Bai Ling stood in front of the crude thatched hut, thinking to herself, can people really live in this broken-down shack? It looks like it would collapse with a gust of wind.

Although the other houses in the village were not fancy brick and tile houses, with most being mud huts, this was absolutely the only one in such a dilapidated state.

Bai Ling followed the ugly big brother back because she wanted to drink water. The big brother nervously brought her back, washed the cleanest bowl in the house who knows how many times, and finally carefully brought her a bowl of clear water, the sweet and refreshing well water.

Actually, Bai Ling didn't care about these things at all now. When she was a dragon, she was still learning how to swim as a dragon in the Luoshui, drinking who knows how much river water. Along both banks of such a long river, with its upper and lower reaches and tributaries, there were human settlements.

Who knows what things people washed in there. There were also big and small fish in the river, which she often swallowed in one mouthful, not knowing if she had eaten things she shouldn't have...

Forget it, forget it. It's best not to think too much about these things. Thinking about it makes her stomach feel uncomfortable.

After drinking the water, Bai Ling pressed her belly again, feeling a little hungry. Of course, dragons also need to eat. According to the age of the dragon clan, she is still a young dragon child. Since transforming species, her favorite food now is fish. But for more than half a month, lost in the mountains, she didn't even encounter a single lake.

The fish she had stored in her spirit pouch before setting out were all eaten.

With her rations gone, she had to go get something to eat first.

Lu Linsheng, who had been curled up in the corner like a lump of mud, suddenly spoke, "I...I'll go find you something to eat." Then, hunching his back, he quickly ran out before Bai Ling could stop him.

Although she explained that she was not an immortal, this big brother still seemed to treat her as a celestial being, trembling with a bit of fear towards her.

Tsk, little bro, what's going on with you? Your little sister looks so lively, and won't eat people, how can you be so timid and cowardly.

But having eaten fish for so long, she really did want some human food. Bai Ling sat peacefully in the house waiting. After a while, she suddenly heard a burst of mocking laughter coming from outside, quite noisy.

She went out to take a look, and felt a surge of anger in her heart.

It was a few villagers surrounding the little brother and beating him, laughing loudly and mocking him as they hit. That pitiful little brother was curled up on the ground holding his head, rolled into a ball, letting out miserable cries of pain. A few scattered sweet potatoes and unidentifiable stalks lay beside him.

A few people were kicking his stomach and back, cursing, "Who allowed you to go up the mountain to dig up these sweet potatoes? Beat this ugly thing to death."

"No matter how much you beat him, he won't die. Otherwise, should we try throwing him into the manure pit?"

"It would stink to death. Didn't we throw him in before? He crawled out himself and walked past the road in front of my house. The road stank from him walking on it."

Bai Ling: "..." These sons of b*tches, you've provoked me now.

She strode forward, raised her foot and delivered a few flying kicks, sending those few loudly laughing villagers flying, falling into the vegetable fields on the side and biting the dirt.

"How are you? Get up quickly." Bai Ling put her hand on that tattered sack-like clothing, pulling the human-shaped lump stuck to the ground up.

Lu Linsheng staggered from her pulling. He stared at the fairy in front of him with that idiotic gaze again. The sweet potato tightly grasped in his hand rolled and fell to the ground, landing at Bai Ling's feet.

Bai Ling glanced at it. Seeing that he really seemed unharmed, she squatted down and picked up those sweet potatoes and stalks. "Let's go."

Lu Linsheng's whole body ached, but he ignored the pain. Limping, he followed behind Bai Ling, his heart filled with a kind of longing, admiration, trepidation and shame.

As for those people who were sent flying by the powerful kicks, after getting a clear look at Bai Ling, they were all dumbfounded, stunned and not knowing how to react. Why would there be such a beautiful woman beside the ugly freak they bullied with impunity?

Bai Ling ate the long-missed roasted sweet potatoes. The taste was surprisingly similar to the sweet potatoes sold by the pushcart in the winter behind her university's back gate. She spaced out for a bit, then turned her gaze to the brother beside the small earthen stove.

He was far from her, not daring to get close. He had been looking at her, but seeing her glance over, he immediately lowered his head in trepidation, his entire being almost merging with the small stove.

