Ye Ran had practically fled in panic. By the time she returned to her quarters, her heart was still racing wildly.
“Host, we’re doomed. The great villain really has his eyes on you.”
No sooner had Ye Ran sat down at the table and poured herself a cup of mint tea to calm her nerves than the system, in its fat civet cat form, sidled up to her.
But in the next instant, Ye Ran’s fist landed on the system’s head.
“Why do I get the feeling you’re actually kind of excited about this?”
“Not at all! I’m just worried about you, Host!”
The system’s fur bristled. It covered its head with its paws and retreated to the side, but a flicker of guilt flashed through its round, unblinking eyes.
Ye Ran was too preoccupied with worry at the moment to notice anything unusual about the system.
After rubbing its head, the system eagerly scurried back to Ye Ran.
“Host, maybe you should just give in to the great villain. That way, you can avoid becoming the male lead’s cauldron.”
“You’re such a wonderful system, you know that?”
Ye Ran smiled and patted the system’s head. The system couldn’t help but curl its tail up and rub its head against Ye Ran’s palm.
But in the next moment, Ye Ran grabbed the system by the scruff of its neck and hoisted its fat body into the air.
“The great villain is way too dangerous. Are you trying to get me killed early?”
“Of course not, Host! I was just joking earlier. I’ll always be your most loyal little lackey.”
The system had always known when to yield. It immediately wagged its tail at Ye Ran in a fawning manner.
“That’s more like it.”
Ye Ran let go of the system, picked up her tea cup again, and took a sip.
The cool mint tea flowed down her throat, gradually calming her frayed nerves.
“Host, so what do we do now?” The system crept closer again.
Ye Ran reached out and flicked the system’s head. “Simple. We pretend we know nothing at all.”
Since the great villain wasn’t making the first move and was still acting as if nothing had happened in front of her, she would act as if nothing had happened even more.
She couldn’t let the great villain’s perverse tastes get satisfied.
Ye Ran took another sip of tea. Just as she set the cup down, a paper crane flew in through the window and landed directly on the tea table.
A flicker of spiritual energy passed over it, and the paper crane automatically unfolded, revealing two characters: “Come quickly.”
This was the paper crane her master used to contact disciples.
Her master was a rather lazy person and usually didn’t seek out her disciples unless necessary.
If she was proactively sending a message, there must be something important.
Ye Ran tucked the note away and, without wasting a moment, hurried off to her master’s main hall.
…
“Master, you were looking for—”
The moment Ye Ran pushed open the hall doors, the scent of wine wafted out. Before she could finish, she was swept into a tight embrace.
“My good disciple! You’re finally here!”
Li Qiuyu reeked of wine, and her eyes held a hazy, dreamy look.
Sensing Ye Ran trying to squirm away, she finally let go—only to bring both hands to Ye Ran’s cheeks and start kneading them relentlessly.
“Master, how much have you had to drink?”
Ye Ran grabbed Li Qiuyu’s hands, her voice laced with helplessness.
Her master was wonderful in every other way—not only a great beauty but also a young elder of the Ten Thousand Immortals Sect. Her only flaw was her love of drinking, which often left her tipsy.
“Shh!”
At the mention of drinking, Li Qiuyu suddenly became alert. She quickly pulled Ye Ran inside the hall and swiftly shut the doors behind them.
“Don’t let your senior brother find out, or he’ll start nagging me again.”
The only person who could actually keep Li Qiuyu in check was Ye Ran’s senior brother, Qi Heng.
He only allowed her to drink in moderation.
If Qi Heng saw Li Qiuyu in this state, he would definitely risk the grave sin of defying his master and confiscate every last bottle of wine she had secretly hidden away.
“Knowing Senior Brother will be angry, Master still drank this much?”
Ye Ran steadied Li Qiuyu’s swaying body and guided her toward the soft couch.
“Of course it’s because your master came across an excellent bottle of wine. I couldn’t resist indulging a bit more than usual.”
