She committed suicide by hanging herself right outside the front door of the faithless male cultivator who had broken her heart, seemingly as a form of revenge.
Witnessing such a tragic scene instantly shattered the sense of security Song Huaying had so painstakingly gained from the intimate union with her husband.
Falling into a deep contemplation for a moment, she quickly hurried back to the bedside, shook Chen An awake, and said, "Husband, if that fairy who lives across the door mentions becoming your concubine again next time, you should just accept."
"Hmm?"
Chen An was momentarily stunned, thinking he must be dreaming.
Song Huaying had thought it all through.
Rather than waiting until she grew old and faded, when her husband would no longer be infatuated with her, choose to take concubines and seek out new affections, leaving her isolated and pushed out because she couldn't fit in, she might as well seize the moment while she was still young and beautiful, and while her husband was still deeply infatuated with her, to urge him to take a concubine. That way, he would feel indebted to her. Then, standing firmly as the legal wife, she could build a sisterly bond with the concubines and get along harmoniously, killing two birds with one stone.
This way, even when she grew old in the future and her husband was no longer infatuated, she would still remain a part of the household, a dear sister to all his wives and concubines, and even the guiding mentor who had once served him in bed alongside them.
...
Early the next morning.
The female cultivator living across the door came over early to return the money, settling the single low-grade spirit stone she had borrowed yesterday.
What is more, she handed over an extra spirit stone to purchase a bottle of heat-relief pills to take back.
Seeing the haggard expression on the female cultivator's face, Chen An guessed that she must have spent the whole night searching for a way to get money, staying up until dawn without a wink of sleep.
As for where the money came from or how she obtained it, Chen An didn't care; as long as he could make a profit, that was all that mattered.
"Husband, it's still early. Shall we go back to the bedroom and sleep for a while longer?"
Song Huaying looped her arm through Chen An's, her watery, beautiful eyes blinking as she shook his arm in a spoiled, coaxing manner.
When the female cultivator had come over to repay the debt just now, she had carefully sized her up.
To her dismay, she discovered that the woman was in no way inferior to her in either looks or figure.
This caused her sense of crisis to surge dramatically, worrying that if the woman truly became her husband's concubine in the future, her current status in the household would be in jeopardy.
To prevent such a scenario, she resolved to please her husband as much as possible before the woman was brought into the household, further cementing her position in his heart.
And so, in the days that followed.
Because of Song Huaying's deliberate efforts, the couple's daily life gradually returned to how it was before her pregnancy, indulging in intimate embraces every single day.
Only, the frequency was reduced by more than half compared to before, and the process was handled with much greater care and tenderness, placing a heavier emphasis on spiritual communion between them.
During this period, the female cultivator living across the door would come over periodically to buy heat-relief pills.
The intervals between each visit grew shorter and shorter, as if her gravely ill father's condition was deteriorating, driving up her demand for the heat-relief pills.
At first, Chen An suspected that the heat-relief pills might possess side effects he wasn't aware of, such as dependency or addictiveness.
However, after consulting some reference materials later, he learned that this situation was entirely due to the nature of the fire toxin affliction itself.
It was simply that the fire toxin had reached its terminal stage, causing the patient's physical state to plummet rapidly and deteriorate day by day.
Put simply, it was much like terminal cancer in his past life.
The body grew weaker by the day until death finally claimed them.
The female cultivator's current actions were equivalent to exhausting her family's entire fortune to undergo chemotherapy for her critically ill father, praying only that he might live for a few more days.
Chen An had once considered trying to persuade the female cultivator.
Telling her that doing this would only ruin her own life while subjecting her father to endless torment by his illness.
It would be better to let her father end his suffering sooner, sparing her from such exhausting toil.
On second thought, however, the father and daughter had depended on each other for so long, and their bond was far too deep for an outsider like him to step in, analyze the pros and cons, and dictate choices for them.
...
And so the days passed one by one.
[Golden Finger: Novice (66/100)]
[Alchemy Skill: Rank 1 Intermediate (338/500)]
[Wife: Song Huaying]
[Attribute: A drop of water received in need shall be repaid with a surging spring]
[Affection: 2 Stars (299/500)]
[Alchemy Experience Provided: 320]
[Golden Finger Proficiency Provided: 60]
Glancing over the panel, the gains were not very substantial.
Chen An put away the data before his eyes, his thoughts inevitably drifting to the young female cultivator living across the door—a Qi Condensation 1st Layer cultivator named Gu Xinyue.
He still remembered her crying words, stating that she was willing to become a concubine as long as it could save her father.
Now, his little wife was already nearly five months pregnant.
In another two months, she would once again need to rest peacefully for her pregnancy, cutting off their intimate nights.
By then, whether it was his mastery of the alchemy dao or the progression of his Golden Finger, the rate of improvement would drop drastically once more.
