Starlight Guides the Way (1)
With more options, Mi wasn't in such a rush to return to Earth, but she didn't know where to go. The outside world was so vast; the elders had already provided coordinates for numerous planets, but Mi didn't want to go to any of them. The entire universe seemed uninteresting. Besides the long-lived species—those beings as old as heaven and earth—how did they view this world? Mi shook her head at the thought. El had been talking about the long-lived species, even telling her about the Flower Kingdom and the Sea Kingdom, and even if El was truly a witch, she was a witch guiding her in the wrong direction. Mi didn't want to be pushed forward by El.
Mi lived her life in the Misty Forest like Karin. She didn't feel lonely at all. The forest was too noisy; many times, Mi was awakened by the noise and felt so irritated that she wanted to escape. The birds chirped all day long, and the baby birds had already begun to learn to fly. Every now and then, a fluffy little ball would fall out of the nest. "Ouch!" "Ouch!" "Ah, ah ah!" "Mama, Mama!" Mi listened to the little creatures calling and saw them fall into the grass under the trees and then flap their tiny wings and fly away again. This successfully swept away her irritability. "Flying!" "Flying!" Mi was as happy as the little birds.
The baby birds grew up and left the nest, and the nest gradually lost its lively chirping. The area around the cabin fell silent once more. A summer downpour, with immense force, washed everything away. The nest had been blown away by the wind, and Mi's little cabin dripped and leaked, soaking everything Mi had stockpiled over the past few days. Her wet clothes clung to her body, and the thought of leaving once again took hold. Life as a savage was hard; it was time to move on to the next destination.
The rain drowned out all sound and hindered Mi's progress. The forest grew even greener, with clusters of green light and fine netting intertwined. Every tree was striving to grow upwards, providing greater shelter for the creatures shivering under its branches.
Mi abandoned her clothes, curling herself into a small black ball as she pondered where she should go. The temptations outside were immense, and the road home had a winding path. Which place would truly draw her in? Mi couldn't determine her direction. She repeatedly took out the witch's headband, staring at the small stone on it and sighing, "Can you really guide me?"
"The guiding stone is the witch's heart; it will guide your direction, as long as your heart is firm enough." El's words echoed in Mi's ears again. Mi unrolled the witch's headband, which was rolled up in a ball. Inside were three World Grasses with more than ten leaves in total. If she wanted, she could travel to more than ten different worlds.
"I want to go back," Mi said, stroking the cool World Grass. "I must go back before my body loses its vitality. I want to complete my life as Mi." But El said that Mi could go to other worlds before returning to Blue Star, as long as it didn't exceed two worlds. The world El spoke of was full of fantasy, especially the long-lived species. What more could they want from someone who had already gained infinite life?
The torrential rain finally stopped, and Mi, still unsure of where to go, began repairing her little wooden house. She worked diligently under the blazing sun until night fell and the blue moon rose. On starry nights, Mi would climb to the treetops to admire the countless stars. The stars here were completely different from those on Earth; the sky was like pearls scattered by a mischievous child. On Earth, there's a brilliant Milky Way and the ever-present North Star, the guiding star; morning star Venus and evening star Venus; three stars in the sky are considered auspicious.
As she gazed at the twinkling stars, Mi found it increasingly difficult to fall asleep. She slowly closed her eyes, and as the stars shone brightly, the witch's headband in Mi's hand quietly shimmered in the darkness. The little guiding stone had finally changed, but Mi, already asleep, did not notice any of this.
Suddenly, the countless stars in the sky above the forest burst into an astonishing brilliance, their intense light forming a giant queen's crown. The starry sky moved slowly, and the dazzling queen's crown left the Misty Forest. Redstone Town, located on the edge of the forest, was also enveloped in starlight. Soon, people noticed the anomaly, and many climbed onto rooftops to stare at the queen's crown in the starry sky.
The stars continued to move, and as the Queen's Crown crossed the wasteland, the sand on the wasteland began to crack. The wasteland was calm, yet waves rose, and the dunes rolled forward like ocean waves. The giant in the wasteland opened his eyes and saw the Queen's Crown, whose light was about to disappear.
The Queen's Crown began to dim, and the stars crossed the border and finally arrived above the Sun City. The Queen's Crown then burst into amazing light again, until the entire kingdom was enveloped in light. The star map slowly rotated and returned to its previous state.
* * *
In the Derek Palace of the City of the Sun, a group of grey-robed figures hurriedly left the Star Orbit Observatory. They knocked on the door of Queen Angie's bedchamber, and the queen, draped in a robe, appeared in the reception room. The grey-robed figures handed her several star charts, each depicting the complete shape of the queen's crown.
"Your Majesty, the Queen's Guide has appeared."
"In which direction?"
"Only the star map of the Queen's Crown."
"What did the Adventurers' Guild say?"
"The people we sent out haven't returned yet."
"Don't reveal the news to the King for now."
"I'm afraid that won't work. Severus has already gone to the king."
"Aris, send someone to keep an eye on Severus."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The Queen's palace doors were opened and then hastily closed, while in the nearby Derek Gallery, the King's bedroom doors remained tightly shut. A astrologer in a grey robe waited with a stack of papers, while an attendant looked at him with apprehension: "His Majesty is asleep."
"Go in and say that Sifre requests an audience," the grey-robed man commanded forcefully. "You might get a scolding for waking His Majesty the King, but if you don't go in now, I guarantee you won't see the sun rise tomorrow."
