Chapter 10: Xuanxuan’s Origins

Everyone was exhausted, and with the night falling, it wasn’t ideal to continue their journey. They decided to stop and rest, waiting for the light of dawn to resume their travel.

Luo Father scanned the surroundings and found a relatively clear patch of land.

Luo Qiqi took out the small medicinal sachets she had prepared earlier and scattered them around their resting area.

As she opened the sachets and began sprinkling the powder on the ground, Luo Father hesitated, clearly wanting to say something but unsure how. After a moment, he couldn’t help but approach her.

“Qiqi, this medicinal sachet works quite well. Did you bring a lot with you? In these mountains, it’s better to have plenty,” he asked.

“I prepared plenty before we left. There’s enough,” Luo Qiqi responded, looking up at her father.

“This is a formula I found in a book. The effect is pretty good,” she added, sensing that Luo Father might have more questions, so she decided to clarify.

Upon hearing this, Luo Father nodded in understanding. “Ah, so she’s been reading those books again. She always loved them.”

He remembered when his late wife was still alive; she had taught Luo Qiqi how to read. After she passed, no one else had taken up the responsibility. Thinking of her now, a sense of nostalgia filled him.

He recalled the first time he met her. She had been covered in mud, her elegant clothes ruined, but her beauty still shone through. It was said that she was an escaped servant from a wealthy family, and no one dared to take her in. But Luo Father, against his family’s objections, brought her home and, to everyone’s surprise, married her.

Years had passed in the blink of an eye. She had given him two children, but in the end, she disappeared without a trace…

Luo Father didn’t want to believe she was gone forever. But after so many years without news, the thought was beginning to settle in his heart.

Meanwhile, Luo Qiqi finished scattering the powder and sat down. She removed the large basket from her back and was about to take out some food when she realized that, upon scanning her storage space, she didn’t have any cooked food. With a sigh, she withdrew her hand.

Luo Father sat beside them, setting down the still unconscious Xu Yunxuan. As soon as he placed her on the ground, the little girl woke up.

Still groggy from sleep, Xu Yunxuan stretched and muttered, “Xiao Yue, why is it so dark? Why aren’t there any lights?”

The others exchanged surprised glances. “She can talk?”

When no one responded, Xu Yunxuan seemed to remember where she was. Her eyes widened in realization, and her small face crumpled in distress as tears began to flow.

Luo Father, not knowing how to console a child, looked on helplessly as her crying grew louder. His eyes darted around, unsure of what to do, before looking to Luo Qiqi for help.

Luo Qiqi sighed in exasperation. “Stop crying, or I’ll throw you out to the wolves.”

Xu Yunxuan immediately stopped crying, her eyes wide and full of surprise. She hiccupped, staring at Luo Qiqi, shocked by her words.

The others let out a collective sigh of relief. If Xu Yunxuan had continued to cry, they would have risked attracting attention from nearby enemies or even wild beasts. With their current group—one injured and the rest weaklings—there was no way they could survive against any predators. Even if Luo Qiqi could escape, she couldn’t carry them all.

And despite everything, Luo Qiqi had no intention of revealing her storage space to anyone unless absolutely necessary. After all, she had learned the hard way in her previous life that people’s hearts were unpredictable.

Xu Yunxuan didn’t stop crying because she was scared of Luo Qiqi’s threat, but because she felt a strange sense of familiarity with her. The mention of wolves didn’t scare her either—it seemed almost like a casual remark.

Luo Qiqi’s sternness didn’t deter her; instead, it made her feel oddly comforted.

“What’s your name? How did you end up in that small forest earlier?” Luo Qiqi asked once the girl had stopped crying.

“My name is Xu Yunxuan,” she answered, her voice still a little shaky. “I got separated from my family.”

Luo Qiqi’s eyes narrowed as she questioned further, “Do you know where your family is? Who is your father? Do you remember anything?”

Xu Yunxuan shook her head, a blank expression on her face. “I only remember my name… I don’t know anything else.”

Luo Qiqi frowned. This was troubling. The girl had lost her memory—or perhaps something more had happened to her, something that made her forget everything.

But for now, they needed to focus on survival. They were in the mountains, and it wasn’t safe to linger for too long.

“Don’t worry. We’ll figure things out. Just rest for now,” Luo Qiqi reassured, though she couldn’t help but feel a sense of curiosity about Xu Yunxuan’s background.

As the night stretched on and the cold air of the mountain crept into their bones, the group settled into a light sleep, each person lost in their own thoughts. The mountain, with its mysteries and dangers, loomed around them. Tomorrow would be another day of hardship, but they would face it together.

