“Little sister, little sister…”
Between half-dream and half-wake, Li Xi hazily heard a call that seemed close at hand, yet as if coming from the distant edge of the sky, somewhat melodious and drifting far away.
Struggling to open her eyelids that felt as if they were pressed down by mountains, what came into view was the concerned yet worried gaze of a refined and handsome young man. The moment her eyes swept over him, all the emotions in his eyes turned into thick joy, and he said, “Little sister, you’re awake!”
Li Xi, whose consciousness had just returned, was a bit confused by his call, so she reflexively asked the young man, “You are…?”
She was clearly the eldest daughter in her family—how could she have a brother?
Could it be that he heard she had been in a car accident and thought that maybe her brain had been injured, so he specially came to scam someone by faking an accident her?
Not to mention, her head really did hurt a bit… it seemed like something was not quite right?
After her slightly hoarse words fell, the pale-faced girl lying on the bed, pale from having been unconscious for a period of time, raised her hand and lightly rubbed her temple.
Hearing Li Xi’s words, Li Si was slightly startled.
Then Li Xi saw that after her question, the young man who had just been looking at her with warm and gentle eyes instantly stood up and hurriedly ran toward the doorway, calling out at the same time, “Doctor! Doctor! My sister is awake! But A Xi seems to not remember who I am!”
Watching the young man stumble toward the doorway, even staggering once in the middle, the just-awakened Li Xi suddenly noticed that his attire and appearance were completely incompatible with her memories, and the environment she was in was absolutely not a hospital.
Li Xi turned her eyes to examine the furnishings around her. This was a room full of ancient charm; no matter from which angle one looked, it was filled with an ancient flavor.
The instant she realized this, Li Xi once again raised her hand to cover her head, but this time it was not from a headache.
At this moment, the faint pain in her head that had been there since she woke up disappeared entirely, and what accompanied it was a flood-like surge of memories rushing into her mind.
She died in a car accident. Then she lived again.
Because she transmigrated, luckily gaining a second life.
But saying it this way also seemed not entirely accurate.
The sickly girl lying on the bed raised her eyes and gazed at the beam above her head full of classical atmosphere, and began to trace her memories.
In the days before her car accident, she had once encountered a fortune-teller who looked like a complete swindler. Since it was close to the college entrance examination, her friends told her that they might as well spend a little money to buy a few nice words to seek some good luck.
To this, Li Xi, this examinee, naturally gladly agreed.
But no one had expected that after they told the fortune-teller that Li Xi was a candidate this year and her grades were not bad, the old man not only did not say any pleasant words like she would perform extraordinarily and had hopes of being top scorer, but instead, without any sense of propriety, said something about how Li Xi’s luck was simply good to the extreme—just hearing this sentence alone seemed like praise, but immediately after, the old man said: because Li Xi’s three souls and seven spirits were missing, she should have been a fool.
Even more excessive, looking at Li Xi, who had intact intelligence, healthy physique, and was lively and energetic, he even declared that before the college entrance examination, Li Xi would definitely have an unavoidable calamity, and she should not think she could take the exam smoothly.
He choked Li Xi so badly that if it were not because she was worried that having a conflict with someone before the exam would truly have a bad impact, and because her friends were persuading and stopping her, she would not have been able to refrain, in a moment of temperament, from rushing up and having a life-and-death fight with the old man.
—Just look at the kind of unlucky nonsense he was saying! Was this even human speech?
Only, at that time, Li Xi, who was nearly angered into a heart attack, did not expect that the old man’s words would truly become a prophecy, all of them fulfilled.
She had a car accident the day before the college entrance examination and died on the spot.
Even though she once again had the chance to open her eyes, it was no longer in the era she was familiar with, but rather in the distant era of great contention—the Warring States period—that existed only in a few sparse strokes in ancient history books.
She transmigrated to the Warring States and became another world’s Li Xi, but this world’s Li Xi was actually also herself.
Or more accurately speaking, it should be that the Li Xi of two worlds fused together to become a complete person. The hero of this world was, just as the fortune-teller said, missing part of her soul and spirit. Thus her mind was pure, like a child—put bluntly, she was a little fool herself.
Now, after she died in a car accident, her soul returned to the Warring States. This was truly returning to being an ordinary person.
And her identity in the Warring States—if speaking of importance, history books had absolutely no such person as her. But if speaking of unimportance, she happened to have an elder brother who was a famous historical figure.
—The Qin prime minister, Li Si.
According to the memories of herself in this world that had just been integrated in her mind, she and her elder brother had depended on each other since childhood. The two of them came from a humble background, and their parents had died early. When Li Si was still a half-grown youth, he both acted as brother and father, raising her, this little fool, all by himself.
In the earlier years, he had taken her, this burden, to serve as minor officials in a certain commandery under their mother’s native state of Zhao for two years to make a living. Then one day, Li Si suddenly awakened, felt that muddling along like this was not a solution, and longed to display his talents and show his abilities, so he took her to the Jixia Academy in Qi, apprenticed under Xunzi, and studied the arts of kingship.
