Chapter 7: A Fright at the Abandoned Temple

Upon entering the temple ruins, they found it to be quite spacious. At the back stood three main rooms and a kitchen. In the courtyard grew a thousand-year-old ancient tree, and in front of it stood a waist-high stone incense altar.

Wang Li instructed Han Ya to pull the horse cart into the courtyard and unhitch the horse.

Aunt Liu and Zhao Sanniu’s wife placed the cooking pots on the ground and began preparing dinner.

Meanwhile, Zhao Sanniu and the two children cleaned out a corner of the temple.

“Madam, sit here,” the two children said in unison.

“You sit, too—and from now on, just call me Auntie,” Wang Li said warmly.

“Alright,” they responded.

……

By the time Wang Li was nearly dozing off, the two women finally finished cooking, and Han Ya had returned.

“Han Ya, where did you go?” Wang Li asked.

“Little Auntie, I took the horse to drink water, and I gave it some grass and beans. There’s a lot of grass in the courtyard—should we cut some to take with us when we leave?”

“Sure. But where did you get the beans?”

“I grabbed some before we left. There’s a cellar under the stable with feed for the horse.”

“Aiya, our Han Ya is so thoughtful.”

Sitting on a mat, Wang Li gazed at the few servants busy around her. Though they were on their way to an unfamiliar place and the road was bumpy, things weren’t too bad. Thankfully, she had transmigrated into the role of a master. If she had ended up as a servant, she’d have been suffering right now.

As her mind drifted between thoughts, dinner was finally ready—thin porridge and hot flatbread.

Sigh, she thought, should’ve bought some meat back in town. How can we go on traveling with just porridge?

Seeing that Wang Li wasn’t moving, Aunt Liu said, “Meizi, we’ve got white rice, millet, even a sack of cornmeal. We’ve got plenty of food—go ahead and eat some.”

Just as she spoke, Zhao Sanniu came back with a wild rabbit. Aunt Liu was overjoyed.

“Well, now we’re in luck!”

“Laiwang, come help your Uncle Sanniu clean it up. We’ll stew it for your aunt.”

Since Laiwang had run back home, he hadn’t spoken much. He was like a shadow, withdrawn and silent.

Wang Li drank a bowl of porridge but didn’t want any flatbread. After sitting in the cart all day, she was exhausted. This era is really tough. Then she suddenly remembered—this time period still had the Japanese around!

They better not run into any of those devils. With just this handful of people, they wouldn’t stand a chance. She had to come up with a plan. If they did appear, maybe she could hide and secretly collect them into her space. That way, she’d take away their weapons, and then how would they hurt anyone? Ha! That idea’s not bad at all.

Lying there lost in thought, it felt like only a moment passed before the rabbit stew was done.

She took a bite—it was bland and flavorless, but she still forced herself to eat two pieces before telling the others to divide the rest among themselves.

Zhao Sanniu’s wife remained quiet and timid.

Aunt Liu glanced at Wang Li and sighed, “Meizi, you only ate that little? What if you get hungry later?”

Even Aunt Liu’s son chimed in.

“Eat more while you can. Better it fills our stomachs than someone else’s. If you don’t eat, this road’s full of bandits, traitor soldiers, and Japanese devils—who knows whose belly it’ll end up in. Eat and drink your fill, so you have the strength to travel.”

Wang Li thought to herself, Looks like they’ve all been through some terrifying times. It’s scared them stiff.

“Come over here,” she called, “I need to talk to everyone. If we run into the Japanese or bandits, don’t panic. Everyone should form a circle, back to back, and get your weapons out. That way, there’s at least a chance we survive.”

“If you panic and run, the Japanese will think you’re afraid, and they’ll chase you down. The one who runs alone dies the fastest—understood?”

“Think about it—what’s easier to break, one chopstick or a whole bundle? It’s the same logic.”

“Someone must stay up to watch the fire—and keep guard through the night. If a thief sneaks in while we’re all sleeping, it’s over for us.”

“Alright then, sis, you get some rest. I’ll take the first watch. Sanniu will take over in the second half of the night,” said Liu Jia’s man.

“No problem. Just make sure you wake me up,” Zhao Sanniu replied with his eyes half-closed.