Judging by this trend, saving up enough money to move into the core district before the child was born seemed somewhat unrealistic.
After all, from their marriage until now, their savings had only reached a little under 300 low-grade spirit stones.
Currently, the only viable solution was to elevate his alchemy dao mastery to the Rank 1 Advanced stage as quickly as possible.
Once he achieved that, his income from alchemy would surge tremendously, making the rent for the core district more than affordable.
To accomplish this, Chen An needed to find another partner who could assist him in his cultivation.
And for this candidate, his eyes had landed precisely on the young female cultivator living across the door—Gu Xinyue.
First, she possessed striking looks and a tall figure that aligned with his aesthetic preferences.
Second, she was young and inexperienced in the ways of the world, making her easy to train and mold in the future.
Third, she kept her promises; whenever she bought pills on credit, she paid them back right on the designated day. Moreover, she possessed a resilient character, bearing the heavy burden of an entire household all by herself as a mere woman, coupled with deep filial piety as she remained unwaveringly devoted to a father so gravely ill he couldn't even care for himself.
Such a high-quality candidate for a partner would be an absolute waste not to trick into his household.
"Sigh, one step at a time, I suppose."
Chen An glanced down at his little wife's burgeoning, rounded belly, feeling an overwhelming wave of anxiety in his heart.
The pressure of settling down and starting a family was truly immense; it was utterly exhausting.
He deeply missed the carefree days of his bachelor past.
...
In the blink of an eye, several days went by.
Recently, the situation in the cheap district had grown increasingly chaotic.
Driven by rising rents, a great many bandit cultivators had cropped up.
Word frequently spread of someone being robbed of their wealth, down to the very clothes on their back being stripped away.
In worse cases, they would even silence their victims after robbing them, employing brutally cruel methods.
The atmosphere throughout the entire cheap district was oppressive now.
Unless one's strength was guaranteed, many people simply holed up at home behind closed doors.
Those with strained finances either transformed directly into bandit cultivators or packed up and left the Bamboo Leaf Forest to seek a way out elsewhere.
Chen An belonged to the category of people who kept their doors firmly shut.
Most of his time was spent refining pills to earn spirit stones, while a small portion was spent indulging in intimacy with his little wife.
On this day, Chen An had just finished a batch of business and was heading back to the room to spend some tender moments with his little wife when a knock sounded untimely at the outer door.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
"Alchemist Chen, I'm here to buy Ice Crystal Pills!"
The voice was so familiar that he didn't even need to look to know it was Gu Xinyue from across the door.
She was here to buy heat-relief pills for her father.
These heat-relief pills had now been officially renamed Ice Crystal Pills.
Since it was a pill that could sell for a low-grade spirit stone per bottle, calling it a heat-relief pill felt too low-grade and unworthy of the price tag.
Naming it the Ice Crystal Pill was a different story entirely.
It sounded immensely high-end, yet could be purchased for a mere low-grade spirit stone, giving people a strong sense of getting great value for their money.
"Fellow Daoist Gu, how many are you buying this time?" Chen An asked with a smile as he looked at Gu Xinyue outside the window.
Gu Xinyue produced three low-grade spirit stones, tossing them precisely to Chen An as she said indifferently, "Give me three bottles of Ice Crystal Pills."
Her spending was getting bolder and bolder.
Chen An sighed inwardly, unable to resist a teasing remark: "Fellow Daoist Gu, where did you make your fortune recently? You haven't secretly taken up banditry, have you?"
Gu Xinyue offered a faint smile without a word, picked up the three bottles of Ice Crystal Pills, and turned to walk back toward her own home.
Watching her slender, retreating figure, Chen An felt a slight pang of regret.
Had he known that day when Gu Xinyue cried and claimed she was willing to become a concubine, he should have just claimed her right then and there.
Trying to win her over now would be difficult.
After all, the woman was no longer strapped for cash; she could afford pills and pay rent, so why would she wrong herself by becoming someone's concubine?
Yet, on second thought, there was really nothing to regret.
At the very least, selling Ice Crystal Pills to Gu Xinyue over this period had netted him over thirty low-grade spirit stones.
Had he chosen to take her as a concubine that day, that sum certainly wouldn't have been earned.
He might even have had to shell out his own spirit stones to pay for her father's medical treatments.
That being said, where on earth did this Gu Xinyue, whose cultivation was merely at the paltry Qi Condensation 1st Layer, manage to acquire so many spirit stones?
Could she have attached herself to some wealthy benefactor?
Chen An remained completely baffled.
...
Unnoticed, several more days slipped by.
During this time, the situation in the Bamboo Leaf Forest cheap district grew increasingly chaotic.
Many bandit cultivators had progressed from merely waylaying people for wealth on the roads to brazenly committing home-invasion robberies even in broad daylight.
