Chương 4: 4
Meng Shuying hadn't slept this well in a long time.
In fact, she had never slept so well before.
When she was still at home, she only had a spot on the floor next to her sister's bed. The ground was damp and cold, and even after a whole night's sleep, her bedding would still be cold.
Before dawn, she had to get up, drag a stool to the kitchen, and prepare breakfast for the family at a stove taller than she was.
After making breakfast, she had to prepare warm water for her father and sister to wash up, then head to the mountains with a basket on her back to gather herbs.
Her father was the manager of an inn in town, and her sister attended the local school. The family's expenses were high, and her father's income wasn't enough to cover them, so she was ordered to gather herbs, which her father would then sell in town.
She had to gather enough herbs each day before she could return home. If she didn't, her father would punish her.
Sometimes, if she returned late and didn't manage to finish preparing dinner before her father and sister got home, her sister would scold her, accuse her of trying to starve them, and dig her sharp nails into her skin.
Whenever her sister bullied her, her father would stand by, watching coldly.
Her father had named her, but he never called her by that name.
He only ever called her "hey," his tone full of disgust.
Even though she had never done anything wrong.
She had no friends, and the children in the neighborhood would mock her, taunt her for not going to school, and for never having clean clothes.
When Meng Shuying ignored them, they would pull her hair and call her a little bastard.
Since she had never experienced sweetness, she didn't even find her life bitter—just numb.
Then, one day, after continuous rain, the village flooded. The water destroyed all the houses and swept her out of her home.
She barely managed to grab hold of the crooked tree outside her door, and with all her strength, she climbed to the top. But when she looked up, hoping to call for help from her father, who had already climbed to the roof with her sister, she saw him carrying her sister on his back, swimming away without hesitation.
He left so decisively, without even looking back at her.
Later, by a stroke of luck, she was picked up by disciples of the Qingxu Sect and brought to the mountain, where she became a servant disciple.
Even after two years on the mountain, she still dreamed of that day when the floodwaters swallowed her inch by inch, from her ankles, to her calves, to her thighs, until it submerged her entire body.
In those dreams, she couldn't breathe, couldn't even call out for help.
But this time, it seemed she was having a good dream for the first time she could remember.
She dreamed of the mountain where she used to gather herbs. The wind was gentle, the clouds were soft, and there were endless fields of flowers stretching all the way to the horizon.
She sat among the flowers, feeling a lightness she had never known.
It was as if she were floating in the clouds, weightless, as if she were leaving the world behind and ascending to the heavens.
Just as she was about to lose herself in the dream, a small bird suddenly flew out from the lilies-of-the-valley beneath her. The bird was a delicate yellow, with red patches on its cheeks, and tiny eyes and a sharp beak that made it look especially cute.
The bird seemed delighted to see Meng Shuying, and it flew over, lightly pecking her face with its sharp beak.
That peck jolted Meng Shuying awake.
When Meng Shuying opened her eyes, she was still in a daze, unsure of where she was.
She remembered that before she lost consciousness, she had been in that dark woodshed.
Her body had been in agony, worse than the times her sister had pinched her; she had been freezing, colder than kneeling in the courtyard in the dead of winter.
But now, she felt no discomfort at all.
If it weren't for the little bird beside her pecking at her face, causing a bit of pain, she might have thought she was already dead and hallucinating.
"Chirp chirp—" Seeing her lie still, the little bird grew anxious, desperately rubbing its crest against her.
Meng Shuying raised her hand and gently petted its head, calming it down.
This little bird had been injured when she found it in the courtyard a few months ago, and she had gone to great lengths to nurse it back to health.
However, the bird wasn't very affectionate, only coming to her when it was hungry.
Now that she was awake, the bird chirped a few more times, reminding her to feed it.
Meng Shuying smiled bitterly, "I've been in the woodshed for days, I haven't had anything to eat myself, let alone have any food left for you."
Hearing this, the little bird grew furious, chirping angrily and flying to the other side of her pillow, where it pulled out a porcelain bottle.
When Meng Shuying uncorked the bottle, the scent of medicine wafted out. The little bird's eyes lit up, and it began hopping around on her, urging her to give it the pill.
Meng Shuying tipped a pill into her palm, and the little bird immediately dashed over, using its tiny beak to break the pill into pieces before swallowing them.
