Yunxue woke with a violent throbbing in her head, as though someone had just smashed her skull with a blunt weapon. Her vision swam, dark spots dancing before her eyes. Her body felt unbearably heavy—aching, weak, and almost impossible to move.
She was lying beneath a colossal tree.
It resembled a peach tree, yet its size was utterly unreasonable. Its trunk soared into the heavens like an eternal tower, nearly a hundred stories tall, its girth wider than an open field. Massive roots burst from the earth like frozen dragons, gripping the land with ancient, primal force.
Yunxue's mind was empty.
She didn't know how she had arrived here. She remembered nothing of her past—no events, no faces, no history. All she felt was pain spreading through her body, accompanied by a suffocating weakness that made steady breathing difficult.
In her limp right hand, she still clutched a peach—half-eaten. Its flesh had begun to darken, as if the energy within it had been completely drained.
She tried to remember.
She forced her thoughts through the fog, but there was nothing. No past. No memories. No identity.
Only a single name echoed faintly within her consciousness.
Xue Yunxue.
"Hey! You're finally awake? At last! I thought you were dead—you were unconscious for nearly a full day!"
The voice was bright and cheerful, appearing out of nowhere and making Yunxue's heart leap violently.
She immediately pushed herself halfway upright and scanned her surroundings.
No one was there.
"Who's there?" she shouted, her voice sharp with caution.
Her hand reflexively drew the dagger strapped to her ankle."Show yourself right now! Stop hiding like a coward!"
"Hahaha! I fed you, and now you're threatening me?" The voice laughed lightly. "Looks like you've regained some strength."
Yunxue narrowed her eyes, following the direction of the sound.
Among the enormous roots of the peach tree, she noticed something strange.
A small tree—barely a meter tall—stood there, utterly dwarfed by the ancient giant beside it. Its trunk was slender, its leaves a shimmering gold. Its roots were tightly entwined with the main tree like a parasitic plant, yet it radiated a powerful aura of life. Its branches swayed gently, almost like… a living creature breathing.
"Don't tell me…" Yunxue muttered."You're the one talking to me?"
If trees could talk, then perhaps her mind truly was broken.
"Aha! Of course it's me!" the small tree replied irritably. Its branches crossed like arms folded across a chest."Who else do you think is here, you wicked fox!"
Yunxue fell silent.
That tree… had just mimicked a human gesture.
"So… I'm not insane?" she asked slowly.
"You arrived here like a madwoman," the small tree said casually, "but at least your sanity seems to have returned."
"What do you mean?"
Seeing her confusion, the small tree began to explain.
Some time ago, Yunxue had stumbled into the Forbidden Forest in a horrific state. Her body had been covered in festering wounds. Her clothes were torn and filthy, her hair tangled and unkempt. She staggered forward with empty eyes, her behavior no different from that of a mindless corpse.
No normal human would dare enter this forest. Savage beasts and terrifying monsters roamed everywhere, and the deeper one ventured, the more lethal it became. By all logic, it was impossible for Yunxue to reach the forest's core on her own.
The small tree's conclusion was simple and cruel:
She had been discarded here to die.
Someone had erased her memories, stripped away her power, and shattered her soul core.
Yet, in that broken state, Yunxue had wandered like a zombie all the way to the heart of the forest—where the Peach Tree of Immortality stood.
Moved by pity, the ancient tree had granted her a single healing peach. After she collapsed, a streak of luminous energy flowed into her body—energy originating from the Immortal Peach Tree itself.
When she awoke, she no longer looked like a corpse.
Her soul core had healed.Her sanity had returned.
Only her memories remained completely gone.
The small tree told her everything it had witnessed.
Listening, Yunxue's chest filled with boiling anger—yet she had no idea where to direct it.
"I can help you restore your strength," the small tree said gently."But your memories… you must find those on your own."
Yunxue's eyes lit up.
"Really? How?"
"Let's make a deal," the small tree said quickly."I'll help you—as long as you take me with you on your adventures. I've been stuck here for thousands of years. I'm bored."
Its tiny branches wiggled as if begging.
Yunxue gave a stiff smile. Carrying around a one-meter-tall tree sounded extremely inconvenient.
As if reading her thoughts, the small tree snorted.
It detached itself from the giant tree, then rapidly shrank—until it was barely twenty centimeters tall. In the next instant, it leapt onto Yunxue's wrist, coiling around it like a small serpent, its roots piercing her pulse point.
Golden light flared.
The tree vanished, leaving behind a glowing golden peach-shaped mark branded onto her shoulder, vivid against her dirty skin.
A cool energy surged through Yunxue's body. Her pain eased. The festering wounds dried and disappeared, replaced by a refreshing calm.
"From now on, we'll always be together," a voice echoed directly inside her mind."We won't merge—we are two souls in one body. I can speak to you through your thoughts, and I can help cleanse any remaining negative energy inside you."