Wang Li couldn’t sleep. She had Han Ya lie beside her but still couldn’t find the chance to enter her space. The area was too cramped, and everyone was around—it just wasn’t convenient.

She extended her spiritual consciousness into the space and began tidying up. It was a mess. She categorized items and arranged them on shelves. Everything she’d bought before was still piled up there. She remembered storing some buns too. She really craved a bowl of fish soup—after eating plain porridge every single day since she transmigrated, she was getting sick of it.

Sneaking a bite was tricky though—Han Ya clung to her constantly, afraid of being left behind. Poor girl. From what she’d heard, her father had died and she cried herself into a fever so bad it nearly damaged her brain.

Now she was a little slow. She used to have a proper name, but over time everyone got used to calling her Han Ya, and even she forgot her original name.

Once they reached a safer place, Wang Li thought, she’d find a way to nourish everyone, especially Han Ya. The others were kind too. People have feelings—if they decided to take the carts and run off, there wouldn’t be much she could do about it. This wasn’t a law-abiding society, after all.

As she mulled things over while working, she drifted off to sleep.

In the middle of the night, she was jolted awake by the cold. Even with a mat beneath her, the chill seeped in. The temple was dead silent. She looked outside—the moon was full and bright.

Suddenly, gunshots rang out, followed by hoofbeats and shouting. Everyone in the ruined temple was startled awake.

Wang Li got up immediately and roused the others to pack up. Liu Jia’s family hurriedly gathered their belongings. Zhao Sanniu’s wife was trembling in fear.

Zhao Wang tugged at his mother. “Mom, there’s a cellar behind us. Let’s hide in there.”

“No way,” Wang Li objected immediately. “If it’s bandits or the Japanese and they come in, we’ll be sitting ducks.”

She shouted, “We can’t hide! If it’s bandits or Japanese soldiers, we’re just dead meat if we stay here. Let’s haul the carts and leave now. Head for the riverbank—the reeds are thick there.”

Zhao Sanniu doused the fire with water, then used a broom to sweep over the ground to erase signs of their presence. Everyone hurried toward the river, helping one another.

“Sanniu, have your kids carry the supplies. You stay at the back and lift up the trampled grass. The moon is too bright tonight—if the bandits see our trail, they’ll know which way we went.”

Han Ya drove the cart while everyone carried what they could. In no time, they reached the river and pulled the cart into the tall reeds, hiding themselves as well.

Wang Li whispered, “Let’s move a little farther up. If the bandits come here looking for water and see us, we’re doomed.”

They were just regular folks. It’s not like they knew martial arts.

Liu Wang’s wife leaned close to Wang Li and whispered, “Auntie, please stop talking or the Japanese might hear us. Young Master got shot in the leg… I don’t even know how he is. Or my father…”

She fell silent, her heart aching.

Once they’d gotten far from the ruined temple, everyone sat on the ground, covering their mouths and straining to listen. But now, there was only silence.

“Why don’t you all sleep a bit? I can’t sleep anyway. I’ll take the watch,” Liu Wang’s son said, looking at his mother.

“Get some rest, everyone. We still have a long road tomorrow. Hopefully, we’ll reach the provincial capital the day after.”

“Once we get there and find Master and my husband, we won’t have to fear the Japanese anymore.”

The mat was still cold. This was supposed to be the hot season—mid-summer—but it was chilly. Soon the bandits would be sweeping through villages collecting grain. So much food—what a waste. She had no combat ability. All she could do was run.

The villagers just weren’t united. They didn’t know how to work together. Otherwise, how could a couple dozen bandits wipe out a whole village?

They didn’t dare light a fire—afraid the Japanese would see it, or worse, it might ignite the dry reeds. This was a grassy slope, after all.

It was too cold by the water. Wang Li squeezed close to Han Ya—her body had some extra flesh and was nice and warm.

Wang Li thought to herself: From now on, I’ll raise her like she’s my own daughter.

No more thoughts—just sleep. Who knew if they could even dodge the Japanese come morning.

But just as she was about to drift off, hoofbeats and voices echoed from the direction of the ruined temple.

Wang Li got up and quickly slipped a bag over the horse’s muzzle, filled with beans to muffle any noise.

With all the commotion, everyone woke up again—not that any of them had been sleeping well to begin with.

They all covered their mouths, trying not to make a sound, and waited quietly for the people to leave.