1 Crippled Emperor's Daughter

"One day, Empress Sha the Silver Lotus just gave birth. She and Emperor Heng the Thousand Flames had waited for descendants for tens of thousands of years. They rejoiced that the empyrean of the seventh wing would finally hold a birth celebration feast.

However, there was a big problem. Of the thirteen jade-shaped seeds, only seven were perfect.

The emperor and empress wanted a perfect offspring, who would be able to be equated with them as rulers of the seventh wing of the empyrean. The demand to find a successor forced them to do so. In addition, the Heavenly Council may make fun of them because they were considered to have committed a major sin so they got the karma of crippled children.

Thus Emperor Heng decided to exterminate the six jade-shaped seeds or exterminate his six children who were still thriving in the Sacred Swamp. Rather than being late, it was better to annihilate as soon as possible.

Finally, seven perfect babies were born from the seven jade seeds. They live well, are full of love, and also care.

Until one day, a strange girl appeared, whom they called White Flame Hair. She looked dazed, often tilting her head like a stupid fish with flowing white hair.

The celestial warriors tried to repel her but there was something in her body that glowed like it was giving off a powerful move. The soldiers lost, they were blown away and made the seventh wing of the empyrean a mess."

"Do you believe that stupid fairy tale?" someone chimed in, which distracted the children who were listening to the story.

They all turned and glared at him.

"Din Dong, stop making trouble!" protested one of the children. "Just carry on with your job of rolling the rattan! Don't you still have a lot of work to do to pay off your gambling debts?"

"Who said I gambled?" Din Dong got up, slamming the pile of rattan in his hands. "I was just playing around a bit, but I was tricked."

"That's what you want to believe," interjected a woman, an accomplished storyteller. "But unfortunately your brain is not strong enough to change your destiny."

Din Dong clenched his fists and moved forward to make calculations with her. He pulled her collar. "Hey, Ying Idiot! Don't be Mrs. Know-it-All! Just take care of your life, including changing your shabby and holey clothes."

"Why do you always slander her?" said a child reproachfully, hitting Din Dong on the back. "Ying Hua is wearing very luxurious clothes. She even has diamond beads on her clothes. There is also a kind of…" He was silent as he looked at Ying Hua. "She also has blazing and beautiful hair."

"Blazing hair?" Din Dong snorted. "Her hair is tangier and dirtier than my fingernails! Do you hear? So stop talking nonsense. It must be this Ying Idiot who taught you guys, right? I will report you to your parents!"

"You should be the one who should be reported!" Old Man Din appeared with a wooden stick. While beating Din Dong's ass, he grabbed his son.

The children laughed and cheered. The arrival of Old Man Din who will punish Din Dong the Big Mouth is always entertaining.

"Tweak him, Old Man Din! He has slandered our Eight Wolf Ying Hua!" one of the children shouted.

"He said she was wearing shabby clothes and holes!" another shouted.

They laughed again as Din Dong was beaten with a stick.

Another person appeared, a woman who was the mother of one of the children who were there. "Golden Ears, let's go home! The day will be late. You can see Ying Hua again tomorrow."

Golden Ears looked up. In an instant, his face turned sad. His nose was dripping with snot, which was wiped away with his stubby, short finger. "Oh please, Mother. We have an important meeting. We have to finish it right now! Otherwise, we won't be able to make an evolution!"

"Alright, Master Important!" the woman nodded. "But unfortunately you have a meeting at home with Mother and Father now. We need you to help us finish dinner."

Golden Ears widen and twinkle. Seeing this his mother immediately whispered, "Your father caught a partridge this afternoon."

"Is that true?"

And so the Golden Ears left, followed by the other children for the same reason: their mother wanted them to come home for dinner quickly.

Now only Ying Hua and a little girl were left in that place, in the middle of the village where the people's houses were built in the middle of the forest.

"They are gone," said the little girl, Jia Yi. "Shouldn't we head back to base to start dinner?"

Ying Hua nodded, then went to a huge tree, where a small hut was firmly built on the top. There was a ladder running down, a tool they could use to climb up.

"You'd better wait here first! I'll take the dinner upstairs."

Ying Hua paused for a moment and then smirked. "I have something to show you!"

"What's that?" Jia Yi folded her arms and chuckled.

"I'll show you after dinner." Ying Hua immediately climbed the stairs, looking for the food that she had placed in the tightly sealed wooden container. After that, she went downstairs and handed it to Jia Yi.

"Whoa, venison again? Isn't this trite? We've been keeping it for more than three days, haven't we?"

"That's because I did the proper storage method," Ying Hua said. "Listen, Jia Yi! If you want to store dry food then store it in an airtight container. Because the air will quickly make it stale."

"I didn't know there was such a knowledge. But considering how smart you are, I'll believe it." Jia Yi unwrapped the lotus leaf and saw the venison they had caught a few days ago. When she was about to eat it, Ying Hua stopped her.

"We have to warm it up first! Didn't you often say that warm food tastes better?"

"I know," replied Jia Yi. "But I'm too hungry to wait until we make a bonfire. Wouldn't that be too long?"

"Not really." Ying Hua picked up the firewood they had gathered in a corner, then brought it in front of them. There was a furnace that she had made of clay, which she immediately laid out neatly. She put her and Jia Yi's venison in it, and started a fire with a match-like device. The dry leaves were piled up, and a sizable fire lit up.

"This is a tool I just created," she said, handing the lighter to Jia Yi. "I made it out of stone that I had scraped. The liquid is kerosene. I bought it from a seller when they visited Wuanyin City. I can get it for half the price."

Jia Yi gaped, then took the lighter from Ying Hua's hand. "You're creating this kind of thing again?" Her mouth gaped wider. "Ying Hua, be honest with me! Are you the daughter of a lost scholar? Or are you an incarnation of a god? Why is your brain so smart?"

"I'm not that smart," Ying Hua said, squeezing her hands as she felt pain run through her body. She heard a scream in her ear, which came from a distance. "I only do what I want to do."

"But you made this village finally prosper. You have collected water for us so that we don't run out of water. You have created light longer than the torch. You have also created other things. You are no ordinary child, Ying Hua! You're a genius!"

Ying Hua grimaced, not because she was smiling but from enduring pain.

"And you can create amazing stories like the Thousand Flame Emperor Heng. We know he exists, but we've never heard a story like this. Almost no one dared to create any version of the story about Emperor Heng because of his bad temper. Do you remember the fire that broke out in Luong Forest? We believe it was his doing."

"What if it's not a fairy tale?" Ying Hua asked with a hanging question. "What if it was a true story?"

As soon as she said that, an explosion shocked everyone. They all came out of the house scared, hugging each other.

Meanwhile, Ying Hua immediately pulled Jia Yi behind her, protecting Jia Yi no matter what.

The celestial warriors appeared, clad in the armor of fire. In their hands, they lit fires, including the tips of their spears.

Everyone in the village was scared, starting to disperse because they were going to hide. But the soldiers of the sky created a prison of fire around them, keeping them trapped in the heat.

"Let them go!" shouted Ying Hua furiously. "They are innocent!"

The empyrean general shot fire to ensnare Ying Hua so that she seemed to be on fire.

Jia Yi screamed in fright.

The celestial general walked forward with hooves full of fire, setting the ground and dry leaves on fire. "If you wish them to survive, then return the White Qin Stone to us. You have no right to have it, Crippled Emperor's Daughter!"

Ying Hua clenched her fists, amidst the flames surrounding her body.

***