As night fell, Lu Chen wandered the streets all day without any gain.
Well, not entirely nothing.
Thanks to his [Fated with Peach Blossoms] talent, he attracted the attention of several young ladies from wealthy families. They all gave him food. Some even tried to buy him and take him home as a warm-bed servant.
Naturally, Lu Chen firmly and righteously refused.
He had entered the simulated world to find a way to cure his terminal illness and extend his lifespan—not to waste time like in the first two simulations.
“It’s getting dark. I need to find a place to sleep,” Lu Chen murmured.
After circling the city, he finally found an abandoned temple to take shelter in. Delighted, he stepped inside—only to see a familiar figure.
It was the same girl who had thrown him a millet bun earlier. She was curled up beneath the broken Buddha statue, sleeping.
Hearing footsteps, the girl warily opened her eyes. Seeing it was Lu Chen, she tugged her tattered sheepskin tighter around herself, yawned, and went back to sleep.
“Um… thank you.” Lu Chen hesitated but still offered his thanks. If not for the bun she tossed to him earlier, he might have starved in the alley.
The girl didn’t respond.
Lu Chen gave an awkward smile and found a wind-sheltered corner to sit down and make it through the night.
The temple was old and dilapidated. The night wind whistled through cobwebbed windows, producing eerie wails. The air was filled with a foul, musty rot.
Before crossing over, Lu Chen definitely wouldn’t have been able to endure this. But after transmigrating, he had been a beggar for days—hungry, beaten, and cursed. He had come to understand one truth: so long as you can survive, all other hardships are just passing clouds.
“I’ll sleep in the temple for now. Tomorrow, I’ll head to the docks and see if there’s any job carrying cargo. With money, I won’t have to go hungry and cold.”
“Being a beggar leads nowhere. I need to find a footing in this world—only then can I plan anything else.”
With that decision made, Lu Chen curled up and drifted into a drowsy sleep.
He didn’t know how much time had passed when suddenly, the sound of a door being kicked echoed outside the temple.
Footsteps followed, gradually approaching.
“Those damn rebel bastards… it wasn’t enough to burn the magistrate’s office—now they’re robbing homes too! Even begging is hard these days!”
“Eh, let them rob. Doesn’t affect us. Once they’ve had their fill, they’ll leave Luo city eventually.”
“Shit, I heard these rebels were once refugees like us. Now look at them—on top of the world. Even the city’s aristocrats bow to them.”
“Ain’t that the truth! If you ask me, we should just join the rebel army. Then we can rob those fat nobles!”
“Yeah, good idea! After joining, we can snatch a few soft, pretty young ladies to warm the bed, hehehe…”
…
The voices grew louder.
Lu Chen’s eyes snapped open. Two ragged, filthy beggars had walked into the temple, chatting and laughing.
They spotted Lu Chen.
Seeing the cruel look in their eyes, Lu Chen instinctively shrank deeper into the corner.
“Hah, coward.”
“Another beggar, huh?”
They mocked him a few times but didn’t pay him much attention. After all, he looked to be only twelve or thirteen—no threat at all. And his clothes were even more tattered than theirs. Robbing him wouldn’t yield anything.
“Bro, look!” One of them suddenly pointed to the girl under the Buddha statue.
The other’s eyes lit up instantly.
The girl had already woken from their commotion. Seeing the ill intent in their eyes, she quietly picked up a wooden stick—something she had found in a forest during the day, crafted specifically for self-defense. One end had even been sharpened with broken tiles into a spear tip.
“This little thing looks filthy, but her skin’s soft and fair—definitely a noble-born missy.”
“Hehe, we’re in for a treat. After we have our fun, we can even use her sheepskin coat for warmth!”
“Wait, bro, she’s holding a weapon.”
“It’s just a stick. What’s there to fear?”
They spoke while closing in.
Under the moonlight, the two ragged beggars looked like demons.
The girl trembled like a startled rabbit, gripping the stick tightly as she sprang up.
“You… don’t come any closer!” she shouted, her voice shaking as she backed away.
But instead of intimidating the beggars, her reaction only excited them more.
Soon, the temple echoed with her desperate cries.
That wooden stick—her last hope—was easily snapped in half by the beggars.
Watching the two beasts violate the girl, Lu Chen curled up in the corner, pretending not to see.
“Rule number one of transmigration: don’t meddle in others’ business.”
“Rule number two: don’t act like a saint.”
“Rule number three…”
He muttered endlessly under his breath.
But the girl’s cries grew louder and louder, eventually drowning out his voice.
“Lu Chen, are you really going to just watch her get defiled?”
“She saved your life—she’s your benefactor!”
“A man who doesn’t repay kindness isn’t worthy of respect. Lu Chen, is your heart made of stone?”
…
Voices in his mind scolded him relentlessly.
At last, gritting his teeth, Lu Chen grabbed a stone from the ground and crept behind the beggars.
“Duang!”
The stone slammed into one beggar’s skull with a dull thud.
For a moment, everything went silent.
The beggars froze, then snapped out of it.
“You little shit! How dare you sneak attack me? You must be tired of living!”
“You dare ruin our fun?! I’ll kill you!”
They pounced on Lu Chen, raining down punches and kicks.
Pain erupted from every part of his body.
Clutching his head, Lu Chen shouted, “Run! Get out of here!”
But the girl didn’t run.
Instead, she grabbed the broken stick and stabbed it toward one of the beggars.
Shlick!
The sharpened tip pierced the beggar’s arm.
Seeing blood, the man’s rage exploded.
He yanked the stick from her hands and thrust it violently.
It pierced straight through her chest.
Bang!
The girl’s blood-soaked body collapsed to the ground.
Staring into her lifeless, despair-filled eyes, Lu Chen felt a deep sorrow.
“Idiot… why didn’t you run?”
He cradled his head and muttered.
“Run? Run where?”
“You and this little bitch are both dead tonight!”
One beggar raised the stick and jabbed it at Lu Chen’s neck.
The searing pain took his breath away.
Unlike the previous two text-based simulations, this was a scenario simulation. The pain of death… felt nearly identical to real life.
Blood gushed from his neck as Lu Chen clutched it desperately. His consciousness faded.
“Is this… how I die?”
His heart brimmed with regret.
In the end, Lu Chen died in that broken temple.