Tang Muxin woke up disoriented and confused.
"I'm... alive?" No that couldn't be, she definitely felt the muzzle of the gun against the back of her head. The owner of the gun was a rival of hers and while she had looked down on them a lot causing her end predicament, she knew that they wouldn't have had so little skill as to miss at that point.
Probably.
She pinches herself to confirm that she was really alive but pauses as she notices her hands. As an assassin, spy and doctor her hands were not the most beautiful of things. Her hands were covered with callouses and rough skin from training not to mention occasionally stained with bitter smelling medication. Even the most rigorous of beauty treatments and expensive of hand creams could only diminish the effects somewhat.
So seeing the delicate as jade, soft like marshmallow and elegant as willows hands on her own body she instantly frowned.
Immediately she grabs her breasts.
Un, she can now confirm this definitely isn't her body.
Looking at her surroundings with critical eyes she had a suspicion that this wasn't her world either. Tang Muxin has read quite a few mindless transmigration stories recently in her spare time in order to alleviate her own blood-soaked life so she's not completely unfamiliar with the concept.
However even if she wasn't unfamiliar it was still a little difficult to accept.
Thankfully her mental state was strong and flexible and she quickly compartmentalized her doubts and confusion in favor of determining her identity. Getting out of bed and looking around the room she woke up in she found some clues.
From the style of the house decor and her clothing, this body is either very enthusiastic about ancient chinese culture or she herself was born in the imperial era of China.
Not only is her fingers delicate, her whole body was thin and soft. It seems she is a pampered young miss. However as she couldn't hear the bustling of servants and maids Tang Muxin could assume this body is currently either neglected for reasons or unfavored by a possibly husband.
Looking in a mirror she sees her face is not bad, cute but ultimately a little plain, very different to her original cold and striking face. Her body is also very different, small and weak but filled with curves in all the right places.
She cups her chest again admiringly. Not too big but not barely perceptible like in her original body. At least Bs cup, maybe C cup even. It's the next best news she had gotten other than not being dead ah.
Rummaging through the drawers Tang Muxin finds a hidden compartment filled with old and new letters. It seems this original body of hers made it a habit to write to her deceased mother.
Reading from these letters seemed to provoke and awaken the memories of the original owner in her head. The more Tang Muxin read the more she recalled. Luckily her reading speed was fast and even though the handwriting wasn't very good, it only took her around two hours to get through most of the original's life story.
From it she realizes her identity in the world. Or well, the identity in the story of The Amazing Transmigrated Journey of the Mesmerisingly Divine Good For Nothing Village Girl.
Tang Muxin upon this epiphany felt her mouth spasm and couldn't help but want to vomit blood.
However, to transmigrate into a vicious supporting female lead or cannonfodder was also a popular trope in transmigration stories so after feeling a little dismayed she quickly fixes her attitude into something a bit more optimistic.
Not only does Tang Muxin have the memories of the previous Tang Muxin, she also has a photographic memory that allows her to recall the entire plot of the story. Well, all the chapters until it went onto hiatus anyway.
Plus, while this body is currently as weak as a chicken, it's still young, not too late to cultivate to be stronger. More importantly she had a good looking body and the plain but sweet face was not bad to look at either. In her opinion, since she really came to a world with an ancient feudal setting, it was probably better not to have an outstanding face lest she attract too many problems.
Tang Muxin had no intentions of being a maid like in the original story but she would rather be a maid then some concubine. Even if she knew that it's normal in this era, as a modern woman she didn't think her pride would allow her to share a man with others nor would she want a man who is willing to be shared.
Unfortunately in this time that sort of man was rarer than finding a dragon in the wild.
She sighs emotionally and continues to read the letters, hoping to find something in her newfound memories that would help her live happily.
...
Jia Hyson waits most of the day before nearly giving up. He knew from the story that Tang Muxin would stay in her isolated house for the whole day to come to terms with everything but he had thought that maybe she would come out to explore the courtyard. Aiyah, protagonist, the fresh air is so nice, much better than modern city air, come and take a whiff!
