scene – a human teenager inseparable from his beloved. It didn’t matter that his love was human or not, he loved her regardless. True love indeed!

Had the players been changed, it may have moved Tianhang and his son a little, but the people staging the scene were Yanran and her family. Neither Tianhang nor his son enjoyed watching. Never mind being moved, they could barely swallow the disgust in their throats.

Feng Wu stared at them with relish, like she was watching a play. Similar lines were also in the books her mother had shown her last time. Were these people acting according to the books?

Tianhang, Juntian and Feng Wu stood back and watched the display in silence.

In the meantime, TianJiao, Ming Xi, Tian Ya, and Jier had infiltrated the Blood clan side of Blood Moon forest. Their goal was to find the missing Feng family members.

TianJiao guessed it was TianXing’s doing when the rest of the Feng family disappeared. She knew it was time to move. She’d waited so long to fulfill their mother’s dying wish and now things were finally in motion.

With Rui Baby’s help, Ming Xi and the rest entered the Blood clan territory without being detected. Their human aura was completely sealed; as long as they were careful along the way, they wouldn’t have to worry about being detected.

Xiao Wu, you must wait for me. I will rescue you soon, so wait for me.

Ming Xi? Feng Wu looked the window suspiciously. She could swear she had heard Ming Xi’s voice.

Meanwhile, the drama with Yanran was coming to a close as she leaned over and hugged Aubre with a face filled with joy.

TianXing turned her attention back to her brother and his kids.

“Brother, you know I don’t really want to hurt you. Why don’t we do it this way? You leave Feng Ye with me and I’ll let you go.”

TianXing knew from Yanran that Feng Ye’s blood was the equivalent to the entire Feng family’s blood. Yanran could become a blood emperor the moment she consumed all of Feng Ye’s blood. There was no need for them to go through the trouble of dealing with her father and sister later.

Though it would be easy to take care of her father, since he trusted her completely. When the time came, all she needed to do was give him a cup of drugged tea and everything would be solved.

TianJiao, on the other hand, would be trouble. Her sister didn’t trust her at all and getting blood from her would be difficult.

If they were lucky, Yanran could have enough blood once she consumed her father’s blood,[notes] but if they were unlucky, Yanran would be a little short. They would have no choice but to rely on TianJiao’s blood to make up the difference.

“Xiao Ye!” Tianhang’s eyes widened in surprise. “You guys dare have designs on Xiao Ye?!”

Their audacity was too much. Were they in a hurry to reach the other plane of existence? Even the elf king they dared devour. Was there anything they didn’t dare do?

Juntian couldn’t figure it out either. Why was TianXing so eager to die? Who was Xiao Ye? Only the elf king, a god from creation, and the first deity existence in their world. To dare swallow something as powerful as the elf king’s blood lineage. . .  better believe the world’s consciousness would swallow them whole.

Compared to her father and brother, Feng Wu’s reaction was the most normal. She shook her head. “No, I won’t give him to you. Xiao Ye is my son.”

Feng Wu did not want Xiao Ye to be taken by such a bad woman. She heard TianXing wanted Yanran to devour them, and now they wanted to devour Xiao Ye as well.

Yanran’s appetite was too big. If she ate like that, her stomach would be upset. Feng Wu thought it over seriously.

“Xiao Ye is still young, too small for Feng Yanran to eat. He won’t be enough to fill her up.”

TianXing thought Feng Wu was deliberately messing with her, but Feng Wu really was taking them literally at their words.

“It doesn’t matter whether or not you hand over Feng Ye. I know you have a livable space ring[notes] and that’s where you’ve been keeping him right?

So it doesn’t matter if you hand him over or not, the moment you die, the ring will have no owner and anyone can open it.”

TianXing’s meaning was clear. No matter what Tianhang chose to do, she would get Feng Ye.

“Feng TianXing, you have no humanity.” Tianhang suddenly thought of TianJiao.

TianJiao had always maintained their mother’s last wish was to kill TianXing so the Feng family wouldn’t be destroyed. He and his father had never believed it and had thought TianJiao was just jealous of TianXing’s favored position in the family, that TianJiao was just finding crazy excuses to kill TianXing.

Bang! Nicolas waved his hand and Tianhang was flung across the room and crashed hard into the wall.

Tianhang had hit the wall so hard that when he slid down from it, blood dribbled from the corners of his lips. It was obvious he’d suffered serious internal injuries.

“Father!” Juntian ran to his father in distress.

Feng Wu also walked over quickly.

Juntian wanted to reach into his space ring and take out a recovery potion, but found he was unable to do so, since the effects of the drug from TianXing was still in his system and he couldn’t use his martial energy.

What a dire situation. They had no potions for recovery and no martial energy to protect themselves.

Just as Juntian was lamenting their situation, Feng Wu took out a potion and fed it to Tianhang, who gratefully drank it.

Where did this potion come from?! Weren’t all their energies sealed? Juntian was quite startled by this.

Tianhang’s constitution recovered a great deal after finishing the potion; his face regained its color, his blood recovered, and his internal injuries were healing nicely.

519, 520

519: You Can Try

From his vantage point, Juntian couldn’t see how Feng Wu did it, but everyone else knew she had opened her dimensional space ring.

TianXing was shocked. The medicine she used to drug them wasn’t an ordinary mixture, it was a special formulation the Blood clan used to deal with humans specifically. Once consumed, a person’s internal magic and martial qi were sealed for seven days.

There were places in the human world where internal magic and martial qi were forbidden. Anyone stepping into such a place would have their energy sealed and become ordinary people. Few medicine could create the same effect; almost all of which had been destroyed during the Great War in ancient times.

What remained were treasured items.

The precious few the Blood clan had could not be used as an aerosol, but had to be ingested to work. The requirement was troublesome because someone from the Blood clan had to get close enough to the intended target and mix it into their food. What were the odds of that happening? The medicine was so impractical, it was essentially useless and would not have been used under normal circumstances.

The situation changed in recent years when TianXing became a member of the Blood clan. With her help lacing the drug, they were able to kill all four elders and TianXing’s own master. Everyone had been disposed of with the exception of her one senior brother.

The once impractical drug was proving useful once again with the capture of Tianhang and his family.

It was an incredibly potent and effective drug that was impossible to neutralize in under seven days. So then how was Feng Wu able to use her internal qi to access her storage ring?

Feng TianXing couldn’t figure it out. She had tried the medicine to test its efficacy and knew firsthand how well it worked. There were absolutely no issues with the medicine itself!

“You can still use martial qi?!” Nicolas was just as surprised as TianXing. It was his first time seeing someone neutralize the effects. He knew better than anyone how the drug worked.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Feng Wu was confused by their reaction. She had always been able to use the internal qi in her body. And with purifying treasures like Xiao Chun and Pure Flame residing in her dantian, poisons were virtually ineffective against her.

It was only because Xiao Chun was in the middle of advancing to the next stage that the drug had any effect earlier.

Pure Flame was temperamental and generally didn’t interfere with Feng Wu unless it was life threatening, so it wasn’t until Feng Wu fell into a coma that the flame removed the toxins from Feng Wu’s body.

TianXing did not check that the drug was still working because of her confidence in it.

“Interesting. So unexpected to find such a rare human in the human race. If my daughter did not need your blood to become the next blood emperor, I would keep you alive for further study.”

Nicolas attributed the medicine’s lack of impact on Feng Wu to her unique constitution.

“Xiao Wu, you hid such an ability from Auntie. Auntie is so surprised.”[notes] TianXing walked back over to Nicolas still with a smile on her face, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Feng Wu turned away and ignored TianXing. Her aunt had become a bad person and therefore acceptable to ignore.

The slight didn’t bother TianXing in the least; she just kept looking at Feng Wu. In a threatening voice she said, “Xiao Wu, you can think about it. If you hand over Xiao Ye, Auntie will let the three of you leave. If not, none of you will leave Blood Moon forest.”

TianXing didn’t take Feng Wu seriously, because although Feng Wu could use internal qi, she was still just a little second year. There was no threat there. The only reason Feng Wu was even a consideration at all was as medicine for her daughter.

It was just like that day with Feng Ting.[notes] She and Yanran attacked and overpowered Feng Ting without any difficulties. The girl was so weak. She hadn’t taken Feng Ting seriously back then and she wouldn’t take Feng Wu seriously now.

They were just two little girls. Nothing to be concerned about.

Tianhang and Juntian were the only ones TianXing was worried about, but since both of them had their abilities sealed, they weren't going to give her any trouble.

“No.” Feng Wu bit her lip and spoke out clearly.

These bad guys were still trying to eat Xiao Ye. Feng Wu clenched her fists, prepared to hit them if they tried.

“It seems that Xiao Wu wants Auntie to take Xiao Ye herself.” TianXing broke out in a smile. Every single one of her fingernails shone coldly.

“I’m not afraid of you.” Feng Wu declared; her face was very serious.

“Xiao Wu!”

There wasn’t much Tianhang and Juntian could do with their abilities sealed, but it didn’t stop them from worrying.

They were in blood territory with over ten thousand blood clan members surrounding them. Even if they fully recovered their abilities, they weren’t sure they could make it out safely. More than likely they would get eaten before finding their way out.

Even with Xiao Wu being able to use her internal qi, their odds of escape were still dismally low.

Faced with such a desperate situation, father and son exchanged a look. They would buy time and use whatever life they had in order to give Feng Wu a chance. Whether or not she could escape would depend on her luck.

“As expected of a girl from Feng house. It’s only a shame you have no manners. Let this elder Auntie teach a few to you.” TianXing moved closer to Feng Wu one step at a time.

Nicolas watched her from the side, his eyes filled with affection.

Yanran and Aubre were afraid but they weren’t going to interfere.

Aubre knew Yanran needed their blood to live, so he had no choice but to be blind to what was going to happen. He looked away and pretended not to see anything.

His family had arranged a marriage to a girl from another aristocratic family, one he did not like, all without his permission or input. Since then his feelings had considerably cooled toward his own family. Now that he met a girl he genuinely loved, there was no way he was going to let her go.

For her part, Yanran was quite nervous. Her uncle and his family had been kind to her. But in order for her to live, she needed to balance the purity of the human blood in her body. The only way to do that was to drink all their blood.

Her father told her the purity in her bloodline was incredibly rare. As long as she could reach an equilibrium between the two bloodlines in her body, she would gain the formidable power of the blood race and the unlimited potential of the human race.

So even though she felt sorry for her uncle and his family, in order to survive, she had no choice. She hoped they could go in peace knowing the Feng family line would continue. One of her children, once she had children, would inherit the Feng family blood.

Uncle Feng, Brother Juntian, Cousin Feng Wu. . .  I’m sorry, but I want to live.

The words in Yanran’s heart were sad but her eyes, when she looked at Feng Wu, were fierce and full of fire. She was thinking about Feng Ye.

She knew Feng Ye was always around Feng Wu. From the first moment she laid eyes on him, she knew he was special. She’d never seen a child with so much pure power before. If she could just devour his blood, she knew she would gain immense power, more power than devouring all the blood from everyone in Feng house.

“Feng TianXing, I never expected Feng Yanran was the evil offspring between you and a blood clan. Mother did not mistake, you are our family’s star of misfortune.” TianJiao stepped into the room holding a long sword. Behind her were Jier, Tian Ya and Ming Xi.

Ming Xi and Jier were immediately relieved to see Feng Wu uninjured.

“Xiao Wu!” Ming Xi rushed to her side and worriedly checked her for injuries.

Jier went over to help Tianhang up. Upon seeing the older man was injured, he took out a higher quality healing potion and offered it.

“TianJiao, you’re so courageous. To dare bring the future emperor of the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom here, I really must thank you for this gift. I couldn’t touch him in the human camp, but now that he’s here in blood territory, even if he will be one the four emperors of the human race, he won’t leave here alive.”

TianXing believed it would be beneficial for Yanran to drink Ming Xi. As a descendant of one of the four emperors, he would have the blood of gods.

TianXing didn’t give a thought to the ramifications of killing one of the four emperors.

“I wouldn’t even think of escaping. Feng TianXing, you colluded with the Blood clan to murder your own house. This is an unforgiveable crime. We have the right to kill you on the spot.” Murderous intent flashed in Ming Xi’s eyes. It was rare for him to want to kill anyone, but TianXing was one of the few.

“Kill me?! Haha! You think you can kill me while we’re in blood territory? I must say Your Highness, being praised so much by people has gone to your head.

There are tens of thousands of blood people here. They will rush in to kill you the moment I give the order. How can you possibly kill me?” TianXing laughed at Ming Xi’s ridiculous statement. There was even a hint of playfulness in her smile.

Nicolas looked at Ming Xi in contempt. Clearly this prince didn’t understand the situation. To speak such grand words from such a disadvantageous position was nothing short of stupid. It seemed the future emperor of the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom wasn’t very smart.

“Why don’t we see if I can or can’t?” was all Ming Xi would say.

TianJiao stepped farther in and said, “Your Highness, you can not take this from me. Feng TianXing’s life is mine. I have sworn to kill her since the day my mother died.”

520: Fight

“Feng TianJiao, you’ve plotted to kill me since we were young. I haven’t settled my score with you yet. So convenient that you came here to me.” TianXing looked at her sister coldly.

The two sisters lived an antithetical existence and shared no affection since early childhood. Their mother never showed love for TianXing and only ever favored TianJiao as a daughter. As if to balance things out, their brother and father doted on TianXing. So after their mother died, TianXing fully expected TianJiao to be jealous, after all, she was the one with all the affection now.

Unexpectedly, TianJiao didn’t pay attention to their father or brother and was instead solely focused on killing TianXing. The only thing in her eyes was killing intent. She was obsessed.

“Mother’s dying wish was to have you dead in order to preserve the glory of the Feng family. I promised her I would kill you and I don’t break my promises. If you hadn’t hid in Blood Moon forest, I would have killed you already.”

TianJiao knew TianXing had been hiding in the forest to avoid being killed by her. Her father and brother had done their best to protect TianXing, going so far as preventing TianJiao from leaving the eastern countries and monitoring her every move. They sent people to capture and her bring her back every time she made it out. They were disappointed in her and thought she was inhumane for trying so hard to kill her own sister.

All their efforts allowed TianXing to freely move in Blood Moon forest for many years and give birth to a baby.

“Mother! You’ve hated and hounded me all these years because of what that woman said?! And now you’ve even chased me all the way here just to kill me. Sister TianJiao, you are as impulsive now as when you were child.

With such an unlovable temperament, it’s no wonder father and brother disliked you and the only one who liked you was mother."

“You think I care whether they liked me or not?! After so many years I would have thought you’d understand.” TianJiao replied.

“You’ve only ever had that woman in your heart. You don’t care about anyone else.” TianXing shook her head and sighed; she wasn’t getting any pleasure out of the exchange. Using her father and brother as leverage didn’t work since her sister didn’t care what they thought.

“TianXing, that’s our mother you’re talking about. To actually call her ‘that woman’, if Father finds out, he will not forgive you.” Tianhang stood up with the support from Jier and Juntian.

“Mother! That woman was not my mother! What kind of mother would want to kill her own daughter? Even at death’s door, her last dying wish was for TianJiao to kill me.

It was a good thing you and father didn’t believe her words, otherwise I wouldn’t be alive today.”

Ming Xi and the others stood and listened, finally understanding a bit.

Apparently, the old lady of Feng house was ruthless and had ordered the eldest daughter to kill the second daughter. The mother actually wanted to kill her own child, not every woman could do that.

Even after reading the stars and seeing disaster fated, how many women had the conviction to take matters into their own hands? She truly deserved to be the wife of the head of house, not soft at all. If Old Man Feng, and Master Feng had been able to move as decisively, the situation today would never have been possible.

Ming Xi and the others sighed in their hearts. They never expected something as complicated as this could have happened within such a small family.

“Mother really left a dying wish for us to kill you!” Neither Tianhang nor his father had believed TianJiao when she said their mother dying wish was for TianXing’s death.

They thought it was a vicious lie TianJiao told because she didn’t want to share family affection with TianXing. They never expected TianJiao was telling the truth. Was it because they failed to believe TianJiao that things turned out this way?

Tianhang smiled wryly. So many innocent people would have been spared if they had killed TianXing early on. It was as Mother said, TianXing was the family’s star of misfortune.

“She said it. Didn’t TianJiao tell you? It was you that didn’t believe it.” From the start, her father and brother had stood in front of her and protected her. It had truly moved her heart, but ultimately it was just what her family owed her anyway.

She was also a daughter of the house, but somehow TianJiao was a daughter of heaven while she was a star of misfortune.

Since they all said she was a star of misfortune, then she was going to be the brightest star of misfortune they ever saw. She was going to destroy everything in the Feng family, just like that woman said. She would ruin it and show her!

“Yes, neither Father nor I believed it.” And now it was too late.

“Dear, stop talking nonsense with them and just do it.” Nicolas was losing his patience with their conversation. These people were his daughter’s food. There was no reason to spend so much time talking to food.

“Of course, darling.” TianXing turned around and smiled affectionately at Nicolas.

Nicolas raised his head to call the bloods outside, but nothing happened. No matter how much he screamed, none came.

“What did you do?” Nicolas was certain there wasn’t a fight outside because he would have detected the smell of blood. The Blood clan was incredibly sensitive to blood so there was no way he would have failed to notice a fight.

“An enchantment so the blood outside can not tell what’s going on in here.” Ming Xi explained calmly.

“As expected of the future Ancient Silver Moon emperor; to erect such a strong barrier without alerting me.” Nicolas radiated killing intent.

The reaction was only natural. The Blood race had been trapped behind such a barrier for tens of thousands of years and Nicolas had always hated it. Now here was Ming Xi daring to use such a barrier right in front of him.

“Xiao Wu, go back and take care of Uncle Feng.” Ming Xi patted Feng Wu’s head.

Feng Wu obediently nodded and walked to her father’s side.

With such a tense atmosphere, it was clear battle was about to break out.

TianJiao struck TianXing first with her long sword and the two sisters immediately clashed.

TianJiao’s talent was higher. She had not slacked off and had trained diligently year after year in order to kill TianXing. In fact, she was just as strong as Tianhang when it came to strength.

TianXing had lived in Blood Moon forest and fought against the Blood clan for many years. She had been baptized by blood and guided by a powerful master. She wasn’t weak and was only a little inferior to TianJiao.

It would take more than a simple few blows for TianJiao to defeat TianXing.

At the same time, Nicolas’s main target was Ming Xi. This was natural as Ming Xi was one of the four future emperors of the human world.

The instant that he did, Tian Ya stepped forward to intercept and to help Ming Xi fight the blood prince.

Ming Xi’s hand wasn’t completely healed yet, but in order to prevent the Blood race from flooding into the human world because of the damaged barrier in Blood Moon forest, he had to leave the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom and attend to Blood Moon forest. In the meantime his father was working to strengthen the seal in the Demon passageway.

Tian Ya knew about Ming Xi’s current condition, so he naturally stepped in using both ice sword and killing intents to protect Ming Xi from the blood prince. Tian Ya’s swordsmanship skill was apparent for anyone to see. The teachers even said he was the most talented sword user in school.

Blood princes were on par with humans at the saint level.[notes] But although Tian Ya and Ming Xi’s levels were not as high individually, when combined together, they were able to keep up.

Yanran and Aubre stared nervously at Jier while everyone else was fighting. He was the only able-bodied person who hadn’t made a move yet.

As the third seat in the fourth years, Aubre would normally not have been nervous fighting against Jier, who was only a second-year student, but with his injury, he was at a disadvantage. Afraid Jier would take the opportunity to attack Yanran, he preemptively pulled her away from the group.

Jier wasn’t interested in attacking Yanran and the others. Yanran had the potential to become a blood emperor but she was scum and Aubre was seriously injured. Neither of them was worth him getting his hands dirty over.

Jier’s primary responsibility was to protect Feng Wu’s family, so he wasn’t going to take the initiative to attack.

TianJiao’s battle with TianXing was fierce; her moves were ruthless and permeated with killing intent. Her goal in life, since she was a young girl, had been to kill TianXing. To this end, she had sacrificed a lot and trained tremendously. Though her decision estranged her from her father and brother, she had no regrets.

TianXing had lived in the shadow of constant death from her mother and sister, so though she was greatly loved and doted on by her father and brother, she never felt at ease. She was always on guard against her sister. It was this insecurity that motivated her to polish her abilities and grow stronger.

Both women worked hard to be where they were today, and both were intent on killing the other. They jabbed and slashed ruthlessly and viciously at each other’s vital organs.

521, 522

521: Feng TianXing Dies

Ming Xi and Tian Ya were also in a fierce battle. Ming Xi’s ability to fight was hampered by his still injured hand. Though Tian Ya was a rare sword genius not seen in centuries, because of his age, there was still a lot of room for him to improve.

They had been able to keep up with the blood prince when they first started, but as they continued to trade blows, the two boys began to lose ground.

“Jier, go help.” Feng Wu pulled at Jier’s hand.

“But what about you guys?” Jier was worried Yanran would pull a dirty trick.

“Don’t worry, I’m here.” Feng Wu sought to reassure him.

“OK, Uncle Feng, the rest of you, be careful.” Jier leapt into battle with Ming Xi and Tian Ya after giving his warning.

Jier had removed his divine seal prior to entering enemy territory because he had been worried removing it while inside would alert the Blood clan, so he entered the battle now armed with Blue Flame.[notes] Ming Xi and Tian Ya immediately felt less pressure once Jier joined in with the Summer seal, which was effective against the Blood clan.

Though Nicolas was besieged by three geniuses and wasn’t on the offensive as much as before, he was still holding his own against them; indeed, he was worthy of his title as one of the three princes.

The battle would no doubt be a protracted one.

Meanwhile on the other side, the battle between TianJiao and TianXing looked horrible; both women had injuries all over their bodies, but TianXing was in worse condition. She was a terrifying sight as she stood there bathed in blood.

Both were fighting relentlessly with their lives on the line and neither had any intentions of stopping until one of them was dead.

Fenghang and Juntian could only watch from the sides.

“His Highness should be fine. He should be fine.” Juntian anxiously muttered to himself.

“The Holy Envoy for Summer[notes] is here, so there shouldn’t be anything to worry about. Summer’s power can restrain evil things, so Jier’s Red Lotus[notes] fire should have strong incineration and purification powers. There shouldn’t be anything to worry about.”

Tianhang really was an experienced fighter; he could read the situation with just one glance.

“If only we could regain our strength, we wouldn’t have to stand here like waste and do nothing.” Juntian mumbled.

Regain strength? Feng Wu tilted her head. She communicated with Pure Flame and after a while Pure Flame finally came up with a way to lend its power.

Tianhang and Juntian were surprised when Feng Wu grabbed their hands all of a sudden. Initially, they were afraid something was wrong with her, but gradually they felt their energy returning. Their powers came back and their bodies returned to normal. Father and son were shocked to say the least.

The Blood clan’s medicine being ineffective against Feng Wu could have been explained away by saying her physique was different, but how could it explain her ability to resolve it in other people?

Though intrigued, they weren’t going to spend time mulling over it. With their strengths fully restored, they rushed forward to help TianJiao and Ming Xi.

When TianJiao saw Juntian coming to help her with TianXing, she shouted she didn’t need help. She had to kill TianXing with her own two hands. What could Juntian do in the face of such a fierce statement? He ran over and went to help with the fight against the blood prince instead.

Even if Nicolas was very strong, it was hard for him to fight all five of them at once. The injuries on his body began to multiply and his originally exquisite black attire was punctured with holes. Blood dripped from his lips.

Some of his higher powers were blocked because of his proximity to Ming Xi’s divine blood and Jier’s divine Summer seal. He couldn’t release his more powerful moves so he had to endure it.

TianJiao managed to finish her fight with TianXing first by stabbing her sister through the heart with her long sword.

TianXing looked at the sword hilt sticking out of her chest in pain. She didn’t even have time to say any final words before succumbing to her injury.

“Mom!” Yanran staggered over in horror and managed to throw herself over her dead mother. There was no life left in TianXing’s body so even if Yanran wanted to, there was no way she could heal her mother.

Nicolas roared out in pain when he realized his lover was dead.

“Father! They killed mother!” Yanran cried while hugging her mother’s body tight.

Aubre put his arms around her shoulders and silently tried to comfort her.

“Dare to kill my lover! I will kill you all!” Nicolas roared as he unleased a forbidden technique. He wanted to kill all of them to avenge his lover.

His blood shown so brightly that the aura projected above his body and extended all the way to the sky and tore apart Ming Xi’s barrier.

