Chapter 3: Is the Golden Cheat Mine as Well?

The three of them sat amid the ruins, digesting the information.

“So, at this point in time, where are the male and female leads?” Wen Xiuyi asked. Since they had entered the world of the novel, wouldn’t it be possible for the three of them to live safely if they just stayed away from the protagonists?

Wen Yao did a quick calculation. “The female lead is five years younger than Wen Zhao. Our little brother isn’t even four yet, so the female lead probably doesn’t even exist as a single cell right now.”

Wen Xiuyi stood up at once, brushing the dust from his clothes. “Well, that settles it. I’m not going to sell you two, and I certainly won’t gamble myself to death. As long as we’re alive, there’s no reason for the capital to take this child away. There’s still time to change everything.

No matter what the child was supposed to become, now that we’ve come here, I won’t let him become a stepping stone for that Meng fellow.”

The siblings nodded in unison—Comrade Wen was truly formidable.

Wen Xiuyi turned to Wen Yao. “Yao, you’d better remember the plot of the book well. It might come in handy one day. For now, let’s clean this place up. How can we call this a home? It’s more like a trash heap.”

He grumbled as he began to move the scattered bits of wood by his feet.

The siblings exchanged a glance and pitched in. Wen Xiuyi was right—now that the three of them had arrived, they were no longer the original inhabitants; those events would not repeat themselves.

In the original novel, the female lead had a magical space as her golden finger. With it, she gained fame and helped the male lead seize the throne, eventually marrying him. On the surface, it seemed like the perfect romance, but their methods often shattered every moral expectation—no wonder Wen Yao had always complained about it.

Now that they were here, why let the female lead have the golden finger? Wouldn’t it be better for Wen Yao to have it herself?

The moment the thought crossed her mind, Wen Yao seemed to hear a gentle sigh. Then a wave of dizziness swept over her, and the scenery changed: the ruins were gone, as were her father and brother, replaced by a barren expanse and a dilapidated house.

What?

“Dad? Brother?” Panic surged in Wen Yao’s heart as she called out in alarm.

At that moment, an aged voice echoed faintly, “Stop shouting. They can’t hear you.”

This sudden voice startled Wen Yao, chilling her to the bone. Was she seeing a ghost? But that made no sense—wasn’t she herself a ghost now? How could there be other ghosts?

“…”

The voice in the air seemed at a loss for words, then continued, “You’re not seeing a ghost. Didn’t you want the female lead’s space? It’s yours now.”

Goodness! Wen Yao thought she must be hearing things, but the presence was undeniable.

“Who are you? If you have the guts, show yourself. Hiding in the shadows is hardly heroic.”

The voice spoke again, “Think of this as compensation from the two of us, grandfather and grandson. How you live here from now on is up to you. I’m leaving.”

Wen Yao quickly called out, “Hey, wait! Make yourself clear! Compensation for what? Who are you? Where is this place? How do I get out?”

“As long as you think about leaving, you’ll naturally find yourself out… Ah, really, a simple walk and I’ve lost hundreds of years of cultivation…”

The voice faded into nothingness, leaving Wen Yao alone in the vast space.

Staring at the ramshackle house, a strange chill crept over her. She shivered, closed her eyes, and thought of leaving. When she opened her eyes again, she saw Wen Xiuyi and Wen Jun, their faces full of worry.

“Yao, you scared your father half to death by vanishing like that.” Heaven knew how Wen Xiuyi and Wen Jun felt when they looked up after a while and discovered Wen Yao was gone—he’d nearly run outside to search for her, only to see her reappear in the same spot.

Luckily, their rundown house was a ways from the village. If anyone else had seen this, the three of them would’ve been burned at the stake on the spot.

Still dizzy from being tugged back and forth by the two men, it took Wen Yao a moment to recover. Suddenly, a look of delight spread across her face, her smile even a bit silly.

Wen Xiuyi turned to his son. “Jun, check your sister—has she gone mad?”

Wen Yao’s smile froze. “Dad, I’m fine, really! It’s just—I think something amazing has happened, hahaha…”

Watching his daughter laugh so hard she nearly fell over, Wen Xiuyi tugged at his son. “Doctor Wen, check her head—did she knock it too hard?”

Brushing off Wen Jun’s outstretched hand, Wen Yao gestured mysteriously for them to come closer.

Father and son exchanged looks and leaned in.

She recounted the strange events she’d just experienced.

“You’re saying you just thought about wanting the female lead’s space, and then you were transported somewhere odd—and someone spoke to you?” Wen Xiuyi felt his decades of common sense unraveling.

Wen Yao nodded. “Exactly. The person said it was compensation for us, and something about losing hundreds of years of cultivation. Who do you suppose that was? Why compensate us? It’s not as if they wronged—” She broke off mid-sentence.

Wen Jun and Wen Yao, siblings as they were, had the same thought at once. They blurted out together, “Those two foxes!!”

Somewhere far away, the fox in question, having retreated in triumph, sneezed several times in a row and grumbled as he took his grandson back to the depths of Misty Mountain to resume cultivation.

Wen Xiuyi, however, was more concerned with what was inside.

“Yao, what’s in this space? Did you look?”

Wen Yao shook her head.

Wen Xiuyi hurried her back into the house. “Your brother and I will tidy up out here. You go figure out what this thing can do.”

With that, he all but shoved Wen Yao into the room, even thoughtfully closing the door behind her.

With the circumstances as they were, Wen Yao could only close her eyes and will herself back into the space. She opened her eyes and once again found herself in the barren field and before the shabby house. Looking around and calling out yielded only silence, so she approached the house.

It resembled a warehouse; by the door, a tablet-like object hung on the wall, coated in dust. Wen Yao wiped it with her already none-too-clean sleeve, and the screen lit up, revealing a shopping interface much like a certain online marketplace.

Of course! It was just like the female lead’s golden finger in the novel.

Wen Yao could have burst out laughing at the sky—this was a portable online store! Thanks to her habit of reading thoroughly, she knew exactly how to use it.

All she had to do was exchange items for achievement points, and then use those points to shop. Simple enough.

The next moment, Wen Yao exited the space, intending to tell Wen Xiuyi and Wen Jun. Then she remembered something, crawled under the bed, and retrieved the handful of coins her predecessor had hidden. Returning to the space, she gritted her teeth and exchanged ten copper coins for ten achievement points, planning to buy some food—after all, the three of them were still hungry.

But when she saw the prices, she nearly started cursing.

“What’s this? Why are the female lead’s prices different from mine? Old fox, you’ve swindled me!” Wen Yao shouted into the air in exasperation. In the original novel, the female lead could buy a large meat bun for a single point, but with her, it cost two!

Two coins for a meat bun—wasn’t that the price at the bun shop near their apartment complex?

She checked other items.

Wen Yao smiled wryly.

Great, the prices were exactly those of the modern world. What could she possibly afford with her handful of coins?