3: Chapter 3 The First Child, Chu Wang

Chu Sheng held his breath, staring intently at the simulation screen.

【Xiao Huan gently caressed her abdomen.】

【"Brother Chu Sheng, this thing... it doesn't look ordinary. For people like us, holding onto it might be a curse rather than a blessing."】

How could Chu Sheng not understand the principle that 'an ordinary man's possession of a jade treasure makes him a target'?

Once it was discovered that two servants possessed such an opportunity,

it would be like carrying a lantern into a latrine—looking for death.

But then again...

Wealth is found amidst danger.

【A critical decision point has appeared】

【How will you handle the unknown fortuitous encounter?】

【Determined based on item information: The items are a fragmented scroll of the Yellow-grade, Low-rank cultivation technique "Turtle Breath Retention Art," and a damaged Mid-Grade Spirit Stone.】

【Please make a choice for your simulated self:】

【1. Sell it secretly.】

【2. Hand it over to the steward or Young Master Lin Hao.】

【3. Hide it and study it secretly.】

【4. Hold it up in the town center and shout, "I found a treasure!"】

Chu Sheng stared at option 4, his mouth twitching.

“This simulator is quite humorous... but the choice isn't hard to make.”

Options 1 and 2 were both too risky.

For two servants to carry a heavy treasure for trade or to hand it over was no different from delivering themselves on a silver platter.

The steward? Lin Hao?

In their eyes, Chu Sheng was just a servant to be bullied at will; he'd be lucky if they dismissed him with a few copper coins.

Although option 3 was risky, at least the initiative would be in his own hands.

He thought of the pregnant Xiao Huan and that faint sensation of Qi.

Perhaps... perhaps this really was an opportunity to change their fate?

“Option 3! Hide it and learn it secretly!”

【Simulation continues】

Chu Sheng took a deep breath and made his decision.

【In the early hours of the next day, he sneaked to the back mountain and reburied the iron box in the pit.】

【He wrapped the book and the crystal well, then stuffed them into a crack in the room's wall.】

【"Xiao Huan, this matter stays between us. Heaven knows, Earth knows, you know, and I know."】

【Xiao Huan nodded vigorously: "Mhm, I understand the gravity of it, Brother Chu Sheng."】

【In the days that followed, Chu Sheng began a life of working by day and studying secretly by night.】

【"When he's born, I have to be a decent father."】

【There was a servant in the Lin Mansion named Liu San, in his thirties, with a head like a buck and eyes like a rat—a habitual thief and scoundrel.】

【Chu Sheng's abnormality during this period caught his eye.】

【"This kid is definitely hiding something." Liu San squinted his rat-like eyes and licked his yellow teeth.】

“This...”

Chu Sheng, from his god-like perspective, suddenly felt an ill omen.

【After some time, Xiao Huan was about to give birth.】

【Chu Sheng was expectant yet fearful.】

【Delivering a baby required money, a relatively clean environment, and nutrition...】

【Driven by anxiety, he took advantage of the night to enter the outskirts of the Liuyun Mountain Range again to try his luck.】

【What if he could pick some valuable herbs or strike it lucky again?】

【This time, luck did not favor him.】

【While picking a seemingly ordinary mountain mushroom, he startled a Wire-thread Snake behind the bushes.】

【Chu Sheng couldn't dodge in time and was bitten hard on the ankle.】

【"?!"】

【As sharp pain shot through him, his heart turned cold.】

【Enduring the pain, he hacked the venomous snake to death with his wood-cutting knife and limped down the mountain. The wound was red, swollen, and black; half his body began to go numb.】

【Xiao Huan was startled awake.】

【"Brother Chu Sheng, what happened to you?"】

【"It's nothing... I can pull through."】

【Chu Sheng forced a smile.】

【On the third day while Chu Sheng was bedridden recovering from his injury, Liu San came.】

【"Yo, Brother Chu Sheng, what's happened here?"】

【Liu San asked hypocritically.】

【"Brother Liu San, Chu Sheng... he hurt his foot while cutting wood and needs rest."】

【"Hurt his foot?" Liu San let out a sneer.】

【"Chu Sheng, I've been short on cash lately and owe the gambling den some money. See if you have anything good... to lend your brother for an emergency?"】

【Chu Sheng's heart sank. "Brother Liu San, you must be joking. What good things could I possibly have?"】

【"Is that so?"】

【"Then how come I heard you've been keeping the lamp lit late at night recently? And always running to the back mountain?"】

“A pure animal.”

