[Vol. 1] Chapter 20 - A Gland, a Mirror, and a Mountain of Trouble
Chirp, chirp, chirp.
Early morning in the Azure Mountains—specifically, the Northern Lin Mountain.
[You have used 1/3 slots:]
- Node 3: High North Mountain Peak, The Azure Lin-Lao-Chen Trial Proving Grounds, Heaven-Devouring Mist
(Evening / March 15, 0907 / 6:23 PM)
Xiaolan stared at her system with dead fish eyes. Thanks to another sleepless night, dark circles hung beneath her gaze. She was utterly drained. Her cultivation... was gone. She couldn't feel it at all.
Was it because of what happened yesterday? The memories felt hazy. She couldn't recall what took place in the bathroom, or during her differentiation.
Sigh.
But thankfully... thankfully, this original body had once been excited about the prospect of differentiating, so there were scrolls about it.
It was remarkable how people in this world determined whether someone was an Omega or an Alpha simply by feeling around the neck.
She pressed her palm to her side of her neck, confirming it for what felt like the dozenth time. She was...
—An Omega.
Her throat had gone raspy from earlier:
"EEEEEHHHHHH?!?!"
Wait, wait, wait. No. No way. Hey, hey, hey, what the hell is this, game developers? It can't be!
A noble family on the path of swords. A mischievous, willful young noble. The pieces clicked together with horrifying clarity.
She could be one of those female leads—or even a vicious rival character, pitted against female leads over male leads!
In short, she had cried bitterly.
The scrolls had detailed the structure of neck glands:
For Alphas, the gland is prominent and veiny, hot to the touch due to high blood flow.
For Omegas, the gland is smooth, unadorned, and stump-like, the skin noticeably thinner and more delicate.
For Betas, a gland may exist, but it's faint and underdeveloped...barely present at all.
"It'd be better to be a Beta... I don't ask for much. Even not being an Alpha is fine... just not Omega." Xiaolan's inner lament was bitter.
In the Crimson Dynasty, if you're an Omega, there's a 90% chance you're destined to be the female lead.
And being the female lead means trouble... plus those insufferable male leads. She's a full-blown lesbian! A yuri enthusiast! A lily lover through and through!
Being an Omega was a death flag. She needed to cover up her scent. Thankfully, the window was open, so her pheromones wouldn't linger long.
She searched and managed to find an expensive-looking perfume. This seemed to be a gift someone had given her?
There was a name written on it: Chen Mingyuan.
She applied the perfume but immediately crinkled her nose. The scent was too thick, too cloying. No wonder...the gift looked expensive, but the smell was overwhelmingly powerful, sharp as citrus.
But there was another problem, one she couldn't ignore...
Tok-tok—
"Young miss." A voice, polite yet flat. It was Bai Yu. Standing before him, she could practically feel the fiery pressure radiating from his presence. "Elder Guang summons you. Afterwards, I am to begin your training."
This was the problem: the Lin family was...obsessed with the sword. Hardly ideal for someone craving a laid-back, peaceful existence.
Following Bai Yu, she stepped off the porch and out of her yard, traversing the cobbled pathways. Maidservants bustled about, attending to their morning duties.
Puddles dotted the ground—the icicles had finally melted, though the trees remained bare, still waiting for their leaves and blossoms.
This time, they didn't turn left toward the path leading upward. Instead, they walked right, descending.
The path remained cobbled, with stone steps guiding them safely downward. They passed tiered platforms with spacious areas where people could walk or even spar, fences lining the edges to prevent falls.
There were also courtyards, similar to her own residence, likely where other successors lived.
Eventually, they arrived. From what she understood, this was the middle part of the mountain.
This area housed some Elders, those with minimal power who managed the countless successors and heirs, even before the original body had come into existence.
She visualized it:
HIGH NORTH MOUNTAIN PEAK
↑
PROVING GROUNDS
(Heaven-Devouring Mist)
↓
TIERED PLATFORMS & COURTYARDS
- Heirs' residences (including Xiaolan's)
- Successor quarters
- Servant quarters
- Training and sparring areas
↓
MIDDLE MOUNTAIN
- Lesser Elders' residences
- Where they are NOW
↓
LOWER MOUNTAIN
↓
FOOTHILLS / OUTER CLAN
"We're here, young miss."
Bai Yu's voice snapped her from her daze. She looked up to find a simplistic-style eastern house, yet its elegance remained undeniable. She stepped forward, staring at the door, which felt overbearing.
Bai Yu's voice came from behind Xiaolan. "This one will await you in your training yard." And with that, he vanished with a whoosh
Once he's gone, she attempted to slide the door open. It wouldn't budge. She realized it required qi to open, but she was completely empty.
Quietly, she knelt outside.
