Chapter 21: The Truth of Her Previous Life

The next day, Bi Qiao’an called Xiao Fei about her missing necklace and ring.

Xiao Fei denied ever seeing it, nervously clenching his right hand that held the ring. For some reason, a strange reluctance tugged at him, making him hesitate to return the ring to Bi Qiao’an.  

He kept telling himself, “I just picked up something someone else lost; it’s no big deal, no big deal.”  

However, a nagging guilt persisted because no matter how he spun it, he couldn’t deny the truth—what he had done was stealing, driven by a twisted impulse he couldn’t fully explain.  

He was so distracted all day that he accidentally broke a glass, cutting his palm, and as he cleaned the wound, the ring came into contact with his blood.  

In that instant, a stunning revelation occurred. Xiao Fei’s eyes widened as realization set in. “Damn…this was a treasure, the legendary space!”  

This fueled his resolve to keep the ring a secret from Bi Qiao’an.  

After finding a red string and securing the ring around his neck, intending to replace it with a fishing line later for its sturdiness, he concluded that breaking up with Bi Qiao’an was the only way to avoid discovery.  

Finally, he thought of an idea.  

After graduation, Bi Qiao’an moved back to her home. On that day, Xiao Fei invited a group of his unpleasant relatives to cause trouble. A few of them arrogantly blocked the entrance, demanding to move in while bellowing, “Damn girl! Once you marry into the Xiao family, you’ll practically be one of us! This house is part of the Xiao family estate, so move aside! If you don’t let us in now, don’t even dream of crossing the threshold of our Xiao family home!”  

Incensed by their audacity, Bi Qiao’an cursed at Xiao Fei over the phone and broke up with him.  

Xiao Fei hung up and laughed, then quickly called to appease his unpleasant relatives, promising to treat them to a good meal. Only then did they leave, grumbling and cursing.  

Afterwards, he happily stored many things in the space, including food, daily necessities, and even many seeds. However, he felt that farming would be too tiring, and with money, what couldn’t he buy?  

Little did he know, doomsday was on the horizon.  

When the apocalypse came, food production declined year after year. It was then that Xiao Fei realized what a treasure Bi Qiao’an’s ring was.  

Not daring to tell anyone and taking great care not to be noticed by others, Xiao Fei would sneak into the space daily to cultivate crops that thrived due to the space’s accelerated growth rate.  

So while others grew gaunt and famished, the Xiao family remained plump and healthy, attracting the attention of higher-ups.  

These authorities were surprisingly humane, and opted for a cooperative approach rather than imprisonment or experimentation. They simply required Xiao Fei to contribute half of what he produced. Guards were assigned to protect and monitor him, but he remained unfazed and continued his life as usual.  

However, he soon noticed a troubling development—the space grew increasingly unstable. It seemed the more he cultivated, the stronger the urge for it to detach itself became. Fearful of informing the authorities, Xiao Fei anxiously decided to probe Bi Qiao’an.  

When he visited Bi Qiao’an, carrying some food and finding her noticeably thinner, he carefully broached his reason for coming after exchanging pleasantries, but she remained unaware.  

Xiao Fei lost all enthusiasm and got up to leave. However, at that time, Bi Qiao’an didn’t want to accept his food. Firstly, in the apocalypse, food was life, and she couldn’t afford to pay it back. Secondly, when they broke up, she had cursed him and said many hurtful things, so she didn’t want to have any more ties with him.  

But after all, it was because of her that he had this opportunity. Deep down, Xiao Fei still felt he owed Bi Qiao’an.  

As they struggled, Xiao Fei grabbed Bi Qiao’an’s wrist, and at that moment, a miracle happened. The shaking space calmed down.  

This unexpected outcome fueled a theory within Xiao Fei. Perhaps the space’s instability stemmed from his improper acquisition, and contact with its rightful owner calmed it.  

He began using this “tactic” whenever the space grew restless. He would go find Bi Qiao’an and take the opportunity to hug her to calm the space. This ruse created the illusion of his lingering feelings for her.  

Unable to sever ties with Xiao Fei, Bi Qiao’an endured this charade for two years, while Chen Jin’s resentment towards her festered, fueled by her misinterpretation of their interactions.  

Bi Qiao’an remained oblivious to the truth of her previous life.  

It was also Bi Qiao’an’s fortune that the ring’s tradition dictated it could only be passed to the daughter-in-law of the Shen family. Xiao Fei, as a man, couldn’t inherit it.  

Had the ring recognized another woman as its owner, Bi Qiao’an might never have been reborn and regained this space.  

The space’s instability was rooted in the fact that Xiao Fei, being a man, was recognized as its owner.  

Bi Qiao’an’s ability to pacify the space stemmed from two factors: years of wearing the ring had imbued it with her aura, and Shen Yanming’s unwavering devotion represented by his pair ring.  

In his previous life, Shen Yanming was also unlucky. He was never able to perform the blood recognition ritual for the ring until his death. Consequently, the space rightfully belonging to the Shen family remained occupied by Xiao Fei for many years.  

If Shen Yanming had been a bit luckier in his previous life and his ring had recognized him as its master early on, he would have been able to sense something was amiss and reclaim the space from Xiao Fei. Sadly, fortune was not on his side.  

Later, Shen Yanming was determined to find Bi Qiao’an. Along the way, he endured unimaginable hardships, but when he finally found her, she was on her last breath. Heartbroken, Shen Yanming died by her side, their final moments consumed by despair on that desolate, snowy night.  

As Bi Qiao’an breathed her last, something extraordinary happened. The space around Xiao Fei, as if sensing a deep disturbance, extracted its last vestiges of vitality and flew towards her. In a burst of power, it merged with Shen Yanming’s ring and exhausted all its energy to propel them back to the past.  

Xiao Fei felt his heart pound with an unknown dread at the moment of Bi Qiao’an’s death. He rushed to the space but found nothing amiss. So he continued his life as usual until months later, when a startling realization hit him—the space remained completely stable. Could it be that the space had completely merged with him?  

Secret delight surged within him, yet this marked the beginning of his nightmare. Xiao Fei saw only a small plot of land upon becoming the space’s master, but the surrounding fog concealed a critical component. This invisible force continually injected vitality that enabled the swift growth of his crops.  

That source of vitality vanished with Bi Qiao’an’s passing. Xiao Fei’s space was now merely a shadow of its former self, solely dependent on the dwindling energy stored in the soil.  

Year-round cultivation could have sustained the space by enriching the soil with fertilizer, but Xiao Fei didn’t know that. Accustomed to quick harvests and unaware of the delicate balance, he unknowingly accelerated its decline. With each harvest, the space’s energy dwindled further. Thus, an inevitable end loomed: without its source of power, this space would fragment and disappear.  

That day might dawn in the distant future, or perhaps it was fast approaching. Either way, its arrival was a certainty.  

Thus, the truth of Bi Qiao’an’s previous life lies unveiled.