"She's a reincarnation. Your father and I merely received the original body's memories. But Cai Lian is different. After she died in her previous life, she became a ghost and lingered in the mortal world for a long time. Therefore, she knows much more than your father and I do."
Mother Luo then recounted the subsequent events with great animation.
The foolish son of the landlord, during a famine, accidentally hit his head. Not long after, he not only regained his senses but also treated his wife, Xiu'er, and his family with great kindness throughout their journey.
Seeing the affectionate couple, Cai Lian felt a mix of envy and jealousy. Some villagers occasionally made sarcastic remarks about her during the famine, and her mindset slowly began to collapse.
She felt that everything Xiu'er now possessed rightfully belonged to her, and that Xiu'er had stolen her happiness. She then darkened, plotting and scheming her way through life, but ultimately sealed her own doom.
After her death, for some unknown reason, Cai Lian's soul did not return to the underworld but instead became a ghost and followed the Liu family.
She watched as the Liu family squandered their wealth before settling down. She saw the village head seize the relief grain sent from above, and then witnessed Xiu'er and her husband being mistakenly killed by the village head and his men. Later, before the Liu family could report the crime, the village head poisoned the entire family in the water vat, leading to their deaths. It was only then that the fury in her heart finally subsided.
After the Liu family's demise, the area first experienced a drought, followed by torrential rain and floods.
The Emperor dispatched the Second Prince to provide disaster relief. During the relief efforts, the Second Prince was accidentally injured and was saved by a woman. The two then engaged in some indescribable intimacy. Later, the perfectly resolved Second Prince, upon his return to the capital, brought the woman who had saved him and took her as a concubine.
Observing these events, Cai Lian believed her looks were no inferior to the woman who saved him. She even thought that if it had been her, she could surely have become the Second Prince's concubine, or perhaps even attained a higher status.
Perhaps heaven heard her wish and granted her another chance to start anew.
Upon her reincarnation, Cai Lian decided to implement her plan.
She found that she had already refused the marriage proposal from the landlord's family. Knowing she was a step too late, she still intended to seize the opportunity to marry the landlord's foolish son first, to gain his affection and protection.
Upon reaching a safe haven, she planned to abscond with the Liu family's money. By then, the entire Liu family would be dead, leaving no witnesses, and no one would know she had been married to a fool.
When the Second Prince was injured during the disaster relief, she would save him, latch onto the Second Prince as a powerful connection, and reach the pinnacle of her life.
Cai Lian's plan was quite perfect. She believed that with her foreknowledge as a cheat, she would surely achieve great success and transform from a commoner into a phoenix. However, she never expected the emergence of Mother Luo and Father Luo, two seasoned veterans with systems, who were such powerful bugs that her entire plan was ruined.
Upon hearing this, Luo Yunshi couldn't help but laugh and cry, "What did you do with Cai Lian then? Did you kill her?"
"Oh, daughter, this isn't the apocalypse you were in before. You can't just go around talking about killing people. While the laws in ancient times were not well-developed and people's lives were cheap, she hadn't committed any heinous crimes yet. Such ruthlessness isn't good for you," Mother Luo reminded her quickly.
Luo Yunshi was struck by her mother's words as if a hammer had hit her head. She began to reflect.
When did she start to become indifferent to human life?
Before binding to the system and transmigrating, let alone killing someone, she wouldn't have dared to scheme against others, even for matters that didn't involve taking a life, because that was her bottom line.
She had only been bound to the system for a short while, yet her mindset had changed so much. Now, she could talk about killing without batting an eye, as if it were as easy as chopping vegetables.
Luo Yunshi lowered her head and pondered for a long time. Her mother, on the other side of the video call, watched her silently, not interrupting her thoughts.
"Mom, I understand."
Luo Yunshi suddenly looked up, her furrowed brows relaxing. She smiled slightly at her mother on the video. Her mind felt suddenly clear and enlightened. She felt a sense of liberation, and the spiritual energy within her body flowed more smoothly.
"Host, your strength has likely increased too rapidly in a short period, and your mindset hasn't kept up. But it's fine now," System Xiao Qi, transformed into a parrot, chirped happily from Luo Yunshi's shoulder, patting its wings.
Luo Yunshi nodded, a slight smile on her lips, feeling very pleased. "Mom, you're right. Cai Lian doesn't deserve to be killed."
After first binding to the system, she had been grounded and true to her original intentions. Especially in the first world, the modern apocalypse, when someone had ill intentions towards her, as long as they didn't act against her, she never intended to kill anyone.
But gradually, her mindset shifted. Although she made no mistakes in her actions and gained world-saving merit, she knew deep down that everything she did was for the sake of gaining merit and increasing her strength, not out of the original selfless desire to simply do good.
Her approach to life was no longer one of genuine, selfless rescue. Although she spoke of the sanctity of life and equality, deep down she carried a sense of superiority, a feeling of knowing everything and being superior due to being bound to the system.
But what was there to be so superior about?
She was merely a cultivator who had just broken through to the Nascent Soul stage. Above Nascent Soul were Soul Transformation, Integration, Tribulation Transcension, and Ascension. After becoming an immortal, there were further stages like Human Immortal, Heavenly Immortal, Golden Immortal, Grand Unity Golden Immortal, and Nine Heavens Profound Immortal, and so on.
Those true immortals likely saw cultivators who hadn't ascended no differently from mortals who hadn't cultivated.
Alas! She had seen too little of the world and experienced too little, leading to an unstable mindset where she became arrogant without realizing it.
Fortunately, talking with her mother had led her to enlightenment.
Seeing Luo Yunshi's stable and peaceful state, Mother Luo felt slightly relieved and said earnestly.
"Binding to a system is like a poor person suddenly becoming the world's richest person.
Your father and I, considering we've lived most of our lives and experienced much, have very stable mindsets. Yet, we almost became arrogant in a small world and forgot our original selves.
Fortunately, your father and I constantly reminded each other and advanced together. Whenever one of us had a mental issue, we pointed it out and resolved it promptly, thus avoiding getting lost in the myriad worlds. And you, at only twenty-something and having not yet faced the harshness of society, are even more susceptible.
We were quite worried about you before. Now it seems my daughter is doing very well and has woken up in time."
Luo Yunshi grinned. "I still have a lot of tempering to go."
Mother Luo smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Your father and I are the same. We are all alike. We need to see more of the world's diverse human experiences and immerse ourselves in them, rather than watching from the sidelines. Only then will we gain more."
"Mmm-hmm. I understand, Mom. You're so insightful." Luo Yunshi smiled and gave her a thumbs-up.
"Not quite," Mother Luo waved her hand humbly. "Although you've seen many apocalypses, you haven't, like your father and me, integrated into each world and lived through decades or centuries in one world.
You, my dear, have still experienced too little. This time, consider yourself an ordinary commoner and savor life in this world thoroughly."
"Okay, I understand."
"By the way, what did you do about Cai Lian?" Luo Yunshi asked.