Pain, her entire body was throbbing with excruciating pain!
You Yu hurt so much she couldn't even breathe, unable to so much as open her eyelids.
Thinking back on what had just happened, You Yu figured pain was the least of her worries.
The force of that explosion had been so fierce, the whole laboratory must have been blown to smithereens. Surviving at all was a miracle, so who cared about anything else!
She had no idea who had swapped the solution she was using for her experiment, but the moment she found them, she'd make them taste this exact same agony!
Ah, it hurt like hell, why wouldn't the hospital give her some painkillers?
"Huh? Where is she? She clearly rolled down the hillside, how is she gone?" A voice came from not far away, startling You Yu profoundly.
Hillside?
Was she not sent to the hospital?
Struggling to force her eyes open, she found herself in a pile of jagged rocks. The pain in her body wasn't from an explosion, but rather the bruises of bumping and tumbling.
Lifting her eyelids, her gaze was met with a gentle slope, and further in the distance, mountain peaks piercing the clouds.
What… what was going on here?
Had an explosion blasted her out into the middle of nowhere?
Before she could react, a second voice rang out: "We have to finish You Yu off today, otherwise if Madam blames us, we won't be able to bear the consequences."
You Yu gave a start. These people were here to kill her?
Why?
A wave of dizziness washed over her. She quickly closed her eyes, and as her chaotic mind cleared a bit, fragments of memory flooded in.
Ancient clothing, ancient people, some You family, some pitiful eldest young miss treated worse than a servant.
After a frantic scramble to digest it all, she finally understood—was she… transmigrated?
And her situation was dire: hunted down by two You family servants, she had tripped while fleeing and just rolled down a hillside, battered and bruised all over.
Now, the two servants had chased her down here!
Judging by their relentless determination to kill her, and looking at her own malnourished body, she felt like she was completely done for!
Luckily, she was in a pile of jagged rocks. These boulders were scattered haphazardly, providing good cover, so the two men hadn't spotted her yet, allowing her a moment to ease her physical pain.
In truth, during the explosion, it had felt like a mere split second without any particularly distinct pain. But now she hurt everywhere.
Fortunately, apart from a bloody gash on her head, nothing was broken or fractured. After resting a while, the pain subsided somewhat, and she regained a bit of strength.
Supporting herself against a boulder, she sat up and looked at her scrawny arms and legs.
This was supposed to be a fourteen-year-old girl, yet this body looked no more than eleven or twelve. Just how had she managed to grow up all these years!
"Found her! Big brother, look, there's a piece of her hem over there!" A joyful shout rang out from behind, making You Yu's heart tighten.
She was discovered!
Thinking of the blades in their hands and their burly frames—she wouldn't have been a match for the two of them even when she was fit and healthy, let alone now.
What should she do?
Hearing them rushing over rapidly, she knew she couldn't wait any longer. Once they caught up, she wouldn't have a single way out!
She stood up and started running through the rock pile, but the stones were too chaotic, many piled on top of each other, making running nearly impossible.
"Stop right there!"
"What are you running for? You're dead today anyway, you might as well obediently let us send you to the afterlife!"
Send your grandpa!
You Yu thought these two guys were absolute morons. Who would obediently wait around to be killed?
Were they so sure she couldn't escape?
Damn it, this was infuriating!
Her very start in this world was an explosion!
The terrain of the rock pile was too difficult to navigate. As she leaped from one boulder to another, a wave of dizziness hit her. Her footing slipped, she crashed onto the rocks, and sprained her ankle. While nothing was broken, the pain severely hindered her movement.
The two men quickly closed in. Without even turning her back, she could hear the whistling wind of a broadsword slashing through the air behind her.
Death was already calling her name!
Just as despair began to creep in, a deafening roar suddenly echoed from afar, followed by a surge of energy that swept past at lightning speed, knocking all three running figures flat.
Lying flat on her back, You Yu caught sight of two figures—one black, one white—flashing swiftly across the sky, looking as though they were locked in combat.
"Big brother! Big brother! Are those cultivators?" one of the men cried out excitedly, scrambling to his feet and gesturing wildly at the figures flying across the sky.
"That's right, those are immortals!" the other man was equally excited, though far more restrained than his companion.
"I never thought we'd get to see immortals in our lifetime!"
The two men stared as the figures in the sky vanished, reveling in their excitement for a moment before suddenly remembering their objective. Turning around, they looked at the spot where You Yu had just been—where was she?