It would have been impossible for Ming Xi’s barrier to lock the castle down indefinitely. As time went by, it would have loss power and weakened, so it was inevitable Nicolas would be able to break it if he was ruthless with his strength.

With the barrier broken, the blood all around could feel the anger from their prince radiating from the castle. What happened to make His Highness so angry? It was unforgiveable that someone could have gone to the castle and offended their prince.

Long howling sounds rang across Blood Moon forest. The blood people who heard the sound immediately ran to the castle.

Ming Xi and the others, their expressions changed instantly. They knew the blood people would be rushing inside the castle soon.

“Run.” Ming Xi yelled softly as he backed away from the battle.

It wasn’t the time to fight. With so many of the enemy rushing over, they needed to leave as fast possible. If they didn’t get out now, it would be too late later.

Tianhang and Juntian withdrew. As they did so, one reached for TianJiao while the other reached for Feng Wu. But Ming Xi reached her first and grabbed her securely.

They rushed to the exit.

“Running away?!” Nicolas gave a shout and jumped up to go after them.

With hordes of blood people gathered outside and Nicolas chasing after them from behind, it was becoming impossible to escape. Jier used Red Lotus to burn a path for them. The others followed closely behind.

Tianhang supported TianJiao as he followed behind.

“Put me down. You won’t be able to escape if you take me with you.”

Having finally fulfilled her lifelong wish to kill the scourge that was her sister, TianJiao had no regrets and didn’t mind dying. It had been worth it. She could give her mother a proper account now that she had finally done what her mother begged her to do.

“What stupidity are you spouting. You are a daughter of Feng house. As the head of house and your brother, how the hell am I supposed to leave you behind?!” Tianhang refused to listen to TianJiao and kept moving forward with her under his arm.

“I have too many wounds. I used a potion earlier and the bleeding stopped, but the stench of blood is thick on my skin and clothes. It will attract the blood to you, so put me down.”

“No, I already lost one younger sister; I’m not going to lose another. So stop thinking about it and just try to keep up.”

Tianhang was ashamed to face his sister now that he knew the truth. He and their father had not trusted TianJiao and she had had to fulfill their mother’s dying wish alone. On top of that, he and his father had taken steps to secretly suppress her whenever she went out to find TianXing.

Even if they had a second chance to do it all over again, the truth was, they would probably still think she was lying. The fact that a mother would want to kill her own daughter was simply too unbelievable.

If they had trusted TianJiao a little more, if they had been stricter with TianXing, perhaps not killing her but keeping her home, would their fates have changed?

No one had the answers and Tianhang could only look at his sister in shame and regret.

He was unwilling to leave TianJiao behind, but that left him with a big problem. The blood on her body was like a beacon attracting their enemies to attack them. Fortunately, the Red Lotus in Jier’s hand was powerful enough to kill the Blood clan members who caught up to them.

The sight had a sobering effect on the ones chasing the group. None of them wanted to die a horrible, fiery death so they were leery of approaching recklessly.

Nicolas, after finally catching up, swooped down from the sky and looked at the humans in front of him with hatred in his eyes. Even though TianXing was human, he had truly loved her.

“None of you will leave alive today. Stay and become my daughter’s food!”

Without the barrier’s restriction, Nicolas was free to release his full powers.

Ming Xi and the others were caught in a bitter battle. Now they had to deal with Nicolas on top the the blood people already chasing after them. It was absolute chaos.

Feng Wu pulled Xiao Chun from her dantian. It was the first time she had pulled him out since he had gone into seclusion to level up. Once he awoke, he would be more powerful than ever, but right now he was still asleep so his spirit was not in the blade and the sword wasn’t that strong. But even though the current sword body couldn’t kill the blood people, it could push them back.

With Xiao Chun in the picture, it was less stressful for everyone else. The two divine weapons, Feng Wu’s sword and Jier’s staff, were incredibly powerful and managed to inflict a lot of damage on their enemies.

Nicolas was not as affected by the weapons and was harder to handle. Although he was pushed back a little, because of his speed, which was his greatest advantage, Ming Xi and the others couldn’t do much damage to him.

522: Finally Escaping

Nicolas was powerful and incredibly fast. He managed to injure Tianhang, TianJiao, and Juntian. Feng Wu, because of Xiao Chun’s protection, only suffered minor injuries.

No one noticed Rui Baby had returned to Feng Wu’s hair and was now expelling words very quickly like he was chanting a mantra. Once he finished the last line, the group disappeared right in front of all the blood clan people. The little guy had activated a teleportation scroll prepared by Ming Xi and the others. Once activated, everyone that was marked for it instantly teleported to the designated position.

The scroll took a long time to activate, but they didn’t have time to get a better one so they made do with it.

It had taken Rui Baby some time to mark everyone in the group; then it took him another 15 minutes to recite the spell to activate the scroll. It only worked because he was so small and no one noticed him doing it. Who else could have used this time-consuming and tedious teleportation scroll which had no advantage other than long-distance group teleportation?

If someone was actually in a bind and tried to activate it, they would have been screwed.

Nicolas roared at their disappearance but it was no use. It didn’t matter how many people he sent to search for them; the group had vanished.

In the human camp, not far from the forest, several people were helping Ming Xi’s group into the house that used to house the forest patrol. Those injured would be treated and those not in need of medical attention were brought in and debriefed.

Everyone was in an uproar when the revelation about TianXing colluding with the Blood clan came out. It was too incredible that a dignified daughter of Feng house would become a spy.

She had a high background already; what else did she want?!

Rumors went around later that Yanran was her daughter and a product of the union between her and a blood prince. The school erupted with news of a human giving birth to a blood descendent!

On top of that, the child was from a noble family! It was a huge disgrace!

Even though, TianJiao had acted as a daughter of Feng house and killed TianXing, it couldn’t really erase the disgrace that fell on the family name. Rumors quickly spread amongst the major houses about how the daughters of Feng house were no longer marriageable.

Only those in high ranking positions knew about TianXing’s plan to have Yanran drink the entire Feng family bloodline; the rumors circulating in the general population were not as detailed.

Xi and many of those who genuinely cared about Feng Wu went to see her once they learned she was back. They left feeling relieved after seeing that she was OK.

Feng Wu went to find Ming Xi after resting for a day. She knew his hand was injured again, and this time it was worse than before. Because he came to save her, it would take several months to heal properly.

Her eyes were red as she hugged his injured hand.

Ming Xi patted her head and tried to reassure her. “Don’t cry. It’ll be fine. The injury is worse but it will heal in time.”

“I don’t cry. I never cry,” said a serious Feng Wu as she looked at him. Though her eyes were brimming with tears, they did not overflow and spill out. She looked like a little rabbit being bullied.

“Yes, you are right. I was wrong. Xiao Wu never cries.” Ming Xi continued to pat her head gently.

She snuggled into his arms and the two of them sat comfortably quiet together like that for a while.

“We will launch a final counterattack against the Blood clan in two days. When we do, we will trap all of them in Blood Moon forest and seal them away again. After the seal is closed, I will return to the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom and heal. My recovery time will be longer.

Take care of yourself while I’m not around. Don't go into dangerous places. And if someone bullies you, don’t just take it. I will protect you. No matter the person's identity, I will protect you.”

“Stay in touch like before.” Feng Wu said.

Feng Wu had heard her father talking about it before, so she wasn’t surprised. She was just sad and reluctant she wouldn’t see Ming Xi for a while.

“Yes, the same as before. We can even talk everyday if you want.” He placed a soft kiss on her head.

It was like a breeze flowing through her that made her tingle all over.

Ming Xi backed away but was surprised to find Feng Wu had already moved her mouth up to find his.

Feng Wu had never kissed anyone before; she had only ever seen others do it. Someone told her it was a common thing for lovers to do. Though she didn’t understand why you had to eat each other’s mouths to be lovers, since she and Ming Xi were lovers now, she and Ming Xi should definitely eat each other’s mouths. Oh no, Jier said it wasn’t called eating – it was called kissing.

Ming Xi held her tighter, and with a smile in his eyes, he moved his lips away from her.

“Hey, now, this is not kissing.”

“How then?” Did she need to bite more? Feng Wu looked stupidly at Ming Xi.

“Follow my lead,” Ming Xi whispered, then proceeded to take the lead. His was a gentle kiss, like caring for something precious.

A numbness spread from Feng Wu’s mouth, through her body and straight into her heart.

The two of them hugged and kissed for ten minutes. It took a while for Ming Xi to let Feng Wu go.

“You can’t let others do this kind of thing to you in the future; do you understand?” Ming Xi was worried about someone taking advantage of his naïve girlfriend.

“Jier told me only people who want to kiss should kiss. We are lovers, so I will only let Ming Xi kiss me.” Feng Wu looked at Ming Xi and enunciated each word seriously.

“OK, and I will only kiss Xiao Wu. I will never kiss another woman again.” Ming Xi also made a promise.

Couples getting along with each other always feel that time passes too quickly.

Of course two days passed quickly for Feng Wu and Ming Xi. The vice principal led a successful counterattack and the enchantment was restored after the blood clan was sealed away.

The catastrophe was successfully averted.

523, 524

523: Returning to Feng House ARC??

Feng Wu followed the teachers back to Xingguang Holy academy after watching Ming Xi leave Blood Moon forest with Tian Ya.

The affair with TianXing hit Old Master Feng hard. He used to be so energetic, but now he was slower and older. He looked like he’d aged several decades since learning of her betrayal and collusion with the Blood clan.

He locked himself in his room for three days before TianJiao pulled him out. Probably because TianXing was dead, the sore point between the two had lightened some and they could sit down and have a productive talk.

That’s not to say there was any filial piety between them, no, it was just that their conversation wasn’t as explosive.

Feng Wu learned about Old Master Feng’s situation from Madam Lan.[notes] Madam Lan hoped Feng Wu could return home soon. Since the semester was almost over and the students who participated in the fight against the Blood clan were exempt from final exams, there wasn’t much to do on campus, so Feng Wu agreed to return home.

Feng Wu found her teacher and asked for leave from school. Then she took Little Bun and Little White back to the ancient eastern countries. It took her less than half an hour to return home thanks to the great convenience of teleportation transportation.

Feng Wu’s return coincided with the annual Flower festival; the streets were lively and bustling with people getting ready. Everyone looked happy with wonderful, big smiles on their faces as they breathed in the fragrant air scented with beautiful flowers that adorned the streets and doors of buildings.

Feng Wu’s elder brother, Juntian, was waiting for her outside the family gates. He helped carry Little Bun back inside; this was the king of elves, the more cuddles the better to rub off some of that divinity.

“Grandfather, Xiao Wu is back.” Juntian took Feng Wu to see Grandfather Feng. Being back, it was proper she greet him first.

The old man’s face considerably softened upon seeing her.

Feng Wu studied him. Other than looking older, he appeared in good spirits.

Grandfather Feng was indeed the strongest member of the Feng household. His high recovery ability meant he would not be defeated by the recent drama.

“You just returned. Remember to have the kitchen make more dishes, otherwise there won’t be enough to eat.” Grandfather Feng knew what a glutton Feng Wu was.

A pity Feng Wu didn’t get the joke and only nodded her head obediently. She agreed there did need to be more food.

“Leave Xiao Ye here. Feng Wu, go visit your mother.” Grandfather Feng waved his hand to signal Juntian to bring the child over before dismissing everyone.

Xiao Ye being the elven king was probably another reason Grandfather Feng recovered so quickly.

Madam Lan was still the same as ever, so engrossed in reading romance novels that even her husband couldn’t compete for her time. She was happy to see Feng Wu return and immediately began planning for a banquet to celebrate her homecoming. She sent someone to TianJiao’s household to invite them over.

Later that evening, all seven members of TianJiao’s family were present, even the son-in-law who was originally unwelcomed by Grandfather Feng came.

It was the first time Feng Wu saw her uncle. He was an average looking, mild mannered man who smelled of books.

TianJiao had a good relationship with her husband, otherwise she would not have had two sons and three daughters with him.

The two boys ignored Feng Wu. Yi Lin was still at odds with her as well. The twins sat down and remained quiet, not daring to invoke their grandfather’s ire.

All the children were afraid of Grandfather Feng; they quivered like quails under his stare. None of them dared say anything.

They didn’t chat long, so after finishing the meal, everyone dispersed. Yi Lin made a date with Feng Wu to go out together for the Flower festival later. Feng Wu had no interest in it but her mother agreed on her behalf.

Snuggling in bed that night under her quilt, Feng Wu was very comfortable as she talked to Ming Xi through the communication crystal. She told him about how she had returned home, how the streets were bustling with people and were filled with flowers, how the annual Flower festival was coming up soon, and everything that had happened to her that day. They chatted to the wee hours of the morning before saying goodbye and going to sleep.

That morning, Feng Wu accompanied Madam Lan to buy new clothes to wear for the Hundred Flowers banquet which would be held at the palace. All the big families would be invited.

But while invitations were sent to all the other houses, none were sent to Feng house.

It was an obvious snub, one that undoubtedly would make Feng house the laughingstock of the entire country.

Old Master Feng had dedicated his life fighting for his country, but unexpectedly, because of TianXing, the royal family’s attitude deteriorated enough that they slighted his house by not sending an invitation.

Old Master Feng didn’t say anything when he found out, but his eyes were stormy and it was obvious it would only take a small tinder to ignite.

At the Hundred Flower banquet inside the palace, the younger generation were laughing at the Feng family, such a dignified house couldn’t even get an invitation. What a joke.

“No one in Feng house was invited to the banquet this year. It’s quite a loss of face for them.”

“No, with Feng Ting dead the only young miss left in the main branch is Feng Wu. That girl is an embarrassment. It’s better she didn’t come. Having her here would only lower everyone’s status anyway.”

“Yes, it is better this way.”

The young ladies giggled.

A group of older gentlemen were also chatting about Feng house in another corner of the palace.

“Do you think His Highness wants to take care of Feng house?” One of the men slashed his finger across his throat as he spoke.

“No way. Feng Wuliu[notes] is a loyal servant of the ancient eastern countries, always has been. No matter what His Highness may mutter about, he would never do such a thing.”

“I don’t know about that. Feng TianXing colluded with the Blood clan and betrayed humanity. This is a serious crime. It’s not outrageous that Feng Wuliu could be implicated. His Highness may be disappointed right now.”

524: Princess Rong Hua Makes a Death Wish

“Didn’t the Feng family send someone to resolve the issue? Plus Feng Wuliu said he expelled Feng TianXing. For His Highness to hold a grudge is too much!”

“Isn’t it?! It’s too petty of His Highness!”

The old patriarchs shook their heads, feeling that His Majesty the Emperor of the Ancient Eastern Countries was overdoing it. No matter what, Feng Wuliu was still an old patriarch of a super power.

The Feng family also had bloodline inheritance; they weren’t like your common super houses. Those from backgrounds that weren’t even half as prestigious as Feng house were invited, while a super power like them was rejected. It was a slap to the face was what it was!

“Rong Hua,[notes] how could you do this?!” The empress was so angry that her face turned pale. This girl, she wasn’t just slapping Feng house in the face, but also putting His Highness in an awkward situation!

“What? I just didn’t want to see anyone from Feng house here. This is my home. I didn’t want them to come. I didn’t do anything wrong.” Rong Hua said indifferently.

She had secretly been in love with Ming Xi since meeting him, but unfortunately she had been ignored by him. She wasn’t sure how she heard it, but she found out Ming Xi was studying at Xingguang Holy academy in Central city. On her way there to see him, she learned he was not at school.

How could she have known Ming Xi recently injured his hand and had returned to the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom to recover? To make matters worse, she heard gossip about the ambiguous relationship between Ming Xi and Feng Wu. Princess Rong Hua, who had always been proud, couldn’t bear it.

She wouldn’t have been so mad if he had chosen anyone else. What made it intolerable was that he had chosen Feng Wu – a slut with a child out of wedlock, over her! How could she hold her face up?! She could just imagine the other ladies ridiculing her publicly and privately once the news spread.

She felt ill every time she thought about it.

This year, she was responsible for helping her mother with the invitation list for the banquet. It was her crossing out the Feng family name that directly led to this incident. She didn’t regret it even though she knew she would be blamed. The palace was her home and she didn’t want to see anyone from Feng house.

“How can you say that? Is Feng house an ordinary house? They are the highest ranked house in all of the ancient eastern countries! And they’re a super power on the continent! How can you say you didn’t do anything wrong?!”

The empress truly regretted asking her daughter to help with the banquet preparations. If she had known this was the kind of help she’d get, she would have opted to work more and be tired instead! How could her daughter use such an opportunity to ruin her own mother like this?!

She could already see His Majesty’s wrath.

“So what if they’re not ordinary. I’m a royal princess; what need do I have to fear some lesser house?” In short, Rong Hua was not concerned about Feng house.

Bang! The empress was so angry she slapped her hand on the table. Fortunately, all the maids were dismissed so she didn’t have to worry about being overheard.

“You dare talk back to your empress like this?! How could I have given birth to such a stupid thing as you?! You speak words even your own father wouldn’t say! You are bold, dare spit anything out of your mouth.”

The empress was so angry she felt like her liver was exploding. Seeing that the princess was still unrepentant, she made a mental note to discipline the princess more strictly in the future. She could not afford a repeat of today.

The emperor sent someone to summon the empress and princess not long after he realized the trouble they were creating for him.

His empress and princess had just dared slap the face of an aristocratic family that even he dared not do willy nilly. Well his wife and daughter were really courageous weren’t they?

The empress and princess walked to the imperial study trembling. A teacup smashed in front of the empress’s foot just as she entered. She didn’t dare dodge and could only let the tea stain her.

“Your Majesty, please remain calm. It is this servant’s fault for not teaching Princess Rong Hua well. She will be disciplined strictly in the future so as not to make such a mistake again.” The empress tried to pull Rong Hua down to kneel, but the girl was not having it and adamantly stayed standing.

It was a serious issue. If the Feng family decided to pursue the matter, Rong Hua would not fare well. In order to protect her daughter, the empress could only diminish herself do her best to hint for Rong Hua to admit her mistake and apologize.

A pity Rong Hua didn’t think she was in the wrong. She looked at her mother who was nearly in tears.

“I have an empress and a princess, one is a wife the other a daughter. It is fine if you don’t wish to share in my daily worries, but you dare to create such a big issue? You. . .  the two of you are purposefully trying to anger me and bring me to an early grave?!”

The empress could only remain kneeling and confess her guilt. She didn’t dare say anything.

Princess Rong Hua, on the other hand, refused to admit any guilt.

“Does the princess not believe she is at fault?” The emperor sneered.

“This princess did not want to see these people. There was nothing wrong with my not inviting them,” said the princess confidently.

“Hm, yes I see. It is my fault for siring such a rebellious girl. Someone, escort Princess Rong Hua to her room. She is not allowed to leave without my express permission.”

A team of guards came in as soon as the emperor issued his command. It didn’t matter how much the princess screamed and kicked, they escorted her out to her room.

Now that the princess was taken cared of, the only business left was how to placate the Feng family.

News broke out the next day that Princess Rong Hua was grounded for excluding the Feng family from the banquet. She had accidentally crossed out their name from the invitation list.

Honestly, who would believe this? It was too coincidental to say she accidentally crossed out the row the Feng family was listed on.

Shortly after news of the princess being grounded came out, the empress went to Feng house with a gift to apologize.

The Feng family didn’t want to see anyone in the royal family, but because it was the empress herself, Madam Lan came out to greet her and invite her inside. None of the three men were present to welcome her however.

According to etiquette, Old Master Feng should have brought the younger generation, Master Feng and Young Master Feng, to greet her, but the Feng family were so angry they didn’t bother. It was already a compromise that Madam Lan was greeting her at all.

Madam Lan accompanied the empress for a cup of tea and some pastries, whereupon the empress explained her intentions for visiting and expressed her sincerest apologies.

Madam Lan said she understood but did not explicitly accept or reject the apology. The empress was left with no choice but to leave dejected.

“Father, the empress came to apologize just now and hoped we could forgive Princess Rong Hua for her ignorance.” Madam Lan walked to Grandfather Feng’s study to explain the situation.

“Hmph. Don’t worry about them.” Grandfather Feng continued practicing his calligraphy and ignored the royal family entirely.

The empress was scolded by the emperor when she returned. The matter was such a headache. The emperor finally invited Old Master Feng personally for a chat in the palace. The two talked for a long time. After Old Master Feng came out, news quickly spread that Princess Rong Hua would marry into a neighboring country.

Everyone guessed Old Master Feng was really angry. Even Princess Rong Hua couldn’t escape unscathed.

Because of the incident, Princess Rong Hua’s reputation took a dive. She vented her anger on the pillows in her bedroom every day.

It was an embarrassing end to the ancient eastern countries’ number one beauty.

So what was the moral of the story? The moral of the story was, don’t play with fire unless you have the skills. Otherwise you’ll just end up burning yourself.

Feng Wu told Ming Xi about the whole story literally word for word. Ming Xi never expected the matter to resolve the way it did. How did he not see how brainless Princess Rong Hua was before? His Xiao Wu was so much better. Her odd blankness and naivete were good. At least he’d never have to worry about his Xiao Wu hanging herself like that.

Time flew by and before they knew it, it was time for the Flower festival to officially begin. The Flower King would be selected by popular vote in the imperial city. Each and every household could select and send over unique pots for the competition. The winning pot would be awarded the title Flower King. Every king before had sold at outrageously high prices.

The owner of the king would get a blessing from the flower gods. Those married would have a happy marriage and welcome a baby early, while those unmarried would attract suitors for marriage.

This was why the previous winners all sold at prices far beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Flowers presented to the competition could be submitted on behalf of a family or an individual.

The Feng family sent in five pots of rare flowers for the competition. All the other major families also sent in pots for the contest as well.

The results would be announced after the end of the seven-day voting period.

Every resident was entitled to one vote. The pots with the most vote would be sent to the Hundred Flower alter and placed before the flower gods, who would be the final judge. The flower blessed by the flower gods would be the winner and declared this year’s Flower King.

Feng Wu and Juntian walked together in the flower and bird market. The market was lively because of the Flower festival. The farmers were making a lot of money because so many people were buying flowers.

All the good flowers were gone because the king selection had started and only the average looking ones were left.

Juntian took Feng Wu to market to look around because he knew how much she liked plants. If she found something she liked, then they could buy it.

525, 526

525: Flower King Selection

Not a single plant stuck out to Juntian, but it was to be expected. Feng house was one of the most prestigious houses in the country and a super power on the continent. There were so many rare plants at home that it was unlikely he would find something interesting at a regular market.

In contrast, Feng Wu was walking around peeking at different flowers with a smile curled up on her lips. The flowers and plants were chanting and singing happily. One of them was special and the other flowers were very respectful of it. It was a small flower that all the other flowers called Little Boss.

Feng Wu found Little Boss and grabbed Juntian’s hand. Her eyes, as she looked at him, were saying she wanted the plant.

“This one? Are you sure?” The flower didn’t look good. In fact it looked a little wilted. Juntian wanted to buy the best one for his little sister, but this was the one she wanted. Well whatever. Even if it was ugly, it was the one she wanted.

“Miss, you have a good eye. Don’t look down on this flower because of its appearance. This flower, I got it deep in the valley. There wasn’t a single other flower around it. The younger one thought the flower was unusual so he picked it up.

It’s a small flower, but what kind is it? I couldn’t tell. But it’s definitely not ordinary. It’s a pity though, so many people passed by and couldn’t tell it was a hidden gem. Only you miss, you’re the only one who saw it. . . ” The flower seller kept boasting about the flower and complimenting Feng Wu for her eyes. He was talking like the money wasn’t important.

“Okay, let’s stop with the chatter and talk business. How much?”

This wasn’t Juntian’s first time at the flower and plant market. Which of these vendors wouldn’t rhapsodize about their wares? If you weren’t careful, you could end up overpaying for flowers that looked expensive but were only ordinary.

“I do not speak indiscriminately. You can take this for five hundred gold.” Seeing how well dressed the siblings were, the vendor started high.

“Five gold, if you don’t want to sell, that’s fine too,” countered Juntian. He was familiar with the market and was not interested in overpaying. The flower was only worth five gold, so he was bargaining fairly.

“Young Master, this is too little! You must increase your offer a bit more.” The vendor had a wry smile when he replied. Here he thought he was dealing with two naïve customers, but they turned out to be knowledgeable ones.

“It is fine if you don’t want to sell.” Juntian began to pull Feng Wu away.

