Female Protagonist Assistance System

Chapter 84 : . Lies

Hun Jin's Soul Tablet shattered.

When Xiao Mei saw the Soul Tablet crumbled to pieces, she froze in place.

After a long while, she finally reached out a trembling hand, wanting to touch the fragments, but stopped midair, as if wanting to touch but not daring to.

Impossible... How could this be...

How could Hun Jin possibly be dead?

She had just gone home, how could anything have happened?

Xiao Mei involuntarily stepped back twice, shaking her head like a madwoman, unable to accept this information.

"This is impossible..."

Her eyes turning slightly red, Xiao Mei seemed possessed, muttering the same phrase over and over. The Dou Qi within her body began to grow turbulent as her emotions spiraled out of control.

As her internal Dou Qi became chaotic, Xiao Mei suddenly coughed up blood, her vision darkened, and she collapsed to the ground.

Xiao Han, who was cultivating cross-legged in her room, suddenly sensed an abnormal Dou Qi fluctuation emanating from the adjacent room. She abruptly opened her eyes and appeared outside the door in the next instant.

This fluctuation was highly irregular. Xiao Han immediately knew what had happened.

Qi Deviation.

She didn't even have time to knock, directly kicking open Xiao Mei's door, and immediately saw Xiao Mei collapsed on the floor.

"What happened?"

Xiao Han frowned deeply, stepping forward to support Xiao Mei. She channeled her own Dou Qi into Xiao Mei, helping to regulate the chaotic and turbulent Dou Qi caused by the Qi Deviation.

How did she suddenly experience Qi Deviation when everything was fine?

[Host, look at the table!] Suddenly, the system called out in Xiao Han's mind, its voice filled with shock.

Xiao Han instinctively looked towards the table as the system suggested, and saw a pile of jade fragments. For some reason, Xiao Han felt these fragments contained a strange energy, but it was so faint that if her spiritual sense wasn't powerful enough, she would have thought it was her imagination.

"What is that?" Xiao Han asked the system while continuing to regulate Xiao Mei's Dou Qi.

The system's voice was surprised: [That's a Soul Tablet, equivalent to the Life Tablets in your cultivation world.]

Xiao Han was surprised for a moment. She certainly knew what Life Tablets were. Every sect in the cultivation world had such Life Tablets, but due to the scarcity of materials, only core disciples would have corresponding Life Tablets.

"Is this... Hun Jin's Soul Tablet?" Xiao Han's pupils contracted slightly. Although she had already guessed the answer, she couldn't help but ask.

[The soul fluctuations on this Soul Tablet are indeed Hun Jin's.] The system's voice carried a hint of disbelief. After answering Xiao Han's question, it couldn't help but ask: [Host, is Hun Jin really... dead?]

Xiao Han pressed her lips together, her brows tightly knitted, clearly Hun Jin's sudden misfortune was completely beyond her expectations. After a while, she slowly said, "With the Soul Tablet shattered, it's probably ninety percent certain."

She glanced at the unconscious Xiao Mei. No wonder Xiao Mei suddenly experienced Qi Deviation. Losing three crucial people in quick succession, if it were a slightly more fragile girl, she might have collapsed on the spot.

The beloved granddaughter of the Soul Clan's Fourth Elder, dead in the Soul Clan... Xiao Han sighed softly, her expression growing solemn. It seemed the situation in the Soul Clan was likely worse than she had imagined.

She wondered if Hun Jin's grandfather knew about her death, or if he had any involvement.

After pondering for a moment, Xiao Han, completely at a loss, shook her head, temporarily setting aside her myriad doubts. Currently, she was entirely ignorant of the situation in the Central Plains, unable to speculate on the current state of the Soul Clan.

After regulating the Dou Qi in Xiao Mei's body and ensuring she was out of the Qi Deviation state, Xiao Han placed Xiao Mei on the bed before leaving her room.

Xiao Han rubbed her brow somewhat wearily, feeling that the situation seemed to have far exceeded her expectations.

Seeing Xiao Han rubbing her brow again and looking fatigued, the system let out a puzzled sound and said: [Host, you seem to be constantly tired lately.]

"I'm not quite sure either." Xiao Han also felt her recent condition was off, but she had checked her body and found no issues.

After thinking for a moment, Xiao Han still shook her head. Never mind, she would just pay more attention to it.

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When Xiao Mei woke up, it was already the next day. She lay on the bed in a daze, seemingly still not having come to her senses.

Soon after, there was a knock on the door.

