[Vol. 1] Chapter 30 - Benefit of Doubt
"Xiaolan!" ×2
Xiashi and Feiyu rushed to Xiaolan's side, who remained unconscious from the concussion.
Feiyu grunted, her chest tightening from the surge of raw power and tainted qi from the fruit she had eaten. The sudden burst of energy was wreaking havoc on her body. "Let me cultivate first..."
Her face pale, she sat cross-legged and began circulating her qi. Her aura flared around her, revealing herself to be a middle-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Xiashi narrowed her eyes at her, then at the tree, muttering, "Why was there only one fruit?"
She bit her lower lip and focused on Xiaolan first. Thankfully, the stalactites hadn't impaled Xiaolan or turned her brain to smithereens. Something must have protected her.
Somewhere unseen, black qi dissipated from Xiaolan's body.
Xiashi's gaze went to Feiyu nearby, a glint in her eyes. Only a fool would believe Feiyu had come to do a "debt of honor." It could only ever mean this Alpha was here for something else.
Debt of honor was done by Alphas to save face. If you defeated someone in combat while they were weakened or unable to fight, you owed a debt of honor.
Beating a cripple was shameful, so you "protect" them until they could fight again.
But this practice wasn't done much, especially in newer generations.
"Could it be..."
No. She had her own thoughts, but thinking too wildly would be irrational. It would only lead to more mistakes.
***
Five times.
Five damn times! That's how many times she'd been knocked unconscious throughout her new life. She deserved an A+ in endurance at this point. Xiaolan let out a heavy, beleaguered sigh.
After the abduction incident, she had woken up to the familiar ceiling of her own room. Xiashi had carefully explained how the whole situation was resolved:
The guards who had fled during the bandit attack had actually reported to Master Lin, after all the attack on two heirs and the only surviving Lu clan member was a matter that exceeded the management of a minor Elder like Elder Guang.
Lin Feiyu had held off the swarms long enough for the dispatched guards to save them.
And Xiashi herself had circulated her own qi into Xiaolan's body to aid her recovery.
Xiaolan groaned as she sat up, cursing inwardly. Then, she paused as a sudden thought struck her.
"Ah! I forgot about A-Ling!" It wasn't over yet! She had tasked A-Ling with handling her loot. But what can I even bribe her with now...
Her mind raced. She wasn't exactly "favored", and her room was a carefree mess devoid of any hidden treasures.
As for swords, a girl like A-Ling probably wouldn't like them. Jewelry? She possessed none of any value.
Promises of future favor were nothing but empty words from a disgraced young 'undifferentiated alpha'.
Spirit stones? Right, she had 500 spirit stones!
Ecstatic, she went to the table where she had put the sack, but what met her eyes was nothing.
The 500 spirit stones were gone.
"Where are my spirit stones? My rich, wealthy life?"
Xiaolan's hands flew to the table, patting it down as if the sack might materialize under her frantic fingers. Nothing. She dropped to her knees, checking under the table. Still nothing. Her heart hammered against her ribs.
"No, no, no, no, no—"
She scrambled across the room, yanking open drawers, rifling through her robes, overturning the small ceramic vase on her nightstand. A maid had to have moved it. Or maybe she'd put it somewhere else. Maybe she was just forgetting. Maybe—
Her hands trembled as she tore apart her bedding, shaking out each blanket like a woman possessed. The mattress was flipped. Pillows went flying.
Nothing.
Xiaolan collapsed onto the bare mattress, her chest heaving.
"Five hundred spirit stones," she whispered, her voice cracking. "Five hundred. That's... that's a fortune. That's a small fortune. That's—"
She pressed her palms against her eyes, but the tears came anyway, hot and humiliating.
Stupid. Stupid. How could I just leave it there? How could I forget? After everything I went through?
Her breath came in ragged gasps. The cake. The system. The one good thing that had happened to her since waking up in this cursed body. And she'd just... left it. On the table. Like it was nothing.
The tears kept coming.
Minutes passed. Or maybe hours. Time had a way of slipping when you were busy feeling sorry for yourself.
Slowly, the sobs quieted into sniffles. The sniffles became shaky breaths. And somewhere in the hollow space between despair and exhaustion, a cold, clear thought surfaced.
Wait.
Xiaolan lowered her hands, staring at the overturned room around her.
Who could have taken them?
The guards outside her door? They never came in. Elder Guang's orders. Meixiu? She'd been at the door, but she never entered. A maid delivering food? She would have seen them. Would have reported it.
Unless...
She sat up straighter, her mind kicking into gear despite the dull ache behind her eyes.
The only people who had been in her room while she was unconscious were the herbalist Qi Ze... and Xiashi.
Xiashi.
The name sat in her mind like a stone. A kind, frail, innocent girl from a fallen family. Orphaned. Penniless. Living off the charity of a clan that barely acknowledged her existence.
Wouldn't someone like that need spirit stones?
Xiaolan's fingers curled into fists. She could accuse her. Demand answers. Confront her right now and—
And then what?
She let out a shaky breath, her hands unclenching. If she accused Xiashi without proof, she'd lose any chance of friendship. And if she was wrong... if Xiashi was truly innocent...
Xiaolan groaned softly, pressing the heels of her palms against her eyes.
First, give her the benefit of the doubt.
"…I don't want to be lonely again."
No matter what, she would befriend her, even if her original intention had been to use the girl for information.
An idea struck her. "I could just grab the jade tome from the Lin treasury." she nodded to herself, feeling immensely proud of her brilliant idea.
Hidden loot was scattered all throughout the Crimson Dynasty map. If this was the Lin clan, then of course they would possess a valued treasure like the jade tome.
Having confirmed she herself was a member of the Lin, it meant the jade tome was here.
But then, it felt like cold ice water had been dumped over her head from head to toe. It also meant she was related to that punchable bitch of a male lead, Lin Xiao, who called her 'pathetic.'
"Gaahh! That insufferable son of a bitch! I'll have his head!" She seethed, her knuckles white, as she directed her anger and grievance toward the male lead.
She slid her door open with a plan. "I'll just request the jade tome," she muttered, stepping out and immediately freezing on the spot.
Standing right in front of her was the Grim Reaper himself, Zhou Wenhao.
"Oh?" he smirked, his long white hair flowing as if in a private breeze. "You? Interested in the jade tome?"