Left with no choice, the vendor wrapped the plant up and waited to be paid. Once paid the five gold from Juntian, he handed the flower to Feng Wu to hold.

Feng Wu was extremely satisfied as she looked at her brother with adoring eyes. Her brother was amazing! He could buy flowers worth five hundred gold for five gold. The money saved would be enough to eat lots of delicious food! She needed to work hard too so she could become just as amazing.

“Xiao Wu, it’s not that Brother is amazing, it’s that the plant in your hand is only worth five gold. The person saw you were a little girl and wanted to swindle money from you. That’s why he wanted to charge so much.”

“That person is bad.” Feng Wu didn’t like anyone who tried to swindle money from her. Only those with money could eat and those who swindled money from others were bad people.

“Yes, very. How could anyone try to cheat Xiao Wu?” Juntian couldn’t really blame the man though. He was just making a living. If your judgement was bad and you overspent on something, then you can just take it as money spent on a lesson learned.

Of course he couldn’t really say all these things to Feng Wu. She wouldn’t have understood.

The two siblings returned home after walking around a bit more.

Little Bun was sleeping soundly in bed in Feng Wu’s room. Feng Wu asked one of the maids to get dirt and a beautiful flower pot for the plant.

“What? What is this overpoweringly strong life energy?!” The little flower that had been quiet the entire trip began talking.

The plant’s shock surprised Feng Wu. What kind of life energy was it talking about? She tilted her head and looked at the little flower.

“Oh my god! Where’d that child come from?! So much life energy! Is that thing even human?!”

Little Bun opened his mouth and let out some cute gibberish. He opened his eyes a bit confused as he looked around then began nimbly climbing up.

Seeing this, Feng Wu didn’t care what the little flower was up to, and instead focused on getting Little Bun dressed.

Little Bun slipped into her arms and said cutely in his childish voice, “Mom hugs...”

Feng Wu picked him and up kissed his adorable little face.

Little Bun blushed happily after getting a kiss.

“Is that really a human child? How can a human have such an enormous amount of life energy? Unless it’s a life magician? No way! Elves are the only ones that know life magic.”

The more the little flower thought about it, the more confused it became. It muttered to itself like a nonstop chatterbox.

“Noisy, flower noisy.” Little Bun pointed at the little flower accusingly. It was too noisy and Little Bun didn’t like that.

“Hm, very noisy,” nodded Feng Wu in agreement.

“You talk as if you understand me.” The little flower said this time with a bit of disdain in its voice. It did not believe humans could understand it.

“I understand.” Feng Wu nodded as she looked at the little flower.

Little Bun looked at the little flower and nodded.

“Hot damn! You guys can understand me?!” The little flower felt its world view just turn upside down. What happened to this world? Could the humans have evolved to the point they understood plant life?

Feng Wu nodded. Little Bun nodded.

What?! Who were this mother and son pair? Flower god save me! There are weirdos here who understand plants!

It took a while, but the little flower finally settled down. Eventually it just viewed Feng Wu’s room as its own.

Feng Wu asked what kind of plant it was but it refused to say anything other than that it was an ancient strange flower. Luckily Feng Wu wasn’t that curious, but Little Bun seemed to know something. He laughed at the little flower for awhile before finally settling down himself.

Feng Wu didn’t know what Little Bun was laughing at and she didn’t ask.

Since the little flower moved into Feng Wu’s room, it was looking better. Its originally malnourished appearance became more beautiful as it grew bigger.

Juntian looked through several plant atlases but couldn’t find anything similar, so in the end he gave up.

It was the last day to submit a plant for the Flower King selection.

The little flower heard about the competition. It said if it wasn’t the Flower King, then who in the world was qualified to be? It asked Feng Wu to put it in the competition.

Feng Wu felt the little flower was really noisy. She didn’t want to be badgered by it so she agreed. Since the Feng family had already submitted a plant for their household, it wasn’t possible for her to send it in that way.

Juntian recommended she submit the flower under her own name as an individual instead.

Before sending the flower away, Feng Wu gave it a hug. She was happy things would be quiet again for a few days.

In contrast, Little Bun was reluctant to part with the little flower. He touched the flower’s leaf and his touch seemed to encourage it to grow a little more beautiful. He gave it a hug.

“Flower, flower, come back soon.” Little Bun talked to the little flower every day and considered it a friend.

“Yeah, I will. And you better believe I’m going to come back with the trophy.” The little flower’s confidence was so strong it was like a stick of dynamite.

Before the flower selection was finished a big event happened – an evil villain appeared.

The villain stalked beautiful girls from small families and ruined them dastardly in the night.

Feng Wu was told to avoid going out after dark so as not be victimized. In the meantime, Juntian rarely returned home because he was trying to apprehend the villain.

Feng Wu told Ming Xi about it in their nightly conversation.

Upon hearing a villain harming young girls, Ming Xi warned Feng Wu to be careful, to not talk to strangers and to avoid deserted places.

Feng Wu obediently agreed. She wouldn’t go out, not even to see the little flower she had left at the selection venue earlier. To this the little flower was unhappy and muttered about how she was an unconscionable master.

Girls had been victimized daily since the villain appeared five days ago. The entire capital was anxious and an atmosphere of unease settled over the festival and the Flower King selection.

It finally came to an end that night at six when the villain was caught. Turned out he was an adventurer from another country. The man was an evil man who had been beaten nearly to death by the female adventurers he molested before.

It took him some time to recover, but once he did, he went right back to molesting girls again. This time though he was caught red handed while committing the crime. Someone would interrogate him after the festival and announce their findings.

Juntian was relieved that the criminal was caught.

It was the last day of the Flower King selection and the results would be announced later in the day.

To everyone’s surprise at home, the flower Feng Wu submitted was shortlisted. Along with her flower, two others submitted by the family were also pushed to the next round to be sent to the flower alter as well.

Basically what happened at the alter was this: All selected flowers would be laid down in front of the alter and the priests would come forward and recite the ceremonial prayers. After the prayers would come the ceremonial dances.

The flower that caught the most divine light would be the king of the year.

The speeches tended to last for an hour and made most people drowsy. Feng Wu struggled to stay awake through the two-hour prayer and dance. The men and ladies of the major families perked up the moment the dance finished. At last! They were finally going to see who the chosen winner would be.

A broad golden light shone on all the flowers offered on the alter. Then it began to slowly narrow until only one flower held the light. The singular spotlight of golden halo lasted for 15 minutes before fading away. Right after, heavenly rain fell from the sky and sprinkled throughout the entire city. The flowers and plants that weren’t doing so well were blessed by the rain and immediately took on a healthier appearance.

It was the flower gods being kind and blessing the flowers in the city with health and vitality.

526: Flower King

“Let me announce the final winner. It is the unknown flower submitted by Miss Feng Wu!” An old man with long, white hair had gone on stage and announced the winner as he pointed to the little flower.

The little flower actually won first place in the competition! How could this be?!

Juntian was shocked. None of the other rare flowers the Feng family sent in received the honor, and yet this five-coin flower managed to get it. It was the lowest cost of any other previous Flower King!

The staff urged Feng Wu to take the stage and receive the trophy. It really was a trophy and a beautiful one at that, with the words “Flower King” engraved on it. Quite lovely.

The trophy was actually a wonderful magic item that could be used to nourish flowers and cure plant diseases.

Feng Wu, under the jealous and envious eyes of many, went on stage to accept the trophy and take the little flower back home.

The little flower had won the title so it wouldn’t be long before people from all the big families would visit to see it.

Madam Lan was busy again. Tianhang heaped praised on Feng Wu; his daughter had such good eyesight, even with a random flower, she could win the flower king competition.

Feng Wu and Ming Xi chatted for a long time that night. She told him how the little flower had won the title of Flower King. Ming Xi praised her so much her lips and eyes were practically frozen in a smile. She eventually fell asleep.

Back at the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom, Ming Xi could not sleep. His hand would take another three months to heal and he wouldn’t be able to go back to see Feng Wu until then. It was such a long time to wait. What if the Flower King had some kind of strange ability and attracted flirts to Feng Wu?

Ming Xi was just starting to worry when a delicate voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Brother Ming Xi!” A beautiful girl in a white gauzy dress jumped over and grabbed Ming Xi’s hand.

“Hua Jin, why are you here?” Ming Xi hid the helplessness in his eyes and willed some energy from his reserves to deal with her.

“Brother Ming Xi, your hand still hasn’t healed yet. Why did you get out of bed? I will help you back to your room so you can rest!” The girl named Hua Jin said with a distressed expression on her face.

“No need.” Ming Xi pulled his hand back and kept his distance from Hua Jin. “I hurt my hands, not my feet, so I don’t need to hide in bed all day.”

Hua Jin was not giving up. “Then I will accompany you to the garden. I heard Auntie ordered people to bring over many new precious flowers.”

“No need, no need. I still have things to do. You can take your time and view them yourself.” Ming Xi turned around and left without waiting for a reply from Hua Jin or waiting to see if she could keep up.

“Brother Ming Xi, Brother Ming Xi!” Hua Jin tried to chase after him but was too slow. She finally gave up and angrily sat down to vent her anger out on the flowers. The poor plants were unceremoniously yanked out.

Hua Jin was his elder aunt’s daughter, his direct cousin from his mother’s side. They had grown up together and she had over time developed feelings for him.

The empress knew Hua Jin had feelings for Ming Xi, but she didn’t interfere and try to discourage it and instead simply allowed their young feelings to flow naturally.

Hua Jin was a good candidate to be the next empress, both publicly and privately. The current empress thought Hua Jin was a cute and innocent girl who obviously adored Ming Xi. But most importantly, Hua Jin’s pedigree was appropriately high since she came from a prominent family.

The empress was satisfied since all her conditions were met so she was happy Hua Jin was chasing after Ming Xi.

A pity, even though Hua Jin had been chasing after Ming Xi since she was a little girl over ten years ago, she had made absolutely no progress. She was anxious and afraid Ming Xi would find someone, but so far, he had not shown interest in anyone.

This gave her hope. She would have a chance as long as Ming Xi didn’t fall in love with anyone.

Lately though his attitude had changed. She had seen him a few times staring dazedly with a silly smile on his face as he talked to a girl through his communication crystal. Even through the crystal, Hua Jin could tell the dark-haired girl was very cute.

Hua Jin couldn’t stand to see the person she loved fall in love with someone else, so she clung to Ming Xi even more tightly, hoping he would notice her. But all it did was annoy Ming Xi even more.

Hua Jin was in tears. How was she not as good as that dark-haired girl?! Why wouldn’t Ming Xi give her a chance?!

A gleeful voice rang out as Hua Jin was weeping sadly to herself.

“Oh, if it isn’t Cousin Hua Jin. Did you get rejected by my older brother again?” The empress’s daughter, Princess Beiya walked over to Hua Jin’s side.

Beiya wasn’t as beautiful as Ming Xi, but she was still gorgeous, having inherited both their parent’s good looks. Not being as pretty didn’t sit well with her and she wished her brother didn’t set the beauty standard so high. Honestly, how could he be more pretty than her?

“It is none of your business.” Hua Jin ignored Beiya after answering the question. She turned around intending to leave, but Beiya stopped her.

“Hua Jin, why don’t you stop pestering my brother? He doesn’t like you, and besides that, he already has someone he’s interested in.”

“You say Brother Ming Xi has someone he’s interested in? Why wasn’t I informed of this?” Hua Jin thought about the dark-haired girl and her heart became uneasy.

Could that be the person Brother Ming Xi liked?

“What? You’re not my sister, why would I tell you anything about my family?”

“I am going to marry Brother Ming Xi and be his wife.” Hua Jin stated firmly.

“My brother doesn’t like you. I’ll tell you a secret. My brother has already spoken with Father, and Father agreed he could marry the girl he likes. You’ve just wasted years chasing after him. Hurry up and go home already.”

After saying so, Beiya skipped away without waiting for Hua Jin’s response.

Hua Jin cried and ran out of the palace. She wanted to ask her aunt for clarification. There was no way Ming Xi could like someone else! Absolutely impossible!

She cried all the way to the Moon empress’s courtyard.

The empress lived alone in a courtyard just on the outskirts of the palace and spent her free time gardening and feeding fish.

The sight of Hua Jin crying as she ran to the courtyard took the empress by surprise. Her niece didn’t like to cry, but every time she did it was over Ming Xi.

To cry so hard this time, it had to be something big.

527, 528

527: The Serial Molester

Hua Jin sobbed and sobbed as she told the Moon empress what she heard about Ming Xi in the hopes that the empress would act on her behalf.

“Auntie, you must help me. I’ve liked Ming Xi since I was little. I can’t live without him! Please Auntie, I beg you, help me!” Hua Jin cried so brokenheartedly that it even distressed the empress a little.

“Hua Jin, it’s not that Auntie doesn’t want to help you, but this matter of emotions is not something that can be forced. You’re not in Ming Xi’s heart; what can Auntie do?”

The empress sighed deeply as she wiped the tears from Hua Jin’s cheeks.

“But Auntie is Ming Xi’s mother, can’t you force an engagement?” Hua Jin had never asked the empress to force an engagement on Ming Xi before, but she was running out of time. If she waited any longer, any glimmer of hope would disappear.

“This. . .  Hua Jin, Auntie can not interfere.” The empress said reluctantly.

“Why?! Auntie, don’t you love me? Why would you not help me?” Hua Jin cried out in despair.

“It’s not that Auntie doesn’t love you, it’s just that regarding this matter, Auntie really can not interfere. The crown princes of our kingdom have always had the freedom to choose who they wish to marry. I can not force an arranged marriage on Ming Xi if he does not wish to recognize it.”

“How can this be? How can this be?” Hua Jin cried wretchedly.

The empress tried to comfort her but she doubted her efforts had much effect on the poor girl.

Feng Wu had no idea about what was going on in the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom. She was playing with Little Bun in her room while Madam Lan took the little flower and put it on display in the garden in the front yard.

Guests arrived not long after, with Madam Qui and her two daughters, RuoBing and RuoShui, visited first. Many ladies with their children arrived not long after. Everyone was there to see the Flower King.

In years past, the Flower King would have been sold at an outrageously high price, and some big family would always shell out the money to get it, but this year the Flower King belonged to the Feng family, who obviously didn’t need the money, so talk of selling it never even surfaced.

But even if no one could buy this year’s Flower King, people could still come by and enjoy it. More and more young ladies and young masters visited. They were all there to see the Flower King, a few were even curious about Feng house’s young miss.

Feng Wu came out and showed her face, but she didn’t like these kinds of occasions so she returned to her room after a brief appearance.

The Flower King was placed in the best position in the front yard in the center of hundreds of flowers in full bloom. A small defensive array was set up around it to protect it from accidents.

The yard filled with people admiring the Flower King. Feng Wu wasn’t interested so she followed her brother to watch the trial of the molster from the festival.

It was the first time Feng Wu had ever seen the molester; her eyes widened in surprise.

She knew him! But what an odd way to reunite.

“Xiao Wu! Little Sister Xiao Wu, please help me! I’ve been wrongly accused! Unjustly!” Noel[notes] cried in excitement at the sight of someone he knew.

“Are you the molester?” Feng Wu understood the meaning of the word from Juntian. Molesters were villains who were obsessed with getting female attention despite being unattractive to the female population. They often did unwanted things to pester women.

Ming Xi didn’t know how Juntian explained it to her, but he was glad she had understood.

“Of course not!” Noel shook his head frantically.

“Little Sister Xiao Wu, listen to me, I’m really not the molester. I heard about the Flower festival a few days ago, that there would be lots of beauties, so I came to see. When I got here, I found a place to stay. I don’t know what happened, but I’m pretty sure I was drugged. I fell asleep and woke up in bed with some woman.

The woman was taking off her clothes while kissing me. I tried to push her off but it didn’t work. So I was going to fight her, but that’s when this buddy over here came in an arrested me, claiming I was the molester they were looking for.”

Noel told Feng Wu all about his plight. His eyes were full of accusation as he glared at Juntian.

Goosebumps rose up all over Juntian’s body. Gross, how could anyone look at someone like that?

“This is my brother.” Feng Wu explained.

“Your brother!” Noel was shocked.

What sort of coincidence was this? The guy who arrested him was Feng Wu’s brother!

“Do you speak the truth?” Juntian asked.

Noel nodded wildly. His words were truer than truth.

“I will help you investigate this matter. You will remain here in the mean time. If you truly have nothing to do with the molester, then I will have you released.”

Juntian was willing to investigate since Feng Wu knew the person.

Juntian began asking Feng Wu about Noel as soon as they left the holding area. The most important thing being how the two knew each other.

Of course Feng Wu told the truth. Juntian’s expression became unhappier and unhappier the more he heard.

He had promised he would find out the truth so he would sincerely try his best. After seven days of thorough investigation, he finally had enough evidence to show it wasn’t connected to Noel.

Three days after that, who knows what method Juntian used, but the matter of the true culprit was finally resolved. Noel was not the molester but was the person the molester hated the most!

Noel didn’t recognize the molester at all. He had no clue why the guy hated him so much or why the molester would go to such an extent just to frame him.

“I say buddy, who are you?! What kind of grudge do you have against me that you hate me so much?” Noel really couldn’t identify the guy. He was pretty sure they were strangers.

“Noel, still pretending to not know me? I’m Xiao A’s ex. She broke up with me after meeting you. She said she and I didn’t have anything in common.

So I bought her magic potions, but she said she didn’t care for them. So then I bought her jewelry, but she said she didn’t care for them. She said we had nothing in common and didn’t share deep feelings!”

“You’re Xiao A’s ex?! If you wanted revenge, why didn’t you go after her? I didn’t know she had a boyfriend. How am I in the wrong in all this?!”

528: A Carefree Feng Wu is a Headache for Ming Xi

“You damn bastard! You stole my girlfriend. I hope you die squealing! I hope the rest of your life is shit and you never get it up again!” The guy cursed Noel so much.

“You ran off and committed a bunch of crimes just because he stole your girlfriend?” Juntian couldn’t wrap his head around it.

“Hmph!” the guy snorted.

“You ruined so many girls in my country just to get back at him? You’re really sick. Just wait for your sentence.” Juntian left with Feng Wu after speaking.

Noel kicked the guy before turning around and chasing after Feng Wu and her brother.

Since Noel was Feng Wu’s senior, Juntian arranged a room for Noel at their house.

Noel settled in smoothly. He flirted with girls so much it was only natural he’d be good with handling the opposite gender. Who knows how he did it, but he and Madam Lan became bosom buddies despite the difference in their age. They watched plays and discussed romance stories together, dissecting the paragraphs line by line.

If it weren’t for the age thing, you’d think they were dating.

Father Feng had some opinions about this and he tried to drive Noel away several times but never succeeded. In the end, even though he was angry, he had no choice but to stand aside and let them do what they liked to do.

Eventually though, Noel’s presence in the house ended being good for Father Feng. He and Madam Lan ended having a second spring time love.

The evening Feng Wu returned home, she told Ming Xi all about Noel. Ming Xi remembered Noel was a notorious playboy at school. Ming Xi wondered about the Flower King, of all the flirts to attract, it attracted such a rotten one.

He couldn’t do anything but smile wryly. It wasn’t like he was going to stop Feng Wu from talking to Noel. Even if Ming Xi didn’t want to admit it, Noel was a good person despite his flirtatious attitude with the ladies.

“Xiao Meng, I adore you. Your face is as charming and delicate as a flower; your eyes shine like the morning stars; your skin is flawless as jade. Your beauty takes my breath away. Every time I see you, I’m afraid; it’s like I hear fireworks sounding in my ears. You’re so intoxicating!”

Noel was holding a girl’s hand as he affectionately sweet talked her.

The girl lowered her head shyly. She was blushing so hard it looked like her whole face was about to smoke.

“Xiao Meng, come here! Who is that faker next to you?! Why are you together like that?” A big, beefy man with a group of equally sturdy brothers headed over to the pair.

Noel and his latest conquest were quickly encircled.

“Shunshun, please let me go. We don’t have a relationship anymore. I love brother Noel now!” The girl glared at the man before shyly speaking those words.

“And this is. . . ?” What rotten luck; things this year were not working out for him. Noel found a girl who was already spoken for again!

He still had a psychological scar from last time with Xiao A’s ex, so he didn't dare hook up with women casually. He’d observed this girl for several days and made sure she wasn’t romantically involved with another person before approaching her. He never expected the alluring boat he found was already tethered to a moor.

“Brother Noel, please don’t misunderstand. I’ve already broken up with him. I’m not in a relationship with him anymore!” Fearing Noel would misunderstand, the girl rushed to explain.

“What do you mean, we’re not in a relationship? Why didn’t you say that when I was buying you all that jewelry, and medicine and clothes, huh?! You cheap slut! You tell me this as soon as I come back from a mission, that you have no feelings for me anymore?!”

Why did those words sound so familiar? Noel felt like he was having a flashback.

“Shunshun, when I say I don’t have any feelings for you, I mean I don’t have any feelings for you. There’s nothing more to say!” Xiao Meng shouted out; her face completely cold.

Couples on dates nearby were watching the drama with interest.

Juntian, who had brought Feng Wu to the beach to see crabs, happened to see what was going on as well. He had no intentions on interfering and intended to only watch the fun from the side with his dear sister.

Noel had made a lot of trouble at home so it would be good if someone could teach him a lesson.

“Brother, what did that kid do? Why are so many people surrounding him?” A passerby asked the guy next to him.

“I heard the kid stole some guy’s girlfriend. That’s the ex there that showed up.”

“Wow, that kid is something else. How many times does this make this?”

“What do you mean? Does that kid get approached by a lot of exes?”

“I saw him a lot on the beach and each time it was with a different girl. He’d go in for kisses straight on the mouth. Just last week I saw him on dates with five different women! That girl there is the fifth one.”

Wow! Hot news indeed.

“Fuck! That kid has a girl for so many days out of the week? Can he handle that many girls at once?”

“Haha, well at least he gives it a rest two days out of the week right?”

“I reckon he must take all kinds of supplements to replenish his body on his days off; otherwise how could his body bear it?”

“True, that make sense. My family sells all kinds of aphrodisiac medicines. I should try and approach him. Maybe I’ll get a regular customer!”

“Your house sells aphrodisiac medicine? Tell me what kind you have. If you have any good ones, I’ll buy some from you.”

“Sure! Tell me what kind you’re looking for.”

The conversation between the two guys spiraled into something else entirely.

Juntian took Feng Wu’s hand and passed them by. Let that beast be beaten to a pulp. He was not going to stop it.

Feng Wu and Juntian happily caught crabs then grilled them to eat while poor Noel was beaten black and blue. Even his own mother would have had a hard time recognizing him.

After catching and eating crabs all afternoon, Feng Wu went home with her brother happy.

While Feng Wu was having a good time, Ming Xi was having a horrible time. In fact, he was enduring some trouble.

Two days ago, remnants of the Blood clan still in the human world had attacked the Moon empress in an assassination attempt. It failed because Hua Jin took the hit meant for the empress and as a result suffered serious injuries.

The Moon emperor asked her what she wanted as a reward for saving the empress’s life.

Unexpectedly, Hua Jin came straight out and said she wanted to marry Ming Xi. It was impossible though because Ming Xi flatly refused, firmly stating he would not marry her.

Hua Jin’s family were dissatisfied with his answer because they felt it was an opportunity for them to advance. They came every few days and helped Hua Jin harass Ming Xi. They refused to stop unless Ming Xi accepted Hua Jin.

Well basically it was chaos in the Ancient Silver Moon palace.

“Ming Xi!” The empress called out to her son.

“Mother Empress.” Ming Xi greeted her respectfully and politely.

“Ming Xi, can’t you try to accept Hua Jin? She’s a good girl; the two of you will be happy together.” The empress tried to convince her son.

Ming Xi flatly said, “My marriage is not a tool for repaying gratitude.”

“Don’t you like Hua Jin at all? That child grew up along side you. You really won’t give her a chance?!”

The gentle smile on Ming Xi’s face disappeared as he replied with four words, “I don’t like her.”

“OK, you don’t like her, but she saved Mother Empress. Why can’t you accept her for Mother Empress’s sake?” A pleading tone entered her voice. She knew how much Hua Jin loved Ming Xi and the child got such a serious injury protecting her. She would try her best to fulfill the wish.

“No Mother Empress, I have already said, my marriage is not to be used to repay gratitude.” He turned and left, not caring what she said.

The emperor called Ming Xi to his study sometime after that.

“Father, if you called to persuade me to take Hua Jin as my wife, then you don’t need to say anything more.” Ming Xi preemptively cut off the conversation.