Tired and annoyed, Jia Hyson lays out on the grass under the tree, basking in a batch of sunlight. He was too impatient ah! But that isn't his fault, he was running out of food reserves! How could he not be anxious?
Bebe: 눈_눈 '...Is the female lead a joke to you?'
Jia Hyson: 'No ah, don't be silly. Can you eat jokes? ╮(╯∀╰)╭ Peh, obviously she is my future chef!'
Bebe: 'You have to convince your future chef not to eat you first though.'
Jia Hyson: '...'
Bebe: 'Bebe thinks Host is already so flavorful. Only some salt, pepper and a bit of lemon for freshness will be needed.'
Jia Hyson: '.....' Bebe you've learnt too much from Laozi.
Luckily Jia Hyson had this big loyal rooster by his side or he might've been eaten up by a passing by bird while he was relaxing. Due to the effects of the nourishing spiritual energy his appearance was slowly changing. Unfortunately for him, before the cuteness attribute he had wanted in the first place can kick in, it was his coloring that was changing- from a dull brown to a beautiful eye catching gold.
It's only been roughly less than a month and he's halfway between the two colors, a bright copper color with flecks of gold under the right angle.
In short, he was eye catching but his coloring didn't indicate he was a poisonous creature.
Even shorter, he was a walking target for predators.
According to the law of survival of the fittest, Jia Hyson really wasn't fit to survive ah. _(:3」∠)_
However Da Gong was there and there was no birds this side of the rural county that would dare swoop in and provoke this fierce feathered tyrant so Jia Hyson happily relaxed under the sunlight. Da Gong sat by his side under the shade of the branches, his silver eyes occasionally drawn to the little worm that seems to sparkle faintly under the light.
While he wasn't sure why the worm wanted to come here, Da Gong couldn't help but feel that everything the worm did was very good. Look, even though the walk was long and this courtyard was abandoned and messy, doesn't that just mean his worm wants to spend more time alone with him? (,,ಠ ⊝ ಠ,,)♡
If that's the case, even though Da Gong felt it was a bit troublesome and unnecessary, he was willing to bully the humans to give him a courtyard! That way he and the worm can have a courtyard all to themselves...
Da Gong lifted a wing to cover his face shyly at the thought.
Bebe who was watching: '...' Bebe doesn't understand.
It seems all it's host's men were idiots ah. Bebe felt it was a pity, it had surprisingly high expectations for the rooster's IQ.
Unfortunately no matter how high Bebe's expectations were, a rooster was a rooster. Even a cunning one with a shard of a Royal system inside it would still be rather simple in thoughts and still be prone to blindly follow instincts.
If Da Gong likes something he will like it a lot with no question. If he hates then he will detest it fiercely. This sort of basic intuition is what allows most animals to survive in the wild.
That still doesn't really explain how the rooster has such messy thoughts though..
After rolling around, sharing a spiritual energy syringe for lunchtime and generally lazing about in the courtyard of the newly transmigrated protagonist evening was finally falling. However Jia Hyson was unwilling to stop camping in front of his future golden thigh.
Wasn't she a super spy assassin doctor person? All three of those jobs usually meant they have to stay up late at night, maybe they would even be more active in the nighttime. Who knew if Tang Muxin was going to scout and explore around the area while the household was sleeping and had a lowered guard?
Jia Hyson had the right idea, Tang Muxin had indeed done this. But unfortunately for him as a baby lizard he had a bedtime. And Da Gong was there to enforce it.
Like a mother hen, once night fell and the temperature began to drop Da Gong stood up and sat on Jia Hyson.
Even though he was the bigger than most hens and held an unprecedented strength for a chicken, Da Gong's bones were still hollow and thus his weight was not that heavy. And despite appearances, Jia Hyson was also not some fragile egg but a dragon, one who had been slowly nourished these past fortnight. Don't mention a Da Gong, a brick probably wouldn't hurt him.