"You're… really that little tree?" Yunxue whispered.
"Of course," the voice replied proudly."Call me Moa. I've absorbed the knowledge of the Immortal Peach Tree for five thousand years. My understanding is vast—there are many things I know that no other creature does."
"Good," Yunxue said firmly."Then how do I regain my strength?"
"You must kill monsters and absorb their soul cores," Moa explained."Your current level is zero. But before this… you were at least level fifty. I can tell from the residual energy layers left within your body."
Yunxue clenched her fists.
"Then I'll have to work hard to become strong again."
"And be careful," Moa added seriously."If you die, I die with you."
"I have no intention of dying," Yunxue replied calmly."I want to know who tried to destroy me—and threw me here to die."
With Moa's guidance, Yunxue left the forest. She hunted weak monsters, absorbed their soul cores, washed herself in a river, and changed clothes using what remained of her storage space. Moa explained that beast-humans typically possessed personal storage spaces connected to their minds and urged her to check hers.
The space was in complete chaos—clearly looted. Only a few worn garments remained. She discarded her tattered clothes and changed into what she found: a woman's shirt, high-waisted trousers, and sturdy boots that made traveling easier.
There were no survival tools.No food.
Xue Yunxue lowered her head and stared at her reflection in the calm river.
The water shimmered softly beneath the twilight sky, revealing the face of a young woman—skin pale as jade, delicate features, deep and tranquil eyes, a modest nose, and soft pink lips.
Beautiful… yet utterly unfamiliar.
She stared for a long time.
The face stirred no memories at all.
As if she were looking at a stranger.
"Well, you're actually quite pretty after a bath," Moa said cheerfully in her mind."I almost forgot how you looked when we first met—you were practically a zombie."
Yunxue smiled faintly, though it never reached her eyes.
"…I don't remember this face at all," she murmured.
She reached out and touched the water, breaking the reflection into ripples.
"It feels strange," she continued softly."This face is mine… yet I don't recognize it. As if I woke up inside someone else's body."
There was a brief pause before Moa replied, his tone gentler than usual.
"Perhaps your memories aren't gone," he said quietly."Perhaps they're simply waiting for you to become strong enough to bear them."
Yunxue took a deep breath and gazed again at the now-still water.
Is this body truly mine?
The doubt churned within her—like her soul had yet to fully merge with the flesh she inhabited.
Sensing her unease, Moa spoke again.
"If you're uncertain," he said softly but firmly,"I'll examine your mind and spiritual energy completely. At the very least, I can confirm whether this body truly belongs to you—and whether anything dangerous is hidden within."
"There's nothing wrong," Moa said after a pause."Your soul has merged perfectly with this body. But your memories are completely empty—not a single fragment remains… like an empty shell that was just filled."
Yunxue froze slightly.
Moa's voice then turned bright with excitement.
"My dear," he said,"you still carry five beast marks within you."
"…What?" Yunxue was stunned.
Moa chuckled.
"Oh, you weren't just a level-fifty beast-human. Those five marks mean you bound your spiritual energy to others. In other words—you have five savage husbands, each from a different race."
Yunxue went rigid, her head throbbing violently.
Five husbands?
Was the heavens mocking her?
"If we find them," Moa added meaningfully,"your memories may return."
Recovering her memories was good news.
But five savage husbands?
That was something she was absolutely unprepared to face.
Right now, Yunxue wanted no bonds, no complicated past, and certainly no relationships she couldn't understand. She wanted only one thing:
Power.
Enough power to destroy whoever had taken everything from her and left her to die slowly in the Forbidden Forest.
Moa hesitated before continuing.
"You have husbands from the wolf, eagle, serpent, merfolk, and…"His voice faltered for the first time."…a half-vampire."
Yunxue tensed.
Vampire?
Another kind of beast-human?
How many races even existed in this world?
As they traveled, Moa chattered endlessly about the Beast World—a planet called Qui, inhabited by beast-humans of countless races and powers. In this world, pure-blood vampires stood at the very top of the hierarchy. They were cruel, cold, and arrogant—beings who regarded all other races as inferior.
Approaching them was already a gamble with death.
Forming a marriage bond with one?
Unthinkable.
And yet Moa claimed that she—a girl who had awakened without memories and nearly powerless—was soul-bound to someone with vampire blood?
It was not merely strange.
It was not merely strange.
It was terrifying… and extraordinary.
If this truth spread, the Beast World would be shaken. A half-vampire bound to Yunxue would make her a figure of unimaginable strategic value—whether as an ally or a target.
Yunxue took a long breath, steadying the storm in her chest.
"Whoever they are," she said at last, her voice cold and resolute,"whatever our past was… I don't care right now."
Her eyes narrowed with frozen determination.
"I will reclaim my strength first.Only then will I face my past—including them."
Within her soul, Moa smiled softly.
"So that's how it is…" he murmured."It seems our journey will be far more interesting than I imagined."