“You dislike Hua Jin that much?” The Moon emperor smiled gently.

Ming Xi silently looked down at the floor.

“Forget it. When has Father Emperor ever forced you to do something you didn’t want to do? This matter of marriage has always been decided by each Moon emperor himself. Didn’t Father Emperor choose Mother Empress ourselves?”

No matter who you choose to be the Moon empress, as long as it is someone you like, Father Emperor will always support you.” The Moon emperor said lovingly.

“Many thanks to Father Emperor for your grace.”

“The four great emperors bear the heavy responsibility of protecting the human world. We have no freedom as long as we sit on our throne. Marriage is the only chance any of us gets to choose freely. We can’t avoid our responsibility to the world, but we can choose the empress of our liking. If that freedom is lost, then what is the point of sitting in such a position?

Don’t blame your mother. It is just that your mother’s family has certain ideas. If your mother comes to persuade you to marry Hua Jin, just pretend you do not hear. The other issues, Father Emperor will resolve for you,” said the Moon emperor.

Ming Xi was moved by his father’s words. A warmth flowed between them. “Father Emperor. . . ”

Hua Jin’s family came to make trouble several times but were severely punished by the good-natured Moon emperor. They didn’t dare provoke farther so they had to let Hua Jin’s mother, the Moon empress’s sister, pester the Moon empress.”

The Moon empress was bothered every day to the point her life was miserable.

She wanted to talk to her son, but her son kept ignoring her. She wanted to talk to her husband about the marriage offer, but her husband pretended not to hear. What had she done wrong?! Why were both father and son ignoring her?!

529, 530

529: Ning Bi’s Wedding

The empress became so annoyed she avoided seeing anyone from Hua Jin’s family entirely.

This led Hua Jin’s mother to seek out Hua Jin’s grandmother.

Hua Jin’s grandmother loved Hua Jin more than any of her grandchildren, even more than Princese Beiya. Once she found out about everything, she insisted Ming Xi marry Hua Jin in a month’s time. To not marry would be ungrateful.

How could the future emperor of the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom show such ingratitude to those around him?

The empress was harassed by her mother. Ming Xi avoided her and her husband said he was busy. At this point, the empress was sick and tired of it and had absolutely no inclination to help Hua Jin anymore.

Though the empress loved Hua Jin and wanted to help her sister and her sister’s family, the coercive way they were going about it was incredibly annoying, especially her elder sister inviting their mother out and insisting Ming Xi marry Hua Jin.

The Moon empress indulged her elder sister and her put up with her sister’s in-laws, but there was a limit to her patience. Then there was her mother. All the woman wanted was to help Hua Jin fulfill her wish, but she failed to consider the empress’s situation.

She was the empress of the Moon kingdom, but that didn’t mean she could abuse her power and arrange for Hua Jin to be the next Moon empress.

Generations and generations of Moon emperors had chosen their own spouses. It was delusion of her sister and her sister’s in-laws to think they could use gratitude to coerce Ming Xi. Her elder sister was being dishonorable and her own mother was helping her. The whole thing depressed the Moon empress.

For Hua Jin’s sake, her husband and youngest son were behaving indifferently towards her. Even her daughter and other sons were avoiding her, afraid she would do the same to them.

What was she doing all this for? The more she thought about it, the more worthless it seemed.

That night, the Moon emperor was looking at his wife from behind as she sat at her vanity table. He went over and hugged her from behind.

“Have you figured it out?” He asked softly.

The empress honestly admitted her mistake. “I’ve done you and Ming Xi wrong.”

“It is fine. You understand why now. I will scold them for you, but you can’t be soft-hearted toward them when I do,” warned the emperor.

How could she dare be soft-hearted? Wasn’t it because she was soft-hearted toward Hua Jin that she’d been tortured for so many days? The empress nodded resolutely.

“No more please. I am going to be annoyed to death by my mother and my sister and her in-laws.”

“Okay, I will take care of it.” The Moon emperor reassured his wife.

The empress snuggled in the emperor’s arms and the two cuddled like that for awhile doing things happily married couples do.

Feng Wu played so much. Sometimes Juntian would take her to the beach to catch fish and crabs, sometime Noel would take her to street vendors to eat or to the theater to watch shows, and sometimes Madam Lan would take her out shopping for new clothes and watch operas.

With such a busy, fun life, Feng Wu inevitably ate a lot of food. But even though her food intake increased, her weight did not. Noel was suspicious where she put it all.

This day in particular, Feng Wu was taking a walk in the garden with Little Bun when she had an unexpected visitor – Shui.[notes]

“Are you here for a reason?” Feng Wu clearly remembered this person hated her. Why was she here? Feng Wu blinked as she wondered.

“I came for a reason. Do you remember Ning Bi?” Shui asked abruptly.

Who? Feng Wu shook her head honestly. She searched her memory but didn’t remember a person by that name.

“You don’t remember Ning Bi? Ning Bi defended you so much when we were kids. Here, this is Ning Bi’s wedding invitation.” Shui handed Feng Wu a letter. “She asked me to give it to you. She says she hopes her wedding will be blessed by all her relatives and friends, so she’d really like it if you went.”

If Shui hadn’t agreed to Ning Bi’s request to hand deliver the invitation, she would never have had anything to do with Feng Wu again.[notes]

Feng Wu received the invitation with a blank expression. She really had no idea who Ning Bi was and still had no clue even after several hours after Shui left. Eventually it was Madam Lan who told her. Ning Bi had been friends with the original Feng Wu but she moved away to another region. She returned to the area a few months ago.

Madam Lan knew about the invitation and approved of Feng Wu attending. In observing someone else’s wedding, Madam Lan hoped it would help Feng Wu understand so she wouldn’t be confused when it came time for her own wedding.

Hearing that going to the wedding and observing would help her with her own wedding was enough to convince Feng Wu to go. She didn’t know how the people in this world got married, so going to observe would help her learn what to do when she married Ming Xi.

Ning Bi’s fiancé was her senior at school. The two had a very good relationship and both families were happy with them getting married. The wedding was scheduled to be held in another city at the groom’s hometown, so Ning Bi’s family arranged accommodations for all the guests.

Feng Wu arrived three days before the wedding and was placed in a room adjacent to Shui. Feng Wu didn’t care but Shui wanted to change rooms as soon as she found out. Unfortunately, when she went to request another room, she was told there were no more rooms left, so she had no choice but to reluctantly stay next door to Feng Wu.

Something unexpected happened to the groom as everyone waited for the wedding. Ning Bi and her fiancé were traveling in their carriage when they were hit by a land slide. Ning Bi’s fiancé protected her but he died from direct head trauma.

The wedding became a funeral and those who came changed their dress appropriately to reflect the mourning. Ning Bi’s close friends tried their best to comfort her, but it was of little use. She cried so much at the funeral that she nearly fainted. Later that night, she slit her wrist in a suicide attempt. Her parents were so shaken they didn’t dare leave her alone. They didn't want her to stay in a city filled with reminders of her dead fiancé, so they took her away and left for the capital as soon as the funeral was over.

The Feng family were overwhelmed when Feng Wu returned and told them the story. A good wedding turned into a funeral. Ning Bi’s life was too bitter.

How could a girl bear such a blow. . . ?

Madam Lan sympathized with Ning Bi very much. She asked Feng Wu to accompany her to Ning Bi’s home in her free time and had the kitchen stew some medicinal supplements for Feng Wu to bring over.

Although Ning Bi lost her fiancé, she had many friends who cared about her.

Ning Bi had always been cute since she was little. Her baby voice and cute, doll like appearance meant her cute meter was off the charts. She had good relations with everyone.

If the original Feng Wu was a child that people couldn’t stand, then Ning Bi was the child everyone adored. They loved her and only wanted good things for her. It wasn’t just because she was cute, she also had a lively personality that naturally attracted people to her.

Everyone said it was a pity such a good girl encountered such misfortune.

There were so many people who cared for her, and from time to time, people stopped by to drop off gifts and chat to keep her company.

A whole month passed while Ning Bi lived in a daze under everyone’s care.

A month later, the season was just right for climbing high and viewing things far away. Ning Bi invited seven close friends to come and play on Qui mountain just outside the city. They were all friends since they were little.

It was Feng Wu's third on Qui mountain. She had been there twice before when her brother had brought her out to play.

The scenery on Qui mountain was absolutely beautiful.

After hiking up from the foot of the mountain and reaching the summit, the group of eight were greeted with a breathtaking sight. Looking up, they saw puffy, white clouds drifting lazily on a sweet wind in an endless, blue sky that stretched on to eternity. While below them, sprawled out in all its glamour to behold, was the imperial city.

Two of the girls took out their supplies and prepared to sketch. Feng Wu took out a lot of delicious food and spread them out on a flowered picnic blanket. Then she sat down to eat.

Watching Feng Wu prepare so many things, the girls naturally assumed it was for the group. How nice. Everyone, except for the two girls painting, gathered around and began to nibble on things.

They ate all the food Feng Wu had prepared for herself. She was being robbed!

After eating and drinking so well, everyone went back down the mountain. Instead of taking the main pathway down, Ning Bi wanted to change the mood, so she led them through a small side path. Everyone went along with it since they were there to accompany her.

It began to drizzle not long after. The drizzle soon turned into heavy downpour and they rushed to take cover inside a cave.

There were a lot of dried straw and unburned firewood inside. Who knew who lived there, but whatever the case, it was convenient to have ready firewood to use. They was cold from the rain so they quickly started a fire.

Feng Wu wasn’t cold -- or even wet. She had kept the rain away with a shield made of qi. Only a couple of the other girls thought to do the same. Most had gotten wet because they forgot they could create a shield and had reflexively searched for a place to shelter instead.

The rain showed no signs of stopping. Just sitting together was boring so Ning Bi suggested they gather around and tell scary stories.

The girls both loved and hated these kinds of stories, so of course they agreed.

530: Death God’s Wishing Stone

They huddled close and took turns telling stories. There were one or two screams and much laughter throughout. Even Ning Bi, who had been frowning for a month, had a relaxed smile on her face.

The smile put everyone at ease. At least now she was in a better mood and they wouldn’t have to worry about her trying to slit her own throat when no one was looking.

The one with a good relationship with Ning Bi had been the original Feng Wu. The current Feng Wu didn’t know Ning Bi and wasn’t close to her, so she wasn’t worried. The times Feng Wu followed Madam Lan’s request to go and visit with Ning Bi, Ning Bi had ignored her; so it was impossible for a friendship to exist between them.

From an outside perspective, the story was quite different. What they saw was Feng Wu bringing stewed herbal supplements every time she visited. Then she would sit with the dazed Ning Bi quietly in silence. They thought she was a true and honest friend. Even Ning Bi’s parents talked about what a good and patient friend Feng Wu was to Ning Bi. In reality, it was just two girls gazing off into space blankly because Feng Wu didn’t know what to say and Ning Bi was still grieving.

Feng Wu didn’t even know when she became Ning Bi’s friend.

The group of girls stayed out until evening before returning home.

Less than half an hour after they left, a beautiful girl walked into the cave.

“Great! I finally found it; this is the place where the god of death left the stone.” It was Ai Lin.[notes] She had tried desperately to remember all the various opportunities from the novel.

After some thinking, she remembered there was something hidden in Qui mountain outside the imperial city of the ancient eastern countries.

The novel mentioned a girl, Ai Lin couldn't remember her name, who wasn't so much a supporting character as a passerby cannon fodder. The girl had found a black stone inside the cave. The stone itself was called Death’s Wishing Stone.

Anyone could use the stone and make a wish to resurrect someone dead. The girl in the story had used the stone to wish her fiancé back to life. To grant her wish, the god of death wanted the souls of seven people close to her. She chose seven of her friends as sacrifices to the god of death.

Once the souls were taken, the girl’s fiancé came back to life. Unfortunately, the girl did not live a happy life with her fiancé. The seven people she sacrificed weren’t ordinary girls – all of them came from good backgrounds. After some investigation, their families became suspicious of Ning Bi.

The seven families were enraged when they discovered the truth. They executed everyone in the girl’s family and her and her fiancé were eventually hunted down as well.

Zi Cheng learned about it and had planned on finding the stone for some time. She eventually did get her hands on it, so later when the hero died saving her, she was able to use it to bring him back to life.

She used seven “friends” who had reached 90% with her. She was the heroine, so she didn’t have to worry about any family members coming to avenge them. The seven people only got a few crocodile tears when they died.

Most of the chapter was spent describing how sad and helpless Zi Cheng felt at her friends dying.

Ai Lin wanted to find Death’s Wishing Stone before Zi Cheng could use it to make a wish. The novel mentioned it was around here somewhere.

Ai Lin searched all over the cave but couldn’t find it. She even removed all the straw on the ground only to be shocked to find something that shouldn’t have been there.

“Soul Sacrifice formation!”

Feng Wu had no idea about what happened in the cave; she was already snuggled comfortably under her quilt in her bed chatting with Ming Xi about her day.

When Ming Xi heard about Ning Bi, he felt quite sorry for her. He had never been in that position before, but he could imagine how painful it would be.

Though he sympathized with Ning Bi, he didn’t want Feng Wu to tire herself out over other people’s affairs.

They didn’t talk long and went to sleep after a short while because Feng Wu was tired from the day’s excursion.

Feng Wu’s life was still just as leisurely and filled with fun two days after returning from Qui mountain.

Noel continued hooking up with beautiful women and only occasionally getting chased by their exes. At this point, Feng Wu’s family were used to Noel’s proclivities.

Feng Wu had just returned with Little Bun from playing at the beach when Juntian told her something big.

One of the girls she had gone to the mountain with had died strangely. She drowned after falling into the water, but the weird thing was how she kept laughing the entire time. It was odd.

Many people went to her funeral, including Feng Wu and her mother. She and Madam Lan left after comforting the mother of the deceased and sending the dead girl off one final time.

Feng Wu didn’t know it, but it was just the beginning. Every few days another person would die – they were all girls who had gone to Qui mountain with her. In less than half a month, five of the girls were dead. The only ones left were Shui, Feng Wu and Ning Bi.

Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Shui went to see Feng Wu.

Inside Feng Wu’s room, Shui saw Little Bun for the first time. He was a beautiful child and could make a heart melt. A pity though, no matter how cute he was, Shui just didn’t have the heart to admire him.

She immediately poured herself a glass of water as soon as she sat down and drank it dry in a few gulps. Her face was very pale.

“You’re not afraid; how can you be so calm?!” Shui said angrily.

Feng Wu tilted her head. “Afraid of what?” Was there something she was supposed to be afraid of?

“An’an and the others are all dead. Don’t you feel some way about that? Don't you think they died too strangely.” Shui took a breath. “Do you remember the ghost stories we told that day, that day in the cave? The way everyone died, they died in the same way the protagonists died in the stories. All of it is the same! We’re next!”

Shui rubbed her hands and a cold sweat broke on her forehead. She couldn’t understand how such a terrible thing could happen just because of a trip to Qui mountain.

Feng Wu hadn’t thought much about it before, but upon thinking about it now, she realized. . .  it. . .  was. . .  true. She stood up abruptly and startled Shui.

“What are you doing?” Shui crossed her arms.

“Go to look for my brother.” If she had any problems, she should ask her brother. He would help.

Shui watched as Juntian’s expression turned serious after Feng Wu approached him about the situation.

“Why didn’t you say anything earlier?” Five people were already dead. Such a big thing and she was only telling him about it now?

“I hadn’t noticed.” Feng Wu was honest. She hadn’t noticed the deaths followed along with the stories. If she had, she would have gone to her brother sooner.

“What about you? Have you told your brother?” Juntian turned and asked Shui.

She shook her head. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to, but her brother had been so busy recently her paternal grandfather, who was at a retreat, wouldn’t allow her to disturb him. She had wanted to tell her father, but her father had not been at home and her mother was at her maternal grandmother’s house. She had no one to talk to about it.

She was so scared that she went to Feng Wu, another fellow girl who was also likely waiting for death.

“I see. I’ll help you contact him later. Have you been to Ning Bi’s yet?”

“I went but she wasn’t home. According to her parents, she’s been missing for the past two or three days, so they are also out looking for her. I’m worried Ning Bi may. . .  have. . . ” Shui couldn’t continue and ended up crying. She couldn’t help it; everything was too scary.

If she knew what was going on, she wouldn’t be so scared, but the not knowing was terrifying to her.

“You two, come with me.” Juntian turned around and walked out the door.

The girls followed obediently behind.

“Brother Juntian, where are we going?” Shui asked.

Juntian didn’t look back but said, “To the cave you guys told your story in.”

They reached the cave on Qui mountain after a great deal of effort.

Shui felt the cave was different as soon they found it.

“That’s strange! What is that? It wasn’t there the last time we were here.” Shui swept the dry straw out of the way to reveal a black formation underneath.

If someone hadn't recently disturbed the straw, Shui would never have discovered the black formation underneath.

Juntian inspected the formation carefully. It was a strange one he’d never seen before.

The entire formation was black and just looking at it gave you chills. Such a sinister formation couldn’t be anything good.

Five of the girls with Feng Wu died in such a short period of time. Could their deaths be related to the formation?

Juntian found a piece of paper and copied down the formation. He couldn’t figure out what it was, but he was sure someone would. They would be able to crack its secret once they deciphered its meaning. Feng Wu would be safe once they did that he was sure.

He planned to leave after drawing the circle, but Ai Lin came running in just as he got up.

She dropped something behind the last time she was there and had returned to get it.

“Xiao Wu?” Ai Lin had not expected to see Feng Wu in a place like this.

“Ai Lin!” Feng Wu was also surprised.

“You know her?” Juntian asked his sister.

“Classmate, Ai Lin.”

Another classmate. Juntian thought of Noel, who was still hanging around their house. He hoped this classmate wouldn’t be as troublesome.

531, 532

531: Juntian’s Suspicions

Ai Lin looked at the guy in front of her curiously. She didn’t know who he was, but he was acting familiar with Feng Wu. Was he a relative?

“It turns out Miss Ai Lin is Xiao Wu’s classmate. I am Xiao Wu’s older brother, Feng Juntian. Thank you for taking care of my family’s Xiao Wu at school Miss Ai Lin.” Juntian looked at Ai Lin and spoke without emotion.

Yep, siblings. Ai Lin believed it. Both siblings had the same expressionless, nearly paralyzed faces.

“It’s no matter; Xiao Wu also takes care of me a lot too.”

“I wonder, why is Miss Ai Lin here?” Juntian asked without missing a beat.

She had entered in such a hurry. Could it be related to the formation array in the cave?

“Well... I accidentally left something in the cave a few days ago. I just remembered today, so I hurried back to get it.”

“Did you drop this?” Juntian held out a softly glowing snow-white bead the size of an egg. The bead was absorbing nearby elements and was clearly an unusual item.

“My gathering magic bead!” Ai Lin whispered in surprise. She had only gotten the rare support item recently a few days ago and hadn’t moved it into her dimensional space yet when she lost it.

Because the bead could gather and store energy from the five elements, a magician could keep it on their body and use it in battle to ensure they wouldn’t run out of energy.

She knew she had it when she went to the cave so she had backtracked and search all the places she was at recently. The cave was the last place she thought of to look. Unexpectedly, it was there and it was Feng Wu’s brother who picked it up.

“This is not a bad bead. It’s a rare support item and will be helpful to you in the future if you use it properly.” Juntian wasn’t greedy for other people's things. He wasn’t a magician but a sword user, and although the item could certainly be useful, he wasn’t the type to rely on support items; nor was he going to take someone else’s magic item.

“Thank you, Brother Juntian.” Ai Lin secretly sighed after taking the bead back from Juntian. The guy was definitely worthy of being the heir to a super power house. Anyone else would never have returned it.

“Miss Ai Lin, from what you’ve said, it sounds like you were here a few days ago, correct?”

"Brother Juntian, just call me Ai Lin. Yes I was here a few days ago.” There was nothing for her to hide, so Ai Lin spoke truthfully.

“Ai Lin, I’m not sure if you would know, but do you recognize the formation painted on the floor here?”

“What do you want to ask about the Soul Sacrifice formation for?” Ai Lin didn't expect him to ask about it and had replied with thinking.

She knew she’d said something wrong the moment the words left her lips. She shouldn’t have recognized it; now if something happened in the future, people were going to blame her for it. Wasn’t she just digging her own grave?

It was too late to take it back now. Everyone there had heard her say it.

“You really know the name of this formation?! What the hell is it?! Do you have something to do with it?! Are you involved with An’an’s death. Tell me! Answer me!”

Before Juntian could ask anything, Shui had jumped in and grabbed Ai Lin by the collar and shook her hard while pummeling her with questions.

Ai Lin was dizzy from having her head shaken like a bobble so she tried to shoo Shui’s hand away.

Juntian thought Shui was being impulsive. They weren’t sure Ai Lin had anything to do with the deaths so it was a bit too much to rush and question her like that.

He grabbed Shui’s shoulders and pulled her away from Ai Lin.

“Brother Juntian, let me go! I have to ask her clearly. Let me go!” Shui shouted as she struggled against Juntian.

“OK, calm down. We can ask in a reasonable manner. Let me do the talking.”

Shui was a little afraid of Juntian so she shut her mouth and let him do the talking.

Once she calmed down, Juntian let go of her shoulders and asked Ai Lin, “Ai Lin, how do you know the name of this formation?”

He couldn’t recognize the formation, and he was from one of the most powerful families on the continent and was an up and coming future member of Star Marshall hall. With all the resources these stations gave him, it stood to reason he would be more knowledgeable than a second year at Xingguang Holy academy.

And yet Ai Lin knew what it was immediately. It was unusual and really made him wonder.

“Oh, it’s a coincidence actually that I know about it. Last year, I was lucky enough to enter an ancient magician’s tomb. The magician was a formation magician and left a scroll detailing several formations behind. I looked through them and saw there were several forbidden formations in it.

I burned the scroll after reading it because I felt it would be a disaster if it fell into the wrong hands. It was only by chance that I passed by Qui mountain a few days ago and entered the cave. As soon as I saw the formation on the ground, I recognized it was one of the forbidden formations from ancient times. . . ”

Verifying what Ai Lin said would have been difficult, but Juntian didn’t feel she had any reason to lie. It looked like she didn’t have anything to do with the formation.

But then again it was all too coincidental – her coming to the mountain alone and her discovering the formation. The suspicion in Juntian’s mind wasn’t completely dispelled but he was careful not to show it and instead continued to ask his questions.

“You said this was called the Soul Sacrifice formation, but we still don’t know the purpose behind it.”

Ai Lin thought for a bit then said, “Just the Soul Sacrifice formation by itself is useless. It needs to be paired with a treasure from the underworld to work.”

“And what would that be?”

“Death’s Wishing Stone.”

“What’s that?” Shui had been listening to the side. She didn’t fully believe Ai Lin, but she wasn’t as agitated as she was earlier.

Feng Wu stood to the side quietly listening.

It wasn’t a surprise they didn’t know. If Ai Lin hadn’t read the story, she would never have thought there was a way to exchange lives and bring the dead back to life, never mind that a treasure as sinister as a death stone could exist.

“Death’s Wishing Stone is a stone the god of death left behind in this world. It’s a very unusual stone in that it has a bit of godly essence inside. Anyone who has the stone can make a wish and use it to revive anyone they want. . . ”

532: The Price of a Resurrection

“But life and death are predetermined by God and resurrecting the dead goes against the natural laws of the world. It’s impossible to bring someone back without paying a price.

This resurrection cost seven lives. The one making the wish must sacrifice the lives of seven people close to them; it doesn’t have to be blood relations either. As long as it is someone close to the person, it will be accepted.

The seven people must choose their method of death while on top of the Soul Sacrifice formation for the formation to activate. Then a part of the god of death’s essence will come through the formation. The god’s essence will use the agreed upon method of death to reap their souls. Once the last sacrifice is made, the wish will be granted and the target soul to be resurrected will leave the underworld and return to the world of the living.”

“Seven sacrifices... choosing their own deaths...” Shui took two steps back in disbelief. She suddenly crouched down on the ground with the hands over her head as if in great pain.

“This... don’t tell me someone really came and activated the formation!” Ai Lin muttered.

Ai Lin was surprised things had already progressed so far. Based on the way she was acting, it was obvious the girl crouching was probably one of the sacrifices. She was so pitiful, Ai Lin forgave her for earlier.

“Yes, it’s been activated. Five people have already died in the city. Their deaths were all strange and related to the horror stories they shared when they were in this cave. They died in the same manner the people in their stories died.”

