Song Cheng glanced at his strength data.
It was still 0~0.
After a brief thought, he quickly got up, grabbed the hardwood staff, tapped it, and walked to the front hall.
Today, the weather was good, so Rejuvenation Hall naturally couldn't be closed.
There were still enough herbs, plus the rumors of thieves, so the owner didn't go up the mountain to gather more.
As the hardwood staff tapped and dispersed sound waves, simple white lines spread in the ink world, forming a path.
Song Cheng bypassed the screen and came to the front hall, speaking to the small figure woven from simple white lines behind the medicine cabinet: "Wife, do you have any medicine to condition the body? I want to get a little stronger."
Upon hearing this, Tong Jia was initially dazed, then quickly raised her hand to cover her mouth, suppressing a smile: "You're not sick, what kind of body conditioning do you need?"
Then she added, "We still have some cured meat at home. Once the pharmacy closes, I'll get you some."
It's well known that in order to grow strong, one must first gain weight.
This inevitably involves eating meat.
Without it, "strength" cannot be improved.
Tong Jia's response had already provided Song Cheng with an answer.
Song Cheng had also seen his own appearance in the "cultivation memory."
Delicate, thin, but not sickly.
Medicinal conditioning was not the way to go.
Eating meat required money.
Rejuvenation Hall originally had some money, but much of it was "requisitioned" during the last military recruitment and grain levy, and the remaining bit was for emergencies and daily needs, not at all enough for him to eat meat to strengthen his body.
As Song Cheng was thinking, Tong Jia had already come around and playfully hit him, laughing softly: "How about we don't do it tonight, so this little fairy won't suck your marrow dry."
Song Cheng was not to be outdone and asked, "Suck?"
Tong Jia froze and then burst into laughter, saying, "You really think you're a tough guy?"
The young couple was teasing each other shamelessly when footsteps suddenly came from outside the door.
Soon after, two women walked to the door.
Song Cheng looked over, and the data for both matched.
[Strength: 0~0]
[Favor: 60]
"Doctor Tong, Doctor Tong, we need a consultation," one of the women shouted.
Tong Jia hurried over to perform the inspection, auscultation, inquiry, and palpation.
After a while...
Tong Jia said: "Sister-in-law Caihua, this is your old rheumatism, aggravated by the recent cold and damp weather, which has allowed cold evils to enter the body and merge with dampness. I just happen to have notopterygium and pine wood in the hall. You can take three packets home and drink them with medicinal wine for three days in a row to dispel the cold evils."
The woman gritted her teeth and asked, "How much is it?"
Tong Jia replied, "Three packets for thirty Wen."
"Thirty Wen?" The woman started bargaining, "That's too expensive."
Tong Jia said: "Sister-in-law Caihua, let me tell you, it's really not expensive. Not to mention, just this medicinal wine alone is not cheap."
The other woman said, "We both have the same issue, how about six packets for thirty Wen?"
After some bargaining, Tong Jia insisted on sixty Wen.
Setting aside the fact that medicinal wine needed to be soaked with precious herbs, just gathering notopterygium itself... She had to carry a bamboo basket to the mountain to gather them. It wasn't that cheap.
The two women hummed discontentedly, angrily said, "We don't want it," and then left supporting each other.
Tong Jia called out in chase: "The consultation fee is still two Wen!"
The two women ignored her completely and walked off.
Tong Jia stomped her foot in anger, let out a cute snort, and said, "If you go to the county to get this medicine, just one packet with the medicinal wine costs more than fifteen Wen!"
Song Cheng turned his head, and through the wall, he saw the two women stop at the corner outside the door, their favor dropping from 60 to 50.
They hadn't left, seeming to be discussing something.
After a while, another woman ran back and said: "Six packets for forty Wen, not a penny more!"
Tong Jia said: "Including the consultation fee, it's sixty-two Wen!"
The woman snorted coldly, saying, "Let the medicine rot in the shop!"
Then she walked away.
Tong Jia was so furious that she was gasping for breath.
Song Cheng walked to her back, raised his hand to gently massage her shoulder, and soothingly said: "What's there to be angry about, it's been like this all along."
Tong Jia leaned on his arm and sighed, "Brother Cheng is still the best."
Song Cheng said: "Actually, you could try complaining to them. It's not easy for anyone."
Tong Jia said, "Pah, I thought you were on my side."
Song Cheng couldn't help but laugh.
Ah...
This wife, was as fiery as ever.
...
That night.
The two did not make love, instead, they shed even their undergarments, quietly laying next to each other while listening to the fierce cold wind outside the window.
The warmth transmitted from each other contrasted with the cold wind, making it seem even warmer, like a small light in the deep sea or the dawn breaking the eternal night...
The next day...