As she spoke, Li Qiuyu suddenly broke free from Ye Ran’s support, grabbed the wine jug from the table, and thrust it toward Ye Ran.
“This wine is absolutely delightful. Unfortunately, there’s only this one jug. Your master saved some for you. My good disciple, can you brew some more for me with the same flavor?”
“But…”
Ye Ran did know how to brew wine, but seeing her master’s drunken state, she was worried that if Li Qiuyu indulged too much, Qi Heng would eventually find out.
“Your master has a unique beginner’s sword technique here. It’s perfect for you.”
Li Qiuyu held up one finger to interrupt Ye Ran, then pulled out a booklet.
A spark of excitement immediately lit up Ye Ran’s eyes. She eagerly took the book from Li Qiuyu’s hands.
“Don’t worry, Master. Leave the wine brewing to me!”
Although Ye Ran’s cauldron physique made her unsuited for sword training, being transmigrated into this dangerous restrictive novel meant she had to learn some ways to protect herself.
Sword techniques, as it happened, could compensate for her lack of cultivation strength. That was why Ye Ran had been diligently practicing swordplay lately.
Unfortunately, due to her physique, her progress had been minimal.
The sword technique Li Qiuyu had just given her could be practiced even by ordinary mortals with no cultivation—making it perfect for Ye Ran.
Seeing Ye Ran’s eyes glued to the sword technique manual, Li Qiuyu nodded with satisfaction and shoved the remaining wine into Ye Ran’s hands.
“Remember, don’t let your senior brother find out.”
“You can count on me, Master.”
Ye Ran had been completely won over by her master. She happily carried her spoils back to her quarters.
The moment she returned, she opened the wine bottle and brought it to her nose.
A delightful wine fragrance instantly filled the air.
This wine smelled a lot like fruit wine, but it was incredibly intoxicating.
Ye Ran had only smelled it for a short while when she began to feel slightly tipsy.
No wonder her master had already become flushed after just half a jug.
She quickly moved the wine bottle away and rubbed her nose. Only then did the lingering wine scent finally dissipate a bit.
Back in the day, Ye Ran had done all sorts of part-time jobs to scrape together tuition money, including working at a winery for a few months. So brewing wine wasn’t too difficult for her.
She poured some wine into a tea cup, took out a pair of chopsticks, dipped them in, and carefully tasted it.
A fresh, fruity flavor spread across her tongue.
Ye Ran recognized this fragrance immediately.
It was the taste of Drunken Immortal Fruit.
Some time ago, while out gathering ingredients for wine brewing, she had come across some Drunken Immortal Fruit. Thinking they were ordinary berries, she had tried one.
Who knew that while the fruit smelled wonderful, the taste was beyond words?
That experience had seared the Drunken Immortal Fruit into Ye Ran’s memory.
She never expected that using this fruit for brewing wine would produce such a good flavor.
It didn’t take Ye Ran long to figure out all the ingredients needed for the wine.
As the saying goes, “He who takes a gift is at a disadvantage.” Having received such a fine reward, Ye Ran threw herself into the work with extra enthusiasm.
Early the next morning, she left the sect to gather Drunken Immortal Fruit.
Fortunately, the place where she had discovered the fruit last time wasn’t far from the sect. Riding a crane, Ye Ran reached a dense forest in just a quarter of an hour.
The moment she dismounted, she found herself facing a grove of Drunken Immortal Fruit trees.
The bright red berries stood out vividly among the trees.
“System, look! I really am the female lead. My luck is simply incredible.”
[Of course! You are this system’s carefully chosen host, after all.]
The system remained as sycophantic as ever, its tone dripping with unabashed flattery.
Ye Ran found this extremely gratifying. As she stepped forward, the corners of her lips couldn’t help but curl upward.
There were plenty of Drunken Immortal Fruits in this forest, and Ye Ran gathered an entire bag without breaking a sweat.
