Back in my little home.
I slowly took off my dress and undergarments. Looking at a piece of fabric, I finally let out a sigh.
Purification Technique.
The pile of clothes was clean again,
but my reserves of Spiritual Power were completely drained.
Today's stomachache had indeed been more than an ordinary stomachache. Luckily, the invincible buff granted by the system made an accidental miscarriage almost impossible. Otherwise, the baby I was carrying would have been in danger.
After all, the first three months weren't over yet.
I heated a tub of water for myself, slowly lowering my jade-like shoulders into it, and gently rested a hand over my lower abdomen.
"Baby."
"Please hang in there for now."
"Things will get better eventually. I'll be able to earn more Spirit Stones, too."
Maybe it was because I was becoming a mother for the first time, or perhaps it was due to the deep-seated differences in gender from my previous life. Either way, calling myself "Mom" was still hard to say. I supposed I'd need some time to get used to it.
The air was silent, and the tub was warm.
No one answered me, yet my heart gradually settled.
The baby hadn't caused me any more trouble, so it must have heard what I said.
Was I just imagining things?
I always felt that the baby in my belly was unusually perceptive, not like an ordinary human infant.
Once I had finished bathing, I looked at my reflection in the water mirror.
My frame was not only terribly petite, but also seemed rather frail, as if I'd spent years eating just enough to stave off hunger.
So my future baby wouldn't starve to death while nursing, I still had to earn enough money for formula. I'd heard that Spirit Milk in the Cultivation World was frighteningly expensive. I hoped the little nest egg I'd saved would see us through the first few months.
At the highest point of Heavenly Sword Peak.
Heavenly Sword Venerable opened his eyes impatiently and looked down at the figure beneath the steps. He was a core member of the Aristocratic Clan Jian Wushuang came from.
The visitor wore black robes and respectfully cupped his fists in greeting. "I pay my respects, Venerable. I've come on behalf of my nephew Wushuang to apologize. He caused much offense during that time. This is the compensation from the Heavenly Sword Family for Fairy Xiaoyao: thirty million Low-grade Spirit Stones in total. I hope the Venerable will pass them along. We also hope Fairy Xiaoyao won't take offense at my nephew Wushuang's rash behavior and will let the matter rest."
No wonder no female cultivator had come storming over to make a scene. That was an almost unbeatable one-two punch.
"Fine. You may leave."
After the man in black from the Heavenly Sword Family left, Heavenly Sword Venerable claimed all the Spirit Stones without a second thought. Then, after some consideration, he ordered someone nearby, "Take ten Spirit Stones to Ye Xiaoyao and tell her they're Jian Wushuang's apology."
"Understood."
The next morning, I looked at the Spirit Stones handed to me, barely able to hide the stars in my eyes. "Are you sure these are for me?"
"Yes. They're compensation from Senior Brother Wushuang."
"Since they're my compensation, I'll accept them with a clear conscience."
I shook off the gloom of the past few days and broke into my first big smile in ages. So much had happened lately that even I, who never wasted energy stewing over things, had fallen into a spell of depression. At last, something good had happened, and my steps turned bouncy again.
That was ten whole Spirit Stones.
As much as I could earn by farming a Spirit Field for over a year.
And that didn't even account for how much less I'd actually manage to save.
Come to think of it, Jian Wushuang really was a good person.
She'd let me take the blame for the Female Protagonist, then paid me Spirit Stones in compensation.
Forget it. I'd let her out of my little blacklist.
I supposed I could forgive her for trying to use me to cultivate the Ruthless Dao.
I was happy.
My eyes curved into a crescent moon.
I hurried into the bedroom in my cave abode and hid the ten Spirit Stones I'd just received with the thirty-seven I already had.
There were always petty thieves on Heavenly Sword Peak, and they never seemed to catch them all. Those unscrupulous cultivators loved preying on female cultivators with low cultivation. I couldn't afford to let my guard down.
"Baby, baby, we have forty-seven Spirit Stones now."
Not caring whether the baby could hear me, I hugged the pillow with both arms and rolled happily across the bed twice. My pale pink hair spilled around me like a waterfall.
