Back in her room, Yu Qingtan suddenly realized that Mr. Fu was nowhere to be found.
After a careful search, she confirmed he was indeed gone, without leaving anything or any message behind.
"A plant, where's the antidote? Didn't we agree you'd give me the antidote after I recovered from my injury?"
Yu Qingtan was furious but felt helpless in her rage.
Being weak meant having no rights at all.
She sat back down on the toothed bed and opened the System Panel.
[Charm Points: 855]
[Affection Value: 10]
"Hmm?" Yu Qingtan's eyes widened in surprise.
The Affection Value that was a duck egg yesterday had unexpectedly reached 10.
"Could it be that the growth increment for the Foundation Establishment Stage is 10? What about higher realms?"
"Could it be Luo Xiang? Has he really fallen for me? Or was it Mr. Fu?"
"It seems I'll have to pay more attention to the System's changes in the future and find out the patterns."
No matter what, an increase in Affection Value was always a good thing.
"10 Affection Value points are enough to exchange for a Cultivation Upgrade Card, but it's a pity that even advancing to the third level of Qi Cultivation would still leave me a newbie, and without a way to conceal my cultivation level, breaking through rashly is too reckless."
After considering for a moment, Yu Qingtan decided to spend 1 Affection Value point to exchange for a Skill Upgrade Card, applying it to her Zither Art.
[Skills: Exquisite Dance Moderately Proficient 93/200, Butterfly Dance Beginner 15/100, Zither Art Moderately Proficient 68/200, Chess Skill Beginner 3/100, Calligraphy Beginner 1/100, Painting Skill Beginner 1/100]
[Affection Value: 9]
[System Store: Primary Spiritual Root Upgrade Card 0/1 (100 Affection Value), First-Level Cultivation Upgrade Card 0/3 (10 Affection Value), First-Level Spell Upgrade Card 0/10 (1 Affection Value), First-Level Skill Upgrade Card 2/10 (1 Affection Value)]
Similarly, memories of her constantly practicing the zither seemed to emerge in her mind, and after a while, Yu Qingtan's understanding and proficiency in the Zither Art had evidently changed from before.
She sat down and played the tune "Yearning," completely immersing herself, with the timing and strength of plucking the strings just right. After finishing, she even had visions of her unrequited love for a schoolmate from her past life and tears streamed down her cheeks.
After calming her emotions, she played "Purification of Soul" once more.
During the performance, Yu Qingtan felt her heart growing increasingly calm, and after finishing, she even sensed an enhancement in her soul.
"No wonder my Zither Art is moderately proficient! And this 'Purification of Soul' piece is extraordinary too; if it really does enhance the soul, then I've struck it big time!"
In her previous life, Yu Qingtan might not have been skilled in arts, but she enjoyed singing, and she knew how to sing some classic songs. Now with her Zither Art moderately proficient, Yu Qingtan felt she could play them according to their melodies.
Among them, the piece she thought of first for this kind of zither was "Love of Butterfly Lovers."
Without hesitation, Yu Qingtan started to hum the melody, then her fingers began to play.
And she got it right in one go.
After noting down the music, Yu Qingtan continued to practice.
...
"Ah, it hurts, it hurts so much!"
The next day, Yu Qingtan woke up in pain.
She felt intermittent, twisting pains in her lower abdomen, and there was blood everywhere beneath her.
Yu Qingtan's heart was filled with desolation.
"You deceitful bastard with the surname Fu, you didn't keep your promise; I won't let you off even if I become a ghost~"
"Ah~ I, the mighty transmigrator, am going to die at the hands of such petty thieves, I can't accept this~"
"System dad, system dad, save me, I don't want to die yet!"
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
As if grasping at a lifeline, Yu Qingtan endured the intense pain, supported herself against the wall to move, and opened the door.
It was indeed Shen Wanning.
"Wanning, I've been poisoned, save me!" Yu Qingtan cried out with a sobbing voice.
Shen Wanning was shocked as well, but quickly supported Yu Qingtan.
"Qing Tan, what's wrong with you?"
"I have this twisting pain in my belly, and I've bled a lot; someone has poisoned me, I've been poisoned!"
Shen Wanning had now entered the room and saw the situation clearly, her expression turning somewhat strange.