When no further questions could be answered, Luo Qiqi decided not to press any further.

Although Xu Yunxuan was only seven years old, she understood that she could not reveal her identity to others so easily. She had no ability to protect herself yet, and if she encountered enemies, it would be the end for her.

As the young miss of the Xu family, one of the five great families of the Lingyuan Continent, she had always treated people like these little cute ones as playmates.

The five great families of the Lingyuan Continent are ranked by their family status: the Lin family, the Xu family, the Yin family, the Mo family, and the Bai family.

The Xu family is ranked second and is famous for its beast taming abilities.

In the Lingyuan Continent, girls awaken their guardian beasts at the age of nine, and boys at the age of twelve. The level of the guardian beast determines one’s cultivation talent.

Those with better talent have the chance to become outer disciples of the Xu family.

The chance to become an outer disciple of the Xu family is very rare. If one gains the Xu family’s favor, they will no longer worry about cultivation resources.

To go further along the path of beast taming, becoming an outer disciple of the Xu family is undoubtedly the best choice.

Xu Yunxuan was seven this year, still not at the age to awaken her guardian beast, so she couldn’t communicate with other beasts yet.

However, she was born with a special affinity for beasts and was one of the most outstanding juniors in the Xu family.

This had led Xu Yunxuan to develop a somewhat arrogant personality, always wanting to compete with others.

The reason Xu Yunxuan had come here was that her neighbor, the chubby boy, had recently received a gift—a small flying device.

In order to compete with him, she sneaked into her father’s secret room to find a magical artifact that could rival the flying device. However, she was soon captivated by a painting in her father’s secret room.

As soon as she touched the painting, there was a sudden whirlwind, and before she could examine it closely, she fainted, losing consciousness.

When she woke up, she found herself in a bamboo forest.

The painting depicted a vine that covered the sky, with green leaves hiding a small flower that was quietly blooming, unnoticed by anyone.

After Xu Yunxuan’s disappearance, the Xu family urgently sent people to search for her.

They even issued a notice offering a huge reward for anyone who could find the young miss of the Xu family, as well as the opportunity to enter the Xu family’s secret realm for training.

This was a very sincere offer. People who heard the news spread it rapidly, and they nearly turned the entire Lingyuan Continent upside down, but still, no sign of Xu Yunxuan was found.

Xu Yunxuan’s disappearance caused a stir in the Lingyuan Continent.

No one had expected that she had ended up in the Miyi Continent, a land completely looked down upon by the people of the Lingyuan Continent.

The Miyi Continent had scarce spiritual energy and was not suitable for cultivation. Anyone with some ability would be eager to enter the Lingyuan Continent.

But entering a higher-level continent is not easy. One needs to have sufficient cultivation strength, and even the entrances to the Lingyuan Continent are hard to find.

Some people spend their whole lives without ever discovering the entrance.

For those with insufficient abilities, even if they make it to the Lingyuan Continent, they are still looked down upon. In that place, strength is paramount, and the weak have no voice.

Ordinary people like the Luo family, who hadn’t even touched the threshold of cultivation, naturally had never heard of it.

Meanwhile, Xu Yunxuan, who had caused a frenzy in the Lingyuan Continent, was now quietly following Luo Qiqi.

Seeing Luo Qiqi eating the pastries that Luo father had just taken out, Xu Yunxuan looked down at the one in her hand and took a big bite.

However, the pastry wouldn’t come apart. She tried harder, and one of her teeth got stuck to the pastry.

Seeing her tooth stuck under the pastry, Xu Yunxuan’s eyes welled up with tears, about to fall, looking pitiful.

Luo Qiqi couldn’t help but laugh.

Hearing the noise, the others looked over.

“Wa hahahaha…”

They all tried hard to hold in their laughter, fearing they would hurt the little girl’s pride.

However, Luo Shitou couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter, his laughter echoing loudly.

Xu Yunxuan immediately began crying again, this time sobbing uncontrollably.

Now, it was Luo Shitou’s turn to panic. He quickly covered her mouth with his hands, “Don’t cry, don’t cry, I won’t laugh at you anymore, okay?”

But Xu Yunxuan’s crying only grew louder.

“You see, I also lost a tooth.”

With no other choice, Luo Shitou had to show his own “leaky” tooth, which he usually kept hidden from others.

Seeing that Luo Shitou wasn’t lying, Xu Yunxuan finally stopped crying and broke into a smile.