Even the decorations on the ceiling seemed many times more pleasing to the eye.
I headed out!
Suddenly, I stared at a spot, my pupils contracting sharply.
Nothing compared to the dizzying rise and fall of life.
On an ancient tree nearby, there was a triangle symbol, with a design beside it made of two overlapping rectangles. The marks had been made with different hands. The moment I saw them, I was nearly furious. Those petty thieves had actually marked out my territory!
The first △ symbol meant a woman lived alone.
The second symbol meant the owner was timid and easy to bully.
They'd summed me up perfectly.
These petty thieves were impossible to root out. They were driving me mad.
They even dared to rob a Direct Disciple?
Fuming, I scraped the symbols off the tree.
After a little thought, I replaced them with a circle crossed by two horizontal lines. That meant danger inside the house. Only then did I leave it alone.
After seeing the thieves' marks, I didn't dare go out anymore.
What should I do?
Thieves had their eyes on me.
Why was my home the only Direct Disciple's place halfway up the mountain?
A whole crowd of Outer Sect Disciples lived nearby, a mixed bag of all sorts. Even people from the seedier walks of life could become Outer Sect Disciples, since the requirements were so lax.
The sect needed these people to do missions day and night. Only after becoming an Inner Sect Disciple did you truly count as a member of Wuya Sect.
Otherwise, Ye Qingxian wouldn't have to keep order every day.
I stamped my foot in anger. I didn't even have time to tend to my Spirit Field.
I knew the difference between two Spirit Stones and dozens.
A Storage Bag cost twenty-five Spirit Stones.
I could buy one right away, but I'd also go completely broke.
I simply stopped going out and plopped down by my front door, grinding my teeth in fury.
Here I was, Ye Xiaoyao, a perfectly honest and decent person. Sure, I only ever thought about ruling the world in my head, but until I actually did something, I was still a ridiculously obedient, sweet little girl.
Ever since I was three, when I was still a tiny bean, I'd worked hard to help other people farm just to earn enough to eat. I kept at it until I was twelve and took my first Spirit Field mission. Then I kept going until I was nineteen, when I finally saved up a few dozen Spirit Stones. How could these people be so heartless as to leave marks on my place?
These people were so vile it made me sick. Even worse than me, Ye Xiaoyao.
The more I thought about it, the angrier and more aggrieved I became.
I was absolutely seething with helpless resentment.
When I, Ye Xiaoyao, ruled the world—
I'd kill every last one of you.
My expression darkened. I felt my emotions slipping out of control, veering toward a villainous turn. I took several deep breaths, finally suppressing the surging hatred in my heart. Then I turned back, dug the Spirit Stones out from under the floorboards, and buried them in a hole in the spacious courtyard. That made me feel a hundred times safer.
I wanted to carry them all with me, too, but each Spirit Stone was bigger than my palm. How was I supposed to take them out to work?
Back at the Spirit Field at the foot of the mountain, I spotted the girl in green robes nearby. I quietly looked away and dutifully went on farming my own field.
"Baby, just hang in there a little longer."
"Let me finish farming before you start acting up, okay?" My pretty face flushed a little. I was still somewhat embarrassed to call myself Mom, but I was slowly getting used to it. You could say I was getting into character ahead of time.
I didn't know if my words had worked, or if I was simply less exhausted than yesterday, but I managed to turn over all the Spirit Fields in one go.
While I was devoting myself to farming, Qing Ye's gaze kept drifting over to me.
But whenever I looked her way, all I saw was her back.
On the third day, Qing Ye really didn't show up.
I left my own Spirit Field alone and turned over hers first, only tending to my own afterward.
Night had long since fallen. The servants' cultivation levels were generally low, and many needed to sleep every day. Only a few figures remained in the fields at the foot of the mountain.
Beneath a tree,
a dark figure in green robes watched the petite figure ahead. She was so tired that her back had begun to bend, and every so often she stopped to take a bite of her flatbread. The look in the watcher's eyes was so complicated that no one could fathom it.
But
she couldn't go out.
Ye Xiaoyao was far too wary. If she wanted to become more involved in Ye Xiaoyao's life, this was a step she had to take.
