"Now that you're finally ready to listen, can you tell me just what prompted the Spider Queen to make an appearance?" Jia Qizhe stroked the mini white tiger in his arms and combed out her fur. The Spider Queen glanced at Jia Qizhe and gave him a sweet, yet sinister smile. "I really did not expect that the third miss of the Gu family is an ancient beast."
Ancient beast? Qi Wan was startled by her explanation.Didn't Gu Qingyu come from the same era as him? Her backstory just got much more complicated if things like ancient beasts are involved.
"Yeah, the White Tiger." Jia Qizhe continued to pamper the mini white tiger in his arms. He did not seem displeased that the Spider Queen had avoided his question yet again. "Should this information be released, it would attract even more attention than the Lifeblood Jewel of Destiny..." Blue light appeared behind him.
"Dead men tell no tales. So, are you going to silence me for good?" The Spider Queen followed his chain of thought.
Yet Jia Qizhe smiled, his smile was very beautiful and cunning, but what he said surprised the Spider Queen. "No, things would still get out, even if I kill you."
An army of a thousand men appeared before them, all kneeling in front of Jia Qizhe. "King!"
"Huh." Jia Qizhe nodded with satisfaction, and walked forward with Gu Qingyu in his arms.
The men tied up the Spider Queen and took her away. The others were all apprehensive as they watched Jia Qizhe. Jia Qizhe ignored them. Qi Wan and Qi Yichen glanced at each other. Qi Wan covered his chest and followed with a slight limp. Xiao Qi followed Qi Wan, and Murong Zuoyu followed Qi Yichen. Only Mo Bai stayed in place. He glanced at the direction where the men left with the Spider Queen before following the rest of the team. Gu Qingyu, who was asleep, had no idea what transpired. She laid quietly in Jia Qizhe's arms.
In front of her was a vast, pale white world.
Who am I?
Where do I come from?
Where... will I finally belong?
The scene before, which is real? Who can I trust?
In the white world, a man in a white robe stood quietly in front of her. He had his back towards her. Even though he did not say anything, he felt oddly familiar to her.
"Who are you?" Gu Qingyu spoke softly, but was startled by her own voice. She looked down and found that she had become a person. The man turned around slowly, with a little embarrassment between his clean eyes.
...Yan Zun?Gu Qingyu felt that her eyes were about to pop out of her skull. "Master?"
Their eyes met and his lips gradually opened and formed a toothy grin.
It was nothing like she had seen from him before. It was neither sinister or cunning, but a truly pure smile, bright with sunshine, and a little bashful. He looked young too, about as old as a teenager.
"Are you really Master...?" She asked carefully.
The teenager nodded with a smile. "It's me."
Gu Qingyu looked at the teenager doubtfully. He continued, as though he had read her mind, "I came from tens of millions of years ago."
"Ah?" Gu Qingyu’s eyes widened. That is to say, the teenager in front of her was the Yan Zun in her youth?
The young man was quite shy. "My name is Yan Ruhuo. Yan as in colour."
"Oh..." Gu Qingyu nodded, barely accepting the fact that the young man in front of her was Yan Zun.
Yan Ruhuo? So not Yan Zun? After all, Yan Zun’s Yan was flame, not colour. But based on what he said before, it seems that he has experienced something, and that thing left him with endless hatred... What kind of thing can make such a pure teenager become the bloodthirsty, vengeful Yan Zun?
"You are now awakened. Your real form is the White Tiger." Yan Ruhuo smiled softly. "I came here to tell you that a new Spirit Gem will follow you after you wake up, it will help you turn back."
"Since you said you came from the ancient times, how do you know what happens in the present?" Gu Qingyu blinked.
"I have predicted that a short time later, there will be a catastrophe, and I will be hiding in the Lifeblood Jewel of Destiny, and tens of millions of years later, the reincarnation of the Divine Beast will release me." He answered with a smile.
"Incarnation of the Divine Beast?" Gu Qingyu let out a small laugh. "Are you talking about me?"
Yan Ruhuo nodded. "This spiritual message was released when you awakened as a Divine Beast. I predicted that this would happen, so I left this message."
"Today? Am I becoming a beast?" She looked at him doubtfully. "What is your real purpose?"
"Purpose?" Yan Ruhuo shook his head. "Maybe it is to help you, but it would also help me."
"Why did you help me?" Gu Qingyu was even more puzzled, even though she did know what he meant, helping her would allow her to gather all of the Spirit Gems and she would be able to release Yan Zun.
Yan Ruhuo looked away. "You will know soon."
