10: Chapter 10 Former Wife, Liu Shi Qingmei
Chu Sheng watched himself in the simulation, struggling to survive in the mountain forest.
[Strong Luck] had indeed saved his life, but it had also thrown everything into chaos.
"Select 1, hide in the mountain forest and cultivate."
He made his decision.
"If I show my head now, I'm dead. That old fox Steward is definitely still searching. I'll restore my strength first. Who knows, maybe I can scavenge something in these mountains."
"Isn't there a saying, 'Heaven never bars a path'? Though with this look, I'm no different from a wild man now."
[The second simulation continues.]
[Chu Sheng truly became a wild man, struggling to survive in a corner of the Liuyun Mountain Range. He was familiar with the mountain forest and relied on setting traps to catch rabbits and pheasants to barely satisfy his hunger.]
[He found a hidden depression in a cliff, and throughout the entire winter, no demonic beasts or spirits came to cause trouble.]
[[Strong Luck] was silently playing its part.]
[Cultivation became his only focus.]
[Winter passed and spring came; Chu Sheng had survived the most difficult period.]
[He had practiced the "Nine Zhu Gong" to the completion of the second layer. His physical strength already surpassed that of an ordinary ninth-grade martial artist; a single punch could shatter a tree as thick as a bowl.]
[One day, while he was setting fishing traps by the stream, he suddenly heard a woman's exclamation.]
[Chu Sheng's heart tightened, and he immediately hid behind a tree.]
[He saw four or five men dressed in black martial attire by the stream, besieging a young woman who was fleeing.]
[The woman's clothes were luxurious but damaged in many places, her hair was disheveled, and her face was stained with mud, yet it could not hide her beautiful features and the stubbornness between her brows.]
[Chu Sheng originally didn't want to meddle in other people's business, but the moment he saw the woman's face, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning!]
Although she was much younger and her temperament was vastly different, those eyebrows, those eyes, that silhouette...
They clearly belonged to Lady Liu, who had accompanied him for half his life and borne his children in the previous simulation!
Chu Sheng widened his eyes: "Lady Liu?! How could she be here? And so young? Being hunted? This timeline is wrong!"
He recalled quickly.
"In the simulation, she only appeared in Linjia Gou as a widow when I was in my thirties. Now... how old is she? Eighteen? Twenty?"
[The leader of the men in black sneered: "Miss Liu, stop running! Be good and come back with us. What's wrong with marrying Young Master Chen? Although he's a bit foolish, he is at least the son of the family head. This will preserve the last bit of dignity for your Liu family!"]
["If you keep running, don't blame us brothers for being rough!"]
[The woman's face was pale, and she bit her lip tightly.]
["Dream on! I, Liu Qingmei, would rather die in these mountains than marry that foolish person!"]
[Liu Qingmei! So her name was Liu Qingmei!]
Chu Sheng suddenly understood.
"Liu Qingmei... not Lady Liu, nor Liu Ruyan."
"She is a daughter of the Liu family! With the family in decline, was she forced into an arranged marriage to the foolish son of another family?"
He connected the pieces of information.
In the previous simulation, she had never mentioned her background, only saying that her husband had died after encountering wolves in the mountains.
Now it seems, that was likely something she made up to hide her identity after escaping!
Her true destiny should have been to marry a fool, and then, after her family was destroyed, she would end up in Linjia Gou as the widow Lady Liu!
A complex emotion surged in his heart.
[A key decision point appears: Encountering the fleeing old acquaintance, Liu Qingmei, who is being hunted.]
[1. Turn and leave, prioritizing one's own safety.]
[2. Assist secretly, creating chaos to help her escape.]
[3. Act decisively, repelling or killing the pursuers.]
[4. Observe the situation, waiting for the right moment.]
Chu Sheng's heart raced.
"Select 2! Must save her! But I can't act recklessly. With this wild man look, if I jump out suddenly, I might just scare her to death."
"Use the terrain to create chaos; with [Strong Luck] on my side, the success rate is highest."
He grinned suddenly: "And... could this be the destined pull of Many Children, Many Blessings? She was my wife in the past life, and I've met her early in this one."
[Simulation continues, selecting 2.]
[Chu Sheng forced himself to calm down and quickly observed the terrain.]
[He threw a stone.]
[Bang! Clatter—]
[Several stones rolled down the steep slope, landing right behind two of the pursuers!]
["Watch out above!" The pursuers were in a flurry, instinctively dodging and blocking.]
[Although Liu Qingmei was panicked, her instincts allowed her to seize this fleeting opportunity, and she scrambled towards the thorn bushes.]
["Damn it! What's going on? Chase! Don't let her run!" the scarred man cursed angrily.]
[But they were distracted by the falling stones and were half a beat slow in starting.]
