My System, My Wife Feng Aotian [Transmigration] - Chapter 18

Feng Jue squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to even try to explain to 03. It wouldn’t understand!

It doesn’t understand!

Only I’m angry!

Only me!

How had the mighty Palace Mistress of Lanyang Palace ended up in this state?

Feng Jue remained silent, her eyes closed.

Bai Fenghui, having finished speaking, was left hanging. His expression shifted from initial confidence to unease. He began to wonder if perhaps Lanyang Palace, being so vast and influential, simply didn’t care about this single Secret Realm.

This is a Golden Core Secret Realm that’s just been upgraded!

Siyi, standing nearby, tilted her head and gazed up at Feng Jue’s glum face with a subtle look. Clearing her throat, she assumed the demeanor of Lanyang Palace’s chief steward and said to Bai Fenghui with a smile, “Now that the Chongshan Secret Realm is open, anyone who wishes to enter may do so. Why must Lanyang Palace specifically ally with the White Water Sect?”

Bai Fenghui replied, “Fellow Daoist Siyi, there’s something you don’t know. To enter the Chongshan Secret Realm, you need a Jade Token. The realm opened recently, and many people have already used up their tokens, leaving very few available. Now that news of the realm’s upgrade has spread, they’ve become even harder to obtain. However, our White Water Sect disciples were delayed by matters and couldn’t attend the last opening, so we happen to have thirty Jade Tokens in hand!”

Siyi smiled faintly.

What delay? The Elder they mentioned earlier, with his graying hair, had only just reached Foundation Establishment. Clearly, he lacked talent. If someone like that could become an Elder in the White Water Sect, it said something about the sect’s standards. They probably didn’t even bother sending anyone who didn’t want to risk dying in the Secret Realm.

How dare such timid people even attempt to cultivate immortality?

Feng Jue opened her eyes, her voice icy. “Thirty Jade Tokens. Twenty will be offered to Lanyang Palace as compensation. There will be no equal division of rewards. Once inside the Secret Realm, everyone relies on their own skill.”

Bai Fenghui licked his lips, still trying to bargain. “What about the twenty percent…”

Siyi interrupted. “Sect Master Bai, think carefully. Jade Tokens from the Chongshan Secret Realm are difficult to obtain, but not impossible.”

Bai Fenghui chuckled awkwardly. “Yes, but…”

“Twenty-five Jade Tokens,” Feng Jue stated. “I guarantee you won’t die in the Secret Realm.”

Bai Fenghui’s face lit up. “Excellent! With the Palace Mistress’s assurance, I’m completely at ease!”

“If the Palace Mistress agrees to give me one Thunder Sound Grass if we encounter it in the Secret Realm, I’ll yield four more Jade Tokens! Otherwise…” Bai Fenghui smiled.

His unspoken implication was that if Feng Jue agreed, Bai Fenghui would be the only member of the White Water Sect to enter the Chongshan Secret Realm in search of opportunities, while all the Jade Tokens would be given to Lanyang Palace.

Feng Jue gave a faint smile, nodding. “Even if we don’t find Thunder Sound Grass within the Secret Realm, I’ll have someone procure some for you upon our return.”

Having resolved the conflict with Lanyang Palace and secured the guarantee of safe passage through the Secret Realm, Bai Fenghui departed contentedly. He led his disciples to settle in Lanyang City, awaiting the departure for the Chongshan Secret Realm in ten days alongside Lanyang Palace.

As he emerged from the Main Peak, disciples from the White Water Sect who had been waiting outside followed him. Among them was Bai Fenghui’s own disciple, who asked about the outcome.

Bai Fenghui sighed. “Lanyang Palace is truly difficult to deal with. As you’ve seen, they’re immensely wealthy and powerful. Feng Jue demanded all the Jade Tokens I possessed. If I hadn’t fought for it, even I might not have been able to enter the Secret Realm.”

His disciple felt mixed emotions—regret over missing the chance to enter the Chongshan Secret Realm, yet relief at avoiding the risks. He simply hoped Bai Fenghui would bring back some rare Heavenly Spiritual Treasures from the realm that were hard to find outside.