Bai Ling: "..." So fearful, how timid.

She suddenly remembered when they were in the mountains, how this brother knelt before her weeping in pain, asking her why he had to live in this world. She was silent for a moment, feeling uncomfortable in her heart. Just because of being ugly, he had to be bullied and casually beaten and scolded like this?

"Come here." She beckoned with one hand.

Lu Linsheng walked over with fear and a glimmer of hope he himself didn't notice. Bai Ling said again, "Close your eyes."

Lu Linsheng did as told. Bai Ling raised a hand, hovering it emptily over his face. A gentle white light suddenly gathered in her palm. The Old Seashell at her waist was startled, urgently transmitting its voice, "Little master, you mustn't waste spiritual power like this!"

Bai Ling ignored it, working hard for quite a while before lowering her hand. In the end, the brother's ugly face was still that ugly, completely unchanged.

Bai Ling: "..." How f*cking embarrassing, no effect at all! Completely untreatable, this spiritual power is useless!

The Old Seashell transmitted its pained voice, "Little master, doing this is just wasting spiritual power, it won't work. That's why I urged you to go find a master to learn how to use various magic arts and spiritual powers!"

Okay then.

Bai Ling rubbed her nose. Seeing the brother still had his eyes closed, she sneakily took out a golden pearl from her spirit pouch. "Alright, open your eyes."

"This pearl is for you, consider it thanks for leading the way for me." She pretended that she wasn't trying to heal him unsuccessfully from the start, but had intended to give the pearl as thanks all along, which is why she had him close his eyes.

Lu Linsheng stared wide-eyed at the pearl in her hand. Even with his lack of experience, he knew this pearl was a treasure.

He fell to his knees with a thud, kowtowing non-stop, "I...I don't want this, immortal one. I beg you, take me with you. I'll do anything, I can be your servant."

Bai Ling raised her hand to stop him from continuing to kowtow, pressing it against his forehead. "I don't take on servants. If you don't want this pearl, then so be it. Do you have any wishes?"

Lu Linsheng looked at her, her eyes seeming to possess a strange power that prevented him from looking away. Finally, he murmured in a low voice, "My wish, my wish is to be able to eat my fill for the rest of my life, to never go hungry..."

Hunger had accompanied him throughout his short life, and all his humility and pain stemmed from these two words.

Suddenly, Bai Ling lowered her hand. "Alright, I will fulfill this wish for you. Follow me."

She took Lu Linsheng to a nearby county town and found a restaurant. She went straight to the manager and gave him a small pouch of lustrous white pearls, then pointed to Lu Linsheng behind her. "Take good care of this man. From now on, your restaurant will cover his three meals a day. This pouch of pearls is the meal fee. How about it?"

The manager stared at the pouch of beautiful pearls, dumbfounded. When he came back to his senses, he nodded repeatedly, looking at Bai Ling as if she were the God of Wealth, and his attitude towards the frighteningly ugly Lu Linsheng also became amiable.

Bai Ling said, "Remember your promise and write a contract for him. I will come back to check later. If you don't keep your word..."

The manager quickly replied, "No, no, our restaurant is a century-old establishment with the utmost credibility. Rest assured!"

Bai Ling didn't linger in this small town. After handling this matter, she left. She didn't take this chance encounter to heart and didn't even ask the big brother's name.

However, for Lu Linsheng, he would never forget Bai Ling for the rest of his life. After Bai Ling left, he took the food box prepared by the restaurant manager and returned to his grass hut. He sat there in a daze when suddenly, a golden pearl fell from his bosom.

It was the pearl from before, somehow ending up on him without him realizing it. Lu Linsheng's pupils constricted as he knelt on the ground, grabbing the pearl and clutching it tightly.

He recalled her bright and pure appearance as she waved her hand lightly before leaving. He really wanted to chase after her, to keep watching her, to be her slave and do anything for her, even to be killed by her hand.

But... she was unwilling. Indeed, with his appearance, everyone despised him. What right did he have to follow someone like her?

