Bai Xifeng was blissfully unaware that she was currently the target of two separate, malicious plots. At that very moment, she was tucked away inside the secluded mirror world, deeply engrossed in studying the complex cocktail of poisons coursing through her veins and searching for a way to detoxify her body.
Despite the presence of a perfectly functional table and chairs nearby, she chose to sit on the floor, leaning comfortably against Baishe's massive frame. She had specifically asked him to transform into his true, giant serpent form to serve as a makeshift backrest.
She let out a long groan and stretched her aching limbs. She had been poring over ancient texts and analyzing her own blood for nearly two hours. Finally, she had finished identifying the primary toxin that needed to be neutralized before she could even touch the others.
Baishe had already warned her that the poisons were layered with cruel precision. She could not simply flush them all out at once; she had to detoxify them one by one to "unlock" the next layer. It felt like some twisted, high-stakes game that she was forced to play just to survive.
She sighed heavily. On top of the medical research, she also needed to focus on her cultivation. She was tired of being labeled as "trash" by everyone she met, but the sheer effort required was daunting. She was, at her core, a bit lazy.
"Is the process proving difficult?" Baishe asked, his deep voice vibrating through his coils.
"Well, yeah. It's a total headache." Bai Xifeng grumbled, nodding her head against his scales.
While Baishe had offered her some guidance, she knew that if she did not put in the hard work to master the theory herself, she would never truly understand the intricacies of her own recovery.
"I feel like I have been transported back to the days when I was cramming for my university entrance exams." Bai Xifeng lamented, letting out yet another dramatic sigh.
"University entrance exams?" Baishe tilted his large head, the term completely foreign to him.
"Yeah. In my previous life, I had to study exactly like this." Bai Xifeng said, her eyes glazing over as she recalled her past.
In truth, she had not been a total bookworm. Back then, she usually got by just by paying attention in class and finishing her tutorials and homework on time. However, when the final entrance exams loomed, she had pushed herself harder than ever before. Her efforts had paid off, too. She had ended up as one of the top five highest scorers in the country that year.
"I see." Baishe noted, absorbing the information.
Bai Xifeng had been honest with him from the start; she had confessed that she wasn't the original soul of this body. She was a traveler from another world who had ended up inhabiting this shell. Baishe did not mind the revelation at all. After all, the original owner had lived here for years without ever discovering the mirror world. Clearly, this new soul was the one destined for it.
"Do you ever find yourself missing your previous life?" Baishe asked curiously.
"Of course I do! Every single day!" Bai Xifeng cried out, her voice full of genuine sorrow. "I miss high-speed internet, my smartphone, my laptop, and most of all... my anime! Detective Conan has over a thousand episodes, and after all that time, he's still a kid! And One Piece... it's still going! I will never know how they end!"
She was practically weeping now, her face buried in her hands. She was not exaggerating, those shows were her lifeblood.
"I miss Luffy! I miss Conan!" Bai Xifeng shouted into the empty air of the mirror world.
Baishe remained silent as he watched her minor breakdown. This was not the first time she had acted this way, whenever she grew bored of her studies, she would go on long, passionate tangents about these "anime" things.
From what he could gather, he assumed these "animes" were some sort of elaborate street performance or traveling puppet show. He vaguely remembered seeing similar entertainment with his previous master centuries ago.
Of course, if Bai Xifeng ever found out that her beloved legendary series were being classified as mere "street shows" by a giant snake, she would likely have a much bigger meltdown than the one she was currently having.
***This novel is a contracted work with w e b n o v e l. c o m. If you do not read this novel on w e b n o v e l. c o m, that means it has been stolen. It breaks my heart when someone steals my hard work. Can you consider reading it on the original website for those who read my novel on another website besides w e b n o v e l .c o m, as your support to me? Thank you, from, your shameless author, ZerahNeko***
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