Chapter 2 Ugliness
For Lu Yao, digesting these memories was a matter of moments.
She frowned slightly, a hint of mockery flashing in her eyes.
How ironic that his reincarnation is exactly the same as that of a thousand years ago.
Looking back a thousand years.
Before she was born, the fortune teller pointed to the mother's belly and said to the father:
This woman is cursed by fate, bringing misfortune to her relatives and clan.
As expected, her mother had a difficult childbirth, struggling in the delivery room for a whole day and night, almost losing half her life to bring her into this world.
Before they had even experienced the warmth of their parents' embrace, a deep estrangement had already formed between them.
Within three months of his birth, the family suffered a series of misfortunes.
The old man suffered a sudden stroke, and a corner of the ancestral grave inexplicably collapsed; Mr. Lu made a major mistake while on official business, and his superiors were furious and demoted one rank; Mrs. Lu's family's caravan encountered bandits and suffered heavy losses.
All these events led the whole family to believe in the fortune teller's divination of Lu Yao, convinced that she was the jinx that had come to bring misfortune to the entire family.
So, Lu Yao, who was only three months old, was sent to a Taoist temple by her parents under the guise of praying for blessings.
If her master hadn't noticed her extraordinary spiritual roots when he passed by the Taoist temple, she would probably have turned into a skeleton long ago.
There was nothing she could do; whether in her past life or this one, her relationship with her parents was extremely distant.
However, she didn't care.
Bringing her thoughts back to the present, Lu Yao slowly stood up, her gaze sweeping across the room.
This was a space she had never seen before, with a simple and bright style and no excessive decoration.
The room contained only a bed and a small table. The overall color scheme was a light beige, giving a sense of tranquility, yet also a touch of coldness and loneliness.
Based on her memory, she knew this place was called a mental hospital.
Although she didn't quite understand the specific meaning of the name, Lu Yao could guess the general idea thanks to her keen perception.
Before her soul and spirit merged, her original body was a mentally challenged fool, and this place must be a special treatment center for such mental illnesses.
Lu Yao stood up, stretched her limbs, and felt the real sensation of being grounded.
She took a deep breath; this was the first time in a thousand years that she had breathed in the outside air.
However, the expression of enjoyment that had been on his face froze instantly before it could fully appear.
It turned into a long string of violent coughs.
"Why is the air so polluted, filled with sand and a strange smell of cooking oil? What has happened to this world in the last thousand years?"
She frowned and kept waving her hands, trying to dispel the nauseating stench.
Looking out the window, she stared intently and saw many tall chimneys standing outside, continuously belching out ash.
The square-shaped carriages sped past on the road, kicking up clouds of dust.
Lu Yao gathered a wisp of spiritual power at her fingertips and suddenly remembered her master's prophecy: a thousand years later, spiritual energy will be exhausted and the lineage will be extinct.
She sighed helplessly, slowly sat down on the edge of the bed, closed her eyes, and began to cultivate.
...
The night was like thick ink, completely enveloping the world.
Lu Yao suddenly opened her eyes.
She has sharp ears and eyes, and keenly caught the footsteps coming from the corridor outside the door.
At the same time, you can hear two men talking in hushed tones.
"Brother Ping, this girl has really beautiful features, but she's a bit too thin."
"Tsk, you know I like curvy women."
"This is a virgin who has never been with anyone, and she comes from a wealthy family. If she weren't mentally unstable, do you think it would be our turn to have a go at her?"
"Hehehe, you're right."
The two men let out a lewd laugh, and their footsteps grew closer.
The language they spoke was different from that of Lu Yao's time, but considering her own background and circumstances, she instantly understood its sordid meaning.
A strong feeling of nausea welled up in her heart, and Lu Yao's lips curled into a cold smile.
Unexpectedly, even after a thousand years, the ugliness of this world has not changed at all.
When she was fostered in the Taoist temple, those with ill intentions, seeing that she was living under someone else's roof and had been abandoned by her family, tried to bully her.
Fortunately, she was accepted as a disciple by her master, which gave her the means to protect herself.
Without relying on the Lu family, one can gain a foothold in this world through one's own abilities and methods.
Those petty villains became her test subjects to examine the power of her spells.
