"The true dragon emerges from the sea, the spiritual realm is unified, the phoenix rises from the ashes, reborn from the flames, life is death, and death is life..."

Just as the old woman was half-closing her eyes and pondering the seemingly deeper meaning of the words, the woman who had been unconscious on the small bed not far away had quietly opened her eyes and sat up on the bed.

Huan'er, who was standing beside the old woman, patting her back with her little fists, glanced at her and was immediately startled, her big round eyes widening in fright. Her mouth opened and closed, but she couldn't utter a complete sentence. "Old lady, wake up... wake up... wake up..."

The old woman, still lost in thought and sitting sideways, heard the noise and scolded sharply, "Huan'er, stop making a fuss! I'm awake! I was just pondering what that little novice monk said—'true dragon,' 'phoenix'... I feel like those words are referring to two different people..."

Unexpectedly, seeing her master remain motionless, Huan'er suddenly stopped what she was doing and began patting the old woman's shoulder repeatedly, still excitedly saying, "No, no, it's...it's...it's that young lady who has woken up..."

"What?" Upon hearing this, the old woman hurriedly came to her senses and turned to look at the woman. She staggered to her feet and rushed towards the woman on the bed.

The woman was sitting upright on the bed, one hand struggling to support her weak body, the other hand gently stroking the wound on her head. Perhaps because the wound had not yet healed, the expression on her face clearly showed a hint of suppressed pain and solemnity.

"Girl, you're finally awake!" The old woman asked with delight as she approached, and Huan'er followed closely behind, a bright smile on her face.

After a moment's thought, the woman slowly lowered her hand from her wound, then blurted out several questions in quick succession: "Who are you? Where is this? What happened? Is it nighttime? Why is it so dark? There isn't a single light anywhere!"

Upon hearing this, the master and servant looked at each other in astonishment. Then they glanced at the bright sunlight outside and stared at each other in bewilderment once more.

After a while, the old woman's brows, which had just relaxed, furrowed again, and then she slowly extended a trembling hand and waved it in front of the woman's eyes.

However, the woman's exceptionally beautiful phoenix eyes remained blank, seemingly unresponsive.

Upon seeing this, the old woman's heart skipped a beat. Even Huan'er, standing beside her, held her breath and remained motionless for a moment.

After a long while, the old woman, suppressing her grief, took a deep breath and spoke softly, "Young lady, this is the territory of the Western Qin Kingdom, a small village called Peach Blossom Shop. The villagers all call me Old Madam, so please call me Old Madam as they do. This is my maid, Huan'er. We don't know what happened to you. We rescued you from the river outside the village early the day before yesterday. And... now... now it's not night, but daytime, early morning, the sun has been up for a long time, you..."

Upon hearing this, the woman's body suddenly trembled, and she raised her voice in great surprise to cut off the old woman's words, "What? It's daytime now? Then I'm not..." As she spoke, she threw off the quilt covering her legs and stumbled out of bed to go out into the sunlight in the yard to verify it for herself.

Seeing this, the two men quickly reached out and grabbed the woman's arms, trying to press her back down. Unexpectedly, the woman's hands moved with incredible agility, quickly twisting them and gripping them tightly instead. The grip tightened, causing them considerable pain. The old woman was astonished; how could such a seemingly frail woman possess such strength?

So she quickly advised, "Young lady, you mustn't. The wound on your head hasn't fully healed yet, so you shouldn't get too emotional. Your eyesight and memory may only be temporary blindness and amnesia caused by this injury. As long as you rest well, I believe you will recover in time and see the light again."

“Yes, yes, yes, all of this must be caused by the injury on the girl’s head. It will all heal.” Huan’er, who was standing to the side dumbfounded, nodded vigorously in agreement with her master.

After hearing this for a long time, the two slowly felt the grip on their wrists gradually loosen until they completely let go and no longer resisted.

Seeing that the woman seemed to have listened to what the two had said, she gradually quieted down. Only then did the old woman instruct Huan'er beside her, "Now that the young lady has woken up, quickly go and cook some congee and side dishes for her. She hasn't eaten for many days and must be starving."

"Yes, Huan'er will go and prepare it right away."

Huan'er withdrew, and the old woman gazed at the girl for a moment before continuing to comfort her, "Young lady, don't be too anxious. When we pulled you from the river, your clothes were already torn..."

"My clothes are torn..." the woman said, hurriedly groping herself.

Upon seeing this, the old woman quickly explained, "Don't worry, young lady, it's just that your clothes are torn. You are perfectly fine."

