Chapter 6p1: How Does One Get Eaten in the Future?
The discipleship ceremony was extremely simple, so simple that it was practically non-existent.
‘So, all she needs to do is verbally agree?’ Mu Qiandan couldn’t believe it, repeatedly confirming.
Li Biyuan replied, ‘That’s right, that’s right, no need to doubt, it’s done. When you return to Tianyu Gate, you just need to officially register her as your disciple.’
‘Why didn’t you say so earlier? Wasted my energy, all that fuss…’ Mu Qiandan grumbled, utterly speechless. She looked up at a crooked little wooden house perched on the thick branches of a camphor tree, the sounds of dismantling echoing from within.
She muttered, ‘What was the point of making that idiot willingly submit?’
She had thought there would be a complex ritual, requiring the protagonist’s cooperation. If she had known it was this simple, she could have just dragged her back to the sect.
If the girl refused to become her disciple, she could have beaten her into submission. Once she had her, there would be ways to make it official, much more efficient than wasting time with the exorcism last night.
Li Biyuan disagreed, ‘Haven’t you heard the saying? You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. Forcing things never ends well. With the protagonist, we need both her body and her heart. We have to go through this process eventually…’
‘Shut up.’
The door of the wooden house opened, and Shang Shang backed out, stepping onto a branch, then glanced around the inside of the house. After making sure she had everything, she jumped down from the tree, landing gracefully.
Mu Qiandan, feeling irritated, didn’t look at her directly, only glancing sideways.
The girl’s long, curly hair was messy, seemingly only hastily combed. If not for her naturally good hair, it would have looked like a beggar’s, yet she still managed to maintain a certain disheveled beauty. Damn it, even her hair benefited from the protagonist’s halo.
She still had the bag of gold tied to her waist with a simple string, as if she wasn’t afraid of losing it while moving around. Her demonic mask, reattached with a new string, completely concealed her face. She still wore her half-wet, half-dry beggar’s clothes, and on her back, she carried a square table…
Wait, a table?
Although it wasn’t her business, Mu Qiandan couldn’t help but ask, “Why are you bringing a table with you?”
Looking closely, aside from the items she had already noticed, the girl carried nothing else. A whole bag of gold nuggets was carelessly tied, yet the table was securely fastened to her back, as if she was afraid of dropping it. Such misplaced priorities were truly baffling.
“This is my family heirloom,” Shang Shang said, checking the knots in front of her, then glancing back to adjust the table. “Table, gold, me, all set.”
The square table was unpainted, its natural wood color plain and simple. It wasn’t clear why it was considered a family heirloom, or a treasure for that matter. Li Biyuan timely explained, ‘That’s a long story…’
Mu Qiandan interrupted, ‘Then don’t tell me, I don’t want to hear it.’
Li Biyuan: ‘Oh…’
The shadow of the camphor tree swayed on the ground. The sun was almost directly overhead. It had been a while since Shang Shang agreed to become her disciple. As to why they hadn’t left for the sect yet, that story began this morning.
Despite the unexpected turn of events, the discipleship matter was settled. Mu Qiandan had wanted to return immediately and get a good night’s sleep, recuperate, process the overwhelming amount of information she had received since transmigrating, and count her money to plan her future. But the idiot dragon insisted she had debts to collect and needed more time.
Debts? It turned out that yesterday, Shang Shang had been on her way to collect payment when she was captured. The villagers who had promised to pay her had a severe rat infestation, their rice jars filled with rat droppings instead of rice, but they couldn’t afford to pay her immediately, so they asked her to catch the rats first and pay her later.
The due date was yesterday, but due to various reasons, she hadn’t been able to go. Now, she needed to fulfill her agreement.
Upon further inquiry, it turned out that the villagers lived across the stream, meaning they would have to pass by the Liu family’s mud house. Now Mu Qiandan understood how the two met in the original story.
Mu Qiandan argued that it wasn’t a big loss if she didn’t collect the money, but Shang Shang insisted on going, saying that one should keep their promises. Since they had agreed to meet yesterday and she hadn’t been able to go due to unforeseen circumstances, she should at least go and explain.
Arguing with this stubborn person was pointless, and Mu Qiandan didn’t want to resort to violence immediately, so she let her be, waiting under the treehouse, figuring it wouldn’t take long.
By the time the sun was high in the sky, scorching hot, the idiot dragon finally returned, saying she wouldn’t leave yet, she wanted to have breakfast first.
“Three meals a day on time is essential for good health.”
Mu Qiandan gritted her teeth, her patience wearing thin, thinking that if she was angered by her any further, she definitely wouldn’t have good health.
She initially planned to just drag her away, but just as she was about to make a move, she felt a pang of hunger herself. After a moment of thought, she realized the journey back to the sect was long, and unlike modern times, it wasn’t convenient. Bringing some food was a good idea. Besides, she couldn’t keep a constant eye on Shang Shang, so she gave up, enduring it one more time.
Let her eat, it wouldn’t kill her.
They went to Shang Shang’s usual breakfast stall. Although Mu Qiandan had heard from Li Biyuan about the dragon’s enormous appetite, seeing it firsthand was still an eye-opener.
Five baskets of steamed buns, three large sesame seed cakes, four fried dough sticks, four bowls of spicy soup, her teeth tearing, her red tongue sweeping, her mouth switching between chewing and ordering. The stall owner and the other customers were unfazed, piling food beside her, counting soy milk by the bucket, the gold in her pouch clinking.
