35: Tragedy! Chen Qiaoqian's life

Lin Feng controlled his Flying Sword, moving much faster than Han Li. However, he intentionally maintained an appropriate distance, his Divine Sense locked onto Han Li’s figure, while his gaze swept freely across the sky above Huangfeng Valley, as if an old man in a park from his previous life was taking a post-dinner stroll.

As far as the eye could see, the Sect occupied an immense area, with overlapping mountains and abundant Spiritual Qi, truly a good place for Cultivation.

Not long after, Han Li flew into a valley shrouded by a Restriction. A stone tablet stood at the valley entrance, inscribed with “Ding-character Medicine Garden.” Han Li put away his Magical Artifact and walked respectfully into the valley. Lin Feng, meanwhile, landed on a distant mountain peak, reining in his aura and extending his Divine Sense into the valley.

Inside the valley, the medicine fields were well-arranged, but no Qi Refining Disciple was seen. Han Li found Martial Uncle Ma and handed over his token. Martial Uncle Ma was a dark-faced, white-haired old man. He glanced at Han Li, then at the token, and his brows furrowed.

“You are Han Li? You just joined the Sect and already want to take on a medicine garden task? You have quite some guts!” Martial Uncle Ma’s voice was loud, carrying a hint of impatience, “Do you know how hard the medicine garden tasks are? If you delay the growth of Spiritual Plants, you will have to compensate! How many times can your meager savings cover that?”

Han Li lowered his head, cupping his hands and saying, “Disciple understands, but Disciple is indeed interested in the Dao of Spiritual Plants and will do my best.”

“Do your best? Doing your best is useless!” Martial Uncle Ma snorted, “Fine, since you insist. Go over there first and take charge of that patch of polygonatum field. Remember, you must water it three times a day with diluted Spiritual Spring water, no mistakes! If the Spiritual Plants are of poor quality or infested with pests, you are responsible!”

Martial Uncle Ma pointed to a patch of unthriving medicine field in the distance, his tone stiff. Han Li agreed and silently walked to that medicine field, took out a bucket, and began fetching water, diluting it, and watering. His movements appeared somewhat stiff.

Lin Feng, seeing Han Li’s resentful expression of a laborer through his Divine Sense, found it somewhat amusing.

He spied for a while longer, watching Han Li bury himself in hard work, weeding, loosening soil, and watering, his movements gradually becoming more skilled. He wondered, “Why hasn’t the System task been triggered yet?”

He then idly used his Divine Sense to wander around other medicine gardens and found that most of the Disciples in other medicine gardens were also Late Stage Qi Refining, with a few at Qi Refining Perfection. But everyone’s faces carried a look of fatigue and numbness from being a laborer; clearly, the work in the medicine garden was tedious and arduous. Occasionally, a Disciple would slack off and be discovered by the managing Junior Martial Uncle, leading to a scolding.

“It seems Old Devil Han’s laboring life here won’t be too comfortable,” Lin Feng thought. It was just that he had no task, and waiting idly was truly boring.

Just as he was about to withdraw his Divine Sense to see if there was anything new in the System Mall, the long-awaited System prompt suddenly sounded in his mind.

“Ding! Detected that the bound supporting female character [Chen Qiaoqian] is currently in an extremely low mood, triggering the side quest [Change Chen Qiaoqian’s Fate]!”

“Quest Content: Prevent Chen Qiaoqian’s subsequent plot with Lu Yunfeng, and achieve (60/60) Trust Bond with Chen Qiaoqian.”

“Quest Reward: Beauty Card × 1 (Can choose one supporting female character who has reached (30/30) Friendly Bond, and their Bond Rank will be upgraded to (100/100) Infatuated), System Points × 800.”

Seeing the quest reward, Lin Feng’s eyes lit up. Beauty Card! If he could meet Baohua now and use it on her, wouldn’t he be able to hug her thigh and walk sideways?