It left everyone in the cheap district living in a state of constant panic.
As an alchemist, Chen An had long since become a prime target in the eyes of these bandit cultivators.
Quite a few of them set their sights on him, attempting to break into his home and rob him.
The outcome, however, was somewhat tragic.
Every single robbery failed. Instead, they were blasted in the head by a single Golden Finger from Chen An, ending up dead before having their corpses looted and assets confiscated.
Once finished, they were casually dragged off to a corner of the courtyard and buried, dying without a sound.
Yet not everyone possessed Chen An's self-preservation strength.
When faced with home invasions, the majority of residents either chose to swallow their pride and forfeit wealth to avert disaster, or chose to resist, meeting a tragic end with the destruction of both body and soul.
For a time, a massive wave of cultivators packed up and left the Bamboo Leaf Forest, choosing to seek a livelihood elsewhere.
With so many people fleeing and the outflow vastly outstripping any inflow for a prolonged period, the higher-ups of the Bamboo Leaf Forest grew anxious.
If all the tenants left, who was going to pay rent?
Consequently, the upper echelons of the Bamboo Leaf Forest began deploying funds to remedy the situation, assigning a Qi Condensation (late) overseer to each cheap district within the Bamboo Leaf Forest, backed by patrol squads composed of several Qi Condensation (mid) cultivators to jointly crack down on the chaos in the cheap areas.
The enforcement was heavy-handed, and the results were striking.
In less than half a month, all the cheap districts regained their former tranquility.
Everyone dared to step out of their homes to do business once more, and the situation began to show signs of revitalization.
Compared to half a year ago, however, it still fell quite short.
Because the Red Leaf Forest had previously hiked rents recklessly, compounded by the severe collapse of public security later on, its reputation had tanked.
Wanting to return to its former prosperity would take at least several months, if not a full year of gradual recovery.
...
In the blink of an eye, half a month passed.
On this day, good news finally reached the Red Leaf Forest.
The rent in the cheap district had dropped!
It fell back to the original rate of one low-grade spirit stone per month!
Pressured by external forces, the Xuanhuang Sect—whose people had previously triggered blood demon ravages outside due to excavating spirit stone veins—had finally dispatched personnel to clean up the mess.
They sent forth several Golden Core Stage powerhouses, wiping out all the blood demons in less than two days.
Some rejoiced while others mourned.
The majority of people had their families shattered by the rampage of the blood demons, but a small minority had profited enormously from it.
Take Chen An, the alchemist, for instance. Over the course of nearly a year, he had amassed over 400 low-grade spirit stones, making his life far more affluent than before.
Earning this much money in a single year was something he would never have dared to imagine in the past.
Although the blood demons were gone now and alchemy was no longer quite as violently lucrative, Chen An felt not a shred of distress.
He had long known that this special period couldn't possibly last forever and that sooner or later, someone would step in to resolve it.
The fact that it had lasted for nearly a full year already vastly exceeded his expectations.
"Ying'er, come, let's go out and enjoy the scenery, live it up a little."
No sooner had Chen An gotten up from his little wife than he lowered his head and flashed a knowing, suggestive smile.
Song Huaying's face flushed red instantly. Knowing that her husband wanted to take her out for some wild recreation outside, she felt a bit bashful, yet she didn't refuse. Biting her lip, she replied, "Ying'er will listen to whatever Husband says."
Soon enough, the couple stepped out of the house.
They had barely gone a few steps when they ran straight into a deeply distressed Gu Xinyue.
Gu Xinyue had originally been on her way to Chen An's home to discuss an unspeakable matter with him.
Running into him right here, she hardened her heart, lowered her head, closed her eyes, and walked straight up to him, making a shameless and desperate plea:
"Alchemist Chen, please, I beg you to take me as a concubine!"
...
Gu Xinyue's startling declaration left both husband and wife completely dumbfounded.
In broad daylight, she suddenly ran up and demanded to be a concubine—was this young woman truly this bold?
Chen An steadied his composure and asked, "Fellow Daoist Gu, what is the meaning of this...?"
"Alchemist Chen, I have no money left to buy Ice Crystal Pills, truly none at all. But I cannot bear to watch my father die. I beg you to help me, and in return, I will serve as your concubine, I will be a beast of burden for you..."
Gu Xinyue said a great deal, speaking rapidly with a voice brimming with anxiety and unease. Her emotional state was visibly unstable.
Chen An fell silent for a brief moment before ultimately deciding to speak the truth:
"Fellow Daoist Gu, to speak a truth that is cruel yet absolute: your father's fire toxin has reached its final stage. Even if a Foundation Establishment Mighty Expert were to come here, they would be powerless to save him. You should simply spend his remaining days accompanying him well."
