Dust covered the ornaments on the shelves: green-glazed porcelain from the Lang kilns, a four-ram bronze vessel, a bronze pagoda, and a pixiu statue. Green mold spread across the calligraphy hanging on the wall. The wool carpet was filthy, and broken teapots and cups lay where human hands had smashed them long ago. Even the peeling red walls outside spoke of former splendor—and present ruin.
This was the Feng family’s private prison. Direct descendants who betrayed the family, violated its rules, or defied its head were confined here to spend the rest of their lives.
Feng Xing was the only legitimate daughter born to the Feng family head’s lawfully wedded wife. By right, she was the household’s Fifth Miss.
She was the same age as Feng Yao, still in the bloom of youth. Yet unlike the carefree Sixth Miss who roamed outside, Feng Xing resembled a madwoman. Her hair and face were filthy, and she lay flat in the middle of the path. The fierce summer sun beat down without mercy, tanning and burning her skin.
Xiaoqing used invisibility to slip past the guards. She rubbed her nose and revealed herself—only for the motionless Fifth Miss to rise at once. Feng Xing stood straight with her head high. Her gray, empty eyes stared in Xiaoqing’s direction.
“Who are you?”
Xiaoqing said nothing.
Was the system playing a rotten joke on her?
Its information said Fifth Miss Feng Xing was blind, deaf, and mute. Before coming, Xiaoqing had imagined a disabled woman abandoned by her family to linger miserably in a prison like the cold palace.
But the person before her could speak and hear perfectly well!
> Ding! She truly is blind! Her deafness and muteness have already been cured. Kisses, Player!
*You never told me that.*
Mud obscured Feng Xing’s face, but her voice was as lovely as clear rain falling onto a vermilion plate.
“Who are you?” she asked again.
“Who I am doesn’t matter. You only need to know that I can take you out of this terrible place.”
Xiaoqing rubbed her nose and adopted the gentlest, most persuasive voice of her life.
“Think carefully, Fifth Miss Feng. My arrival is your only chance to leave this prison that binds you—this dungeon that cages you. Beyond it lies a vast world where birds may fly and fish may roam.”
Feng Xing lay down again on the scorching ground. Sweat as large as grains of rice appeared on the tip of her nose.
“No. I eat and drink well here.”
“You truly won’t come?”
“No.”
“You won’t even consider it?”
“I won’t.”
Xiaoqing shrugged and turned to leave. System, the woman herself had refused. Xiaoqing had tried to persuade her. Could the thing please stop interrupting her afternoon nap now?
> Ding! If the player fails this mission, prepare for your rear to hurt for an entire day and night. The system keeps its word!
A tingling pain erupted from a very private place.
Xiaoqing almost fell to her knees before the system. It had truly used such a shameless move. Fine—it was ruthless!
Tears in her eyes, Xiaoqing transformed into a caring confidante.
“But you have lost your dreams here. You’re more pitiful and lonely than a canary trapped in a cage. Only by escaping will you have a chance to take revenge on the Feng family.
“The mighty Feng family—your own family—did not seek justice after criminals poisoned you until you lost your voice and hearing, then gouged out your eyes. Instead, they locked you in this dreadful place because you had become a source of shame. Don’t you want revenge? Do you truly feel no desire to repay them?”
One day, Xiaoqing would make the system experience the same suffering it had inflicted on her. She would have her revenge too.
“Miss, you were once so brilliant, so free, so dazzling. All of it was destroyed. Don’t you want vengeance?”
Xiaoqing certainly wanted to kill the system.
Feng Xing hesitated for less than three seconds. “Will you help me?”
Xiaoqing’s face remained expressionless, but her voice was infinitely tender.
“Of course. I once admired you. I love you more than I love myself. I prepared everything for this rescue. All you need to do is follow me.”
*As if I care whether you live or die!*
“Is that so?” Feng Xing pressed. “You’ll truly help me take revenge on the Feng family?”
“Certainly.”