“Lu Yunfeng?” Lin Feng recalled that in the original novel, Chen Qiaoqian had fallen for the scumbag Lu Yunfeng, who then coveted her Foundation Establishment Pill, almost causing her to lose everything. And coincidentally, she was saved by the second-generation scumbag Han Li, only for her confession to end tragically, leading her to live a lonely life and die in depression.

He glanced at Han Li, who was diligently working in the medicine garden. “The laborer should just work honestly.”

Lin Feng withdrew his Divine Sense and identified the direction indicated by the System. He soared on his sword, transforming into a streak of light, flying towards Chen Qiaoqian’s location.

During his flight, Lin Feng traveled while extending his Divine Sense towards the direction indicated by the System. He soon flew out of Huangfeng Valley, and shortly after, he sensed that pitiable figure, which was indeed Chen Qiaoqian. Her aura seemed somewhat chaotic, clearly troubled.

She was standing on a secluded mountain peak, facing a middle-aged Cultivator also dressed in Huangfeng Valley Inner Sect Disciple attire. That Cultivator had a stern expression and an even more severe tone, loudly scolding Chen Qiaoqian.

“Qiaoqian! How can you be so dense! What kind of person is Lu Yunfeng of the Lu Family? A mutated Heavenly Spiritual Root! The Lu Family’s precious treasure! For him to take a liking to you, that is your immense fortune, and also the fortune of my Chen Family!”

“Don’t think that just because you can join Huangfeng Valley, you can separate from the Family. In the face of Family interests, what do you even count for?”

“I have already agreed to Junior Martial Uncle Lu’s invitation; he will come to visit tomorrow. You must entertain him well and not make the slightest mistake! If you dare not meet him, or if you displease him, then don’t blame Clan Uncle for not considering our kinship and expelling your lineage from the Chen Family!”

The middle-aged Cultivator became more agitated as he spoke, his spittle almost spraying onto Chen Qiaoqian’s face. Chen Qiaoqian lowered her head, her body trembling slightly, not saying a word. She was clearly under immense pressure and grievance.

Lin Feng frowned upon hearing these words. It was indeed due to Family coercion. Given this, his previous reservations about Chen Qiaoqian’s romantic history in the original novel were significantly reduced.

“You’d best behave yourself!” The middle-aged Cultivator finished his scolding, still seemingly unsatisfied, and then snorted coldly before flicking his sleeve and leaving.

Chen Qiaoqian stood rooted to the spot, trembling all over. Only after Clan Uncle’s figure completely disappeared into the horizon did she slowly raise her head. Lin Feng “saw” through his Divine Sense that her face was already covered in tear stains, her eyes hollow, filled with despair and sorrow.

She did not linger but silently summoned her Flying Magical Artifact and flew in one direction.

Lin Feng followed her from a distance of several tens of miles, neither fast nor slow. He guessed that Chen Qiaoqian was probably going to that place to vent her emotions.

Chen Qiaoqian flew for nearly half an hour, arriving at a valley covered in white chrysanthemums. This place was rarely visited, with only a gentle breeze blowing, stirring up petals. She put away her Magical Artifact and slowly descended into the valley, walking to a dense cluster of white chrysanthemums. She squatted down, buried her face in the flowers, and silently began to cry.

Lin Feng landed on a distant mountain peak, put away his Flying Sword, and watched quietly.

The white sea of flowers, reflecting her slender figure, made her appear exceptionally lonely and helpless. He could feel the desolation and pain in her heart. For the sake of so-called Family interests, an Inner Sect Disciple of Huangfeng Valley, who should have had a life of her own, was now to be used as a tool to please others, to curry favor with someone she disliked, and even threatened with expulsion from her Family.

Lin Feng had only seen such plots in some melodramatic TV dramas in his previous life, never expecting the Immortal Realm to be so realistic and cruel.

This part about Chen Qiaoqian has been slightly altered because, in the original work, she was a woman who admired strength, and even Old Devil Han felt a lingering resentment towards her romantic history. If it wasn't changed, I felt it would be a major plot hole. So, I changed the storyline, turning her into a tragic female Cultivator constrained by her Family and fate.