Chapter 295 - 291: Vintage Romance Novel Female Lead 11

Chapter 295: Chapter 291: Vintage Romance Novel Female Lead 11

The document from the R Country bank slipped from Ji Xiaosong’s fingertips, carried away by the night wind deep into the lavender field.

She suddenly pressed her temples as a sharp pain exploded from deep within her mind.

Fragments of memories suddenly appeared in her mind.

In a daze, she felt that she was supposed to be a blade of grass.

But the thought was absurd. She was a person, perfectly healthy. How could she be a blade of grass?

Ji Xiaosong shook her head, trying to cast the thought from her mind.

"What’s wrong?" Huo Chen immediately noticed something was amiss.

Ji Xiaosong wanted to say she was fine, but found she couldn’t make a sound.

"Xiaosong!"

Huo Chen’s cry of alarm grew distant. She saw the jade bracelet on her wrist glowing, not from the reflected moonlight, but with a soft green light shining from within.

"Look out—!"

Huo Chen tackled her to the ground. A bullet grazed his shoulder, kicking up a wave of purple blossoms in the lavender field.

The roar of helicopters came from the distance as three black helicopters in combat formation approached the manor.

"Third Grand-uncle’s men."

Huo Chen shielded her as they moved quickly, his voice terrifyingly calm. "He really isn’t dead. I should have guessed. A man who’s lived that long wouldn’t die so easily."

More bullets rained down, and the guests scattered in a panic.

Huo Chen pulled Ji Xiaosong into the hall for cover, only to find the Old Madam held hostage by two men in black, a gun pressed to her temple.

"Don’t move!" the leader of the men in black sneered. "The Third Master wants to see you."

Huo Chen’s muscles tensed, like a cheetah poised to strike.

Ji Xiaosong suddenly grabbed his arm. "Get them a helicopter."

"What?"

"Just do as I say."

Her voice was soft, yet it held an unquestionable authority.

Huo Chen gave her a deep look, then took out his phone. "Prepare a helicopter. Immediately."

As the men in black forced them aboard the helicopter, Ji Xiaosong noticed the titanium steel ring on Huo Chen’s left ring finger was growing slightly warm.

Her own gold ring was also growing warm, as if in response.

As the helicopter flew over Provence, Ji Xiaosong’s headache grew increasingly intense.

Those memory fragments began to piece themselves together.

She was a thin snow thousand-year-old grass that had undergone a thousand years of Cultivation. She also had a single friend, a Caiyun from the Turquoise Pool named Rongrong...

"We’re here."

The voice of one of the men in black interrupted her thoughts.

The helicopter landed in front of an ancient castle on the peak of a snowy mountain.

Third Grand-uncle, Huo Qiming, stood on the steps, leaning on his Dragon Head Walking Stick. Half his face was scarred from burns, but he still wore that same chilling smile.

"Happy wedding, nephew,"

he said sarcastically. "I hear my dear nephew’s wife is pregnant with twins? How... worthy of congratulations."

Huo Chen shielded Ji Xiaosong behind him. "What do you want?"

"What lies beneath the Huo Family’s ancestral home."

Third Grand-uncle’s walking stick struck the ground heavily. "Your father gave you the key before he died."

Ji Xiaosong felt Huo Chen’s body tense up instantly.

Just then, a clear, crisp voice suddenly echoed in Ji Xiaosong’s mind: "Song, wake up."

Her first reaction was that it was Rongrong’s voice.

Ji Xiaosong whipped her head around, but all she saw were the grim walls of the castle and the cold faces of the men in black.

But the familiar voice rang out in her mind again:

"Stop looking, I’m floating up in the sky. You probably don’t remember right now, but I’m a Caiyun. This is usually the only way I can appear to people."

"What are you staring at!"

A man in black shoved her hard.

Ji Xiaosong stumbled, but Huo Chen caught her and held her steady.

"Beneath the Huo Family’s ancestral home lies the ’Heavenly Mechanism Box,’ a mythical artifact said to be able to reverse the fate of the Huo Family."

Third Grand-uncle laughed grimly, the burned half of his face looking especially hideous in the torchlight.

