Chapter 5 A wealth of knowledge
Li An slowly opened her eyes and found herself inside the thick blanket. She could not help but frown as she knew that if she made a mistake, then the mountain of blanket would surely fall on her and suffocate her.
She cried herself to sleep trying to call for the aunty who helped her, but she already knew that the aunty would not come back.
"She has intended to leave me alone after my mother died… Why would she do that?" she thought as she felt a bit aggrieved.
Suddenly, Seedee inside her subconscious mind muttered.
"People are generally selfish… You cannot expect them to serve you without reward. Only a few people have such a kind heart and it is rare."
Upon hearing the words of Seedee, Li An felt a bit comforted.
"I know that you will not leave me, right?" Li An suddenly asked.
"Child… I am but a seed of knowledge. I will not have a human-like body as my purpose is to provide knowledge. I am but a tree, in which my fruits would grant gifts to those who are lucky enough to have them… That is my purpose… that is why I exist." Seedee said in a solemn tone.
Li An did not say anything and just looked at the ceiling.
"Seedee… Will I be able to survive without the help of that aunty?" Li An suddenly asked.
"I will give you knowledge on how you can survive until you are able to move…" Seedee said as Li An suddenly felt her mind being sucked into the void.
Suddenly, Li An saw in front of her countless numbers of floating books.
She could not help but stare in agape as she looked at all the books around her like the stars in the skies.
"Wow… How… How will I be able to learn them all…" she muttered in amazement.
"Everything starts with a single step…" Seedee said.
"Help me gain at least 10% of knowledge in my current form… Then I will help you out…" Seedee suddenly requested.
"How?"
"Let's start with this…" with Seedee's voice a book slowly floated towards Li An.
"Basic divine body enhancement exercise…" she reads.
"Is this different from what I have been doing?" she asked.
"Yes, it is a bit different… What you have been doing is breathing and gathering of natural energy around you and infusing them into your flesh and bones… Your body will become stronger in that process, but you will not be able to move normally yet…" Seedee said as a figure appears in the void.
The figure is sitting calmly and following the flow of energy around it. Then suddenly, the figure glowed brightly.
After the figure glowed, the figure began to follow a set of exercises. The exercises are simple, from rotating the wrist and feet, to stretching the arms and legs. Then she saw the figure stretching its spine and then slowly standing up.
After a few minutes, the figure could now stand. While standing the figure began doing more complicated exercises which strengthened its body further.
After that, Seedee's voice appeared in the void.
"If you do this for 6 more days, then your body, though still small, could already move freely…"
Upon hearing his voice, Li An felt elated.
"Let's start then…" Li An felt excited as she began following the practice to strengthen her body.
Though she did not eat food, the natural energy she absorbed strengthened her body little by little. It eliminated her fatigue and hunger.
…
Meanwhile, outside the cold palace in its tall walls, a figure was panting heavily while she helplessly patted the walls. She is now feeling anxious as she has been walking for a long time and still did not find a way out.
In her frustration, she suddenly kicked a rock.
"This is unfair!" she growled.
The rock flew to another wall and into the vines covering the wall.
The maid wanted to curse out loud when she heard a weird sound as the rock seemed to have hit something.
She excitedly walked towards the vine covering and began to remove them from the tall wall.
Soon, she saw a small wooden door. One could only enter that path while crouching.
With an excited glint in her eyes, she carefully opened the door which seemed to be stuck into something. The maid did not give up and pulled harder.
But still the door did not budge.
Suddenly, the maid noticed something strange.
"Ah, this door would open outwards…" she hit her forehead for being too impatient.
She carefully pushed the door and she heard a loud creak coming from it.
She paused for a bit and stopped. She listened for a while and when she heard nothing, she continued pushing the door until she was able to open it enough for her to fit in.
"Hahaha… Hello, outside world… Here I come!" she said with a wide grin on her face.
As she passes through the door, she even closes it. She noticed that there is a latch on the door with a wooden lock. She did not hesitate to lock it and then looked at the small tunnel.
She carefully followed the tunnel and she noticed that it was dark.
"I guess it is already night time outside…" she muttered while she took out a light ember.
After walking for a while, the maid noticed the opening of the small cave.
She walked hurriedly and slowly emerged outside with a wide grin. However, her wide grin slowly dies down as she stares at what is in front of her. A palace soldier standing with hand akimbo looks at the maid with a smirk on his face.
"Where are you going… little servant?" the guard said with an evil smile on his face.
"I… I…" the maid wanted to run away, but a large hand grabbed her collar and lifted her like she was nothing.
"What should we do with this prey?" the palace guard who caught the maid asked while looking at the maid lecherously.
"All of the women in the palace are the emperor's women… Do not dare touch them…" a stern voice suddenly interrupted the guards.
When they turned around, they saw a large and burly figure standing by the door.
"Captain!" the guards said in panic as they quickly saluted.
The burly captain walked to the maid who was now trembling in fear.
"Is Concubine Xu already dead?" he asked.
The maid blinked for a while and with a trembling body nodded her head.
She did not expect to end up in the barracks of the cold palace guards. It seems that the entrance she found was their secret entrance to the cold palace.
She heard that the guard would secretly monitor the cold palace. It seems that this is their secret entrance.
"Since she is dead, then you should have a new master…" the guard captain said as he grabbed her hand.
"Follow me…" the captain said while he pulled her towards the door.
The other guards could only look as the maid walked away.
"Damn it… She was a fine woman… if I could have her as my wife, then I would already be satisfied…" a guard commented.
"Who are you kidding, old Wang?" someone interrupted.
"Yeah, your last wife was a young commoner… She was also a beauty but died after you married her… Hahaha…" another one chimed in.
"Yeah… She died in bed! Hahaha!" Someone teased me.
"You guys! I did not kill her! She committed suicide!" the guard called Old Wang suddenly shouted in anger.
"Hahaha… Why would she not? With that ugly face of yours, she was actually scared that she thought married a beast… Hehehe!"
The other guards in the room laughed out loud.
Old Wang wanted to be angry when she could not help but laugh. His previous wife was truly a good one. She was a fine piece, but she killed herself just because he forced himself on her after they got married.
He was insulted at that time that he even beat her corpse after she was already dead.
…
Meanwhile, the maid was taken back to the harem. After a few questioning, she did not expose the little princess in the palace. Though she left the little infant in there, she is not cruel enough to expose her to these people.
She knew what would happen if they discovered that the hated Concubine Xu had a child.
These people would skin the infant alive and burn her flesh and bones. They would cruelly torture the baby as they would think that she would also be a vile spawn like her mother.
And so, because of that, Li An was spared and was able to live another day.
In the cold palace, Li An's small figure began moving her small limbs in the air. Soon, she was already able to control her limbs as she slowly removed the other blanket around her.
After she was able to move freely, she heard the voice of Seedee.
"I have gained 5% because of this exercise…"
"If I can reach 10% then I would be able to make you physically enter the void…" Seedee said with an excited tone.