When Xie Ziyuan regained consciousness, the prison door was opened slightly. He thought he had seen it wrong if not for the fact he was currently sprawling on the floor.
Someone had released her from these cursed chains.
He slowly got up, his senses scanning the prison room in alert.
There weren't even guards assigned there since those people regard him as good as dead. They were just waiting to collect his dead body.
He didn't know who had opened the door to his prison room. Was it a trap? Someone with a sick mind wanting to test and torture him again?
In the quiet night, the amethyst-haired man with a snake tail morphed into a small snake.
His instinct told him it wasn't a trap. He slithered out of the prison room, heading outside and disappeared in the woods.
He just didn't know the reason this anonymous person wanted to help him. Did they feel pity?
Even after he escaped that hellhole, he wouldn't have a lot of time left, anyway. At least he didn't want to give these heinous people the last thing they wanted from him—his carcass.
They must have never expected someone would release him, huh? Whether it was a traitor among these people or someone who had accidentally wandered in the abandoned-like building, they had done him a great favor.
Nevertheless, he still couldn't let go of his wariness.
Once he was far and safe enough, he morphed back into his snake beastman form. He noticed there was something unusual tied to his waist. He didn't realize it earlier because of the numb effect from the power binding chains.
The chains had restricted his power.
He touched the item on his waist. A pouch. There were some things inside.
"Why do you help me?" He asked no one in particular.
Perhaps, the person was still watching him. But no one answered back, he couldn't even sense a gush of wind. He felt stupid talking to himself.
Inside the pouch, there was a key, some potions, gold coins…
He inspected the potion and drank it. His wounds tingled, and a cool sensation spread through his entire body. He was slowly recovering.
It wasn't that he didn't have a guard up against the possibility of some poisoning him with the potion. No poison could fight against the current one in his body. If he could recover with poison, he would still be willing to take it.
Under the moonlight, his eyes flashed with sinister light. The faces of these people flashed in his eyes, and boundless hatred felt like it was about to overflow from his chest.
He slithered away, deeper into the woods. Just as he was about to grab for another potion, the key slipped out from his pouch.
Something incredible happened in front of him…
***
Su Yining didn't have the mood to play any game anymore for the rest of the night. The older one had come looking for trouble with her during the day, the younger one during the night.
She was utterly spent. Only a good sleep could heal her.
Su Ruolan was just like the younger version of Zhao Yuyin, or she could say a better and more clever version.
She managed to seize every opportunity to present herself as a magnanimous and good child in front of Su Mingze, earning his recognition. Compared to the troublesome Su Yining, she was more accepting of her mother's remarriage.
"Sister…" Su Ruolan's soft voice floated from the phone, making her have goosebumps all over. "Did my mother come to you earlier?"
"Yes." Su Yining answered succinctly, waiting to hear what this girl was up to again.
"Sorry about that, sister…" She paused, her voice growing soft. "Mom is feeling guilty for making you live with grandparents all these years. She doesn't know how to approach you, and I know her method is wrong. I will apologize on her behalf."
Su Yining's mouth twitched. Weren't those two too deep in their play about a reluctant child whose father remarried? They were still using the same scenario just like years ago. How outdated.
"Yes, yes." She rolled her eyes. "Are you done now?"
"So, do you forgive Mom, sister?" Su Ruolan sounded excited. "How about I invite you to a meal as an apology?"
Su Yining rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming. "I am busy. I don't have time."
"I can adjust it to your schedule," Su Ruolan insisted, her voice growing impatient. Su Yining raised her eyebrows. This pair of mother and daughter sounded so anxious and proactive.
Are they in big trouble? Nevertheless, she didn't care. Whatever goodwill they showed toward her, it was similar to drinking a favorite drink with poisoned glass. Something bitter would await her.
Treating her to a meal? Ha, it would be a meal that stripped her off her grandparents' inheritance. They would surely find a way to snatch it from her.
"I don't have time." Su Yining calmly repeated and hung up the call.
Su Ruolan kept on calling her again, so she had to turn off the phone. Utterly exhausted and irritated, she went to sleep.
Meeting her stepmother in the street today was her worst luck! She was sure it wasn't a coincidence. With that thought in mind, she drifted off to sleep.
Su Yining didn't have the time to check the game on her phone again until she returned from her work. It was already late in the afternoon.
She sipped on the cool glass of water, suddenly remembering the snake beastman. Did he manage to escape or failed? She didn't want to start over the game again.
A surprised gasp escaped her lips when she saw the game interface. What is this? The snake man from last night indeed escaped. He was currently standing in front of a massive fortress.
There were thick stone walls where guards could patrol with walkways, and a tall watchtower. The snake beastman slithered to the bridge connecting the fortress gate to the other side of a moat.
He went inside the gate. Su Yining shifted her screen to follow him, as if she was discovering the new world with the main character.
A thought popped up in her head. Does the main character already have a name or does she need to give him one?
"Why do you give me such a castle?" The text bubble appeared above the main character. She glanced at the words before the bubble text. It should be his name.
Xie Ziyuan.
"Do you want me to take care of it?" He asked.
Su Yining continued to click on the text, but she found out they couldn't be skipped. Thankfully, the main character, Xie Ziyuan, didn't talk much.
He walked again, heading to the gigantic castle inside the tall fortress. The color of the walls were black, made of some kind of unknown material similar to the fortress.
It was obvious this whole building was made for defense.
The graphic was absolutely top notch!
There was a wide room inside the castle. When Xie Ziyuan stood there, he looked like a monarch inspecting his castle.
Su Yining really liked his amethyst hair and scales; she subconsciously inspected his lower waist and was satisfied to find the wounds had already disappeared from his snake tail. The potion was really effective, was it?
She didn't know what she had triggered this time. Just as she was about to inspect his upper body, his chest was censored again. The game also shifted its perspective, no longer showing 360° gameplay mode.
The entire graphic had a more cute vibe. Even the amethyst beastman snake became a cute chibi of beastman with a snake tail!
But she had a strange feeling… Did the game take her for a pervert? And thus, it changed the graphic to be more cutesy. It was only her feeling, right? After all, it was impossible for the game to be tailored for her alone.
Who would pull such a prank? She was just overthinking it! They must have done that because the game should be suitable for most ages…
She held back her shame and continued to watch the screen. This time, Xie Ziyuan was no longer inside the grand and magnificent castle, but a deserted land.
There were a few plots of land available. On the other parts, there was forest or barren land. She guessed she would need to cut the forest or fix the dry and barren land if she wanted to open new plantation fields.
Since this was a farming game, she should start farming and stop looking at the cute chibi of the amethyst beastman. With that mission in mind, she started to look through the shop inside the game.
The newbie package had given her 100 free gold coins. For now, there were only three plots. If she wanted an additional one, it would cost her 20 gold coins, so she bought another one.
She placed the plot beside the other three, looking neat! She was about to buy another plot, but she found out the price had increased…
It was 30 gold coins now.
Forget it. She should buy the seeds first. She didn't hesitate to choose four packs of rice seeds, totaling 4 gold coins. Let's try the cheapest one first.
As Su Yining was excited with her farming plan, Xie Ziyuan stared at the four plots of land in front of him thoughtfully. He just witnessed the fourth one magically appearing.