After helping Yu Qingtan back to her bed, Shen Wanning looked at her best friend clutching her stomach with a pained expression and said, "Qingtan, is it possible that you're not poisoned but instead it's your 'Heavenly Mallow' coming? I've heard some people experience severe pain when they have their 'Heavenly Mallow'."
These words struck Yu Qingtan like a bolt from the blue.
Her body stiffened there, and her face, already pale, continued to turn even whiter.
"Heavenly Mallow, hehe, Heavenly Mallow..."
"Right, I've only heard of poisoning involving spitting blood or bleeding from all orifices, never just bleeding from 'down there'~"
"Aren't these symptoms the same as menstrual pain? The original body has no related memories; this should be the first time, it's quite normal to have the first one at fourteen years old, isn't it~"
The clearer she thought about it, the more Yu Qingtan wanted to die. If she really died from poisoning now, she would be relieved.
Better than dying of laughter from all the other transmigrators.
At this time, Shen Wanning had already used a Cleansing Spell to tidy up the scene and had Yu Qingtan lie down, then boiled a pot of water.
"Qingtan, bear with it for a bit, I'm going to call for Madam Jia from the Pavilion!"
"Mhm~" Yu Qingtan absentmindedly responded.
It wasn't long before Shen Wanning brought an old woman with half-white hair over.
"Madam Jia, please take a look at her quickly!"
Yu Qingtan was still giving up.
Madam Jia's eyes gleamed as she carefully inspected Yu Qingtan.
Then she sniffed.
After touching Yu Qingtan's wrist, she infused a stream of spiritual power to examine her.
"Besides abdominal pain, are there any other discomforts?"
"No," Yu Qingtan, seeing the worried Shen Wanning by her side, finally perked up.
"No harm, it's just the Heavenly Mallow, no poisoning. I'll prescribe some medicine, and after resting for a few days, she'll be fine."
"Thank you, Madam Jia!" Shen Wanning let out a sigh of relief and said.
"Thank you, Madam Jia!" Yu Qingtan also breathed a sigh of relief.
Yu Qingtan knew of Madam Jia; she was Tianxiang Pavilion's own medical cultivator, with a Qi Cultivation of the ninth layer and highly skilled in medicine.
Madam Jia took out several sachets of medicine, a bundle of cotton cloth, and a red stone the size of a chicken egg from her storage bag.
"For the consultation and the medicine, 1 spirit stone will do, the cotton cloth is a gift for you. I also have a Sun Flame Jade, a first-grade low-level spiritual material that can alleviate pain. It's 7 spirit stones; young lady, would you like it?"
Yu Qingtan's mouth twitched and she said, "I'll take it!"
Yu Qingtan, in pain, fumbled in the drawer on the inside of her teeth, actually taking out 8 spirit stones from the System Space and giving them to Madam Jia.
After sending off Madam Jia, Shen Wanning complained, "That's really expensive!"
Yu Qingtan placed the Sun Flame Jade on her lower abdomen; warmth spread, and the pain truly eased quite a bit.
"As long as it works!"
Shen Wanning poured Yu Qingtan a cup of hot water, then went on to brew the medicine for her.
The medicine provided was a powder, which Madam Jia instructed to mix with boiling water and drink.
After drinking the water, Yu Qingtan took advantage of Shen Wanning brewing the medicine to pull down the curtains and put down the cotton cloth.
"What a situation~"
After taking the medicine, Yu Qingtan couldn't help but mutter.
"I'm cultivating immortality, so why do I even have such a thing as 'Heavenly Mallow'?"
"Who told you that cultivation stops it? But the interval is indeed longer than that of mortals. It's said that the higher the cultivation level, the longer the interval. Maybe at a high enough state, it disappears," Shen Wanning only had a vague understanding.
"Is that so!" Yu Qingtan thought to herself no wonder the higher one's cultivation level, the harder it is to have offspring.
"You get some rest first, I'll help you get leave with Manager Su tonight."
"Okay. Can you help me borrow some zither scores from the library too? I had some insights into my Zither Art yesterday and want to try other pieces."
"Sure. But you're working too hard, don't wear yourself out."
"Mhm!"
"Alright, I'm leaving for now, I'll bring you some porridge later."
"Wanning, thank you!"
"Come on, what are friends for~"