The daily life of a max-level immortal cultivator

Chapter 188 A Dream of Yellow Millet

"you know?"

"Yes, I've always known."

"why?"

"Because... there is a very shallow scar on the ring finger of your right hand."

"...Heh, that's quite meticulous."

The sword in his hand was still pointing at me, neither advancing an inch nor retreating an inch. The onset of the poison made it almost impossible for me to hear what was happening around me. My ears were ringing badly, and my vision was becoming increasingly blurry.

Why don't you expose me?

"because……"

My body is chilling, my heart is being pierced again and again, and my skin is being eaten away by ants.

"Because, I..."

"...Medicine, give me the medicine...huff, huff."

"medicine……"

I begged him desperately, but in the end, the medicine didn't come and I fainted from the pain.

(Hahaha, how pathetic! Kill them, kill them!)

(Kill them all! Kill them all! Kill all those who have hurt you! Kill them all!!!)

(Why! Why do they live such glamorous lives, while you, a lowly bastard who can be bullied by everyone, killed them, killed those hypocritical people! Hahahaha!)

I suddenly opened my eyes and saw a sky full of dark clouds, with tiny raindrops hitting my face.

The surroundings were noisy, and the air was filled with a lot of rotten, damp, and indescribable smells.

The sky I saw was bound by rules and regulations, and my body felt sticky and uncomfortable. My back was damp and cold, and every time I moved my feet, there was a splashing sound.

I wasn't locked in a dark dungeon, but I was surrounded by cages, and inside were slaves, shackled and waiting to be sold, and I was no exception.

They were almost all disheveled and had few clothes to wear, barely enough to cover any unsightly areas.

There were five or six other women locked in the same cage as me. They were almost all silent, just sitting quietly in the corner, staring blankly at me as I woke up.

I didn't yell or scream, I just sat up and looked around.

This place was unfamiliar; the clothes and accents of the people coming and going outside the cage, shouting and hawking their wares, were also unfamiliar.

I don't know where I am, but I roughly know why I'm here.

A spy with no further use will be ruthlessly discarded, and I am just a spy, a pawn.

But I still want to live, I want to live a life of wealth and luxury. I'm not even twenty yet, I still have a long life ahead of me.

Looking at the other women locked up with me, I figured I wouldn't get any information out of them either, so I could only wait and listen to what clues the people outside might have from their conversations.

Life in slave cages was not easy. Slave owners provided them with no protection whatsoever. They were often exposed to wind, sun, and rain. All they needed was a mouthful of food to keep them from starving.

Those slaves who were bought at least didn't have to live such a lowly life. Of course, they had only left the cage; whether their lives would be good or bad depended on the buyers who took them.

My appearance isn't particularly good; I just happen to resemble the deceased Consort Duan. But in this slave camp where everyone is disheveled and has numb eyes, at least my face is clean, and my eyes are bright.

I want to leave here as soon as possible. Only by leaving here can I have a chance to stand up again.

I have no home, and no family in that home, so it doesn't matter to me where I go. As long as I live well and live a wealthy life, that is my greatest wish in this life.

Not long after, I was bought by an old woman, just like how Liu Mama had chosen me at first sight.

The old woman also bought three or four women of similar age to take back with her. Fortunately, the old woman was the steward of a wealthy merchant's family, and she had come today specifically to buy a batch of maids to work with.

I was bought along with those other people and became the lowest-ranking maids in a wealthy merchant's household, with a monthly allowance of five hundred coins (one tael of silver equals one thousand coins).

At least we won't have to go hungry or cold every day anymore.

I quickly became familiar with the various chores in the mansion, and I didn't become incapable of doing anything just because I had been pampered for a few years. I had done these things in my previous home, so I didn't feel any discomfort when I started doing them again.

It wasn't until I had been working as a lowly maid in the palace for several months that I slowly learned that the Emperor of Tianhan had suddenly died while fighting on the battlefield, seemingly due to poisoning. Furthermore, the mutineer of the Xiaowu Camp and the siege of the palace had thrown Tianhan into chaos both domestically and internationally.

With the Emperor of Tianhan dying outside the Great Wall, the leaderless Tianhan Kingdom naturally collapsed without a fight.