"She's gone!"
Stunned, the two men searched everywhere until they spotted her behind a pile of rocks.
She was straining with all her might to pry open a massive boulder.
They had no idea why she wasn't running and instead trying to move a rock, but her staying put suited them just fine—it made killing her that much easier.
The two men charged up the slope, and just as they closed in, they saw her finally dislodge the boulder. The huge rock wobbled before toppling over, crashing onto the pile of stones below.
The surrounding boulders were precariously stacked, and after taking the impact, the entire pile shifted, tumbling down the slope one after another.
They were standing too close; neither man on the lower slope could react in time before the cascading rocks crushed them.
The younger man took a direct hit to the head and croaked on the spot. The older man tried to dodge, but the rocks smashed his legs and abdomen, leaving only his head exposed.
"Bitch, how did you manage to push such a huge stone?!" the older man shrieked, blood instantly gushing from his mouth.
"The power of science, you wouldn't understand!" You Yu limped down the slope, eyeing the still-breathing older man. After a brief hesitation, she picked up a moderately sized rock and smashed it down onto his head.
The older man died too.
Gazing at the pooling blood, You Yu collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath.
Thank goodness, thank goodness there happened to be such a rock pile here, or she really would have met her end today.
Killing someone for the very first time was a bit hard for a law-abiding citizen like her to stomach, triggering a physiological urge to vomit. After a couple of dry heaves, she emptied out the previous day's meals.
Unwilling to face the two corpses, she turned around and walked back the way she had come, finding the original owner's back-basket not far from where she had tumbled down the slope.
The contents of the basket had spilled out, but the waterskin and a medicinal herb were still inside. She opened it, took a sip of water, then chewed up the blood-tonifying herb and plastered it over the gash on her forehead.
With that task done, her body gave out. Collapsing, she lay flat on the gentle slope.
Chapter 2: Work or Die, and if You Don't Die, You Work
Gazing at the blue sky overhead, You Yu tried to calm her nerves while sorting through the memories in her mind.
After countless sighs, she finally accepted reality and couldn't help cursing internally.
As a model citizen and mediocre little academic prodigy who had just picked up her doctoral diploma and gone to help her advisor with an experiment at school, the lab had blown up and blasted her right into this world.
She was an orphan who had painstakingly put herself through school on work-study programs until earning her doctorate. Just as she was about to land a good job with a high salary and enjoy a wonderful life, she ended up dumped into this absurd xianxia novel, cast as cannon fodder meant to be sacrificed to the female lead early in the plot.
That's right, the moment she saw the names You Yu and You Xueer, she knew she had transread into a novel.
It was a fantasy novel she had bought at a school flea market just to relax after receiving her diploma. When she saw a character sharing her exact name appear for all of one scene, she had even muttered a few complaints in her mind.
Possessing top-tier spiritual roots, the original owner was captured by the female lead's unhinged admirer, who drained her blood and marrow to alter the female lead's spiritual roots through dark arts.
That female lead, You Xueer… was no good either. While crying out in protest, her body very honestly absorbed every last drop from that vat, and then she used her upgraded physique to attract various male supporting characters—claiming they were "just ordinary friends" out of one side of her mouth while enjoying all the favors those guys showered upon her from the other.
Tsk tsk, what a prime white lotus female lead.
She thought of the original owner—
"Tsk, what a tragic wretch who couldn't even survive a single chapter!"
After resting for about an hour, her mood more or less stabilized. She picked herself up from the ground and surveyed her surroundings.
This was a stretch of mountain forest with no discernible landmarks, so she chose a downward path and started walking slowly.
According to the past couple of days' memories, combined with the plot of the book and the conversation between those two men, she knew today was the day the major sects came every five years to test the common folk for spirit roots. If she missed today, the next test wouldn't be for another five years.
Furthermore, the age requirement for testing spirit roots was between ten and sixteen.
So, missing today meant she would never have another chance to participate.
That old witch back at the house—You Xueer's biological mother—wary of the original owner and terrified she might test positive for spirit roots, had schemed to send her out into these deep mountains.
Under the hypocritical guise of: "Your father's health is poor, go into the mountains to find a certain medicinal herb for him. You are his dearest daughter, the herbs you pick will have an even better effect."
Ha, lying without batting an eye; only that old witch could spew such nonsense.
Who in the entire You family didn't know that her father detested his daughter by his former wife, utterly adoring the female lead You Xueer, who was born to his concubine-turned-wife just a year younger than the original owner!
Only an idiot like the original owner would have believed it!Two family servants were sent to escort her, only to try and kill her halfway through the mountains.
No, she had already been killed.
If she hadn’t transmigrated here, the original owner’s body would be stone cold by now!
After walking for a while, this beansprout-like little frame couldn't take it anymore. She found a large tree to rest under and continued recalling the plot from the book.
The book stated that You Xueer was tested today and possessed a mutated wind spirit root, leading the True Person Wuxhen of the top sect, the Xuanyue Sect, to take her in as his final closed-door disciple.
From beginning to end, there was no mention of the original owner ever appearing at the testing grounds.
Therefore, even if she rushed there desperately now, it was impossible to make it in time.
She remembered that You Xueer's constitution was altered a year later, which meant she still had one year to live.
Wait, the novel said that the evil cultivator sent a letter to the You family for You Xueer, spotted the original owner, discovered her special constitution, and secretly abducted her to strip away her bones and blood, refining them into a secret medicine for You Xueer.
So, as long as she didn't return to the You family, she should be able to avoid this fatal tribulation.
Thinking of how the old hag had bullied her for thirteen years, and how that scumbag of a father hadn't cared at all, she wasn't the original owner anyway—why should she go back?
She cast her gaze in the opposite direction.
Following this direction and crossing these mountains would lead her to another major city, Mochen.
The book said the testing there would take place in ten days. As long as she crossed this mountain range within ten days, she might just make it in time for the testing there.
……
You Yu made up her mind. After resting, she immediately changed direction, giving up on leaving the mountains and heading instead toward the depths of the mountain range.
For an ordinary young girl, wanting to cross this mountain range was impossible. Not to mention the fierce beasts in the mountains, even just entering this sprawling forest would easily cause an ordinary person to lose their way.
But who was she, You Yu?
Skipping grades all the way from childhood, earning dual Ph.D. diplomas by twenty-four, and hailed as a study god, she was far more than just someone who knew theoretical knowledge.
Determining direction by forest characteristics was a piece of cake for her.
The only thing that made her a bit apprehensive was the beasts in the mountains.
With her current little arms and legs, encountering a beast meant she would simply become food.
Thinking of this world of immortal cultivation and her own special constitution, if she didn't cultivate, even if she escaped the fatal tribulation a year from now, she might not escape other evil cultivators.
Cultivation was her only way out.
Work hard or die, don't die and keep working hard! As long as it doesn't kill you, work yourself to death!
Since she had no other choice, she would forge ahead unflinchingly!
Besides, with her special constitution, cultivation certainly wouldn't be a problem.
At this thought, her little heart calmed down a lot.
After walking all afternoon, she finally found a suitable spot to rest before dark.
While on the neighboring mountain, she had spotted a pool of water beneath this cliff, complete with some stones by the edge and an open patch of ground. When she walked over, she found the place truly pleasant, especially the few boulders that seemed to form a small enclosure. Sleeping inside with a campfire burning outside would be perfection.
She had seen some wild fruits in the afternoon and picked a few to eat, so she wasn't very hungry now. She went to the edge of the pool to get some water, intending to use her waterskin to bring some over and wash her feet to soothe the soreness from walking all day.
Just as she was scooping water, something white dropped from the sky, crashing into the pool and splashing water all over her in a thoroughly chilling drench.
Wiping the water from her face, she saw a white figure floating up from the water.
Wasn't this one of the immortals flying through the sky today?
Oh, what a handsome guy!
As someone who loved good looks, she didn't hesitate for even a second. She plunged into the pool, swam over to the person, and dragged him toward the shore as he was about to sink again. However, she lacked the strength to pull him all the way up once they reached the bank.
Hugging the bank, she panted a few breaths before examining his appearance.
A handsome face even more striking than the uncles of the modern entertainment industry in their youth, skin that seemed to break at a touch, and a tightly furrowed brow that made one instinctively want to reach out and smooth it.
"So pretty! But why does he look a bit familiar?"
She searched her memory, and two images suddenly flashed through her brain.
The first was of two figures, one black and one white, chasing each other across the sky today before disappearing in a flash.
The second image... turned out to be from a few days ago.
The second image showed the original owner looking for food outside the city five days earlier, when she spotted a person in white meditating under a large tree. Captivated by his looks, she was momentarily struck as if by a heavenly being, and stood there staring foolishly for a long time.
Disturbed by her gaze, the man had opened his eyes, cast a cold glance at her, and stood up to fly away.
"So it's you! How have you still not left this place after all these days? Tsk, and you're injured too. Don't tell me that man in black is the one who hurt you? I just hope he doesn't track you here; if he comes, I'm certainly not going to look after you."
Though he was good-looking, and though he had indirectly saved her life today, her own little life was more important, wasn't it?
After all, good looks are precious, but life is worth even more.
Mutters tumbling from her lips, she exerted all her strength to drag the man onto the open ground, finally pulling him up with tremendous effort.
Seeing that he was still bleeding, she smiled rather slyly: "Handsome, you've got injuries. Let me take a look at your wounds—I'm not trying to take advantage of you on purpose, you know."
With that, she reached out and unbuttoned his clothes.
Goodness me, he actually had an eight-pack!
Her eyes sparkled, and before her brain could react, her small hand had already touched those eight abdominal muscles. "This texture is really nice, but your wound is a bit of an eyesore!" After a quick fondle, she went to inspect the injury instead. "And it's pretty deep. You're lucky you ran into me, or else you'd either drown or bleed to death."
She rummaged through her back basket, found the leftover hemostatic medicine she had made, chewed it up in her mouth, and applied it to his wound.
This medicine had been gathered by the original owner. Worried she might encounter danger and suffer bleeding later on, she had picked some more and tossed them into her back basket when she found them.
The herbal medicine had a decent clotting effect; her head had stopped bleeding by morning after she applied it. But his wound was different; the herbs didn't stop the bleeding, merely slowed the rate down.
You Yu stared at the archaic ring on his hand for a moment, knowing this was most likely the spatial ring mentioned in the book. It definitely contained good treasures, though unfortunately only the owner could use them.
"I've done all I can. Whether you live or die is up to you now." You Yu cast a reluctant glance at his abdominal muscles, pulled his clothes back over him, and went to look for firewood nearby to start a fire.
……
When Huangfu Yuan woke up from unconsciousness, the first thing he smelled was a strong, savory fragrance.
He was actually still alive?
—Your vitality is too ethereal, barely hanging on. Whether you meet it depends on your fortune.
That person had said if he didn't meet it, he would die.
Yet his lifeline... had it passed?
"Oh, you're awake? I thought you weren't going to make it."
The voice by his ear pulled him out of his daze, and he instinctively turned his head to look.
A beansprout-like little girl held a freshly roasted wild chicken in her hands, her eyes sparkling in the firelight, looking at him with an expression of pure, unadulterated awe.
Though the bloody hole on her head was a bit of an eyesore.
Was she the little girl he'd seen under the tree that day?
No. These eyes—they weren't the same person.
He sat up, his voice somewhat weak: "Did you save me?"
"If you mean pulling you out of the pool and slapping some anti-bleeding herbs on you, then yes," You Yu said. "Though those herbs didn't do much for your injury. Your bleeding never really stopped."
Huangfu Yuan felt the wound on his abdomen, looked down at the shredded herbs, and tightly furrowed his brow. Glancing at the mud stained on his white clothes, he retrieved a bottle of pills from his spatial ring, shook out a single pill to swallow, and then stood up to walk behind a large tree.
When he emerged, the disheveled look was gone, replaced by his usual aloof and haughty detachment.
You Yu watched him, unable to help a soft murmur of admiration: "Tsk, what a feast for the eyes!"
Huangfu Yuan’s gaze flickered. Upon returning, he produced a chair and sat down: "You saved me. What reward do you want?"
You Yu's eyes instantly brightened even more: "You're an immortal cultivator, right?"
"I am."
"Then give me ten thousand spiritual stones." You Yu looked at the fine quality of his clothes; surely he wasn't short on money.
Huangfu Yuan pulled out a Storage Bag and tossed it to her. She reached out and caught it, wanting to open it up to see what a spiritual stone looked like, only to find she couldn't open it at all.
"You haven't cultivated; you can't open the Storage Bag," Huangfu Yuan explained for her.
You Yu glared at him: Why give it to her if she couldn't open it?
Her accusatory gaze was far too obvious for him to ignore, so he explained: "Ten thousand spiritual stones—even one percent of them wouldn't fit in your back basket. How would you carry them?"
"Fair point. I'll check it out once I can cultivate." You Yu stowed away the Storage Bag and held the roasted chicken out toward him: "Want a bite?"
Huangfu Yuan looked at the charred skin of the roasted chicken, and his brow furrowed slightly.