"Before he died, your father hid it in the deepest part of the ancestral home’s catacombs."

Huo Chen’s eyes grew sharp, and he unconsciously rubbed his titanium steel ring.

"Since when did Third Grand-uncle start believing in such superstitious nonsense?"

"Superstitious nonsense?"

Third Grand-uncle burst into manic laughter that echoed through the mountain castle. "Then you tell me, why has the Huo Family only had a single heir for generations? Why does every family head die before they reach fifty?"

He pointed abruptly at Ji Xiaosong’s swollen belly. "And why is it that *this* woman was able to conceive twins?!"

Ji Xiaosong’s heart jolted.

She suddenly recalled Huo Chen once saying that the Huo Family had only had single heirs for generations, and that their child might be the Huo Family’s only successor...

"Song!"

Rongrong’s voice exploded in her mind, "The Huo Family’s curse is sealed inside the Heavenly Mechanism Box! If that old bastard gets his hands on it, the consequences will be unimaginable! That’s why I had to wake you up—something about this world is very strange."

As if sensing something, Huo Chen suddenly pulled Ji Xiaosong behind him. "Third Grand-uncle, the security system at the ancestral home has been fully upgraded. Without my iris scan and voiceprint, not even an ant could get inside."

"Is that so?"

Third Grand-uncle clapped his hands with a savage grin. The castle gates swung open with a thunderous groan, and a dozen bound members of the Huo Family were dragged out, led by none other than the Old Madam!

"Grandma!" Huo Chen’s eyes blazed with fury.

"Now, hand over the key."

Third Grand-uncle unhurriedly pulled out a pistol and pressed it to the Old Madam’s temple. "Otherwise, I’ll kill one person for every minute that passes."

Ji Xiaosong could feel Huo Chen’s body go as taut as a fully drawn bow.

She quietly took his hand and found his palm drenched in a cold sweat.

At that critical moment, a rapid burst of gunfire suddenly erupted from outside the castle.

Third Grand-uncle’s expression changed drastically. He whipped his head toward the window. "What’s going on?"

A cold smirk played on Huo Chen’s lips. "Did Third Grand-uncle really think I would follow you to this mountain castle unprepared?"

Before he finished speaking, the castle’s stained-glass windows suddenly shattered, and dozens of heavily armed special forces soldiers descended from above.

Dressed in snow camouflage, they moved with the swiftness of cheetahs, securing every corner of the hall in an instant.

"Don’t move!"

the captain in the lead shouted. "Everyone, drop your weapons!"

Third Grand-uncle’s men were thrown into chaos for a moment, but they quickly composed themselves, remembering they still had hostages.

"Well now, my good nephew."

Third Grand-uncle sneered, pressing the muzzle of the gun even harder against the Old Madam’s temple. "Tell your soldiers to back down, or I’ll send this old woman to meet your father right now!"

Huo Chen’s gaze turned instantly to ice.

Ji Xiaosong could feel every muscle in his body tense, like a wild beast ready to pounce at any moment.

"Back down."

Huo Chen raised a hand, signaling them. "All of you, back down."

The soldiers reluctantly took a few steps back, but their guns remained aimed at Third Grand-uncle and his men.

"Toss the key over here!"

Third Grand-uncle yelled. "And don’t try any tricks!"

Ji Xiaosong suddenly felt the jade bracelet on her wrist begin to grow hot again.

Rongrong’s voice echoed in her mind: "Song, I can feel the power of the Heavenly Mechanism Box fluctuating... Something’s wrong. Something is very wrong!"

Huo Chen slowly removed the ancient-looking key from around his neck but didn’t hand it over immediately. "Let my grandmother go first."

"Do you take me for a fool?"

Third Grand-uncle sneered. "Give me the key, and I’ll naturally let her go."

"No!" Ji Xiaosong suddenly cried out. "Don’t give it to him! There’s something wrong with the Heavenly Mechanism Box!"

Third Grand-uncle’s eyes turned menacing. "Shut up! What do you know?"

He turned to Huo Chen. "Three seconds. If you don’t give me the key, I’ll shoot! Three... two—"