Fangyuan
The moment Evelyn Sterling stepped into the moss-covered stone building, she reached back and shut the heavy wooden door behind her, cutting off the noise outside.
She looked down at herself.
The dress that had been neat and pretty earlier was now beyond saving.
White powder covered nearly every inch of it, while bits of broken eggshell clung to her hair and bodice.
Worst of all was the smell.
It followed her everywhere, so strong that even she could barely stand it.
“It stinks…”
Evelyn wrinkled her nose, and her whole face fell.
She had no intention of putting up with it for another second.
She quickly undid the ruined dress, pinched it between two fingers, and held it as far away from herself as possible.
At first, she considered leaving it somewhere in the room.
Then the smell reached her again.
Two seconds later, she changed her mind.
Evelyn walked over to the open window at the back of the stone building, bundled the dress into a ball, and threw it out with all her strength.
The poor dress sailed over the bushes outside and disappeared somewhere down the back slope.
Out of sight, out of mind.
As for whether some unfortunate servant would eventually find it, that was no longer her problem.
Once the dress was gone, Evelyn removed the hairpins, ribbons, and small silver ornaments from her hair and placed them on a nearby stone ledge.
When the last pin came free, her long black hair spilled down over her shoulders and back.
Several strands were still dusted with white powder and sticky egg residue.
Evelyn’s eye twitched.
Today really had been a disaster.
The most irritating part was that she had set those traps herself.
Instead of catching anyone else, they had nearly done her in first.
She refused to think about it any longer.
Turning around, she headed straight for the enormous bathing pool in front of her and jumped in with a splash.
Cool stream water closed around her body.
Evelyn simply sank beneath the surface, head and all.
Her long black hair spread through the water, drifting gently with the current and mingling with the golden petals floating around her.
The stone walls surrounding the pool were set with glowing crystals.
Soft gold, deep blue, pale violet, and scattered hints of red reflected across the water, shifting with every ripple.
Her dark hair drifted among the golden petals and scattered lights, making the entire pool look like a hidden sanctuary tucked deep inside the mountain.
The pool itself took up most of the stone building.
Calling this place an ordinary bathing room hardly seemed appropriate.
Behind the building stretched the ancient forest bordering the White Tiger Clan’s territory, and a natural stream happened to run nearby.
Eight years ago, when Evelyn first discovered this abandoned stone building, she had immediately taken an interest in that stream.
If there was already water flowing right behind the building, why should anyone carry buckets in every time she wanted a bath?
So the much younger Evelyn had come up with what everyone else considered a ridiculous idea.
She wanted to bring the mountain stream directly inside.
The one person willing to help her turn that idea into reality was her second uncle, Cedric Sterling.
Cedric had not dismissed it as childish nonsense.
Instead, he had actually hired craftsmen for her.
He paid for everything, arranged the workers, and even found ways to accommodate the strange little requests Evelyn kept adding along the way.
The craftsmen dug out most of the ground beneath the stone building and carved a deep pool into the natural rock.
At Evelyn’s request, they also built a hidden underground passage that connected directly to her bedroom.
The walls around the pool were decorated with luminous stones, colorful agates, and natural crystals gathered from different places.
During the day, they did not look particularly remarkable.
But once night fell, the stones gave off a soft glow of their own.
From outside the window, all anyone could see were faint patches of colored light moving through the darkness.
That was exactly what Lucian Ravenholt had seen earlier when he passed by and noticed the strange glow coming from the stone building.
As for the water in the pool, it came entirely from the mountain stream behind the estate.
One channel carried fresh water into the pool, while another rejoined the original stream, keeping the water moving and clear throughout the year.
What Evelyn had never expected was that the stream would bring in more than just water.
The White Tiger Clan’s territory bordered an ancient mountain range whose age no one could truly determine, and Fangyuan stood unusually close to the deeper part of the forest.
For countless years, the land had been home to spirits and ancient beings invisible to ordinary people.
Some merely passed through from time to time.
Others had lived among the mountains, forests, and streams for longer than anyone could remember.
They had once existed separately from the people of the estate, neither side interfering with the other.
Then Evelyn redirected part of the mountain stream into her bathing room.
Some of the unusual beings that lived along the stream somehow followed the water into Fangyuan as well.
From that point on, the already quiet courtyard became increasingly “lively.”
Servants around the estate often claimed that Fangyuan was haunted.
Some swore they had heard strange noises while passing by late at night.
