Dawn came quickly.
By the time Jiang Wanning emerged from the Realm of Ningyuan, the moonlight filtering through the door had already turned into a hazy gray morning glow.
She removed the wooden stick bracing the door and immediately heard movement outside the thatched hut.
There was the sound of her second aunt’s husband lighting the stove, the crackling of burning firewood, and the splash of water as someone scooped it with a gourd ladle.
From the neighboring room came grandmother’s coughing, one cough after another, as though she were trying to cough something out of her lungs.
Jiang Wanning pushed open the door, and the morning light poured inside, illuminating half her face.
Her second aunt’s husband was crouched in front of the stove, adding firewood. The firelight painted his face a warm red.
When he saw Jiang Wanning come out, he paused for a moment before smiling, his eyes curving gently.
“Wanwan, you’re up so early? Why don’t you sleep a little longer?”
“I couldn’t sleep.”
Jiang Wanning walked over and crouched beside him, watching the flames dance inside the stove.
“Second Uncle, is grandmother awake?”
“She is. She’s coughing again.”
He pushed another piece of firewood into the stove, and the smile on his face faded slightly, replaced by concern.
“It’s an old problem. She starts coughing whenever the weather turns cold, and there isn’t much we can do about it.”
Jiang Wanning said nothing, but she silently made a note of it.
Grandmother’s cough needed to be treated.
There was medicine in the Realm of Ningyuan. She would give some to grandmother later.
Jiang Baizhou entered the courtyard carrying a bundle of firewood, with a string of wild vegetables tied together with straw rope hanging from his arm.
He stacked the firewood in the corner, handed the vegetables to his second aunt’s husband, then turned to look at Jiang Wanning. His eyes held the same cautious wariness as a small animal.
“Wanwan, how are you feeling today?”
“Pretty good.”
Jiang Wanning stood and brushed the dust from her knees.
“Brother, after breakfast, I have something I want to tell everyone.”
Jiang Baizhou nodded.
He did not ask what it was. Instead, he quietly walked over to the stove and helped add more firewood.
Breakfast was still porridge. This time, there were a few leaves of wild vegetables in it, along with a small pinch of coarse salt from who knew where.
Jiang Wanning drank one bowl but did not eat any more. She simply could not bring herself to eat it.
After breakfast, grandmother came over from the neighboring room, leaning on her cane.
Her hair was neatly pinned up with a wooden hairpin today, and she looked a little more energetic than she had yesterday.
Jiang Wanning helped her sit beside the table with its uneven leg, then went to close the door.
The crooked door panels did not shut properly.
Everyone immediately sensed that something was wrong.
They watched Jiang Wanning’s every move without saying a word, but the same question was written in all their eyes.
What did Wanwan want to say?
Jiang Wanxing took Jiang Wanning’s hand and pulled her down to sit beside her.
However, Jiang Wanning returned to the table without sitting down. Instead, she stood before grandmother and faced the entire family.
Her expression was calm.
She looked at each of them in turn and spoke clearly, even though her voice was not loud.
“I have something to tell all of you.”
Grandmother looked at her without speaking, only giving a slight nod.
Jiang Wanning took a deep breath and began.
“I wasn’t foolish and confused all those years because I was born that way.”
She spoke neither too quickly nor too slowly, as though she had carefully considered every word countless times.
“It was because my soul wasn’t inside my body.”
The room fell silent for a moment.
Her second aunt’s husband stared at Jiang Wanning with wide eyes. The only sounds in the room were grandmother’s faint breathing and Jiang Baizhou’s suddenly quickened breaths.
Her second aunt’s mouth was wide enough to fit an egg.
“Your soul… wasn’t there?” Jiang Baizhou’s voice drifted uncertainly, as though he were repeating something he could not fully comprehend.
“Yes.” Jiang Wanning’s gaze swept across everyone’s faces before finally settling on grandmother. “My soul was summoned away by an immortal to another place.”
Grandmother’s hand suddenly tightened around her cane, her knuckles turning white.
“An immortal?”
Her voice was so hoarse it was almost impossible to hear, yet her cloudy eyes suddenly brightened, like a dying candle whose wick had been stirred back to life.
“What immortal?”
Jiang Wanning lowered her eyes and fell silent for a moment. The pause was not because she had forgotten what to say, but because she needed her expression to look as though she were recalling something deeply important.
When she raised her head again, her gaze was calm and resolute.
“I don’t know that immortal’s name.”
She continued, “But that place was completely different from here. There were towering buildings that reached into the clouds, iron carriages that could travel a thousand li in a single day, and iron birds capable of carrying people into the sky. The people there never had to worry about food or clothing. When they fell ill, there was good medicine, and when they were cold, there were warm clothes. The immortal asked me to manage His territory, and I stayed there for many years.”
She spoke slowly and used the simplest words she could, making sure everyone understood.
Her second aunt’s husband sat with his mouth slightly open, as though listening to an unbelievable story.
Jiang Wanxing’s eyes had turned red, and her lips trembled slightly. Jiang Baizhou stood in the corner with both hands clenched into fists so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.
