“Are you the Flower King?” Zhu Bai stared fixedly at Yun Qingxue.
Only when he turned around did Yun Qingxue finally get a clear look at him.
He was a fair-skinned little boy, about ten years old, with strikingly clear black-and-white eyes—so pure and untainted they seemed almost unnervingly beautiful.
Right now, those beautiful eyes were locked directly onto her.
Yun Qingxue nodded slightly. “Yes, I am the Flower King.”
“It really is you!”
At her answer, Zhu Bai’s already serious little face instantly tensed even more. Step by step, he slowly walked toward her, saying, “I… finally get to meet the Flower King…”
“You were looking for me…?” Yun Qingxue frowned slightly, puzzled by his words. Had Zhu Bai been searching for her? She didn’t recognize this little bamboo spirit—what could he possibly want from her?
But before she could finish her question, Zhu Bai, who had been approaching step by step, suddenly lunged at her midair. In his hand appeared a long bamboo spike that hadn’t been there a moment ago.
“Die!”
The spike in his hand thrust straight toward Yun Qingxue’s heart.
Startled, she instinctively dodged to the side. With a flick of her palm, a slender vine materialized out of thin air, coiling tightly around Zhu Bai’s body.
She yanked the vine to the side, sending Zhu Bai flying. His small frame crashed heavily into the nearby stone wall.
Zhu Bai winced in pain, his adorable face twisting in agony. Yet his strikingly clear eyes burned with unmistakable hatred as they locked onto Yun Qingxue.
His venomous glare left her utterly baffled. She couldn’t recall ever meeting this little bamboo spirit, let alone offending him!
“Bind!”
Yun Qingxue tightened the vine around Zhu Bai, securing him firmly before stepping forward and crouching down. “Have we met before?”
Zhu Bai shook his head.
“Do we have a grudge?” she pressed.
This time, Zhu Bai nodded fiercely, his eyes blazing with resentment.
Yun Qingxue felt completely lost. She stared at the restrained boy on the ground and frowned. “Then I don’t understand. If we don’t know each other, yet you claim we have a grudge, where does this hatred come from?”
Zhu Bai glared at her hatefully. “Because you’re the Flower King!”
“Because I’m the Flower King?” Yun Qingxue studied the child before her, then suddenly said coldly, “Are you one of Tong Yun’s people?”
If this child truly belonged to Tong Yun, then her whereabouts must have already been exposed—and worse, if Tong Yun could send assassins into the Yunhuang Illusionary Realm to target her, she was far more capable than Yun Qingxue had thought.
“I’m not that vile woman’s lackey!” The boy’s face flushed red with anger as he shouted in protest.
Yun Qingxue’s frown deepened. “In the Xuanling Continent, there are only two people who want me dead. One is Tong Yun—because she currently holds the real power over the entire Flora Tribe. If I die, she can rightfully claim the title of Flower King.
“The other is Chen Qing, that old Taoist from the human race. That stubborn old man despises me for no reason and insists on killing me.
“If you’re not Tong Yun’s, then are you Chen Qing’s?”
“Who’s Chen Qing? I don’t know him!” The bratty child turned his head away haughtily.
“Fine. If you’re not with either of them, yet you still want to kill me because of my identity, there must be a reason, right?”
“A reason?” Zhu Bai’s eyes reddened as he glared at her. “A tyrant like you deserves to die!”
Yun Qingxue’s lips twitched.
This kid’s reasoning was truly something else!
Ever since she transmigrated here, her life had been a tragic saga of survival! Sure, she bore the title of Flower King, but she had none of the actual power.
Even if she wanted to be a tyrant, she’d need the opportunity first!
“Then tell me, how exactly am I a tyrant?” she challenged.
Zhu Bai faltered.
Seizing his hesitation, Yun Qingxue pressed, “You can’t even answer, can you?”
Zhu Bai’s face flushed red as he blurted out angrily, “My Green Bamboo Clan has always been loyal to the Flora Tribe and the Flower King!
“But the Flower King abandoned the entire tribe for her selfish love affair! She only cared about frolicking with that demon king, Yun Ye, letting that vile woman Tong Yun seize control and persecute the loyal subjects!
“My… my Green Bamboo Clan was forced to flee to the Yunhuang Illusionary Realm to escape her!”
His eyes grew redder as he spoke.
Yun Qingxue nodded in agreement. “Tong Yun is indeed despicable, but what does that have to do with assassinating me?”
Zhu Bai’s face burned with fury as he fought back tears. “If the Flower King were a wise ruler, how could her loyal subjects end up in such misery?
“Do you have any idea how much suffering we endured after coming here?
“Eventually, our clan leader led us to this place to settle. But two hundred years ago, bat demons suddenly invaded. With their razor-sharp wings, claws, and their cursed artifacts, they slaughtered my people mercilessly.
“Every clansman who had cultivated for a thousand years was captured and drained of their power!
“In just over two centuries, my clan was decimated—those who weren’t killed were crippled. Only the newly transformed spirits remain, hiding and barely surviving. The moment any of us advance beyond the Transformation Stage, the bat demons hunt us down and consume us!
“And all of this…” Zhu Bai’s bloodshot eyes bore into Yun Qingxue, “is because of the Flower King! Because of your incompetence, we loyal subjects have been reduced to prey, trampled underfoot!”
Yun Qingxue fell silent.
The Green Bamboo Clan’s plight was undeniably tragic.
But she was innocent too, wasn’t she? She had lived over twenty years in the modern world before betrayal sent her spiraling into this inexplicable transmigration.
And when she arrived, she found herself in the body of the idiot Flower King. After barely surviving, she finally found her mentor—only to be sent out to train and accidentally uncover the tangled web of her true origins.
A storm of unanswered questions haunted her, yet her weakness left her powerless to seek the truth. Who understood her suffering?
“Nothing to say now, huh?!”
Seeing her silence, Zhu Bai sneered. “Since my assassination failed and I’m at your mercy, do as you please—kill me if you want!”
*Whack!*
The moment he finished speaking, Yun Qingxue smacked the back of his head. “You little brat!”
“A warrior would rather die than suffer humiliation!” the boy declared righteously.
“Humph!” Yun Qingxue scoffed. “Me humiliating you? You insulted me first!”
“How?!” the brat protested indignantly.
“Let me ask you—did you know the current Flower King of Xuanling, meaning me, used to be an idiot?” she asked, though the words left a bitter taste in her mouth.
Damn it, no normal person would feel good calling themselves a former idiot!
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage