For a long time, Tang Li stood in place until her legs grew numb. She slowly squatted down in a daze, burying her face in her knees, and burst into a mournful wail.
The egg, slumbering within the Mustard Seed Pouch, sensed her emotional fluctuations. Emerging to survey the chaotic wreckage of the scene, it had been on the verge of scolding her once more for arbitrary slaughter when it realized Tang Li was on the brink of a mental collapse.
Should she collapse, she would fall into demonic deviation, succumb to her inner demons, and embark on a murderous rampage.
The human settlement closest to Devil City was Cijiang City. If Tang Li were to slaughter yet another city, the situation would reach an irretrievable point.
Knowing that Tang Li could no longer be allowed to kill, the egg resolved to stop her at any cost.
For the past six months, it had remained inside the Mustard Seed Pouch absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, storing up power uniquely its own, only occasionally emerging to check on Tang Li's location.
No matter how much it ached for its depleted energy now, it could not afford to hold back. It channeled every ounce of its power, enveloping Tang Li as if she were safe within a mother's womb.
Tang Li's consciousness slipped into a deep slumber.
When she finally awoke, she found herself lying inside a mountain cave.
She sat up, steadying her dizzy head, and after sorting through her thoughts, she slowly lay back down with a soft sigh.
The egg, regulating its breath nearby, noticed her lie back down and remained silent.
After lying there for three days, she finally spoke in a raspy voice: "How long has it passed?"
"It has been over a month already. What is wrong with you? Before I went back to cultivate, didn't I tell you to go steal a mount? Why did you suddenly go crazy? Were you caught stealing a horse?"
"A month..." Tang Li lowered her head, murmuring with glazed, lifeless eyes.
"Are you even listening to me?" The egg angrily bumped against her leg. "Do you have any idea who those four people you killed were?"
Tang Li raised her thin, withered hands to cover her face, replying with total apathy, "Cannon fodder."
"If you know, then you should also know that now the protagonist, the antagonist, and the cannon fodder have all been killed by you. You are nothing but a troublemaking pest." The egg ruthlessly taunted her.
Tang Li swatted it away with a single slap: "Get lost."
Without a shred of temper, the egg rolled right back and asked sternly, "Were you doing this on purpose? We were originally supposed to pass through the Hundred Flower Town of the Spirit Clan, but for no apparent reason, you headed toward Devil City."
"So what if I was? Can't I just not want to live anymore?" Tang Li retorted with a cold, desolate look in her eyes.
Left speechless by her riposte, the egg grew so furious that its shell turned crimson. After a moment, it managed to think of a retort: "You want to die, fine, but before you die, you are going to clean up the mess you created."
"Hmph." Tang Li glanced at it with disdain. "Do you take me for some sort of paragon of morality?"
Furious and unwilling to speak to her any further—especially after it had contributed all its power for her sake, only to be met with such ingratitude—the egg retreated straight back into the Mustard Seed Pouch, vowing never to look at her again and deciding it would never help her again.
After taking a moment to recover, Tang Li used a Spell to clean herself up.
Stepping out of the cave mouth, she discovered that the cave was situated high upon a sheer precipice. Confronted with the dizzying height—she was terrified of heights—her vision went completely black, and she plummeted down.
Below flowed a river, and with her Spiritual Power still protecting her body, she survived; however, her Golden Core cracked, reducing her cultivation from then on to the level of Foundation Establishment.
Borne by the current, she drifted into the distance.
From that day on, the world lost a homeless wanderer from another realm, and Xiaozhu Village gained a pretty, ethereal blind mystic.
The villagers of Xiaozhu Village were simple and honest folk. Their ancestors had fled southward from the ravages of war, and finding the scenery here picturesque, they had settled down.
That day, as Tang Li drifted along the water, villagers returning from the fields spotted her. Mistaking her for some unfortunate soul who had drowned, they intended to fish her out and bury her so her ghost might find peace.
To their surprise, the person they hauled up was still breathing, and Mother Wang carried her home to care for her.
When Tang Li awoke, she found her vision exceedingly hazy, attributing it to the back of her head inadvertently striking something during her fall.
An eye affliction of this degree could be easily resolved with a minor surgery, but the local conditions lacked any such capability, so she tied a silk ribbon across her eyes.
Since her eyes were no longer functional, she simply stopped using them, relying instead on her Spiritual Power for perception.
The villagers of Xiaozhu Village were warm and hospitable. Learning that Tang Li was homeless, they built her a house and a courtyard on the western edge of the village near the green bamboo grove, and every few days they would bring her home-grown food.
Feeling that she should not accept rewards without earning them, Tang Li began teaching the village children how to read and write, and she also offered medical treatment when villagers fell ill.
Because of the village's remote location, people living within a ten-mile radius had to travel a great distance just to reach the market town for medical care or supplies, usually taking seven or eight days to make the round trip. This travel time wasted countless hours, and in cases of sudden illness, patients could never be saved in time.
Therefore, upon hearing that Xiaozhu Village now had a Doctor Tang, whenever anyone fell ill they would bring their own eggs and fruit to seek treatment.