Hearing the commotion inside, Han Yi hesitated for a moment before pushing the door open and walking in.
Seeing Meng Shuying feeding the bird a pill, his face twisted in pain.
That was Uncle Master Yunfei's medicine! Even outer disciples like him couldn't get it easily, and here Meng Shuying was, using it to feed a bird!
He was about to scold Meng Shuying as he usually did but remembered that she was now under Su Luo's protection. He forcefully suppressed his anger.
Taking a deep breath, he sternly said, "That medicine is very precious. If you're not going to take it, don't waste it."
When Meng Shuying saw him enter, she quickly hid the medicine bottle and the bird under her blanket, eyeing him warily.
Seeing her guarded look, Han Yi's face darkened.
But then he remembered Su Luo and forced a strained smile.
"I just wanted to say that your injuries aren't healed yet. You don't need to work for the next few days. Just stay here and recover. I'll make sure your meals are delivered to you…"
His sudden change in attitude left Meng Shuying feeling a bit overwhelmed.
After giving her a few more instructions, Han Yi turned to leave. Once he was gone, Meng Shuying realized that her wounds had been carefully treated, and even her clothes had been changed into clean ones.
Looking at her new clothes and the medicine bottle in her hand, Meng Shuying couldn't help but feel confused.
Since coming to the mountain, no one had ever shown her kindness.
Who could have been the one to help her this time?
…
That night, Su Luo received her punishment from the system.
She had been sleeping soundly when she was suddenly struck by a sharp pain in her head.
If the pain she felt earlier in the day had been like being pricked with needles, this time it was like someone was swinging a hammer inside her skull.
The pain was so intense that stars danced before her eyes as she rolled around in bed, wishing she could just pass out.
The pain lasted for a full hour before gradually subsiding. When the hammering in her head finally stopped, Su Luo was drenched in sweat, lying on the bed gasping for breath like a fish out of water.
So this was what it meant to be completely at someone's mercy.
Just as she was feeling utterly miserable, Xiao Ba chimed in with a snide remark.
"Hopefully you'll be more careful next time and stop trying to play the saint. Haven't you heard the saying? The good die young, while evil lives on."
Su Luo let out a soft snort, her voice weak, "I thought you might have some new tricks up your sleeve, but it's just the same old stuff."
"You'd better behave. This was just a minor punishment. Because the impact of your actions was minimal and it was your first offense, you got off lightly."
Su Luo pursed her lips and turned over, lying on her back as she slowly felt her spiritual energy returning to her body.
When she first felt the system's punishment coming, she had tried to mobilize her spiritual energy to resist, only to find that it was locked in her spiritual sea, completely immobilized.
As she endured the punishment, she had focused part of her attention on observing her spiritual sea. Sure enough, when the punishment ended, she saw a flash of golden light in her spiritual sea. Once that golden light disappeared, her spiritual energy was freed.
Su Luo guessed that the golden light was some kind of seal. But with her current cultivation level, she was unable to break it.
She sifted through the original body's memories, hoping to find some cultivation techniques or secret manuals, and asked Xiao Ba, "As the chosen host, do I get any special benefits? Like a newbie gift pack?"
"A newbie gift pack? What's that?" Xiao Ba asked, puzzled.
"Spirit stones, spiritual medicine, magical treasures, secret manuals—anything like that."
After searching through the original body's memories, Su Luo found little related to cultivation.
No wonder the original Su Luo had been so easily killed by Meng Shuying with a single strike—she had no means of resistance.
"There's nothing like that," Xiao Ba replied offhandedly.
Then, as if suddenly suspicious, it asked, "What do you need those things for?"
Su Luo smiled but didn't answer.
She never liked leaving her fate in someone else's hands. This so-called support system claimed it would send her home once she completed her tasks, but how could she trust that?
What if she completed the tasks and the system turned on her? She'd have no way to fight back.
This was a world where strength ruled. The only true path was to quickly strengthen herself.
Su Luo believed that if she grew strong enough, she could find a way back home without relying on the system.
Besides—
Su Luo closed her eyes, hiding the darkness in them.
Xiao Ba had told her that if she died in this world, she would never return home.
But she remembered that in the original novel, Su Luo had been sacrificed by Meng Shuying, dying so thoroughly there was no coming back.
Tình trạng nguồn điện hàng tuần
-- Xếp hạng
Quyền lực 
-- Đá
Quyền lực