Chapter 7: The Original Soul’s Clarity

The three of them, holding quilts, with one person carrying chickens and another carrying a small bundle, hobbled up the small dam covered in wild grass.

Although it was called a small dam, it was actually a raised earth embankment. Several years ago, an outsider had stayed here for a while and built a thatched hut. Although simple, it was still livable.

Xiang He carefully pushed open the low gate with a fence around it. Inside was a fenced-in area, and the small thatched hut was not large. Around it, wooden planks formed a rough outer wall, and the roof was covered with thatch.

“Tonight, we’ll make do here. Xiao Yang, go gather some tree leaves and sweep the ground. Give me a thick coat, I’ll stand guard outside tonight.”

She placed the three chickens inside the hut, then turned and stepped back outside. Standing by the fence, she looked toward the house in the distance. Her eyesight was sharp enough to see the villagers being pushed out the door. Mrs. Yu stood with her hands on her hips, and faintly, the sound of her cursing could still be heard.

Inside, the family was busy, and Xiang Dayong leaned against the doorframe, watching Xiang He’s silhouette. That small frame stood upright, and thinking about everything that had happened tonight, he couldn’t help but feel that He girl… had changed.

Mrs. Su noticed him staring absentmindedly and followed his gaze to Xiang He. “Husband, let’s talk about this tomorrow. It’s been a busy night, and He girl has been working hard all night…”

“Mm…”

Even though he had many questions, it was hard to express them at the moment. It would be better to wait until they were rested and then sit down to discuss things in detail. Xiang Dayong sighed deeply but remained silent. Xiang He listened to the sounds of them, but nothing else happened. Her injured left wrist no longer hurt.

She crouched down, crossed her legs, and lowered her voice as much as possible. “I’ll watch the land tonight. If anyone comes, wake me up.”

“He girl, who are you talking to?”

A piece of clothing was draped over her back. Xiang He turned to look at Mrs. Su. “Just talking to myself. Mother, go to sleep soon. I’m worried they might mess with our land tonight, so I have to watch it.”

Mrs. Su narrowed her eyes slightly and looked into the distance. Although the moonlight illuminated some of the area, it was still hard to see clearly.

When she lowered her head, she saw Xiang He’s serious expression. Mrs. Su furrowed her brow slightly, and her hands tightened on Xiang He’s shoulder. “He girl… I always feel that…”

Xiang He’s pupils trembled lightly. She raised her hand and patted Mrs. Su’s hand, then smiled and looked at her. “Mother, let’s talk about it tomorrow morning. You should go ahead and make do with the bed tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll find a way to fix up the place and add some things.”

Seeing her familiar face, Mrs. Su hesitated but ultimately didn’t press further. She smiled gently and said, “Alright. If you can’t stay up, let Xiao Yang take over for you.”

“Got it.”

Xiang He watched as Mrs. Su went back into the house. She straightened her clothes, casually placed her hands on her knees, closed her eyes, and rested her mind.

“Is there anything else you need to do? I’ll help you finish it quickly, so you can reincarnate.”

This time, her voice was even lower. The air beside her felt cool, and a shadow gleamed faintly as it crouched down. The figure wore the same clothes as Xiang He, and the casual hairstyle looked similar too. When Xiang He looked at the pale face, she was stunned—this person looked exactly like her.

It was Xiang He, the one who had already passed away. Her expression was sorrowful, yet there was a hint of ease about it.

“Thank you…”

Xiang He didn’t respond. Her right hand subtly moved, and her fingers grazed her palm. The two of them, apart from their names, even shared the same birthdates and eight characters.

She could calculate for others but never for herself. Who would have thought she’d end up in such a situation?

She had been working peacefully and had accepted a soul-reaping task, never expecting that her own soul would end up in someone else’s body. Now, she was in an unknown ancient time, waking up in someone else’s fresh corpse, having to rely on their identity to survive.

Xiang He was truly helpless. She still needed to find a way back, but first, she had to deal with the will of the original owner and solve the family’s survival problems.

