Chapter 46: Disciple and Wife
A flicker of firelight ignited in the desolate forest, but the lingering scent of blood kept the restless low-level demonic beasts at bay.
Dry twigs crackled in the flames, spitting sparks that threatened to land on the coarse cloth skirt. But the embers were too weak, their brief flight ending in darkness.
A hand brushed the ashes from the skirt, then paused, picking at a spot on the fabric near the firelight. Finally, a few bloodstains became visible, eliciting a sigh of frustration.
Tao Ning dropped the stained skirt. “Still no improvement. I keep saying I’m not good at fighting, yet everyone insists on attacking me.”
She picked up a prepared rabbit carcass and skewered it over the fire.
The rules of the cultivation world differed vastly from modern society. Here, strength reigned supreme. It was a world of predator and prey. Eat or be eaten.
Take, for example, the rabbit roasting over the fire. Its proper name was the Heart-Devouring Rabbit, a creature as its name suggested, fond of human hearts.
Before advancing, it was indistinguishable from an ordinary rabbit, often feigning injury to lure unsuspecting children from nearby villages, dragging them back to its lair to consume their still-beating hearts.
The deep mountains offered ample hiding places. After a meal, the rabbit would retreat into its burrow, its cunning making it difficult to track. Cultivators on training missions often deemed them too low-level to bother with. Little reward, and a waste of time.
Recently, perhaps due to an overabundance of child-sized meals, the villagers had forbidden their children from venturing into the mountains and warned off outsiders. The Heart-Devouring Rabbit was hungry.
It had set its sights on the lone traveler, Tao Ning. She looked barely sixteen, thin, but reasonably appealing.
Dragging its injured leg, it appeared before Tao Ning, feigning weakness and helplessness.
“Oh, the poor little rabbit is hurt.”
The warned-off outsider, Tao Ning, her face alight with concern, rushed towards it.
To the rabbit, her expression mirrored that of the children it had devoured.
Then, with a warm smile, Tao Ning pinned it down and snapped its neck.
A quick, clean kill. The rabbit barely had time to react before its nascent demon core was extracted.
The rabbit sizzled over the fire, dripping golden fat, its aroma tantalizing even without seasoning.
Tao Ning addressed 520, who was practically drooling digitally. “These rabbits are common in the Demonic Realm. They’re a bit fussy to raise, but the best way to eat them is roasted like this, to savor the pure flavor.”
In her previous life, Tao Ning had developed a passion for learning new skills in middle age, including culinary arts.
520, lacking taste and smell, was nevertheless captivated by the aroma. 【Why am I a system?! I want to take a bite!】
Tao Ning ignored its cybernetic cravings, glancing sideways into the quiet night. Moments later, the faint sound of flapping wings reached her ears.
A flash of red and white, and a visitor landed on the rock beside her.
It folded its wings elegantly, standing tall and proud, like a celestial being bathed in moonlight.
The little red-winged bird had been appearing near Tao Ning lately, sometimes during the day, sometimes at night, watching her before disappearing. Tao Ning felt like a human being observed by a curious avian researcher.
Rare and wondrous beasts were common in the Radiant Realm, but a spirit beast with an interest in human behavior was unusual.
Once, Tao Ning had woken up under a tree to find the bird inches from her face, its beak nearly touching her eye.
Both startled, they had recoiled simultaneously.
Tao Ning hit the back of her head on the tree trunk, the resulting bump throbbing for days.
Perhaps feeling guilty, the bird hadn’t appeared for a while. Just as the swelling subsided, it returned.
In daylight, it looked like an ordinary, nondescript bird. But under the moonlight, a faint spiritual aura shimmered on its feathers, like fine, iridescent silk.
Tao Ning, seemingly oblivious to this, simply greeted it with a casual, “You’re back,” before resuming her activities.
The bird, as always, remained silent, never chirping, occasionally tilting its head to observe Tao Ning’s busywork.
As if pondering some unfathomable question.
The rabbit cooked, Tao Ning sliced off the two meatiest legs, placing them on a piece of oiled paper, then paused, seemingly remembering something, and put them back together.
The bird’s beady eyes followed every movement, its neck stretching for a better view when necessary.
Tao Ning ate the rabbit meat by the firelight, then, perhaps out of boredom, addressed the bird. “You’ve been watching for a while. Want some?”
The bird remained motionless, as if it didn’t understand.
Tao Ning: “I’ve never heard you chirp. Chirp for me. Chirp, chirp.”
Like someone teasing a pet, she held a sliver of meat on her knife towards the bird. “Chirp for me, and you can have this.”
The bird: “…” It shifted its claws, putting more distance between them.
The blatant disdain stung. Tao Ning sat up straighter, her eyes widening. “Hey, Heart-Devouring Rabbit meat enhances spiritual energy. A few bites of this, and you might awaken your intelligence, cultivate, and become a Bird Immortal! You should be thanking me!”
