Wu Zhen searched around the city wall for quite a while, but she just couldn't find her Xiaoxue.
The player didn't think for a second that Xiaoxue had left her of its own accord; someone must have meddled. Especially with the Gancheng provincial exams approaching, the city was crowded and full of prying eyes. Her little bird was so beautiful, it might very well have been snatched by a bird peddler to be sold as a plaything for the rich and powerful.
At this thought, murderous intent instantly flared up within Wu Zhen.
She pulled up the Events tab and searched through it line by line. However, perhaps because animal units were of a low level, the event log hadn't recorded its movements, nor had any suspicious individuals appeared in Wu Zhen's vicinity.
Unwilling to give up, the player vaulted back over the city wall, opened the town map, and headed straight for the local market.
Unfortunately, she asked every NPC she came across, but none had seen Xiaoxue.
Continuing the search would likely be an exercise in futility, so the player decided to first purchase the books she needed.
Meanwhile, as Wu Zhen was going around the market asking questions, someone in a distant second-floor private room had their eyes firmly fixed on her.
"What a fair-skinned girl. What is she looking for?" a man said with keen interest, sizing up the young woman weaving through the market whose facial features were obscured by the distance.
Though she was quite far away, under the sunlight, the black-haired girl's flawless, dazzling skin, as pale as white jade, was exceptionally eye-catching.
"Has Young Master Lin taken a liking to her?" the other man sitting opposite him gave a teasing smile. "Actually, right after she entered the city, one of my brothers mentioned her to me. This girl doesn't have anyone accompanying her. Her face is rather plain, but her skin is truly top-notch. It's just..."
He tapped his own head. "She seems to have a bit of a problem up here."
The man addressed as Young Master Lin laughed heartily. "A fool is fine, just fine. Have your men... go greet her."
The man across from him instantly understood.
The black-haired girl was moving quickly; if they didn't act soon, she would probably head home. Figuring that dealing with a young girl who was out all by herself would be effortless, he casually called over two burly men to quietly follow behind her.
After following her for a distance, the man couldn't help but feel a bit confused.
This girl should have bought quite a few things, but looking at her now, why were her hands completely empty?
Where did all her belongings go?
All of a sudden, a bad premonition surged in his heart.
But before he could even process this ominous feeling, the two burly men taking the lead slowly closed in on her, just as originally planned.
Then, just as they were about to grab the ends of her hair that swayed with her steps—
The black-haired girl, who should have been completely oblivious, abruptly turned her head.
"!"
All three men felt a jolt of shock, and one of the burly men couldn't even stop himself from taking a step back.
Because of those eyes.
It was those pitch-black eyes, set into an otherwise forgettable face, staring unblinkingly right at them.
They could barely distinguish the pupils from the irises. The two merged together, bleeding into a damp, ink-like, heavy darkness.
...She looked exactly like a demon or ghost from some folktale!
The moment this thought crossed their minds, they felt a rush of cold air shoot straight up to the crowns of their heads. They instinctively tried to run, but they saw the ghost-like doll carve out a smile. Her silhouette blurred, and a pale, slender hand clamped directly onto the back of his head like a pair of icy tongs—
"Thud!"
In an instant, the burly man's head was slammed forcefully into the ground.
Like a watermelon smashed against the floor.
Seeing their companion die on the spot, his head split wide open, the remaining two men went weak in the knees. They dropped to the ground with a thud, weeping bitterly and begging for mercy while trembling as they tried to scramble backward.
"Ghost... a ghost...!"
Normally, if they hit a brick wall, they might have brought up the Lin Estate to intimidate these powerless commoners. Taking a step back, even if the other party really did kill someone, they could invoke the authorities to stall for time.
But the entity before them... whether it was the Lin Estate or the government authorities, which of them had jurisdiction over a ghost?!
The two racked their brains to spout out apologies, but Wu Zhen had no desire to listen.
She only found them noisy.
So she simply killed them both.
She did not look back at the bloody mess left behind. There was hardly even a speck of blood on her. She stored the three corpses into her inventory and walked out, her expression as normal as ever.
In truth, the player was not usually this irritable; she even possessed a shred of morality. When encountering hostile targets with ill intentions, she would generally just toss them into turn-based auto-combat.
But who asked these blind NPCs to provoke her and cross her path on such a bad day?
Besides, killing a few hostile NPCs wouldn't even leave a single trace on a player's conscience.
Before she even left Gancheng, just stepping out of the alleyway, Wu Zhen had completely forgotten the matter.
She made no further stops and returned straight to her ancestral home.
The moment she saw Jiang Zhenxue, Wu Zhen's mood improved a little.
Whether it was his appearance or his aura, the young man carried an undeniable, otherworldly elegance. He was very quiet.
He also made it very easy to soothe one's hostility.
But the player was still not very happy.
After a brief exchange with Jiang Zhenxue, she headed straight back to her wing room to get some sleep, taking the opportunity to refresh her status.
After all, it was an incredibly realistic game, and occasionally, a player would rest purely for the sake of resting.
Jiang Zhenxue, however, did not leave.
His gaze followed her back, pausing briefly on the dark brownish-red stain at her cuff. It wasn't until she closed the door that the gentle smile on his face slowly faded away.
