“Where are our clan members? What do I need to do?” Ye Xiaoxiao suddenly felt overwhelmed. Save the clan? She could barely keep herself alive—how could they expect her to save others? Was she really just a vegetable?
“The clan began evacuating overseas in batches twenty years ago. The family head—your father—calculated, when you were young, that the Ye family would face total annihilation. You, your brother, and your sister were the last batch to leave.
On the way, you were ambushed and led the enemies away from your family. Even I have to admire you for that—making it all the way to Hei Province! Later, you were injured and lost your memory, which is how you ended up like this.
Your father turned back to find you. Meanwhile, to wait for both you and your father, your brother and sister evacuated to Gang City instead of overseas. In your previous life, after the opening-up, they kept searching for you and your father—but never found you!”
So, she wasn’t alone—her family had been looking for her all along. Ye Xiaoxiao realized that in her previous life, she had lived a lonely existence: unable to protect her children, unable to remember her loved ones.
The next question came: who ambushed her family? Who was the hidden enemy?
She had to ask. Ye Xiaoxiao did.
The red-haired child shook his head. “I don’t know yet. Once my power recovers over time, I’ll be able to see more of your past life and tell you. All I know is that your adversaries included the Lin family—they were accomplices, not the masterminds. The main culprit is well-hidden, possibly one of the Thirty-Five Great Clans. Your death might have been part of a plot targeting the Ye family, or a scheme specifically against you.”
One unclear question led to another. Ye Xiaoxiao felt a headache coming—so the Lin family had a backing force, possibly one of the Thirty-Five Great Clans.
The next question: what the heck were the Thirty-Five Great Clans?
Ye Xiaoxiao realized that asking further would only lead to another long story. So she switched to what concerned her most: “Then why do the children have the wooden bangles?” She truly didn’t understand. According to Da Wei, only descendants of the Ye family could have them—she obviously qualified—but the children’s surname was Li, not Ye!
“They have the bangles, but not the space. Their bangles are only connection points. Because of the drop of blood, the blood and bangle together produced this effect—something that happens once every hundred generations.
Now, no matter where they are, they can enter. Once inside, you can take them out from wherever you are!” The red-haired child sounded a little wistful.
The function of these connection points had existed before—one appears every hundred generations. This time, so many appeared because Ye Xiaoxiao had stored several jade mountains in the space. The space energy became abundant instantly, and coupled with her intense resolve, this result was achieved. Da Wei guessed that perhaps not only Ye Xiaoxiao’s children, but many other Ye family members might have this opportunity.
The red-haired child explained everything to Ye Xiaoxiao.
The children had not left—they had witnessed their mother die and then be reborn. They didn’t fully understand, but hearing this made them want to cry.
“Mom, you died—what does that mean?” Siwa was the first to cry. Sanwa, whose reflexes were slower, asked, “Mom, what does my sister mean?”
Hearing the word died, he started crying too.
Xiao Anguo and Er’er, being older, had already been crying loudly. They seemed to understand why Mom was different, yet also didn’t fully understand.
“It’s okay. Mom is back. This time, I will definitely protect you!” Ye Xiaoxiao said firmly.
“Mom, we will protect you too!” the children cried while speaking, their little voices fierce, as if, were Li Mu there, they could punch her flat.
“All right, no more crying! Listen carefully now,” Ye Xiaoxiao said, explaining the bangle’s function to the children. She made sure they understood: if they got lost, the bangle could take them into the space, and she would bring them home. Also, they must not let anyone see the bangles.
She felt that the bangles were no ordinary items—the mastermind may be after them, though they didn’t know exactly what. Normally, once worn, the bangles could never be removed, otherwise they would have been lost or stolen. But were they facing ordinary people?
The children’s eyes lit up—they could enter the space whenever they thought of Mom, as long as no one else was around!
Seeing their happy faces, Ye Xiaoxiao grew a new concern. She asked the red-haired child to give the bangles a new feature: they could detect whether anyone was present or if they were being watched, and only allow entry if the space was truly safe.
This was a game of life and death she couldn’t afford to play. Children’s defenses were too weak—entering while others were present would attract attention, possibly even drawing out the original mastermind.
After dealing with this hidden danger, Ye Xiaoxiao turned to the children. “You must be hungry! What do you want to eat?”
“Mom, I just want oranges!” Xiao Anguo said shyly.
“Mom, I want pork!” Sanwa shouted carelessly. Er’er glared at him—how dare he ask for pork? They couldn’t even borrow sweet potatoes in the village before; now he wants pork? It hadn’t even been hunted yet!
“Mom, I’ll just have wild vegetable soup.” Er’er, her little cozy jacket, was thoughtful and didn’t want to make things hard for Ye Xiaoxiao.
“Me too!” Siwa piped up. She always thought her older siblings were reliable. Despite being born just two minutes earlier than her, they wasted that advantage—she was smarter, yet they were still more childish.