5 The Strange Place

Jing Yunzhao glanced at the father and daughter and scoffed, walking past them. 

"Where are you going?" Qiao Weimin growled and grabbed Jing Yunzhao's arm as she passed him. 

"Didn't you want me to eat that porridge? I will eat it as you wish," Jing Yunzhao flung Qiao Weimin's hand off and said coldly. She marched to her room and looked at the cold porridge, then gobbled it up. 

An upset stomach wouldn't kill her anyway, and she would sit for the test the day after no matter what. 

"Such a temper! Maybe you would behave better if I beat you three times a day," Qiao Weimin muttered, satisfied that Jing Yunzhao had finished the porridge. He glanced at Jing Yunzhao sourly then sat down on the sofa again to continue watching television. Qiao Hongye approached Jing Yunzhao, looking apologetic, but Jing Yunzhao quickly slammed the door shut and locked it before Qiao Hongye could even enter her room. 

Qiao Hongye stood there trembling in anger, her eyes filled with hatred. 

She was too weak now. In her current condition, she would barely be able to take care of herself, let alone take revenge on others. Jing Yunzhao sighed deeply and sat down on the side of her bed, pulling out the jade pendant that hung on a chain around her neck.

The jade pendant had been with her since she was a baby. The pendant looked quite old and had a rather simple pattern – a bottle gourd with the Chinese word 'Jing' engraved on the bottom. 

Normally, something like this would have been taken away by the Qiao Family, but the fortune-teller had said the spiritual properties of jade, especially the one that Jing Yunzhao was wearing, could help ward off evil spirits. 

Without the jade, not only would Jing Yunzhao not be able to ward off evil from Qiao Hongye and Qiao Zizhou, she might also jinx those around her. 

Jing Yunzhao sank into her thoughts as she stared at the jade bottle gourd. She wondered about her real parents for a second but quickly scolded herself. 

Why would her real parents abandon her in the first place if they cared about her? 

As Jing Yunzhao put the jade pendant back under her shirt, she felt a sudden sharp pain in her head as if something was ripped away. She cradled her head in her hands, struggling through the pain. Finally, the pain disappeared and she looked up, breathing hard. 

To her shock, she was not in her room anymore.

"Where am I?" Jing Yunzhao asked in disbelief. 

She was surrounded by thick fog. There was an old well nearby, and beside the well was a dragon head sculpture. The well water flowed out from its mouth. 

"After years of waiting, my successor has finally showed up…" The voice of an old man echoed. 

"Who's there?" Jing Yunzhao asked, looking around in surprise. 

"Fear not, little girl. Spin the wheel on the stone table and you shall see me," said the voice again. 

Jing Yunzhao was indeed afraid, but the voice sounded kind and this strange place felt somewhat familiar, as if she had been here before. 

Jing Yunzhao started walking towards the stone table curiously. It wasn't that big, and on top of the table was a strange pattern and a wheel in the middle. Jing Yunzhao took a deep breath and spun the wheel.

As the wheel spun, Jing Yunzhao was shocked to see something like a hologram appearing on top of it. 

It finally materialized into a kind, almost ethereal old man. 

"Sir, you… you are…." Jing Yunzhao stammered, eyes wide. 

"The fact that you could enter the space in the jade bottle proves that you are my heir. I am Jing He. What is your name, little girl?" The old man looked Jing Yunzhao up and down and asked contemplatively.