Lu Yao quickly scanned the room, looking for anything she could use for self-defense.
Her gaze fell on a thin booklet hanging by the bed.
She reached out and tore the booklet down, already having a plan in mind.
...
Zhang Sheng is a security guard at the Fifth Mental Hospital.
This hospital has a small number of patients and its management is relatively lax.
His job is usually very leisurely, and he spends most of his time idly in the security room.
This job was perfect for someone as lazy and unwilling to work.
However, the corresponding drawback is that the wages are meager, barely enough to maintain basic food and clothing.
He can't afford even the slightly better cigarettes.
Zhang Sheng felt ashamed every time he pulled out a pack of cigarettes that cost a few dollars in front of his cronies.
His cronies were all good-for-nothings, just aimless drifters.
One of them, named Li Ping, had a small family business and a bit of money, so he was quite generous when treating people to meals.
Therefore, Zhang Sheng and his group always swarmed around Li Ping like followers, implicitly regarding Li Ping as their leader.
But lately, whenever they order a few more bottles of wine, Li Ping's expression turns quite unpleasant.
It turned out that Li Ping's family business was declining, which made him feel depressed and increasingly irritable.
Seeing this, the others carefully tried to think of ways to cheer him up.
"Is Ping in a bad mood? How about finding some fresh young girls to play with and relax?" someone suggested obsequiously.
"There's nothing new about it. It's the same old faces coming and going on Anshui Street," Li Ping replied with a look of disdain.
Someone else chimed in, "Didn't a new nightclub just open on Dingxiang Road?"
Zhang Sheng casually remarked, "The quality of the goods there isn't very good; they're not even as attractive as the patients in our hospital."
As soon as he said that, all of his cronies, including Li Ping, turned to look at him.
Li Ping scoffed, his face full of disdain: "Zhang Sheng, don't you work at the Fifth Mental Hospital? Aren't all mental patients crazy? How can they be good-looking? I think you're just starving."
Zhang Sheng wasn't angry. He just chuckled and explained, "Brother Ping, you don't know this. The patient I'm talking about is no ordinary person. I heard the nurses gossiping that she comes from a very wealthy family. It's just a pity that she's mentally unstable and her family abandoned her, leaving her in the hospital completely uncared for."
Upon hearing this, Li Ping immediately became interested.
If she's a rich kid, she might really have fair skin and a good-looking appearance.
He urged Zhang Sheng to describe the patient in more detail.
Zhang Sheng then vividly recounted: "When I patrolled the top floor, which is the VIP floor, sometimes when doctors and nurses went in and out of the wards with the doors open, I could see that girl sitting quietly on the hospital bed, her face expressionless, but as delicate as a porcelain doll."
A friend questioned, "How attractive can someone with dementia be? They might even be drooling; it's disgusting to look at."
“She’s not dementia. I heard from the doctor that it’s similar to aphasia. She just sits there blankly, not responding to anything,” Zhang Sheng explained patiently.
Li Ping listened thoughtfully and muttered to himself, "Tsk, if she were a normal person, she would definitely be a rich and beautiful woman."
“It’s a pity she has dementia, and her family doesn’t care about her,” Zhang Sheng echoed.
Li Ping suddenly asked, "How strict are the rules at your hospital?"
Zhang Sheng replied nonchalantly, "What do I care? I just check on her occasionally, give her some medicine, and then let her sit there all day in a daze."
"Really?" Li Ping asked again to confirm.
Zhang Sheng patted his chest and assured him, "Brother Ping, why would I lie to you? You know how easy my job is."
Li Ping smiled and said nothing more.
After the gathering ended, he privately approached Zhang Sheng and said meaningfully, "Brother, I need to ask you for a favor."
Zhang Sheng quickly replied, "Brother Ping, just tell me what you want. As long as I can do it, I won't hesitate."
Li Ping sighed and said helplessly, "You know, my family's business hasn't been going well lately. I consulted a fortune teller who said that my forehead looks dark and I need to have some good luck performed."
Zhang Sheng was a little confused, scratched his head and asked, "Then... how can I help Brother Ping?"
"How about you take me to your hospital?"
A malicious glint flashed in Li Ping's eyes.
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