Underneath A Thousand Skies ✔️

97 Foster Son, Don't Be So Crazy (34)

Not far from where the grand ball was being held in the royal castle, there was a private garden.

Song Jia leaned against the marble baluster that separated the garden, her eyes staring unseeingly at the dense foliage in front of her.

Her mind was spinning quickly with theories and speculations.

Why did Princess Bai Xue's face look so similar to Li Jia?

Song Jia felt uncomfortable knowing that it was the same face Xiang Feng had fell in love with in his past life. After all, she had worn that face for a long time. Even though Princess Bai Xue's face only had an eight or nine points similarity to Li Jia's, it was enough for Song Jia to mistake her as Li Jia at first glance. That kind of resemblance was too uncanny.

"Could the princess be a reincarnation of Li Jia?" she asked herself aloud. "No, that doesn't seem to be case..."

Having interacted with Li Jia's soul before, Song Jia was a hundred percent sure that she could recognize Li Jia even if she reincarnated into a new body. Princess Bai Xue...was not Li Jia.

She didn't think she would have the courage to go through her plans if her opponent was the reincarnated soul of Li Jia.

Having settled her thoughts, Song Jia turned around to go back. Suddenly, her eyes flashed.

The place she went was to the west of the entrance of the grand ball, in a secluded place where it wasn't as well lit. It was already late in the evening, and there were a lot of shadows. Song Jia felt that some of those shadows were watching her. She pressed her back against the balustrade, her pulse racing. She didn't know how many of those shadows were out to kill her.

Were they sent by Princess Bai Xue?

She didn't miss the look of hatred that filled the princess' eyes when they locked gazes earlier, as confused as she was by it.

Song Jia quickly reached into her storage space ring. Taking out multi-colored balls with one hand, she eyed the shadows that were slowly trapping her. She couldn't help but hook up the corners of her lips into an ironic smile.

It seemed that every time she encountered a young lady with the surname Bai, things don't end up well for her.

Realizing that she seemed to be aware of their existence, the assassins stepped out one by one, their faces covered by a black veil. Song Jia dug her fingernails into her skin when she saw that there were five of them.

She squeezed the balls in her hand and held her breath as the gas permeated the air. Then she grabbed her skirts, threw the balls in her hand away, and leaped over the marble balustrade. Song Jia didn't look back as she plunged straight into the garden.

Ripping off the hem of her long dress, Song Jia rounded one bend, then another, the hedges seeming to thicken the deeper she went. The moonlight was completely blocked by the dense foliage overhead.

She stumbled a few times, adding new scratches to her hands and legs while the branches reached out, clutching at her dress and hair. One of the sharp twigs had opened a narrow gash across her cheek. Breathing hard, Song Jia hid behind a large tree, it's trunk a wide wall at her back, listening for sounds of pursuit. Blood dripped from her wounds, her hair falling around her face.

It was true that she planned to catch the attention of Princess Bai Xue, but not this way!

After a long silence, Song Jia heard a gasp, a strangled cry, like a gurgling, primal groan.

Her blood turned to ice. It sounded near to her position.

Swallowing her fear, Song Jia slowly began to climb the side of the big tree at her back. She needed a better view to see what was happening, in order to plan what to do next.

As soon as Song Jia found a branch thick enough to hold her weight, she crawled forward and hugged it with both arms. She winced when she saw the various cuts across her skin.

Both Snow White and Sleeping Beauty were famous for being sleepyheads, but after this incident, Song Jia became even more determined to make the crown princess fall into an endless sleep first!

Song Jia cautiously peered below her. Without meaning to, she let out a horrified gasp.

"Ah!"

Only ten feet away from her tree was a patch of ground that was soaked with blood. There were corpses everywhere, with torn limbs and heads that there were no longer attached. A tall man was crouching over the last remaining assassin, pulling his intestines from his stomach one by one.

Song Jia covered her mouth with her hand.

A sadist!

This man was definitely a sadist!

The assassin's body twitched uncontrollably, his eyes wide open. There was still a breath left in him, and the tall man snuffed it out completely by hauling the assassin off his feet, a good half-foot above the ground. With a single jerk of his hand, he easily snapped the assassin's neck.

Then man threw the body away like a piece of trash before pulling out a white handkerchief from his waistcoat pocket and wiping his hands clean. Before Song Jia could even think of hiding, the man looked up, letting her see the mask that hid the upper half of his face.

Even in the dark, his eyes glinted red with bloodlust.

Her whole body shuddered.

Song Jia had never felt fear before, even when she was being chased by those five assassins. But looking at those man's eyes that did not seem to contain a hint of humanity, only bloodlust and an intense desire to kill, her face quickly paled. She rose up, intending to back away, but fear had turned her whole body into jelly.

One of her hands slipped off the branch, and the rest of her body quickly followed. Song Jia did not even have time to scream as she plummeted down, her white dress fluttering.

But before she could brace herself for the impact and some broken bones, a strong arm caught her around the waist, and she was forcefully pulled against a hard chest.

Next thing she knew, she was laying flat on the ground, and her wrists were gripped above her head. Song Jia stared with wide eyes at the masked man above her. His eyes had almost turned completely red, glaring at her like a fierce beast that was about to devour its prey.

"..."

Song Jia swallowed, looking back at him in panic. If he decided to kill her, he would be able to do it effortlessly.

Her wrists were already in pain, as if they were about to snap at any given moment.

"You..." Her mouth was dry. "You, please let me go..."

Suddenly, the masked man lowered his head.

Song Jia jerked back in fear, her sky-blue eyes widening.

But his bloodshot eyes were only looking at the wound across her cheek. Blood dripped from it, slowly trickling across her pale skin.

The masked man stared at it for three seconds and spat out one word, "Flowers."

His voice was hoarse and low.

"..."

Song Jia's face was blank.

Flowers?

What did he want to do by saying a nonsensical word at this point in time?