After completing his studies, Li Si made a comprehensive analysis of the overall situation of the world and came to the conclusion that the place most likely to let him exert himself and win a bright future was Qin, which the various states called the state of tigers and wolves. So he brought her here.
And as the saying goes, gold shines wherever it is. A figure as historically famous as Li Si, not long after entering Qin, naturally and reasonably gained the favor of an important person—namely his former Qin prime minister Lü Buwei—became Lü Buwei’s retainer, and soon after became a minor official of Qin.
It is often said that if one gains in officialdom, one will surely lose in some other field. Li Si’s loss was precisely reflected in her. Just a few days after he became a minor official of Qin, his sister, who had always depended on him, met with misfortune and fell unconscious.
Recalling the dark circles under the young man’s eyes that she had seen when she just woke up, and his eyes full of red bloodshot veins, Li Xi could not help but feel a surge of warmth in her heart, mixed at the same time with a bit of faint heartache.
She now also… had family members who cared about her.
And just as Li Xi was thinking wildly in her heart, Li Si, who had run out earlier, had already returned, still pulling along an elderly man carrying a wooden box, with hair and beard both white.
He was still muttering, “Sir, you must certainly help me take a good look at my sister…”
Hearing this, Li Xi could not help but sit up from the bed, and seeing her sister’s movement, Li Si hurried over, supported the girl sitting up on the bed, and gently asked, “A Xi, why are you getting up so soon? You’ve just woken up, you should rest well…”
Listening to his constant chatter, Li Xi did not find it annoying, patiently listened to all of the young man’s words, then smiled at him and softly said, “Brother, I’m fine.”
“How can it be fine? When you were found, you were unconscious on the ground, and there was blood on your head. I almost thought…”
At this point, Li Si’s voice suddenly stopped. Only then did he belatedly realize something. He looked somewhat astonished at the girl in front of him whose gaze was clear, yet completely different from the pure, childlike girl of the past, and asked with a kind of joyful shock in his tone, “A Xi, you… you are, better now?”
Hearing this, Li Xi was first slightly stunned, then realized that he was probably talking about how she had been a little fool for many years. She nodded slightly and responded, “Mm, I’m clear-headed.”
“That’s wonderful!” Li Si immediately beamed with joy and said, “That old immortal back then truly did not lie to me…”
“Ahem!”
The young man’s words were interrupted by the old man’s cough from the doorway. Hearing this sound, Li Si, who had forgotten everything upon seeing his sister better, only then remembered the physician he had just dragged over in such a hurry. He hurriedly stood up somewhat embarrassedly, yielded his seat to the old man, and let him come to examine his sister’s condition.
The physician, who looked already advanced in age, first cast a sidelong glance at the anxious young man who looked like a reckless youth, then slowly walked over to look at Li Xi. After a round of observation, listening, inquiry, and palpation, the old man nodded and slowly said to Li Si, “The girl has recovered well. Now there is almost nothing wrong with her.”
Li Si asked, “Then does she still need to take any tonics or restorative medicine?”
Hearing this question, the old man immediately looked at him with a strange expression, glanced at the young man who looked refined and scholarly from head to toe, and only after making Li Si feel somewhat uneasy under his gaze did he stroke his beard and say, “The girl’s foundation is good. Compared to her, this old man thinks it is you, this scholar who cannot even bind a chicken, who needs some restorative medicine more.”
Hearing the old man’s words, which were clearly a deliberate revenge for Li Si dragging the old man recklessly all the way just now, and having seen earlier the old man quietly rub his waist after Li Si let go, clearly showing that his old bones could not withstand such tossing, Li Xi could not help but hold back a laugh. Li Si, who at this moment also realized his own impropriety, was made somewhat red-faced by the old man’s words and clasped his hands to apologize.
The old man, however, waved his hand indifferently, and then instructed the young man with a few words that during the days just after waking, the girl should not be allowed to move too much, and should rest well for a few days, after which there would be no further problems.
Li Si accepted everything one by one and remembered them in his heart. Afterwards, Li Si saw the physician off, then returned to sit by his sister’s bedside, raised his hand and lightly touched his sister’s forehead, and asked, “It really doesn’t hurt at all anymore?”
Li Xi somewhat helplessly pulled down her elder brother’s hand and replied, “Yes, it doesn’t hurt at all.”
Then Li Xi seemed to suddenly think of something, tilted her head, and asked Li Si, “Brother, what did you mean earlier when you said that the old immortal didn’t lie to you?”
“Ah, A Xi, you don’t know about this.” Hearing his sister’s question, Li Si explained, “Before our parents passed away, there was once an old immortal who happened to pass by our home. After seeing A Xi’s appearance, he once told our parents that A Xi’s temperament would be like a child for many years, but one day, after encountering danger, she would return to normal like an ordinary person.”
Hearing this completely unexpected answer, Li Xi thought for a moment, then after a while asked Li Si, “Then… after that ‘old immortal’ said this back then, did he accept our family’s ‘offerings’?”
