After Lu Chen stabilized her, Bai Qingqing instinctively tried to circulate her internal energy, wanting to verify if there was any hidden issue with her body. But to her shock, she suddenly discovered—her power was completely gone.
She was now no different from an ordinary person.
Although she couldn't quite grasp what had just happened, Bai Qingqing knew without a doubt that it had something to do with Lu Chen.
Maybe... it was the tea she drank earlier.
But she had examined it herself. When she picked up the cup, she had already scanned it for any foreign or suspicious elements—nothing appeared abnormal. There was no sign of poison or medicinal drugs.
Then why?
Why was she still affected?
Gradually, her vision blurred, and the world around her seemed to spin and distort. She felt herself plunging into another realm—one distant, murky, and surreal.
---
Sufeng City, Great Xia—Bai Mansion.
In this grand estate resided the Bai family. The head of the household had once married a beautiful wife, and for years, their relationship had been seemingly harmonious.
That was until the day the wife discovered her husband's betrayal.
He had taken a maid as his lover—and worse, the maid was pregnant with his child.
From that moment on, the couple's bond was fractured. Though they continued their daily lives as though nothing had changed, beneath the surface raged a quiet war. The wife attempted multiple times to eliminate the maid, determined to ensure the child would never be born.
But under the husband's protection, the maid managed to give birth.
However, that child's arrival marked the beginning of a life marred by cruelty and rejection.
The maid, once believing she would gain status through childbirth, found herself instead consumed with rage—because she had given birth to a daughter, not a son. Disappointment turned to hatred. On several occasions, the maid tried to strangle the child with her own hands, but again, the husband intervention saved the little girl.
The girl slowly grew up under a hailstorm of disdain. The legitimate children of the Bai Mansion bullied her mercilessly. They called her a bastard, beat her, mocked her, and treated her like something less than human.
From the time she could remember, her small body was littered with bruises and scars.
Even the master of family—once her only shield—began to tire of the endless conflict her existence caused. Frequent arguments with his wife over the girl eventually led him to resent the very daughter he had once protected. The man who once spoke gently to her now shouted and scolded, withdrawing all affection.
The entire Bai Mansion shunned her. Even her own mother, by the time she was five, had begun to pretend she didn't exist.
Then, one day, a mysterious man appeared.
He handed her a small packet of powder and whispered, "Put this into the well. If you do, you'll be free."
Perhaps she had been manipulated. Or maybe she was just desperate. Either way, the little girl obeyed without hesitation. That very night, she crept out and dumped the powder into the well.
When dawn broke, the Bai Mansion was silent.
Over a hundred people were dead.
That same day, the mysterious man took her away. He brought her to a secretive place, where day and night she was trained to kill. Every lesson chipped away at her humanity, replacing it with ruthless efficiency. Her past began to fade, her memories buried under the weight of blades and blood.
She forgot the pain.
She forgot the betrayal.
She forgot everything.
Until the man returned years later with a mission.
She was to disguise herself as a beggar and wait along a road—a road destined to be traveled by a noble lady.
By then, she had already become a tool: cold, obedient, and lethal. She executed the order without hesitation.
Eventually, she was brought to the palace by that noble lady. He intended to have her serve as a maid to a prince.
Palace life was different.
Everyone there treated her kindly, especially the prince. He had a mischievous streak and often teased her, but never once did he abuse his status to suppress her nor ever beat her.
For the first time in years, she wondered—could she stay here? Could she be happy?
But reality caught up quickly.
The mysterious figure approached her with a new order: retrieve a particular object.
It was then she remembered: she wasn't human.
She was a weapon.
She completed the mission and vanished.
What followed were endless assassinations, each colder than the last.
Eventually, she became the deputy commander of the Shadow Guard—Great Xia's most secretive force.
And that girl... was Bai Qingqing.
---
At present, memories of her time in the palace surged through Bai Qingqing's mind.
Her moments with Lu Chen surfaced one after another—his warmth, the way he held her when she couldn't sleep, the stories he whispered beside her ear...
Everything... felt so real.
So vivid.
So alive.
With those fragments flashing across her mind, Bai Qingqing felt something stir in her chest. Something she hadn't felt in a long time.
A heartbeat.
Thump... thump...
One... two...
It grew louder... more insistent...
A soft blush rose to her cheeks—something entirely foreign to someone who had always been cold and composed.
Just then, Chu Yuqin's voice cut through the haze.
"Xiaobai? Xiaobai! What's happening to you?"
"Did something go wrong in your cultivation?"
"Don't panic. I'll help you channel your energy."
As Chu Yuqin placed her hand against her back, a warm, steady current poured into Bai Qingqing's body. The chaotic memories that had been flooding her mind slowly began to recede.
And in that stillness, Bai Qingqing finally understood—those weren't foreign memories.
They weren't someone else's life.
They were her own.
Memories she had sealed away, intentionally buried in the deepest recesses of her mind to escape the pain.
This... had nothing to do with the tea.
At least, that's what she believed.
Now feeling more stable, Bai Qingqing sensed her strength gradually returning. Lu Chen, seeing she had recovered, gently stepped back.
With Chu Yuqin's internal energy harmonizing hers, Bai Qingqing's cultivation swiftly returned to its original state. Soon, she opened her eyes.
She turned to Chu Yuqin and whispered gratefully, "Aunt Chu, I'm all right now. Thank you."
Chu Yuqin withdrew her hand and studied her carefully. "Xiaobai, just now… your internal force vanished completely. What happened?"
Even Bai Qingqing herself had no clear answer. After a slight pause, she forced a calm explanation. "My cultivation has been unstable lately. I just need a good night's rest."
Hearing this, Chu Yuqin nodded firmly. "Then go rest now. Your health comes first."
Right as she finished speaking, Lu Chen stepped in. "Xiaobai, I'll have someone arrange a room for you immediately."
He turned around and gestured to the maid nearby. "Go. Prepare a quiet, comfortable room at once."
As Bai Qingqing watched Lu Chen's back, something inexplicable stirred inside her.
He felt like a light—distant, but unwavering and steady.
Like a guiding star in her eternal night.
Suddenly, a familiar sound echoed in Lu Chen's ears—the mechanical voice of the system.
A translucent panel appeared before him.
[Bai Qingqing's emotions have revived. Favorability: 100.]
Lu Chen froze for a second.
Her emotions had just resurfaced, and her favorability immediately shot to full?
Regaining his composure, he turned back to glance at Bai Qingqing.
She was already looking at him.
But now, there was something else in her gaze.
Something new.
Something soft.
Though her face remained composed and cool as ever, her eyes shimmered faintly with a warmth he hadn't seen before.
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
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