“Five died, so the last two. . . ” Ai Lin considered how Juntian had brought Feng Wu and the other girl who had grabbed her shoulder earlier. Was Feng Wu one of the sacrifices? What a crazy coincidence!

Ai Lin was really surprised. She never expected Feng Wu to be so unlucky. She couldn’t remember the names of the seven people from the story, so she wasn’t sure if Feng Wu had been one of them.

Juntian nodded with a heavy expression. If the one doing all the killings was a human being, then they could deal with it by catching the person. But if the murderer was Death entering the human world through a formation. . .  How was he supposed to deal with that?

“Miss Ai Lin, is there a way to break it?” Juntian asked.

The words immediately raised Shui’s hopes and she looked expectantly at Ai Lin with a pitiful look on her face.

Ai Lin knew so many things, maybe she would know how to break the formation.

“It’s not impossible to break the formation – you have to kill the one making the wish. But remember, even if you kill the wisher, it won’t bring back the people who already died. It’s just that the ones still alive won’t have to worry about their souls being taken.”

It was everything she knew from having read the original story. She remembered the information came from a hermit necromancer.

“I understand. Thank you, Miss Ai Lin.” Juntian solemnly thanked Ai Lin.

Shui and Ai Lin returned with Juntian and Feng Wu back to the Feng family estate. Juntian didn’t dare let Ai Lin go before verifying the method she outlined, so he had asked her to stay over temporarily and had a room arranged for her.

Ai Lin’s stay made her realized how prominent Feng house was. Her own family was peanuts in comparison.

There was no one in charge at the Qui estate and Shui didn’t dare stay alone because she was afraid Death her soul at any moment. She took the initiative to live with the Feng family even though the two families were not on good terms because of the very bad fight between her and Feng Wu. They had torn each other’s faces away, so there was none left to consider.

Even if you twisted her arm, Shui would never have thought there’d be a day she’d beg to stay over at the Feng’s family home. But this was a truly unexpected event. Compared to dying, begging to stay over was nothing.

Besides, the one helping her was Juntian, not Feng Wu, Shui fooled herself into thinking.

Shui didn’t dare stay too far from Feng Wu and strongly demanded the room next door. Madam Lan had been worried she was up to no good at first, but Juntian reassured her it wasn’t the case.

Madam Lan didn’t know Feng Wu was a sacrifice target. If she knew, he was sure she would cry.

But the matter was a big thing and Juntian couldn’t conceive of not telling his father and grandfather. So he located them and explained the entire situation.

Neither Father Feng nor Grandfather Feng thought Ning Bi would be so bold as to use a Feng descendent as a soul sacrifice. They really wanted to destroy the Ning family for raising such a ludicrous female. But the important thing right now was to save Feng Wu, destroying the Ning family could come at its on time.

Father Feng and Grandfather Feng were worried something would happen to Feng Wu so they sent a large number of people to find Ning Bi. They also had guards stationed outside Feng Wu’s room to keep her from being taken away without their knowledge.

Juntian contacted Bai[notes] to pass on the information to the Qui’s family head, but even Bai couldn’t locate his father to contact him. As for Madam Qui, her face turned deathly white upon hearing her son’s explanation. She immediately took her people and left her mother’s house and returned home. But upon returning she learned Shui had left and was staying with her old rival, Madam Lan.

This incensed Madam Qui, but it wasn’t like she could make a fuss about it since the Feng family were helping her daughter. She had no choice but to rush to the Feng’s as quickly as possible.

Shui’s older sister, Bing, had gone out with the head of Qui house and she was not around either. The only ones to go to the Feng’s were Madam Qui and Bai.

The Qui family sent a large number of people to look for Ning Bi. The Ning family were also put under surveillance though they didn’t know what Ning Bi had done or where she had gone. There was nothing the Feng or Qui families could do but slowly search for her.

The problem was no one knew when the god of Death strike.

Juntian and Bai thought about destroying the black formation to prevent the god’s divine sense from coming through, but Ai Lin knew from the original text that it would be useless. Death was already in the mortal world, it was just that it had not reaped all the souls yet. When all seven souls were reaped, the god’s divine sense would naturally dissipate. Until then, destroying the physical formation wouldn’t do anything.

533, 534

533: Wait for Me

That night, Ming Xi was horrified and worried when Feng Wu told him about her day. He told her to wait for him before promptly turning off his communication crystal.

Feng Wu well asleep happy thinking about Ming Xi coming to her. She didn’t feel like she was being watched by a death god at all.

The night passed slowly and neither the Feng family nor the two Qui family members dared sleep.

The most powerful members of the Qui family were in seclusion, and wouldn’t come out unless an event jeopardized the very foundation of the Qui family. This thing with Shui was unlikely to move them. The best thing they could do was stay with the Feng family. At least here there was Mr. Feng and Old Master Feng, who were both powerful sword masters. Between the two of them, any danger that appeared would be dealt with.

The Feng family didn’t care at all what the Qui members were thinking. They just made it be known that they were not responsible should anything happen to Shui while on their estate.

Madam Qui was displeased at the gesture. She had originally planned on finding her husband and demanding explanations if something happened to Shui, but unexpectedly the Feng family preemptively countered. Since it was for her daughter, she had to swallow and take it.

Another person who couldn’t sleep was Ming Xi. He didn’t waste any time. After ending his call with Feng Wu, he immediately found his parents and informed them he was leaving and would return to the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom as soon as possible.

“Where could you possible want to go?! Your hand is still grievously injured. It’s going to take a few more months to heal completely!” The Moon empress thought her son was still angry with her. Her heart was both bitter and anxious with worry for her son’s physical health.

“Your mother is right. Your health is not optimal yet. If there is something important you need done, have someone else do it for you.” The Moon emperor also disagreed with Ming Xi’s decision to leave. Ming Xi’s arm was still injured from the last time he went out. It took a lot of priests and magicians to save it. After such a relapse, his son still dared go out again?

“Father Emperor, Mother Empress, there is something vitally important I must do. Time is of the essence and I can not spend any of it explaining. This son will explain when he returns.”

Amidst the yelling from the empress and emperor, Tian Ya activated the teleportation array and set it to the ancient eastern countries.

The emperor and empress couldn’t stop him and could only stare as Ming Xi disappeared. Afterwards, the emperor asked someone to investigate where Ming Xi went. The guards guarding the array were finally able to ascertain it was to the ancient eastern countries. As to what Ming Xi went to do, that, they couldn’t figure out.

Feng Wu was playing with Little Bun in her room and was completely ignorant of what happened outside. Rui Baby[notes] had been staying with Little Bun in the room all day. The two cute creatures, one big and one small, had a great time playing.

Rui Baby’s entire body felt terrible once he learned how Feng Wu fell into someone’s malicious machinations. The nerve! To target his master!

Rui Baby immediately used his natural ability to calculate the future. He was only relieved once he saw there were no surprises in store for Feng Wu.

There was the death god, but as a god of the underworld, it rarely came to the living world. It was still a god though and its powers were undeniable, even with just an essence in the mortal realm. Aside from the heads of Star Marshall hall and Xingguang Holy academy, who else could resist it?

Maybe one of the four great emperors could as well. Though the emperors weren’t gods in the truest sense of the word, they did carry the bloodline from the god prince, which was more noble than most other gods. If the four great emperors undertook the task, it wasn’t impossible to accomplish.

However, whether it was the four great emperors, leader of Star Marshall hall or principal of Xingguang Holy academy, none of them were people just anyone could invite.

If Ming Xi wasn’t injured, Rui Baby would have been inclined to have Ming Xi come over and try. But even then, Ming Xi had not officially inherited the title of emperor yet, so his abilities couldn’t compare with the other emperors.

Who else could help other than these people? Rui Baby rubbed his chin and thought and thought until he saw Little Bun rubbing his eyes on the bed. Aha! Rui Baby’s eyes lit up.

Wasn’t a good candidate right here in this room?! Who could be stronger than this little guy? Little Bun was still young and only at a millionth of his strength in his heyday, but he was definitely capable of dealing with Death.

Rui Baby flew over to Little Bun with a wily smile and began a whispered conversation. The two chatted for quite a while and with a serious face, Little Bun finally nodded his head. What kind of agreement did these cuties reach?

Feng Wu wasn’t aware what the two were doing at all. She was sitting by the window and looking outside as she waited for Ming Xi’s arrival.

Ming Xi was quick but it still took him two hours to reach Feng Wu’s house. It was the middle of the night and all the servants were asleep and the doors locked. Ming Xi didn’t want to disturb them so he decided to sneak in.

He had no idea special defensive arrays were active all around the estate because of Death. Even though the formation arrays would not be able to stop the god of death, it still gave people peace of mind. The moment Ming Xi entered, the arrays activated.

In just a few seconds, two powerful auras locked onto Ming Xi and one attack successively followed another.

Ming Xi knew that among the people who came, two were Old Master Feng and Master Feng, the two strongest people of Feng house!

Why did they move in so fast?!

Ming Xi was taken by surprise but managed to dodge all their attacks.

Tian Ya rushed over to protect Ming Xi’s back. He didn’t want Ming Xi to make any moves that would further aggravate his hand.

“Old Master Feng, Master Feng. I am sorry to disturb your rest so late at night.” Ming Xi had Tian Ya retreat.

He knew who they were, but they had not recognized him. If they had, they would never have attacked.

Ming Xi’s guess was right. The two gentlemen had not recognized Ming Xi. Never in their wildest dreams could they have ever imagined the future emperor of the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom would sneak onto their estate instead of going through the main entrance. . . 

534: Thunder and Lightning

“Prince Ming Xi!” Under the faint moonlight, Grandfather Feng and Father Feng finally recognized Ming Xi.

Wasn’t this person Prince Ming Xi? The same person he’d met last time? The two Feng men were astonished but they weren’t ordinary people so they quickly adjusted their attitudes and bowed respectfully to Ming Xi.

“We did not know Your Royal Highness was coming. Our Feng family has failed to welcome you properly.”

“It was I who arrived unannounced. Feng house is not remiss.” Ming Xi said.

Ming Xi was hesitant to explain his purpose for visiting even though the two Feng men were clearly curious.

Tian Ya stood quietly to the side pretending to be a part of the wall. As long the Feng household weren’t endangering Ming Xi, what they talked about was none of his business.

As the men were talking in the back, a mysterious figure appeared in Feng Wu’s room. It was a shadow, a rough outline, wearing a cloak that covered its entire frame and was carrying a scythe as tall as a person. No one noticed it at all.

When it looked up, all you could see was black mist. There wasn’t even a person.

Needless to say, the shadow was the divine essence of Death. It wasn’t there to kill Feng Wu but to kill Shui.

Shui had moved from her room and run to Feng Wu’s room earlier when she heard the noise outside. She didn’t say anything and refused to go outside. Feng Wu ignored her and kept playing with Little Bun on the bed.

Death loomed in the room only for a short time before disappearing as if it had never been there at all.

Shortly after its departure, the skies turned dark and filled with clouds. Rain came pounding down accompanied by lightning and thunder.

Shui’s face turned pale from fright because she remembered the story she told in the cave. The protagonist died from a lightning strike! This thing had to be Death here to take her away!

“It’s here! Death is here to take me away! I don’t want to die! Save me! Save me, Feng Wu! Big brother, where are you?!”

Shui was frightened beyond belief. She leapt onto Feng Wu’s bend, yanked the quilt over her head and hid inside as she cried.

Shui had always been an arrogant girl and never one for tears, but right now she was too distraught. Everything scared her and thinking about how everyone else had died scared her even more.

She thought about the harm Ning Bi had wrought and how she had sold her childhood friends out for a man.

Feng Wu had been Shui’s most hated person and number one on her blacklist, but now with what Ning Bi had done, her ranking list completely changed. Ning Bi shoved Feng Wu out and shot straight to the number one spot.

Shui was an extreme person. Those she loved, she wanted to live, those she hated she wanted to die. This kind of black and white meant that when she hated someone, there was no going back. And right now, she hated Ning Bi to death.

Earlier, back on the mountain, she had her doubts about Ning Bi’s role in the deaths. The entire thing was a puzzle and she couldn’t believe Ning Bi would do such a thing, however, the various investigations since then showed it was irrefutably Ning Bi. Ning Bi had sold her friends out without hesitation. .

Someone had seen Ning Bi on Qui mountain hanging around inside the cave for a long time two days before they took their trip up. Ning Bi was spotted in the cemetery around the same time her fiancé’s body went missing. His family searched and searched but failed to find his body. The matter caused a lot trouble for the area.

Shui couldn’t make excuses for her friend once she added everything together. It proved Ning Bi premediated the whole thing, and knowing this, Shui couldn’t tamp down the hatred that rose in her heart. She had been sincere with Ning Bi and had treated her as a cherished friend. The amount she loved Ning Bi before flipped and became hate.

Shui hid in the corner, crying, and cursing her former friend for entrapping her like this.

Feng Wu hugged Little Bun and scooted to the other side of the bed. She stared at Shui curiously wondering why Shui was so agitated.

It kept raining and the lightning didn’t seem to want to stop any time soon. The sky lit up like the middle of the day.

It was a very interesting scene. The bolts of lightning were all concentrated over the Feng estate. Such a phenomenon attracted a lot attention and many people wondered what the Feng people were doing to draw so many lightning bolts. Could they have acquired some kind of treasure?

Whatever it was couldn’t be ordinary.

While onlookers were curious and making guesses about what was going on, those inside the Feng estate were busy facing a big threat.

Grandfather Feng and Father Feng rushed to Feng Wu’s courtyard when the rain suddenly began. Neither bothered to say anything to Ming Xi when they rushed off. Neither cared whether Ming Xi followed them or not; Feng Wu’s safety was the most important thing right then.

Ming Xi, fearing the worst raced after them. Madam Lan and Bai also rushed to Feng Wu’s courtyard. Once they passed through Feng Wu’s courtyard and entered Feng Wu’s room, they were relieved to find Shui huddled under a quilt on Feng Wu’s bed. Both knew the story Shui told in the cave, so the lightning bolts were no doubt aimed at her.

She should be able to avoid the lightning as long as she stayed inside.

Escaping the power of Death wasn’t so simple however. Shui lost control of her body and suddenly tried to run out of the room. Madam Qui and Bai weren’t going to let her go, obviously. They immediately moved to intercept, but for whatever strange reason, Shui suddenly possessed supernatural strength. She shoved her brother and her mother aside with a push.

Uncaring of their own injuries, Madam Qui and Bai chased after her as she rushed to the yard.

535, 536

535: Dreams Are So Amazing

Grandfather Feng and Father Feng watched as a woman ran straight to where all the lightning bolts were most dense. The rain was heavy enough that they couldn’t make out who it was, but they reflexively went to stop her.

Father Feng made the first move, reaching out to clasp her on the shoulders, thinking it would be enough to force her stop. But the moment he touched her, his hand was repelled violently and he was forced to take several steps back before finding his balance.

The sight made Grandfather Feng rush forward even quicker. He tried to stop her with qi, but the force he shot at her bounced back and hit him. Fortunately, the power he put into the shot was only meant to stop someone and not kill them, so though he had to take several steps back, he was uninjured.

Madam Qui, her son and many others arrived just in time to witness Grandfather Feng being forced back and Shui leaping up as a bolt of lightning streaked down from the sky.

Ming Xi, who had been following close behind, naturally saw what happened. When it looked like no one could do anything, he threw out a defensive item to block the lightning. It was a rare item made by an old master whose every work was a world treasure. In fact, the Moon emperor, who had purchased it for Ming Xi to use as a personal protection item, was only able to buy it because he sincerely asked for it.

Though Ming Xi’s item was a rare treasure, it could not withstand the lightning indefinitely. Hairline cracks began to form after several lightning strikes. It was clear it would not last long. At this time, Madam Qui and Bai tossed their own magic weapons forward as well. Shui was protected by their weapons after Ming Xi’s item failed, so she only suffered minimal damage, but everyone knew it wasn’t a viable tactic in the long term. They couldn’t continue to throw magic weapons and items to keep her protected forever.

Shui’s death would be inevitable if they couldn’t deal with the root of the problem.

“Mom, big brother, I don’t want to die! Help me!” Shui regained her senses after being hit by a bolt of lightning. She didn’t know how she had ended up outside Feng Wu’s room and out in the courtyard. By the time she woke up, she was like this.

Shui nearly fainted from fright. She was pampered growing up and had never seen such a fierce battle before. The only thing she could think of doing was to keep asking her family for help. No one had to tell her how dangerous her situation was. She could tell!

She was afraid she would really die, and she did not want to die!

How could her mother and brother not want to save her? It was just that they didn’t know how. The normally stoic Madam Qui wiped tears off her face. There wasn’t anything she could do but watch one lightning bolt after another strike Shui.

Meanwhile, a woman dressed in green stood on top of Qui mountain smiling sweetly as she watched lightning congregate over the Feng estate. She was in a good mood.

“Soon, only one more and we will be able to reunite at last.”

Thunder and lightning continued through the night and didn’t dissipate until dawn lit the sky. It was a strange storm that dispersed as suddenly as it appeared.

The Feng family had done their best to keep Shui safe and had used more than forty magic items to keep her alive. It was a lot of items, and they were not going to eat such a loss for free. They would settle the account with the head of Qui house as soon as he returned.

Though Shui managed to survive the hellish ordeal, it was uncertain how long she would be able to stay alive.

The previous night left everyone in the Feng estate panicked. Everything about last night was strange, especially the lightning and thunder. If the servants hadn’t been warned beforehand not to leave their rooms, they would have rushed out to see the situation.

Juntian had stayed with Feng Wu in her room and had told her not to worry about what was going on outside; she only needed to worry about getting a good night’s rest.

So that night, Feng Wu slept soundly with Little Bun hugged to her chest. The sound of lightning and thunder didn’t bother her at all because she blocked her ears with qi.

When Feng Wu woke up the next morning, it wasn’t Little Bun or Juntian that she saw, but Ming Xi – the person she’d been missing the entire time!

Feng Wu blinked her eyes then rubbed them with her hands. “Dream?” Was she still asleep?

Ming Xi pulled her hand down and asked, “Would a dream hurt?” and gently pinched her cheeks. He didn’t want to hurt her, so of course he pinched her very lightly.

“It doesn’t hurt,” Feng Wu declared. “I am dreaming!”

Having come to her conclusion, Feng Wu stared dreamily at Ming Xi. She had dreamt of Ming Xi before, but this Ming Xi felt so real.

“What a real dream.” Feng Wu said after smooshing her hands all over Ming Xi’s face.

“Do you want a kiss?” Ming Xi teased.

Kiss? Feng Wu thought about Ming Xi touching her lips before and the tingling feeling she got. Did she want a kiss?

Feng Wu was hesitant for a moment, but quickly made up her mind.

“I want a kiss.” She nodded, her eyes very serious.

Ming Xi was amused. He leaned forward and brought his face closer to hers.

Feng Wu pouted her lips and smooched him on the lips. She wanted to back away right after, but Ming Xi locked his arms around her and deepened the kiss.

And thus was Feng Wu kissed until she was dizzy and she secretly thought to herself: What an amazing dream!

536: Grandfather Feng and Father Feng Come to a Decision

“Cough...” Juntian stood at the doorway awkwardly coughing to make his presence known. His face was dark and he was not in a good mood. He was unhappy his younger sister, who he had brought up with great difficulty, was being taken away by a wolf.

Juntian gritted his teeth as he spoke. “Prince Ming Xi, Grandfather Feng invites you to meet in the front hall.”

This bastard was trying to abduct his sister. It didn’t matter the guy’s status, Juntian just couldn’t put a welcoming expression on his face.

Ming Xi had released Feng Wu when he felt someone approaching, but he was not fast enough; Juntian still witnessed their kiss.

Feng Wu’s eyes were wide. She didn’t understand what was happening. Why was her brother also in her dream?

“Brother?” Feng Wu asked with eyes full of uncertainty.

Juntian walked over and squeezed Ming Xi out so he could sit down on the edge of the bed himself.

He patted Feng Wu’s head as he said, “I’ve asked Qing’er to carry Xiao Ye to Mother. You must not have slept well last night. Sleep a little longer if you’re tired. Brother will keep watch outside your door.”

Juntian, who always appeared cold and unapproachable to outsiders, was quite gentle when talking to his sister. It would have made people outside drop their jaws in shock.

Feng Wu rubbed her eyes then touched her flat belly. “Hungry.” This was not a dream.

“Big Brother already had someone prepare your favorite dishes for breakfast. Do you want it served now?” Juntian’s eyes were full of love as he touched Feng Wu’s head.

Ming Xi: Am. . .  I being ignored?

“Hm!” Feng Wu nodded. Her eyes involuntarily drifted to Ming Xi.

This made Ming Xi grin. “Eat first, I’ll come see you again later.”

“OK.” Feng Wu nodded.

Satisfied, Ming Xi left Feng Wu’s room and went to the front hall to meet with Grandfather Feng.

After watching Ming Xi leave, Feng Wu looked to her brother eagerly waiting for food.

The cute expression melted Juntian’s heart. He decided right then and there that she needed more time to grow up. He couldn’t let her marry that Ming Xi kid too soon. She was still so young.

Everyone had been exhausted, not to mention tired and hungry, from last night’s ordeal. The kitchen prepared a huge breakfast for everyone to replenish their energy. They had gathered and ate together earlier before Feng Wu woke up. It was at breakfast that Ming Xi made clear he and Feng Wu were sweethearts.

Grandfather Feng still remembered how utterly surprised he was at Ming Xi’s revelation. Even in his wildest dreams, he never imagined his granddaughter, who had never made anything of herself and was always a little foolish in the head, would attract the interest of the future emperor of the Moon kingdom.

The Ancient Silver Moon kingdom was one of the four great empires and Ming Xi’s eyes weren’t bad, so how did such a prince fall in love with his granddaughter?

Pooie! What was he thinking? His granddaughter was naturally excellent. Her bad reputation in the past was just slander from shameless people! His family’s Xiao Wu was doing very well!

Though Grandfather Feng, through some convoluted thinking, convinced himself Feng Wu was fine, he still couldn’t believe Ming Xi had fallen in love with his granddaughter, because in the end, no matter how her bad reputation came about, it was a fact that she did have a bad reputation and it wasn’t something he could change.

The Feng family wondered if this young prince, who had always kept a clean reputation, sincerely liked Feng Wu, or if it was just a passing whim him.

If he wasn’t sincere, then it wasn’t appropriate for a prince of the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom to associate with Feng Wu. With Feng Wu’s temperament, they were all afraid something would happen if she went to see the royal family there. Feng Wu’s temper had improved a lot recently but Grandfather Feng was still worried.

Father Feng was also worried. He wasn’t close to Feng Wu, but she was his daughter and he had raised her since she was a little dumpling. Naturally, he didn’t want to see her suffer.

Feng Wu already gave birth to a child and even though Feng Ye’s identity was unique, no one outside the family knew it because it needed to remain a secret for now.

So in the eyes of the public, Feng Wu wasn’t worthy of someone as outstanding as Ming Xi. She would be under so much pressure if she was with him!

Considering her personality, would she be able to bear it? She was better now, but who knew if she would revert back to her old stubborn ways. Would it really be OK to let her marry into the royal family based on her current temperament? Father Feng had his doubts.

Ming Xi had gone directly to accompany Feng Wu right after breakfast, so neither of the Feng men had a chance to clearly ask him what his intentions were.

Both Grandfather Feng and Father Feng restrained themselves for as long as they could. Finally, they couldn’t hold it anymore and had Juntian invite Ming Xi to see them in the hall.

The conversation between Grandfather Feng, Father Feng and Ming Xi in the hall lasted a long time. Ultimately both Feng men agreed to give the children their blessings. It was Feng Wu’s choice and it wasn’t good to separate a happy couple.

Grandfather Feng and Father Feng accepted gifts from Ming Xi with clear hearts. They couldn’t have been more pleased.

Grandfather Feng liked wine and Ming Xi had gifted him a moonlight cup. Now this was no ordinary cup. As long as the cup was placed under the light of the moon, it would brew fine wine.

Father Feng liked famous swords. A sword master could only really use one sword in his life so having too many was useless, but despite this, he really enjoyed collecting swords.

He collected famous swords like some people collected stamps. It was fun and something he had taken to doing since he was a child.

He collected them but he didn’t let them sit and gather dust. When he met a person he felt was suitable for a specific sword, he would gift that person the sword freely. For a sword master, there was nothing worst than a sword gathering dust or a sword in unworthy hands.

