Chapter 10: The Wooden Box

Qian Dai and Liu Ying flanked Yun Qingxue on either side.

“Qian Dai, have you recovered?” Yun Qingxue asked, noticing that Qian Dai’s complexion had returned to normal. She glanced around and realized she was lying on the soft couch where Qian Dai had been resting earlier.

“Yes, this servant is fine now. But when you suddenly lost consciousness, young mistress, it truly frightened me!” Qian Dai sighed, as if Yun Qingxue’s fainting had been a terrifying ordeal, leaving her still shaken.

“Qian Dai, when did you come to serve me?” Yun Qingxue studied Qian Dai intently.

“Young mistress, why do you suddenly ask this?” Qian Dai’s eyes filled with confusion.

Yun Qingxue smiled. “Just curiosity. I’ve recalled some things recently, but I can’t remember when you started staying by my side.”

“Liu Ying, I need to speak privately with the young mistress. Would you mind leaving for now?”

After Yun Qingxue spoke, Qian Dai turned to Liu Ying and politely dismissed her.

Understanding that Qian Dai likely didn’t want Liu Ying to overhear their conversation, Yun Qingxue made no objection to the request.

Liu Ying’s dark, bright eyes flickered toward Yun Qingxue. Guessing that Qian Dai intended to discuss internal Flower and Wood Clan affairs—matters unsuitable for an outsider like herself—she tactfully replied, “Of course. Qingxue, I’ll visit you again tomorrow.”

“Mm. Sounds good,” Yun Qingxue replied with a smile.

A shadow passed through Liu Ying’s eyes as she remarked lightly, “Qingxue, you… seem different now.”

Yun Qingxue merely smiled in response. Without another word, Liu Ying transformed back into her original form—a lark—fluttered her wings, and flew out the window, vanishing into the sky in an instant.

“Now, can you tell me?” Once Liu Ying was completely gone, Yun Qingxue turned her gaze back to Qian Dai.

Qian Dai knelt and bowed. “Young mistress, this servant was assigned to you the day Elder Ningzi brought you back from outside. A thousand years have passed since then.”

Yun Qingxue frowned. The memories she had just recovered contained no mention of someone named Ningzi—nor any information about the origins of her current body.

However, one detail in those memories puzzled her greatly: in the Xuanling Continent, the rulers of all clans inherited their power through bloodline. Only the descendants of kings possessed the purest and most exceptional bloodlines, granting them innate, extraordinary spiritual power. Most importantly, royal bloodlines were always passed down through a single heir.

A single heir…

“What is my relationship to the previous Flower King, Lan Xuechen?”

Yun Qingxue’s beautiful phoenix eyes fixed on Qian Dai’s face, unwilling to miss even the slightest shift in her expression.

Yet Qian Dai only furrowed her brows slightly before meeting Yun Qingxue’s gaze with solemn clarity.

“Young mistress suspects you are the daughter of the previous Flower King?”

“The fragments of memory I’ve recovered suggest that royal bloodlines in Xuanling Continent are always passed down through a single heir,” Yun Qingxue replied ambiguously.

“It is true that the previous Flower King, Her Majesty Lan Xuechen, bore a daughter with the Demon King, Yun Ye.”

Qian Dai frowned, as if deep in thought. “However, as far as this servant knows, that girl was raised by the Demon King in the Demon Clan, cherished like a priceless treasure.”

“If I have no connection to Lan Xuechen, then where did my royal bloodline come from?” Yun Qingxue murmured, more to herself than to Qian Dai. She wasn’t truly fixated on uncovering her birth parents—she merely wanted to use this topic to better understand her current circumstances and position.

Qian Dai shook her head. “This servant truly does not know.”

“Then what about this Elder Ningzi you mentioned? Why do I feel like I’ve never met this person?” Yun Qingxue pressed. If Ningzi had brought her back from outside, why had she never appeared afterward?

A faint sorrow spread across Qian Dai’s face. Her sigh was as light as a feather, yet carried an unmistakable weight of grief.

“After bringing you back… Elder Ningzi… perished.”

“What? How?” Yun Qingxue’s brows knitted together.

The woman named Ningzi had died right after bringing her back?

“What happened?” Yun Qingxue demanded.

Qian Dai took a deep breath. Though she tried to suppress it, her voice trembled with barely restrained sorrow.

“Young mistress…”

Qian Dai dropped to her knees once more.

“Elder Ningzi… she… she sacrificed herself to protect you. She was forced to destroy her own spiritual power under the pressure of those villains. Now that you’ve regained your senses, this servant only hopes that you will dedicate yourself to mastering spiritual arts, reclaim the throne of the Flower King one day, and… clear the names of Elder Ningzi and all those loyal to the Flower King who were wronged by traitors!”

“Qian Dai, rise first.” Having grown up in a socialist society, Yun Qingxue couldn’t stand someone constantly kneeling before her. Besides…

After the betrayal she suffered in her past life, all she wanted in this new life was to keep her eyes open and seek a stable, peaceful existence.

As for revenge…

Though she now occupied the Flower King’s body, she was powerless—without spiritual energy and barely able to protect herself, how could she even think of vengeance?

“Young mistress, are you troubled by the current situation?”

Qian Dai stood up and, seeing Yun Qingxue lost in thought, assumed she was distressed by their circumstances.

Yun Qingxue sighed. “Though I’ve regained my senses and am no longer dull-witted, I’ve also come to see the reality clearly. In the Flower and Wood Clan, I bear the empty title of Flower King without any real authority. Forget revenge—even self-preservation is a challenge now!”

She watched Qian Dai’s reaction carefully.

Qian Dai only frowned slightly before saying, “Young mistress, please wait a moment.”

With that, she turned and walked toward the eastern corner of the hall. Yun Qingxue’s curious gaze followed her.

Qian Dai stopped before the eastern wall, her hands weaving intricate gestures. Soon, a shimmering blue-violet light glowed in her palms. She pressed her hand against the wall, and the surface rippled like water.

Astonished, Yun Qingxue—though new to this fantastical world—guessed that Qian Dai was retrieving something important, likely a lifesaving treasure.

Sure enough, as Yun Qingxue had anticipated, Qian Dai reached into the wall and withdrew a small, ancient-looking wooden box.

Holding it reverently, Qian Dai returned to Yun Qingxue’s side. Taking Yun Qingxue’s hand, she said, “Young mistress, forgive my impertinence!”

Before Yun Qingxue could react, a sharp pain pricked her left ring finger. A drop of crimson blood fell onto the center of the wooden box.

The moment the blood touched the box, it seemed to come alive, its color shifting from bright red to a deep, midnight blue.

The blue spread rapidly across the box’s surface. Soon, the entire box in Qian Dai’s hands had turned dark blue. Then, a silver thread—like a living serpent—emerged from the spot where the blood had fallen, slithering across the box’s plain surface. In an instant, an intricate, starry pattern materialized.

*Click.*

As the pattern fully formed, the tightly sealed box opened on its own.