Chapter Three: Would You Accept This Blessing If Given to You?

Jiang Haohao watched as the seven-colored gourd within her sea of consciousness finally revealed its true form. The pool of clear spring water inside seemed to have increased, perhaps enough to fill half the gourd!

She secretly sucked on her finger, sensing a spiritual energy far richer than before. It seemed it had truly leveled up!

She had no idea what the origin of this treasure was, and with no time to investigate, she would have to test it out slowly.

The sky had turned completely dark. After Auntie Liu left, her eldest brother, Jiang Lin, couldn't sit still at home and had gone off somewhere to play before finally returning.

He held three lotus-colored, silver-threaded sachets, likely plundered from somewhere unknown. He tied one around their mother’s coarse cloth skirt, one onto her second sister’s wrist, and the last was tied tightly around Jiang Haohao’s neck.

Jiang Haohao sensed that the scent emanating from the sachet was the smell of incense from a temple. She tried to grab it to see which Daoist sect it had been stolen from, but after fumbling for a long time, she couldn't feel any incense powder (or ash?), only a hard, triangular object folded out of yellow paper.

Nearby, Jiang Xu, having waited for a long time without receiving a sachet of his own, said with some dissatisfaction:

"Tell the truth, did you go help the female cultivators from the Zuihuan Pavilion rob their guests again?"

Jiang Haohao was still investigating whether it was a safety talisman, but upon hearing her father's words, her hand slipped, and the sachet nearly hit her in the face. Her second sister, Jiang Yunyun, who was sitting nearby, was quite startled.

"Help! Why is my own brother hanging out with courtesans? His business scope is truly extensive!" she thought.

Hearing her father's question, Jiang Lin adjusted his relatively tidy collar and said to Jiang Xu with a straight face:

"Father, I have sworn to keep my word, but this time, it was only because Auntie Liu wanted to sell the second sister. I couldn't rest easy knowing what that wretched woman might plot against us next, so I went to ask Friend Xiangxiang to help investigate."

Song Liyao, who had been waving a thick bamboo stick to herd the Cloud-Drifting Green Ducks, stopped and looked at her eldest son.

"That old cultivator Zhou found some cultivation technique somewhere and needs a young girl as a medicine human. Since several girls had already died suddenly, he went to a human trafficker to secretly buy a maid for sixty spirit stones."

Jiang Yunyun, who had been rhythmically rocking Jiang Haohao’s bamboo basket, stopped. Her small, already rough hands gripped the basket tightly, her fingertips turning pale. "That wretched woman dares to earn such soul-blackening spirit stones? I’m going to go hack that old hag to death!"

Jiang Haohao wanted to scold her silly sister—was this just about spirit stones? It was about life!

Jiang Yunyun seemed to recall something and continued: "It's over. Earlier, Yiyun told me she was going to enjoy great fortune at a Foundation Establishment senior's cave dwelling. Although I usually can't stand her, I’m the only one allowed to mess with her, not others!"

"I can't let that old hag scam her out of forty-eight spirit stones. I have to go tell her."

The bamboo stick in Song Liyao's hand struck the Cloud-Drifting Green Ducks heavily, causing them to flutter and squawk in confusion. After finally herding them into the coop, she cast a restrictive spell.

She remained calm, perhaps even more subdued than usual, though if one looked closely, they might see the moisture in the corners of her eyes.

"Come back. Go cultivate. Treat this as if nothing ever happened."

"Don't tell Yiyun either. It's hard to persuade a dying ghost with kind words. If you tell her, she'll just think you're jealous and trying to block her path to success."

After hearing Song Liyao's words, the family acted as if nothing had happened and obediently returned to their rooms to cultivate.

Jiang Haohao, who had been listening intently, thought her ordinary mother was truly a clear-headed person! No wonder she managed to find such a handsome father!

By the next day, when the Seven-Clawed Red Spirit Pheasants began to crow, the sky gradually brightened.

The Jiang family finished their spiritual meal early, and finally, it was Jiang Haohao’s turn.

She held her mother’s feeding bowl, which was slightly larger than usual, and drank greedily. She vaguely remembered that after being woken up by her handsome father, she had taken advantage of her mother’s distraction to pour quite a bit of the seven-colored gourd’s immortal water into her milk supply.

Sure enough, her mother’s milk now tasted of the sweet immortal water, and the supply seemed endless.

It was truly difficult; this was the first time since coming to the cultivation world that she had felt half-full.

Seeing there was still plenty of immortal water left in the gourd, she sucked on her finger to supplement her nutrition.

For the past few days, she had felt her divine sense becoming more robust and her mind clearer, though she always felt a foul stench of feces on her body...

Song Liyao looked at the satisfied sigh of the little bundle in her arms, and a faint smile appeared on her usually stern face.

These past few days, she felt her body wasn't as frail as before; it was as if she had returned to the vigor she possessed before giving birth.

Sure enough, failing to recover properly after childbirth really takes a toll, even for cultivators.

However, it seemed she was slowly recovering, which put her mind at ease.

She efficiently tidied every corner of the house, even cleaning the coops for the Seven-Clawed Red Spirit Pheasants and the Cloud-Drifting Green Ducks, and she didn't even pant while chopping firewood.

She felt a bit suspicious. This wasn't normal; she was more capable now than before she had the baby!

Looking at the neat and tidy house, Song Liyao was satisfied. She took out a baby carrier, strapped Jiang Haohao tightly to her back, and prepared to go out.

This was Jiang Haohao's first time going out; having never seen anything beyond the Jiang family's small courtyard, she was quite excited.

But the road ahead seemed rather dilapidated, with the feel of a primitive tribal society.

She felt her mother walked for a long time before they reached the lively atmosphere where cultivators traded. It seemed the Jiang family’s courtyard was far from the crowd and quite remote from the village center.

She constantly saw people greeting her mother. Although cultivators tended to be distant, living as neighbors still fostered some warmth. After all, everyone was struggling for cultivation, for spirit stones, for life, and for the long path of the Great Dao.

They addressed her mother by pleasant names, rarely using their husband’s surnames like in human society. Names like Liyao, Sister Yao, Friend Song, or Cultivator Song were common.

Perhaps it was because the female cultivators in this world were not to be trifled with!

If the girls in her original world stood up, fought against powerful forces, and insisted on their rights—even if there was bloodshed—survival wouldn't be so difficult...

She was still lost in her thoughts when suddenly, many aunties, elder sisters, and a grandmotherly figure with only a few fine lines around her eyes approached.

Yesterday, Auntie Liu had already spread the news about the Jiang family, claiming that the little bundle wouldn't survive and was quite ugly.

So, today, everyone came to the village entrance market to offer their condolences to Song Liyao. After all, everyone knew Auntie Liu didn't have a kind mouth.

Seeing the little bundle in Song Liyao's arms being so well-behaved, not crying, quietly letting people look at her, and looking quite spirited, they found it rather auspicious.

Yiyun’s mother, who had been showing off a third-grade spiritual artifact—a jade fan inlaid with plain silver given by her partner—to the other cultivators, felt her limelight stolen by a thin, dark baby. She rolled her eyes and said:

"That Auntie Liu wasn't wrong. The child looks dry and thin; she’s not being raised well at all!"

"Sister Jiang, you look robust enough yourself, so why is your milk supply so low? You’re letting the child suffer."

"If your daughter Yunyun can catch the eye of the old cultivator Zhou, that’s your blessing!"

"At least the child might survive that way!"