Chu Sheng watched the simulation screen; he was currently injured, and Xiao Huan was about to give birth. They couldn't afford any trouble at all.

“So frustratingly helpless.”

【"I... I really have nothing."】

【He gritted his teeth and said, "If Brother Liu San is short on money, I still have a few copper coins here..."】

【"Are you treating me like a beggar?"】

【He suddenly reached out and pushed Xiao Huan aside.】

【Xiao Huan cried out as her belly struck the corner of the table.】

【Liu San sneered as he looked at his pathetic state.】

【"I'll give you three days. I'll be back in three days, and if I don't see anything 'good'..."】

【He glanced at Xiao Huan's belly. "Whether this wife of yours can give birth safely will be hard to say."】

【Chu Sheng crawled over to hold Xiao Huan.】

【"How are you? Does your stomach hurt?"】

【"Brother Chu Sheng... what do we do?"】

Liu San's threat was like a blade hanging over their heads.

Chu Sheng wanted to go and report him, but without evidence, the steward wouldn't believe a mere servant like him.

If he wanted to fight it out, he was currently injured. Although Liu San was only a Mundane Martial Artist around the second or third rank, he was at least able-bodied.

【The next night.】

【"Brother Chu Sheng... I... I'm going into labor..." She grabbed Chu Sheng's hand.】

【The conditions in the broken woodshed were too poor. Chu Sheng couldn't afford a midwife and could only rely on instinct to comfort her.】

【Xiao Huan's screams grew weaker and weaker.】

【"Hold on! Xiao Huan! Look at our child!"】

【It was a boy, wrinkled like a little monkey.】

【But Xiao Huan's breath grew fainter and fainter.】

【"Brother Chu Sheng... take... take care of... the child..."】

Chu Sheng froze in place, his mind going blank.

【Critical Event: Wife Xiao Huan has unfortunately passed away due to weakness from childbirth.】

【First offspring born (Male)】

Chu Sheng watched the screen, his throat tightening.

Although he had long suspected that life at the bottom would be difficult, seeing this scene was still hard to accept.

That timid yet kind girl was gone just like that.

【Chu Sheng handled Xiao Huan's funeral in a daze.】

【Holding his son, he stood before that small new grave from sunrise to sunset.】

【Finally, Chu Sheng wiped away his tears and carried the child back to the broken woodshed.】

【"Many Children, Many Blessings" (Prismatic) effect triggered: First offspring born.】

【Offspring naming rights: Please name the eldest son in the simulation.】

Chu Sheng was silent for a long time. Looking at the motherless child, he whispered,

“Let's call him... Chu Wang. Wang means Chu Wang, and it's also... a remembrance of Xiao Huan.”

He hoped this child could carry a glimmer of light, no matter how faint.

【Eldest son named: Chu Wang】

【Beginning first offspring feedback...】

【Offspring Chu Wang's root bone aptitude has been improved by "Many Children, Many Blessings" to: Low-rank Miscellaneous Spiritual Root (predominantly Gold and Earth attributes).】

A Low-rank Miscellaneous Spiritual Root was considered bottom-tier in the cultivation world; inducing Qi into the body would be extremely difficult.

But it was at least an entry ticket to cultivation, far better than being a mortal.

【Feedback: Because the host is locked as a Trash, the Spiritual Root cannot be directly inherited. Feedback converted to:】

【1. Injuries healed, physique slightly strengthened (stacks with Strong and Robust).】

【2. Obtained basic martial artist talent.】

【3. Understanding of the "Turtle Breath Retention Art" diagrammatic breathing method slightly deepened.】

【A warm current surged within Chu Sheng's body.】

【"So this is the feedback..."】

【Chu Sheng's feelings were complicated.】

【"I can't induce Qi, but I've become a martial artist and deepened my understanding of that technique."】

【The price was too high.】

【But the path truly seems to have begun to change.】