The territory of Tianhan has long been divided between Da Liang and Qian Yue, each taking over its own territory. From then on, there was no longer a single Tianhan kingdom.

Da Liang, Qian Yue, and Li Le became the three largest capitals in the Nan'an region, and the situation became delicate.

In this great battle, the greatest credit went to Wei Qing, the strategist of Da Liang, and Princess Zhi Xi of Qian Yue.

A younger brother who replaced a member of the Wei clan as empress sought employment in the capital despite his illness and disability, while a young lady who was sent to live with an ordinary official family grew up to become a female general who was admired by everyone on the battlefield. Who would dare to question their identities?

They all came with their own purposes at the beginning, but in the end, they ended up dividing the territory equally. Who could have imagined that as they spent more time together, how much genuine affection would develop amidst their pretense...

In this war, I was the only one who was ever sacrificed.

He coveted wealth and glory, but in the end he lost everything and even developed a drug-related illness. Now he only has half a tael of monthly salary, barely enough to make ends meet.

I looked at the gloomy sky, which had been covered in heavy rain for several days, and gave a self-deprecating smile before getting on with my laundry work.

The wealthy merchant often had to travel for business and didn't stay at home often, but he had a family living in his home, so he always had endless chores to do.

I'm not very bright, so I haven't been promoted much in the years I've been in this household. Now I can only serve as a basin in the concubines' quarters, and my monthly salary has only increased by two hundred coins.

The world is in chaos these days, with wars raging everywhere. Wealthy merchants have moved several times, sometimes not even staying for six months before having to move again. Many of their maids and servants have also been dismissed.

Today, I am one of the third batch of people being laid off.

Over the course of four years, I was the longest-serving of the servants that the housekeeper had bought, which can be considered as doing my utmost.

Once I had the indenture, I left that home without hesitation.

Now I have saved up twenty taels of silver, enough to survive for at least another ten years in this chaotic world. If I do some odd jobs like embroidery, I can at least support myself.

After years of doing manual labor, I don't know if my hands can still hold a needle steadily.

……

The Da Liang, Li Le, and Qian Yue were constantly at war, and the number of soldiers, bandits, and refugees was increasing. Ordinary people had nowhere to live in peace, their fields were left uncultivated, and they had no food to make a living. In particular, the border areas of the various states were filled with burning, killing, and looting, and there was not a single day of peace.

The world seems to be getting worse and worse. I wander around with my meager savings, hoping to find a place to stay.

Twenty taels of silver isn't much; it'll almost be used up by a good household registration document and a travel permit. But only in the central region of a country can one find a place to settle down, and perhaps even a stable job.

With proper documents, one no longer needs to do any work serving others.

After successfully passing through customs, I used most of my remaining money to buy needles, thread, and embroidery hoops, and embroidered several patterns to send to the local embroidery workshop.

The process went smoothly, and the embroidery workshop agreed to keep me, paying me two taels of silver per month, with additional payment for good embroidery.

I thought I would finally stop running around and stop suffering from the war; everything was moving in a positive direction.

But I was wrong again, and very wrong.

I chose the wrong side; I chose the capital of Qianyue.

In just two months, Da Liang's iron cavalry swept deep into the heart of Qian Yue. When the troops entered the city, the people inside fled in panic.

I was also running away, desperately running away, not knowing where I was running to or how many days I had been running.

Perhaps Heaven was taking pity on me, or perhaps it was playing a cruel joke on me, because I actually encountered that dying woman named Zhixi again on my escape route.

She lay on the riverbank, covered in blood and riddled with arrows, her fate unknown. There was no one else in the desolate wilderness except for them.

I stood not far away, watching her. Years of wandering, the torment of each bout of poisoning, and all the resentment that had been building up in my heart were about to... get out of control.

Those crazy voices echoed in my ears again, tormenting and bewitching me over and over again.

My head hurts so much, I'm rolling on the floor, my eyes are bulging, and I'm about to go crazy.

(Kill her, kill her now!)

(She's completely defenseless now. Kill her to avenge what you did in the past! Quickly, kill her!!!)

The voices around me grew increasingly excited, while my consciousness became more and more blurred.

(Kill! Die, they're all dead! Hahahaha!)

(Kill them all! Kill them all!)

……