Bai Ling asked for directions as she walked, but three months later, she predictably got lost again. Mortals didn't know where Mount Youfu was, so she could only head southeast. When she encountered obstacles, she would circle around, resulting in her straying far off course to a prosperous city in the northeast.

"Old Seashell, I'm telling you, I really don't want to go to that Mount Youfu anymore!" Bai Ling said fiercely. The Old Seashell remained silent, his heart also exhausted.

Bai Ling exchanged pearls for gold and then went to a restaurant to enjoy herself. She ordered several dozen specialty dishes, all fish. She specifically instructed, "Make me spicy dishes. The spicier the better. I want it super spicy! Extra spicy!"

As the dishes arrived one after another, more and more people looked at her, not just at her, but also at her dishes.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" the waiter asked hesitantly, looking at the large array of dishes covered in chili peppers.

Bai Ling took a few bites and was very dissatisfied. "What's with the chili peppers here? There's no spiciness at all, yet you have the nerve to call them chili peppers?"

After becoming a dragon, she hadn't eaten spicy food for a long time. During this period of getting lost and wandering around, she rarely encountered the chili peppers she longed for.

It was hard to find spicy food in this world, so when she finally smelled the spicy aroma in this restaurant, she didn't expect it to be completely unsatisfying upon tasting. This level of spiciness was merely mild.

The surrounding diners and waiter all showed reverent expressions.

Although it was only mildly spicy, Bai Ling still ate it appreciatively given the difficulty of finding spicy food in this world. As she ate while reminiscing about the hot pot from her hometown, she overheard diners at the next table sighing about the plague in Luyang.

"I heard many people have already died. Fortunately, it's far from us. Otherwise, I'd be scared."

"Luyang is a poor and remote place. The plague shouldn't spread here. Besides, there's an immortal sect to the south of us. If many people really die, those immortals definitely won't ignore it."

Bai Ling couldn't recognize the roads and didn't know that the forest she had gotten lost in before belonged to Luyang's territory. At this very moment, the ugly monster Lu Linsheng, whom she had once helped, was already dead.

...

Not long after Bai Ling left, Lu Linsheng met with misfortune. His killing of Peng Youfu was discovered. Someone had seen him dragging what looked like a corpse into the mountains that night, and a bloodstained wooden stick and a copper button belonging to Peng Youfu were found in his home.

Amidst Fourth Auntie Peng's curses and everyone's strange gazes, he was locked up in prison awaiting execution.

"It's him. Look at his appearance. No wonder he would kill someone."

"Yeah, he doesn't look like a good person. Maybe he has killed more than just this one person."

They pointed at him, looking at him with disgusted, fearful, and curious eyes.

After staying in the county yamen's crude prison for some time, Lu Linsheng overheard the jailers chatting about how many people in the city had suddenly contracted a strange illness, with the situation worsening day by day, causing panic.

In the adjacent cell, a thief who had been locked up for a few days fell ill and died, his corpse left unattended. The situation outside grew increasingly dire, with people saying it was a plague. The jailers fled, and no one came to deliver food to this foul-smelling, damp, and cold prison. The prisoners couldn't leave either and could only wait for death inside.

Some cried, some cursed. One by one, they died.

Within a couple of days, Lu Linsheng also contracted the plague. He lay in a corner of the dark cell, awaiting death. Before dying, he took out the golden pearl he had been hiding in his bosom and swallowed it.

It was given by her. Even in death, it couldn't be taken by others.

He died quietly that night, his body slowly growing cold.

In the darkness, there was a faint rustling sound. A rat twice the size of a normal rat slowly crawled into the cell and approached Lu Linsheng's corpse. This rat had a hint of demonic aura but had not yet become a demon, lacking a bit of opportunity.

It sensed the pure spiritual power and the aura of the dragon race inside the corpse, following the aura to find it. The rat's eyes glowed red as it crawled onto the corpse, biting through the belly and burrowing into the body to begin its feast.

In the darkness, Lu Linsheng's corpse was gnawed to a skeleton, while the rat grew even larger, its eyes gleaming with red light, full of cruelty and greed.

Author's Note: Don't be fooled by Little Muddy's current pitiful state. In the future, he will become a formidable boss - extremely fierce and terrifying. (Shut up!)