Chu Sheng breathed a sigh of relief: "It worked. This thicket of woods connects to a deeper valley with complex terrain; she has a chance to escape."
[A few days later, near the cliff stronghold.]
[Chu Sheng was dressing a wild rabbit when he suddenly heard soft sobbing not far away.]
[Behind a dense bush, he saw Liu Qingmei huddled there, shivering.]
[Chu Sheng hesitated for a moment: "Miss, don't be afraid, I'm not a bad person. Those people chasing you are no longer in this vicinity."]
[Liu Qingmei was so startled that she jerked her head up; seeing Chu Sheng's wild-man appearance, she shrank back in terror.]
[Chu Sheng stopped his steps, "I saw you being chased by the stream a few days ago and threw a stone at them. I am also... someone hiding in these mountains."]
[Liu Qingmei's guard relaxed slightly, but she remained vigilant.]
[Chu Sheng sighed and wrapped half of the freshly dressed rabbit in leaves: "There is water over there, it's fairly clean. Take this for now. It's not very safe here, you... take care of yourself."]
[After saying this, he made a move to leave.]
[Liu Qingmei panicked, "Wait... wait! Big Brother, please help me... I really have nowhere else to go... They will find me..."]
[She finally broke down, tears rolling down her face.]
Chu Sheng watched the screen, his heart softening.
"Such a strong person in my past life, now she's just a little girl. Family coercion, fleeing for her life... this plot would be considered tragic even in a novel."
[Chu Sheng successfully saved Liu Qingmei.]
[He brought her back to his simple cliff stronghold. Chu Sheng got her fresh water to clean up, took out some relatively clean animal skins he had stored for her to sit on, and roasted rabbit meat for her to eat.]
[Slowly, her emotions stabilized somewhat, and she recounted her experiences in bits and pieces.]
[She was a daughter of the Liu family in Jin Xiao City.]
[Jin Xiao City was the largest city within a thousand miles, filled with countless experts; Qi Induction cultivators were as numerous as hair on an ox, and Condensing True Essence cultivators were not uncommon.]
[The Liu family was once a major family in the city, but in recent years, it had declined and was suppressed by the Chen family.]
[To seek a chance to breathe, the Liu family was forced into an arranged marriage with another Chen family, promising her to their foolish young son.]
[She was unwilling to accept this, and with the help of her maid, she took the risk to escape, fleeing alone in a panic into the Liuyun Mountain Range, which led the Chen family's private soldiers to chase her here.]
"Jin Xiao City... that name is quite imposing."
However, this kind of drama about major family arranged marriages is truly the same in every world.
"Marry a fool?"
"This Liu family is really ruthless."
He suddenly thought of something, and his eyes lit up.
"Wait, Jin Xiao City is not close to Qingshi Town. Since she could escape all the way here, it means the pursuers haven't stopped chasing her. This girl... she can really run."
["Thank you... for saving me." Liu Qingmei lowered her head, "I still don't know how to address my benefactor?"]
["Chu Sheng."]
["Big Brother Chu..."]
[Her voice was very soft, "I... I am now an abandoned child of my family, and the Chen family will not let me go. I don't know what to do..."]
Chu Sheng looked at her, his heart filled with mixed emotions.
In his impression, Lady Liu was a strong woman, hardworking, kind, and capable of managing a household.
It was hard to overlap the little girl in front of him, crying like a pear blossom in the rain, with the figure in his memory who could hold a child in one hand and cook in the other.
In the last simulation, when she appeared as a widow.
He didn't know what kind of disaster the family had eventually suffered, nor how she had luckily escaped and ended up here under an assumed name.
Chu Sheng suddenly spoke, talking to himself while looking at the simulation screen.
"Liu Qingmei... that's a nice name. But just now, I almost thought your name was Liu Ruyan."
Chu Sheng in the simulation, of course, could not hear these words.
["You stay here for now." Chu Sheng said, "Although it's simple here, it's fairly safe. The pursuers won't be able to find this place for a while."]
[Liu Qingmei looked up, her eyes still red.]
["Big Brother Chu... why did you help me? We are total strangers..."]
[Chu Sheng paused, then suddenly smiled: "Maybe because... you look like an old acquaintance of mine."]
[He didn't say anything more and turned to tidy up the firewood.]
[Behind him, Liu Qingmei stared blankly at his back; after a long time, she gently hugged her knees.]
"Look, impatient again."
Chu Sheng watched this scene, the corners of his mouth slightly raised.
"Old acquaintance... that's not wrong. We shared a bed for decades in the past life, and we met over a decade early in this life. This fate, it really seems like the simulator arranged it all."
He looked out the window, the sky was gradually brightening.
"In this life, will it be different?"