Only my grandmother’s reaction was completely beyond Jiang Wanning’s expectations.
Grandmother showed no surprise, suspicion, or fear.
Tears welled up in her eyes, but they were not tears of sorrow. They were the tears of someone who had spent years searching for something and had finally found it.
“I knew it. I knew that was the reason.”
Grandmother’s voice trembled, but she smiled so broadly that the wrinkles on her face gathered together.
“I knew it… My Wanwan isn’t foolish. My Wanwan was chosen…”
Jiang Wanning was stunned.
She had never expected grandmother to believe her so easily.
But after thinking about it, she realized it was understandable. In this cursed world, where the ratio of men to women was absurdly unbalanced and where grandmother had personally witnessed the consequences of the curse, the existence of immortals might not have been difficult to accept.
“Grandmother.”
Jiang Wanning crouched down and took grandmother’s hands, which were covered in calluses and age spots.
“The immortal said that this land is about to suffer a great disaster. The earth will tremble, heavenly fire will scorch the wilderness, floods will rise to the skies, and a long period of extreme cold will follow.”
Grandmother’s hand suddenly trembled.
“The immortal sent me back.”
Jiang Wanning’s voice was soft, but every word seemed to drive itself into the hearts of everyone present.
“He sent me back so I could lead my family and keep them alive.”
The silence in the room lasted for a long time.
Her second aunt was the first to speak. Her voice was slightly hoarse, but there was a strange sense of relief in it, as though a heavy burden had finally been lifted.
“So that’s why you suddenly started talking yesterday, Wanwan… Your soul came back?”
“Yes.”
“And everything you said…” Her second aunt paused, seemingly choosing her words carefully. “The earthquakes, floods, and everything else… the immortal told you about them?”
“Yes.”
Her second aunt took a deep breath and slowly let it out. She turned to look at grandmother, who gave a slight nod.
Then she turned back to Jiang Wanning. Her eyes were red, but her gaze was serious.
“Wanwan, I believe you.”
Just four words.
Four simple words.
I believe you. Jiang Wanning felt her throat tighten.
Jiang Wanxing said nothing and simply squeezed Jiang Wanning’s hand gently.
Jiang Baizhou was the last to speak.
He stepped out from the corner and stopped in front of Jiang Wanning, looking down at his younger sister, who was half a head shorter than him.
His eyes were red, but he did not cry. He raised a hand to wipe his nose, took a breath, and spoke in a hoarse voice.
“Wanwan, tell us what we should do.”
Jiang Wanning looked at them.
This was her family.
They were people who could barely afford enough food to eat and lived in a broken thatched hut, poor enough that they had nothing to their names.
Yet they all shared one quality.
They believed her. Not because she had proven anything.
Not because she had shown them any evidence.
They believed her simply because she was Wanwan.
She was the Wanwan they had desperately protected, the Wanwan who had spent fifteen years foolish and confused.
Jiang Wanning stood up and looked at each of them in turn. Her voice was not loud, but it was steady.
“The immortal bestowed upon me a world of its own,” she said. “Inside, there is food, medicine, seeds, and tools. Those things are enough to help us survive the disasters.”
She paused before continuing.
“But those things can’t simply appear out of thin air. There are more than a hundred people in our clan, so what should we do? I definitely can’t tell them about the Realm of Ningyuan.”
Jiang Wanning thought about how the people of her clan had also protected her in her dreams.
She felt that she could tell them about the immortal. It would give them a sense of reverence and make it easier for her to get them to listen to her.
The world was about to change.
Who cared about whether men or women held higher status? None of that would matter anymore.
From now on, Jiang Wanning would be the one calling the shots.
Jiang Wanning spoke. “I plan to tell the clan that I serve the immortal.”
The entire house suddenly fell silent.
Grandmother was the first to speak.
“Wanwan, isn’t that too risky?”
Her second aunt also said anxiously, “Yes, Wanwan, this…”
Jiang Wanning interrupted them.
“Second Aunt, grandmother, I understand your concerns, but I’m not afraid of taking risks. I have the immortal’s protection. They wouldn’t dare harm me.”
Grandmother nodded. “Alright! As long as you’ve made your decision, Wanwan.”
Jiang Wanning felt the tension in her heart ease.
“There’s one more thing.”
Her voice lowered.
“We must prepare for the disasters in advance and start stockpiling supplies.”
Grandmother nodded firmly.
“Wanwan is right.”
Everyone else nodded as well.
Jiang Baizhou said seriously, “I can keep a secret. Don’t worry, Wanwan.”
Jiang Wanning looked at her family, and the string that had been tightly wound inside her heart finally loosened a little.
Not completely. It was still far too early for that.
The disasters had not yet arrived, but at least she no longer had to bear everything alone.
At least now, she had people she could trust.
Grandmother reached out and pulled Jiang Wanning close. Her rough palm slowly stroked the top of her head, once, then again.
“My Wanwan,” grandmother murmured, her voice as soft as the wind, yet every word carried enormous weight. “You’ve suffered so much. You’ve finally come back.”
Jiang Wanning leaned against grandmother’s shoulder and said nothing.
Outside, the sun had fully risen.