NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2: A Fateful Choice
Chapter 2: A Fateful Choice
A blinding flash illuminated the gathering, so brilliant it seemed like a legendary artifact manifesting in the mortal realm. As the radiance faded, the glow around her remained—softer now, but still distinct. Unlike the plain white auras surrounding the other candidates, hers shimmered with iridescent colors, marking her as something extraordinary.
Lu Yuan blinked away the afterimage, his vision finally clearing enough to see the figure beneath the mysterious [Magnification: 9] indicator only he could perceive.
She was breathtaking. Not merely beautiful, but enchanting in a way that transcended ordinary loveliness. Her most striking feature—the vertical pupils that marked her as non-human—drew every gaze in the crowd.
“What nonsense is this?” someone called out from among the villagers. “Matchmaker, you insult Shigezhuang by bringing a snake girl here!”
Li Guanghan, the village chief, remained silent in the center seat, but his expression soured. Their village had once produced a county magistrate; this felt beneath them.
The matchmaker rushed to smooth things over, her practiced diplomacy taking over. “Gentlemen, look closer! Is this any ordinary snake girl? I brought her here precisely because I hold Shigezhuang in such high regard.” She waved her hands expressively. “Besides, such talk undermines imperial unity! The Shenling Empire has decreed for years that humans and demons alike are equal citizens.”
She leaned in conspiratorially. “And I swear on my reputation—in all my years as a matchmaker, I’ve never seen a beauty half as striking.”
The truth was more complicated. The matchmaker hadn’t wanted to bring a snake girl at all. It risked her standing. But when her youngest son had fallen deathly ill, it was Su Liyan’s mother who healed him when no one else could. The woman had asked for nothing in return except a chance for her daughter. Seeing Su Liyan’s exceptional beauty, the matchmaker had agreed.
Yet after visiting more than a dozen villages, they’d been met with nothing but scorn. These were among their last options.
The villagers exchanged glances, unmoved by the matchmaker’s silver tongue. They knew her reputation for making the impossible sound reasonable.
An older woman from the village sneered. “What good is beauty? Look at those delicate limbs—she couldn’t handle a day’s work in the fields. Marry her, and you’ll be serving her instead of the other way around.”
The village women’s hostility wasn’t entirely about practicality. A more uncomfortable truth lurked beneath their criticism: Su Liyan’s beauty was threatening. If such an alluring woman joined their village, what man’s attention wouldn’t stray? Already, every unmarried man’s gaze was fixed upon her.
Su Liyan lowered her head at the criticism, her voice barely audible. “I… I can work. I can serve a household. As the eldest daughter in my family, I’ve managed all our housework…”
She’d repeated these words so many times at so many villages, always to deaf ears. She knew their objections weren’t truly about her capabilities, but still felt compelled to defend herself against their misunderstandings.
As expected, no one acknowledged her explanation. The other girls who had come with the matchmaker stood taller, secretly pleased at Su Liyan’s rejection. Her beauty had always drawn attention first, overshadowing them wherever they went. Yet for all her charm, she remained unchosen. Some harbored darker thoughts—with such allure, why seek marriage at all? Why not enter a pleasure house?
Through all this, Lu Yuan stared at Su Liyan, not entranced by her beauty but calculating how to trigger the mysterious multiplier. This [Magnification: 9] was clearly special—the highest he’d observed. Activating it would surely bring exceptional rewards from the system, a welcome gift for newcomers like himself.
But how to trigger it? Lu Yuan puzzled over the pattern. Was it simply based on appearance? That couldn’t be right. Another candidate was quite beautiful yet showed a multiplier of 0. In fact, looking around, he realized the few villagers with zero multipliers were known for their idleness and poor character.
As Lu Yuan contemplated, someone nudged him. An elderly woman smiled knowingly. “What are you waiting for, boy? Go speak with her! No flowery words this time—these are the last candidates until next year.”
Lu Yuan glanced around, seeing that all the unmarried men had approached the various girls. Even Su Liyan had several suitors before her—though he noted they were the village’s least promising prospects, men from impoverished families known for gambling or laziness. The multiplier above each showed zero. A few respectable men had started toward her only to be sharply called back by watchful mothers.
As his memories fully integrated with this world, Lu Yuan rose and walked purposefully toward Su Liyan.
She regarded the men around her with poorly disguised apprehension. Their questions were intrusive, their gazes predatory. None seemed genuinely interested in her as a person. Yet she understood her position—someone like her couldn’t expect an ideal match.
Then a voice cut through the circle as a hand gently moved the others aside. “Miss, might I be suitable for you?”
Lu Yuan’s appearance was like sunrise after a long night. Compared to the others, he carried himself with quiet dignity. Though his robe bore patches, it was meticulously clean, the collar and cuffs showing signs of careful maintenance. He lacked the roughness that marked many of the village men.
His interruption drew immediate protests. “What do you think you’re doing?” one man shouted. “We were here first!”
Lu Yuan found the notion of “first come, first served” in matchmaking almost comical.
Seeing a flicker of hope in Su Liyan’s enchanting eyes, another suitor quickly interjected, “Don’t be fooled by his appearance! He’s worthless—just reads useless books all day. His family is even poorer than ours!”
None of this mattered to Su Liyan. She’d long since abandoned dreams of marrying into wealth. She only wanted someone decent, someone who looked at her with kindness rather than hunger. Lu Yuan’s gentle demeanor offered exactly that hope.
Gathering her courage, she spoke softly, “I hope you… don’t find me unsuitable…”
Without hesitation, Lu Yuan took her delicate hand. Turning toward the village chief, he declared with quiet certainty, “I want to marry her.”
The moment the words left his lips, a cool voice resonated in Lu Yuan’s consciousness:
[Congratulations on triggering the ninefold active reward. You have obtained: “Holy Body” and 100,000 taels of silver] [Rewards have been transferred to your system space and are available for immediate use]
Just as he had suspected.