“The Palace Mistress of Lanyang Palace is truly as ruthless and unpredictable as they say. Just mentioning the possibility of splitting the spoils after entering the Secret Realm made her radiate killing intent!” Bai Fenghui thought. Realizing he had gone too far, he didn’t elaborate further, using this incident as an excuse to explain why equal division wasn’t possible.

The disciples of the White Water Sect erupted in protest, calling Lanyang Palace’s actions outrageous. “They’re so wealthy and powerful—why can’t they share some of their Heavenly Spiritual Treasures with us?” they shouted.

Suddenly, a voice came from behind them. The crowd turned to see a delicate woman dressed in Lanyang Palace’s ceremonial robes, a trace of worry hidden in her brows. Standing on the steps of the mountain gate, she said coldly, “Lady Siyi has asked me to remind Sect Master Bai not to forget to take away the person outside the gate.”

She pointed to the elderly man lying unconscious at the mountain gate.

The White Water Sect disciples were shocked. They had watched Lanyang Palace’s attendants drag the elder out, assuming he had been beaten to death. Yet no one had come to claim the body. Now, seeing him still breathing, they were stunned.

“Master, what should we do?” Bai Fenghui’s disciple asked.

Bai Fenghui clasped his hands behind his back and sighed. “Forget it. His spiritual root has been destroyed, his cultivation completely ruined. He’s no different now from that snot-nosed brat from the Lianshan Sect. Give him a few taels of silver as a gesture of goodwill for our brief acquaintance.”

“Master is truly kind-hearted,” Bai Fenghui’s disciple declared loudly.

“Indeed, the Sect Master is merciful.”

The group praised Bai Fenghui as they passed the old man, not a single one deigning to look down at him as they departed.

Of course, none of them offered even half a tael of silver. After all, they were cultivators who only used spirit stones—what silver would they have?

Xue Mengtao, who had been watching from the sidelines, felt her anger rise as she thought of Xue Bufan—a man whose cultivation had been stripped away, plummeting from a heaven-sent prodigy to someone utterly ignored in the blink of an eye. Sighing, she personally helped the old man into the city and gave him a spirit stone.

Before she could release her grip, the old man seized her wrist, his face contorted in desperation. “Save me!” he shouted. “I can still cultivate! Save me!”

“It’s your fault! You ruined me!” he wailed, clutching her wrist and drawing alarmed glances from passersby. When they saw the clothes Xue Mengtao was wearing, they froze momentarily before hastily pretending not to see and hurrying away.

Sweating profusely, Xue Mengtao snapped, “Let go! Take the spirit stone and leave!”

She tried to wrench free, but the old man’s grip remained unyielding, his fingers digging into her wrist with surprising strength. Despite being in the late Qi Condensation stage, she found herself unable to break free.

A low chuckle echoed through the air as a surge of spiritual energy pierced the old man’s palm. He screamed, clutching his hand and collapsing to the ground, howling in pain.

Xue Mengtao sighed in relief, rubbing her wrist. Apart from the initial pain when he grabbed her, the old man hadn’t left so much as a scratch. This was the difference between an ordinary person and a cultivator. She tossed the Spirit Stone onto the ground and hurried after Siyi.

“Thank you for your help, Elder Siyi,” Xue Mengtao said quietly.

The elegantly dressed woman in pink didn’t turn around. “You’re as useless as I imagined,” she replied coolly.

Even something as simple as telling the White Water Sect to dispose of the trash? Siyi thought, truly impressed by Xue Mengtao’s incompetence.

Knowing she had made a fool of herself, Xue Mengtao lowered her head and remained silent.

Siyi asked, “That man was the mastermind behind your Young Master’s fall from the cliff and the deaths of the Lianshan Sect members. You kindly escorted him down the mountain and even gave him a Spirit Stone?”

“Hmm?” Siyi glanced back at Xue Mengtao.

As if stabbed by her gaze, Xue Mengtao blurted out, “Young Master Xue has nothing to do with me anymore. I just…”

She trailed off, closing her mouth, afraid to mention Xue Bufan, who had also had his Spiritual Root destroyed. Siyi’s gaze, sharp as a blade, scraped across Xue Mengtao’s face, making her dare not lift her head.

