Seeing the conflicted expression on his nephew’s face and the discontent in his eyes, Lu Xingyan simply smiled gently without saying a word.

He knew that Lu Xingyao wanted to exchange tomorrow’s meal for the bottle, but who wouldn’t want something from a deity?

Lu Xingyao couldn’t believe it. “Third Uncle, I’m your own nephew, and you won’t even give me a bottle?”

Lu Xingyan replied calmly, “Xingyao, I like this bottle. You wouldn’t want to take something your sickly, soon-to-die uncle likes, would you?”

Because Lu Xingyan was close in age to Lu Xingyao, he never played the role of an elder. Given his poor health and gentle nature, he was the grandchildrens’ favorite. But now, his words fell heavily on Lu Xingyao, making him feel the weight of the situation.

“Sickly” and “soon-to-die”—those words made Lu Xingyao feel guilty for even thinking about asking for the bottle. If something bad happened, he might not even get to eat the coarse bread tomorrow.

In a large family like theirs, everyone stood by Third Uncle. To covet something that belonged to him would only invite trouble….

Gu Xingzhao returned to the modern world, carrying the clothes with her, excited about her potential windfall.

The clothes appeared to be quite old. She wondered how much they could fetch when appraised…

She allowed herself a moment of anticipation. She wasn’t asking for much—maybe not a hundred thousand, but seventy or eighty thousand should be possible. After all, these were genuine antiques.

But the moment she stepped back into the modern world, the clothes she was holding began to rapidly deteriorate. In seconds, the fabric turned yellow and brittle, and then the material crumbled in her hands, falling silently to the ground.

“???”

“!!!” Gu Xingzhao’s eyes widened in shock, unable to believe what she was seeing.

What the hell just happened?!

Could someone please explain why these perfectly good clothes suddenly turned into a pile of rags?

The system promptly explained, [Due to the nearly thousand-year time gap, the object has been affected by the passage of time.]

Gu Xingzhao’s expression shifted rapidly, a wave of frustration settling in her chest. “…”

Great. Now it’s a worthless pile of trash that wouldn’t sell for seventy-eight yuan, let alone seventy-eight thousand.She couldn’t help but feel like a fool, especially after paying two hundred yuan in tax. What was the point?

[The system has a restoration function. The host can choose to restore the artifact.]

Hearing this, Gu Xingzhao felt slightly better. At least there was a way to fix it. It wasn’t all bad.

But when the system opened the restoration function panel, she felt like she’d been struck by lightning. Trembling, she asked, “I think I’m seeing things… System, can you tell me what it says?”

[Restoration cost: 200 offering points per use.]

Gu Xingzhao, who had 205 offering points just ten minutes ago but now only had 25, felt a deep pang of regret.

She felt her face burn, her heart ache, and she cursed herself internally. How could she have thought offering points were worthless? How could she have believed they were easy to accumulate?

The system could have at least given her a heads-up before she brought the clothes back. Even a reminder when she was exchanging for the Cleansing Marrow Liquid would have saved her from being stuck in this situation with empty hands.

But no, that last 199 offering points seemed like a deliberate trap.

Gu Xingzhao’s grand plan to make money ended up with her losing two hundred yuan and 199 offering points, forcing her to pause her efforts. She carefully packed the scraps of cloth into a box and stored them away. Though she’d been swindled, she figured she might be able to repair them once she had enough offering points.That night, she couldn’t sleep at all, her thoughts constantly returning to her mistake, causing her to toss and turn in frustration.

In the middle of the night, Gu Xingzhao got up, grabbed the box, and tossed it into a corner of the storage room—out of sight, out of mind….

The Lu family was amazed to discover that, over the course of several days, Lu Xingyan hadn’t coughed once, and his complexion had improved significantly, making him seem almost like a healthy person.

The exile convoy had been on the road for several days, and during that time, Gu Xingzhao delivered food twice a day, morning and evening.

Despite working tirelessly from dawn till dusk, Gu Xingzhao began to worry as her funds dwindled. The town was small, and the daily customer flow to the supermarket wasn’t very high. With only a little left in her bank account and the tax fees steadily eating away at her balance, Gu Xingzhao started to feel anxious.

The higher the value of the items she delivered, the more tax was deducted. If things continued like this, she feared she wouldn’t even be able to cover the tax fees.With no other options, she decided to focus on increasing her supermarket’s income. Eventually, she planned a promotional event since the Lunar New Year was just a month away, and the townspeople would soon be buying their holiday supplies.

That night, Gu Xingzhao stayed up late, racking her brain to come up with a promotional plan—discounts, cash back, even a raffle with prizes. She considered everything.She worked until 2 a.m., her eyes barely staying open. Just as she was about to call it a night, a sudden, urgent alarm blared in her head.

[Danger! Danger!]

[Your ward Lu Qing is in mortal danger!]

Gu Xingzhao leapt out of her chair.

[Your ward Lu Xingyao has been injured!]

Gu Xingzhao: “???”

[Your ward Lu Zhou is in mortal danger!]

…

“!!!”

[Danger! Danger!]

Gu Xingzhao panicked and asked the system what was going on. How had all these events happened at once?

[The exile convoy has been attacked by bandits. The Lu family is in grave danger. Please respond immediately!]

Lives were at stake, and Gu Xingzhao didn’t hesitate for a second. She immediately transferred herself to the ancient timeline. Normally, the night would be quiet and still, but now it was filled with the sounds of clashing swords and screams.

Gu Xingzhao had never seen anything like this before. The body of a recently killed person lay at her feet, and she could feel cold sweat forming on her palms.

Around ten masked bandits, clad in black, were attacking anyone they encountered. The exiles, chained and shackled, were fleeing for their lives while several guards pursued them.

Some of the Lu family members had trained in martial arts and were trying to protect the women, children, and elderly, but they wouldn’t be able to hold out for much longer.

Lu Qing, who had lost his cane during the escape, stumbled along in the center of the group. As he watched his sons, grandsons, and other relatives put themselves in harm’s way for him, he felt a deep, painful sorrow. He was overwhelmed with grief and hatred.

He had thought they might survive this ordeal… but it seemed that heaven was truly determined to end the Lu family…Lu Zhou, though a scholar, was the eldest son of the family. He stood at the forefront of the fight, already having taken several wounds. He had managed to grab a guard’s sword, but wielding it was a struggle. “Xingyao! If you get a chance, take your siblings and protect your grandfather and mother—get them out of here!”

The Lu family was on the brink of disaster!

Gu Xingzhao frantically searched through the system’s panel, but the more anxious she became, the harder it was to focus on what she could use. “Don’t just sit there! Use those protection measures you mentioned before, now!”

[You need offering points to activate the protection function, but your current points are insufficient.]

“Then use money! Quickly!”

[Your balance is insufficient to activate the protection function.]

Gu Xingzhao was about to lose her mind. At a time like this, the system was showing no flexibility. “Fine, take out a loan—do it now! Hurry!”

[Loan approved. Protection mode activated.]

“Father, look out!”

A massive thunderclap echoed through the sky as a bolt of lightning struck the masked bandit who had been about to decapitate Lu Zhou.