*Certainly not.*
Drool hung from Feng Xing’s mouth, making her look somewhat witless. Yet she spoke like someone waking from a dream.
“You believe you’ll help me? I don’t. We’ve never met before. I look like a deranged woman who cannot control herself. Even I find this appearance disgusting. If I believed an unrivaled expert fell in love with me at first sight and lost her heart at the second, then I, Feng Xing, would truly be a hopeless fool.
“There is no need to lie. Everyone says I’m mad, but I am not. My mind is perfectly clear. State your price.”
Xiaoqing had meant to deceive her into surrendering the necklace. She gave up the performance.
“I want the necklace around your neck. In exchange, I’ll take you out of the Feng estate.”
“Agreed.”
Feng Xing removed it without hesitation and threw it unerringly toward Xiaoqing’s position. A golden lock the size of a child’s palm hung from the chain. The words *good fortune* were carved prominently into it, surrounded by peonies and green vines.
> Ding! Congratulations, Player, on completing the mission. Reward: one Thunder Crystal Insect egg and one top-grade water-aspected spirit stone.
>
> Ding! Congratulations on completing the beginner mission. Reward: one copy of *The Classic of the Way and Virtue*. Study it well.
>
> Ding! System No. 007 and Player No. 2349 have achieved one-hundred-percent compatibility. Special reward: one kiss from the system. Keep going. Love you!
A kiss from the system? What kind of reward was that? She did not need it!
And only one spirit stone. What a miserly system.
That same night, Xiaoqing carried Feng Xing out of the Northern Kingdom’s capital and delivered her to a small village. She hired a young maid from the village to care for her.
After Feng Xing had bathed and changed into clean clothes, she spoke as Xiaoqing prepared to leave.
“You’re a good person. May I know your name?”
The heroine who came without a shadow and left without a trace—the terror of ghosts throughout the martial world—answered, “Lin Xiaoqing!”
“Lin Xiaoqing? Xiaoqing… I will remember it.” Feng Xing nodded with all her strength. “My name is Feng Xing. Feng as in frozen snow, Xing as in brilliant stars. Feng Xing. Remember it.”
The moment Xiaoqing stated her price, clever Feng Xing had wanted to negotiate. She could have demanded, for example, that Xiaoqing assassinate the Feng family head in exchange for the necklace.
But a fair bargain required equal standing. One was a heroine with formidable martial skill; the other, an abandoned young lady who had lost everything. They had never been equals.
*Thank you for not killing me. Thank you for keeping your promise. Thank you for bringing me here.*
*Thank you, Xiaoqing. I’ve memorized your presence.*
*Next time, I will recognize you. When that day comes, will you let me stay beside you?*
* * *
Xiaoqing returned without alerting anyone. She had barely caught her breath and taken a drink, and was about to study the system’s Thunder Crystal Insect and the golden lock it had insisted she obtain, when three people rushed inside.
They were Feng Nan, Feng Yao, and a tall, thin, scholarly man.
Feng Nan spoke at once. “Immortal, something terrible has happened! A fox spirit has appeared in the imperial palace and brought disorder to the inner court. Please save the Northern Kingdom’s royal family.”
Why did Xiaoqing not answer?
Feng Nan wiped the sweat from his face and looked up. She was staring fixedly at the man who had accompanied them.
“This is the Third Prince,” he explained in surprise. “Immortal, a monster has appeared. His Highness came personally to request your help.”
Xiaoqing continued staring at the man with burning intensity and said nothing.
Even the Third Prince turned his head in embarrassment. Could such a shameless woman truly be a cultivator?
Feng Yao and Feng Nan exchanged looks. Each understood the other’s thought.
Had this immortal maiden developed mortal desire? Could she at least give them some response?
Whatever they imagined, Xiaoqing could hear only the system.
Kill the Third Prince. Reward: fifty thousand spirit stones.
Fifty thousand spirit stones.
Fifty thousand spirit stones.
The blatant temptation of money—wealth made real!
I don’t know this anymore it’s like going everywhere