Probably…
The point was, even though Jia Hyson was pinned down he wasn't crushed under the rooster's weight. In fact it was like a heavy feathered duvet was covering him. Warm and soft and comfortable.
Jia Hyson valiantly fought back his sleepiness, twisting and turning underneath Da Gong's large body, resisting the pleasant feelings that came from being forced to the ground in such a manner. However he was a creature weak to pleasure and soon he succumbed underneath the tyrant.
Bebe: '...' It's just a description of trying to stay up past his bedtime while being cuddled by a chicken, why does it sound so dirty? 눈_눈
Da Gong clucks softly and let's himself be nuzzled by his little sleepy worm, it's tiny claws lazily touching and feeling his soft down feathers and making it difficult not to squirm. As he hunches down and readies to also follow suit and sleep, he hears a sound from the house connected to the courtyard, immediately alerting him.
Hackles raised, Da Gong silently waits to see the intruder. He doesn't want to get up and fight since doing so means leaving his little worm out in the cold, however if he intruder is not polite neither will he.
Despite being a rooster he was no weak chicken. <(ಠ ⊝ ಠ)>
Tang Muxin curses silently at the noisy old door. No matter how stealthy and silent she can be, she is helpless against this pig teammate of a house. The place looks good but in reality it's poorly maintained and clearly a place for punishing and isolating troublemakers such as the original body.
Threading lightly, her feet softly lands onto the ground with barely a thump. She frowns a little harder. Her body was too weak and she still hadn't adjusted to her new limbs. Tang Muxin knows rich households in ancient times can have many buildings and such so it's probably impossible to scout the whole area tonight.
"Cluck,"
Her head snaps up and her eyes glint under the moonlight coldly as she surveys the courtyard. Even though this original body was weak, her night vision was surprisingly quite good, possibly because they didn't have so many activities that would harm the eyes like modern gaming and texting.
Still, she couldn't help but doubt her eyesight when she saw a large fat black chicken sitting underneath the big withered tree in the courtyard.
Tang Muxin: '...' Did the original body keep a pet chicken?
No, that can't be, it seems the original body, like herself, has never owned a pet much less a rooster. But that doesn't explain the bird squatting in her courtyard.
Also... why was the chicken glaring at her so fiercely?!
She scratches behind her ear, suddenly feeling awkward and at a loss. It's clearly just a big rooster who suddenly decided to squat in the garden but why does it suddenly feel like she's the trespasser here? Could it be that chickens in ancient times were so domineering they can even make her feel suppressed under their stares?
How frightening!
Tang Muxin felt a little helpless. Transported to another world, in another time period which she was unfamiliar with was already quite confronting but a part of her felt assured that if nothing else, she had strength and experience in the art of combat. She was extremely confident in her fighting prowess, it was only second to her confidence in her medical knowledge which is universally helpful anywhere.
But barely one step out of the door and she had been intimidated by a chicken!
Worse still, it seems the rooster is aware of this. It's silver eyes piercing under the moonlight, full of unbridled cold arrogance and even colder contempt as it lifts it's head up proudly and clucks again before looking away as if she was no longer worth his time.
Tang Muxin, the first protagonist disdained by a chicken: '...'
How shameful!
....
Jia Hyson slowly woke up, nuzzling against the warm and soft feathers covering his body, his tail wriggling in delight at the feeling. He had always liked to hug soft things and his bed never had less than four pillows on it regardless of size so sleeping with Da Gong was very satisfying.
He cuddles his big rooster friend and sighs deeply. Unfortunately, this bird was too comfortable to sleep with. Not only were his down feathers on his chest and stomach insanely soft but Da Gong was also a very clean chicken who liked baths and sitting in flower fields and other nice smelling places so he never stank like other chickens.
Really, a rooster among roosters.
