As the sect leader, Zhan Xuehan was usually very busy. She had already spent several days here while Su Luo was unconscious. Seeing that Su Luo was in good health, she decided to leave.
Before leaving, she reminded Xie Hanzhu to take good care of Su Luo.
After she left, Su Luo finally felt a weight lift off her chest.
Though she had appeared calm while facing Zhan Xuehan, inside she was anxious, fearing that Zhan Xuehan might notice that the soul inside this body had been secretly replaced.
Given Zhan Xuehan's affection for the original owner, if she discovered that Su Luo was an imposter, she might end her with a single strike in a fit of rage.
Though, if dying would send her back to her original world... it didn't sound so bad…
As if hearing her thoughts, Xiao Ba suddenly spoke in a ghostly tone, "Don't even think about it. If you die here, you really die."
Hearing this, Su Luo couldn't help but sigh.
Xie Hanzhu, who had just escorted Zhan Xuehan out, hurried back inside when she heard Su Luo sigh, worriedly asking if something was wrong.
Su Luo leaned against the headboard, one hand on her forehead, looking somewhat weak. "Nothing, just a bit dizzy. I need to rest a little more."
Xie Hanzhu, who was simple-minded and always trusted her, nodded and softly said, "Then you should rest well, Senior Sister. Don't worry about being found out; I'll handle Meng Shuying."
Su Luo had been pretending to be sick, but hearing this made her head actually start to hurt.
Right, she had forgotten about this ticking time bomb that needed to be dealt with.
She had arrived early in the story; Meng Shuying was still just a servant disciple and hadn't officially joined the Qingxu Sect.
The protagonist, Wen Miaomiao, hadn't even appeared yet.
Thinking of Meng Shuying, Su Luo sat up and stopped pretending, directly asking Xie Hanzhu, "Where is Meng Shuying?"
Xie Hanzhu responded matter-of-factly, "She's locked in the woodshed. But don't worry, Senior Sister, I've already given her a good warning."
Her tone was casual, and her expression calm. From her attitude, Su Luo could tell that she and the original owner had likely done this kind of thing many times before.
Indeed, those who seek trouble will find it.
Thinking of the weak and helpless Meng Shuying, who was currently locked in the woodshed and would later become a ruthless villain, Su Luo felt a headache coming on.
She cursed her bad luck, being stuck in the body of such a low-level cannon fodder, threatened by a system, unable to simply turn over a new leaf.
The future looked bleak and steep.
Seeing Su Luo suddenly spacing out, Xie Hanzhu waved her hand in front of her eyes.
Su Luo turned her gaze towards her, and then her look changed to one of pity.
Poor Xie Hanzhu, like herself, was so young and already destined to be struck down by the villain.
Thinking of how Meng Shuying was punished because of them, Su Luo felt as if the bed beneath her had grown spikes, making it impossible to stay. She quickly got out of bed and said to Xie Hanzhu, "Where is Meng Shuying locked up? Take me to her."
Xie Hanzhu, thinking she wanted to go mock Meng Shuying, showed a reluctant expression and cautiously suggested, "She's already been punished; maybe we should just leave it…"
Su Luo insisted, "I just want to check on her."
Meng Shuying was locked in the woodshed behind the kitchen, a place usually used to confine servant disciples who had committed offenses.
In the Qingxu Sect, there were three categories of disciples: inner disciples, outer disciples, and servant disciples.
Servant disciples were mostly ordinary people who wished to cultivate but lacked talent. They were more like servants than disciples. When they made mistakes, they could be punished directly by the outer disciples in charge, without needing a ruling from the Disciplinary Hall.
The outer disciple in charge of Meng Shuying was named Han Yi, a man in his thirties, who had a decent appearance but slanted eyebrows that gave him a rather unfriendly look.
When Su Luo arrived, he was scolding two servant disciples.
Seeing Su Luo and Xie Hanzhu appear, he quickly waved them off, then put on a smile and bent slightly at the waist, respectfully greeting them, "Senior Sisters, what an honor to have you here. If only you had let me know in advance, I could have prepared a proper welcome."
Before Su Luo could say anything, Xie Hanzhu stepped forward, snorting through her nose, and coldly retorted, "Senior Sister Luowei can go wherever she pleases; why would she need to inform you in advance?"
Han Yi, used to Xie Hanzhu's arrogance, lightly tapped his mouth with his fingertips and grinned, "Forgive my slip of the tongue. Of course, Senior Sisters can go wherever they wish without needing to inform someone like me."
Only then did Xie Hanzhu nod in satisfaction.
