Chapter 10: A Conversation with the Space

Just after they finished their meal, there was a knock on the door. Xia Qingfeng placed Xia Yingjun back into the space before going to open it. It was Aunt Li from next door. When she saw Xia Qingfeng, she finally let out a sigh of relief and said, “I came over this morning to look for you to dig for herbs, but you weren’t home. I asked around and found out you went into the mountains. I came back again at noon, but the house was empty, and I got so worried! You and Xiaoxiao shouldn’t go into the deep mountains, it’s too dangerous.”

“Thank you, Aunt Li. I didn’t go far. By the way, what did the village head say? Are you all planning to clear land on the mountain?” Xia Qingfeng quickly changed the subject.

When Aunt Li heard this, her eyes squinted with a smile. “Yes, the village head wants each family to clear an acre of wasteland. This morning, he assigned a spot for each family, and we’ll start clearing the land tomorrow.”

Xia Qingfeng nodded, fully agreeing with the village head’s approach. The villagers of Yong’an were simple and kind-hearted, and the families lived in harmony. This was all due to the village head’s selfless and fair leadership, which earned the trust of everyone.

“Alright, tomorrow I’ll head to the town and ask the apothecary if they have any herb seeds. Then, I’ll go find the village head.”

“Great, then you should rest up early tonight. I’ll head back now.”

“Aunt Li, wait a moment.” Xia Qingfeng went back into the kitchen and ladled the chicken soup and meat into a large bowl, bringing it out to Aunt Li. “Here, take this with you. I got lucky today and found a wounded wild chicken on the mountain, so I made a chicken and mushroom stew.”

“No, no, this is too much. You should keep it for Xiaoxiao to eat!” Aunt Li hurriedly declined.

“We’ve already eaten. Xiaoxiao and I have small appetites, and we can’t finish it all. It’ll spoil if we leave it, so please take some off our hands.”

The two of them stood by the door, pushing the bowl back and forth for a while. Finally, when some of the soup splashed onto Aunt Li’s hand, she had no choice but to accept it.

After sending Aunt Li off, Xia Qingfeng closed the door and went inside, thinking, *Aunt Li is really a kind-hearted person. She’s got such strong hands! It felt like I was fighting with her over a bowl of soup.*

It had been an exhausting day. After washing up with Xu Xiaoxiao and the white fox in the space, Xia Qingfeng went to bed early.

In her dreams, Xia Qingfeng vaguely heard a man calling her name, “Feng’er, Feng’er, Xia Qingfeng!”

Hmm? His voice is so magnetic, so pleasant to listen to! My ears are going to get pregnant! Why am I dreaming of a man’s voice? Is it because I’ve been single for too long? I can’t believe I’m having such a dream.

Xia Qingfeng turned over and went back to sleep. Suddenly, she felt something wet on her face. She opened her eyes and saw Xia Yingjun licking her cheek. Xia Qingfeng slapped at him, sitting up and angrily saying, “Xia Yingjun, it’s the middle of the night! What do you think you’re doing?”

Xia Yingjun flinched at the slap, whining pitifully and backing away.

Sighing, Xia Qingfeng muttered, “Ugh, still grumpy in the morning… Don’t take it out on Yingjun. It was me calling you.”

That magnetic voice sounded again.

Xia Qingfeng jumped in surprise. “Who? Who’s there? Come out right now, and I swear I won’t kill you!” Xia Qingfeng grabbed Xia Yingjun in her arms for courage.

“Don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you. The space you have is something I brought with me. I will only help you.”

“Then who are you? Why didn’t you speak before? Why are you suddenly appearing now?” Xia Qingfeng asked in rapid succession.

“Who I am… I can’t tell you yet. Don’t worry, I’ll only help you. I will explain everything to you in the future. The reason I can speak to you now is because I used a ginseng that you placed in the space.”

“Ginseng?” Could it be the one I’m thinking of? “Oh no (｀Δ′)!” Xia Qingfeng immediately jumped out of bed and rushed to check on the thousand-year-old ginseng. Sure enough, it was gone!!!

“You… you… you! You little thief, you actually stole my ginseng! Hurry up and spit it out!” Xia Qingfeng’s heart was bleeding, and she didn’t care about being scared anymore. She yelled out to the air.

Her shouting woke Xu Xiaoxiao up. She rubbed her eyes with her little hands and asked, “Mom, why are you yelling in the middle of the night? What’s going on?”

“Xiaoxiao, did you hear anyone talking just now? It was him who stole our thousand-year-old ginseng.”

“Who? Is there someone else in the space?” Xu Xiaoxiao looked around but couldn’t see anyone.

“Say something already, stop pretending you’re dead.” Xia Qingfeng pulled Xu Xiaoxiao closer to her side.

“Hello, Xiaoxiao. Sorry to disturb your rest.”

Xu Xiaoxiao suddenly became more alert. For some reason, just hearing that one sentence made her feel strangely familiar. “Are you the spirit of the space? Why are you suddenly talking now?”

“Actually, I would prefer you call me ‘uncle.’ I’ve been watching you grow up.” The voice carried a hint of affection.

“Space uncle?”

“Mm, that works too.” The voice paused briefly. “Ahem, actually, it was me who sent the spirit pet to find the ginseng. I needed that ginseng to be able to speak.”

Both mother and daughter turned to look at Xia Yingjun. “You’re his spirit pet?”

Xia Yingjun nodded, then weakly let out two small “yo yo” sounds.

“Mom, I think we’re just the tools in this whole thing,” Xu Xiaoxiao said with determination.

“Tools? What’s that?”

“Tools, like being ordered around by someone else.” Xu Xiaoxiao sat on the bed with her little legs crossed, explaining.

“No, no, no, it’s not like that. Don’t overthink it. I’ve expended a lot of energy just bringing both of you into this world, so I’ve been in a deep sleep. I can only wake up by absorbing the spiritual energy of this world. That’s why I had the spirit fox guide you to find the ginseng.”

“Then who are you? Are you human? Or a monster?” Xia Qingfeng had too many questions, too many things that were hard to believe.

“I’ll tell you everything when the time is right. For now, just remember this: I won’t hurt you. I’ll only take care of and protect you.”

“Alright then.” The space had brought Xia Qingfeng many conveniences, and she believed the space spirit.

“Mom, let’s sleep. With Space Uncle here, we’ll be safer.” Xu Xiaoxiao yawned delicately and immediately lay down to sleep. For some reason, she simply trusted Space Uncle.

Xia Qingfeng was exhausted from the day’s events and decided not to think about it any further. She quickly drifted off to sleep.

At midnight, when everyone else was deep in their slumber, a sound came from outside Xia Qingfeng’s house.

“Spirit Fox, go. Make him disappear.” A deep, cold voice came from the space, carrying a chilling aura.

“Yo!” The spirit fox dashed out of the space. The intruder wasn’t anyone else but Li Erlai, the man who had bullied the previous owner of this body. He’d heard that the villagers of Yong’an had made a lot of money selling medicinal herbs, and while he dared not approach anyone else, he had set his sights on Xia Qingfeng.

So, under the cover of night, while everyone was fast asleep, he stealthily approached her house. However, what he didn’t expect was that just as he was about to leap over the low wall and enter the house, a flash of white dashed out of the shadows and sank its teeth into his neck.

Before Li Erlai could make a sound, he was already dead. The spirit fox dragged his body to the foot of the mountain and gave two short, sharp cries. Soon after, two wolves emerged from the forest and dragged Li Erlai’s corpse deeper into the woods.

Everything that happened outside went completely unnoticed by the sleeping mother and daughter inside the space.

“Feng’er, I will protect you both here, I promise…”