"Chen, what happened?" A middle aged woman asked as Shen Chen walked into his bedroom.
"That father of mine! Not only will he not give up the ancient treasures locked away, but he is now messing with the business! Do you have any idea how much trouble it was to take the business away from him before he passed it on to that little bitch!? But now, the main project with the Vorn family was suddenly canceled! I lost millions! At this rate, my brothers will figure out a way to kick me out as CEO. Not to mention they are also trying to get their hands on the treasure. There is one item within that treasure that only our family line can use. If I have that..." If he had that, he would not need to worry about dying… He did not speak the last part of his sentence out loud.
Zi Shu heard a knock come at their door, and when she answered, she was met by three men in black suits and a stack of boxes outside the house. "You're here, Old Zang."
"Madam, it has been a long time. Master has instructed me to personally hand you this. And we have also brought the items you need for the Young Miss." Old Zang handed over a box made of rosewood to Zi Shu. "Master said that the Young Miss just needs to drop her blood on it to use it."
"Mmm… I will let her know. Thank you, Old Zang. You can put her stuff in the living room for now." Zi Shu held the box in her hands tightly. Only the item in this box will be able to help her granddaughter at this time.
She took the box and headed straight for Shen Xia's room. Shen Xia was sleeping on her bed. Her furrowed brow and hand gripping the sheets told Zi Shu that Shen Xia was having a bad dream. Zi Shu placed the rosewood box next to Shen Xia before sitting down next to her and gently stroking her head. As if sensing her grandmother, Shen Xia's furrowed brow began to loosen up. Her fist that was gripping the sheets until her knuckles turned white also eased up. Zi Shu did not move from the bed, and Old Zang did not disturb her as he left quietly with the people he brought. Zi Shu's eyes watered up as she watched her granddaughter peacefully sleeping.
"My sons are destroying this family all because they want what is in this box and to ruin any chance of my granddaughter having a good life. They see her as a shame on the family because no one knows who her father is. As for what is in this box, they are stupid to think that if it was in their hands that they could use it.
"This item can only be used by the one who carries the Shen family's purest blood. So no matter how much they try, this item would be useless to them. But now those idiots are fighting each other for an item that is useless to them. Even pushing their mother and father to the side to fulfill their greediness, taking away what should belong to Xiaxia.
"Xiaxia, you are the Shen family's only hope. You must become strong. Stronger than those idiots." Zi Shu wiped the tears from her eyes. She hated all of this. Her family was falling apart from the inside out all because her sons had become greedy for power. Only her daughter was sensible. But even she was…
Two hours later, Shen Xia woke up. She was plagued with bad dreams about what had happened throughout the day. But she was much calmer now. When she remembered her grandmother's words, she knew her grandmother was right, and in a way, she was also lucky. If her new animal instincts did not take over, something bad might have happened. But… the memory of how she killed someone still lingered in her mind, and this made her afraid of her new self.
When Shen Xia sat up, she found a beautiful but ancient looking rosewood box at her side. She picked it up and traced her hand over the top, which had an ancient looking tree with a moon in full bloom behind it carved into the top. Its bronzed colored latch was discolored but still fully intact. Shen Xia immediately found herself drawn to this box.
"What is this?" Curious as to what it could be. Shen Xia popped the latch and slowly opened the lid. What she saw inside was a cylinder made of jade that had golden Chinese letters etched into it.
The more Shen Xia looked at it, the more she felt like this jade was connected to her somehow. She reached into the rosewood box and went to pick it up, but when she touched it, she felt a sharp pain in her palm as she went to pick the jade up. "Ouch!"
She quickly retracted her hand to see her hand was bleeding. She looked down at the jade to see what had cut her, only to see the blood that got onto the jade just now being soaked into the jade.
To her surprise, the jade began to glow with a golden light and rise up into the air. This whole scene was so magical and surprising that Shen Xia couldn't even utter a sound as she stared at the jade in a daze. She watched as the jade began to shrink into a ball of golden light and, without any warning, shoot straight into the spot between her brow. Shen Xia was suddenly hit with a wave of information before she blacked out.
"Xiaxia, are you up?" Zi Shu walked into Shen Xia's room to find Shen Xia lying sideways on the bed with her eyes closed. The rosewood box that was in her lap was now open, and its contents were nowhere to be found. Seeing this scene, Zi Shu did not panic, instead, she walked over to check to see if Shen Xia was breathing. Once this was confirmed, she gently adjusted Shen Xia into a better position before putting a blanket over her.
After tucking Shen Xia in, Zi Shu took the rosewood box and closed the lid before going into the kitchen, over to the wood burning stove she used for cooking, and tossing it in. These were the instructions she had gotten from Shen Yi long ago. 'If a day comes when a pure blooded Shen family member is born, the contents of the rosewood box were to be given to them, and then the box itself burnt. No evidence of what was in the box can ever be allowed to be known by anyone but the head of the Shen family and his wife.'
Shen Xia found herself in a dark place. She was a bit confused because she was wide awake a few seconds ago before feeling like something was being injected into her mind. But now, she felt like she was floating in a sea of darkness. A black abyss with no end. As Shen Xia floated there helplessly trying to figure out what was going on. An archaic voice echoed out from the deep darkness that surrounded her.
"From times of old, only those who pursue the power to stand above all will undergo the trials that will allow them to break the bonds of the mortal world… "