Dongfang Xiaobai was pinned down by the hidden guards who rushed into the room.
To say “pinned down” wasn’t quite accurate—they carried her to the bed, applying ice packs and feeding her cool water. The group who had earlier been kneeling in rows to confess their faults also sprang into action. Though the servants were well-trained, the scene remained somewhat chaotic. Amidst this, an elderly woman rushed out from the crowd and embraced Xiaobai.
The previously restless mood and chaotic thoughts dissipated in the old woman’s embrace, gradually calming down. Xiaobai knew this was Old Madame Shang, the original host’s grandmother, and the only person unafraid of being beaten by the original host.
“My dear, my precious dear, don’t be angry anymore. If you ruin your health, Grandma’s heart will ache too. Your father has sent a letter; he’ll be back in a few days. Aren’t you happy?” The old woman was in her fifties, well-maintained, dignified and graceful, with hardly any silver strands in her hair. However, having read too many account books in her youth, her eyesight wasn’t very good.
So not only did she hug Xiaobai, but she also kept feeling around. For a moment, Xiaobai found it hard to endure, yet the body inexplicably felt close to the old woman. So, pretending to be a child, she cooed, “Grandma, I’m tired.”
She called out naturally, and her face truly resembled a child’s, showing signs of drowsiness. The old woman didn’t suspect a thing and coaxed, “My precious dear, rest well. As for those disobedient dogs, just have them beaten or killed. Don’t let them anger my precious dear.”
Xakobai was startled. This old woman appeared kind and gentle, yet she was also a tough character. Finally, she understood why the original host had turned out this way—the old woman was simply too doting on her granddaughter.
What exactly was this original host’s background?
…
Lying alone on the bed, Xiaobai sorted through the flood of information that had just surged into her mind. Upon encountering the original host’s acquaintances, some memories would surface.
She pondered for a long while, then extended her hand and examined it for some time. Next, she even removed her clothes and felt around her body—don’t doubt it, she wasn’t a pervert with strange fetishes, nor was she interested in a little girl’s body. She just wanted to confirm one thing.
This girl truly was a martial arts prodigy.
Dongfang Xiaobai couldn’t help but gasp.
As mentioned earlier, the bodies she had previously inhabited were all those of people who had already died before she awakened. In other words, regardless of the cause of death, the bodies were mostly unhealthy. Moreover, she wasn’t always lucky enough to transmigrate into a child’s body—beggars, night watchmen, apprentices… she had been all sorts of identities, with ages ranging from young to old, most having missed the golden age for martial arts training.
It must be emphasized here that in the Yue Dynasty, ordinary people practiced martial arts mostly for physical fitness, not truly to engage in life-and-death struggles in the martial world. Furthermore, Internal Cultivation Methods were almost exclusively guarded secrets of major sects, so ordinary people mostly practiced Hard Qigong or Health-Preserving Qigong. In other words, they had no Internal Energy.
Possessing Internal Energy was the primary condition for becoming a peerless master. To become a peerless master, talent, luck, and insight were all indispensable. Unfortunately, Dongfang Xiaobai’s luck had always been rather poor. So, each time she awakened in someone else’s body, she wouldn’t live many years before meeting a sudden demise due to various reasons. Forget becoming the Martial Arts Alliance Leader—even becoming a master was difficult.
No one understood better than him how agonizing it was to have a body with poor aptitude. What a genius could comprehend and master in half a month would take an average person three years, and someone with inferior aptitude ten years. This was the gap between ordinary people and geniuses—an insurmountable chasm.
Yet this young girl not only possessed innate divine strength but also had robust and sturdy meridians. Her Eight Extraordinary Meridians were naturally open, and even the Ren and Du Meridians, which even masters from major sects struggled to unblock, were completely unobstructed in her. With such a Root Bone, her progress in martial arts would likely advance a thousand miles in a single day. Forget about a lifetime—if she could find a good master, she might become a top-tier expert in the martial world in just ten years. What extraordinary aptitude! This was the body he had once yearned for but could never attain!
Overwhelmed by emotion, his body began to heat up again. Xiaobai quickly steadied his emotions but couldn’t hide his joy. He realized with absolute clarity that he had never been this close to his dream before—unfortunately, it was a girl’s body.
His feelings grew complicated. Even among martial arts families, women were rarely allowed to inherit the family’s Secret Arts, as they would eventually marry and could not take the family’s secrets with them. For a woman to aspire to the position of alliance leader was exceedingly difficult. Moreover, when major sects elected their leaders, unless the sect was entirely female, women simply couldn’t become sect masters.
