When Yang Kai returned to the Zhang residence and pushed open the door to the guest quarters, he found Zhang Ruoxi sitting blankly in a chair, looking on the verge of tears.
Hearing the commotion, she looked up. Her beautiful eyes burst with joy the moment she saw him, and she hurried to her feet, somewhat flustered. "Sir…"
Yang Kai glanced at her and smiled. "What's this? Did you think I'd abandoned the Zhang family and left on my own, and now you're sitting here crying about it?"
Zhang Ruoxi pressed her red lips together and slowly shook her head.
"Then why the tears?" Yang Kai asked.
Zhang Ruoxi said softly, "Now that Ruoxi has followed Sir, I have no further ties to the Zhang family… I was afraid that Sir… didn't want me anymore." As these words left her lips, she seemed to summon a burst of courage. She raised her head to meet Yang Kai's gaze and said in a low, resolute voice, "Sir, Ruoxi knows her strength is low and that she can't be of any help — quite the opposite, Sir has been taking care of me all along. But… Ruoxi can pour your tea and fetch your water, make your bed and fold your blankets, take care of all those little things for you. I can serve as your maidservant…"
Having finished speaking, she seemed almost startled at herself for saying such a thing. She quickly ducked her head again, a deep blush spreading across her pretty face. She clasped her hands in a hasty curtsy and said in a rush, "Ruoxi has been rude. Please rest, Sir."
With that, she turned to leave.
"Wait — don't go just yet!" Yang Kai called out to her.
Zhang Ruoxi's slender frame trembled. She stood rooted in place, her voice unsteady. "D-Do you have an order for me, Sir?"
Whatever thought had crossed her mind, her face was taut with anxiety, her expression as though she were bristling with needles. Her small hands had drifted to her belly, fingers unconsciously tangling together. Her cheeks burned crimson, and inside her tiny chest her heart hammered like the beat of a war drum.
Yang Kai looked at her and said seriously, "Don't underestimate yourself. When I agreed to take you along with me, I naturally had a use for you!"
"A use for me?" Zhang Ruoxi's eyes lit up, and she asked eagerly, "What would you have me do, Sir? Can you tell me?"
Yang Kai smiled. "I was originally going to wait until your strength had improved a bit more before bringing it up. But since you're so eager… I suppose there's no harm in telling you now."
As he spoke, Yang Kai retrieved the Spirit Void Jade Wall from his spatial ring — the one he had obtained from Lu Baichuan of the Lu family.
The moment the Spirit Void Jade Wall appeared, Zhang Ruoxi's body jolted. She stared fixedly at the object before her, murmuring, "This feeling…"
At that very instant, the Spirit Void Jade Wall seemed to have been stirred into activity by some unseen force. It continuously radiated waves of spatial energy, throwing the surrounding space into disarray, as though it were about to sink into the void itself.
Lu Baichuan had not been lying — Zhang Ruoxi truly was the key that triggered the Spirit Void Jade Wall's reaction. So long as she remained within a certain range of the jade wall, it would emanate its mysterious power.
It was precisely for this reason that Lu Baichuan had been able to take his first steps in the mastery of spatial power.
He had gone so far as to scheme against the Zhang family's fighting forces, then arranged for Zhang Ruoxi to be married into the Lu family. That way, he would have ample opportunity to study the Spirit Void Jade Wall and, with the aid of that clear spatial energy, push his own strength to yet another level.
Yang Kai waved his hand. The laws of space surged forth, sealing off the heavens and earth around the guest quarters entirely. The transmission of the energy fluctuations was completely cut off.
"What can you feel?" Yang Kai asked, looking at Zhang Ruoxi.
"I can't quite describe it," Zhang Ruoxi said slowly, shaking her head. "But… this feeling is very familiar. When I used to visit the Lu family as a guest, I would often sense something like this — as if somewhere within the Lu estate, something was calling to me. This is the same sensation now, only before… it was never this intense!"
Yang Kai nodded, privately concluding that the connection between Zhang Ruoxi and the Spirit Void Jade Wall was likely a two-way link.
"Then do you recognize this thing?" Yang Kai asked.
Zhang Ruoxi slowly shook her head.
"I obtained this from Lu Baichuan," Yang Kai said.
"From Great-Uncle Lu?" Zhang Ruoxi said in surprise.
Even though Lu Baichuan was the sworn enemy of the Zhang family, Zhang Ruoxi still did not address him with any disrespectful term. It was clear that this young girl's heart was still simple and kind.
"However, according to Lu Baichuan, this item originally belonged to your Zhang family," Yang Kai continued. "It seems that at some point in the past, a woman of the Zhang family married into the Lu family and brought this with her as part of her dowry."
"If it was part of a dowry, then it should be considered Lu family property," Zhang Ruoxi said with a faint smile.
Yang Kai said, "It doesn't matter whose it is — its roots lie with your Zhang family. Was there perhaps some remarkable figure among your ancestors?"
Zhang Ruoxi shook her head. "Ruoxi doesn't know. But I heard Grandmother and the others say when I was young that the Zhang family was once a top-tier clan, long ago. They just gradually declined for some reason or other."
"That would explain it," Yang Kai nodded.
"But… why would I share some strange resonance with this thing? What about the other members of my Zhang family?" Zhang Ruoxi looked utterly bewildered.
"The others shouldn't have it. The reason it's you and no one else…" Yang Kai paused here for a moment before continuing, "There are two possibilities. One is that you carry some kind of bloodline power within you, and this bloodline power is far more concentrated in you than in any other member of the Zhang family — which is why you can resonate with the Spirit Void Jade Wall. This bloodline power should trace back to the original owner of the jade wall, one of your Zhang family ancestors."
"And the other possibility?"
"You possess some kind of special physique." Yang Kai looked at Zhang Ruoxi and slowly shook his head. "I personally think that's unlikely, because from my observations over the past several days, you don't appear to have any extraordinary physique."
"Then the first possibility is more likely?" Zhang Ruoxi picked up.
"Exactly." Yang Kai smiled faintly. "Bloodline power is a tricky thing. Perhaps your bloodline is strikingly similar to that ancestor's, which is why you're able to sense the Spirit Void Jade Wall."