In a daze, the scene before his eyes changed drastically.
Jiang Xun let go and staggered back to the wall.
"What's going on? Did I stay up so late that my brain is glitching?"
The bite mark on the back of his hand burned with pain, but this pain actually made him very clear-headed.
It was too real; the sensation of his skin, the dust in the air, the suppressed sobbing of the young girl before him—none of it felt like a hallucination.
"I..."
Just as he was about to speak, a cold, mechanical voice exploded directly in his mind:
[System Notification: Detected that the host triggered the'Sudden Death' ending due to staying up late for a long time. Consuming the unique item 'Resurrection Coin', you have successfully reincarnated into the world of the bound game, "ethereal immortal destiny".]
[Current Chapter: Unknown.]
[Mission Update: Survival. Subsequent rewards will be distributed based on exploration progress.]
"I'm a young man; how could staying up for a few nights lead to sudden death?" He thought in disbelief.
Jiang Xun leaned against the earthen wall, feeling the coarse texture against his fingertips. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
It wasn't a dream
.
He had really entered—entered this game world he had just "cleared"?
Jiang Xun frowned, his expression darkening.
The world of "ethereal immortal destiny" was no ethereal paradise. On the contrary, it was a chaotic world where the Demonic Path flourished.
The Righteous Path was weak.
Cultivators of the Demonic Path followed the law of the jungle in its rawest form.
Slaughtering cities, destroying nations, and extracting living souls for Artifact Refining were commonplace.
In the eyes of demonic Cultivators, all things were resources, while defenseless Mortals weren't even considered resources—they were merely consumables, like weeds by the roadside.
Precisely because their plundering was so unscrupulous, the Demonic Path's Cultivation speed was extremely fast, their methods were ruthless and bizarre, and their power expanded like a rolling snowball.
In the game, when the remaining Righteous Path NPCs mentioned the Demonic Path, their eyes held not only hatred but, even more so, a fear that reached their very marrow.
Jiang Xun slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, forcibly suppressing his chaotic thoughts.
His gaze returned to the scene before him.
A dilapidated adobe house, its only window's gaps stuffed with rags.
Aside from a creaking wooden bed and a table with a crooked leg, the house was virtually bare. The air was thick with a faint dampness and the scent of firewood.
Beside the bed, the young girl was still curled up, clutching her arms tightly, her thin shoulders trembling slightly.
She wore a faded, patched dress of coarse cloth, her hair tied up haphazardly with a wooden hairpin, with a few strands of hair stuck to her pale face, wet with tears.
The moment Jiang Xun's gaze landed on her, fragments of memory flooded into his mind.
"Jiang Wanxing."
As the name surfaced, the associated memories became clear as well.
She wasn't his biological sister.
His mother had died from a difficult birth after giving birth to Jiang Xun.
And she was an abandoned infant the Original Owner's father had picked up in the mountains; seeing her piteous state, he had brought her home to raise.
In this remote town, such a foundling girl was by default a "Child Bride" prepared for the family's son.
In his memories, Jiang Wanxing was always submissive and worked silently.
The Original Owner's father was a Herb Gatherer; a year ago, during a trip into the mountains, he had slipped and fallen off a cliff, and his remains were never fully recovered.
Once the pillar of the family fell, the household quickly declined. Instead of taking up the burden, the Original Owner had fallen in with local thugs, developed a gambling addiction, and ended up deep in debt.
The final fragment of memory was the debt collector's warning from earlier that day: "Kid Jiang, by sunset tomorrow, ten taels of silver including interest. If you can't produce it, I'll chop off one of your hands! Consider that!"
The Original Owner had been scared out of his wits.
Where could he possibly get ten taels of silver? Despair and fear gave birth to the most despicable thought—selling Jiang Wanxing.
The madam of Chunxiang Courtyard on the south side of town had long had her eye on this increasingly beautiful young girl and had once hinted at a good price.
Thus, there was the scene Jiang Xun witnessed upon his Transmigration.
The Original Owner had intended to forcibly drag the sleeping Jiang Wanxing away in the middle of the night.
"Fuck..."
Jiang Xun cursed the Original Owner fiercely in his heart.
Even if she wasn't his biological sister, could the bond from over a decade of living together be discarded so easily?
His gaze swept over Jiang Wanxing.
The girl was only about fifteen or sixteen years old; long-term malnutrition made her appear exceptionally thin and small, but even so, it couldn't hide the elegance that radiated from her very bones.
Her features were like a painting, and now, soaked in tears, she resembled a pear blossom in the rain, possessing a breathtakingly fragile beauty.
Into what kind of place was such a girl to be sold?
Seemingly sensing Jiang Xun's long, silent gaze, Jiang Wanxing trembled even more violently.
