Chapter 1: Wang Donger Reborn
“Dong’er—”
The desperate cry tore from his throat, thick with anguish.
“I beg you, let Dong’er live! I’m willing to give my life, my soul in exchange for hers! Please...”
At that moment, the world around Huo Yuhao shifted. He looked up to find an endless flight of stairs stretching before him.
He immediately hugged Wang Dong’er tightly to his chest, his senses on high alert.
“As you wish.”
What?
A cold, indifferent voice echoed out. Huo Yuhao snapped his head up, but it was too late.
“Ah—!”
In an instant, his sea of spiritual consciousness began to burn. Wang Dong’er’s body was swept away by a surge of green energy and vanished before his eyes.
Huo Yuhao was overwhelmed, his hair turning white in a flash as his whole body began to turn translucent. The Skydream Iceworm, Ice Empress, and Snow Empress—his spiritual companions—were forcibly ripped away by the same green energy, drawn out as well.
Thus, Huo Yuhao sacrificed his soul to the other party and fell into a deep coma from which he could not awaken.
A crack of thunder split the air, altering the course of the green energy. Wang Dong’er, the Skydream Iceworm, the Ice Empress, and the Snow Empress all disappeared at once.
...
On the outskirts of Heaven Dou City.
A carriage sped toward the city, followed closely by a squad of cavalry.
“Your Highness, the Emperor has ordered that you return to the palace at once.”
“Tch.”
A gentle, clear male voice sounded from within, tinged with impatience. He let out a soft sigh, his once-languid posture straightening at the summons.
Just then, his tightly closed eyes sprang open.
“Stop the carriage!”
In a flash, the passenger leapt out, landing lightly in a nearby thicket. The guards hurried after him.
After only a few steps, they spotted a small boy with blue-and-pink hair and a fair, delicate face lying on the ground.
One guard reached for his sword, but Xue Qinghe stopped him.
Xue Qinghe stepped forward, placed his hand on the boy’s forehead, and channeled his soul power.
A moment later, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.
He then personally gathered the boy in his arms and carried him back to the carriage, step by step.
A guard reached out to help, but a single glance from Xue Qinghe made him withdraw.
Inside the carriage, Xue Qinghe kept the boy on his lap the entire ride, never letting go.
“Who are you, really? Why do you feel so strangely familiar to me?”
Heaven Dou Imperial Palace.
---
Moonlight hung high, filtering through the trees and casting dappled shadows across the bed, illuminating the face of the boy with blue-and-pink hair.
Perhaps the flickering shadows were too harsh—he frowned, squinting against the brightness, and instinctively reached out his arm. But when he caught sight of his now-small body, he froze in shock.
He shot upright.
Where was this?
Wasn’t she dead?
Turning toward the window, Wang Dong’er finally saw her own face reflected in the glass.
A head of clean, cropped hair; chubby cheeks not yet shed of youthful roundness—it was the face she’d worn as a child.
She touched her short hair in confusion, unable to fathom how she had become a boy again.
Just then, her gaze shifted, and in the window’s reflection she caught sight of someone behind her—reclining on the sofa, eyebrows raised, watching her.
Their eyes met in the glass. Before she could speak, the stranger’s voice sounded at her ear.
“Well, you’ve finally noticed me.”
With his words, the lights in the room all flickered on.
Wang Dong’er turned to face the young man, unconsciously leaning forward.
“Who are you?”
Her voice was childish, and for a moment, both of them were stunned.
Apparently unbothered by Wang Dong’er’s lack of fear, he spoke. “My name is Xue Qinghe. I am the crown prince of the Heaven Dou Empire.”
The Heaven Dou Empire?
Wasn’t that the old nation that later split into the Heaven Soul Empire and the Dou Ling Empire?
Wang Dong’er glanced around the room, then peered out the window.
There was hardly a trace of soul tools anywhere...
Xue Qinghe, noticing the boy’s silence and constant scrutiny of his surroundings, pressed on.
“Who are you, and why were you found outside Heaven Dou City?”
By now, Wang Dong’er was fairly certain she was no longer in her original timeline, though when exactly she had landed remained unclear. For now, she would have to rely on the person before her.
“My name is Wang Dong. I don’t know where I am, either.”
Wang?
Xue Qinghe quickly ran through his mental catalogue of the great clans and renowned sects of Heaven Dou Empire and the continent, but none bore the surname Wang. Yet the boy’s bearing was far from that of a commoner’s child.
“Do you have any family?”
Wang Dong shook his head. “Only two uncles. No one else.”
The vague answer yielded no clues. Xue Qinghe was about to press further when a rumble sounded in the room.
For a moment, the air seemed to freeze.
Wang Dong, knowing the sound came from his own stomach, turned away, cheeks flushing red.
Xue Qinghe glanced at the boy’s stomach, the corners of his lips twitching with the hint of a smile.
---
He hadn’t expected such a proud little child.
“Someone, bring food.”
At his command, a row of maids filed in, each carrying a tray, and set the dishes on the table.
Wang Dong eyed the clearly pre-prepared spread. His stomach betrayed him with another rumble, but still he sat, unmoving.
Watching Wang Dong, Xue Qinghe suddenly lost interest in why the boy had appeared here. As he walked toward the door, he said, “Take your time eating. I’ll leave you be. Spare clothing is in the inner room. If you—”
He seemed to remember something, turned, and crouched in front of Wang Dong.
Very close now, Wang Dong edged backward.
“Do you... need me to send someone to help you bathe?”
Wang Dong’s already red face turned nearly crimson.
“No! Need!”
Xue Qinghe could not resist pinching his cheek. “Such a proud little one. All right—I’m leaving. If you need anything, call for the sister outside. She’ll help you.”
With that, he left without another word.
Wang Dong, regaining his composure, looked at the food, then remembered something and called out to the departing Xue Qinghe.
“Wait!”
Xue Qinghe paused but did not turn back.
“Thank you!”
The words were soft, but they reached his ears.
“Mm.”
He walked out without looking back. At the door, he instructed the maid, “Unless the young master inside calls for you, don’t disturb him.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
He then ordered hidden guards to keep watch, finally at ease as he left.
Inside, Wang Dong waited until all had gone before climbing out of bed and taking a seat at the table, eating in small bites.
The situation was uncertain. Xue Qinghe seemed to mean her no harm, but still...
Wasn’t she dead?
How had she suddenly come to be here?
What had become of Yuhao and Xiaoxiao?
If her two fathers learned she’d died, they would surely be heartbroken...
...
End of chapter.