Three peaceful years passed in this manner.
On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Tang Li returned from buying New Year goods for the villagers.
As she reached the entrance of the village, the children who had been waiting for her swarmed forward.
"Greetings, Teacher!" The group of children obediently bowed and greeted her.
Tang Li dismounted and took out the snacks she had bought for them from her Mustard Seed Pouch, causing the children to jump up and down with joy. Then, amidst their admiring gazes, she produced a straw target bristling with strings of plump, glossy candied haws.
Tang Li patted their heads and smiled gently, "Have you all been diligently reviewing your books these past few days?"
"Yes," the children eagerly chimed in all at once.
"Teacher, Iron Pillar's wife is going to have a little baby girl," said Little Qing while licking a candied haw.
Previously, Wang Tiezhu had implored Tang Li to come help on the day his wife gave birth, fearing she might suffer a difficult labor.
Tang Li had studied obstetrics in the modern era, so she had agreed. If worse came to worst, she could even use her Spiritual Power to assist, especially since Mother Wang's family had been genuinely good to her.
"Very well." Tang Li smiled and stroked Little Qing's head.
She first went to the village chief's house to deliver the items the villagers had requested, and only then did she proceed next door to Mother Wang's house.
She had arrived just in time; no sooner had Mother Wang begun to greet her than the cries of a woman about to give birth echoed from the inner room.
The experienced local midwife had been waiting for a long time and immediately hurried to the laboring woman's bedside to take charge.
Tang Li stood by to keep watch, ready to step in instantly should any complications arise.
She had returned to the village at dusk, but the child held out until the third watch of the night before finally consenting to emerge from its mother's belly—making it precisely the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month.
Nearly all the villagers had gathered in the courtyard, and before their joy could even settle, grim news broke out.
The mother suffered a postpartum hemorrhage, showing signs of critical danger.
Using her Spiritual Power to stabilize the parturient's vital signs and consciousness, Tang Li simultaneously began administering acupuncture.
Everyone held their breath in absolute suspense, knowing all too well that throughout the ages, postpartum hemorrhage was a condition from which nine out of ten women could not be saved.
An hour later, the mother's condition stabilized. Just as Tang Li let out a breath of relief, she heard a heavy thud outside, followed by Mother Wang's cry of alarm and the chaotic shouts of the villagers.
Pushing the door open with a pale face, she saw the village chief, his eyes bloodshot and voice trembling, hurriedly calling out to her.
It turned out that Wang Tiezhu, overwhelmed with agonizing worry for his wife's safety, had fainted and struck his head against a stone, leaving a pool of blood on the ground.
Tang Li quickly applied a hemostatic spell, administered two acupuncture needles to him, and had others help bandage his wound.
Saving two lives in a single day only served to spread Tang Li's reputation as a miraculous healer far and wide.
Rescuing two people called for celebration, and the village decided that everyone would ring in the New Year together with a lively banquet hosted at Mother Wang's house.
On New Year's Eve, the villagers arrived at Mother Wang's house early in the morning to prepare the feast. As dusk approached, everything was ready, and the village chief specially invited Tang Li to take the seat of honor.
Before the banquet commenced, everyone raised a cup of wine to toast her.
After three rounds of drinks, Wang Tiezhu and his wife came over carrying the newborn baby girl to thank her. Mother Wang affectionately pulled Tang Li close, wishing for her to bestow a milk name upon the little girl.
The formal given name had long since been recorded in the family genealogy and could not be altered on a whim against the ancestors' wishes.
Unable to refuse, Tang Li pondered for a moment before suggesting, "Let's call her Ping'an. May she live out her entire life in peace and safety."
After murmuring the name a moment, the crowd showered her with praise. The village chief, visibly moved with reddened eyes, sighed emotionally, "Ping'an is a fine name, Ping'an is a fine name. Peace and safety are the most important things in life."
"Teacher, can you teach us how to set off fireworks? Daddy says when fireworks fly up into the sky, they are very pretty," Little Qing said happily, tugging at her sleeve.
"All right." Tang Li led the group of children to a nearby open space to set off fireworks.
Seeing them for the very first time, the children tilted up their small faces, their eyes shining brightly as they watched the dazzling, colorful fireworks bloom above.
The egg, having long since made peace with her, emerged and sat upon her shoulder to watch the fireworks.
It remarked, "It seems you do have some humanity after all, buying them fireworks and snacks."
Tang Li rolled her eyes at it and continued gazing up at the fireworks. She had made these fireworks herself; unable to return home, crafting these was the only way she could comfort herself.
"I've noticed you're actually quite kind to ordinary people; you're only harsh to the protagonists, antagonists, and cannon fodder." The egg went on, making conversation out of boredom.
It was probing Tang Li, suspecting that she had deliberately killed the protagonist, antagonist, and cannon fodder.
If that truly was the case, what could Tang Li's objective possibly be?
To halt the world's reset, turn it into a cycle of reincarnation, and start a new story?
Instead of giving it an answer, Tang Li simply found it annoying and flicked it right back into the Mustard Seed Pouch with a snap of her finger.