Others insisted they had seen white figures drifting near the courtyard walls.
A few even claimed that rooms abandoned for years had suddenly lit up on their own.
The stories grew more exaggerated with every retelling.
Eventually, fewer and fewer servants were willing to come anywhere near Fangyuan.
In a way, they were not entirely wrong.
There really were quite a few things living here that they could not see.
They simply were not quite the “ghosts” everyone imagined.
Under the water, Evelyn suddenly opened her eyes.
A golden petal drifted slowly past her face.
She stayed beneath the surface until the pressure in her chest became uncomfortable, then pushed off the bottom and broke through the water.
“Ah—”
Evelyn tipped her head back and drew in a deep breath of fresh air.
She kept her eyes closed for a moment before slowly exhaling.
Just then, tiny ripples spread across the otherwise calm surface beside her.
Evelyn did not even open her eyes.
She was clearly used to it.
A moment later, a snow-white dragon head slowly emerged from the water.
Its silver-white horns curved gently backward, and droplets clung to its fine scales, which shimmered with a faint pearly glow beneath the colored light of the crystals.
Its pale golden slit pupils stared at Evelyn for several seconds.
Then it spoke with obvious disgust.
“You stink. And you made my water dirty.”
Evelyn slowly opened her eyes.
A vein nearly throbbed at her temple.
“You think I wanted this?”
She glared at White.
Then, in the very next second, her annoyed expression disappeared.
Evelyn moved closer and reached out to stroke the cool, smooth scales along White’s cheek.
Her voice immediately softened into something almost pitiful.
“White, you’re so powerful. You must have a way to make me clean right away, don’t you?”
White stared at her without expression.
Evelyn refused to give up.
Her hand continued stroking its scales as she added sweetly, “Help me, please?”
“Troublesome.”
White gave the single complaint in a flat voice.
Yet despite sounding thoroughly annoyed, it did not pull away from her hand.
The corner of Evelyn’s mouth immediately curled upward.
She knew it.
White claimed that it came from the stream behind the mountain.
Eight years ago, after Evelyn redirected the stream into the bathing pool, White had appeared with the flowing water.
After that, it simply stayed.
And it had remained here for eight full years.
Naturally, Evelyn had been suspicious at first.
A white dragon capable of speech, possessing extraordinary power, and clearly ancient beyond measure had somehow decided to live in a little girl’s bathing pool simply because someone had altered the course of a stream?
That explanation was far too convenient.
But White refused to explain, and Evelyn never forced it.
In all those eight years, it had never truly harmed her.
Quite the opposite.
Whenever Evelyn ran into trouble, White might complain endlessly, but in the end, it always helped.
That was enough for her.
Everyone had secrets they did not want to share.
Dragons were allowed to have secrets too.
As long as White did not cause trouble for her, Evelyn was perfectly willing to leave those secrets alone.
Of course, if it ever deliberately caused trouble for her—
That would be a different matter.
She had plenty of ways to deal with it slowly.
White clearly had no interest in whatever nonsense was going through her head.
It gave her a lazy glance.
The next moment, the golden petals scattered across the water suddenly began drifting toward Evelyn as though drawn by an invisible force.
A faint golden glow rose from them and surrounded her.
Evelyn felt the air around her tremble slightly.
Then the awful smell that had clung stubbornly to her body began to fade.
Within moments, it was completely gone.
She immediately lifted one arm and sniffed it.
Then, just to make sure, she smelled it again.
“It really is gone!”
Evelyn’s eyes lit up.
White said nothing.
Apparently, it was not finished yet.
Without warning, the calm water in the pool began to swirl.
Evelyn froze and quickly grabbed the stone edge beside her.
A huge volume of stream water suddenly rose into the air under White’s power.
The clear mass of water swept through the stone window facing the mountain and poured back into the stream outside.
At the same time, the sound of rushing water came from the channel on the opposite side.
Fresh mountain water rapidly flowed into the pool.
Within moments, the entire pool was full again.
Evelyn thought that would be the end of it.
White changed the water again.
And then again.
Evelyn sat in the pool and watched the entire thing being emptied and refilled several times before she finally looked down at White.
“Do you really have to be this disgusted with me?”
White could not even be bothered to lift its eyelids.
Evelyn had nothing to say to that.
Fine.
Those eggs had been rotten beyond saving.
Even she had been disgusted by the smell.
