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 was uncomfortable with this new information. 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. They moved with purpose, spreading out in a silent half-circle that cut off her only escape route—the path back toward the grand ballroom. Her gaze flicked from one dark figure to another as they advanced, their footsteps soundless. The faint torchlight caught on the edges of their blades, gleaming like the eyes of predators.

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 no longer hid their movements, the air slowly thickening with killing intent. 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 threw the balls in her hand away, grabbed her skirts, 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. With every step, the carefully sculpted maze seemed to give way, the rigid walls softening into wild undergrowth. Shadows thickened, branches interlacing overhead to blot out the moon, and the scent of damp earth and pine replaced the faint fragrance of flowers. 

Soon, the manicured garden vanished entirely, and Song Jia found herself swallowed by a dark, towering forest, where 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, its trunk a wide wall at her back, listening for sounds of pursuit. Blood dripped from her wounds, her hair falling around her face.