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A pale-gold figure flashed past like lightning and caught the dizzy Xiao Nuo securely in his palm. The little creature drooped its wings, hugged Ye Qinglan's finger, and gave a feeble cry.

Ye Qinglan poked Xiao Nuo's furry head, then handed her to the enormous creature that had already come up behind him. Its massive lion's head cast a shadow like Mount Tai crashing down, swallowing Ye Qinglan whole. When its round eyes spotted the little creature in his palm, it snorted.

The powerful gust from that snort nearly blew Xiao Nuo away again.

Xiao Nuo somersaulted, rallied, and charged into the long fur atop the giant creature's head, yowling. She rolled about, still yowling something no one could make out. The giant creature folded its wings and sat in perfect form, letting the little rebel run riot on its enormous head.

Ye Qinglan narrowed his eyes. A sharp glint flashed through his jade-green gaze. If Xiao Nuo was here, that irritating fellow had to be nearby.

He turned and saw Red Beard standing a short distance away with his arms folded, his ice-blue eyes fixed coldly on the commotion. Jun Ruofeng stood beside him, also watching Ye Qinglan through narrowed eyes.

For once, all three shared the same thought: Hah. Someone I can't stand.

Red Beard spoke first. "What are you doing here?"

Ye Qinglan barely lifted his eyelids. He had no desire to answer Red Beard, but after a moment's thought, he said, "Looking for someone."

Red Beard froze. He knew perfectly well Ye Qinglan would not have come looking for him. Before he could ask who, an uncanny thought crossed his mind. Details he had overlooked and tiny, scattered fragments suddenly fell into place.

He glanced at Jun Ruofeng and met his eyes. The other man had plainly reached the same conclusion. Red Beard was about to speak, but Ye Qinglan had already walked past them, ignoring them so thoroughly that his earlier reply seemed like a figment of Red Beard's imagination.

"Ye Qinglan!" Red Beard called. "Aren't you going to ask what we know?"

Ye Qinglan stopped abruptly. Though he turned with perfect steadiness, the movement carried a danger that set nerves on edge. Most of all, his dark-jade eyes seemed to conceal towering waves.

His voice remained cool and even, but as he stood there, he was like a sword drawn from its sheath, sharp from head to toe. "What do you know?"

Red Beard felt he might know a little too much.

"Some time ago, we met a little girl in the Ashen Wasteland—" Red Beard broke off. Ye Qinglan's pupils had visibly contracted, and his dark-green eyes had deepened, as though filled with black mist too thick to disperse. "She said her name was Yezi. Her hair was silver, and her eyes—"

A barely perceptible tremor entered Ye Qinglan's voice. "Black."

Ye Chuqi's eyes had originally been black.

It was a peculiar trait of the Ye Family bloodline. Most people did not have such a stark contrast between hair and eye color; both were generally dark or both light. The Ye Family, however, had hair in subtly varied shades of pale silver, while their eyes came in all manner of dark colors.

Jun Ruofeng's pupils contracted for an instant. Until now, he and Red Beard had merely suspected that Ye Qinglan's appearance might have something to do with Ye Chuqi, whose origins were unknown. He had not known her hair was originally silver.

He suddenly remembered the day Xiya had sought out Red Beard in secret. Afterward, neither of them had wanted him to look too closely at Ye Chuqi, and the next day, the grimy little girl had changed her appearance.

Jun Ruofeng shot Red Beard a thoughtful glance. How had he failed to realize it even then?

Red Beard was embarrassed too. Xiya had led his thoughts astray at the time. He had focused on Ye Chuqi's white hair and whether she might be connected to the royal family over there, never realizing she might have another identity altogether.

"Where is she?"

Ye Qinglan's question plunged Red Beard and Jun Ruofeng into an awkward silence.

They still could not confirm that Ye Chuqi was the Ye Family's long-lost youngest daughter. But Ye Qinglan did not seem to doubt Red Beard's words at all. He had even come here prepared, as though he had known something in advance. An ancient lineage like the Ye Family, passed down through thousands of years, was bound to have some extraordinary means.

Ye Qinglan read their expressions and turned toward the Adventurers' Camp once more.

"When we used the Teleportation Array to leave Kru Town, something went wrong. We stopped it in time, but Yezi was separated from us. We were transported to the edge of the Lost Forest, and we still don't know where she is."

Ye Qinglan's steps halted again. Then he continued as though nothing had happened, his back straight and his stride firm.

Only his quiet voice drifted back on the wind. "Her name is Ye Chuqi."

She had a name. Ye Chuqi.

Ye Chuqi had no idea that someone had traveled such a long way because he had sensed her presence. She had never experienced the pull of a blood bond, so she did not understand what it meant.

She knew nothing of this body's origins. By the time she became aware, she had already been at the foot of Lush Mountain. Still swaddled, she had not even managed to let out a couple of wails before Eldest Senior Brother carried her up the mountain.

It had never occurred to her that she might still have family in this world.

Right now, all her attention was on the fire before her. A mouthwatering aroma rose from the iron pot and drifted far, far through the forest.

The young man frowned, unable to understand Ye Chuqi's behavior. She seemed cautious to him, always choosing the safest routes when they traveled. Yet whenever they stopped to rest, she refused to settle for less. She would risk making such a strong smell. Was she not afraid some high-level Magic Beasts would be unable to resist, rush over, and knock the two of them flat?

Rankings

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Space fiction

Transmigration and rebirth romance