Click. The sound of a ceramic cup tapping against a table. "Filial child. You don't dare open the door?"
??? It's not that I don't dare—it's that I'm too weak.
Xiaolan could only voice her frustration internally. She was certain she'd be killed the moment anyone discovered she was useless.
"You've grown." Elder Guang's voice was gruff, then he continued, "You've been willful and spoiled rotten. It's good you've finally seen your situation clearly..." Everything unsaid hung in the air as he sighed from behind the screen door.
"Mmm..." Xiaolan murmured quietly, piecing it together: Elder Guang and Xiaolan certainly shared a father-daughter bond!
"You're meant for the Clan Leader's mantle, just like the others." His voice roughened. "Bai Yu will temper you for the clan's sake."
A long pause. When he spoke again, his tone was softer, almost weary.
"No more willfulness, child. Be like your brother." A beat. Then, with weight: "Tomorrow. Lu Xiashi arrives."
She caught the key word: Brother. She had a brother. It must be Lin Xiao!
After exchanging goodbyes, she respectfully took her leave. On the way back, she noticed that Bai Yu was already gone... he was probably already waiting for her in her yard.
She didn't know how she left the place. She was utterly spent. First, realizing she couldn't gather qi. Then, figuring out she was an Omega. It was all bad news, everywhere...
Upon arriving at her yard, she saw Bai Yu standing with his hands behind his back.
He nodded in her direction. At that moment, the place looked a lot like hell itself. Sure, the Crimson Dynasty had its own battle sequences, but that was when she was just using keyboards and a mouse!
"Young miss, how about we train in another area? This place seems too cramped to train in."
Xiaolan looked around her own yard, this was the exact view one would see when looking out from the window of her house. "Where are we going?"
She followed Bai Yu out from her tiered yard to another tiered platform. This was a spacious platform, similar to the ones she had seen when they were walking toward Elder Guang's house.
"The place is nice."
"Every tiered platform and building is designed by master artisans, craftsmen, and builders. Each year, before the Revelation Ritual, people are sent to maintain and clean every terrace."
"Every... year?"
Xiaolan wore a comical expression. Every year, people were sent to clean platforms that stretched across the mountainsides. And she had seen countless of them when she had gone up toward the trial grounds and to the Elder's place.
The Shadow Guard made a face that suggested he was annoyed, or perhaps serious, but it held a distinctive killing intent that no matter how messy and clumsy he tried to make himself appear, it could not be hidden.
"There's a mirror here."
An obvious attempt to change the subject, but Xiaolan didn't mind. The full-length mirror was set in a corner of the platform, close to the railings.
"This mirror helps to correct one's own posture and stance," Bai Yu spoke politely.
Looking at herself, she had a spirited face with sharp jaws yet soft cheeks. Despite her youthful appearance, she possessed a very heroic kind of charm. One might even mistake her for some kind of devious, handsome young master.
As she looked up, she saw Bai Yu staring at her with a face that said, "What a pitiful creature."
"Have you never looked at yourself in the mirror?"
"That's not true. I've looked in the mirror multiple times."
"Mhm." Bai Yu decided not to say more, lest this one get hurt further. It should be true...the young miss, though she had been picked up from the streets back then, was now raised here as an heir.
The successors and Alpha heirs shouldn't be mistreated this much by the master, right? Otherwise, elders who show favoritism and interfere with other heirs would be... executed.
"It's just that you look like you've never seen yourself before." Bai Yu offered a polite smile.
Damn it.
That was because it was true! Xiaolan was indeed not used to looking at her new face.
The training began.
"This is basic physical training. Speed doesn't matter, just run around the outside of the line in the training ground as much as you can."
After Bai Yu finished speaking, her head suddenly throbbed.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. It was just a momentary headache."
Sigh. It's here.
The training event that can overcome insufficient luck. A growth opportunity permitted only to the wealthy.
She loved the game Crimson Dynasty because it was different from other otome games, your background and origin is random every time you replay the game.
If you're poor, you'll die. But if lucky, you lived. Right now, this character named Xiaolan had never appeared in the main storyline, which meant there was a high chance she'd die.
Her luck maybe... no, it was DEFINITELY the worst. To overcome it, strength was needed!
Originally, to utilize this event, Xiaolan would have had to start with part-time jobs to save spirit stones. But now?
She had the identity of a heir.
Jingle.
She rummaged through her pocket and held out 25 spirit stones. Bai Yu stared at her hand.
This pouch of spirit stones had actually been on her table. Inside was 500 spirit stones, probably this original body's allowance.
She wasn't sure if it was just a coincidence, but she had received the same "gift" from the game on her birthday...
"What are you doing?"
"Training fee."
"I am your Shadow Guard, assigned by Master. You don't need to pay."
"...Oh."
"Put the money away and start running."