Bao'er's plight

A white fog-like stream was surrounded by countless trees that are white from its roots to its leaves. Everything was like covered in snow; pristine and ethereal. The stream looked endless and countless swimming worm-like lights were wiggling and dancing inside.

A blob of light hovered above it absorbing these wiggly worm-like lights. This blob, Bao'er, had been doing this for exactly 3 and a half months now. It was also very temperamental as what can be heard by its occasional muttering, crying, and shouting.

"This stupid flow of fate is stopping me from seeing Yueyue! Why can't the world's consciousness do its job properly." Crying loudly, Bao'er can only speak out its grievances to itself as there was not a soul in sight around it.

"This better be worthwhile and help Yueyue a lot or else this grandpa will destroy this awful place." It muttered as it can only pass its time like this. Looking at the furthermost part of the stream, Bao'er could see a vague flashing light. It was flashing red then back to green so this caught its attention.

Dying of curiosity, Bao'er came nearer to that light to see what was going on. As it came nearer, the energy fluctuation of the surrounding was becoming more and more hostile.

After countless of times that Bao'er visited the flow of fate from other dimensions, it was the first time that it experienced this kind of fluctuations and was instantly on alert. This energy was hurtful and might even be malignant enough to destroy.

Taking a pause Bao'er thought hard of what it should do. Should it just go back or continue? But Bao'er had a feeling that this would be something that could help them.

At that moment a burst of fluctuation overwhelmed the place. It was very strong that it managed to throw Bao'er back and hurt its vitality in the process.

The blob of light that was thrown off got weak and its light was dimming too. Bao'er was hurt critically that its vitality weakened this drastically. Lucky enough for it, it didn't venture further to the innermost part where the fluctuating light was at or else it wouldn't just have been flung out like now but it might have been obliterated.

Bao'er took time to rest and recuperate some strength before glancing at the dangerous place once more. Now it was sure that if it would be able to come near, it would obtain a piece of fruitful information for Yueyue.

With this in mind, it closed its eyes to meditate.

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Inside the forest, Ying Yue was fighting with a white tiger that she had saved and tamed. She had been in this forest for a few days now and had helped the beasts treat their injury and find shelter for the little ones.

She had been practicing her agility and stamina by running and doing soft punches and Tai Chi. This body was not suitable for heavy blows as it lacked muscles and strength. Despite the changes and the training, this body is of that of a soft gentle maiden. But at the very least, with proper training, she can turn this body into someone that doesn't pull other people's leg in a fight.

Ying Yue slashed her makeshift wooden sword to the tiger after cornering it using a series of blows. As the stick was about to fall onto the white tiger's head, Ying Yue then stopped while grinning at it.

"Thank you, Shasha for your help." Ying Yue said while ruffling the tiger's head. Ying Yue saved it one day as it was about to be poached. This tiger had a cub which the poacher accidentally killed hence this turned the tiger into a manic beast.

At that time, Ying Yue was observing and was waiting for an opportune moment to intervene. But upon seeing the situation, Ying Yue got angry then she threw all cautions to the air, burning the valerian root she got from the forest. This knocked out the poachers including the manic tiger.

Ying Yue then took the tiger and hid it inside the cave that she found. She also took the little dead cub along. She treated the wounded tiger then tidied up the cub too. Not long after, the manic tiger woke up and Ying Yue had to calm it down by using her potent scent to beguile the tiger for a moment, enough to let it feel that she was not hostile and would not hurt it. As it calmed down enough, Ying Yue helped it bury its cub. After that day, the tiger never left her side even half a step so Ying Yue had no choice but to bring it along. And now, it became her sparring partner and her bodyguard as well.

As Ying Yue was musing, she suddenly felt a painful tug on her consciousness. It was very painful that Ying Yue fell on her knees while groaning. Shasha who was by her side was alerted as it saw her master curl up in pain. It then rubbed its head on her arms as if to soothe her.

Ying Yue despite suffering held her hand up to pat and reassure the tiger, when the pain dulled to something she can bear, she sat in a meditative pose then entered her spiritual domain. She saw her connection with Bao'er dimming and got worried. She knew Bao'er encountered a mishap. Willing her spirit power to bridge a connection with Bao'er she then tried to confirm its situation.

"Bao'er, Bao'er. Can you hear me?" With a voice dripping with worry, Ying Yue tried calling it.

"Yueyue!" A childlike voice drifted towards her and she was finally able to release the breath she was holding.

"Bao'er, what happened? Why were you hurt?" Ying Yue still worrying, asked the blob.

"Yueyue I am okay! I was hurt but I am stabilizing my energy now." Bao'er reassured Ying Yue. "It was because I found a hostile fragment in the flow of fate." Bao'er paused as if trying to reorganize its thoughts as it continued "This hostile fragment was something I never encountered before. It was very unstable and it bursts out hostile energy intermittently. Yueyue, you were right, this world is not easy." Bao'er ended with a very grave tone.

"Then that might be a very important key fragment. A lot of things in this world don't add up but if we can obtain that, this might help us solve a lot of questions and give us very valuable information." This was something she had thought of after meeting the fourth prince.

There were just a lot of things that she never understood. If the prince was as imposing as that when he was young, there was no way in hell that he will become so weak growing up to the point of assuring a very smooth succession of the throne for the crown prince. It was like the crown was served to the crown prince in a silver platter.

If it was just because of the fourth prince wanting to be a reclusive prince, then it doesn't make any sense as well. A figure like that would be very decisive and ambitious so he would never stay put and govern a small county. So then why was there no information even when this body was married off and was sent to the brothel?

There was only one answer to this, the prince died very early. And it was early enough for him to be buried in the depths of the people's mind.

"But Bao'er, I want you to prioritize your safety. If it is too dangerous then you have to stop and go back to me. Do you understand?" Ying Yue's voice was stern. There was no room for rejection. If they weren't able to get the information and help the sons of fate then she will do her utmost best to give this body and Xiao Hua a good future, they would still get a significant amount of good karma from it. It may not be enough to free her from the void but there would still be other worlds that she can come to. There was no point endangering them if she could help it.

"Bao'er understands Yueyue! I will be very careful." As it was very dependent on Ying Yue, Bao'er clearly understands how important they were to each other. Thus it agreed without a doubt.

"Aright then, recuperate well and come back to me as soon as possible. I miss you little blob!" Hearing Bao'er's assent Ying Yue then cut off the connection.

Ying Yue opened her eyes, sweat was dripping down her body and she felt very weak. That momentary connection wore her out. The flow of fate was in a separate void so connecting to that place took a lot of energy from her.

Shasha laid down in front of her as if encouraging her to lay on it and Ying Yue grabbed the offer with open arms. She needed that comfortable warmth as she rested.

Finding a comfortable position Ying Yue drifted off to sleep with all thoughts thrown at the back of her head. She will think about it properly tomorrow, but for now, all she needed was a good rest.