4 - Crazy! Criticizing the Prime Minister for Being a Servant

A flash of insight struck her mind, as if a light had been switched on. There was another way to confirm if she had indeed transmigrated into the book, and that was to test her spiritual roots! She vividly remembered that the author, in order to highlight the prowess of the original female protagonist, had created an opponent with heavenly-grade Ice Spirit roots for her. This exceptional character was none other than Ning Songwu. When Ning Songwu had read the book, she had been deeply moved to see a character with the same name as hers being so strong. She had hoped that this character would accomplish great things in the future. However, upon turning the page, she found that her namesake was pushed off the Cloud Temple by the female protagonist, who also possessed heavenly-grade but Fire Spirit roots, and fell to her death. Beside her, Liu Ruoying had failed to save her and was dragged down as well, ultimately both becoming ghosts under the hands of the protagonist Lin Yuxue, dying in an absurd manner as cannon fodder characters. Lin Yuxue's reason was that their beautiful master should accept only her as a disciple. Having another disciple would mean losing a considerable amount of the master's affection, which was unacceptable. What made it worse was that, upon learning of this event, her master merely nodded and did not pursue the matter. Fortunately, Ning Songwu kept this in her heart and mentioned it years later when she ventured into the demon realm to kill Lin Yuxue. But alas, dead people don’t come back to life. What made it even more infuriating was that her master, who had just saved her, had swooped down on a great bird, grabbed her waist and lifted her up steadily without much turbulence. This indicated that her master had the ability to save her all along! So why didn't she save her then? Oh, perhaps the author didn't allow it. Ning Songwu fell silent. Her silence was deafening. That book's writing and logic were truly the worst she had come across recently, highlighting the author's absolute control over life and death, regardless of a character's strength. The author's greatest logic was illogic, and their best writing was no writing at all. But it wasn't the time to dwell on these matters, since there was still a minuscule chance that she hadn't transmigrated into that book, and a one in a billion chance that she was dreaming, despite the slight stinging on her face and the wounds on her body from the fierce wind. Despite everything, she had to struggle! She took Liu Ruoying's hand, nodded, and said calmly, "Miss Liu, shall we go up together?" "Sure, Ning... Miss Ning?" Liu Ruoying tentatively called out, her pretty face blushing pink as she followed the girl, clutching her sleeve. Ning Songwu noticed nothing unusual as she struggled up the steps. Only today did she deeply understand an old saying from her parents, "Mountains seem close, but they tire even horses." The palace seemed so near, yet after laboriously climbing—about fifty steps—she looked up. Hey, guess what. The grand palace still looked just as far away, not closer at all. Ning Songwu pressed her hands on her knees, trying to calm her breath, struggling with her body. Beside her, Liu Ruoying blinked in confusion. "Miss Ning, you just climbed 3,200 steps in one go; how come you're exhausted after just fifty more?" "Tired? Who said I was tired? I'm not tired." Ning Songwu gritted her teeth, straightened her legs, and strived not to show any weakness, asking stiffly, "How many steps are there in total?" "6,666 steps." "......" [Is this author insane or what, 6666, really hitting the jackpot here.] [I better not find out who the author is, or I'll be sending them knife-shaped confetti!] [I can’t admit I’m weak, but I'm zero. I can say that.] Ning Songwu's autumn-water eyes shimmered as she glanced at Liu Ruoying before laying down on the wide steps, saying, "Miss Liu, you go on ahead. I'll... rest here for a while." She moved to the side, lying on the edge of the steps, making way for others. "Miss Ning, what's wrong? You were always the one leading the charge." That was before, that was the real Ning Songwu. Now, she was just a salted fish of a university student who had studied Chinese language for three years, best at memorizing poems, and utterly out of options. [Throwing oneself down here is better than working oneself to death. I don’t believe the barrier won’t open when everyone else gets up there.] Besides, wasn’t it said that one usually transmigrates into a book after the original dies? It seemed that climbing those 3,200 steps in one go had taken a huge toll on the real Ning Songwu, giving her the chance. So pitiful, young girl, why did your time of death come early? Ning Songwu silently lit a candle for the original owner in her heart. She sighed and said, "I was constantly using my spiritual power to adjust while falling, it's a bit depleted." Within the Cloud Temple, Ran Fanyin, who had been watching them, couldn't help but chuckle. This little girl was spouting gibberish in her heart and running her mouth full of nonsense, truly... quite adorable. Qin Siyue glanced at her coolly, and asked coldly, "Why are you laughing so randomly?" "I thought of something funny." She smoothed her lips, replying calmly. "...Oh." Ran Fanyin's fingers moved slightly, and on the skyward steps, Ning Songwu suddenly felt a burning sensation on her back and sprang up. Startled by her, Liu Ruoying asked, "What happened?" "Check my back, is it on fire?" Liu Ruoying looked at her inexplicably, circled behind her, and saw the torn clothes from the wind, and after a moment of silence, the redness on her face faded a bit, responding flatly, "Hard to tell, Miss Ning." [Crap, has the protagonist already noticed me? Why attack now? Did I provoke her?] "...Forget it, let's keep climbing. How are you not tired?" Liu Ruoying tilted her head slightly, "Did Miss Ning not use spiritual power to protect yourself?" Oh... How do you do that? The moment the thought appeared, a sentence came to her mind. [Is this my golden finger? Providing original text segments anytime, anywhere?] She got interested and followed the method described to mobilize the sparse spiritual power in her body, testing how far she could go.