Chuhe Realm, Qinghe Immortal Market.
The bright moon rose, and a heavy silence fell over the world.
As late autumn arrived, the cold wind whistled through the tattered window paper. The flickering candle flame illuminated the handsome face of a young man.
‘No, no, transmigration isn’t like this. I don’t accept this. You can’t just black out and wake up here. There should be a grand encounter, some luck…’
Su Xuan sat at a low wooden table, rubbing his brow and whispering to himself.
Unlike most protagonists, he hadn’t transmigrated due to some grand stroke of fate; he had been fumed to death.
In his previous life, he was a game blogger who had received a test invitation for a xianxia romance game. The cover depicted the protagonist with a beautiful female disciple on each arm, which was incredibly eye-catching.
But when he entered the game, he found it was a complete fraud.
The two disciples had long since reached their own paths to power and harbored a bone-deep hatred for the protagonist. They pursued and tortured him relentlessly, making it a literal horror survival game.
He initially thought the difficulty was just too high, so he restarted countless times and tried every method. However, no matter what he did, the disciples would catch and kill him, and he never even understood why.
To earn the reward promised by the developers, he stayed up for several consecutive nights. Finally, his chest tightened with rage, and he ended up in this cultivation world.
Su Xuan sighed as the memories of this body slowly became clear.
the original owner was also named Su Xuan. He had Five Spiritual Roots and was only at Level 2 Qi Refinement despite being in his early twenties. He had been expelled from his sect and managed to settle in the market by relying on the basic alchemy techniques he had learned.
However, over the past three years, not only had the original owner failed to break through to Level 3 Qi Refinement, but he hadn’t even been able to refine a single bottle of proper First-tier pills.
This led to an extremely strained financial situation, especially since he had two female disciples to support.
Wait…
Two female disciples?
Isn’t this the game’s setting?
His heart jumped, and he snapped his head toward the door.
A thin, frail girl of seventeen or eighteen was quietly sweeping the courtyard, terrified of making even the slightest sound.
Seeing the girl’s appearance, Su Xuan’s mind exploded with a roar.
Lu Zhiyi!
Though she looked a bit different from the game’s cover, he recognized the girl at a glance. She was one of the game’s female leads.
Had he transmigrated to a time before the game’s plot even began?
Then why was he hunted in the future?
He narrowed his eyes, continuing to recall his memories.
The girl had an older sister named Lin Zhiwei. Both had been commoners purchased by the original owner when he first arrived at the market three years ago. They were disciples in name, but servants in reality.
During these three years, whenever the original owner’s cultivation went poorly or his alchemy failed, he would vent his anger on the two sisters with verbal abuse and physical violence.
As the memories overlapped, Su Xuan felt a chill. He couldn’t understand how the original owner could have been so cruel.
Last night, the original owner had failed another attempt to reach Level 3 Qi Refinement. In a fit of rage, he had grabbed a stool and beaten the sisters. The older sister had protected the younger one and was beaten unconscious.
A female cultivator living next door couldn’t stand it and had taken the sister, Lin Zhiwei, to a clinic. She hadn’t returned yet.
‘Damn, no wonder they hunt the protagonist down. This guy was a total piece of trash!’
If the original plot followed its course, he would eventually experience the “treatment” the game protagonist received.
Thinking about those scenes actually happening to him, Su Xuan couldn’t help but shudder.
“Mas… Master, you’re awake?”
Lu Zhiyi looked up and saw him, flinching violently. The broom fell from her hands as she looked at Su Xuan with a timid expression.
“Dinner is ready. I… I’ll bring it over to you.”
With that, she hurriedly ran toward the kitchen.
A moment later, she entered the room carrying a bowl of steaming rice porridge.
Whether from fear or because the bowl was heavy, her thin, small frame was trembling slightly.
Su Xuan rushed forward and took it from her hands.
The porridge was very thin; aside from a few grains of rice, it was mostly water. However, it emanated an inviting aura of spiritual energy that made his appetite soar.
It was made with Spiritual Rice, but the original owner was so poor that they could only make thin porridge to stave off hunger.
He really wasn’t in the mood to eat. Holding the bowl, he looked at Lu Zhiyi.
She was short and small, her body so thin that it made her eyes look quite large and spirited. Her ragged clothes were oversized and didn’t fit at all. Bruises were visible on her hands and face. She was currently staring at him blankly.
“Where is yours?” Su Xuan asked.
“I… I’m not hungry… I already ate.”
Lu Zhiyi stammered, her gaze flickering away, but her stomach betrayed her with a loud growl.