Gu Qingyu blinked at his cryptic response. "Okay, but how long do you plan to go on like this? My real "Master" should be waking up soon, what if he finds you?"
"I will disappear soon." Yan Ruhuo sighed softly, but soon showed a bright smile. "The Spirit Gem I gave you allows you to transform at will. Cherish it. We will meet again. "His body began to gradually become transparent and began to disappear.
"We will meet again?" Reflexively, she stepped forward and tried to catch him. "Hey ..."
"I will be waiting for you ten million years in the future." Yan Ruhuo's smiling face with a little shyness disappeared, "Goodbye." His words echoed through the empty space.
Gu Qingyu stood in the middle of a white world, alone, she stared at the place where Yan Ruhuo originally stood. Sunny, warm, dressed in white robes. Unlike the gentleness of Mo Bai and the elegance of Qi Yichen, it is the kind of truly innocent white, without a trace of dirt, and even the eyes are so clean and pure, with the warmth of sunshine. Is that really... Yan Zun? Yan Ruhuo?
"...Goodbye." She said, with a short laugh. Maybe we will meet again, there must be some meaning behind his final words. I will be waiting for you in the future, goodbye.
Gu Qingyu opened her eyes and found herself lying in an embrace with a light fragrance.
This smell, Jia Qizhe?
Gu Qingyu raised her head and found that she was indeed lying in Jia Qizhe's arms. There was a slight shaking, they seemed to be walking somewhere. Looking around, they were no longer in a forest. She does not recognise where they were.
Gu Qingyu couldn't help but wonder. "Meow?"Where are we?
Gu Qingyu startled herself with that meow. Why haven't I changed back? And I thought I was a white tiger? What am I so small now?
"Oh, you're awake?" Jia Qizhe ran his fingers along her back and smoothened out her fur. "Relax, we're almost there."
Relax?Gu Qingyu tilted her head in dissatisfaction and sank her teeth into the fabric of his sleeve. "Meow!" If you don't explain it to me, I won't let go!
"You can keep biting on it if you want to." Jia Qizhe patted her head and kept walking.
Gu Qingyu gave up with a huff. She decided to check their surroundings instead.
Qi Wan and others were walking behind Jia Qizhe. They all looked like they were worried.
Gu Qingyu stuck out her head, rested her paws on Jia Qizhe's arm as she tried to look at Qi Wan. "Meow?" Qi Wan? What happened to you?
Qi Wan raised his head and looked at Gu Qingyu. He gave her a relaxed smile, but his smile was strained and there was a somber look in his eyes. She turned her head to look at Qi Yichen, his fan was open and he was fanning himself as usual, but he looked less carefree than usual. Mo Bai seemed to be the most calm, his fingers gently rubbed the jade flute, and he smiled softly at Gu Qingyu. Gu Qingyu's two paws immediately covered her nose, and she had already been pressed by Jia Qizhe into his arms before she could react.
Jia Qizhe's voice drifted slowly from above. "Xiao Yu'er, you've overexerted yourself, you need to rest more."
"Meow ..." Not really. I have rested enough. I want to walk on my own.
"No." Jia Qizhe stroked her back. "We're almost there. I'll get you something to eat once we arrive."
"Meow ..." Since you promised food, I'll let this slide once. Hmph, just wait till I turn back. Even though there's not much that I can do...
She felt something against her stomach and looked down. This is the Spirit Gem?
Gu Qingyu wrestled and wriggled, and finally pulled out the Spirit Gem from under her, only for Jia Qizhe to pluck it right from her paws. He examined it under the sunlight. "Where did this come from, Xiao Yu?"
This guy just doesn't take me seriously!
Gu Qingyu could explode from indignance. She reached out to take back the Spirit Gem, but Jia Qizhe put it back into her arms again. "Okay, don't make trouble, hold on tight, we're here."
Gu Qingyu sulked. I don't know why, but I really want to punch someone!
She continued to turn the Spirit Gem over with her paws. Didn’t Yan Ruhuo say that this can help me change back to a human? How I want to change back right now!
"So white tigers like to play with these kinds of things too?" Jia Qizhe blinked in confusion, then smiled clearly. "Alright, I'll get you a ball of yarn later." He stopped in front of a tower.
Ball of yarn? Forget about it.
Gu Qingyu looked at the tower in doubt. She had trouble counting the exact number of storeys, but it was tall and large. "Meow?" What is this place?
"This is the headquarters of Ye." Jia Qizhe rubbed Gu Qingyu's head. The door opened automatically and he stepped over the threshold and entered the tower. "Welcome to Ye." He announced as he turned and smiled at the group behind him.