Qian Xing stared blankly at the familiar scene before her.
There was a thatched cottage, three plots of farmland, and a clear stream flowing around the fields and cottage like a moat.
But the most astonishing thing was the white jade gourd floating between the cottage and the farmland. It was roughly the size of an ordinary wine gourd.
This was the Gourd Treasure Realm her master had given her when she was ten years old. The space inside existed independently from the outside world, and only she, its master, could enter.
She had no idea what her master’s origins were. She only knew that she was an immortal who had attained the Dao and ascended to immortality. While traveling through the mortal world, she had happened to take Qian Xing in as her disciple.
The Gourd Treasure Realm was an immortal’s treasure, and it contained many extraordinary things.
Take the cottage alone, for example.
The cottage consisted of three main rooms and three side rooms. The main rooms were divided into a bedroom, a medicine room, and a storeroom.
The medicine room had medicine cabinets lining all four walls, just like those found in an apothecary. Each compartment was even smaller than a drawer, yet they seemed to contain miniature worlds of their own. No one knew how many medicinal herbs they could hold, and nothing stored inside would ever decay or spoil.
In the middle of the medicine room were three cauldrons—large, medium, and small.
The large one was used to make medicinal soups and ointments, the medium one was for refining pills, and the small one was for decoctions. There was no need to light a separate stove or burn firewood. As long as the medicinal ingredients were put inside, they would produce either medicinal soup or pills. It was incredibly convenient.
The storeroom was essentially an empty room. Fruits, vegetables, and other food stored inside would likewise never spoil.
The three side rooms were a kitchen, a latrine, and a woodshed, with functions similar to those in ordinary households.
The three plots of farmland in front of the cottage each had their own purpose. One was for growing medicinal herbs, one for vegetables and grains, and one for trees.
In the past, Qian Xing watered the medicinal herbs every day, and all three plots had been full of life.
But now, the farmland was completely barren.
Could it be that this rebirth had exhausted the essence of the treasure realm?
Qian Xing immediately ran over to the floating gourd and picked it up, pouring its contents into her mouth.
Every day, the gourd would naturally fill with a gourdful of spiritual liquid, which was extremely beneficial for restoring the body.
However, the liquid that had once filled the gourd now amounted to only three or four drops.
Sure enough, had it been completely depleted?
She rushed into the medicine room and pulled open several medicine cabinets to check.
They were empty too.
Not a single medicinal herb remained.
Qian Xing wasn’t discouraged.
Being given a chance to live another life and still having the treasure realm was already enough to satisfy her. As for the medicinal herbs, she could simply grow more.
She took off her clothes and walked into the stream surrounding the farmland for a bath.
This stream was also quite extraordinary.
One section was a warm medicinal spring, another was an icy cold spring that chilled one to the bone, while the remaining sections were ordinary stream water.
……
After enjoying a comfortable medicinal bath, Qian Xing felt warm and refreshed all over.
She rubbed her hungry stomach, left the treasure realm, and made her way to the kitchen in the darkness.
Using the moonlight, she observed the kitchen for a while.
The kitchen here wasn’t much different from the one in her original world. There was a stove and a wooden cabinet.
She skillfully picked up some kindling and prepared to start a fire. After looking around the stove, she didn’t see anything resembling a traditional fire starter, only a square box.
Qian Xing was quick-witted and soon figured out how to use the thing.
She had to admit, it was really convenient. One simple strike and it produced a flame.
If they had something like this in Great Xia, it would have made things much easier whenever she and her master traveled around the country and had to sleep outdoors.
Thinking of her master, she sighed.
Although she had always known that the two of them would eventually part ways, she still missed her master terribly.
Qian Xing shook her head and pulled herself together.
She casually put the fire starter back into a hole in the wall. As her hand brushed against it, she realized there was something else inside.
She pulled it out and took a look.
A roll of paper?
It was covered in all sorts of bright colors.
Could this be the fire-starting material used here?
They actually used paper to start fires?
How extravagant.
Qian Xing casually stuffed the roll of paper and the fire starter into her pocket.
She planned to go to the Southwest Military District to find the man and see whether he was truly the person destined for her. These things might come in handy when she was sleeping outdoors.
After starting the fire, Qian Xing found a cabbage on the floor and a bag of sweet potatoes.
She tossed a few sweet potatoes into the stove and stir-fried a plate of cabbage at the same time.
Thanks to her master’s love of good food, Qian Xing had learned cooking from chefs from all over the country.
Even a simple plate of stir-fried cabbage tasted excellent in her hands.
After finishing the entire plate of cabbage, the sweet potatoes were cooked as well.
