Chapter 15: If There’s a Next Life?
An earthquake struck Mount Tais, triggering a rockslide. A massive boulder crashed in front of the cable car ticket office, flattening a cable car about to descend. Fortunately, the cableway itself was unharmed; otherwise, every tourist on it would have faced disaster.
What shocked people even more was that the seven individuals killed in that cable car were drug traffickers—key players from both the buyer and seller sides of a major deal. In fact, these seven were the masterminds of two large drug organizations, with countless lives already on their hands.
Many people speculated that this was the work of the Mountain God of Mount Tais. Others connected this sudden event to the mirage of the Fengchan ceremony that had recently appeared.
...
This was all something Chen Huai’an learned later.
The first thing he did after descending the mountain wasn’t calling an ambulance—it was finding a small convenience store to borrow a power bank. As he charged his phone, he nonchalantly opened the “Virtual Girlfriend” game and sat down on a chair, looking entirely unconcerned. Next to him, Zhang Rui was anxiously calling emergency services.
Zhang Rui felt that Chen Huai’an’s fractured bones were partially his fault.
If he hadn’t made such cruel remarks earlier, maybe Chen Huai’an wouldn’t have insisted on climbing Mount Tais.
“I need to check what my virtual girlfriend is up to.”
As soon as the game loaded, Chen Huai’an was bombarded with notifications:
[You have 130 days of lifespan remaining.]
[Your virtual girlfriend ‘Li Qingran’ has been attacked by a small beast tide!]
[Your virtual girlfriend ‘Li Qingran’ is fighting fiercely…]
[Your virtual girlfriend ‘Li Qingran’ has been injured.]
[Your virtual girlfriend ‘Li Qingran’ is severely wounded!]
What the heck?!
Chen Huai’an’s heart clenched. How did she get hurt after just a short mountain hike? Why would there be a beast tide in the middle of the night?
Even if it aligned with the nocturnal habits of demonic beasts, this was still just a game—didn’t the characters ever sleep?
He quickly dismissed all the pop-ups, only to see a heartbreaking scene unfold.
The house was nearly in ruins from the demonic beasts’ onslaught. Li Qingran was surrounded by their corpses, kneeling amidst a pool of blood. Her head hung low, her black hair concealing her face. She held a broken sword in her hand, and though she was wearing a brand-new outfit he had gotten from a “top-up bonus,” the once-elegant garment was now riddled with claw marks. Beneath the tattered fabric, her wounds were gruesome and bloody. 𝖗ÁℕổᛒĘṢ
[Your virtual girlfriend ‘Li Qingran’ is in critical condition!]
“So close… but I still couldn’t… meet Senior… one last time…”
Li Qingran felt herself nearing death.
She barely raised her head to look through the hole in the ceiling at the sky beyond. Her pale, haggard face was devoid of color, and her once-bright eyes grew dimmer by the second, her vision fading into gray.
Nineteen years in this world, all filled with bitterness.
Her father had died on the battlefield, and her mother had been poisoned by assassins from an enemy nation.
She had hoped that joining the Qingyun Sect would give her a chance to avenge her parents, only to find herself jumping from one quagmire into another.
The cultivation world’s rigid rules forbade interference in mortal affairs. Yet these rules only served as chains to bind ordinary cultivators.
Determined to rise above those rules, she had poured her heart and soul into cultivating, striving to one day bring peace to her parents' restless spirits.
Now, however, she had been expelled from her sect, her dantian and spiritual root destroyed, leaving her in utter despair.
A sparrow flew across the hole in the ceiling, catching a glimmer of light in her dull eyes.
In just two short days, every moment spent with “Senior” played vividly in her mind. Even though he had never physically appeared, he had shown her an unselfish kindness and warmth.
“In this life… Qingran has no strength left to repay Senior’s kindness… cough cough cough...”
She hunched over, coughing blood mixed with tears. The crimson liquid trickled down the corner of her mouth, drop by drop.
“If there’s a next life…”
A demonic beast, sensing her vulnerability, leapt forward to tear her apart.
At that moment, countless streaks of lightning descended from the heavens.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The blinding bolts of thunder annihilated everything, turning the surroundings of the house into a blazing white inferno.
Song Jiaojiao, hiding within a concealed formation nearby, stared at the scene in utter shock.
What had she just witnessed?
A barrage of Thunderfire Talismans falling from the sky, raining destruction upon the demonic beasts!
Whose talismans were those? Li Qingran’s?
Even the cheapest Thunderfire Talisman cost 500 low-grade spirit stones apiece, and this assault had consumed tens of thousands of them.
The only explanation was that someone behind Li Qingran had intervened.
But who could it be?
Staring at the thunderstorm engulfing the area, Song Jiaojiao turned pale.
The relentless assault continued. Dozens—no, hundreds—of Thunderfire Talismans rained down like worthless scraps, obliterating every demonic beast within and around the house. Not even their corpses remained; all were incinerated to ash.
When the lightning finally ceased, the house was intact, but the surrounding area was scarred with countless craters from the strikes.
Inside, Li Qingran lay unconscious in a pool of blood. Surrounding flames were blocked by a golden shield that encased her.
“Th-this place is dangerous!”
Song Jiaojiao felt an ominous chill in her heart.
Suddenly, a Thunderfire Talisman appeared above her.
The glowing talisman radiated golden light, its silver-stroked characters exuding an oppressive majesty.
“An immortal-grade talisman?!”
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
An immortal-grade Thunderfire Talisman, targeting her—a mere Qi Refining cultivator?
There was no need to wonder how she’d been discovered.
To someone who could casually toss out talismans like trash, her concealment formation was a child’s toy.
“Hah… haha…”
She let out a bitter laugh.
The next second—
Boom!
A lightning bolt as thick as a barrel struck, obliterating her formation and reducing her to nothingness.
...
Seeing all the red markers vanish from the map, Chen Huai’an finally relaxed a little.
Not even breaking his bones or dodging falling rocks on Mount Tais had made him this tense.
“D*** it, can’t this game give a warning for enemy attacks? Leave for a moment, and the base gets ambushed?”
He’d just rolled the Fortune Carp Pool 500 times. The prizes were either spirit stones, Thunderfire Talismans, or Transmission Talismans.
Spirit stones weren’t ideal, but Thunderfire and Transmission Talismans were worth the investment. Among them, several premium and top-grade talismans had been drawn, and even two immortal-grade ones.
Just now, he had used one of the immortal-grade talismans to kill the sneaky mini-boss hiding nearby.
Oh, and he had also pulled a top-grade artifact, the Silken String Sword.
Top-grade artifacts were invaluable, likely weapons commonly used by Foundation Establishment cultivators.
But now wasn’t the time to calculate profits.
With a grave expression, Chen Huai’an tapped on Li Qingran’s character:
[Status: Severely injured, critical condition.]
[Cultivation Progress: 1456/4999 (Fifth Layer)]
[Remaining Lifespan: Minutes.]
[Favorability: 35 (Admiration)]
“Hm… for injuries this severe, the correct course of action is to administer medicine.”
Chen Huai’an opened her storage ring and dragged a top-tier Immortal-Grade Great Recovery Pill from his monthly subscription reward to her mouth.
However, a notification popped up:
[Your virtual girlfriend ‘Li Qingran’ is in critical condition and unable to ingest the pill. Administration failed!]
The game’s adherence to realism and logic was almost too impressive.
Chen Huai’an muttered to himself:
“Did the developers aim to qualify this game for the civil service exam or what?!”