'Bebe, what happened last night?' He asks mentally.
'As you predicted Tang Muxin went out at night to explore.' Bebe quickly answers. For the sake of the main character's dignity it does not mention the scene where she was momentarily intimidated under Da Gong's glare. 'She left for only an hour, presumably due to her new body lacking in stamina and appropriate physical training. From Bebe's calculations, her muscles should be experiencing exhaustion and soreness, depending on the intensity of her actions she may not get up till noon.'
Jia Hyson felt a bit speechless. This female lead seems to be unexpectedly a bit of an airhead type? She already knew her new body was no good but she still pushed it to such an extreme extent?
Then again, in the book her OP levels were to high in her original life, it might be hard for Tang Muxin to adjust to accommodate the limits of a normal person much less a weak and pampered girl. Tang Muxin is also meant to be the cold aloof assassin-spy beauty type, standing high above the world where others could only stand to watch with fear and envy and admiration. And of course with such a complicated job description she must also have a complicated backstory that involves the cliche 'orphan raised by an evil assassin as a child to become the ultimate killer'.
So like, maybe that's why she didn't understand the concept of muscle strain and pain.
...Or maybe she's really just a bit of an airhead. _(:3」∠)_
Jia Hyson mouth twitches. It does explain a little why such a cold super killer spy doctor person was so goddamn slow in the plot. Of course that leads to another question about how someone so inefficient could have been a super spy assassin doctor in the first place.
'So what do you want to do then host?' Bebe questions. Originally Jia Hyson planned to have a coincidental meeting with Tang Muxin by acting weak and injured in front of her in the courtyard like literally every other animal character main characters pick up. Unfortunately he was a bit too eager and life never goes the way he wants to.
Jia Hyson hesitates before deciding to go back to Ye Cheng's place. Waiting here for too long would be a bit weird not to mention a bit dull. The courtyard as expected for a place allocated to isolate the troublemaking family members as punishment, was not well maintained and even the garden they were in was ugly and full of weeds and untamed plants. It's bushy enough to play around for a bit and there's suitable protection from the weather but to stay here for two days straight is a bit much.
Poking his head out of the fluffy feathers, he carefully chirps his intention to go home to Da Gong who nods in understanding, standing up before gently picking Jia Hyson up with his beak and throwing him upwards in a practiced motion. Jia Hyson squeals softly as he falls, landing on the large rooster's back, his heart thumping furiously for reasons that may not necessarily be due to the adrenaline rush.
Fuck, who told a rooster to be so handsome ah? Too unfair! (⁄ ⁄>⁄ v ⁄<⁄ ⁄)
Not only was Da Gong a handsome rooster, he was a possessively handsome and independent rooster. Da Gong had lived with Ye Cheng since he was a chick and was used to a house filled with noisy animals. Before he had only found it a bit irritating but now that he had experienced sleeping together with his worm in a quiet, isolated place with just the two of them alone, it was like his three world views were refreshed.
Suddenly the house filled with animals seemed a little unbearable. Da Gong had a worm now, isn't it better if they had some alone time without those lightbulbs constantly there?
Of course Da Gong was also a very loyal rooster and decided that just because he had a worm now he will not ignore his human either given how well his human has served him all these years. Even though he may be around less during the night he will not forgo his duties of protecting and taking care of his human in the day and will hand over night protection to the other animals of the house. Xiao Shua and Da Shen needed to pull their weight around the household more anyway.
As for where they should sleep at night… isn't this abandoned courtyard perfect?
Far away from the loud villagers but not too far that it would take a long time to visit Ye Cheng. Plus the overgrown vegetation was perfect to scavenge and play around as well as provide good protection from wind and rain. And that human girl? She knows her place well ah.
And so, when evening came around again Jia Hyson was dumbfounded when Da Gong carried him back to the protagonist's courtyard.
Jia Hyson: ???
