01
It all began when I was four years old.
I sat on a large rock at the village entrance, savoring my candied hawthorn skewer one bite at a time.
A fisherman wearing a conical hat appeared outside the village. He was tall and powerfully built, and I didn't recognize him.
It was as if he'd crossed mountains and streams for a long time before finding this place. The moment he saw me, he broke into a broad smile.
“An ancient True Phoenix bloodline, destined to become the greatest female emperor of the Nine Provinces—and La Phù Ngọc was born in a place this remote.”
“I'll marry her off to Cẩu Nhi. The boy has mediocre talent, yet he'll get to have the female emperor beneath him. What a stroke of good fortune.”
“Once she's devoted to Cẩu Nhi, I'll persuade her to willingly give up her Heavenly Spirit Root. That should help Cẩu Nhi achieve great things.”
This fisherman was terrifying. His lips never moved, yet his mind was full of all sorts of horrible thoughts.
Even though I didn't understand a thing, I was so scared I trembled all over.
Before I could even take the sugar cake he offered, I clutched my candied hawthorn skewer and ran for my life.
To my surprise, he still managed to find my house after dark.
“A hundred taels. I'll buy this child.”
“That's a tidy sum—enough to keep your family comfortable for three or five years.”
His arms were full of gleaming silver, making the whole room shine brightly.
Mother worked through the night making tofu, then carried it to town and spent nearly half the day selling it. She earned only twenty copper coins.
I hid behind the door, too terrified even to breathe loudly, afraid my parents would sell me.
Thankfully, Mother loved me and flatly refused.
That night, I was half asleep on the kang when I suddenly smelled fresh fish.
“Phù Ngọc! Put my child down!”
In the dead of night, Father chased after us in his thin shirt, without even having time to put on his shoes.
I woke in the fisherman's arms and burst into tears, terrified.
“Father!”
A long sword pierced Father's belly. He spat out a mouthful of blood, fell to the ground, twitched a few times, and lay still.
Afraid someone would discover him, the fisherman clamped a hand over my mouth and ran straight out of the village with me in his arms.
The mountain path was pitch-black, and the dense forest was so thick that not even moonlight could penetrate it.
The man had a strange strength. Even carrying a child, he ran like the wind, his steps light.
I struggled and struggled, but couldn't break free. In my panic, I felt the sharp black dog fang hanging around his neck.
Father had traded a bowl of wine to a Taoist priest in town for it. He'd said it would protect me.
Thinking of what had happened to Father, a wave of anguish surged through me.
“Ah! You beast!”
Caught off guard, he let me drive the dog fang into him and gouge one of his eyes right out.
Furious, he was about to throw me into a deep ravine to be smashed to pieces.
But in the darkness, he stepped on a jagged rock and tumbled to the ground.
I rolled several times across the cold ground, then gripped the blood-soaked dog fang and charged at him like a madwoman.
I stabbed his face! His eye! His throat! His heart!
The fisherman's body was riddled with gaping holes. His face was smashed, his tongue severed, his belly ripped open, and foul, sticky blood coated the ground.
He refused to accept it, twitching again and again like a fish on the verge of death.
When I saw him trying to get back up, I hurriedly picked up a rock and smashed it against his head until it was completely crushed.
“Warning! Warning!攻略 failed!”
A strange voice rang out, and he finally collapsed in the desolate darkness.
From then on, strange people kept appearing in this remote village.
They came in every shape and size. Like flies drawn to the smell of rotten meat, they clung to me and wouldn't let go.
I called them—“攻略ers.”
02
After Father died, Mother and I struggled even more to make a living.
She used to grind the soybeans until the third watch; now she had to work until the fifth watch before she was done.
When I turned ten, Mother had saved enough to buy a few piglets, which she cherished and cared for as if they were treasures.
“If the pigs grow up nice and fat, Mother will make braised pork hocks for Phù Ngọc, then buy you a flower-patterned jacket.”
Mother beamed, her eyes crinkling. For once, a little happiness showed on her worn face.
That day, when I came home after cutting grass for the pigs, I recognized at once that the refined-looking young man lying on the ground was a “攻略er.”
I didn't want him in our house, but Mother took pity on him when she saw his cracked lips and gave him a bowl of water.
When he woke, the young man knelt outside our door, insisting that he repay our kindness and stubbornly refusing to leave.
I screamed and cried. The village elders heard me and hurried over, driving him out of the village.
They also brought the fiercest old dog in the village, Lão Hoàng, to guard the entrance.
But this man was wickedly strange. In the middle of the night, when the whole village was asleep, he used sorcery to set a fire.
The flames were so bizarre that Lão Hoàng leaped into a puddle, howling in agony, yet was still roasted alive, flesh and hide alike.
In the blaze lighting up the night, the young man sneaked into our house and found me safe and sound in bed.
Delighted, he threw his arms around me, squeezing me tight as he muttered on and on:
“Just as I thought. She's fireproof—she truly has the blood of a True Phoenix!”
“She doesn't seem very docile, though. Once I take her to the dungeon and give her a proper lesson, she'll surely learn to obey.”
“She's already a beauty at such a young age. With a good wife like her by my side, I'll have no regrets in this life... I, Hiên Lang...”
Before he could finish, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.
I curled quietly in his arms and gave my wrist the slightest flick. The young man's heart was crushed at once.
