The Mystery of Her Origins

After Chu Zhao finished speaking, she ignored their attempts to persuade her and turned to resume cultivating.

There were far too many powerful people in this world, and many of them had little Martial Morality. It was perfectly normal for them to attack juniors.

Tang San had Tang Hao and the Clear Sky Sect backing him, while Xiao Wu had a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast backing her...

Although she had the system, she had no powerful patron.

Only by raising her strength as soon as possible could she feel at ease.

As for rest, there would be plenty of time to sleep after death. While alive, she naturally had to cherish every moment and cultivate diligently.

Tang San and Xiao Wu looked at the closed door, both wanting to blurt out—

"From now on, I'll protect you. You don't have to work so hard."

But then they realized that they could not even protect themselves yet, so how could they promise to protect her? Thus, they both began cultivating as well, throwing themselves into the grind together.

When the group was preparing to leave Holy Soul Village and return to Notting Academy, Chu Zhao went to bid Old Jack farewell. Old Jack suddenly brought up something that had happened four years ago.

"Little Chu, it seems you've learned quite a lot on this trip, but don't rush to look for your family just yet. You were still unconscious on that night four years ago, so you don't know what we saw when we found you."

"We? Grandpa Jack, weren't you the only one who brought me back to Holy Soul Village?"

Chu Zhao did not have the original owner's memories. Everyone in the village said that Old Jack had found her outside the village. Furthermore, Old Jack had been the first person she saw when she opened her eyes, so she had never doubted it.

"Tang Hao was there too. The two of us found you together. It was a rainy night. I was awakened by thunder and couldn't fall asleep again. Then I suddenly heard some commotion outside the village, so I went out to take a look.

"I saw Tang Hao standing at the village entrance, with a pile of corpses in front of him. He pulled you out from the heap of dead bodies and handed you to me. Then he dug a pit by himself and buried all those corpses."

Listening to Old Jack recount what had happened that year, Chu Zhao was truly stunned.

The original owner's background seemed far from ordinary! There seemed to be some kind of secret behind it.

"Who were those people? Why was I in a pile of corpses?"

Chu Zhao wanted to pry more information out of Old Jack. She was afraid that the original owner's enemies might think she had not truly died and come looking for her again, so she hurriedly asked about what had happened back then.

Now she finally understood why this body had been so frail when she first arrived. Its internal organs had all suffered varying degrees of damage, and a strange poison had nearly seeped into her lungs and viscera.

Her injuries had been so severe that it took her three years to restore her body to a normal state.

"According to Tang Hao, those people were divided into two groups. One group was protecting you, while the other had come to kill you. It was just that the two groups happened to perish together. Only you, still so young, luckily survived the disaster."

What Old Jack said was already everything he knew.

When he had suddenly seen so many corpses, he had been frightened out of his wits. Tang Hao had arranged everything from start to finish, and Old Jack had not really understood what had happened. Even this much had only been learned later when he asked.

What lucky escape? The original owner had probably truly died back then. It was only because her soul had happened to transmigrate into this body. Because of this, Chu Zhao sensed an unknown danger lurking in the shadows.

"Looks like only he knows what happened back then."

How much of what Tang Hao had told Old Jack, and what Old Jack had then told Chu Zhao, was true and how much was false? Perhaps only Tang Hao knew.

"You're grown up now. Grandpa doesn't know how many more years he has left, so I'll give this to you first. Maybe you can find some clues from it. But you must be sensible—find yourself a patron before you go looking for your family."

As Old Jack spoke, he took a cloth bundle from his pocket. When Chu Zhao opened it, she found a Ruby Necklace inside.

The moment she saw the necklace, Chu Zhao knew that it was not an ordinary necklace, but an advanced Storage Soul Tool.

"This necklace was hanging around your neck back then. There's also a Chu Character on the back."

As Old Jack spoke, he placed the necklace in Chu Zhao's hand.

"Did Uncle Tang Hao see this necklace?"

"No. He doesn't know that this necklace exists either. Grandpa didn't tell anyone and kept it hidden all this time."

As Old Jack spoke, he revealed a wise smile, as though he were saying, I'm pretty clever, you know.

"Thank you, Grandpa Jack."

Old Jack had kept such an obviously precious necklace for all these years. He was someone worthy of respect, and his place in Chu Zhao's heart grew even more important.

"Remember to keep the things I brought back for yourself to eat, Grandpa! They're all good things. You'll definitely live for a long time—at the very least, long enough to witness Holy Soul Village produce another Soul Saint, or an even higher-ranked Soul Master!"

Chu Zhao hugged Old Jack. When she left Holy Soul Village again, she unexpectedly felt a little reluctant to go.

But life was a road of constant partings and brief reunions.

The Storage Soul Tool that Old Jack had carefully kept for four years had plenty of space inside. Most of what it contained were princess dresses and dolls that little girls liked.

After much effort, Chu Zhao dug several boxes out from a corner, but every one of them was locked. Their construction was extremely ingenious, making them difficult to open. However, Chu Zhao refused to believe there was nothing she could do.

After returning to the dormitory, she placed one of the boxes on the floor. Just as she was about to use brute force and smash it open with the Death God Scythe, Tang San stopped her.

"Don't mess around! There's a self-destruct mechanism inside this box. If you force it open, it'll destroy itself automatically!"

Tang San spoke urgently. He was afraid that if he spoke too slowly, Chu Zhao would really destroy the exquisitely crafted box. He was also afraid she would not believe him.

"Can you open it?"

But Chu Zhao believed him. Upon hearing that, she looked at Tang San expectantly.

Tang San came from the Shu Tang Sect, so he should understand such things best.

"Let me take a look first."

Seeing that Chu Zhao trusted him, Tang San let out a breath of relief. He took the box and examined it carefully for a while, then shook his head in both disappointment and surprise.

"I can't open this either. It can only be opened with a key. If you use any other method, it will self-destruct along with everything inside. It might even cause a small explosion.

"Where did you get this? Why don't you have the key?"

"Grandpa Jack gave it to me. I suspect that it may contain clues about the mystery of my origins, so I wanted to open it and take a look."

Since forcing it open was not an option, Chu Zhao could only put the box back into her Storage Soul Tool in disappointment.

"So that's how it is. If only I could open it."

Tang San knew a little about Chu Zhao's background as well. She had been abandoned outside Holy Soul Village when she was only a few years old. Village Chief Old Jack had brought her back to the village and supported her over the years, allowing her to survive.

Compared to her, he was actually quite fortunate.

At least he still had a father. His father had stayed with him for seven years before leaving.