Su Luo, uncomfortable with such ostentatious behavior, tugged at Xie Hanzhu's sleeve to signal her to stop talking and then asked Han Yi, "Where is Meng Shuying?"
Han Yi led them to a low building with a wooden door secured by a brass lock.
As he searched for the key on his person, he boasted, "She offended you, Senior Sister, so of course, she needed to be properly punished. I haven't fed her in days. That kid is stubborn; she made a fuss when she was first locked up, but after missing a few meals, she's quieted down. She hasn't made a sound for the past couple of days, so she's probably learned her lesson."
When the door was unlocked, the contents of the woodshed were revealed.
It was low and cramped, without windows, filled with piles of firewood of various sizes.
Cultivators had excellent vision, so Su Luo immediately saw someone lying on their side atop a pile of firewood to the right.
The person lay facing inward, showing only their back to them.
She was dressed in the gray robes of a servant disciple, her hair disheveled. Amidst the scattered strands of black hair, traces of bloodstains were faintly visible on her back.
Despite the sound of the wooden door opening, the person did not react, remaining motionless.
Han Yi called out loudly, but when she ignored him, he felt a little embarrassed and strode forward to grab Meng Shuying.
Su Luo frowned slightly and, with a subtle gesture, released the Immortal-Binding Rope from her sleeve.
Caught off guard, Han Yi was tightly bound.
Ignoring Xie Hanzhu's astonished gaze, Su Luo walked over to Meng Shuying and squatted down to examine her closely.
Meng Shuying was very thin; even with clothes on, her shoulder blades were clearly visible.
She was also very small, not even as tall as Su Luo, clearly just a child.
Su Luo hesitated for a moment before reaching out and gently touching her neck.
Her fingers were cool, like an April spring rain, carrying a hint of mountain chill.
This contrasted sharply with the abnormal heat emanating from Meng Shuying's body.
When Su Luo's fingers touched her neck, Meng Shuying's body trembled.
Even in unconsciousness, Meng Shuying remained in a defensive posture.
But she was too weak, making that defensive stance seem almost laughable.
Like a butterfly flapping its wings desperately to resist a storm.
Such is the world of cultivation.
Su Luo silently thought to herself.
This child, so young, would still be in school in her original world.
Here, she was locked in a woodshed, beaten to this state.
Yes, beaten.
Her back was marked with numerous tears in her clothing, each tear stained with dark red blood, looking as though she had been whipped or struck with a slender stick.
Without further hesitation, Su Luo lifted the girl into her arms, her expression grave as she told Xie Hanzhu, "She's sick. I'm taking her back now; you go fetch Uncle Master Yunfei."
As soon as she finished speaking, Su Luo felt a sharp pain in her head, as if someone were stabbing it with needles, causing her to nearly drop Meng Shuying.
Thankfully, Xie Hanzhu quickly ran over to support her.
"What are you doing?!" Xiao Ba screamed in her mind.
"She's seriously ill!" Su Luo snapped back.
"She's the main villain, she won't die that easily!" Xiao Ba's voice rose with each word. "Besides, this is part of your task!"
It paused, then suspiciously asked, "Did you forget you have a task?"
Xiao Ba enlarged the system's task panel, and large, dazzling golden characters lit up in Su Luo's mind.
[Main Task One: Ascend the Immortal Platform]
Ascend the Immortal Platform, awaken the spiritual roots, and receive the immortal fate.
Reminded by Xiao Ba, Su Luo recalled a similar plot from the original novel.
Cultivating immortality required spiritual roots, and awakening them was the first step. Out of the countless mortals, only one in ten thousand might awaken spiritual roots.
For ordinary people wishing to cultivate, the only way was to step onto the Immortal Platform. If they had the right destiny, the Immortal Platform would awaken their spiritual roots.
The Qingxu Sect opened the Immortal Platform once every three years, and when it did, families from affiliated cultivation clans and prosperous towns would send their eligible youths in hopes of awakening their spiritual roots.
Only those who awakened spiritual roots could be accepted as outer disciples of the Qingxu Sect and begin their long journey of cultivation.
Next month, the Qingxu Sect would open the Immortal Platform.
In the original novel, Meng Shuying missed this opportunity to connect with her immortal fate and remained a servant disciple in the Qingxu Sect for another three years, enduring countless hardships and humiliations, before finally standing out during the next opening of the Immortal Platform and being accepted as an inner disciple by Si Qiongfeng, the Peak Lord of Qionghua Peak.
Su Luo's first task after transmigrating was to prevent Meng Shuying from stepping onto the Immortal Platform.