Chapter 5: The Future Heroine

A bloodbath in the Bai Residence... the extermination of the entire family... the possibility of her own miserable death...

These images flashed madly through Qingyun’s mind, filling her with regret.

Who knew whether, in the future, this heroine would be the first to turn her blade on her own maid? No matter how high the wages were, they would mean nothing if she did not live long enough to spend them.

Her heel edged back slightly as she steeled herself, preparing to make up some excuse and refuse the assignment.

That was right. Even if it meant offending Steward Huang, even if it meant punishment, even if she were resold somewhere even harsher, it would still be better than staying at the side of this future killing fiend.

Just as she was about to voice the thoughts in her head—

A cold, rigid female voice without the slightest emotional inflection, like a synthetic tone, suddenly rang out deep within her mind.

【Immortal Seeker System activated.】

The voice came without warning, so clear that there could be no mistake. It had not entered from the outside, nor could it possibly have been a hallucination.

Qingyun’s whole body jolted violently, and the step she had been about to take froze in place.

“This... this is...?!”

Her overwhelming shock temporarily swept away every other thought.

Her pupils contracted, and her heart pounded wildly in her chest. Drawing on the memories and reading experience from her previous life, an unbelievable yet seemingly only possible term surfaced in her mind—

A system!

The kind of existence that was standard equipment for protagonists in those novels, something like a cheat or a guide that usually appeared alongside transmigration or some extraordinary encounter!

How could it be...

How could it appear at a moment like this?

Shock, confusion, wild joy, and an even deeper suspicion intertwined, throwing her mind into utter chaos.

She stood frozen, trying to grasp more information in her mind, trying to call out or question it, but after that single line, the voice fell silent again, as though it had merely given a simple startup notification.

【...】

Her sense of time became blurred. Perhaps only a breath or two passed. Perhaps longer.

It was not until Huang Liang’s voice, tinged with puzzlement and impatience, pulled her back to reality.

“Qingyun? What is wrong with you? Why are you standing there in a daze? Hurry over and greet the Young Miss. Introduce yourself.”

Qingyun gave a violent start, and her gaze refocused.

Before her, Huang Liang was looking at her with a faint frown. Beside the bed, that little silver-haired, golden-eyed girl—Yueli—was also studying her with those cold golden eyes, devoid of all emotion, as though she were examining some object that had abruptly appeared before her.

The chill that had swept through Qingyun’s whole body only moments ago receded like a falling tide.

The appearance of the system was like an anchor suddenly driven down, steadying the wild disorder of her thoughts.

She still had no idea what this “Immortal Seeker System” actually was, or what use it might have. But its very appearance represented an anomaly, a variable that might break the course of the fate already set before her.

In a flash, countless thoughts crossed her mind. Fleeing from this place might not be safe, and might even provoke the Bai Residence. Staying carried danger in the future, but for now there was the promise of high pay, and more importantly... there was now this unknown “system.”

Perhaps...

Perhaps this was an opportunity?

A chance to glimpse another possibility while standing in a dead end?

“Oh... yes, Steward Huang.”

Qingyun forcibly suppressed the storm in her heart and drew in a deep breath. It went down into her lungs, carrying with it the dusty smell unique to old houses.

She forced herself to calm down and walked step by step toward the center of the room, toward the girl who, in the future story, might one day stir up a bloody storm.

She stopped several paces from the bed, lowered her eyes slightly to avoid those crystalline and overly sharp golden pupils, and spoke in as steady a tone as she could manage.

“Greetings, Young Miss. This servant is called Qingyun. From today onward, Qingyun will attend to your daily needs. Though Qingyun is still young, she is diligent in her work and unafraid of hardship. She will certainly serve you with all due care.”

Her words were proper and humble, the standard speech of a maid.

Yueli, seated on the edge of the bed, gave almost no reaction at all to this introduction.

She did not even properly look at Qingyun. Her exquisite face remained blank with an indifference wholly unsuited to her age.

She shifted her body, set those bare little feet—white almost to an unnatural degree—upon the cold wooden floor, and silently walked over to stand behind Huang Liang. Then she reached out with one small hand and lightly tugged at the corner of his robe.

Then Qingyun heard a clear yet chilly child’s voice ring out, its bluntness leaving no room for anything else:

“Steward Huang, I do not need a maid. I can take care of myself. Please take her back.”

Qingyun: “...”

A wave of speechlessness rose in her heart, leaving her somewhat surprised.

She looked at the girl hiding behind the steward, only half of that porcelain-white profile exposed, and could not help grumbling inwardly:

“Can this unlikeable little girl, who keeps everyone at arm’s length, really become that ruthless figure who slaughters without hesitation and washes the Bai family in blood?”

Although being rejected so directly did irritate her somewhat, Qingyun had already changed her mind.

Because of the “system” that had just activated.

Because of the five silver coins Huang Liang had promised her each month.

And even more because of a vague instinct that leaving this place might not be the better choice.

She had to stay. At least for now, she had to.

So Qingyun forced an even more sincere expression onto her face. She even leaned forward slightly, and her tone grew all the more earnest.

“Young Miss, please set your mind at ease. Qingyun is used to work at home. She truly is not afraid of hardship or weariness. Sweeping the courtyard, washing clothes, cooking meals, mending, tidying—Qingyun can do all of it. You need only give the order, Young Miss, and this servant will never utter a single complaint.”

That was not entirely false.

In her previous life, she had been an office worker unable to carry on her shoulders or lift with her hands. But in the ten years she had lived in this body after transmigrating, she had done no small amount of farm work and household labor. Her strength and endurance far surpassed what they had once been.

She was fully confident that she could handle the daily needs of a little girl.

Hearing Qingyun “sell herself” with such effort, Yueli leaned her head a little farther out from behind Huang Liang and flicked Qingyun a quick glance with those golden eyes.

That gaze still held no warmth, as though she were evaluating whether a tool might be fit for use.

Qingyun relaxed slightly inwardly, thinking that perhaps this stubborn little girl’s attitude might soften a little.

Yet Yueli’s gaze paused for an instant on Qingyun’s coarse, washed-white clothing, her ordinary face, and her height that was only half a head taller than her own. Then her soft pink lips moved gently, and she spat out two words with perfect clarity:

“No.”

Her tone was flat, yet utterly resolute.

“...”

Qingyun felt as though a vein at her temple had begun twitching uncontrollably.

She maintained the somewhat stiffly respectful expression on her face, yet a faint spark of anger began to rise in her heart.

‘This... brat...’