“That man has already been punished,” Xue Mengtao said softly. “He used to be a revered cultivator, but now he’s an ordinary person with only a few years left to live. The torment of such a fall might kill him soon.”

“Oh? So that’s what happened,” Siyi said with a smile. “Back when Xue Bufan’s spiritual root was destroyed beyond repair, you must have been heartbroken, weren’t you?”

Xue Mengtao’s heart ached at the repeated mention of Xue Bufan’s name, but she didn’t dare retort. Instead, she changed the subject. “What brings Elder Siyi down the mountain?”

Siyi’s gaze, clear as a mirror, settled on Xue Mengtao as she chuckled. “In ten days, the Chongshan Secret Realm will reopen. The Palace Mistress will be going personally, and I’ve come down to buy her some storybooks and street food to pass the time.”

Xue Mengtao was left speechless, unsure whether she should be more puzzled by the reopening of the Chongshan Secret Realm or astonished that the Palace Mistress spent her leisure time reading storybooks and eating street food.

“Why are you staring at me?” Siyi asked. “You’re coming too. The Palace Mistress specifically requested your presence. She said you might encounter Xue Bufan in the Secret Realm and can rekindle your past relationship.”

The words “rekindle your past relationship” exploded in Xue Mengtao’s mind, leaving her head buzzing. She murmured, “Young Master Xue, his spiritual root…”

“By the way, the reopening of the Chongshan Secret Realm is still a secret. If you tell anyone else, I’ll cut out your tongue. Without your tongue, you won’t be able to ‘rekindle’ your past with Xue Bufan,” Siyi said with a smile. “Then again, perhaps Xue Bufan, seeing you suffer so at Lanyang Palace, might fly into a jealous rage and come rescue you.”

Xue Mengtao twisted her fingers nervously and said dryly, “…Please, Elder Siyi, don’t joke about such things.”

“A joke?” Siyi asked. “Which part?”

Xue Mengtao: “……”

03 perched on Siyi’s shoulder before hopping onto Xue Mengtao’s shoulder, sharing her silence. After the range warning popped up, it zipped back to Feng Jue with a whoosh.

Feng Jue, lounging on a soft couch on the second floor of the teahouse while listening to a storyteller, glanced up, sensing something odd about the silver-white ball’s expression. Though it still had its usual dark circles under its eyes, something about it seemed… stiff.

“What did you hear Siyi say?” Feng Jue asked telepathically.

In a clear, crisp voice, 03 recited the conversation between Siyi and Xue Mengtao, its delivery now infused with emotion. Even the casual tone of Siyi’s words was captured perfectly.

It was even more engaging than a storyteller’s tale.

Feng Jue took out a Spirit Stone and drew a Sound Transmission Talisman, asking Siyi to buy more storybooks to read to 03.

“What’s wrong?” Feng Jue asked, multitasking effortlessly as she continued to narrate past events to 03.

“Siyi came to me when she was fifteen. I was only three at the time, and she was a carefree young girl. But the longer she stayed by my side, the more gentle and reserved she became,” Feng Jue explained.

03 flipped through its human dictionary, indicating that “gentle and reserved” wasn’t quite the right phrase.

Feng Jue smiled faintly, crushing the talisman. Spiritual light flew from her palm as fragments of the Spirit Stone sifted through her fingers. The palace attendant kneeling before her quickly wiped the pristine whiteness of her fingertips with a handkerchief.

“Why not?” Feng Jue asked. “Human nature is complex. You’ve known me for only a few days—how could you possibly understand me?”

03 fell silent, hovering before Feng Jue.

“It doesn’t matter,” Feng Jue said, reaching out with her free hand to cradle 03’s incorporeal form. She gently clasped the void. A soft smile bloomed on her lips, crimson petals parting in a silent, wordless smile.

“We’ll grow more familiar with each other,” she continued.

Feng Jue asked, “You promised you’d help me no matter what, right?”

Without hesitation, 03 replied, “Yes.”

Main System, humans are truly complex.

I’ve completed so many missions and interacted with so many hosts, yet I still feel utterly bewildered.

Thank goodness I was granted a virtual body at my creation.

At least this mission has allowed me to live countless lives.

Being a System is truly wonderful.

Main System’s Response: …

Worrying System.

Worry, worry.

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