...
That night, at the Lin Estate.
Listening to his servant's report, the man who had been addressed as Young Master Lin during the day looked exceptionally grim.
"A bunch of useless trash! You can't even handle a simple task like this!"
Let alone bringing the girl back, three grown men had simply vanished into thin air!
Even if they were dead, there should at least be corpses, right? If they fell into the hands of someone with ulterior motives...
"Keep searching. Remember, don't alert the enemy. If you encounter a situation where you have no choice but to make a move... make sure you do it cleanly."
If this matter blew up and his parents found out, he wouldn't be able to hide all the things he had done before. He would definitely be subjected to family punishment!
He tried to catch his breath, feeling that the air in the room was stiflingly close, perhaps because a night rain had started falling outside. The rain grew heavier and heavier, soon drowning out the voices of the servants and spreading a strange, icy silence.
He decided to step outside the door to get some fresh air.
Opening the door, the moment he lifted his head, from the corner of his eye he suddenly caught a glimpse of a pale white figure.
It was indistinct behind the curtain of heavy rain, like a wisp of freezing mist.
...Who was there?
But before he could fully raise his head to clearly see the person's face, his line of sight suddenly plummeted.
It fell to the ground and rolled over.
In the end, all he saw was the corner of the person's robes, gradually dissipating into the rain.
It was pale white, the color of snow.
.
Wu Zhen woke up early the next morning.
Even though falling asleep in the game was merely a matter of a black screen for a few seconds, her mood had completely improved, and she felt entirely renewed.
Wu Zhen planned to spend the next period of time primarily reading, supplemented by leveling up her other unmaxed skills.
She took some food out of her inventory and ate it to lower her hunger gauge, then sat by the window, took out the books she had bought yesterday, and began to read.
After maintaining this pace for three whole days, a new skill finally appeared in Wu Zhen's skill bar.
[Knowledge] lv.1
The player's eyes lit up instantly.
This skill seemed a bit difficult to grind for proficiency, but Wu Zhen wasn't worried. She had plenty of time to slowly level it up through sheer quantity.
Wu Zhen stood up, preparing to head into town to buy some more books. The genre didn't matter; as long as they were books, they would do.
Upon opening the door, she saw Jiang Zhenxue standing in the courtyard.
Following his gaze upward, Wu Zhen noticed a tree in full bloom with pear blossoms.
Before she could even feel a sense of pleasant surprise, she remembered something and looked over to where her snowman had been. Sure enough, it had completely melted away, leaving nothing behind.
The player took a moment of silence to mourn her masterpiece.
"Miss Wu?"
Perhaps because she had remained motionless for a while, Jiang Zhenxue tilted his head slightly and took a step forward.
Hearing his voice, Wu Zhen snapped out of her daze and looked in his direction.
Jiang Zhenxue offered her a gentle smile.
Wu Zhen thought for a moment, rummaged through her inventory, and pulled out a pretty stone she had found while gathering on the mountain, pressing it into his hands.
Jiang Zhenxue paused for a second before tucking the stone into his sleeve, still tilting his head as he looked at her.
Wu Zhen had no idea what he wanted and didn't have the time to figure it out at the moment, so she simply patted his shoulder. "I'm heading out."
With that, she walked straight toward Gan City.
Behind her, Jiang Zhenxue blinked softly.
He knew it.
She would completely forget about... the marriage proposal.
Smiling, he called out, "Is Miss Wu heading into town? May I accompany you?"
Wu Zhen didn't see any reason to refuse. "Sure."
She stopped in her tracks and waited for Jiang Zhenxue to catch up.
The dark-haired young man stepped up to her side, and they began walking shoulder to shoulder.
After walking for a short distance, Wu Zhen began to feel incredibly antsy.
This walking pace was simply too slow. At this rate, how long would it take her to reach Gan City?
So, she just grabbed Jiang Zhenxue's hand, toggled her movement from "walk" to "run," and maxed out her movement speed.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the young man blink in surprise, but that fleeting astonishment soon melted into a soft, hazy smile.
Then, Wu Zhen noticed a shift in the dynamics. It was no longer her dragging Jiang Zhenxue along; rather, it felt more like he was the one leading her.
With just a single step, they would traverse dozens of feet, moving with extraordinary ease and grace.
It looked like some sort of lightness skill, but in reality, it wasn't.
Wu Zhen, who had always relied on her own two legs to run across the map: "..."
So what if he knew immortal arts? Was it really that impressive? She would definitely—wait, this body of hers seemed to have a completely mortal constitution—her second-generation character would definitely be able to learn it too!
Wu Zhen didn't ask Jiang Zhenxue how he was doing this, and Jiang Zhenxue offered no explanation either.
Before long, the gates of Gan City appeared before her eyes.
...Wait, how did Jiang Zhenxue know the way to Gan City? Every time she had seen him before, he looked so sickly that he couldn't even leave the house. He shouldn't have been so familiar with the direction to the city.
She looked toward the gates. It seemed something had happened in the city recently, as the inspections for anyone entering or leaving were noticeably stricter.
Wu Zhen glanced at Jiang Zhenxue, whose expression was completely natural, still wearing that same gentle smile, before looking away.
She asked nothing, and she said nothing.
