Don't Take Pills at Random - Chapter 2

I had no idea when the man came up behind me.

Not until an icy hand closed around my throat.

“What did you do to me?”

Every word dripped with fury and loathing.

As the air was slowly squeezed from my lungs, I clawed at his fingers. “Let me explain! Just let me explain!”

His grip didn’t loosen. He clearly meant to strangle me to death.

In my panic, I flailed wildly. My elbow shot backward—

Smack.

The crisp impact sounded unusually loud in the room.

The man grunted and released me on instinct. He looked down at his own chest in disbelief, pupils contracting.

Feeling rather guilty, I gulped for air and handed him the first robe I could grab.

“Um. You should put something on.”

He remained frozen, apparently trying to understand why that one blow had hurt so much.

I kindly explained, “You may—possibly, perhaps—be a little more sensitive now than before.”

He said nothing. His face was dark as a storm.

I shivered. “I really can explain.”

He gave me a sinister look. “Then explain.”

I had no doubt his next sentence would be, *Explain badly and you can report to the King of Hell.*

I drew a deep breath, threw myself around his leg, and wailed, “Hero, it was all a misunderstanding!”

“I found you outside the courtyard, gravely wounded and unconscious. I am kindhearted, beautiful, compassionate, practically a living bodhisattva. My noble character simply would not allow me to leave you there—”

He kicked me away and drew his blade. “Just die.”

“…”

“To save you, I fed you my family’s treasured medicine. It works wonderfully. It just has a tiny side effect.”

The nature of that side effect required no explanation.

The man frowned, apparently thinking.

I pressed my advantage. “Please don’t panic, hero. Spare my humble life, and I can restore your body to normal.”

That finally got a reaction. “Truly?”

I nodded furiously.

Even if I had no solution, the system surely did.

He sheathed his sword. “At first light tomorrow, you’re coming with me.”

…

Excellent. I had achieved my objective.

The next morning, the man woke me before dawn.

After I helped bind his chest, I followed him into the capital. He stopped outside a large residence.

“From this moment on,” he said in a low voice, “you are a maid I have just purchased.”

I immediately bowed and scraped. “Yes, sir.”

The man’s name was Xiao Ziqing, current Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.

On the surface, he was a loyal official devoted to the country and its people. In truth, he was more rebellious than anyone.

He had another identity as well: Black Crow, the assassin the imperial court had hunted for years.

The day before, he had killed a corrupt official. Carelessness allowed Gu Siyuan’s City Patrol to spot him. Wounded during the pursuit, he fled to the nunnery on the outskirts of the capital.

All of this came from the omnipotent system.

I asked, “Where’s the medicine?”

“What medicine?”

I clicked my tongue. “The medicine to make Xiao Ziqing normal again. You obviously have some.”

Otherwise, I never would have fed him that pill so recklessly.

“I do, but I can’t give it to you. Everything you received before was a beginner’s gift. This one costs points.”

…

Only after a long argument did I understand.

My mission was to help Xiao Ziqing reach the pinnacle of life.

If the mission did not progress, I earned no points.

Without points, I couldn’t buy the medicine.

Without the medicine, Xiao Ziqing might kill me at any moment.

In short, I was going to die.

I stumbled into the gate, my face white.

Xiao Ziqing glanced back. “Are you coming or not?”