The sword Ming Xi gifted was a collection item from the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom and had been handed down for many generations. No wonder Tianhang was so pleased with it.

Although the heartfelt gifts played a role in helping them decide, it was Ming Xi letting them see the sincerity in his eyes and speech that really made the men agree. It let them know he was truly sincere about Feng Wu and their hearts were at ease.

No matter what the future held, the two young love birds had already made up their minds and were firm in their conviction. As long as Feng Wu didn’t object, there was no reason to not let them try. If the people of the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom rejected Feng Wu, they would just find another proper marriage for her.

537, 538

537: Book of Death and Book of Fate

After their meeting with Ming Xi, both Grandfather Feng and Father Feng hid their gifts in the lowest floor of the storage shed so it wouldn’t be taken out accidentally by anyone.

Death failed to take Shui last night, but that didn’t mean it had given up. Shui was terrified after being rescued.

It became such a big issue that Old Master Qui had to come out of seclusion. Once he found out what had happened to Shui, he also hated Ning Bi’s entire family.

But that wasn’t the important thing right now; the most important thing right now was finding the girl.

Unfortunately, Ning Bi was excellent at hiding. They still couldn’t find her even after searching the city for so long.

After such a huge battle last night, Old Master Qui couldn’t let Shui stay at the Feng estate. Besides, there was no reason for her to remain in someone else’s home. So after promising to compensate Feng house for the loss incurred and thanking them for last night, everyone in the Qui household returned to their own estate.

Shui was kept under close protection, but to be on the safe side, Old Master Qui went to the palace and invited an old necromancer to help. He was afraid there would be things humans wouldn’t be able to handle.

It wasn’t just Old Master Qui, Grandfather Feng also did the same, inviting an old necromancer, who he had a good relationship with, over. The necromancer Grandfather Feng invited wasn’t young. He had a head of shiny white hair, a long trailing beard and friendly kind eyes. Aside from that, he was also a very energetic man.

Ai Lin, having followed Madam Lan to meet the necromancer, felt he was a very powerful man. Although his aura was peaceful, within that aura was terrifying qi. Necromancers were really not to be trifled with.

Noel wasn’t there but he didn’t ask any questions and unconsciously avoided it when it was appropriate. He knew something serious was going on in the Feng household, but they had made it clear they did not want him to be involved.

The old necromancer was warmly welcomed to the Feng estate. Dealing with spirit bodies should be left to professionals.

Death was a god but it was fundamentally a spirit being, a form of undead, so logically a necromancer should be helpful in combating it. Though it was just a divine strand of Death’s consciousness, no one dared underestimate or declare the matter resolved.

After the old necromancer learned it was Death who was after Feng Wu, he asked a lot of questions, but he did not ask them to find someone else to help.

The Feng family were very grateful he remained.

It was only after entering this world that Ai Lin realized necromancers were different from how they were portrayed in all those fantasy stories she had read. She imagined they were just skin and bones, thin as can be with peculiar temperaments. They would naturally carry a staff made of skeleton bones and wear a cloak around their bodies. And when they cast their spells, the people targeted would turn into ashes.

In reality, undead magic wasn’t as exaggerated as that, and in this world, were separated into two categories: light and dark.

Light necromancers helped the undead fulfill their wishes and purify them so they could reincarnate. They also contracted with the undead to increase their own strength.

Each contract spot was precious because necromancers could only have so many contracts. Only the more exceptional spirits would catch the eye of a necromancer. For a contract to form, the spirit would also have to agree.

Black necromancers created and refined bone and undead soldiers to increase their own strength. It was harmful, because although it brought them strength, it came with serious negative effects. The backlash they had to endure meant their lifespans were generally short.

No light necromancers would ever turn to being a dark necromancer voluntarily unless there was some deep hatred motivating them.

Dark necromancers were terrifying existences and were public enemy number one on the continent. Ai Lin had never met one, and in all the time she’d been in the world, had only ever heard of one. Now that a powerful light necromancer was there in front of her, she was brimming with curiosity. The light necromancer patiently answered all her questions.

Sure enough, as the book said, anyone who could become a light necromancer had a good heart. But of course necromancers were people, so just like any profession, there would be those who weren’t good people.

While the people outside were searching for Ning Bi, the light necromancer, whose name was Ebelin, shared a lot of elementary knowledge about necromancy with them. He also told them a lot about the god of death.

"The god of death is an emotionless god in charge of human life. The Book of Death in its possession tells when and how every living person will die. Death is a god, and in principle, should not stoop to actively reaping souls, so the death scythe wouldn’t typically appear in the human world. This is because when a person dies, unless they have a strong obsession in their heart, their soul will naturally flow to the Underworld, so there is no need for god to personally usher a soul to the Underworld.

But just as there is a Book of Death, there is also a Book of Destiny. The pages within the book hold the destines of all human beings. Unless a person ascends to the God realm, their name will always remain in that book. The Book of Fate belongs to the god of destiny. This god is an interesting god who loves to sleep more than anything, but when it awakens, it likes to read the fates inside the book.

Though the god of destiny is in charge of the book, it will never change any of the fates inside. It reads, but never interferes; it doesn’t matter how miserable or fortunate the fate read is.

Though life and death are predetermined at birth, destiny itself is not constant, and is in fact mutable. There are opportunities to change fate and thereby live longer. Those people who have changed their fates unknowingly will never know their original fate unless they ascend to the God realm and meet the god of destiny.

Once their fates change, so too will their deaths. Therefore, the Book of Death is influenced by the Book of Destiny."

538: Prepare

It was the first time any of them had heard about the two books.

“Since the life and death of all human beings are recorded in the two books, how is it possible for Ning Bi to resurrect her fiancé with Death’s Wishing Stone?” Ai Lin asked cautiously.

Feng Wu and Ming Xi leaned forward and listened intently in anticipation of the answer.

Under their curious gazes, Ebelin told them about the legend.

He explained how logically it was impossible to resurrect someone after death, but more than 10,000 years ago the Underworld acquired a stunning new god. This god was formed from a spirit,[notes] so naturally when it became a god it went to the Underworld.

This god had a sweetheart. Unfortunately, his sweetheart did not have the talent to cultivate and become a god. She had accumulated a heavy debt because of the sins she gained from slaughtering so many people in her quest to avenge her family. This debt was too great and she had to suffer in the Underworld to atone.

The only way to save her was to bring her back to life. However, it isn’t easy to bring a dead person back to life. A spirit without aptitude for cultivation is incapable of condensing physical form. If the god wanted to bring his sweetheart back to life again, he had to contact the god of death.

The new god made a bet with Death. If Death lost, then it had to grant him a wish. If he lost, then he would do something for Death

The final result was of course Death lost. Death asked the other god what he wished and the god expressed his wish to revive his lover.

Death fulfilled this wish, however, a person’s fate could not be changed without repercussions. There were rules that constrained the cycle of life and fate of every person.

Death gave the god a stone: Death’s Wishing Stone. Death said that as long as the god made a wish on it, it would come true. The god was very happy and immediately wished for his sweetheart to come back to life.

His sweetheart was resurrected, but one by one, the god’s family members began to die. Originally his family members lived long lives because he had been protecting them as a god. None of them should have died early. What Death did not tell the god was that there was a cost for every action. If he wanted his lover to come back to life, then others had to die.

This was the law of equivalent exchange and the rule of the world. Whatever it was you desired would have an exponential cost.

Eventually the god learned about the death of his family members, and that they were his seven most valued people. He went to Death with hatred in his heart.

Death explained the law of equivalent exchange but it did nothing to soothe the god’s heart. The god could not let it go and his personality drastically changed until he began walking the path of demons and eventually became a demon god, a fallen demon.

The fallen demon left the Underworld and went to the Demon realm with his lover; and ever since, he has been at odds with Death.

The god, now a demon god, tossed the stone Death gave him into the human world. He wanted those who had the same desires as him to taste the same pain.

But the stone changed when it arrived in the human world. Because the human world was different from the Underworld, the process became different. After the one making a wish made their wish, the seven sacrifices had to prepare themselves. The sacrifices could not be taken by force like before when the stone was in the Underworld.

According the laws in the human world, sacrifices were no longer limited to blood relations, but could be anyone close to the one making the wish. This was not something the demon god had expected.

Fortunately, Death’s Wishing Stone only made three appearances in all the thousands of years since it was tossed to the human world. It only appeared when someone had a strong desire to resurrect someone, otherwise no one would be able to find it if it didn’t want to appear.

“That god is not good. Just because he feels bad, he wants to make sure everyone else feels bad too. He used to be human! Is it really good to cheat your fellow humans like that?!” Ai Lin said disdainfully, not liking the main character of the story.

Ai Lin complained a bit more while everyone else simply sighed at the story.

There was nothing wrong with the god wanting to resurrect his lover, but unfortunately, he was ignorant of the rules governing life and death and the cost for his desire.

Death did not tell him the cost at the beginning, which was a big reason for the god falling to the demon path.

In the end, the god became a fallen demon and tossed the stone into the human world hoping to make others stumble like he did, to suffer as he had, to feel the same pain that ripped through him. It was a sick way of thinking.

His actions resulted in so many people dying; even Feng Wu was nearly killed. This alone made it impossible for the people there to sympathize with him.

“Back when my teacher told me about the story, I didn’t think it was true. I thought the entire thing about the Death God’s Wishing Stone was just a story made up to entertain us. I never expected to witness the truth today.”

Ebelin sighed. He had thought it was only a story before. He never imagined it was true and that the stone would appear in the world today.

“Lord Ebelin, what should we do now to prevent the god of death from taking Xiao Wu away?” Ming Xi asked.

“I can only do my best until the person who made the wish dies. You must find that person as soon as possible. Only when that person dies will this matter be resolved.

Ebelin paused a moment before continuing. “Before the one who made the wish can be found, I can only do my best to prevent the god of death from taking her away. These weapons are effective against undead. Hold them in your hand for a moment and I will use some psychic potion to open your eyes so you can temporarily see the existence of the undead. I hope all of us can work together to save Xiao Wu’s life while we search for the one who made the wish.”

They were all given weapons to fight against spirits. Death’s divine strand was still a spirit form and ordinary people would not be able to see it. The only ones who had a way of dealing with these kinds of things were necromancers.

Hoping to prevent Death from entering, Ebelin set up arrays specifically designed to deal with spirit bodies all around the Feng estate.

539, 540

539: The Qui’s Family Decision

Both the Feng family and Qui family were busy all day; neither dared relax.

Clues about Ning Bi’s whereabouts were found later that evening. They didn’t know her exact location, but they knew the general area where she was hiding and had managed to secure the perimeter.

Juntian immediately took people to conduct a search the moemnt he heard the news. He wanted to find Ning Bi as soon as possible.

Ming Xi had wanted to go as well, but he was more worried about Feng Wu, so instead he sent Tian Ya to help with the search. Tian Ya, for his part, would have preferred to stay and protect Ming Xi, but orders were orders.

After Ming Xi and Tian Ya left, all the servants were sent to their rooms and ordered not to come out.

Fighting against Death would be extremely dangerous, and having the servants around would only serve as a useless distraction.

The entire Feng estate, including Madam Lan, were kept in the dark about the whole affair. Father Feng arranged for Ai Lin to accompany Madam Lan. He was afraid her cries would be earth shattering if she found out.

If Madam Lan knew Feng Wu was being watched by Death, she would cry until the sun and moon dimmed. It was a difficult situation and no one would have the time to comfort the crying Madam Lan, so it was better to just hide it from the start.

The first half of the night passed without incident but the second half of the night was terrifying. Once again thunder and lightning rumbled and split the sky. Nearly all of it was focused on the Qui estate. The thick layer of lightning would have made weak-hearted people faint from fright.

The Qui family enjoyed what the Feng family had enjoyed that first night. They spent the entire night bombarded by thunder and lightning and Shui managed to survive thanks to Old Master Qui using all the sacred artifacts the family had in store.

Though Shui survived, the ordeal two nights in a row exhausted her. She developed a high fever after the storm receded. The doctor who saw her diagnosed her with severe stress and prescribed fever reducing medicine and antidepressants along with bed rest.

However, her illness had no effect on her circumstance. Death still stalked her. The Qui family were paying a high price to keep her alive. They survived the night, but the next one would depend on luck.

The Qui family could not lose half their net worth for a single Shui. They could not endanger the entire family for one daughter, so for the family’s future, they would have to abandon her soon if things did not fix itseLF. Ultimately, whether or not she could keep her life would depend on her.

Just like every aristocratic family in the country, the Qui family had their share of enemies. The current situation would pose as an opportunity for their enemies to deal with them.

Madam Qui knew this and she understood the logic behind it. They couldn’t risk destroying the entire family for one daughter.

If they couldn’t find Ning Bi today, then Shui would probably die. Even if the family felt bad for Shui, at some point they would have to let her go.

The strange weather happened two days in a row. Yesterday it was the Feng estate and now it was the Qui estate. What kind of trouble was brewing?

There were lots of discussions amongst the big families in the imperial city. The lightning and thunder were abnormal and judging from they way they struck, there had to be a target.

But what?

Unexpectedly, a Qui family servant spread word about what Ning Bi had done, causing a huge uproar.

The five families of the other girls who died were the most upset. They squeezed the entire Ning house and did not give them any room to breathe. Ning house was suppressed like never before. It didn’t matter if they disowned Ning Bi. The business for all the branch families owned by the children and grandchildren of Ning house felt the pressure.

It would be fair to say that that the entire house of Ning was destroyed by Ning Bi. At this point it wasn’t just the families of the victims who hated Ning Bi, her own family hated her as well. Her selfishness had harmed everyone in Ning house. Would she regret her decision?

Ning Bi’s parents were condemned by everyone. Who told them to birth such a vicious daughter?

Ning Bi’s family had truly loved Ning Bi because she had been such a cute, talented, and vivacious girl. They never expected the girl they doted on so much would bring such calamity to the family.

Both the older and younger generation wanted to kill Ning Bi at this point. They needed to save the family somehow. It wasn’t until the Ning family tried to send people to search for Ning Bi that they realized all their businesses and estates were under the Qui family’s control.

Several people with the deepest blood ties to her were taken to just outside the city walls. Bai stood in front and let it be publicized that if Ning Bi didn’t turn herself in before sunset, her family would be killed.

Bai felt it was a good plan considering Ning Bi had used people unrelated to her for her sacrifice. Therefore, it was fair to believe she valued her family members and that they held an important place in her heart. Bai didn’t want to give up the one last glimmer of hope he had for Shui. He hoped Ning Bi would take the initiative to show up once she heard the news.

The Qui family already planned on giving up on Shui so the only way to save her was to kill Ning Bi. Bai couldn’t watch his sister die without a fight. That was why Ning Bi’s family was besieged on all sides and her relatives detained.

If Ning Bi didn’t show up, he would definitely kill the Ning family and bury them with his sister.

Bai’s idea was good, but it was too bad he underestimated Ning Bi’s love for her fiancé. For Ning Bi, love was complete and total. She was willing to do anything for her beloved, even shove her parents into a trap.

Besides, Ning Bi never got the news her loved ones[notes] were captured. She was busy eluding the people sent by the Feng family. If she wasn’t careful, she could easily be killed by them.

She refused to die. She wasn’t married to her beloved fiancé yet. This conviction kept her going and allowed her to escape time and time again. Ning Bi had been cautious, but Juntian and Tian Ya still managed to catch sight of her and were not far behind with swords in hand.

Ning Bi ran hard, but she didn’t have as much physical endurance as a man and now she was nearly out of strength.

540: The Wan Siblings

“Brother, look! There’s someone there!” A sweet voice suddenly sounded not far away from Ning Bi.

Ning Bi looked straight ahead in panic and saw a beautiful girl in a magician’s robe holding the hand of a young man who wore the clothes of a sword practitioner. The young man was imposing and equally handsome.

Behind the two were twenty or thirty big men with powerful qi. They were clearly not ordinary people.

“Ning Bi!” The girl exclaimed upon seeing Ning Bi.

Ning Bi’s eyes brightened upon seeing the two people. One was a classmate, while the other was a senior. The senior had pursued her once, but she had refused his advances. Despite this, her relationship the guy’s sister, her classmate, was still very good and Ning Bi would have chosen the girl for one the seven sacrifices had she not been too far away.

“Wan Wan, Wan Cheng!” Ning Bi staggered to the two of them in a mess.

It was obvious from her pathetic condition that she was in danger so they immediately encircled her in a protective circle.

“Ning Bi! What happened? Where is Senior?”

Wan Wan was the young miss of the Wan family. They were a powerful family, even more so than Ning Bi’s own family. Wan Cheng had worked hard to pursue Ning Bi, but she had rejected him, despite his family background. She became a white moonlight cinnabar[notes] in his heart. Other people, upon learning about it, were also speechless.

He was still very much in love with her, so her wedding announcement was a deep stab to his heart. He didn't want to see her wedding and had avoided the area because seeing it would have certainly broken his heart.

But he still ended up bumping into her upon returning to the country. . .  and she was a mess. How could this be? He wouldn’t forgive anyone who hurt her.

Upon hearing Wan Wan’s words Ning Bi’s face froze. She murmured painfully, “He’s gone Wan Wan. He’s gone.”

“Gone?! What do you mean gone?” Wan Wan was taken aback.

It must be said that Ning Bi’s fiancé was actually Wan Wan’s beloved. Wan Wan loved her gentle senior, but unfortunately the only one in his heart was Ning Bi. Wan Wan was a kind girl who understood love couldn’t be forced, so she gracefully bowed out and gave Ning Bi and her senior her blessings. She knew she had no chance.[notes]

She, like her brother, also did not want to see the nuptials. Both of them decided to take a trip out of the country to avoid the big wedding.

The person she loved deeply was about to marry her good friend. Even if Wan Wan didn’t hate Ning Bi, having her watch the nuptials while sharing well wishes was too much for her heart to handle.

Wan Wan had only been gone for a few days, but upon returning she was faced with Ning Bi’s miserable appearance, gone was her friend’s normal sunny and happy disposition. And then to be told her beloved no longer existed?! This was too much.

She had convinced her heart to let go, and it wasn’t something she was going to go back on. But despite letting him go, her heart still jumped in panic when she heard he was gone. Her shock filled eyes dared Ning Bi to tell her it was a joke that she and her senior had made up together.

But upon seeing Ning Bi’s heartbroken eyes she knew it wasn’t a joke. It was true; such an outstanding senior was really gone from the world.

“What happened?! What did you encounter?! How did this come about?!” Wan Cheng asked three questions in quick succession.

Although he didn’t like the guy who stole Ning Bi from him, what he hated more was seeing Ning Bi sad. He had never seen her without a smile since he’d known her. Her smile was warm and gentle; a tiny sun that warmed those around her.

It especially warmed him.

Wan Cheng loved Ning Bi so much that he was satisfied just knowing she was happy; he didn’t need anything else in life.

“I can’t tell you right now. Please help stop the people behind me. They are trying to kill me!”

Ning Bi looked behind her in panic, and sure enough, Juntian and Tian Ya were just coming to line of sight with swords in hand.

She hid behind Wan Cheng, her body trembling in fright. She was a pitiful image.

It was not OK to bully his beloved. Wan Cheng immediately readied his guards for a fight.

“Please hand that woman to us.” Juntian stepped forward and said with a serious face upon seeing people step up to protect Ning Bi.

Wan Wan pointed at Juntian and Tian Ya. “Who are you and why are you bullying Ning Bi? Ning Bi is such a good person, if you’re trying to hurt her, then odds are you must bad people.”

Hatred colored her eyes when she thought they may have had something to do with her beloved senior’s death.

Juntian noticed the look but couldn’t understand her reason. He was sure he didn’t know her, so where did all this animosity come from? He had no idea.

“Hand her over.” Tian Ya’s voice was cold enough to freeze water.

“Not on your life.” Wan Wan glared at Tian Ya and Juntian. She was worried about Ning Bi being afraid so she said a few words to reassure her, “Don’t worry Ning Bi, Brother and I will protect you.”

In Wan Wan’s mind, Ning Bi was a girl who needed someone to love and protect her, so as her friend, Wan Wan had always done so.

“Who are you and why do you want to kill Ning Bi?” Wan Cheng asked.

“I’m Feng Juntian from Feng house. As for why, it is because that woman has hurt several innocent people out of selfishness. Killing her will save lives. Please do not interfere.”

“What nonsense! Ning Bi is so kind she wouldn’t even hurt small animals, never mind people!” Wan Wan rebutted.

“It doesn’t matter if you believe it or not. You must hand her over, otherwise more people will die.” Juntian pointed to Ning Bi with murderous intent in his eyes.

That woman dared hurt his sister; even killing her wouldn’t calm his heart. But as long as she died, then the strand of Death’s consciousness would disappear and Xiao Wu would be safe. Ning Bi had to die.

541, 542

541: Ning Bi’s Thoughts

“Don’t even think about it, my brother and I don’t believe you. You won’t fool us and you won’t get Ning Bi either. You want to hurt Ning Bi in front of us? Over our dead bodies!”

Wan Wan had known Ning Bi for years and felt she knew Ning Bi very well. She knew that Ning Bi was normally a kind-hearted girl. How could someone like that kill people for selfish reasons? It was the most ridiculous joke she’d ever heard.

Of course, until everything fell apart, Shui had thought she knew Ning Bi too.

If Wan Wan didn’t believe it, then it was even less likely Wan Cheng would believe it. Between his beloved or two men he had never met before, of course he would believe his beloved.

For Wan Cheng, Ning Bi was the kindest and most perfect woman in the world, a beautiful and harmless white rabbit. To convince him Ning Bi could kill people, that was never going to happen anytime soon.

“I don’t know them! I did nothing wrong but they’ve been chasing and trying to kill me! I don’t understand why they would do this to me!” Ning Bi cried pitifully.

Her extremely weak and helpless image tugged at Wan Cheng’s heart. He was distressed just thinking how much pain the two men were causing her. He wished he could kill them and give Ning Bi justice.

“You want to revive your dead fiancé so you were willing to sacrifice seven friends using the Soul Sacrifice array to do it. Because of you, five girls are already dead! The most damning thing is you wanting to use my sister as a sacrifice. I’ll kill you to save her!”

The Wan siblings were confused by what Juntian said. What was he talking about? Sacrifice the souls of seven friends. . . raise a dead fiancé? Could it be. . . ? Though they were stunned for a moment by what Juntian said, they immediately came back to their senses. Unless they saw it with their own eyes, they would never believe Ning Bi could do such a thing.

“Stop talking nonsense. I’ve known Ning Bi for so many years, don’t you think I’d know what she’s like? Don’t go around slandering people!” Wan Wan glared at Juntian and Tian Ya angrily. She didn’t believe a word of what they said. There was no way the pure and kind Ning Bi would do something like that.

“It’s the truth, even if it doesn’t make sense. We’re running out of time.” Tian Ya said.

If it wasn’t for Juntian’s presence, Tian Ya would have lost his patience and made a move ages ago. Why would he stand there for so long without doing anything otherwise?

At this point, Juntian was also out of patience. They were running out of time, and they didn’t know what would happen come nightfall. Would the god of death come for Feng Wu tonight? They had to kill Ning Bi now.

The siblings immediately told the guards to surround Juntian and Tian Ya upon seeing the two were about to make a move. While the guards did that, they escaped with Ning Bi.

As the guards swarmed them, Juntian asked Tian Ya to deal with the guards. He got out and ran in the direction the trio ran off in.

The Wan siblings had wanted to take Ning Bi to their house, but instead of saying anything, Ning Bi ran towards the unpopulated rural area with rough terrain. They offered to take her back to her house, but she refused.

They had no choice but to accompany her into the woods and just hope they could lose their pursuers there.

Wan Cheng had never fought against them before, but he could tell they were strong from their aura. If only one came at them, he might be able to win. But two of them together? Wan Cheng wasn’t sure he could.

Ning Bi made it difficult for the siblings because she wouldn’t go to either the Wan estate or the Ning estate. They couldn’t do anything other than follow her.

Unlike the siblings, who were just following behind her, Ning Bi knew exactly what she was doing. Her best option was to delay capture as long as possible until Shui and Feng Wu died. Once they died, her beloved would return to life.

Ning Bi didn’t care if she had to betray the whole world. As long as he lived, nothing else mattered. She didn’t need friends.

Ning Bi’s mind was very simple; she just never thought how unfair it was to other people, or how harmful it was to the friends who loved her.

She just didn’t care. She had always been the kind of girl where true love was everything. If she lost her true love, then she may as well die.

She had been heartbroken and had intended on killing herself, but ended up finding the death stone instead.

