Chapter 13: Origins
"Yes, Master, I understand." Chen Xingcai quickly responded, all the while glancing at her father's face from the corner of her eye.
Fortunately, due to his unconditional trust in his daughter and the goodwill he felt toward the newly acquainted neighbor before him, Chen Chang'an did not think too deeply. He simply assumed it was some assignment given to his daughter.
Thus, Chen Xingcai managed to escape unscathed.
What she did not know, however, was that at this very moment, thousands of miles away in Yunzhou, there was another "father" of hers thinking about her.
…
High above Yunzhou, a gray figure sliced through the clouds. Wu Bo stood upon a bronze flying sword, his robe snapping in the fierce wind.
His face was gaunt, the wrinkles marked by decades of service to the Hong family. At this moment, his clouded eyes were fixed on the distant horizon, yet his thoughts drifted back to that blood-soaked night six years ago—
"Steward Wu, the family head summons you."
The memories of six years past surged forward like a tide.
In the Hong family's underground secret chamber, the flickering bronze lamps cast wavering light, making the blood-red runes on the walls seem almost alive.
Wu Bo knelt on the cold obsidian floor, his forehead pressed to the ground, not daring to look at the tall figure before him.
"How did the matter proceed?" Hong Tianque's voice came from above, like the clash of metal—cold and unyielding.
"Reporting to the family head, the young lady's blood has been… fully drained," Wu Bo's voice trembled slightly, "but the Supreme Blood has yet to appear."
"Continue," Hong Tianque said, only two words.
Wu Bo's mind replayed the scene—on the white jade platform in the inner chamber, a baby girl of only three months was pinned at the center of a formation by eighteen Spirit-Locking Nails.
Her tiny body was so pale it was nearly transparent. Dozens of hair-thin blood threads extended from her vital points, all converging into the Blood Gathering Pearl above her head.
Her cries had long since grown hoarse; now only faint sobs escaped her lips.
"Family head… I fear the young lady cannot hold on much longer…" Wu Bo had dared to say at the time.
Hong Tianque gave a cold snort. "The host of the Supreme Blood will not die so easily. Wait."
The memory suddenly grew bloodier. At midnight, a blinding golden light burst from the infant's chest, and a drop of blood, brilliant as a ruby, slowly seeped from between her brows.
"It's appeared!" Hong Tianque's voice rang with wild delight through the chamber.
He seized it in one hand. "Quick! Transplant it to Xianglong!"
Wu Bo recalled how his hands had trembled as he took the Supreme Blood from the family head with a jade blade and carefully transplanted it into the waiting Hong family young master, Hong Xianglong.
On the white jade platform, the little girl seemed completely drained of life—her breathing so faint it was nearly undetectable.
"Dispose of her." Having obtained the Supreme Blood, Hong Tianque did not spare his daughter a single glance.
"Throw her into the Wraith Pit of Youzhou. The host of the Supreme Blood carries the blessing of fate—only by ensuring she never reincarnates can we sever the chance of karmic backlash."
"Yes…" Wu Bo obeyed, catching sight out of the corner of his eye of the small body being carelessly wrapped in coarse cloth, treated like discarded refuse.
…
The frigid wind at high altitude pulled Wu Bo back to the present. He instinctively touched the storage pouch at his waist, where he kept a blood jade—the Hong family's bloodline tracking artifact.
It was capable of locating Hong Yuechan… no, the girl now called Chen Xingcai.
To his shock, the artifact showed that the young lady was not only alive, but living far away in Qingzhou.
What puzzled him even more was that the Hong family blood in her body had become frighteningly thin.
"How could this be…" Wu Bo murmured, "That child was clearly already…"
Memories surged once more.
Six years ago, he had been ordered to take the dying Hong Yuechan to Youzhou. According to the plan, he was to throw the child into the Wraith Pit and let thousands of vengeful spirits devour her soul.
But when passing through an unnamed valley in Qingzhou during springtime, the place was filled with blooming flowers and fluttering butterflies. The child in swaddling clothes was as weak as gossamer, her little face pale as paper—yet she suddenly opened her eyes.
Those eyes were clear and bright, reminding Wu Bo of the way Hong Yuechan had looked the day she was born. Back then, he had still been a steward in the Hong family's outer court and had been fortunate enough to glimpse the newborn young lady. Her mother had died early, and from the moment she was born, the child had no mother…
"Sigh…" Wu Bo let out a long breath, the flying sword beneath his feet trembling slightly. In the end, he could not bring himself to be ruthless. Instead, he placed the child into the valley's stream, so she could at least rest in a beautiful place.
He was certain that a child who had lost all her blood was doomed to die. This way, he had not completely disobeyed the family head's orders.
"To think… the Supreme Blood host's fortune would be so strong…" Wu Bo shook his head, his gaze flickering with a complex light. "The young lady not only survived, but was adopted by kindhearted people, and renamed Chen Xingcai…"
At this thought, a cold glint flashed in his eyes. No matter who had adopted her, the Hong family's bloodline had to be returned. Hong Tianque had already ordered the complete removal of this "hidden threat."
Since the Supreme Blood had already been transplanted into Young Master Hong Zhao, the original host could not be allowed to live, lest a struggle over fate arise.
"If that family knows their place…" Wu Bo's fingers brushed the forbidden artifact hidden in his sleeve—one capable of instantly killing even a Longevity Realm cultivator—"then I'll grant them a swift end."
It never occurred to him that the other party might not fear the Hong family. After all, the Hong family was a top clan guarded by a Saint Realm powerhouse. In this world, aside from a few reclusive ancient monsters, who dared to defy their will?
The flying sword pierced through the clouds, revealing the lands of Qingzhou below.
Wu Bo activated the blood jade, feeling the resonance grow stronger and stronger. To his surprise, the target seemed to be located in a valley where the spiritual energy was abnormally dense.
"Could it be a cultivation clan?" Wu Bo frowned slightly, then relaxed. "No matter—in front of the Hong family, they are but ants."
What Wu Bo did not know was that, the very instant he flew into the valley—
Two figures let out a simultaneous "Hm?" and turned their gazes through the void toward his location!
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