Tang Muxin who happened to see the rooster come back to squat in her courtyard again: '…'
Well. In a way this could also be considered a fateful coincidence?
"Hello there," Tang Muxin awkwardly waves at the black rooster awkwardly. She was still under house arrest and didn't have much else to do but be hungry and stretch out her aching tired muscles. Still, she wasn't at the point where the original's father had completely given up on her so she still got decent, albeit a little unpalatable, meals three times a day so she wasn't considering eating the rooster yet.
Not to mention, there was a strange gut feeling inside her that told her to be wary of the bird. Even though it felt incredibly ridiculous she wasn't one to avoid listening to her instincts.
Da Gong however had little to no interest in the protagonist, not even giving her a cluck as he trotted over to the big withered tree and sat down with a cold face.
Tang Muxin, the first protagonist ignored by a rooster: '…'
If she didn't have anything better to do right now she would have really left ah.
Da Gong does not pay attention to the human girl watching him, choosing to put his focus on his worm. Stretching out a wing to the ground he tilts his body and lets the little worm roll off his body with a happy 'mrrrrp' sound that delighted his earholes. As expected of the worm, after immediately shaking off it's initial dizziness it scuttled over to be sticky with him making Da Gong puff up his feathers pridefully.
Little did Da Gong know, his worm was currently thinking of ways to approach the human girl he disdained and hold her golden thighs.
'It's no good, Da Gong is too eye-catching.' Jia Hyson complains to Bebe, 'It would have been better if I met her alone, my presence is practically halved right now.'
'Try giving her a lot of eye-contact? She's noticed you at least, maybe your limited charm attribute is enough to get her to approach you two.' Bebe suggests.
Jia Hyson thinks about it and agrees. It's better than doing nothing at least.
Tang Muxin was briefly surprised at the small lizard creature that rolled off the rooster's back. It was about the length of her small hand, from the tip of her middle finger to her wrist, and was a bronze, almost dirty golden colouring. With her sharp eyes she could also note the strangeness of it's appearance with traits that didn't belong to a normal lizard such as the tiny ears and bird like claws.
She was a little stunned. Didn't this reptile look a bit like a small dragon?
The idea was a little fantastical though. It could also be just that this is a lizard species native to this strange story world. Once again she curses her original body's spicy chicken memory and her ignorant ways of being unwilling to learn anything but petty tricks, gossiping and scheming. In terms of general knowledge about the history, politics, culture and other vital information, the original body really left her with nothing.
Still she was naturally intrigued. However that rooster seemed awfully overprotective of the reptile and she had neither the strength to fight the bird nor did she have any appropriate medical herbs to treat her wounds if the rooster scratches her.
After some thought she goes to the kitchen and comes back with some of her leftover rice and vegetables she was planning to keep as a snack.
Da Gong was moved by the offering, finding the human girl a bit more appealing. As a gracious and noble rooster it would be wrong of him to refuse it no matter how meagre it is. He looks down at his little worm and clucks questioningly. His worm can be quite timid, it's best to ask it for its opinion first.
Jia Hyson reads the subtitles and also felt a bit moved. Not only was Da Gong clearly a tyrannical CEO president in his past life but he was a gentleman too ah… The malice of this world is really too strong to make him feel so attracted to a rooster.
'Mrp'ing Jia Hyson agrees, eager to get closer to the protagonist and crawls toward her while Da Gong follows behind.
Tang Muxin felt inexplicably a bit nervous. She didn't have much contact with animals other than fighting off vicious guard dogs that many older villainous men seem to enjoy breeding in their mansions so this sort of thing was really a first for her. Feeling a bit anxious she drops the plate of rice and vegetables and steps back a bit to give the animals space and avoid scaring them off.
Luckily for her these weren't your typical animals or she would be need more than just some stale rice and boiled vegetables to coax them over. Da Gong was arrogant and the village tyrant who feared no horse, and Jia Hyson had ulterior motives so it wasn't hard for them to approach her despite the rather close distance.