It was still quite cold in March. Taking a bite of a piping-hot roasted sweet potato was pure bliss.
Qian Xing narrowed her eyes as she finished one sweet potato.
Her stomach was already so full that it bulged outward.
She really was too thin.
In the past, she could have eaten three of them in one sitting without even taking a break.
After eating, Qian Xing wiped her mouth and stored all the seasonings, vegetables, sweet potatoes, a bag of rice, and a piece of cured meat in the storeroom.
She then searched through the entire house again but didn’t find anything else edible.
This family was seriously poor.
Qian Xing sighed and was just about to leave when several people entered through the door.
It was Liu Hongxia and Huo Jianguo, whom the others had carried away earlier. They had been brought back again.
Someone even greeted Qian Xing.
“The doctor said these people have fractured ribs. They’ll be sent straight to the hospital tomorrow. Foolish girl, you’ve got quite some strength.”
Qian Xing withdrew the foot she had been about to step out with.
Her large cat-like eyes narrowed into slits.
If she was going on a long journey, she would naturally need some travel money.
Qian Xing took a set of silver needles from the treasure realm.
These were items that had originally belonged to the realm itself, so they had not disappeared.
Inside the room, Huo Qiang picked up a stick and slowly approached the doorway.
Keeping this woman alive would only bring trouble.
It would be better to deal with her now.
A ruthless glint flashed through his eyes.
He opened the door.
Before the stick could come down, a sudden pain shot through his neck.
“You!”
He clutched his neck and stared at Qian Xing, who had walked inside.
“What did you do?”
“Don’t be nervous. I’m just asking you people for a little spending money.”
Qian Xing smiled sweetly, but her words sounded exactly like those of a street thug wandering the martial world.
Huo Qiang suddenly felt his entire body go limp. He couldn’t muster even the slightest bit of strength.
Before he could respond, Liu Hongxia, who had been lying on the bed, woke up.
Remembering what had happened before she fainted, Liu Hongxia was both furious and frightened.
“You’re not a fool?! Who exactly are you?”
Qian Xing couldn’t be bothered to waste words with her.
She picked up a silver needle and stabbed it into Huo Jianguo’s leg.
“Where’s the money?”
Huo Jianguo, who had been pretending to be asleep, immediately screamed.
“Ah!! Mom, save me! It hurts! It hurts!”
He felt a searing pain in his leg, as though a raging fire were roasting it.
“Y-You take it out! I’ll tell you!”
Liu Hongxia looked at her son with distress.
In the end, she gritted her teeth and revealed where they had hidden their money.
“There’s a floor tile beside the bed in my room…”
Following her instructions, Qian Xing really did find an iron box.
Inside was that familiar stack of colorful paper.
Could it be…
Qian Xing raised an eyebrow and smiled.
Sometimes, even a blind cat really did catch a dead mouse.
She lifted the iron box and held it in front of Liu Hongxia.
“This is all the money you have. Don’t lie to me.”
Liu Hongxia nodded repeatedly.
“It’s true! It’s true! One hundred and twenty yuan in total. You can count it yourself! Now hurry and take the needle out of my son!”
Qian Xing said nothing more.
She simply pulled the needle out.
Huo Jianguo, who had been lying there, immediately felt the burning sensation in his leg subside.
He glanced toward his mother and forcefully blinked, squeezing the sweat that had trickled into his eyes back out.
“One more question. What’s your eldest son’s name, and where is he?”
This time, Liu Hongxia answered immediately.
“Huo Yuan! His name is Huo Yuan. He’s serving in the Southwest Military District.”
“Tell me what kind of person he is.”
Liu Hongxia didn’t even need to think before answering.
“He doesn’t like to talk. He’s got a terrible temper and no warmth in him whatsoever. He’s always walking around with a sour expression. Anyway, he’s completely different from all the other children in the village. Nobody wants to play with him either. And he never contacts us. He’s such an ungrateful wretch. You can never raise a wolf into a loyal dog!”
Qian Xing raised an eyebrow.
Considering how terrible this family was, whether this Huo Yuan was actually the person they were talking about remained to be seen.
“I heard he was stolen?”
Qian Xing merely asked tentatively.
A sinister glint immediately flashed through Huo Qiang’s eyes.
“Who told you that?”
“I’m the one asking the questions. Where did he come from? Who did you steal him from? Tell me everything clearly.”
Huo Qiang clenched his teeth and refused to speak.
Qian Xing raised an eyebrow.
She wanted to see just how stubborn he could be.
……
Half an hour later, Qian Xing found an iron box hidden inside a hole beneath the bed.