Besides, ridiculous as the whole scene was, she had to admit it looked spectacular.
Fortunately, the stone building stood deep inside Fangyuan, where even the servants rarely dared to wander.
If anyone outside saw an entire pool of water fly out the window on its own before magically filling itself again, the estate would probably have a dozen new versions of the Fangyuan ghost stories by tomorrow morning.
Then again, maybe that would not be so bad.
The scarier the stories became, the fewer people would dare come here and bother her.
She rather liked the peace and quiet.
When White finally left the pool filled with clean stream water, Evelyn sniffed her arm again.
There was no trace of the rotten smell left.
Instead, a faint floral fragrance lingered on her skin.
Only then did her eyes curve with satisfaction.
“Much better.”
She slipped back into the water and began swimming through the wide pool like a fish.
White watched her for a moment before slowly sinking beneath the surface as well.
Its enormous white body glided beneath the clear water.
When Evelyn looked back and saw it following her, she immediately became competitive and deliberately swam faster.
White followed at an unhurried pace.
The girl and the dragon went back and forth across the pool several times.
Eventually, Evelyn grew tired.
She swam lazily toward the edge, pushed herself up onto the stone ledge, and sat there.
Her legs swung gently above the water.
Her soaked black hair hung down her back, droplets falling from the ends and returning to the pool below.
White surfaced beside her and looked up.
“Why did you stop?”
Evelyn lowered her head and touched one of its horns.
The smile on her face gradually faded.
“White, I’m leaving here soon.”
White looked at her without speaking.
“I’m going to the Black Tortoise Clan.” Evelyn let out a quiet sigh.
“After that, I probably won’t be able to come here and swim whenever I feel like it.”
Her gaze dropped to the ripples spreading slowly across the water.
She really was reluctant to leave.
For eight years, Fangyuan—the courtyard everyone disliked and the servants privately called a haunted residence—had been the place where she had truly lived.
Other people thought it was eerie and desolate.
To Evelyn, it felt more like home than the magnificent Sterling estate outside.
Because her friends were here.
Friends who had stayed with her for eight years.
White watched her quietly for a while before asking, “So that’s why you’ve been unhappy?”
“What do you mean, ‘that’s why’?”
Evelyn immediately glared at it.
“This is important. You’re all my good friends. We’ve lived together for eight years. How could I possibly leave without feeling anything?”
Her voice softened toward the end.
The ancient beings that had accompanied her for eight years were no longer simply unusual creatures she occasionally talked to.
Sometimes, they felt closer to her than the people who shared her blood.
Of course she did not want to leave them.
White’s pale golden eyes remained fixed on her.
After a moment, it suddenly said, “Good.”
Evelyn blinked.
“What’s good?”
“If you’re that reluctant to leave me behind, I’ll go with you.”
Before Evelyn could react, silver-white light burst from White’s body.
The enormous dragon rapidly began to shrink.
Within a few breaths, it had become a tiny white dragon no thicker than a finger.
It rose from the water and circled once through the air before landing on Evelyn’s left wrist.
Silver-white light flashed again.
A moment later, the little dragon had transformed into an exquisite dragon-shaped bracelet.
Every tiny scale was visible.
Its curved horns and even its minuscule golden eyes looked astonishingly lifelike.
Anyone who did not know the truth would have assumed it was simply an exquisitely crafted piece of ancient jewelry.
“Feel better now?”
White’s voice came from the bracelet.
Evelyn stared at her wrist for several seconds.
Then her eyes lit up.
“White, you can turn into this?”
She excitedly ran her fingers over the dragon bracelet, turning her wrist back and forth to examine it from every angle.
“How many other things can you do that you’ve never told me about?”
“This is nothing,” White replied calmly.
“I’ve lived for more than five thousand years.”
Evelyn froze.
“More than five thousand?”
She had always known White was no ordinary dragon spirit.
But this was the first time it had ever mentioned its age.
Her eyes narrowed.
The more she thought about it, the more certain she became that her earlier suspicions had been right.
“So you really have been hiding things from me.”
White said nothing.
It clearly had no intention of explaining.
Naturally, it would never tell Evelyn that its true identity was far more complicated than that of an ancient dragon spirit living in a mountain stream.
If not for a promise made to someone many years ago, it would never have come here in the first place.
Nor would it have spent eight years watching over a little girl.
Evelyn waited for a moment.
When White still refused to speak, she did not press the matter.
There was plenty of time.