After a moment of silence, the old woman carefully examined the awakened woman again, finding her increasingly similar to the girl. After much deliberation, she finally spoke tentatively, "Young lady... do you really not remember who you are? For example, what is your name? Is it 'Ruoxi'?"

"Ruoxi?" the woman repeated, puzzled, but her face showed no sign of knowing anything.

Seeing that the woman knew nothing of her past, the old woman sighed deeply, thinking: "Heavens, please don't play such a joke on me. Eight years, a full eight years, and all I've received is a guardian who is both amnesiac and blind. Can such a person truly shoulder the arduous and sacred mission of saving all living beings?"

For a moment, the room was silent, as if even the surrounding air had frozen, making it suffocating.

Time always flies, and before we knew it, it was dusk.

The village stream flowed quietly, while the streets and alleys were bustling with activity for the Lantern Festival, every household adorned with lanterns and decorations. After tonight, the New Year celebrations will be completely over. In its place comes a new year full of hope!

In the village, innocent children carrying lanterns of various shapes and sizes came out to admire the lanterns. After dinner, they gathered at the village entrance to prepare to "walk across the three bridges" together.

At this moment, Huan'er, who had just finished offering incense with the old woman, couldn't wait to ask, "Madam, if there's nothing else, could Huan'er take that 'Ruoxi' girl for a walk around the village and let her see the night view?"

Because the woman had amnesia and could not remember her own name, and kept hearing the old woman mention Ruoxi, she suggested that everyone call her 'Ruoxi' until she remembered her past and her name.

"Go ahead, but don't be too playful. That girl is still injured, so come back early and don't catch a cold," the old woman replied.

"Yes, Huan'er understands, thank you, Madam." But before Huan'er could finish speaking, she had already disappeared.

The old woman watched his disappearing figure, shook her head with a helpless expression, and a rare, beautiful smile appeared on her lips.

At this moment, the woman, dressed in a delicate pink dress, with her long, glossy black hair simply tied up high, stood quietly under the crabapple tree in the courtyard. She reached out and gracefully picked up a crabapple branch, bringing it to her nose to smell it.

Just then, a gentle breeze swept by, filling the courtyard with fragrance. Crabapple petals were gently blown down onto her, making her as beautiful as a flower and as picturesque as a painting.

At this moment, the woman couldn't help but stand beneath the flowers, sighing with deep melancholy, "Whose home is beneath the crabapple blossoms?...Who am I, really?"

Just then, Huan'er tiptoed up behind her and excitedly patted her shoulder from behind, saying, "Ruoxi, come on, Huan'er will take you to see the lanterns on the street."

"Look at the lanterns?" The woman followed the direction of the voice, slightly shifting her feet to face Huan'er, and asked in confusion.

"Hmm, today is the Lantern Festival, didn't you know?" Huan'er asked playfully, tilting her head as she helped the woman up.

Seeing the woman's indifferent expression, Huan'er realized that she had spoken out of turn in her joy, and quickly lowered her head apologetically, "Oh, I forgot, you don't remember anything. But don't worry too much, maybe after your head injury heals, you will slowly remember everything."

Upon hearing this, the woman pursed her lips and smiled slightly. "Lantern Festival, I know."

"You still remember the Lantern Festival?" Huan'er suddenly looked up, staring at the woman's face in astonishment. But looking at her gentle, watery eyes and her face through the pure white gauze veil, which appeared so beautiful and ethereal, Huan'er couldn't help but be mesmerized.

Suddenly snapping out of her daze, Huan'er seized the opportunity to reach out and grab the woman's hand, rushing towards the door as she cheerfully exclaimed, "In that case, let's hurry up and go!"

On this day, many more people were busy running around because of this woman.

At this moment, Yi Shangyun's maid Yan'er and her half-brother Yi Shangjun were sitting in a carriage returning to the west of the city.

The two traveled a long way and finally arrived at Wanjiao Pavilion in the south of the city. They were so engrossed in their work that they began to gesturing to passersby and nearby merchants about the appearance of the cloud-like garment.

To their surprise, after searching the streets all day, they found not a single trace of the information.

Now, Wanjiao Pavilion has been sealed off by the government, and the people inside have either fled, died, or been arrested...

None of the passersby had ever seen the person they were looking for.

"Something must have happened to Miss! Something must have happened to her!" At this moment, Yan'er was extremely helpless, and she said with snot and tears streaming down her face...