Hearing the knock, Xiao Mei's eyes suddenly brightened. She stumbled out of bed and flung open the door, but instead of seeing the person she wanted to see, it was Xiao Han and Hu Jia.

Seeing the visitors, the light in Xiao Mei's eyes suddenly dimmed again.

"Xiao Mei, are you... are you alright?"

The usually carefree Hu Jia reined in her carefree attitude, looking with considerable concern at Xiao Mei, who seemed unsteady on her feet. The death of one of the only two Dou Spirit in the Gate of Transmigration was definitely a big deal for them, not to mention that Hun Jin had a good relationship with them and they were all good friends. Emotionally and rationally, Xiao Han had informed the others about this matter. However, Wu Hao had been in the Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower all day yesterday and hadn't returned, so he hadn't been told.

Upon learning of Hun Jin's death, Hu Jia's first reaction was shock and sorrow, and her second was concern for Xiao Mei. She already knew about the upheaval in the Xiao family and that Xiao Mei's father and grandfather had recently passed away.

Xiao Mei's lips trembled slightly, then she forced a smile and shook her head, but couldn't say anything.

Hu Jia swallowed the words she wanted to say. In her impression, Xiao Mei had never shown such vulnerability before.

Xiao Han just stood quietly at the door, not saying anything. But then again, she wasn't the type who was good at comforting others.

Clenching her fists tightly, her nails digging deep into her palms, Xiao Mei suddenly seemed to remember something. She looked up at Xiao Han, her eyes carrying a hope she herself hadn't noticed: "Cousin Xiao Han, if the Soul Tablet shatters, does that definitely mean death?"

Xiao Mei's appearance was completely that of a dying person trying to grasp the last straw of hope. In her impression, Xiao Han was someone who was omnipotent and omniscient. Xiao Mei vaguely knew this was impossible, but she just wanted to grasp that last glimmer of hope.

What if, what if it was true?

What if there were other reasons for the Soul Tablet shattering, and Hun Jin was actually unharmed?

Xiao Han was silent for a moment, then spoke: "Not necessarily. When the host suffers severe injuries, the Soul Tablet can also shatter. Perhaps Hun Jin encountered some accident after returning home and was severely injured. After all, that's her own home, and her grandfather is the Fourth Elder. She shouldn't just die like that."

Hearing this, Xiao Mei's eyes instantly lit up. She stepped forward eagerly, asking urgently: "Really?"

Xiao Han nodded without changing her expression: "Indeed."

Taking a deep breath, Xiao Mei suddenly bowed deeply to Xiao Han. Although her eyes were still red-rimmed and she looked frail, she seemed more spirited than before: "I understand. Thank you, cousin."

"What do you plan to do?" Xiao Han asked.

Xiao Mei pressed her lips together, smiling sadly: "What can I do? Currently, I'm just a five-star Great Dou Master, what can I possibly do? All I can do is wait for her to return."

Xiao Han frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and said: "Then why don't you go find her?"

Xiao Mei raised her head in surprise, looking at Xiao Han.

"Rather than waiting for her to come find you, why not cultivate hard, and when you reach a certain level, go to the Soul Clan to find her?" Xiao Han said expressionlessly. "What if she's been imprisoned by her clan members? Are you going to wait a lifetime?"

Xiao Mei was stunned for a moment, then lowered her eyes, biting her lower lip lightly: "I understand."

Watching Xiao Han tell lies with an expressionless face, the system was immediately stunned. After a long while, it stammered: [Host, why are you deceiving her?]

The host clearly knew that with the Soul Tablet shattered, Hun Jin was definitely dead, so why deceive Xiao Mei?

Xiao Han sighed: "Otherwise, what do you want me to say?"

Xiao Mei wasn't the type of girl who was particularly resilient. Her inner self was much more fragile than she outwardly appeared. If she were told directly that Hun Jin was definitely dead, with no hope left, having just lost her closest relatives and then suddenly losing her beloved, Xiao Han couldn't imagine what Xiao Mei might do.

Perhaps permanent despondency would be the best outcome.

It's like when doctors face terminally ill patients, they never directly state "you're beyond help, just wait for death." They always give ambiguous responses, such as "as long as you actively cooperate with treatment, there will be improvement" and the like.

Currently, Xiao Mei was like that terminally ill patient. What she needed was an intangible hope.

Hearing Xiao Han's explanation, the system mumbled a response. It still hadn't expected that the couple it shipped would end up with a bad ending, and in such a way that one of them died.

Wiping away its core's bitter tears, the system thought masochistically: One of them died, while the other thinks she's not dead and is still making efforts to find her later.

How tragic!