Enough food to fill an entire table disappeared into her stomach, yet her belly remained flat. A pig would have gained weight after eating so much, but in her stomach, it vanished without a trace.
Mu Qiandan, on the other hand, feeling tired and lacking appetite, only ate half a sesame seed cake and a bowl of soup. The contrast was even more striking.
Li Biyuan, as an observer of multiple small worlds, had seen all sorts of strange things and wasn’t surprised. She chuckled, ‘Well… you can consider this one of the protagonist’s abilities.’
Mu Qiandan sipped her soup, ‘Is there anything she can’t eat?’
Knowing this in advance would be useful, just in case there was an opportunity to poison her later.
Flipping through the settings document she had compiled overnight, Li Biyuan scanned it quickly and replied, ‘No.’
Nothing she couldn’t eat, nothing she couldn’t digest, the crematorium of all things—the protagonist’s stomach. Truly terrifying.
Li Biyuan picked out a sentence from the original text and read it aloud, ‘She loves to eat gold, silver, and jade, and can swallow stars and spit out the moon, even the sun melts in her hands. The protagonist in the later stages is just that invincible. Oh, wait, that last part wasn’t in the book.’
Mu Qiandan’s blurry reflection appeared in the bowl of soup. She held the rim, looking at the diced ingredients, and couldn’t help but think of the master’s fate in the original story.
On her way to find the protagonist yesterday, Li Biyuan had filled her in on some details, mainly about her role as the vicious supporting character.
In romance novels, the vicious female supporting character was usually the one vying for the male protagonist’s affections.
They were often talented, beautiful, wealthy, of high status, but also cruel and foolish, caring for nothing but love, the biggest obstacle to the protagonists’ happy ending, second only to the male lead’s parents. Their fate was almost always the same: after exhausting all their schemes, they suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the “kind” protagonist, a standard trope.
But this book was different. The master had no interest in the male lead; her malice was directed solely at the female protagonist.
The only constant was their tragic end.
Before learning about the protagonist’s dragon heritage, Yao’e Immortal, although cold and unwilling to teach her much, had never intended to harm her. But after the informant, Red Silk, revealed the secret of Shang Shang’s bloodline, the master developed a dangerous greed.
There was a widespread legend in the cultivation world: if one sacrificed a demon beast to the heavens, they would receive blessings and rewards. The higher the demon’s rank, the greater the reward, with fewer restrictions. A legendary demon like a dragon, if sacrificed, could grant the sacrificer a chance to become a god.
These were unverified rumors, but their very falsehood contributed to their widespread circulation. Among millions of cultivators, only a handful achieved godhood. The path to ascension was arduous, and this shortcut was too tempting to resist. The master, being only human, couldn’t resist.
Especially with a dragon within her grasp, the chance to become a god seemed within reach…
So, she changed her attitude towards the protagonist, becoming caring and nurturing, gaining her trust, making the then-naive protagonist completely dependent on her.
Finally, when the protagonist’s dragon blood fully awakened and she transformed into her dragon form, the master tricked her onto the sacrificial altar and cruelly killed her!
Of course, it didn’t work. The severely injured protagonist fell into a sea of lava, slumbering for three years in the intense heat, completing her transformation and soaring into the sky.
The first thing she did upon emerging was to kill her master and achieve enlightenment.
This was a crucial turning point. The protagonist was no longer naive and easily deceived, no longer trusting others easily, becoming more mature and composed, gradually embodying the true qualities of a powerful female lead.
After hearing this, Mu Qiandan thought the initial tasks were easy enough, but the part about dying at the protagonist’s hand was hard to accept.
It wasn’t the fear of death itself, but the way she died.
Because the protagonist killed her master by devouring her.
“Boss, two more… no, four more fried dough sticks!” Shang Shang ordered more food.
Mu Qiandan set down her soup bowl, her fingers touching the wound on the back of her hand under the table. It wasn’t healing at all; she could only use spiritual energy to alleviate the pain.
Just a bite was this bad, how would she be eaten in the future?
Did she really have to go through that?
She felt a sense of panic.
The flashback ended. The two were still standing under the camphor tree, the sun so bright that Mu Qiandan could barely keep her eyes open. “Can we go now?”
Shang Shang patted her stomach, “After eating, collecting the debt, and packing, yes!”
An elderly man with a cane passed by, greeting them with a smile, “Where are you going today, Cat Official?”
Shang Shang turned and waved, “Hello, Grandpa! I’m going to cultivate immortality!”
The old man asked, “Are there rats in the immortal realm?”
Shang Shang replied, “There are bad guys everywhere.”
“Be careful! Immortal rats must be very powerful. Don’t get hurt, and don’t be defeated.”
“Of course! The Cat Official never fails!”
She watched the old man’s feet, worried he might fall, seeing him off until he was far away.
Because he walked slowly, this farewell was particularly long.
Mu Qiandan: “…” Such an incomprehensible train of thought.
She had witnessed many unbelievable things from this girl, and her tolerance had increased, so she was somewhat less surprised now. But seeing the girl carrying the table on her back like a turtle shell, with its four legs sticking out, she couldn’t help but rub her temples. “That’s enough…”
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