Chapter 2: Giving Her Sausage Lips and a Soaked Chicken Look!

“Ahhh! You idiots! Use water!”

Sheng Ningxue screamed, her face twisted in pain, eyes wide with fury. In her agony, she swung her arm backward and slapped Cuiguo, the maid desperately trying to save her.

“Ugh…”

Cuiguo winced as the left side of her face burned from the slap, but she dared not utter a word.

Afraid that the Sixth Miss would find another excuse to hit her, she hastily grabbed a teapot and poured its contents over her mistress’s head.

“M-Miss, here’s some water!”

“Ahhh—it’s boiling! You wretched fool! Did you do that on purpose?! Are you trying to scald me to death?!”

The steaming hot water splashed over Sheng Ningxue’s head. Her face and chest, which had barely been affected by the flames before, now turned red and swollen, bubbling with large, glistening blisters.

Cuiguo took a closer look and realized in horror that the teapot she had grabbed contained freshly boiled water from the brazier.

She shivered in fear and reflexively dropped the teapot to the ground.

But Sheng Ningxue had no time to punish her now.

Compared to the excruciating pain on her head, the burns on her face were almost insignificant.

“Ahhh! Get out of the way! Move! Move! It’s burning me alive!”

For some reason, no matter how much they tried to smother or douse it, the fire on Sheng Ningxue wouldn’t go out.

She screamed in agony, completely disregarding the noble guests and servants around her.

Summoning all her strength, she charged forward, desperate to reach the nearby fish pond and douse herself in water.

“Ahh—damn woman! Don’t run toward me!”

“Move! She’s lost her mind!”

“Ow! Who stepped on my foot?!”

“Aaaah! It’s burning! The fire spread to my clothes!”

“Waaah… why won’t the flames go out? They’re getting bigger?!”

“…”

“Splash—”

“Splash—”

“Splash—”

“…”

The area near the pavilion descended into chaos. Guards and nobles alike toppled over, tumbling into the freezing pond like dumplings into a pot.

Some jumped in to save Sheng Ningxue. Others, catching stray embers from her flames, had no choice but to dive in themselves to put out the fire.

Thanks to Sheng Nanxi’s precise targeting, every single person who had ridiculed her earlier now had little flames dancing on them. One by one, they leaped into the fish pond.

Of course, she hadn’t forgotten that conniving maid Cuiguo. She made sure to add a few extra flames—right on her lips.

Wasn’t this maid always the first to charge into battle for Sheng Ningxue?

Well then, Sheng Nanxi would help her out.

Now she had the perfect “sausage lips”—so swollen that just standing next to Sheng Ningxue would be enough to terrify anyone thinking of siding with her.

She wouldn’t even need to say a word to make others think twice before provoking her mistress again.

So efficient, wasn’t it?

According to the original novel, Sheng Ningxue—praised as a celebrated talent of the capital—had always been jealous of the original host’s noble status as the legitimate daughter of the Qin Prince’s Manor.

She often dragged her maid along to bully the original host, poking her fingers with needles, framing her for disrespecting teachers, and even accusing her of stealing from elders.

Yet, on the surface, she always pretended that her strictness was “for the original host’s own good.”

The naïve original host actually believed her lies, distanced herself from her own mother, and clung to the second house instead.

Lately, their mother had been too busy caring for their ailing grandmother to notice the mistreatment, leaving the original host completely under the control of the second house.

That’s why, for those who had merely mocked her, Sheng Nanxi had let them off easy with a few burns—just a little reminder.

But for Sheng Ningxue and Cuiguo?

She showed no mercy, setting flames exactly where it would hurt most.

Seeing that everyone was too busy dealing with the chaos to pay attention to her, Sheng Nanxi didn’t waste any time.

She pretended to faint and immediately entered her personal space with her consciousness.

Sheng Nanxi’s space was something she had obtained by chance while clearing out monsters.

For some reason, the moment she put on the ring, it vanished into thin air, transforming into a delicate, pale pink peony-shaped imprint on her finger.

At first, the space only had a spring of spiritual water that could enhance the body and an endless stretch of land.