Since White had decided to accompany her to the Black Tortoise Clan, she would have countless chances to slowly pry the truth out of it later.
The thought swept away the last of her sadness.
Smiling, Evelyn gently touched the dragon bracelet around her wrist.
“Great. Now we don’t have to separate.”
She rose from the edge of the pool and walked over to a wooden cabinet.
Taking out a soft white cotton towel, she carefully dried herself before wrapping another pale yellow towel around her wet black hair.
Then she went to the wardrobe and chose a light pink dress.
It was not overly elaborate.
Fine silver embroidery decorated the waist, collar, and edges of the sleeves, making it elegant without being cumbersome.
It suited Evelyn far better than the extravagant gowns usually worn by the other young ladies of the Sterling family.
Once she was dressed, Evelyn glanced down at the shoes nearby.
After a moment’s thought, she decided she could not be bothered.
This was her own Fangyuan, after all.
Barefoot, she pushed open the door and walked outside.
The moment she stepped out, she noticed that Fangyuan already looked quite different from before.
It was still far from completely clean, but a large section around the main house and corridor had already been cleared.
Several servants were crouched on the ground, pulling weeds that had grown nearly to their knees.
Others used long poles to clear away the thick spiderwebs hanging beneath the eaves.
Even more servants were wiping away dust while constantly checking the ground around their feet.
Every step was taken with extreme caution.
Clearly, what had happened earlier had left quite an impression on them.
Evelyn stood in the doorway and watched for a moment.
White, still wrapped around her wrist, also glanced at the scene.
“Not bad. It seems your father has finally remembered he has a daughter.”
Evelyn rolled her eyes.
“Don’t be ridiculous. He only sent people because someone told him to.”
She was not naive enough to believe that Alaric Sterling had suddenly started caring about her simply because he had ordered a few servants to clean Fangyuan.
Just as she finished speaking, an amused voice came from nearby.
“On that point, I agree.”
Evelyn turned her head.
A silver dragon about the length of her arm hovered in midair.
It gave the busy servants a cool glance before looking at Evelyn.
Then its gaze fell on the white dragon bracelet around her left wrist.
The silver dragon paused.
Amusement immediately appeared in its eyes.
“White, you’ve finally decided to wake from your long sleep?”
“The time has come,” White replied lazily.
“There are some old debts that need settling.”
“Oh?”
The silver dragon immediately flew closer, clearly displeased.
“And you weren’t going to tell me? I left my old home because I was looking for you. Now you’re finally going back, and you weren’t even going to say anything?”
White did not answer.
The silver dragon waited.
The longer it waited, the more annoyed it seemed to become.
“Fine. If you won’t invite me, I’ll just follow you myself.”
The words had barely left its mouth before it shot toward Evelyn.
“Wait—”
Evelyn only managed to get one word out before silver light flashed in front of her.
The next moment, an elegant silver dragon necklace rested around her neck.
The dragon’s head and tail curved toward each other, cradling a white pearl about the size of her thumb between them.
The pearl gave off a soft silver glow.
Paired with the white dragon bracelet around her wrist, the necklace looked unexpectedly perfect.
Evelyn lowered her head and touched the pearl, a hint of delight appearing in her eyes.
Then she asked, “Are you two really sure you want to leave the White Tiger Clan with me?”
“Of course,” the silver dragon replied from the necklace, its voice carrying undisguised affection.
“Someone has to keep an eye on you. You never make it easy for anyone to stop worrying.”
Evelyn paused.
A smile had just begun to form when an excessively energetic voice suddenly rang out from nearby.
“Evelyn!”
The smile froze on her face.
She did not even need to turn around.
She already knew who it was.
Sure enough, Felix Ravenholt appeared from who knew where.
The moment he spotted her, his eyes lit up and he flashed a wide, brilliant grin.
“Finally found you!”
Evelyn looked at him.
For some reason, a bad feeling immediately crept over her.
A second later, Felix demonstrated the talent he was best known for.
He started talking.
And did not stop.
“I’m telling you, there are way too many traps around here. Those servants have been trying to come in and clean the place, and I don’t even know how many groups they’ve gone through already.”
Evelyn’s eyebrow twitched slightly.
Felix did not notice.
He continued enthusiastically, “One of them had barely stepped into the corridor when he triggered something under his foot and got yanked straight into the air by a rope. And another one was even unluckier. He’d only just started clearing the spiderwebs when—”