But just as she was about to head back, she realized she had celebrated too soon.
She had forgotten to summon the crane for her return trip!
Ye Ran stood there, the smile slowly freezing on her face.
[Host, why have you stopped?]
Noticing Ye Ran’s strange expression, the system immediately asked in its usual sycophantic tone.
“System, did you turn on the route tracker when we came here?”
[I don’t have that function, Host.]
The system’s answer made Ye Ran’s heart sink.
Normally when she went out, she always made sure to summon cranes for both departure and return. But this time, she had left in too much of a hurry, and on top of that, she had been so excited about finding the Drunken Immortal Fruit that she had accidentally only summoned a one-way ride.
Now, deep in the remote mountains, there was no way to summon a crane.
And more importantly, she had no idea how to get back.
“System, you’re a system and I’m the female lead. Based on our setup, shouldn’t you be giving me some kind of golden finger right about now—letting me whoosh right back?”
[Host, let me correct you. I’m a Green Jiang System, not a Long Aotian System.]
“Oh. A useless system, then.”
The anticipation in Ye Ran’s eyes vanished instantly. The system stomped its feet in frustration within the space, unable to come up with a retort, and could only let out a few pitiful whimpers.
After putting away the Drunken Immortal Fruits, Ye Ran pressed onward.
Although she didn’t know the way back, she still remembered the direction she had come from.
The sect wasn’t too far from here. As long as she could make it out of this forest, finding her way back wouldn’t be difficult.
[Oh no, Host! I sense killing intent!]
Ye Ran had barely taken a few steps when the system’s urgent voice rang out in her mind.
She stopped immediately and looked around warily.
In the next instant, a figure flashed past. Within the blink of an eye, a dagger was pressed against Ye Ran’s throat.
The person holding Ye Ran hostage was a bewitching-looking woman dressed in the robes of a Hehuan Sect disciple, but a trace of demonic energy emanated from her body.
“Such a pretty little sister. What a shame, really.”
The woman curled her lips, leaned close to Ye Ran, and used the dagger to gently tilt her chin upward.
Then another commotion came from the forest. The woman’s expression darkened. She grabbed Ye Ran by the throat, pressing the dagger back against her neck.
“Don’t come any closer, or I’ll kill her!”
The ones approaching were several disciples from the Ten Thousand Immortals Sect.
The lead disciple saw that Ye Ran was a fellow sect member and immediately raised his hand to stop the disciples behind him from advancing further. However, he kept his sword pointed at the woman.
“Demon filth! Release my junior sister immediately!”
“Fine, but first, you have to let me go. Otherwise, I don’t mind adding one more life to my tally.”
As she spoke, the woman pressed the dagger even closer.
Without making a sound, Ye Ran watched the standoff between the woman and the disciples. The hand hanging at her side secretly pulled out a talisman paper.
Taking advantage of the woman being distracted by negotiations and not paying attention to her, Ye Ran quickly raised her hand and pressed the talisman against the woman’s wrist.
A powerful electric shock hit the woman, catching her off guard. The dagger clattered to the ground, and her grip on Ye Ran’s throat loosened slightly.
Ye Ran seized the opportunity to break free and immediately retreated to the side.
The disciples opposite reacted quickly as well. The moment Ye Ran escaped, they raised their swords and surrounded the Hehuan Sect woman.
The woman’s cultivation level wasn’t low, and it took the disciples considerable effort to finally subdue her.
Only then did Ye Ran relax. She rubbed her somewhat sore neck.
“Junior Sister, are you alright?”
A white-clad figure appeared in her line of sight.
Ye Ran looked up and saw that it was the disciple who had been leading the group.
She shook her head. “I’m fine. Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother.”
“That’s good to hear. My name is Meng Xuan. Junior Sister looks somewhat familiar. Which peak do you belong to?”
Meng Xuan smiled warmly at Ye Ran. But the moment Ye Ran heard his name, she froze completely.
[Host! He’s the male lead!]
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