[You spent a harmonious night with Tong Jia and gained 5 remaining points].
A happy night turned into a harmonious night again.
Song Cheng had already decided.
He added the 5 points to the "Pagoda Visualization Method."
Its progress thus became "Minor Accomplishment (6/8)."
There was no quantum leap, only the solid experience from those many out-of-body Divine Soul practices at midnight.
This experience gave him more assurance about "which weather conditions enable out-of-body experiences or night wandering," "what to do in adverse situations," "how long can one night wander at most before returning to the body," and "how the duration of night wandering might impact the body or even cause illness."
Even though in that "post-point allocation training," he was severely injured and often very ill, it did not affect the real him in the slightest.
All those experiences, acquired through forced trials and multiple injuries, directly became his experience.
As he was thinking, Tong Jia's explosive voice echoed from the front hall again.
Song Cheng, supporting himself with a crutch, quickly moved forward.
Through the wall and curtain, his gaze could still pierce through to the two "favor 50" figures.
It was precisely the two women from yesterday.
Sure enough, as he approached, he heard the women arguing with Tong Jia.
Their favor began to drop sharply. Just in the time it took for Song Cheng to walk over, it fell from 50 to 40.
This was hatred by association, as they hated Tong Jia, they also extended that hate to him as part of Rejuvenation Hall.
Song Cheng listened slightly.
Mostly, it was that the woman initially thought it didn't matter, but come night they couldn't hold on, so they still came to buy medicine the next day, but Tong Jia refused to make concessions.
Song Cheng stepped forward and patted on Tong Jia's shoulder gently.
"What is it?!"
The fierce woman turned around in a rage, full of killing intent.
Ever since she gave herself to the man, Tong Jia's true nature began to reveal... She no longer needed to maintain a maiden's restraint.
Song Cheng stepped in front of her, let out a heavy sigh, and politely said: "Sister-in-law Caihua, Sister-in-law Baojin, I understand it's not easy for you. These times are hard... hard for everyone."
Following that, Song Cheng and the two elder sisters started chatting about daily life, complaining to one another, venting grievances.
One woman's husband was captured to become a soldier, and another's son was taken, so of course, they were full of grievances.
The three talked for a long time, and as they spoke, their spirits lifted. The more they talked, the happier they were, developing a sense of late-blooming friendship.
The favor for the elder sisters slowly climbed from 40, quickly turning into favor 80.
Song Cheng knew this also had to do with his appearance.
Delicate, thin young men certainly had their charms.
About half an hour later, Sister-in-law Caihua said: "Forget it, forget it, let's just see it as favor to Brother Cheng, thirty Wen is thirty Wen, it's not easy for anyone."
Sister-in-law Baojin joined in.
The two women grabbed their medicine and left.
Tong Jia angrily said: "They still didn't pay the consultation fee!"
Song Cheng couldn't help but laugh.
Wife, truly adorable.
Tong Jia fiercely asked: "What are you laughing at?"
Song Cheng said: "I love my wife."
Tong Jia's face immediately reddened. Seeing no one around, she ran over, gave Song Cheng a quick kiss, and said: "Didn't know you had such skills."
Song Cheng said: "I..."
Before finishing his sentence, his voice abruptly stopped, and his eyes opened wide revealing muddied, white jade-like pupils, staring intently at the road's entrance on the yellow soil pavement.
In his eyes, a terrifying red mist was drifting by.
The mist meandered and changed weirdly, seeming incomplete as if it was still forming.
The blood-red of the mist appeared particularly haunting in the blind man's pitch-black world.
Suddenly, he felt cold in his hands and feet, as if thrown into an ice cave. Immediately after, a sense of instinctive understanding about the game "Endless Hell" caused him to hurriedly avert his gaze.
"What are you looking at?" Tong Jia asked.
She followed his gaze. The entrance down the yellow soil road had a field with deadwood rattling bags and a gray old tree standing still, casting a cold shadow.
Nothing else was there.
Song Cheng took a deep breath and glanced again with his peripheral vision, but the blood-red was gone.
'Was I mistaken?'
Song Cheng hastily checked the panel.
At the bottom of the panel, that gray iron-like line [Forbidden: Not Unlocked] had unknowingly cracked, as if something eerie was bulging, breaking out, and poised to crawl into this world completely.
In his past life, Song Cheng had browsed the player forum for "Endless Hell."
Many people summarized the rules, each varied.
But one was universally recognized.
Forbidden... is like a program. Its creation is "coding," its possession is "loading," its triggering is "execution." Once executed, horror is bound to descend.
If you don't want to be drawn into the forbidden, it is best... not to use any senses to contact forbidden, do not watch it, do not hear it, do not know it.
Absolutely don't, never do!