If that were really the case, then it could only mean one thing—
The heroine was far too sensitive.
Zhao Shiying was certain she had hidden herself very well and hadn’t revealed a single flaw.
Except for one thing…
Yesterday, she had encouraged Old Madam Zhao to inspect Zhao Shiyu’s bundle and search her body.
That might have aroused suspicion.
But she had already explained herself, hadn’t she?
Could it be that Zhao Shiyu hadn’t believed her explanation at all?
She lingered around the area where everyone usually dug wild vegetables for quite a while.
In the end, Zhao Shiying decided to take a risk and venture a little deeper into the woods.
Even if she couldn’t find Zhao Shiyu herself, perhaps she could discover some trace she had left behind.
At least then she’d have a direction to investigate, which was better than standing here like an ant on a hot pan, spinning in circles.
Waiting helplessly for Zhao Shiyu to appear was pure torture.
Whether it worked or not, she had to try.
The problem was, there was no proper path leading up the mountain from this side.
People entering the mountain simply pushed through the weeds.
You could say there was no path at all—
Or you could say every direction was a path.
At this season, very few people entered the mountain.
Only hunters from a few nearby villages ventured into the forest, and even they didn’t use this route.
As for the villagers, even when gathering firewood, they only stayed near the mountain’s base.
No one dared go deeper.
According to local stories, the mountain was full of venomous snakes and poisonous insects.
And farther in, there were even large wild beasts.
As she thought about this, her mind wandered.
Where had Zhao Shiyu caught that pheasant last time?
The memory of that pheasant instantly reminded Zhao Shiying of the rumors circulating through the village.
Even though Zhao Shiyu was only an eight-year-old girl, that stunt of stabbing someone in the backside had left everyone dumbfounded.
Zhao Shiying had never imagined the heroine would do something like that.
That scene hadn’t appeared in the novel at all.
It completely ruined the heroine’s image.
Wasn’t the heroine supposed to be proud and aloof?
How could she do something so shamelessly underhanded as stabbing someone in the rear?
Did she truly have no concern for dignity?
Now not only had the plot gone off track, but even the heroine herself had gone completely out of character.
Could all of this really be the butterfly effect caused by her transmigrating into the book?
Lost in these thoughts, Zhao Shiying kept scanning the ground as she walked.
At this time of year, both weeds and wild vegetables grew thick and lush.
When people walked through such terrain, they instinctively stepped on lower patches of grass, or places where weeds clung close to the ground.
After all, such areas were less likely to conceal snakes or insects.
That made it extremely difficult to identify traces left by someone passing through.
Zhao Shiying tried several different directions.
None revealed any signs of human passage.
The more she searched, the more irritated she became.
How had things slipped so completely out of her control?
She adjusted her direction again and again, walking farther each time.
Still, she found nothing.
At one point, she even started doubting herself.
Could it be that Zhao Shiyu hadn’t entered the mountain at all?
But hadn’t her mother said she’d gone up to dig wild vegetables?
So was Madam Jiang lying?
Or had digging wild vegetables merely been an excuse Zhao Shiyu made to leave the house?
If she hadn’t entered the mountain, and wasn’t digging near the foothills either, then where had she gone?
There was only this one mountain surrounding Zhao Family Village.
Everywhere else was farmland.
Surely Zhao Shiyu hadn’t gone digging wild vegetables in someone else’s fields?
The thought of the hundred-year-old ginseng soon to appear made Zhao Shiying’s heart feel as though it were being scorched by fire.
She had already lost the Space Stone.
If she missed this century-old ginseng too, the pain would kill her.
No.
She absolutely had to find the ginseng before Zhao Shiyu did.
And yet, sometimes the concept of “protagonist halo” was impossible to explain.
The harder Zhao Shiying searched, the more anxious she became.
The more anxious she became, the more frustrated she grew.
By the time noon approached, she had no choice but to return home unwillingly.
She silently resolved that this afternoon she would keep an eye on Zhao Shiyu no matter what.
She absolutely could not allow herself to be shaken off again like she had been this morning.
At worst, she’d wolf down her lunch and hide outside in advance.
Then, the moment Zhao Shiyu stepped out, she would follow her.
That way she wouldn’t get delayed again by those stupid women.
And yet, when lunchtime arrived, Zhao Shiyu didn’t come back to eat.
What surprised Zhao Shiying even more was that no one in the family casually asked where she was.
It was as though no one had even noticed someone was missing.
Even the entire second branch remained silent.
The moment she noticed this, Zhao Shiying understood.
Without her knowing, they had already reached a tacit agreement.
The realization made her feel as though she’d been played for a fool.
Left with no choice, she spoke up.
“Grandma, Seventh Sister still hasn’t come back.”
Old Madam Zhao lazily lifted her eyelids.
“Seventh girl?”
Her gaze swept across the room.
Sure enough, Zhao Shiyu was nowhere to be seen.
She had just opened her mouth to ask when Second Uncle Zhao spoke first.
“Mother, don’t worry about her. That girl brought water and corn buns with her this morning. She said she was going farther out today. The wild vegetables nearby have already been mostly picked clean. Whatever’s left is old and tough—only fit for feeding chickens. Her mother told her to go farther away to dig.”
“Then let’s eat.”
Old Madam Zhao immediately lost interest.
Instead, it was the old master who asked with concern,
“Did the two of you remind the child not to go into the forest itself?”
“Father, don’t worry. That child is clever. My husband and I have both warned her already.”
“Good. Then let’s eat.”
With Old Madam Zhao’s final word, the matter was settled.
No one paid Zhao Shiyu any more attention.
Zhao Shiying opened her mouth, wanting to say something else.
But seeing that everyone had already picked up their chopsticks, she remembered the Zhao family rule of no talking during meals or sleep.
She could only swallow her words.
This meal was utterly tasteless to her.
And now she was even more convinced that the Space Stone had ended up in Zhao Shiyu’s hands.
But the question remained—
When had she gotten it?
She carefully replayed everything that had happened the day the heroine transmigrated into the novel.
From the moment Zhao Shiyu woke up…
To the point when Zhao Shiying finally persuaded her to go out…
Then Zhao Yanfeng had ruined everything, making Zhao Shiyu so angry that she stormed back into her room.
After that, Zhao Shiying had gone up the mountain alone.
And before leaving, she had been absolutely certain that Zhao Shiyu had returned to her room.
She herself hadn’t delayed even a moment and had climbed the mountain at her usual pace.
Yet when she reached the dirt slope at the mountain’s base, not only had she found nothing—
She had discovered a freshly dug little pit.
Could it be that the pit had simply been dug by some mischievous child?
That there had never been any Space Stone there at all?
Had that little hole merely misled her into believing someone else had already claimed it?
Then was that pit deliberately created by someone…
Or had it just been coincidence?
Zhao Shiying was beginning to spiral into conspiracy theories.
She carefully thought back over every person she had encountered that day.
None of them seemed suspicious.
Could it be that after that day, the heroine had later managed to shake her off and obtain the space?
The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became that she had uncovered the truth.
She couldn’t help but curse the heavens in her heart.
Why?
Why exactly?
Was it simply because she wasn’t the heroine?
Did that mean she didn’t deserve the cheat-like space at all?