7 roast chickens, increase merit points.

Drawing on her experience with plant-based supernatural abilities from her previous life, Meng Yun was well-versed in botany. Along the way, she had gathered several edible herbs, which she now sprinkled over the roasting chicken, letting a rich, savory aroma fill the air.

Before long, the chicken was ready. As she ate, Meng Yun pondered what to do next. She wondered if Achuan had managed to persuade his family to come and propose marriage. If his family objected, she couldn't just sit around idly. Having relied on her supernatural abilities for twelve years, she felt utterly lost without them. How could she regain her powers?

Meng Yun was troubled. She didn't know if this body lacked such abilities entirely, if her past life's powers were sealed and required a stroke of fate to awaken, or if she simply needed the right conditions to cultivate them again.

"Sigh, this is so difficult..."

Before she knew it, she had nearly finished the entire chicken.

"Hiccup!" Meng Yun let out a satisfied burp. After two days, she had finally had a full meal.

Looking at the remaining scraps of chicken, she wondered if she could store them in her spatial pocket to eat later when she was hungry.

"Awoo..." Suddenly, a beastly howl pierced the air. Meng Yun stood up immediately, grabbing her machete. Standing before her was a mother wolf, so thin it was nothing but skin and bones.

The wolf’s white fur was matted and coarse, and it bore several wounds with dried blood clinging to its coat, making it look incredibly wretched. Only its eyes remained strikingly bright.

"Awoo..." The mother wolf let out a low growl.

Surprisingly, Meng Yun detected a sense of choking sorrow and a glimmer of desperation in the sound, and she saw tears welling up in the creature’s eyes.

"Are you hungry?" Meng Yun realized the wolf had no ill intent; it was staring fixedly at the chicken in her hand.

"Awoo!" The wolf seemed to respond.

"Go ahead and eat it." Meng Yun tossed the remaining chicken to the wolf. It snatched the meat and ran off, stopping after a few paces to look back at her.

As the wolf disappeared, Meng Yun stood up and tried to place her machete into her spatial pocket. She tried several times, but it didn't work.

She felt a bit discouraged. This "golden finger" of hers was useless—what good was a dry well? Just as she was grumbling to herself, a voice echoed in her mind: "Merit points increased by three. Two more points until upgrade. Keep it up, Host!"

Meng Yun was startled, not because someone was speaking, but because she hadn't done anything to earn merit. She thought it over—could it have been the wolf? Perhaps it was starving, and the chicken she gave it saved its life?

As it turned out, Meng Yun was right, though it wasn't the mother wolf she had saved, but rather its cubs.

Inspired, she began wandering through the woods. She searched for two hours without finding anything else in need of help. Just as she was about to leave, she accidentally slipped into a small ravine, and before she could regain her footing, she tumbled into a hidden burrow.

Meng Yun was knocked dizzy, barely managing to keep her meal down.

"Damn it, that hurts!" she groaned. She looked around; the only light came from the opening above, and the burrow was pitch black.

As she steadied herself with her hands, she felt something beneath her palms. If she wasn't mistaken, it was a bone.

After her eyes adjusted to the dim light from above, she confirmed that there were indeed bones scattered around her. She pieced together what must have happened: someone had climbed the mountain, fallen into the hole, been injured, and eventually starved to death.

Since she had stumbled upon this, it was fate. She decided to lay the remains to rest.

Meng Yun used her machete to dig a pit, gathered the scattered bones, checked to ensure she hadn't missed anything, buried them, and offered three respectful bows.

"Merit points increased by twelve. Upgraded to level three. Fifteen more points required for the next upgrade," the voice in her head announced.

"Oh? Burying some bones actually leveled me up twice!" Meng Yun was excited. She wondered what the rewards would be.

"Spatial system upgraded to level two. Reward: ten drops of nectar, storage space of three square meters." She noticed the white mist around the dry well recede, revealing a three-square-meter space. On the stone tablet above the well, three vigorous characters were etched: "Nectar Well."

Beside the well sat a small, white jade bowl containing less than a tablespoon of milky liquid.

"Wow, is this fairy nectar?" she mused, but she didn't touch it; she didn't know when the next upgrade would come.

"Spatial system upgraded to level three. Reward: thirty drops of nectar, storage space of ten square meters, three Scar-Fading Pills, and three Tendon-Mending Pills. Keep going!"

Meng Yun didn't know what the pills were for, but anything from the space had to be of high quality. She decided to keep them for now; perhaps they would help her earn more merit later.

With the storage space now totaling thirteen square meters—nearly twice the size of her room—she felt delighted. She tested it with her machete, and it worked perfectly.

***

After much effort, Meng Yun climbed out of the burrow and headed down the mountain.

"Meng Yun is back from the mountain!" Villagers working in the fields greeted her warmly.

"Yes, Uncle Three," she replied, keeping her response brief.

She greeted the villagers she met along the way. As soon as she entered her courtyard, a machete came flying toward her.

"Where the hell have you been? You haven't done a lick of work all day! You want a free meal? Keep dreaming!" Bao screamed at her.

Liu Hehua cast a few glances at Meng Yun, cracking melon seeds as if none of this had anything to do with her.

"Fine, I won't eat then." Meng Yun retreated to the third courtyard and entered her room—though it was really just a storage shed, barely four square meters, with a wooden board for a bed and farm tools piled in the corner.

"That wretched girl. I raised her, and now she’s become an enemy," Feng Cailian glared at the door Meng Yun had slammed shut. The girl was getting harder to control. It would be better to marry her off and get some silver out of it.

Feng Cailian walked into the courtyard. "Mother, we can't keep her. She’s become lawless. If we don't handle her now, she’ll only get worse. I suspect she already resents us for what happened last time. It’s better to get her out of here soon."

Bao glanced at Feng Cailian.

"Didn't you feed her that porridge? Why is she still fine? Either you bought fake medicine, or you pocketed the silver!" Bao was in a foul mood; she hadn't earned the ten taels of silver and had wasted money on medicine.

"Mother, how could you say that? I wouldn't dare pocket your money! The medicine must have been ineffective." Feng Cailian hadn't bought it from a pharmacy; she had bought it from a neighbor, intending to use it for livestock. It turned out the old woman had cheated her with fake medicine. Furthermore, Bao had told her the girl sold for five taels when she had actually sold for ten. Feng Cailian cursed inwardly but dared not speak up.

"Do you have a plan?" Bao asked.

"Mother, there's a good-for-nothing man in my family's village. He's not yet forty, ugly as sin, and his mother is a real shrew..." Liu Hehua chimed in, stepping closer.