“Miss Xiang…”

The ethereal voice beside her interrupted her thoughts. Xiang He nodded without opening her eyes. “Go ahead.”

The clear soul Xiang He tilted her head slightly, resting her chin on one hand as she looked at her side profile. Her once lively eyes now appeared hollow. “How can you be sure that family will agree to separate?”

“Didn’t you see Xiang Lianhua’s affair? Didn’t you hear what the man said?”

Xiang He suddenly realized. She remembered that half a month ago, she was sent out by her grandmother to check on the fields. Bored, she had seen Xiang Lianhua’s figure and followed her, curious. To her surprise, Xiang Lianhua had secretly met a man and they embraced each other. Xiang He had been so shocked that she forgot to leave quickly.

A young girl, barely out of her teens, doing something so sordid. She had frozen in place, afraid of being caught, and waited until the noise died down. She then heard the man promise to marry her with an ^[1]eight-pole sedan (八抬大轿 / bā tái dà jiào) refers to a large, luxurious bridal sedan chair carried by eight bearers. In traditional Chinese weddings, the number of poles (and thus the … Continue readingeight-pole sedan and one hundred taels of silver, afterward handing Xiang Lianhua a silver ingot.

She had never dared to speak of it, keeping the memory hidden inside.

“So that’s it. Their greed—this must be because they fear they’ll have to give us a share of the dowry…”

Xiang He slowly opened her eyes. “Let’s not talk about anything else. Fourth Grandpa will agree to the family separation for two reasons: first, because Dad is determined, and second, because he really doesn’t want to support idle people. It’s better to separate than to keep them around.”

It was impossible for him to have a conscience. After everything Xiang He said, she didn’t believe he didn’t take it to heart—he must have calculated a lot before finally relenting.

The clear soul Xiang He looked at the face before her, feeling a sense of daze, as though it wasn’t real. Her heart tightened involuntarily. “Miss Xiang, could you wait until our family settles down before leaving?”

“As long as I’m using your body, I’ll always watch over this family. Don’t worry.”

The two of them, one alive and one a soul, exchanged no more words as the long night passed.

—

Xiang He closed her eyes to rest for a while, and a cool breeze woke her up. She suddenly opened her eyes—the sky hadn’t yet brightened.

The clear soul beside her was already gone, she didn’t know where.

She vaguely saw someone coming toward her, rubbing her eyes. Sure enough, there was a familiar figure sneaking over.

Xiang He’s eyes, tinged with dark circles, turned cold. “In the middle of the night, looking for trouble…”

She sat still, watching the figure approach, her hand reaching for a handful of stones, silently waiting.

There was tall grass blocking the way in front of her, so the person hadn’t noticed anyone sitting there.

Mrs. Yu thought everyone was already asleep and bent her body forward. “Let you steal a piece of land! I’ll pluck it all tonight!”

The land that Xiang Dayong had gotten wasn’t even well-planted, and if she messed it up, this winter would be hard to survive.

Xiang He kept her eyes fixed on Mrs. Yu’s actions. When her hand brushed a stalk of rice straw, Xiang He flicked a stone with precision—

“Ouch! What was that?!” Mrs. Yu rubbed her knee, unable to see anything in the dark, thinking she’d just been careless.

When her hand moved again, something hit her back. “Ouch!” She hurriedly turned around, but there was nothing behind her. “How strange…”

Each time she moved, Xiang He shot another stone with accuracy. Watching her twist and turn, Xiang He couldn’t help but scoff.

Suddenly, a rose-red figure appeared beside Mrs. Yu. Xiang He raised an eyebrow, gestured with her hand a few times, and the clear soul immediately understood, nodding. A rare smile appeared on her face.

Xiang He aimed carefully and struck Mrs. Yu’s forehead directly. The sudden blow startled Mrs. Yu, and she rubbed her head for a while. When she released her hands, a glowing white face appeared right before her!

“Ah!!!—”

Her scream echoed through the night as Mrs. Yu rolled and scrambled to get home as fast as she could.

“Finally, I can relax for a bit.”