That day, she had gone to the cave to commit suicide. There were too many people at home watching her, so it wasn’t easy to think about dying, but outside it was much easier. She had been in the cave and about to commit suicide when the stone caught her attention and changed her fate.

She didn’t know why, but she felt an inexplicable urge to pick it up when she saw it. The moment she did, a huge amount of information flowed into her head, including what the stone was and how to make the sacrifice array.

She gave up on suicide upon learning she could bring her lover back and made her wish right then and there. Even though she loved her fiancé to the point of madness, she never once thought about using her family for the seven sacrifices.

She had set her sights on Feng Wu and the other girls from the very beginning. The seven of them were friends who cared about her the most after the incident. It was only natural to use such ready-made sacrifices.

Ning Bi had planned everything and got everyone to go to the mountain. Then she led them to the trap she arranged.

She had done so much, and it was obvious the plan would succeed soon. The only two girls left were Shui and Feng Wu, her two close friends from childhood. In fact, she had wanted to secretly send them off to complete the friendship between them. But she didn’t know what went wrong. Her plans were discovered and people began looking for her. She couldn’t let herself be found, otherwise it would be over and her beloved would never come back to life.

The Wan siblings didn’t know what was going on in Ning Bi’s mind. Their only intention was to help Ning Bi escape from Juntian and Tian Ya. They didn’t know their precious friendship was just a tool Ning Bi used to revive her beloved.

542:

They traveled as fast as they could through the forest; at one point, Wan Wan even used a teleportation scroll. They didn’t relax until reached an unfamiliar place.

“Ning Bi, sit down and rest.”

The two siblings supported Ning Bi as she sat down on a big rock.

Ning Bi sat down and recovered a lot of her physical stamina after drinking a recovery potion.

“Brother, stay with Ning. I’ll go and look around and see where we are.” Wan Wan wiped the sweat from her brow. She was tired but she was more worried about Ning Bi.

“OK, you go. I’ll take care of Ning Bi.” Wan Cheng didn’t even bother to look at his sister. His entire focus was on Ning Bi.

Wan Wan felt a little sour about that, but she didn’t say anything. Her brother treated Ning Bi better than he treated her. But just because she wasn’t jealous didn’t mean she wasn’t disappointed.

The senior she liked loved Ning Bi the most; her own beloved brother loved Ning Bi the most. With a sigh, Wan Wan explored around the path. She found a small village after walking for a while.

Once she entered and started asking the locals some questions, she realized she wasn’t that far from the capital, and that the place was a small village just outside the capital.

No wonder she had never been to there before. Wan Wan asked for directions and began heading back to her brother and Ning Bi to tell them the news about the village. As she did so, she overheard two villagers talking.

Their conversation had nothing to do with her, but when she heard the Ning family name, she pricked her ears a bit to listen better.

The Ning family they were talking about were Ning Bi’s family. What if something happened to them? Because she was concerned, she stayed and listened.

“Have you heard? All the members of Ning house have been detained. If the young miss of the main branch doesn’t show up before sunset, the members of the Ning family will be beheaded under the tower!”

“The Ning family?! But the Ning family is so powerful. No one could possibly kill them?!”

“You’re wrong. The Qui family are after them.”

“The Qui family?! But why would they want to harm the Ning family?! Did the Ning family offend them?”

The two men stood not too far from the village entrance talking animatedly. Their chatter attracted more people.

“You don’t know this but the young miss of the Ning family killed the young misses of several houses. She nearly killed the young lady of the Qui family too. Now that her actions have been revealed, the Qui family and the other families are suppressing the Ning family.

In order to kill Ning Bi, the young master of the Qui house detained Ning Bi’s parents and the relatives on her father’s side. If she doesn’t show up by sunset, those relatives of hers are all going to die. . . ”

“Is that so?! Why would the miss of the Ning family kill all those girls? It couldn’t be over a man could it?”

“Who knows. It seems the reasons for the murders are a bit involved. Except for the children of some big families, no one really knows.”

“So mysterious!”

This was the most remote village outside the imperial city. There weren’t many people and news spread slowly. If it weren’t for someone returning after selling goods in the city, they wouldn’t have known such a big thing happened.

Who didn’t like gossip? Originally there were only two people standing by the front chatting, but in just a short time three more people gathered around.

Wan Wan listened to them for while before leaving with a solemn expression on her face.

She wanted to go back to where Ning Bi was resting and relay the news, but she ended up running into someone from the Wan family after only taking a couple of steps.

“Third Miss! You’re back.” A medium build man jogged over to her. His shrewd eyes had lit up upon seeing her.

Wan Wan knew who he was. He worked with her father and was the chief steward for her family. He usually followed her father around and her father appreciated him a great deal.

“Chief Gan, why are you here?” Wan Wan was surprised to meet Gan Jui there.

“It’s time to collect rent. Ah Fei is usually responsible for doing it, but he was hit by a beast and broke his leg. The owners were worried so they asked me to come and collect in person.” Gan Jui said with a smile. There was a trace of respect in his eyes.

Gan Jui had grown up with Wan Wan’s father. He was outstanding and loyal to the Wan family and had always been the right hand man of the family head. None of the unfavored family members dare presumptuous in front of him.

Wan Wan was the daughter of the family concubine and had been favored since she was little. Gan Jui never put airs in front of her despite his position.

“I see. Mr. Gan should go ahead then. My brother and I still have things to do. We will return home once we’re done.”

Wan Wan had wanted to ask about Ning Bi, but after hearing everything about all the families suppressing Ning house, Wan Wan felt it would be a bad idea to tell Gan Jui about how she had run into Ning Bi. She felt Ning Bi would be in danger.

Wan Wan carefully checked her surroundings after dismissing Gan Jui to make sure no one was following her, then she ran back to where Ning Bi was.

Wan Wan was careful to avoid crowds, but she didn’t realize her every move had already roused Gan Jui’s suspicions. Gan Jui only paused for a moment before following her.

Wan Cheng was giving Ning Bi some food when Wan Wan came back.

Ning Bi immediately stood up to meet her.

“Xiao Wan, did you find out anything? Where are we? How far is the imperial city? They won’t find us right?” What Ning Bi feared most was being found. Her fiancé hadn’t been resurrected yet. No matter what, she could not die. Determination flashed across her face.

“Ning Bi, something is wrong. Uncle, Auntie and your relatives have been detained. The people from the Qui family took them and they say if you don’t show up by sunset, they will all be killed!” The news had concerned Wan Wan so she immediately shared it with Ning Bi.

“My parents!” Ning Bi exclaimed before her eyes rolled back into her head and she fainted. Fortunately, Wan Cheng caught her before she hit the ground.

Wan Cheng glared at his sister fiercely. “What are you doing?! How can you tell her this kind of news?! Can’t you see how exhausted she is?!”

After scolding Wan Wan, Wan Cheng fed Ning Bi a potion. He shook her shoulders gently as he whispered her name. Distress and tenderness filled his eyes.

543, 544

543: Whereabouts Leaked

“I. . . ” Wan Wan lowered her head aggrieved. Such important news, and it concerned Ning Bi’s parents. How sad would Ning Bi be if she found out her parents were killed after the fact? How huge would her self blame be?

Wan Wan hadn’t done anything wrong. Everything she’d done was for Ning Bi’s sake. And yet her brother blamed her for telling Ning Bi. Wan Wan was sad and it was most wronged she ever felt. Her brother had changed from when they were little. He used to fight other people for her but now the only person he had in his heart was Ning Bi. He didn’t care what she thought anymore.

Ning Bi woke up after drinking the potion. She immediately burst into tears.

“How could this happen?! How could they implicate my family?!”

How could she not have feelings for her parents? Even if the boys weren’t technically her biological brothers, they had grown up together and were as close cousins. She loved them as family. If she didn’t care about them, she wouldn’t have looked so far out for her sacrifices.

“Ning Bi, what’s going on? I heard people say you hurt the Qui’s family young miss. That person couldn’t be Qui Ruoshui right? I remember you said you and her have been friends since you were little. Why? Why would the Qui family suddenly attack you?”

This was a sticking point Wan Wan couldn’t figure out. Although the Qui family and Ning family weren’t friends, Qui Ruoshui and Ning Bi were very good friends. It was incomprehensible to her how the two families became entangled in a death feud.

“I don’t know! Don’t ask! I don’t know anything!” Ning Bi cried brokenheartedly.

Wan Cheng was so distressed by her pitiful appearance that he became even more dissatisfied with his sister.

“You’ve said enough Wan Wan! Ning Bi is already so sad; I don’t want you to provoke her anymore!”

Wan Cheng glared at Wan Wan resentfully.

Wan Wan shut up and didn’t say anything more. She obviously had good intentions, why did her brother say she was deliberately provoking Ning Bi? Although she felt uncomfortable, there were questions she still needed to ask. “Ning Bi, I know you’re very sad right now, but do you want to go and save your family?”

“Wan Wan! Didn’t I tell you to stop asking questions? Do you want Ning Bi to die? The Qui family made it clear they’re targeting Ning Bi. If Ning Bi appeared there, wouldn’t she fall right into their hands? At that time, never mind Ning Bi’s family, even Ning Bi wouldn’t be safe!” Wan Cheng’s eyes were ugly when he yelled at her.

In Wan Cheng’s mind, Ning Bi’s life was more important than the entire Ning family. It was clear the Qui family were using her family as bait to lure her out. How could he let her be stupid and fall into their trap?

Wan Wan stopped talking and quietly stood to the side. She thought Ning Bi would say something, she had to have something to say, whether she wanted go rescue her family herself or not. Wan Wan never expected Ning Bi to break out in tears. It was clear Ning Bi had no intention of saving her family.

Wan Wan was shocked. Was this Ning Bi? The Ning Bi who was so kind she couldn’t kill an ant? Her parents were in danger and all she wanted to do was cry. She wasn’t even thinking of ways to rescue them. Even if she didn’t go herself, she could have begged Wan Cheng to go and rescue them.

With his infatuation for Ning Bi, Wan Wan was sure he would try to do something.

But Ning Bi didn’t say she would go nor did she ask anyone for help. All she did was cry.

Before, those big tears that would have distressed Wan Wan, but now, the tears made a chill creep into her heart.

“By the way, I ran into Chief Gan at the foot of the mountain.” Wan Wan said lightly. She had mixed feelings in her heart.

“What?! You. . .  you didn’t tell him I was here did you?” Ning Bi asked cautiously.

Wan Wan shook her head. “No, I dismissed him without saying anything.”

“We can’t stay here. We have to leave. We have to leave right now!” Ning Bi pushed Wan Cheng’s hand off her shoulder, intending to walk down the mountain.

“Ning Bi, what’s wrong with you?” Wan Cheng had never seen her like this before. He was both worried and frightened.

The siblings were confused by her sudden change in behavior but they quickly caught up to her.

“Master Wan, thank you for leading the way,” said a cold voice.

“You’re being too polite Old Master Qui. This is what we should do.”

The head of the Wan family had a servile expression on his face as he stood next to Old Master Qui.

“Father, how could you bring people from the Qui family here?!” Wan Cheng looked at his father in surprise and anger. Why did his father betray them even though his father knew how he felt for Ning Bi.

“How did you find me?! Xiao Wan, was it you?! Did you tell?!” Ning Bi’s face was filled with resentment and she glared at Wan Wan with poison in her eyes.

Wan Wan felt a chill in her heart. Was this really Ning Bi?

Wan Cheng was suspicious of Wan Wan as well. Of the three of them, only Wan Wan had left the group. Plus she had admitted to meeting Chief Gan. She had to be the one who leaked Ning Bi's location.

“Xiao Wan, I know you’ve always coveted Ning Bi’s fiancé, but he’s dead now. Why do you want to ruin Ning Bi?! Why are you so vicious?!” Wan Cheng yelled angrily at Wan Wan.

The Wan family head was instantly enraged when he heard his son yelling at Wan Wan over a vicious woman like Ning Bi. If Gan Jui hadn’t discovered the clue, the whole Wan family would have been dragged to hell by this daughter and son pair.

The big families who lost daughters had a lot of pent up frustration and they needed to vent it on someone. If their Wan family helped Ning Bi today, then they would suffer like the Ning family tomorrow.

“You rebellious son! You still have the nerve to scold your sister?! Let me tell you, this matter has nothing to do with your sister! It was all discovered by Gan Jui. He secretly followed her all the way here, otherwise I wouldn’t have discovered you’d done such a thing!”

Master Wan’s face had turned pale from fright when Gan first reported to him. The thing with the Ning Bi girl was too big and now everyone was avoiding it. The only family foolish enough to get involved was his. Wasn’t this just trying harm the entire Wan family?!

544: Holy Rank Intimidation

He hated iron for not becoming steel. Why hadn’t he seen how muddle headed his son was before now?

It wasn’t Wan Wan who sold them out? Wan Cheng was a little stunned. But the words had already been spoken. But then again, if Wan Wan hadn’t been suspicious, Gan Jui would have never suspected. This was still Wan Wan’s fault!

Thinking about it like that made Wan Cheng feel a lot better about himself.

Wan Wan was disappointed her brother had such a low opinion of her. His guilt only lasted a brief moment before disappearing entirely.

When did their relationship become like this? She remembered when she was young; he had loved her the most. But now, what was she to him? What place did she hold in his heart? She was afraid even if the entire Wan family were put together, they couldn’t compare to Ning Bi’s position in his heart.

“Master Wan, if you want to teach your son a lesson, please do so at home. I don’t have the time to listen to you lecture your son.” Old Master Qui said impatiently.

Master Wan immediately retreated to the side with a panicked look on his face. “This junior lost his composure for a moment. Please do not be offended Old Master Qui.”

Wan Cheng watched his father act humble in front of the old master of the Qui family. He was so embarrassed to have Ning Bi witness it.

His dissatisfaction with his father increased.

The Qui family immediately surrounded Wan Cheng and Ning Bi.

Shui and Feng Wu arrived just as they did so.

Shui couldn’t sit still and had rushed out as soon as she heard Ning Bi’s whereabouts. Along the way she met Feng Wu and Ai Lin.

Feng Wu and Ming Xi rushed over when they heard the news as well. Ai Lin joined them so she could watch the show.

Ai Lin was curious about the number one infatuated woman in the novel. It wasn’t easy for someone to become crazy because of love. She believed someone like that was rare, a once in ten thousand years kind of thing. Maybe this Ning Bi could be used as an example in textbooks – of course it would be as a negative example.

Aside from these guys, Juntian and Tian Ya arrived as well.

Earlier, Juntian was just about to catch them when they used the teleportation scroll and escaped. He had searched around for a long time but failed to find them. Even after Tian Ya came to help, they still had no luck.

Fortunately, after hearing about Ning Bi, Master Wan contacted the Qui family and gave them some clues.

The Qui family and Feng family had put out huge rewards for information about Ning Bi but no one had been able to provide anything useful. This time they were lucky because Master Wan contacted the Qui family.

Everyone was there except for Old Master Feng, Master Feng, and Madam Lan. There was no reason to send out two family heads just to kill Ning Bi.

A big reason for Old Master Qui being there was because the Qui family had lost their reputation a bit the past two days.

The last time the Qui family suffered a major loss was because of Shui.[notes] This time the family was implicated again because of her so many of the elders in Qui house had a strong opinion about her.

The family had planned on marrying her off the last time she got in trouble but Madam Qui interfered and the whole matter was stopped dead in its tracks. Now, because of the Ning Bi situation, the odds of forcing Shui to marry out increased by at least fifty percent.

Shui knew this too and she hated Ning Bi to the bone. It was fair to say Ning Bi’s move cost Shui the rest of her life.

“Ning Bi! Was I not good to you?! After your fiancé died, I went to visit you every day. Everything that was delicious or fun, I brought over to you. I gave you everything I could. How could you do this to me?! What did I do wrong?! And An’an and the rest, don’t you feel guilty that they died so horribly?!”

Shui broke through the crowd and rushed to the front to confront Ning Bi. The hatred in her eyes was so strong it was almost palpable.

She had been struck by lightning for two nights straight. The family elders were dissatisfied with her because of the amount of family resources they had to use. Unlike her brother, she was not the family heir. For him they would not have hesitated to use all their resources. She was just a daughter who was destined to marry out. If it weren’t for the fact that she was the legitimate daughter of the main branch, the family would never have used as many resources as they had.

After tonight, whether she lived or died would be up to her; the Qui family would not use any more precious artifacts on her.

No one could understand the fear, the terror of what it felt like to wait for death.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! I don’t know! I don’t know!” Ning Bi squatted down on the ground with her head buried in her arms, looking for all the world like she was being bullied.

“Ning Bi, you actually did do it!” Wan Wan hadn’t believed it when Juntian said it, but now even Shui was saying it. She knew Shui and Ning Bi had a very good relationship, just as good a friendship as the one they shared.

If it was all a lie, then how could Shui be so resentful and how could the Qui family be so nervous?

“I didn’t! Xiao Wan, you must believe me! I really didn’t do anything!” Of course Ning Bi wasn’t going to admit to it. She gritted her teeth and denied everything. She knew what would happen to her if she admitted guilt. She tried her best to look innocent and pitiful with her big puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks.

“In order to save one person, you sacrificed the soul of seven friends. Tell me, was it worth it?” Shui asked blankly.

Of course, Ning Bi wouldn’t answer nor did Shui expect an answer.

“What are you trying to do?! Ning Bi is innocent! You can’t do this to her!” Wan Cheng saw the undisguised murderous intent in their eyes. Even though he knew he wasn’t invincible, he still stood in front of Ning Bi to protect her.

Ning Bi wanted to leave. When Wan Cheng blocked her front, she tried to pull out a teleportation scroll and escape. Unfortunately it wouldn’t be that easy to escape in front of a holy rank powerhouse.

She had only just started to activate the scroll when Old Master Qui snorted coldly and began to hum. Ning Bi felt her body freeze up and pressure press in all around her.

“Plop. . . ” she burped up a mouthful of blood. It felt like the bones in her body were being crushed.

This was pressure from a holy rank powerhouse. Absolute strength suppression.

“RuoShui, go kill her and avenge yourself.” Old Master Qui didn’t kill Ning Bi himself but spoke softly to his granddaughter.

Shui shivered for a moment but then she nodded her head fiercely. She took a sword from one of the guards and walked forward one step at a time toward Ning Bi.

545, 546

545: Ning Bi Dies

“No! You can’t hurt Ning Bi! She’s innocent!” Wan Cheng, who had been stunned by the sudden turn of events, finally came to his senses when Shui raised the sword in hand. He had to protect Ning Bi.

He looked at Shui like she was a crazed murderer. Anyone who didn’t know the full story would have thought the victims were the perpetrators and the perpetrators the victims.

“Shut up you fool! Are you purposefully trying to harm the entire family?!” The head of the Wan family couldn’t bear it anymore. He walked over and directly knocked Wan Cheng unconscious before dragging him away. Wan Wan followed close behind.

With the person blocking her way gone, Shui’s eyes filled with killing intent and she raised her sword.

Feng Wu stood behind the crowd and watched the entire thing as though it had nothing to do with her.

Ming Xi, who was holding Feng Wu’s hand, frowned slightly as he watched. In all honesty, he wanted to kill the woman with his own hands for daring to use Feng Wu as a sacrifice, but he decided to remain silent and not interfere.

Ai Lin stood next to Feng Wu watching the show with relish. She didn’t expect, despite the disruption, that things would still end as they were originally written in the novel.

Like this Wan Cheng fool, according to the original plot, he still believed in Ning Bi even after everything was revealed. His love was so all consuming that he even betrayed his family. But a pity, it was destined to be a one-sided love.

Even when facing certain death, the only person Ning Bi wanted to be with was her beloved fiancé. Wan Cheng willing to die with her and stay forever by her side didn’t move her at all. In fact, she didn’t feel he even had the qualifications to die with her. The only person she wanted to die with was her beloved fiancé.

Wan Wan ended her friendship with Ning Bi once she learned the truth. She knew Ning Bi only kept her brother around because he was a free and loyal bodyguard not because she had him in her heart or even cared about him.

Wan Wan didn’t want her brother to fall into Ning Bi’s trap, so she went and reported Ning Bi’s hiding place to the Qui family.

Wan Cheng hated Wan Wan for doing it. He pretended to understand then deliberately got close to her and killed her.

Although the incident caused a huge uproar, less than a third of the chapter was used to explain the situation with the Wan siblings.

But since the Wan family head intervened, the fate of the brother and sister should be different right? At least Wan Wan shouldn’t die.

Ai Lin didn’t dislike the girl and had thought it was a pity when the girl died in the original story. She was actually a really nice character.

Shui didn’t waste time. While Ai Lin was thinking all this, she had already killed Ning Bi by stabbing her in the chest, through the heart. She didn’t even give Ning Bi much time to scream.

The days of hellish thunder and lightning were finally over! Shui could see the sun again! She was so relieved she burst into tears right after stabbing Ning Bi.

With Ning Bi dead, everything was settled. The stars shone bright and clear in the night as the gentle glow of the moon illuminated the sky. There wasn’t a single thunder to be heard or lightning to fear.

Shui was moved to tears as she stood under the moonlight. She had survived... really survived.

Ming Xi stayed at the Feng estate accompanying Feng Wu for a week and now it was time for him to return to the Ancient Silver Moon Kingdom. There was paperwork to be completed and officials to meet.

Feng Wu and Ai Lin returned to school after Ming Xi left. The new semester would start again soon. . . 

“Have you heard? A student with high status is going to come here to audit some classes!”

“What? Who? Is it a princess?”

“Not a princess but might as well be. It’s the Moon empress’s niece!”

“What? The empress’s niece? What a lofty background.”

“Right? I heard the empress is going to marry her to the Moon kingdom’s heir.”

“Wait, then doesn’t that mean she’s going to be the next Moon empress?”

“Exactly! The future Moon empress is coming. We have to go see. Once she marries the heir of the Moon kingdom, we won’t be able to see her easily like this!”

“Then what are we waiting for?! Let’s go! Let’s go!”

“Don’t rush. She won’t be here until the day after tomorrow.”

“Oh. Hey, there’s something I don’t understand. The Moon kingdom has their own academy right? Why does she have to come to our school just to audit classes?”

“Maybe she just has a thing for Xingguang Holy academy? How would I know?!”

Jier’s face was livid as he passed the two speakers. “Future Moon empress?! What the hell?!”

Jier was angry. A betrothal? That jerk! If he hadn’t planned on marrying Feng Wu, why did he start? Jier's thoughts turned malicious. If Ming Xi dared to abandon Feng Wu, he was going to use Red Lotus and burn all Ming Xi’s hair!

“Xiao Wu! Have you heard that guy Ming Xi is going to marry another woman!” Jier angrily said when he found Feng Wu.

Feng Wu was sitting under a tree with Little Bun on her lap as they shared a popsicle. It was another of Zi Cheng’s creations. The popsicle was cold and refreshing and had become popular and was a hit across the entire continent.

Feng Wu enjoyed eating it and had been buying one every day to share with Little Bun.

“Ming Xi wants to marry someone else?” Feng Wu was puzzled when she heard this. Ming Xi had said they would get married after she graduated; he never said anything about wanting to marry anyone else.

Feng Wu carefully thought about their conversations; she was certain Ming Xi had never said anything about it.

She said with a serious face. “No, he did not say that.”

“Would he tell you if he wanted to marry someone else?! He must be doing it secretly! By the time you find out, he’ll already be a father!” It was all conjecture on Jier’s part.

As the future emperor of the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom, Ming Xi was destined to ascend to a high position so his wedding would naturally be a major event. It was impossible for Ming Xi to secretly marry anyone.

546: Are You Going to Marry Someone Else?

Jier knew this, but he was still angry. Feng Wu was like a little sister to him. How could he watch his beloved younger sister be cheated?

It was impossible to hold a wedding secretly, but it was very possible for Ming Xi to marry his cousin. Jier wanted to guard against that.

Feng Wu said, “Oh,” then after thinking about it for a moment, took something out from her dimensional storage.

Jier saw it was a communication crystal. What did you intend to do with it? Was she. . . 

Yep. Feng Wu contacted Ming Xi directly.

“Jier said you’re going to marry someone else. It is true?” Feng Wu’s soft and sweet voice rang out and asked the question like she was asking what he had for breakfast. She was completely calm and her eyes didn’t have the slightest ripple.

“I want to marry someone else?!” Ming Xi’s expression froze. How did he not know about such a big matter relating to himself?

“Do you want to marry someone else?” Feng Wu blinked. He had not answered her question.