She didn't dare look up; she only slowly released one of her hands that was clutching herself, reached tremblingly under the pillow, and after fumbling for a while, pulled out a small, patched old cloth pouch.
She held the pouch with both hands as if she were holding her entire life, and bit by bit, she moved to the edge of the bed, extending it toward Jiang Xun.
Her head was bowed extremely low, and her voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz, carrying a sob:
"Brother... please, don't sell me..."
She unwrapped the pouch, revealing a dozen or so heavily worn copper coins, stacked neatly.
"This... this is what I've saved. It's... it's all for you." Mustering the greatest courage of her life, she raised her tearful eyes, which were filled with humble entreaty.
"I... I can do laundry, I can cook, I can clean the house... I... I can also get embroidery work from Auntie Liu's house to earn money. Please, don't send me there. I'll be obedient, I'll do anything..."
Jiang Xun looked at those few copper coins that still appeared pitiful even in the dim light, then at the girl's eyes, from which the last sliver of hope burst forth amidst despair; it felt as if something was blocking his chest.
The Original Owner was truly a scoundrel.
[Ding—]
Just as he was about to say something, a faint light suddenly flashed before his eyes, quickly condensing into a semi-transparent illusory panel floating in front of Jiang Wanxing and the handful of copper coins.
On the panel, text clearly emerged, like options in a game:
[Option 1: Swat the copper coins away and bark harshly: "What the hell use is this pittance! I owe ten taels of silver! If I don't sell you today, my hand will be gone tomorrow!"]
[Option 2: Snatch the copper coins, clench them in your hand, and interrogate gloomily: "Fine, you even dare to hide money secretly? Speak! How much more have you hidden? Were you planning to run away on your own?"]
[Option 3: Gently push back her hand holding the money, return the copper coins along with the pouch to her trembling palm, and soften your voice: "Don't be afraid. Once you're at Chunxiang Courtyard, buy yourself some more good food."]
[Please select a dialogue at random, Host. Note that after choosing a dialogue, please speak the lines according to the context.]
[Time: 60... 59... 58...]
Three options, three completely different paths.
Jiang Xun's gaze instantly calmed, all his chaotic emotions suppressed. This wasn't a game interface, but the way it was presented was all too familiar.
Isn't this just a dialogue box from a galgame?
But these three options are all too outrageous!
Each one is harder to swallow than the last.
Isn't there any gentler dialogue?
Jiang Xun's gaze fell on Jiang Wanxing's eyes, which were filled with terror and anticipation.
She was like a young animal shivering under a hunter's blade, yet still trying to offer up her only, insignificant belongings, begging for a chance at life.
In this world where the lives of Mortals were like weeds, the fate of such a helpless young girl, if pushed into a pit of fire, was predictable.
[Time: 30... 29...]
[System Notification: If the specified time is exceeded, the System will take control and make a random selection.]
Jiang Xun's head throbbed.
In a game, he could afford to be indifferent.
But that was a game, data and code. Before him was a living person who could cry and fear, still trying to grasp at a straw in a desperate situation.
The numbers on the countdown were still ticking.
Not much time was left for him.
After some thought, Jiang Xun chose the second option.
He brewed the emotion in his heart.
He snatched the money from the girl's hand, his face gloomy and terrifying. "Oh! You even know how to hide money secretly now. Speak, how much more money have you hidden? Were you planning to run away long ago?"
Jiang Wanxing's body trembled at his words.
"No, no, Brother. It's because you always gamble away all the money at home, so I wanted to save some to buy some food."
"Are you blaming me now?"
Jiang Xun's gaze turned fierce.
The girl's face turned pale. "No, I... I'll give you all the money I earn in the future."
Hearing the girl's words, Jiang Xun then feigned a slightly softened expression. "It better be that way. If you dare to run, I won't let you off easily."
This performance should pass, right!
As Jiang Xun thought this, the System's notification sound also rang in his mind.
[Ding—]
[Triggered dialogue completed. favorability is now being opened.]
[Obtained proficiency: 100]
[Obtained Reward: qi induction pill.]
Jiang Xun was overjoyed, but he kept his face expressionless.
He got off Jiang Wanxing's bed.
He put the money in his pocket and left her room, not forgetting to give her a meaningful look before departing.
Couldn't break character, after all.
His gaze flicked toward the top of Jiang Wanxing's head.
[favorability: 81]
After returning to his own room.
Feeling a foreign object in his palm, he opened his hand, and a pitch-black pill appeared.
qi induction pill.
Although in the game this thing was just a white Rank piece of junk, when it truly appeared in his hand, his excitement was beyond words.
Cultivating toward immortality is, after all, everyone's dream in reality!