Chapter 68 - 67: Amulet

Chapter 68: Chapter 67: Amulet

The Rose Corridor swayed gently, refraining from any further attacks just as expected.

Zhou Qian stood perfectly still, waiting quietly for a moment before letting out a long breath of relief along with the rest of the group. "It really is in a good mood today."

He wondered why it had stopped. Was it because it had sensed Wu Yue, the one who had coaxed it into existence? But General Wu hadn’t even touched it. Had they interacted up close after he left? Or could the plant sense him from such a distance?

Thinking about what General Wu had just gone through, his expression darkened again. As he looked down at Huai Yu, who was slumped on the ground with a tear-streaked face and looking exceptionally disheveled, his silence morphed into a heavy sense of guilt.

"Little Yu, I’m sorry. We shouldn’t have trespassed into your house without permission..."

The whereabouts of General Lin Xuefeng were simply too important, and General Wu Yue’s orders had to be executed. He just hadn’t expected that it would end up turning Little Yu’s home into a total wreck.

"Was it you?" Huai Yu stared at him blankly. Seeing his silent, guilt-ridden expression, she couldn’t even muster up any resentment. She just felt an overwhelming sense of grievance. As she kept her eyes fixed on Zhou Qian, large, heavy tears began to roll down her cheeks one by one.

There was no loud wailing or furious cursing, yet her silent crying was far more heart-wrenching than any outburst. Let alone Zhou Qian, who was standing right in front of her, even the several Defense Army soldiers who had followed him were shifting uncomfortably, not daring to meet her gaze.

Zhou Qian felt entirely ashamed of himself. He still remembered the sorry state Huai Yu had been in when she crawled out of the foundations of the Rose Mansion, and he remembered the hopeful look on her face when she had sought him out with a pile of pinecones.

The treehouse before him had been pieced together by this girl—bit by bit, doing the absolute best she could—to create a real home while he wasn’t looking. But now, all of it... What made it worse was that Huai Yu just looked at him, neither questioning nor angry. Seeing those tears dropping into the dirt made his own heart ache. His heart felt like a wrung-out towel, dripping with nothing but deep remorse.

"I’m sorry," he apologized sincerely once more. "General Wu came here personally to investigate any traces of General Lin Xuefeng. He heard that you had an Ice Sculpture belonging to him, so he wanted to take it to verify its authenticity."

Originally, Zhou Qian had been dispatched to investigate. Although Huai Yu’s door hadn’t been locked, he had paced around the entrance for a while and ultimately decided to wait for her return to ask for permission. However, General Wu said he had urgent business and needed to leave tonight, so there wasn’t enough time... Therefore, he barged right in.

What Zhou Qian didn’t know was that Wu Yue’s arrival was also related to the Rose Corridor. He hadn’t been to the spot where Wu Yue had previously lingered, so he was unaware that the area had already been slashed to pieces by the Rose Corridor’s leaves, the soil entirely churned up.

But the two were too far apart, and it wasn’t a true life-or-death struggle, so the Rose Corridor hadn’t managed to injure Wu Yue, who was now a top-tier powerhouse with a Wood Ability. Compared to an actual threat, the commotion was more like a venting of frustration—once its temper had been thrown, that was the end of it.

Still, it had left Wu Yue in a rather foul mood. Right at that moment, Zhou Qian reported back that the owner wasn’t home and it would be best to wait a while. So, he drove over immediately, a ruthless and decisive look overtaking his normally refined, handsome face.

"The safety of General Lin Xuefeng concerns the entire Guard Army, so this is a special case! If that girl named Huai Yu doesn’t come back today, are you just going to wait here forever?

"Moreover, we can’t even be sure if that Ice Sculpture was really left by General Lin. What if we wait for days only to find out it’s a fake? Wouldn’t that delay our plans for nothing?"

His words were firm and carried a persuasive logic. Zhou Qian hesitated. He could naturally hear the anger and impatience in General Wu’s voice, but he didn’t realize that those emotions weren’t because of the Ice Sculpture. Rather, they were because of the Rose Corridor and Huai Yu’s name.

The resentful rustling of the rose vines darting back and forth echoed in his ears. Driven by a mix of guilt, impatience, and other complex emotions, Wu Yue stepped forward personally and flung open the door to the treehouse. The light from outside spilled in.

His gaze immediately fell upon the plump pink rose resting in the slender white porcelain vase. Then, he froze, thinking, "Is that... a flower from the Rose Corridor? No, impossible! It has such a terrible temper. Why would it ever allow a girl with only a weak Wood Ability to pluck its flowers?"

The doubt was like the fresh wisteria flowers swaying by the door—after a brief flutter, he cast it to the back of his mind. Because right in front of that vase, a crystal-clear Ice Sculpture was radiating wisps of frigid air. From a distance, he couldn’t make out the small line of text. But just feeling the aura of ice and snow, it perfectly resembled Lin Xuefeng.

For some reason, the connection between the name "Huai Yu" and Lin Xuefeng made him feel even more irritated. As a result, he didn’t even step half a foot inside. He just stood at the threshold, holding up the door curtain with one hand, while his other hand twitched slightly. The seed in his palm rapidly sprouted and grew. Then, like a nimble snake, the vine thrust forward unceremoniously.

But Wu Yue never expected that even in Lin Xuefeng’s last testament—merely a few words left for a girl he had met only once—that tiny Ice Sculpture contained exceptionally sharp blades of ice and wind! Sensing his aggressive Superpower aura and determining that he harbored no goodwill, the Ice Sculpture shattered with a crisp CRACK!

And then...

Sharp, jagged shards were swept up by a sudden gale, tearing indiscriminately in every direction! Caught completely off guard, Wu Yue took the brunt of the impact. Dodging left and right within the cramped space left him looking incredibly pathetic. Even Zhou Qian, who was standing right behind him, didn’t have time to react and was viciously grazed by the flying ice fragments!

Not to mention the house... The house now...

Zhou Qian lowered his head heavily. He simply had no way to explain to Huai Yu why General Wu felt entitled to march brazenly into her house and attempt to take her belongings. Or why he had approached with such hostility that it triggered the Ice Sculpture’s violent resistance and counterattack.

"I’m sorry." In the end, all he could do was mutter the apology once more.

"There are certain exceptionally powerful Superpower Users who can seal their abilities inside physical objects. When triggered by specific circumstances—like the sharp stimulation of another Superpower aura—this sealed ability will activate!

"Have you ever read novels? It’s just like a Talisman in a fantasy story, or a Magic Scroll.

"A rare few top-tier Superpower Users use this method to leave a final layer of protection for their families, or for those heading out on dangerous missions.

"But doing this is incredibly difficult and takes a massive toll on the user’s mind... We... none of us expected this."

None of them had expected that Lin Xuefeng could still be so overwhelmingly strong, despite being heavily corrupted and on the verge of breaking past his critical limit. And they especially hadn’t expected that, after just a single meeting, he would quietly leave such a precious item for Huai Yu.

It wasn’t just a parting message. It was clearly meant to be a powerful Amulet and a lethal trump card for this little orphan girl living in the wilderness.