The intense pain of being able only to watch was something she couldn't quite understand in all its depths.
Was this
the empathy and compassion she possessed?
Around three in the morning,
I walked home, so tired I could barely lift my legs. My whole body felt like it had been taken apart, yet I still had the energy to joke with the baby.
"Baby, when you grow up, don't be like Mom and end up farming."
"I've tried it for you. It's just too exhausting."
"You have to cultivate properly. No slacking off, understand? Otherwise, there'll be plenty of hard farming waiting for you later."
"Just grow up to be a dazzling cultivator."
Maybe
I hadn't been imagining it all along.
Maybe the baby really could hear what I was saying.
Even after I'd gotten this tired, my stomach hadn't hurt that badly.
The night was strangely quiet.
On the fourth day, I saw Qing Ye again.
Since she really hadn't come yesterday, I gradually let down my guard.
I took a few steps toward her. "Ye Xiaoyao."
Qing Ye paused. "Mm. That's a lovely name?"
"Is it?" I tilted my head out of habit, my face as docile as ever.
Qing Ye's gaze suddenly grew distant. It seemed she hadn't seen Ye Xiaoyao like this in a long time. When had that started? Was it when she'd decided to learn more about Ye Xiaoyao, to form a deeper connection with her, and to help her? After that, all she ever saw on Ye Xiaoyao's face was impatience, along with a deeply buried aversion and loathing.
There were two completely different sides to her. Which one was the real Ye Xiaoyao?
The smiles and weakness she always showed to strangers?
Or the instinctive, intense rejection and wordless indifference she showed whenever someone tried to get close to her...
As Qing Ye learned more and more about Ye Xiaoyao's life, she suddenly knew which one was the only right answer.
In truth, Ye Xiaoyao was more fragile than anyone imagined, yet also more resilient and patient than anyone understood.
"Mm. It's lovely," Qing Ye replied.
I pressed my lips together in a smile, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
To me, Ye Dayao sounded better than Ye Xiaoyao.
Why was I, Ye Xiaoyao, stuck with a name that used "little," as if it were some sort of judgment, instead of one like Ye Qingxian, Yue Wuhua, or Jian Wushuang—names full of profound blessings for the future?
But I couldn't change my name.
My name had long been bound to the sect's records, including the soul lamp of mine that had been lit...
"We can work together again in the future."
I looked at the girl in green robes, my eyes curving into a smile.
My voice was soft and timid.
It was this outward appearance that made so many people enjoy picking on me.
After all, I couldn't even beat Big Yellow at the gate.
And it was a spirit beast.
"Sure." Qing Ye seemed like a pretty nice person, too.
We'd officially met at last.
I didn't hold back my smile, and even exchanged a few pleasantries with her.
She handed me a Low-level Sound Transmission Talisman, a common communication tool among low-ranking disciples. After thinking it over, I accepted it.
"If we have a chance to work together again, you can contact me directly."
"It doesn't have to be farming missions, either. If you need help with anything else, you can come to me. There are places where I could use a hand, too. We can help each other out."
"Mm." I didn't give her my own Sound Transmission Talisman. "I look forward to working together."
After thinking it over, I agreed.
I felt she wasn't a bad person. Besides, ever since I joined Wuya Sect, she was the first person to speak to me like that. Deep down, I couldn't bring myself to reject her.
She hadn't treated me like some insignificant weakling, so it felt natural that we could keep working together.
Speaking of Sound Transmission Talismans,
I hadn't given mine to anyone since I joined Wuya Sect at the age of three. I'd always kept my guard up.
After finishing my work in the fields, I went home and fell asleep as soon as I hit the bed.
When you were exhausted, you slept especially deeply.
Late at night, having lived alone for years, I was so sensitive that the faint sound of soil being turned over in the courtyard jolted me awake. I grabbed a talisman from the bedside table and made sure my dagger was still there. Then I slapped my treasured Concealment Talisman onto myself and crept outside in the dark, my expression grim.
You dared steal my Spirit Stones, Ye Xiaoyao's.
If you left me with no way to live, then none of us would live.
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