Xiaobai alternated between joy and sorrow, but his body could no longer endure the strain. A sweet taste rose in his throat, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood. Immediately, hidden guards rushed over. Suppressing the urge to tell them to leave, he allowed them to feed him water and massage his legs, only managing to rasp, “No need to inform the old lady. Let her rest well.”
Shang Yu, who had stepped forward to attend to him, was taken aback. He felt that the young lady had changed a great deal, though this was hardly surprising. After all, Yinyuan was different from others—to the young lady, Yinyuan was like family. Yet no one had expected Yinyuan to be so foolish.
Running off with a lover was one thing, but stealing the young lady’s personal belongings was truly unforgivable.
Thinking this, he replied softly, “Yes, young lady.”
He assumed the young lady wouldn’t speak to him again. She had a short temper and preferred action over words. However, after a moment of silence, the young girl on the bed suddenly asked him, “Shang Yu, what year of Wankang is it now?”
“It is already the sixteenth year of Wankang. It has been four years since the master went to the Western Regions for trade,” he replied instinctively, assuming the young lady was concerned about the old lady’s words. She was always like this—her temper flared quickly but faded just as fast. One moment she was furious, the next she had already forgotten her anger. Now, she was probably missing her father.
Xiaobai’s expression grew distant. So only two years had passed. Yet when he died last time, there hadn’t been so many people fussing over him.
The year he died in Xiaoyao Valley was the fourteenth year of Wankang.
…
The original owner had little memory of her father, so Xiaobai didn’t dwell on it. After a night of meditation to calm his emotions, he abandoned any thoughts of suicide. With such an exceptional body, it would be a shame not to strive for greatness. He felt he could try living as a woman.
Of course, the most important reason was that Xiaobai had pieced together some fragmented memories in his mind and realized that this young lady was not quite what he had imagined.
First of all, the Shang family must be in business, and on a very large scale—so large that Xiaobai felt that the merchant’s son from two lifetimes ago was practically no different from a commoner. When you are wealthy to a certain extent, you only see two kinds of people in your eyes: the poor, and those who are poor but unaware of it.
Secondly, in her impression, merchants have always had numerous wives and concubines. For example, the father of that merchant’s son from two lifetimes ago had married eighteen concubines and kept over twenty dancers and beauties. Yet, the Shang family was exceptionally strange—in such a massive mansion, there were only two masters: one was Old Madame Shang, and the other was herself. Forget concubines, not even Old Master Shang’s legitimate wife could be seen. This made Xiaobai suspect a conspiracy. Could she be Old Master Shang’s illegitimate daughter raised outside? But where would someone keep their own mother and illegitimate daughter together?
However, for now, this was a good thing. Without so many schemes and calculations, Old Madame Shang had always doted on the original owner, which meant that for a long time to come, she would be very free.
Lastly, what puzzled her the most was this body. Even with Xiaobai’s knowledge, she couldn’t explain what the fire burning restlessly inside her was. It gathered in the Dantian, the most important area for martial artists, making her afraid to act recklessly. Due to this strange body, her emotions fluctuated greatly, and when she became irritable, she would lose control and only want to destroy things.
After much thought, Xiaobai concluded that it might be because the body’s qi and blood were excessively vigorous, accumulating in the Dantian without dispersing, which naturally made one restless and unable to control themselves. So, she completely understood why everyone was so afraid of the original owner. It was perfectly normal for a child with such a constitution to be unable to control their emotions—just like how men visiting brothels often couldn’t restrain themselves either.
Unfortunately, the original owner was born with immense strength and astonishing destructive power, which turned her into the Shang family’s little troublemaker.
And this was precisely the main reason why Yinyuan, the personal maid who had grown up with the original owner, eloped with her lover and stole her personal jade pendant.
Fear always drives people to act irrationally.
Author’s Note:
This chapter was originally scheduled for tomorrow, but my new story keeps getting blocked on Jinjiang. The app keeps saying I haven’t posted anything, so I’m posting another chapter to see if it works (I hate Jinjiang’s servers).
【Mini Theater】World-Weariness
Interviewer: You seem to have adapted to your new identity rather quickly.
Xiaobai: If you’ve ever joined the Eastern Depot and Shaolin, you’ll realize that you’re actually quite brave and capable of adapting to this world.
Thank you all so much for your support. I will keep working hard!