As he looked the girl over, Su Xuan frowned slightly.
The original owner had struggled to keep himself fed over the last three years. Given his attitude toward the two of them, it was obvious what their lives had been like.
Looking at her now, she had been abused to the point where she didn’t even dare to admit she was hungry.
Thinking about the hatred she would harbor after her “blackening,” Su Xuan couldn’t help but feel a lingering fear.
After a moment’s thought, he held the porridge out to her and spoke softly.
“I’m not hungry. You eat it.”
“No… no, Master should eat. Spiritual Rice is very precious…”
The girl looked as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing, waving her hands in a panicked refusal.
“Just eat!”
Seeing that she didn’t dare to take it, Su Xuan shoved it into her hands, trying to force a reconciliation.
Lu Zhiyi’s eyes instantly turned red. She barely held the bowl as her body shook uncontrollably, tears splashing into the porridge.
“Be good and drink it all. In the past, I…”
Seeing how “moved” she was, Su Xuan gently patted her head. The corners of his mouth curled up as he thought to himself.
‘I can find the right path even without dialogue options. As expected of a pro gamer!’
But in the next moment—
Crash!
A crisp sound snapped him back to reality.
The half-full bowl of porridge shattered on the floor, the liquid and ceramic shards scattering everywhere.
Lu Zhiyi collapsed to her knees, her small body kowtowing repeatedly. The porridge stuck to her forehead and hair, getting everywhere.
“Master, please spare me! Zhiyi won’t do it again… I’ll never do it again…”
‘What happened?’
He looked at the sobbing girl, unable to understand why she seemed even more terrified when he was being kind to her.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s just a bowl. I’m not angry,” Su Xuan said gently, reaching out to help her up.
Ding!
[Fairy Nurturing System, Activated!]
[This system aims to help the protagonist nurture various fairies. Daily hints will be provided, and the host must make his own choices.]
[Today’s Hint One]
[Yesterday, you accidentally knocked Lin Zhiwei unconscious. To avenge her sister, Lu Zhiyi secretly added poison to your rice porridge, planning to poison you and escape with her sister!]
[Today’s Hint Two]
[A book titled “Churui Miscellaneous Records” is currently for sale in the market. On the surface, it is a collection of random notes, but a Second-tier Pill Recipe is hidden on page seven.]
‘Isn’t this the game’s cheat?’
No wonder the game could never be cleared; the game started after the two disciples had already left.
Now that he had returned to the time before the plot began, he could naturally use these system hints.
Su Xuan stared blankly at the familiar interface in his mind, but the content chilled him to the bone.
If he hadn’t been trying to improve their relationship and refused to drink the porridge, he might be dying of poison right now!
Keeping them by his side was like waiting for a backstab.
But if he let them go, he would definitely die in a few years!
These weren’t soft and sweet little disciples; they were two landmines that could explode at any moment!
Looking at Lu Zhiyi, who was kowtowing with a beet-red forehead, Su Xuan found himself in a dilemma.
After a long while, he gritted his teeth. Letting them go was a death sentence. He had to find a way to keep them close while remaining extremely vigilant.
Once he grew strong enough, he wouldn’t have to fear their future retribution. Only then would he be safe!
Nodding secretly, he made up his mind.
He pretended not to know about the poison and reached out to lift Lu Zhiyi up.
Seeing her red forehead covered in porridge stains, he rolled up his sleeves and gently wiped them away.
“I’ll go make something else to eat. You rest here for a bit. Once you’ve eaten your fill, go have a good wash.”
After saying that, Su Xuan smoothed her hair, opened the door, and turned toward the kitchen.
Lu Zhiyi sat by the wooden table, her eyes red as she stared blankly at his retreating back. Her eyes were filled with confusion.
In the past, if she had broken a bowl, she would have certainly faced a brutal beating. How could her master seem like a different person after being unconscious for a night?
But at least… Master hadn’t realized the porridge was poisoned.
Her gaze moved to the shards on the floor. After a brief moment of relief, her expression turned bitter.
She had spent all the savings she and her sister had secretly gathered to buy the poison in that bowl while her master was out.
Now that she hadn’t poisoned him, how much longer would the two of them have to suffer in this sea of misery?
Suddenly, she recalled her master’s words before he left.
“Rest for a bit… eat your fill… have a good wash…”
‘No wonder Master didn’t hit me this time. He finally can’t help himself and wants to…’
Lu Zhiyi’s expression tightened as if she had confirmed something.
‘I’d rather die than let this beast have his way!’
She picked up a ceramic shard from the floor, clutching it tightly in her hand as she stared fixatedly at the door.