Bird Immortal? What nonsense.
The bird: “…”
It hopped even further away.
Tao Ning, without a word, finished the rest of the rabbit, leaving nothing for the bird.
The bird, watching her eat: “…”
If Tao Ning could read avian micro-expressions, she would have seen the word “childish” written in its beady eyes.
Finished eating, she turned to the bird, her gaze serious. “You’ve been playing dumb all this time. You understand me.”
The only response was the flapping of wings as the bird vanished from the rock.
“Small bird, big attitude.” Tao Ning stood, brushing the dust from her skirt, buried the fire, and climbed a tree to meditate.
Her spiritual sense enveloped the entire mountain, every rustle of leaves, every gust of wind within her awareness. She knew the bird had truly flown away.
She didn’t bother tracking it, aware of its wariness, not wanting to cause unnecessary trouble.
Her cultivation was gone, her spiritual core shattered, but her spiritual sense remained intact, a small mercy.
She assumed the bird wouldn’t reappear for a while, but the next day, there it was, perched on a branch as Tao Ning bartered the rabbit’s pelt for a donkey.
Horses were too expensive.
She wasn’t planning on establishing a business empire in this world, just getting by.
The mission would end eventually. Why bother with unnecessary effort?
The bird listened as Tao Ning weaved her tale, its beady eyes fixed on the group below.
The young woman in grey, holding the donkey’s reins, gestured to the leftover rabbit bones. “These are the bones of a high-level demon rabbit. I fought tooth and nail to slay it, retrieving these indestructible bones, perfect for artifact refinement, especially weapons. Imagine a blade that can cut through iron like mud, severing hair with a gentle breeze.”
“I was planning to keep them for myself, but since you have such discerning taste, and you seem so sincere, I’ll part with them, just for you, Young Master.”
The young master, desperate for immortality despite lacking any aptitude for cultivation, was completely captivated, pulling a gold ingot from his embroidered pouch.
Tao Ning’s performance was so convincing that even the bird almost believed her.
Predictably, the young master’s servant, witnessing the proffered gold, regained his senses and voiced his doubts.
Without hesitation, Tao Ning borrowed a cleaver from the nearby butcher and swung it at the bone-white femur.
A clang resonated, like the clash of swords, the ringing forcing those nearby to cover their ears.
The seemingly fragile bone remained unscathed, while a crack appeared on the cleaver.
Tao Ning held up the cleaver, a sly glint in her fox-like eyes. “See? I told you.”
The onlookers gasped, while the butcher wailed, “That’s my livelihood!”
The young master, overjoyed by his perceived treasure, tossed another ingot to the butcher. “Just a cleaver. Consider it replaced!”
The transaction was a success. Everyone got what they wanted. Tao Ning, basking in the envious gazes of the crowd, led her donkey out of the city.
After she was gone, the servant asked, “But Young Master, how are we supposed to grind something that hard for refining?”
The young master: “…”
He held up a smaller bone, sharp and jagged, that Tao Ning had snapped off. It drew blood at the slightest touch. “I can still stab someone with it, right?”
That was… a valid point.
The bird remained perched in the tree, then, after a moment, took flight, heading out of the city.
Whether it was luck or misfortune, Tao Ning hadn’t traveled far from the city when a hunter, carrying a quiver of arrows, began trailing her.
The hunter, a solitary figure living outside the city, was disliked by most. At thirty, he was still unmarried. The sight of the gold ingot had ignited a desperate greed in his eyes.
He initially intended to rob Tao Ning, but the thought of finally having enough money for a wife made him hesitate, aiming his arrow to wound, not kill.
The arrow was nocked, the bowstring taut. The bird, perched nearby, hesitated, missing the opportunity to create a distraction.
The arrow flew.
The hunter, his breath catching in his throat, stood, waiting for his prey to fall.
But it didn’t happen. The arrow was caught in a small hand. Without even turning, she casually tossed it back in his direction.
It happened so fast. The hunter’s triumphant expression froze, then turned to horror as he felt a sharp pain in his throat.
Warm liquid gurgled from his neck.
Moments later, as he swayed, he realized—his own arrow had pierced his throat.
He gurgled, then collapsed.
The figure on the donkey continued onward, never looking back.
The bird flew over the body, pursuing Tao Ning.
Hearing the familiar sound, Tao Ning turned, smiling at the bird. “Well, good afternoon.”
She didn’t expect a reply, her gaze dropping back down, lost in thought.
Tao Ning had fox-like eyes, the corners tilted upwards, giving her a cunning, intelligent look. Though her pupils were black, they shimmered when she blinked, like pools of liquid pearls.
Her profile, lacking the sharp angles of adulthood, had a youthful roundness, like a fox cub.
