Thinking of the woman tied up at home, Qin Ke no longer had time to ponder. He hurriedly pushed himself up from the ground, not bothering to dust off the dirt and grass on his body, and followed the route home based on the original owner's memories.
He was currently on a small village path, one rarely used by anyone. This was also why the original owner could lie here drunk and dying without being discovered.
Looking at the dilapidated mudbrick house before him, Qin Ke fully realized he had truly arrived in a backward, feudal era. He sighed inwardly, but his movements didn't pause as he pushed the door open.
He hesitated at the doorway, noticing the house was completely silent. Considering the original owner hadn't given the woman anything but water these past two days, could she have starved to death?
Uneasy, Qin Ke softened his steps, pushing open the inner door and poking his head inside. The mudbrick house had terrible lighting—dim and gloomy. Even in broad daylight, sunlight could barely penetrate the thick earth walls. After adjusting his eyes for a moment, he finally saw the room clearly. His gaze immediately went to the bed.
There, on a crude wooden plank bed, lay a figure. She wasn't moving, but he could see the faint rise and fall of her chest.
She was still alive. Qin Ke quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Strangely, the closer he stepped toward the bed, the faster his heart thumped.
The woman heard his footsteps. Her tightly closed eyes slowly opened; she turned her head slightly to glance at him before closing her eyes again and turning away.
What kind of eyes were those? Like a tranquil lake—calm, undisturbed, yet holding immense depth. It was as if countless stories and emotions were hidden within them, compelling one to explore and understand. Qin Ke frowned. For some reason, those eyes felt familiar, as though he had seen them somewhere before.
But now wasn't the time for that. He could finally see her face clearly. Her nose was delicate and straight, her lips soft and red, her skin pale and refined like warm jade. Even the dirt on her face couldn't hide her beauty.
Only the scar on the right half of her face disrupted that beauty—a deep wound carved by a sharp blade, covering nearly a third of her cheek. The wound had only recently begun to heal.
"Sorry." Though Qin Ke hadn't been the one who tied her up, he had inherited this body, and therefore its messes. He reached over and gently removed the coarse cloth stuffed in her mouth.
The woman opened her eyes again, silently watching him. Her long lashes trembled faintly, but she said nothing. Qin Ke's hands stiffened for a moment before he forced himself to untie the ropes binding her wrists. She remained obedient the entire time.
"Your wrists are raw. I'll find something later to treat them."
The rope was rough, made from old straw—thick, coarse, and cutting into the skin. Once Qin Ke removed the tightly wound restraints, he realized her originally fair, delicate wrists were covered in deep, frightening marks—some areas even broken and bleeding.
As soon as she was untied, the woman curled her body tightly, drawing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, shrinking into the farthest corner from him.
A purely defensive posture.
Winning back her trust would clearly not be easy.
Seeing how filthy her clothes were, Qin Ke guessed she hadn't changed since being sold. Yet even covered in grime, the fabric was of a quality ordinary villagers could never afford.
She must have been from a noble background. As for how she ended up like this… he'd have to wait for her to speak someday.
The more immediate issue was hot water. After being used to daily showers in his previous life, Qin Ke already found himself disgusted beyond measure. He followed the original owner's memories to the kitchen to heat some water—and froze the moment he entered.
The stove was the old-fashioned rural type he had only seen on TV, topped with a flat wooden lid.
He had encountered his first true challenge in this world: how was he supposed to light a fire without gas or a lighter?
Scratching his head, he wandered around the tiny kitchen a few times before finding something resembling firestones near the stove. Remembering scenes from TV dramas, he tried striking the stones together. After numerous attempts, he finally produced sparks and ignited the tinder.
Watching the firewood crackle to life in the stove, Qin Ke finally understood why people in ancient times bathed so infrequently. Fetching water, gathering firewood, and starting a fire—each one was tedious and exhausting.
It took some effort for him to find a slightly larger wooden tub. It was still small, but it would do. He placed it inside the room and made several trips to fill it.
The woman remained in the exact same position as before, motionless.
"You should wash up first. These clothes belonged to my mother. They aren't much, but they'll do for now."
He had dug out the only set of old clothes left behind by the original owner's mother. After setting everything up, he looked at the woman, trying his best to smile gently. "I'll be waiting outside. Don't worry—I won't come in."
With that, he stepped out and closed the door.
If he were in his original body, he might have helped her wash directly. But now that he was a man, he needed to be mindful.
Sitting at the doorway, a few minutes passed before he finally heard soft movements inside. The sound of water confirmed she was washing, giving him a moment of relief. He then poked at the silent system in his mind.
"So what exactly can you do?"
After the ordeal of starting a fire, Qin Ke felt utterly unprepared for survival. He had graduated from a proper university, worked several years as a corporate slave—good at spreadsheets and projects—but feeding himself in this era? He had no idea where to begin.
"Host, do not worry. The system will provide assistance at appropriate times. Each completed task will reward the host with points. Points can be exchanged for items in the System Mall."
As the system finished speaking, a panel appeared in his mind.
Name: Qin Ke
Points: 0
Task Options:
A. Grow rice
B. Grow soybeans
C. Grow sweet potatoes
D. Grow corn
Even though the panel was only in his mind, Qin Ke still blinked, corner of his mouth twitching.
"What the hell? My task… is farming?"
He had never grown even a potted plant in his previous life. Now he was supposed to farm? How was this at all reliable?
"Task options will change based on the host's life progression. There is no need to worry. The host may use points to exchange for seeds and farming techniques. The Mall's seeds are all improved varieties. With proper instructions, failure is unlikely."
"Exchange with points? If I'm not mistaken, I currently have zero points. What exactly am I supposed to exchange with?"
No points meant no seeds. No seeds meant no way to complete tasks, which meant no points—a perfect deadlock!
"The host may claim the beginner's gift pack—27 cubic meters of storage space and 20 basic points."
"…Next time, mention something like that from the start."
Qin Ke sighed helplessly, but when his point total instantly increased from zero to twenty, he finally felt a bit calmer.