Reading the message, Lan Qingyou found it baffling.
'What's going on? How did this end up being about me?'
So she scrolled back to see what had happened, and discovered it had all stemmed from Xin Tianle's rallying cry.
At first, people had been echoing Xin Tianle's call for everyone to help each other.
Then someone started steering the conversation — and gradually aimed the narrative squarely at her.
"The way I see it, Lan Qingyou has more materials and supplies than anyone in our district. Her potions rake in crazy profits — each one is worth dozens of base units. She sells a few hundred a day, and that's more than enough for the rest of us to get by."
"I did the math. Her daily output is at least 200 potions. Even if you only count the +30 mana potions, that's a conservative 6,000 base units. And that's not including the +50 mana potions or the +30 healing potions."
"I had no idea until you did the numbers. She really is making a killing."
"Damn! Lan Qingyou has that much material?"
"Best not to do the math. Best not to do the math."
"Times like these, everyone should be helping each other."
"@Lan Qingyou, throw us a bone!"
"@Lan Qingyou, it's just pocket change for you — one day of potion sales would make it all back. Don't be stingy."
"@Lan Qingyou, take uncle's advice. You have to take a loss to make friends. Besides, everyone's going to keep buying from you, right?"
"@Lan Qingyou, you've made a fortune by now. Don't you think it's time to give back a little?"
"@Lan Qingyou, you wouldn't just stand by and watch people die, would you?"
And so a mob of people began @-ing Lan Qingyou, pressuring her to offer charity.
"Hah!"
Lan Qingyou let out a cold laugh, blocked the instigators, and went upstairs to read.
'If you're going to try moral blackmail on me, you've picked the wrong person.'
'"Patronize your business in the future"? As if any of you would stop buying just because I said no.'
One word summed it up: pathetic.
As for "standing by while people die"... this was Villain Valley. Eight out of ten people were ex-criminals. The world would be a quieter place without a few of them.
Once upstairs, she collected herself and settled in for some serious reading.
At some point, she drifted off without realizing it, and didn't wake until past ten the next morning.
"I can't believe I slept so soundly with all that thunder outside. Was it... like a lullaby?"
Sitting up, Lan Qingyou peeked outside.
Same as always — brilliant sunshine. Last night's mana turbulence had vanished as completely as a summer thunderstorm, as if it had never happened.
Still, that was probably for the best. At least daytime life wouldn't be affected.
Lan Qingyou floated up from the mattress, then carried her air-conditioning quilt out onto the terrace.
She draped it over the railing, glanced around, and found that nothing seemed to have changed.
Only then did she relax enough to take a hot shower.
After topping off the water tank with a bucket, she decided to head to the creek and fill everything up.
Now that the novice period had passed — just barely — it was a critical time.
If anything at home wasn't topped off, Lan Qingyou would feel a knot in her chest.
She was about to start brewing, and that would eat up eight hours.
Nobody could predict what changes those eight hours might bring.
But just as Lan Qingyou drifted toward the creek, the moment she passed a modestly-sized rock, her entire body suddenly plummeted out of control toward the ground.
WHAM!
Below her was grass, but scattered with gravel — the impact hit Lan Qingyou hard.
The bucket in her hand clattered and rolled several times before finally coming to rest at the creek's edge.
Fortunately, since she'd been nearing the creek, she'd been flying low — only about two meters up.
Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Even so, a stone had sliced her forehead open, and blood was flowing freely.
But Lan Qingyou didn't scramble to her feet. She didn't press her hand to the wound.
Instead, she simply lay there, face down, breathing in the mingled scent of soil and wild grass. Her eyes were wide — filled with shock, fear, terror, and helplessness.
For a split second, she hadn't been able to feel her mana at all. That was what had sent her crashing from the sky.
'What happened? Did my talent disappear?'
Her mind churned with confusion. She wanted to reach for the mana inside her, but she was terrified of confirming that it was gone.
She didn't want to go back to that life — lying in bed, unable to do anything.
Then she caught sight of the Moonbright Stone Dagger, which had fallen from her belt during the crash.
She reached out and gripped its handle. Tightly.
'Do it. Try to channel mana.'
'If it's really gone, then just die right here and be done with it.'
'Not getting revenge first would be a shame, but... now probably isn't the time for that kind of thinking?'
'No!'
'Wait!!!'
'I can't just give up and die like this.'
'Even if I can never walk again, I still have the magical knowledge of this other world.'
So, after taking a deep breath and steeling herself, Lan Qingyou reached inward for her mana.
It was still there!!
The moment she got her answer, Lan Qingyou's eyes lit up. She cast Light Body, and slowly, unsteadily, floated off the ground.
Unlike before, maintaining control was now incredibly difficult.
It felt as though the mana in her body was surging in every direction, slippery and hard to grasp.
'Wait!'
'Mana turbulence!'
All at once, Lan Qingyou understood what was going on.
Her mana hadn't vanished. Her talent hadn't malfunctioned. It was last night's mana turbulence — the phenomenon was the culprit.
It had disrupted the flow of mana inside her body, causing the situation moments ago.
It was only a guess, but the probability was high.
"Oh, so that's what it was."
Lan Qingyou slid the dagger back into her belt, wobbled her way over to the bucket, and painstakingly filled it with creek water.
Then—
WHAM!
The instant she lifted the full bucket, Lan Qingyou slammed it into a nearby rock with all her might.
With 32 Strength, her full-force blow shattered the bucket into pieces against the stone.
"Damn it!"
Blood covering her face, Lan Qingyou hurled the splintered remains of the bucket with a ferocious snarl.
'Disgraceful!'
'How humiliating!'
Just remembering the terror she'd felt moments ago — the thought of ending it all — made her angrier and angrier. She instantly went red-hot, completely snapped, and took it all out on an innocent wooden bucket.
'It was just my mana flickering! Just my talent going offline for a second! And I panicked that badly?'
Honestly, this was destined to become one of those rare memories that made her cringe every time they surfaced.
'Thank god no one was around to witness it. If anyone had seen that, it would've been worse than death.'
"Huang Wei! I'm going to make sure you don't get to die quickly!"
Wiping the mud and blood from her face with a creek-dampened hand, Lan Qingyou's dirty, battered face twisted into something fierce.