The attendant looked at the gray-clad man with difficulty. He was stubborn and unyielding, wearing the gray robes typical of astrologers, covered with strange curves. He was thin, with almost no flesh on his face, like a skull with only a few pieces of skin hanging on it. His eyes were bloodshot and red-rimmed, and his gray hair was a mess. But his eyes were fierce, radiating a light that could almost devour a person.
The attendant hesitated before re-entering the king's bedchamber. After the attendant, clutching his bleeding head, retreated from the palace, the attendant refused to go in to announce his arrival. Sifre, staring angrily at the closed palace gates, cursed under his breath and had no choice but to wait outside until the sun rose in the east, when the doors of the king's bedchamber finally opened. At that moment, a carriage adorned with banners of bows, arrows, and axes had already entered Derek's palace, and the queen's reception room was already filled with guests.
Not far from the palace, at Ellen's Castle, Ellen once again fell into deeper darkness. When she awoke with a start, the mimosa tree outside her window was bathed in starlight. She saw the starlight swirling among the leaves, finally solidifying into a single star, within which was her face, with two lotus flowers simultaneously appearing on her cheek. Ellen stroked the patterns on her face and let out a soft sigh: "This time, are you truly here?" Ellen rose and went to the window. The starlight on the mimosa tree had disappeared, and her face had returned to its fair state. The mimosa flowers quietly opened their buds, releasing a fragrance that surrounded Ellen, accompanying her as she drifted back into sleep.
* * *
Behind the library of Lincheng No. 17 Girls' School, far from Taiyangcheng, in a secluded room, Yana took off her glasses and closed her sore eyes to rest. With a bang, the heavy wooden door was pushed open. Qiu looked at the pile of blueprints in front of Yana, then at Yana, who was almost fainting from exhaustion. She gently walked over, took off her cloak, draped it over Yana, and gently hugged her.
"The guide has appeared," Yana said sleepily, her eyes half-closed.
"Okay, go to sleep. We can talk about it tomorrow." Qiu Shou put the blueprints in the drawer and carried Yana to bed.
* * *
A small town nestled on the edge of a forest, the town glowing red under the light of the Queen's Crown before it entered the wasteland, a house decorated with bows and axes, with Mayor Janda sitting on the roof. Red-haired Anne climbed onto the roof, and they watched the Queen's Crown pass overhead, drifting towards Sun City.
“That’s a queen’s crown.” Janet looked at Anne, who had sat down beside her. “Are you going back?”
"The Queen's crown has nothing to do with her."
Jane looked up at the sky again, and said with certainty in the direction where the stars had disappeared, "That's Sun City."
Anne looked at the stars behind the Queen's crown, one, two... there were more than thirty stars in total. She looked down and calculated the Queen's age, and said, "She will never see the Queen."
"Are you sure?" Jane counted the stars behind the queen's crown again. When she counted to the tenth star, the starry sky returned to normal. "The current crown prince is her son. Could something have happened to the crown prince?"
"His health was already poor."
“That’s the son she risked her life to give birth to.” Janet stared at Anne. “Without this son, she wouldn’t be able to sit on the throne as queen.”
“You’re wrong. Even if she doesn’t have children, she will still be queen.” Anne’s voice was surprisingly calm. “Jenda, I know her. She’s the kind of person who will do anything to get what she wants, even if it means risking her life.”
"If something happens to the Crown Prince and the Queen loses her son, Anne, are you sure she can pull through?"
"I have no idea."
"She will need you."
“Not now.” Anne looked at the night sky, now dark again. “This was her choice, Jane. She pushed me away when she chose the throne.”
Janda still remembers the Queen's childbirth. The Duke of Bennick was determined to put his daughter Lucinda on the throne. While the Queen was pregnant, he frequently brought his daughter to and from the palace. The King was seduced by her beauty and completely forgot about the Queen who was on official business for him, and also forgot to bring her back to the palace to give birth.
The Queen remained in Star City for some unknown reason until Anne brought her back in a carriage. They traveled without stopping, and just as they entered Sun City, the Queen went into labor. Jane still remembers the blood dripping from the carriage all the way to Derek Palace. Angus refused any assistance, walking with her back straight through Derek's corridors, and giving birth to Prince Ryan in the temple.
Janet remembered that Anne held the longevity seed, which belonged exclusively to the Queen. Despite the physician's repeated cries of "The Queen is in danger!" "The Queen is having a difficult labor!" "The Queen needs help!", Anne refused to feed the longevity seed to the Queen. King Derek drew his sword, threatening Anne to hand over the seed. If the Queen had eaten the longevity seed before giving birth, she would have given birth to a healthy prince, but the red-haired man insisted that the longevity seed, belonging exclusively to the Queen, could only save the Queen's life.
The King could not force Anne, but Jane knew that if the Queen took the longevity seed during childbirth, the medicine would be completely absorbed by the fetus, and the Queen would not have more than three years left. Moreover, the child born to the Queen would be born with the longevity seed and would be forever barred from the throne.
Finally, the Queen fainted. With the help of the midwife and Anne, she gave birth to the prince, a sickly boy. At the moment the umbilical cord was cut, Anne, trembling, held the longevity seed. She watched the placenta being delivered before feeding the seed to the Queen. By then, the Queen had stopped breathing, and her body was only slightly warm. Jane didn't know what made Anne so certain that she could save the Queen.
"Why did you do that back then?" Jianda hesitated for a moment before asking, "What if you couldn't save the Queen?"
No, it won't.
"Why?"
“She held my hand the whole time, and as long as she didn’t let go, my life would be with hers,” said red-haired Anne. “You know, I am a cycad, and at that time, I had already decided to give my life for her.”
Why did you leave Sun City?
"Because Her Majesty the King did not want to see me in Sun City, and she chose power."
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