"I know, I know all of that. I just want my father to live a little longer, even if it's just for one more day."
As Gu Xinyue spoke, tears broke through, streaming down her face uncontrollably.
Seeing that she was already aware of her father's condition, Chen An hesitated no further and decided to take her in today.
Out of respect for his little wife, he handed the decision-making power over to her, turning to ask:
"Ying'er, what are your thoughts?"
"Husband, I was the eldest daughter at home and always hoped for an elder sister. I hope Husband will agree to Fairy Gu's request."
Song Huaying said, speaking against her true feelings.
Though she had already come to terms with the reality that her husband would eventually take a concubine and knew that the sooner he did, the more advantageous it would be for her, actually facing this moment still left her feeling somewhat sour inside.
Having received his little wife's endorsement, Chen An returned inside the house to retrieve two bottles of Ice Crystal Pills, handing them to the still softly weeping Gu Xinyue as he told her:
"Take these two bottles of Ice Crystal Pills back for your father first. If it's not enough, come back to me for more."
"Thank you, thank you, Alchemist Chen!"
Gu Xinyue expressed her heartfelt gratitude, momentarily wanting to drop to her knees and kowtow, but Chen An stopped her.
Afterward, as her prospective husband, Chen An brought his little wife to Gu Xinyue's home to pay a visit to her critically ill father.
The man was severely ill, having already lost consciousness, though he still retained a faint breath—virtually indistinguishable from a vegetative state in his past life.
Fortunately, the man was a Qi Condensation 3rd Layer cultivator, capable of sustaining his life by absorbing spiritual energy from spirit stones without needing food, drink, or excretory functions, making caretaking considerably simpler.
Having checked on his prospective father-in-law, Chen An posed the question that had been lingering in his mind to Gu Xinyue.
He asked why she had suddenly grown so wealthy a short while ago, only to be broke again now.
He subsequently learned that Gu Xinyue's divine sense was naturally much stronger than that of ordinary cultivators.
Back when her cultivation was still at the Qi Condensation 1st Layer, her divine sense strength was already comparable to that of a Qi Condensation (mid) cultivator.
Relying on this advantage, she had joined a hunting squad, acting as support responsible for using her divine sense perception to warn teammates of danger as they hunted blood demons together, earning a substantial amount of spirit stones in the process.
Recently, however, the blood demons outside had all been cleared out by the Xuanhuang Sect's dispatched personnel, leaving nothing left to hunt.
And so, she lost her job, instantly cutting off her income.
As for switching to hunt other spiritual beasts, that was an endeavor reserved for Qi Condensation (late) cultivators to consider.
Blood demons, on the other hand, were actually bat demons—among the weakest spiritual beasts in the cultivation world—and almost any cultivator could hunt them by forming a team,
though it did carry the risk of perishing in body and soul.
After gaining a brief understanding of Gu Xinyue's personal family situation, Chen An merely left behind the words "I will come find you tonight" before promptly departing with his little wife.
After all, she was still only an un-inducted concubine, and the two of them shared no prior affection; showing this level of care was quite enough to avoid overstepping.
Leaving Gu Xinyue's home, Chen An and his little wife found a nearby secluded spot that offered guaranteed safety to stroll around.
Boating among flowers, reciting poetry, and composing verses—it was utterly wonderful.
When the mood struck them during the outing, he reaped a considerable amount of alchemy experience, satisfying both body and mind to the utmost.
Seeing that day was drawing to a close, Chen An led his little wife to the market to purchase the items he would need for his formal union ceremony with Gu Xinyue that evening.
Returning home and stowing the items away properly, the couple divided the labor.
Chen An would be responsible for fetching Gu Xinyue.
Song Huaying would stay home to prepare the meal.
Filled with joyful anticipation, Chen An arrived at Gu Xinyue's residence.
Yet upon stepping inside, he found Gu Xinyue crouching in the corner of the wall with her arms wrapped around her knees, sobbing softly, her entire demeanor looking utterly withered and desolate.
Her father was dead.
He had passed away shortly after Chen An and his little wife departed at noon today.
All vitality extinguished, no longer of this world.
Chen An stepped forward to offer a few words of comfort before assisting Gu Xinyue in burying the man.
They laid him to rest in the backyard of Gu Xinyue's home.
Once finished, they planted a willow sapling above the grave as a form of spiritual sustenance.
"Fellow Daoist Gu, I think I'll come to pick you up in a few days instead."
Chen An had originally planned to welcome Gu Xinyue into his household as his bride tonight, but as fate would have it, her father passed away on this very day, leaving him with no choice but to pick another date.
Gu Xinyue gave a soft, weeping "Mn" in response and said nothing more.
Hearing that single "Mn," Chen An couldn't help letting out a silent sigh of relief inwardly.