Tang Muxin seemed to realise this and tentatively walked over and sat in front of them, watching the two peck and nibble at the food, a little fascinated. After a while she grew even bolder and wanted to push her luck a bit.
Seeing Tang Muxin's hand hesitantly reach toward him, Jia Hyson's golden eyes flash and immediately used most of his spiritual energy to activate the skill [Cutie Beam]. What he needs right now is for her to touch him, this sort of thing cannot be relied completely on fate!
Under the effects of the skill, Tang Muxin suddenly founds the interesting creature weirdly adorable the more she looks at the reptile. Its eyes were round and slightly slanted like a lazy kitten and the way it wags its small tail with the brush like hairs on the end was like a cute puppy. Helplessly she couldn't control her ever growing urge to pet the small thing while it nibbles at her food.
The moment she touches the little lizard's head an electronic voice enters her mind. [Bzzt.. Conditions for appropriate soul bond met… Do you accept to bind with Golden Dragon of Fortune as the Saintess?]
Tang Muxin was shocked for a moment before she felt herself getting a little excited. Even though she didn't recall reading about this sort of plot development in the story, the author did drop the novel so who knows if there was meant to be fantasy developments in the future chapters? Besides, as a transmigrator who transmigrated into a story with a transmigrated protagonist, wasn't that also quite fantastical in itself? What's one dragon?
Besides, 'Golden Dragon of Fortune'? No matter how you look at it, though she was still a bit suspicious about this sudden 'soul bind' thing one would be a fool to turn down the offer! And it wasn't like she couldn't afford to take the risk anyway ah.
'I accept,' She responds calmly in her mind, trying to ignore the giddy, childlike anticipation welling up in her body.
[Saintess Tang Muxin accepts the soul bind with Golden Dragon of Fortune Jin Bao.... Soul Bind established… Heart Connection established…..]
Yes. This is what Jia Hyson was aiming for all along.
[Saintess Soul Bind] was a skill he had that required that can only be used once a suitable 'saintess' meets the conditions dictated by the Heavenly Path. As long as Jia Hyson finds someone who is deemed acceptable by the skill then he can use it on them and activate a soul binding contract with them. This will allow him to be able to telapthically communicate with his 'saintess'.
And obviously who could be more acceptable to be this saintess than the protagonist?
In fact, the original dragon must also have had this skill but given that the poor baby wouldn't have known it existed much less how to activate it the dragon who was pitted by the Author God could only die tragically.
Now in the originally planned story the little dragon's first words were the typical, (She's so nice! I like her! The food she makes is so yummy!) as befitting of a simple hungry little animal, most likely in cute voice filled with innocence and youth. What Tang Muxin got this time though was-
(Ahhh it's so good! I'm saved! And by such a pretty girl too! Damn if I was still human I would definitely ask her out for coffee, fuck, thinking about it now it's been ages since I hooked up with such a pretty miss, oh god will I never have sex again? Am I destined to only mate with other lizards now? I'm kinky but not that messed up! How do lizards even have sex? It's the same as humans right? Fuck am I even a boy lizard?! Ahhh this food is really too good!)
To top it off clearly this voice belonged to an already mature sounding young man. Ignoring the excitement and hysteria one could even say it was a rather sexy elegant voice that would fit any handsome rich second generation playboy.
Tang Muxin: '...Can she ask to exchange?'
Two big slightly slanting cat eyes suddenly glance up and stare at her accusingly, (You! You actually want to exchange me?! Where is your heart?) Then the eyes widen in shock. Because they really were very big and shiny, it made the creature look especially dumb and cute. (Ah? Wait a moment? Can you understand me?!)
Tang Muxin looked at the stupid but adorable odd-looking lizard, no, not lizard ah, dragon, the stupid looking dragon, and her lips quirk up.
"No." She spat out before standing up and leaving.
Bebe: '...'
Jia Hyson: '...'
Did, did he go too far?