“There is absolutely no such thing. You are the only girl I want to marry – no one else.” Ming Xi looked at Feng Wu seriously. There was so much sincerity in his eyes, it was practically exploding out.

“He said I’m the only girl he wants to marry – no one else.” A very happy Feng Wu relayed to Jier. She was clearly satisfied with Ming Xi’s answer.

Ming Xi was going to marry her, Xiao Ye would have a father, and Master wouldn’t have to worry about finding her a husband. Happy.

Jier was confused. This girl, did she not think Ming Xi could lie? Could she not be so trusting? She was too honest! Scumbags were going to cheat her if she wasn’t careful.

“Jier, can you tell this senior where you heard this news that I’m going to marry someone else?” Ming Xi smiled dangerously. Those that knew him knew it was a sign of impending danger.

Ming Xi rarely got angry – very few things were worthy enough for him to be angry over. He was a gentle and kind prince under normal circumstances and everyone in the palace thought he had an excellent temper. Only those who witnessed his methods knew the meaning of what it meant to be bit by a silent dog.

Jier suddenly felt deep malice coming from Ming Xi.

“It’s spread all over school that you will take the Moon empress’s niece as your imperial consort.” Jier replied honestly.

Judging from Ming Xi’s appearance, it didn’t look like he was lying. Was it possible the news was false or was it that Ming Xi didn’t know he was betrothed yet?

“Mother Empress’s niece. . .  are you talking about Hua Jin?”[notes] Ming Xi stroked his chin and smiled warmly like a spring breeze.

It was obviously a warm smile so why did it make people feel like they were facing a frigid artic wind?

Illusion. It had to be an illusion.

“I don’t know her name, but she’s supposed to be here the day after tomorrow. She's supposed to come audit classes. I don’t know what she’s thinking leaving the royal academy to come study here,” complained Jier.

The woman’s arrival was causing rumors to spread all over school. If she was Ming Xi’s fiancée, then what did that make Feng Wu? Jier was aggrieved just thinking about it.

“She actually went to Xingguang Holy academy, how very informed of her.” A cold light flashed across Ming Xi’s eyes.

“Please look after Xiao Wu. I suspect Hua Jin will target Xiao Wu.”

“You don’t have to tell me that. Of course I’ll watch over Xiao Wu. Xiao Wu and I are good friends.” Jier patted his chest as he said this.

Ming Xi sat at his desk with an odd expression on his face after he closed the communication with Feng Wu. He was wrapping his knuckles on the table without realizing it.

Both the people of the Hua family and his mother’s maternal family were getting more and more restless. Were they still dreaming of having two empresses? His maternal grandmother was thinking too much.

To even dare get involved in the marriage of a crown prince, clearly, they needed to be reminded who they were.

After the call, Jier took Feng Wu out to the local streets for a big meal. Being angry required a lot of energy and he needed to replenish!

Feng Wu liked the idea of going out for food. Now that he had teeth, Little Bun could eat a lot more things.

Feng Wu followed Jier around and Little Bun munched on things until his tummy was a round watermelon.

They were just walking out of a shop selling grilled fish when they ran into two enemies on the streets.

Jasmine and Yifu.[notes]

Jasmine, who knows why, had been distancing herself from Zi Cheng. Despite this, she still kept in contact with Yifu. They shared a common enemy after all.

It was rare for all three to be in the same place at the same time.

No one knew why Jasmine and Zi Cheng were estranged, but because of it, the magicians in the department looked unfavorably on Jasmine. Zi Cheng was a second-year student and was practically a goddess amongst the students in the Magic department.

Who knows how many men fell under her spell and how many women were now friends to the death with her. Just like Yifu, they were perfectly loyal lackeys.

If it weren’t for the fact Yifu and Jasmine had Feng Wu as a common enemy, there would be no way they could be together.

Two annoying women. Jier cursed under his breath. Of all the people to meet, how annoying.

Feng Wu didn’t feel anything about them. She held Little Bun with both hands and barely gave them a glance.

Being ignored by their number one enemy didn’t sit well with either Jasmine or Yifu.

Yifu was already on the verge of making a scene, so Feng Wu ignoring her pushed her over. She started walking toward Feng Wu intending to give her a severe scolding.

Jasmine was more sensible. She caught Yifu before the other girl could go and make trouble. She had suffered a tremendous loss under Jier’s hands and still vividly remembered Jier’s methods for revenge.

Jasmine said something in Yifu’s ear. Following that, Yifu snorted disdainfully and walked away from Feng Wu and Jier.

Were those two trying to make trouble? Jier couldn’t believe them. They were ridiculous.

Yifu, who normally raged at Feng Wu, left so easily. Something wasn’t right. Why did Jier get the feeling they were up to no good? Well whatever. If he couldn’t figure it out, he couldn’t figure it out. It wasn’t like either of them had the means to do anything anyway. When the time came, he’d just deal with them appropriately. What was there to be worried about?

And with that thought, Jier took Feng Wu and Little Bun to eat at the next stall.

547, 548

547: Hua Jin’s Plan

After eating and drinking her fill, Feng Wu returned to her dorm where she overheard people talking about Hua Jin.

Few people at school knew Ming Xi was the future emperor of the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom or that Hua Jin was his cousin.

Annika and Xi[notes] were gossiping about the future empress of the Moon kingdom.

“I heard her name’s Hua Jin and she’s the daughter of Hua house in the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom. It’s an old house that’s been around for a long time but they’re not an upper tier house.”

“That doesn’t matter. Just her identity alone as the Moon empress’s niece is enough to suppress most noble girls here.”

“Not to mention she might be the next Moon empress.”

“I really want to see what she looks like. I heard Her Royal Highness the Moon empress is gentle and dignified so this Miss Hua Jin can’t be bad.”

“Definitely can’t be bad. Otherwise, how could she be the next Moon empress?”

“I heard the current Moon empress loves her so much she even brought her to the palace to raise.”

The corners of Ming Xi’s mouth would have twitched if he was there. It was all rumors. That girl ran to the palace and loitered around because she had nothing else to do.

“I heard Miss Hua Jin was trained to be the next Moon empress since she was young.”

Ming Xi: … Why don’t know about this?

“I really want to see Miss Hua Jin when she comes. I want to see what a girl groomed to be the next Moon empress is like! Maybe she’s even more beautiful than Senior Ming Xi!”

Feng Wu: Definitely not as good looking. Senior Ming Xi is the prettiest!

Time flew and the students looked forward to Hua Jin’s arrival. In their minds, Hua Jin was a beautiful goddess cherished by the Moon emperor and empress. It was in this atmosphere than Hua Jin entered Xingguang Holy academy.

Her arrival was the latest most gossiped about event.

Eyes filled with curiosity, jealousy and envy were glued on Hua Jin as she entered the academy.

Hua Jin had a dignified smile and her demeanor was noble. She was cute and gentle and was worshipped as a goddess by some of the boys as soon as she appeared.

This was the future Moon empress. After they graduated, and once she became the Moon empress, they could brag and say they met her in person.

A lot of people thought this way and were thinking about how to build a relationship with Hua Jin in the coming days.

All they saw was the dignified smile on Hua Jin’s face; they had no idea the thoughts in her heart.

So this is the school that bitch goes to? Brother Ming Xi belonged to her and only her. A lowly woman dare try to steal him from her? Tch! That bitch was going to know what happened to people who went against her soon enough.

Hua Jin’s smile became even more gentle as she thought about it. Naturally this led to even more people screaming in delight.

“Miss Hua Jin is so noble!”

“Miss Hua Jin is so gentle!”

“As expected of the future Moon empress!”

The wave of exclamations stroked Hua Jin’s vanity.

Very good. She would definitely become the next Moon empress, sitting in the position envied by all, accepting the worship and envy of everyone.

Hua Jin was an auditor so she had to pay fees to live in the dorms. The fees weren’t low, but she was a daughter of the Hua family so money wasn’t an issue.

She came to fight against her love rival. If it weren’t for her grandmother being clever and planting a spy by the Moon empress, she would never have known the person Ming Xi was in love with was a sister from his school, that the girl was one of the most beautiful girls in the ancient eastern countries and that she was a daughter of Feng house.

Hua Jin had been hit hard when she first heard the news. Not only was the other party a noble daughter, she was from a superior house. How was Hua Jin supposed to compete?

Fortuantely heaven always left a way. Hua Jin discovered the girl was unmarried with a child out of wedlock and had been expelled from the Feng family. The girl was only welcomed back to the family after entering Xingguang Holy academy.

How could the dignified Ancient Silver Moon kingdom accept this kind of woman for their empress? The girl had the audacity to go after Ming Xi and the empress position after having already lain with someone. Did she have no self awareness? How ignorant!

What were her aunt and uncle thinking to have no objections? Hua Jin didn’t understand. In what way was that other girl better than her? Apparently, her aunt would rather have a used woman like that as a daughter-in-law over her.

Her own background was poor, true, but she was still pure and innocent. She’d never been close to any male other than Ming Xi. Her relationship with her other two male cousins was distant. Wasn’t that enough to prove her sincerity?!

She had saved her aunt’s life, but her aunt didn’t dare try her best to help. Fortunately, she had her grandmother. Without her grandmother, how could she know about the other woman’s identity and whereabouts?

As long as she could drive the other party away, her mother and grandmother would do their best to help her. Her aunt empress always listened to her grandmother. Hua Jin was certain she would be able to make her dreams come true and be the next Moon empress next to Ming Xi.

Hua Jin successfully cheered herself up as several sinister ideas came to mind. She wasn’t there to kill Feng Wu but to destroy her. Killing Feng Wu was a poor strategy because it risked Ming Xi’s disgust if he ever found out. Therefore murder was off to table, unless it was absolutely necessary.

Hua Jin wondered how Ming Xi would feel once he found out Feng Wu cheated on him while he was away. She didn’t believe Ming Xi would continue to favor Feng Wu. At that time, her aunt and uncle would definitely agree to have Ming Xi marry her instead.

Feng Wu had no idea Hua Jin was after her man or that the other party planned on putting a green hat[notes] on Ming Xi. At the moment, she was sleeping in her room dreaming about her wedding to Ming Xi. He was feeding her delicious food while her master was praising her for doing a good job finding and marrying a husband. Mmm! I was a great dream! She was praised and there were lots of delicious food to eat!

548: A Grandmother’s Ambition

Feng Wu wasn’t impacted by Hua Jin’s arrival at all; she still ate and slept like always. Her life was no different.

Meanwhile, Hua Jin began auditing classes for the Sword division.

The people in the Sword division was surprised and the people in the Magic division were shocked. If the information about her was correct, then she was a wood mage. Why would a wood mage audit classes in the Sword division? Hua Jin refused to explain.

So when Hua Jin stepped into Feng Wu’s class, people looked at her a bit skeptically.

“There she is! That’s Hua Jin! She’s so beautiful!”

“Definitely worthy of being the next Moon empress. She looks the part.”

“Not only is she beautiful but her background is impeccable as well.”

“That’s right, Miss Hua Jin is the current Moon empress’s niece. I heard Miss Hua Jin grew up in the palace.”

“Children who grow up in palaces are different; their temperaments are so noble.”

Hua Jin was a golden thigh they wanted to hug. They would regret it if they didn’t use the opportunity now to build up a relationship with her. Many people in the Sword division began hovering around her for just this reason. Even a few people from the Magic division came over.

They were all there for her, so Hua Jin made sure to always give them a dignified and polite smile. It was the noble bearing of the future Moon empress.

Hua Jin’s arrival made the atmosphere in class a little strange. Some people wished they could be around her all day so they could build up a relationship with her. Hua Jin wasn’t from a top ranked house, but because she was the current Moon empress’s niece and because she was engaged to the future Moon emperor, her status was higher than most of the noble girls on campus.

Others were indifferent. They weren’t concerned about her status as the future Moon empress because it had nothing to do with them.

Ink belonged to the latter group and did not try to get close to her. Other than a couple of times that first day she arrived when he looked out of curiosity, he hadn’t paid her any attention.

Feng Wu chatted with Ming Xi as was her routine every day. Their conversations would occasionally mention Hua Jin, but it wasn’t anything unusual. It was just like talking about a stranger.

Ming Xi would occasionally ask about Hua Jin just to know what she was doing around Feng Wu. Based on her sudden appearance, Ming Xi suspected she already knew about him and Xiao Wu. He was afraid she had bad intentions.

He didn't know what she wanted to do, but if she dared do anything to hurt Xiao Wu he wouldn’t let her off even if their grandmother spoke on her behalf.

His maternal grandmother was not a simple woman. He was certain Hua Jin knowing about Feng Wu had something to do with their grandmother.

He knew from early on as a young child that his grandmother was a fierce woman with high ambitions.

She often entered the palace to accompany him when he was a child. His mother thought it was because she loved him very much and was simply bonding with her beloved grandson.

Sadly, that was not the case. The reality was she was doing it so he would form a habit of obeying her. She was essentially grooming him to be her puppet. This way when he became the Moon emperor in the future, she would be able to use him as a puppet emperor and rule the country herself. It was a beautiful plan on her part.

However, his father discovered her scheme early on and prevented her from influencing him by raising him personally. This prevented his grandmother from getting too close and influencing him. Out of consideration for his mother, his father refrained from attacking his grandmother.

If his grandmother hadn’t given birth to such a wonderful woman, and if the woman wasn’t the Moon empress, he was afraid his grandmother would have died ten deaths without knowing it.

But even if his grandmother did have the chance to influence him, as a god descendent, he matured much faster than a normal person. She would not have succeeded.

She had failed to manipulate him, so now she wanted to support Hua Jin to be the next Moon empress and manipulate things that way. Ming Xi laughed coldly twice.

He didn’t know where is grandmother got the courage to think she could control the royal family but he was amazed and disgusted she had such thoughts.

How did a such a wildly ambitious woman give birth to such a kind-hearted and sweet woman like his mother?

On the other hand, his aunt’s temperament was very similar to his grandmother’s. Neither his father nor he could figure out why. They could only assume a good sprout sprang from bad soil.

While Ming Xi as was thinking about his maternal relatives, Hua Jin was busy befriending people with status in Xingguang Holy academy, one in particular being Zi Cheng.

As the heroine in the original novel, it was easy for the friendly Zi Cheng to leave a good impression on people and get their favor. The proud and arrogant Hua Jin was no exception.

Hua Jin was happy to be friends with Zi Cheng when she learned Yifu, who was often by Zi Cheng’s side, hated Feng Wu. If she played it right, Yifu would be a sharp sword she could use to achieve her goal. It would save her the trouble of scouting potential candidates.

The days went by and before anyone knew it a month had passed. Things were peaceful at school, but Jier felt it was the calm before the storm. No way Hua Jin came to their school just to study. That's like saying a drunk wouldn’t be interested in drinking.

At this time, the teacher announced there would be a three-day field trip for class tomorrow. It was basically off-campus combat experience. The sword master class was full of sword users, their skills would rust and their natural talents would be destroyed if they remained indoors all the time.

They needed combat experience to develop and grow.

Hua Jin had been waiting for an opportunity to take care of Feng Wu. Who would have expected her chance would come so soon.

Early the next morning, Feng Wu handed Little Bun to the vice principal to babysit. He was smiling from ear to ear as he held Little Bun and the smile got bigger each time he hugged Little Bun tight to his chest.

Because he was always so happy to take care of Little Bun, Feng Wu assumed he liked children very much. It wasn’t just Feng Wu, a lot of other people who saw him be a free daddy thought so too.

Little did they know the vice principal’s real motivations.

549, 550

549: The Tiny Rabbit

In the future when the little guy regained his memories, he would show him the videos he secretly recorded. By then the little guy’s face would definitely be interesting to watch!

Little Bun blinked his sleepy eyes. Why did it suddenly feel cold? Woowoo. . .  mom left him behind again. He was the most unfortunate little guy ever!

The class excursion was located in the Red Leaf forest outside Zhongyang city. It was named this because there wasn’t a single green thing in the forest; all the plants were red from the bushes, to the leaves, to the fruits.

Since everything was red you had to look at the shape and size to tell one fruit to another.

Adventurers and mercenaries went into the forest to find medicinal plants and hunt various monsters that lived there every year.

The mission for the class this time was to find a certain medicinal plant used for drug refinement called cage grass.

It wasn’t an expensive plant but it only grew in a few places, one of which was the Red Leaf forest.

Their mission was to find cage grass. Whoever found the most after three days would get the highest score while those who didn’t find enough would either get a low score or no score at all.

“The forest is so big and the grass isn’t concentrated in any one area. If you want to get a high score, you’ll have to go deep into the forest.”

“But there are many strong monsters deep in the forest, so it will be dangerous.”

“Yeah, it’s true. Why don’t we form a team and divide the grass amongst the group based on contribution?”

“Good idea. It’s too dangerous to go it alone. It’ll be safer to be in a team.”

People were discussing how to best go about completing the mission. In the end about half the students formed teams while the other half felt they would get more grass plants by going solo.

Feng Wu and Ink[notes] formed a two-person team.

Hua Jin formed a team with several girls she had a good relationship with. She watched Feng Wu and Ink walk into the forest with a cold glint in her eye. In three days, she would make sure Feng Wu would be rejected by Ming Xi.

Feng Wu and Ink were good friends so they had no problems partnering. Other teams had disputes about the division of goods, but the two of them had no conflicts. There was no reason to argue. Since there was only the two of them, just split the bounty two ways.

The bigger monsters that grew in the forest were aggressive, but were rare. They generally turned a blind eye to intelligent life so long as they weren’t bothered. Only a few attacked humans on sight. The smaller monsters were generally meek and afraid of humans. Just a human shadow was enough to scare them away.

Cage grass grew easily but only grew in specific areas. They grew prolifically in clusters, so if you found one, you would find a bunch more in the same spot.

Feng Wu and Ink had good luck and found 200 in one day. Because there were so many people gathering the grass, the grass that grew along the periphery of the forest were quickly picked clean and Feng Wu and Ink had to move deeper into the woods to find more.

That evening, their mood was good as they found a place to set up camp. They built a fire and ate all kinds of delicious things they had prepared earlier.

“Xiao Wu, what are you talking to that little guy about?” Ink ate a drumstick as he looked curiously at the fiery red bunny in Feng Wu’s arms.

The bunny was just an ordinary bunny monster. It was called a fire bunny because it attacked enemies by spewing fire from its mouth. It was very timid around people and usually ran away from humans. If it weren’t for Feng Wu, it would never have dared get so close.

“Little Red says she knows where there are a lot of cage grass. She will take us over tomorrow.” Feng Wu touched the little bunny’s fur as she answered Ink.

“Oh, that’s great. This bunny is really helpful.” Ink smiled, happy with the bunny’s contribution. He thought about finding some of the bunny’s favorite foods and offering it as a thank you.

“Little bunny, I’ll help you pick wild fruits tomorrow. Tell Xiao Wu what you want to eat and I’ll pick some for you.” Ink knew the bunny wanted to help Feng Wu and that it had nothing to do with him; he was just benefiting from proximity. There was nothing wrong with gifting the little bunny some fruits. As for Feng Wu, he’d treat her to a good meal once they got back to school! Ink made his decisions easily.

The little bunny understood human language so she understood Ink’s intentions.

Feng Wu helped translate and told Ink the little bunny liked fruits from outside the Red Leaf forest.

Ink thought for a moment then remembered he had some spiritual fruits in his dimensional space. He picked the two biggest and ripest one and held them out in his hand to the little bunny.

The little bunny really wanted to eat them but it didn’t dare, so Feng Wu carried it over and let it sniff the fruits. The little bunny timidly took a small bite, then another and another. It uttered a sound of satisfaction every few bites; clearly, she was very pleased with the fruits.

The bunny wasn’t as weary of Ink after it finished eating the fruits.

Feng Wu and the little bunny chatted while Ink listened to the side. Ink didn’t understand animal language but he was able to guess what they were saying from Feng Wu’s replies.

550: Everyone’s Situation

After resting for a night, Feng Wu and Ink followed the little bunny to the place where cage grass grew. They reached it after walking for half an hour.

Just like the little bunny said, there were over fifty stalks of grass densely packed together behind a large bush. The cluster was the largest they’d found.

After taking a few minutes to harvest the mature plants, Feng Wu and Ink said farewell to the little bunny before walking deeper into the forest. They walked for two hours and along the way encountered other people working individually and people working in groups.

It wasn’t that students didn’t want to steal plants from each other, it was just that everyone stored their items in their dimensional space and the only way to access an owned dimensional space was to kill the owner, which wasn’t possible because killing one another was strictly prohibited.

It was really hard to force anyone to give up their plants too. At most people would get beaten up, and who hadn’t been beaten at least once in the year already? These guys would rather be beaten black and blue than give up their plants. As a result anyone who tried to steal plants inevitably failed.

Since stealing was useless, smart people didn’t bother wasting time trying it, so other than the first wave of attempted theft, no one tried to steal from anyone.

The scramble for cage grass became more intense as time wore on. Sometimes two or three teams would find the same cluster of grass and break out in a fight over it.

Feng Wu and Ink weren’t affected by the tense atmosphere. They weren’t involved in the scuffles but they did have their own troubles.

“Xiao Wu, don’t walk so fast! Wait for me!”

The words with their affectionate undertones did not come from Ink, but rather from a boy neither of them knew. He had a friendly and warm appearance with blond hair and blue eyes that sparkled like jewels. His name was Jia Moore and Feng Wu and Ink encountered him 20 minutes ago.

They had found him lying unconscious under a big tree with various injuries all over. Ink applied healing potion to the external injuries. As for the internal injuries, that was something the guy would have to take care of himself.

After Jia Moore woke up, he insisted it was Feng Wu who saved him. He took the initiative to follow Feng Wu in order to repay her kindness.

Ink was confused. No matter how he looked at it, he was the one who saved this Jia guy. How did it suddenly become Feng Wu? He was a grown man, not invisible OK?

“Ink was the one who saved you.” Feng Wu stopped and looked at Jia seriously.

“Xiao Wu, in my heart, you’re my savior! I believe God must have wanted me to mee you. Something is surely destined to happen between you and I. It’s fate! It's surely fate!”

“Oh? What do you want to happen?” Ink asked darkly from behind Jia Moore.

Jia Moore touched his ear and saw Ink’s dark expression as soon as he turned his head.

“Brother Ink, can you please not interrupt me while I’m trying to build my relationship with Xiao Wu?”

“Relationship?! What relationship? You don’t have a relationship build.” This hateful flirt wanted to hook up with Xiao Wu?

“Well, not yet. That’s why we have to cultivate one.” Jia Moore smiled brightly.

“No cultivation necessary. We met by chance, now it’s time to part.” Ink grabbed Feng Wu’s arm and walked away as fast as he could from Jia Moore. He couldn’t let Xiao Wu fall for the guy’s sweet talk.

Jia Moore was persistent and immediately gave chase.

After three days in the forest, all the students were grimy and gross. They had spent their days, if not fighting each other, then fighting monsters, and busy trying to stay alive while foraging for cage grass. By the time the teacher counted grades three days later, all of them felt reborn.

Even Ink and Feng Wu, who kept a low profile, were involved in two chaotic battles, never mind all the other students.

The teacher took pity on them and gave them two days of vacation and asked that they all use it to rest and adjust their mentality because there would be more field excursions in the future; everyone needed to get used to it as soon as possible.

Feng Wu and Ink left Jia Moore behind when they returned to school. No one could have imagined Jia Moore would cause a huge commotion later.

While Feng Wu was off campus for the three-day field excursion the other two transmigrating girls also had a productive time.

Things happened according to the timeline in the original novel; Zi Cheng finally got together with Caesar, the male protagonist. Zo[notes] tried many times to destroy Caesar’s affection for Zi Cheng, but he failed every time, and ultimately, could not stop the two of them from getting together.

Left with no other choice, Zo had to give up on saving Caesar.

Shortly after Zi Cheng got together with Caesar, she met the primordial spirit of the Demon Ancestor[notes] imprisoned in the virtual world. The two reached an agreement and decided to work together.

The Demon Ancestor coming into the world like in the past could not be avoided. Then with Zi Cheng’s help, the Demon Ancestor wrought unimaginable carnage in the human world.

Ai Lin had been paying close attention to Zi Cheng and had noticed her abnormal behavior early on, and although she wanted to stop it, she knew she couldn’t fight the Demon Ancestor.

The catastrophe of the Demon Ancestor was a calamity arranged by the world’s consciousness for the human world to experience.

Whether it was bad luck or weak strength, you only had yourself to blame if the experience ended up killing you.