Hearing this, the young man nodded slightly.
Then Li Si sighed, “That old immortal truly was divine. If only I could meet him again.”
“……”
Seeing her elder brother’s appearance of firmly believing in this “old immortal,” Li Xi could not help but fall silent for a moment.
She felt that the “old immortal” in her elder brother’s mouth probably did not want to see him very much.
Wasn’t this just a typical case of a street swindler making things up on the spot, mixing food by saying auspicious words?
This kind of vague, noncommittal, pleasant but fuzzy talk with no clear time or place—she could say that too.
Li Xi could not help but complain in her heart.
Were ancient people all this easy to deceive? Even her brother, this kind of highly educated cultural figure recorded in history, could be so easily fooled.
Oh no… if speaking of who was cheated most miserably during this period, then her brother actually did not even rank.
Thinking of a certain passage in the history books, Li Xi felt… she suddenly could faintly understand the mindset of that certain Xu surnamed, number one scammer of all ages who cheated money and people.
—Pretending to be an immortal was truly a business with no capital and huge profit, a guaranteed win!
She had to say, Li Xi was a tiny bit tempted.
In this era that revered famous families and scholars, for someone like her who had no reputation at all and no traceable identity, thinking about it, it seemed that she could only walk this kind of street swindler—no, immortal—path.
At the very least—no matter how much she scammed, she would not be more unreliable than Xu Fu, who not only ran off with money but also took people with him, right?
After all, as a college entrance examination candidate, she could be considered to know astronomy above and geography below, well-versed in ancient and modern matters.
Coupled with the fact that she had read history books, she could just give herself a label of “able to foresee the future.”
Just moving her lips could make her become an immortal in the eyes of the world—no matter how one looked at it, this deal was worth it.
The only problem was that this path carried about a fifty percent probability of danger: if it succeeded, it would be feasible; if it failed, it would instead become punishable.
If she were alone, then without a doubt she would just rush forward—people have as much courage as the land has production, do this deal directly, get promoted and get rich, but…
Her eyes lightly swept over the refined and handsome young man who was gently speaking to her, and Li Xi silently suppressed the dangerous thought that had just flashed through her heart.
No matter what Li Si would be like later in history, at least at this moment, he was just a brother who cared about his sister.
And the sister who was being cared about was her.
Actually… Perhaps being a salted fish and living an ordinary life would not be so bad?
She thought so in her heart.
……
Li Xi’s change in thinking happened on the tenth day after she transmigrated to the Warring States.
That day, as usual, she was practicing taiji in the courtyard of her home to exercise her body. Having too weak a physique would make her feel very insecure.
One relatively fortunate thing was that her body in the Warring States was not in poor condition. Because she was foolish and thus easy to deceive and abduct, before her parents died, when she was still very young, she had been learning martial arts from a martial arts master. From childhood, her family taught her that except for family members, anyone who wanted to touch her should be hit back—so as to cut off the possibility of a little fool being taken advantage of.
However, because she had only recently fallen unconscious in a pool of blood, and the injury was to her head, and the physician had specifically said that she should not engage in intense activity in the near days, Li Si did not allow her to practice with knives or spears. Therefore, Li Xi could only practice taiji every day to prevent her body from “rusting.”
And just after Li Xi finished her first set of movements, suddenly, in her mind appeared a familiar yet unfamiliar mechanical electronic sound that absolutely could not appear in this ancient era.
【Beep beep, system loading…】
【System loading complete.】
【Ding! The Fourth Calamity System sincerely serves you!】
“…The Fourth Calamity System?” Li Xi slowly read out its name.
【That’s right!】The mechanical voice proudly responded.
Then, even more proudly, it said,【I am the host’s transmigration cheat! (/≧▽≦/)！】
But Li Xi, who had obtained the “cheat”, was expressionless. Recalling the bland and subtle food of the past ten days, she said to the system, “Since you are my cheat, then first transform a serving of fried chicken and happy water for me.”
Just as her words fell, Li Xi then heard the mechanical voice that had just been very excited turn into a mass of crackling electric current, and after a moment, it shyly replied,【Host, this request of yours… I can’t do it.】
Li Xi still had no expression and said disdainfully, “You can’t even do such a small thing. What use do I have for you?”
【Host, change to another request, change to another one, the system will definitely be able to do it QAQ】
“Oh.” Hearing this, Li Xi casually said, “Then can you let me see Ancestral Dragon?”
She directly and without any courtesy put forward the human ideal of countless people in the era she once lived in.
【……】
The crackling electric current grew louder. The system that had just been boasting fell into speechlessness.
Li Xi was even more impolite, “This also doesn’t work, that also doesn’t work. Change the host, I don’t need you.”
After a long while, Li Xi finally heard the mechanical voice weakly open its mouth again, to defend itself.
【Host… I am the Fourth Calamity System. I am the kind of system that summons players to do infrastructure construction.】
“Summon players… do infrastructure construction?”
Li Xi turned her eyes. In her beautiful eyes, light slightly flickered.