But the contemplative expression in her eyes belied her youthful appearance. She seemed older, wiser, her smiles never quite reaching her eyes, as if she was observing the world with a detached amusement.
She seemed less like a teenager and more like an ancient being, weary of life.
“Hanshan Sect, Cen Dianshuang…”
The bird, startled by Tao Ning’s murmured words, looked at the figure on the donkey in disbelief.
Surely, it had misheard.
Tao Ning sighed. “If I can’t make it in time, I’ll have to find a way to become Cen Dianshuang’s disciple and force her to endure the pain of her disciples killing each other.”
The bird, unaware that Tao Ning was talking to 520, was utterly bewildered.
520 longed for the days when Tao Ning pretended to be a naive newbie. Wiping imaginary sweat from its brow, it asked, 【Must you do this?】
Tao Ning shrugged. “If I don’t do it, she will. The outcome is the same. It’s better if I do it, allowing her to become a virtuous immortal. The Heavenly Dao should give me a bonus, maybe a commendation.”
She kept the last part to herself, wary of the world’s consciousness, which was often unusually active in cultivation worlds. She didn’t want to give it another excuse to strike her with lightning.
520: 【…】 She has a point.
Tao Ning muttered, “How should I approach Cen Dianshuang? I need a plan.”
After a moment, she continued, “Where would she be at this time?”
She recalled the storyline, the exaggerated descriptions of the female protagonist’s first appearance, a fleeting dream for the young woodcutter.
He had been bullied by his half-brother and his cronies, left for dead. Then, a white-clad celestial being descended from the heavens, scattering his tormentors and leaving him with healing herbs.
Born into a loveless existence after failing to react to the spirit testing artifacts at his hundred-day celebration, the male protagonist had been neglected, his mother falling out of favor along with him.
His mother had died in the ensuing power struggles within the household, accused of infidelity by a jealous concubine, executed by his enraged father. The child was also meant to be killed, but the family’s matriarch, citing the virtue of compassion, spared him.
His aunt, taking pity on her deceased sister’s child, raised him. He grew up like a weed, never relinquishing his desire for revenge.
This encounter with the celestial being sparked his ambition to cultivate, setting him on the path to power.
Tao Ning scanned the sky, but saw no sign of a white-clad celestial being.
Turning away, she decided to entertain herself by teasing the bird. “Don’t all birds sing? Why don’t you ever chirp? Chirp, chirp.”
The bird: “…”
It followed her for a while, looking as if it wanted to say something, but ultimately, it remained silent, leaving without even a single chirp.
Tao Ning, feeling hospitable, tried to offer it some food, but the bird simply gave her a complicated look and flew away.
Tao Ning: “?” What’s wrong with this bird?
She wanted to catch it and study it, but couldn’t identify the species. The original host had no memory of it. Could it be a newly created puppet bird?
If so, its lifelike movements were even more intriguing.
The red and white wings brushed against the rooftops, heading towards Frost Moon Valley. It had been venturing out for the soon-to-bloom Frost Flowers, nearly delayed by that spy from the Demonic Realm.
It heard the commotion below, but, preoccupied with its earlier discovery, it flew on, heading in a different direction.
Beneath the rooftops the bird had just passed, a group of boys were beating a smaller, thinner boy in blue.
The patched-up blue-clad boy curled up, shielding his head, enduring the blows until he couldn’t take it anymore.
“Damn it! Where’s the immortal? They said a white-clad celestial being would descend from the heavens, scattering my enemies with a single sword strike! Where is she? Where’s the sword? I’m going to die!”
The leader, a chubby boy in white, sneered. “What’s this jinx babbling about now?”
Another chubby boy shrugged. “Who cares? Just hit him.”
The beating resumed, leaving the boy lying motionless on the ground. Satisfied, they dispersed.
Once they were gone, the seemingly lifeless boy rolled over and slowly got up, cursing as he limped home.
His aunt, washing clothes, frowned at the sight of his battered form. “How many times have I told you not to provoke them? The Xiao family will never acknowledge you as their heir. Do you think I have a bottomless purse for medicine?”
The boy, normally reluctant to engage with her, snapped, “I have healing herbs! I don’t need your money!”
His aunt: “Where did you get healing herbs?!”
He reached into his robes, then froze, remembering his empty-handed search of the crater.
Facing his aunt’s questioning gaze, the boy thought, Shit! I forgot I didn’t find them!
The three Heaven-grade artifacts he so desperately craved were currently being tossed in the air by Tao Ning, along with a gold ingot.
Not feeling the least bit bored, she muttered to herself, “What should I have for dinner tonight?”
“Why aren’t there any more suicidal rabbits… Hey, hey, the carrots are this way, old boy. Don’t wander off.”
She smacked the donkey’s neck, adjusting her makeshift fishing rod, guiding it back on course.
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