Back then, Sheng Nanxi had already been a big shot in the apocalypse, practically able to summon storms at will. Without hesitation, she stored an entire estate inside the space.

Even though zombies roamed everywhere outside, life in the safe zones remained pretty normal.

Besides, anything stored inside her space would never spoil, remaining as fresh as the day it was placed inside. That meant she didn’t need to worry about expiration dates—she just had to keep hoarding supplies.

She had over ten thousand acres of storage filled to the brim with various essentials, food, medical supplies, and tens of thousands of weapons.

For daily necessities, she had everything—from toothbrushes, toothpicks, and baby diapers to furniture and home appliances, all stocked in the thousands.

For food, she had everything from chewing gum, childhood snacks, and spicy strips to takeout from five-star hotels and Michelin restaurants, with hundreds of thousands of portions stored.

Her medical and weaponry stockpile? Over a hundred thousand pieces of the most advanced medical supplies, equipment, and firearms.

In the brutal world of the apocalypse, everyone needed to know medicine and firearms.

Sheng Nanxi? She was an expert in both. She could treat most illnesses and snipe a zombie’s head clean off with one shot.

However, as she checked her inventory now, she made a shocking discovery.

Other than the warehouses for food, daily necessities, and medical supplies, all the other storages were locked!

Sheng Nanxi put her hands on her hips and demanded answers from her system assistant.

【Dog Egg! What’s going on?! Why can’t I access the weapons warehouse?!】

A pitiful voice immediately whined in her mind:

【Wuwuwu… Boss Xi, now that we’re in a wonderful new world, can’t you give me a better name?】

Sheng Nanxi: 【No! Now hurry up and explain! Why is my weapons storage locked?!】

Dog Egg: 【Uh… well…】

【Because your current abilities and physical condition are too weak to handle the strain of managing large-scale space operations, only partial permissions have been unlocked.】

As the precious pearl of the Qin Prince’s Manor, Sheng Nanxi already knew that countless people had their eyes on the original host.

She had already noticed that the original host had been poisoned multiple times, leaving her body as weak as a dying cat.

The system’s reasoning made sense.

Sheng Nanxi: 【Then why did you bring me to this place?! Give me back my max-level dual abilities!】

Dog Egg: 【Uh… Boss Xi, you actually have a real advantage here.】

【In the apocalypse, you had to kill hordes of zombies just to level up a tiny bit. But now? You just have to keep hoarding supplies!】

【Plus, you used to have only two abilities. Now, as long as you stockpile enough, you can unlock more skills and treasures! Gold, wood, water abilities, legendary swords, mystical herbs, spirit beasts—you name it! If Boss Xi says the word, Dog Egg will get it for you!】**

As Dog Egg finished speaking, a status screen suddenly appeared in front of Sheng Nanxi.

【Abilities: Fire, Space】

【Host Level: LV0】

【LV1 Progress: 10%】

The moment leveling up was mentioned, Dog Egg’s voice became eager and enthusiastic.

【So…】

【Even though we’ve hit rock bottom, think of the bright future ahead!】

Sheng Nanxi: …

Honestly? The idea of unlocking more abilities was really tempting.

Maybe she should sneak into the Emperor’s palace tonight and loot every single treasury clean, just to test how quickly she could level up by hoarding.

The Emperor wouldn’t dare execute the entire Qin Prince’s household—he needed them to maintain military power.

But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t find another excuse to get rid of them. Even if Sheng Nanxi exposed the Second House’s schemes, the Emperor would just use another reason to have them exiled.

If that happened, she could just empty out every grain warehouse she passed by. Wouldn’t her level skyrocket faster than taking a private jet?!

Now that she thought about it, having multiple abilities didn’t sound too bad.

Sure, the original host’s body was ridiculously weak, but with her spiritual spring and advanced medical tech, she’d be back in shape within a month.

Dog Egg was right—the future looked promising!

Just as Sheng Nanxi was happily fantasizing about her future power-ups, she suddenly heard a commotion outside her space.

Dog Egg’s shrill scream rang in her ears:

【Boss! That white lotus is at it again! Time to teach her a lesson—beat her up so badly that she won’t dare pretend to be pure ever again!】