In an instant, a gleaming black-iron blade plunged straight into his throat.
“Y-you... viper-hearted...”
Hiên Lang clutched his throat and fell. Blood poured between his fingers, and his eyes brimmed with terror.
I didn't like what he was saying, so I wouldn't let him say another word.
I gathered a few pieces of firewood around him. The flames leaped high, slowly devouring his clothes and flesh.
【Warning! Warning!攻略 failed!】
The unholy flames burned Hiên Lang alive, leaving not a trace of ash.
Everything fell quiet again. I frowned, rested my cheek on my hand, and sat by the fire to warm myself.
The earlier 攻略ers had only been ordinary people with wicked intentions, but now the young man who came for me knew sorcery.
They were growing stronger and stronger.
What am I supposed to do now?
03
The piglets were burned to a crisp, the thatched cottage went up in flames, and neither my uncles nor the villagers escaped the blaze.
Only a few sparks had landed on Mother’s legs, yet she was terribly burned. Yellow pus oozed from her flesh, and large patches of skin peeled away.
I was born knowing a hundred kinds of herbs. I gathered medicinal plants as I crossed forests and climbed mountains, then ground them into a poultice for Mother’s legs.
La Gia Village had been destroyed in the fire, so I pushed Mother on a battered wooden cart to the nearest town to make a living.
Along the way, I gathered quite a few spirit-infused medicinal herbs, thinking I could sell them for a decent sum.
Unfortunately, the moment the apothecary’s manager saw my tangled hair and grime-smeared face, he sent me packing.
After trying everything I could, I had no choice but to sell the herbs cheaply at the market.
A sandalwood sedan chair stopped in front of my stall. Its curtain was lifted, revealing a lord dressed in finery, with a huge belly.
The lord glanced at my mother a few times, then pinched his nose, his beady eyes full of contempt.
His gaze wandered over me and lingered a little longer. Then, in a soft voice, he invited me to his residence for a hot meal.
I lowered my head and said nothing, silently listening to the noisy thoughts in his mind:
“This little girl, La Phu Ngoc, is so young, yet already has the alluring look of a vixen. There’s not a trace of an empress’s bearing about her.
With her naturally fertile constitution and six parts beauty, it’s already a great honor for her to become my concubine. She’ll surely be grateful.
The Yun family has been in decline for a long time. If her child inherits the true phoenix bloodline, it will surely restore our clan. Then I can raise her to the rank of a lesser consort, so she won’t grow arrogant and make unreasonable demands.”
Thinking this, Lord Yun grew even more impatient and edged a little closer to me.
“Hey, lift your head and let me have a look at you.”
Mother had been resting quietly on the wooden cart, but when she heard Lord Yun, her face instantly turned pale.
Dragging her not-yet-healed legs, she crawled over and pulled me tightly into her arms, shielding me from the old man’s lecherous gaze.
“Phu Ngoc, don’t be afraid. Mother’s here.”
Lord Yun raised his thick brows and signaled to the guard beside him.
The black-clad guard was vicious. As soon as he reached us, he slapped Mother hard across the face twice.
Mother staggered a few steps and fell onto the pile of herbs. Blood stained the cloth wrapped around her legs red.
“Come with me, and I’ll treat you well. Then you can bear me a child. How does that sound?”
Lord Yun coaxed me even as he ordered his men to force me into the sandalwood sedan chair.
His pale, plump hand kept caressing my face.
“Don’t be shy. This chair has been enchanted. No one outside can see or hear anything.”
Only then did I calmly raise my head.
My dark, untroubled eyes met his, and Lord Yun’s heart suddenly began to race.
But before he could act, my small hands clamped firmly over his mouth and nose.
I willed it, and strange flames immediately slithered up and clung to his flesh.
Strangely enough, every time I kill a pursuer, I gain their abilities.
For example, the fisherman’s invincible strength or Hien Lang’s fire-manipulation technique.
Truly, what goes around comes around.
Burning in the flames, Lord Yun writhed in agony and let out faint groans:
“You… viper…”
Unfortunately, just as he’d said, the sedan chair had been enchanted, and no one outside could see or hear anything.
I calmly curled my lips into a smile, accepting the name he’d given me.
The fisherman called me a beast, Hien Lang called me viper-hearted, and Lord Yun called me a wicked woman.
But they all died by my hand.
What a thrill!
Before long, Lord Yun had been burned down to a charred red lump of flesh, and slowly breathed his last.
【Warning! Warning! Pursuit failed!】
A heap of limp flesh fell onto the sedan chair’s cushion, and a faint light shone from my body.
That was Lord Yun’s ability: transformation.
When the black-clad guard saw that nothing had happened inside the chair for a while, he started toward it to investigate.
“Bring that woman in here too.”
I transformed into Lord Yun, a lecherous smile curling at the corners of my mouth, and ordered them to bring my mother inside.
They didn’t suspect a thing. They immediately did as I said, carrying the sedan chair to a desolate, deserted place.
“Keep your distance. Don’t disturb the lord’s pleasure.”
“Yes, sir!”
The guards were used to this sort of thing. None of them questioned it; they bowed and silently withdrew.
Only after the surroundings had fallen completely silent did I carry Mother out of the sedan chair and head straight into the dense forest without looking back.
In the dim light, I ran hundreds of miles through the forest without daring to stop.