Ten Winds Continent.
Southern Borderlands, Yanqing City.
In an ordinary courtyard on Qinghua Lane in the southern part of the city, a pale-faced girl dressed in coarse short robes crouched in the vegetable patch. A faint green glow emanated from her hands as several newly planted, slightly wilted wild vegetables instantly grew taller, bore seeds, and withered away.
Picking up a sesame-sized seed from the ground, she buried it and once again channeled the Spirit Power within her body.
In mere moments, the wild vegetable seed broke through the soil, sprouted, stretched upward, and grew into a lush green wild vegetable, appearing exceptionally vibrant under the sunlight.
Song Liuhua stared blankly at her palm. Had she truly… awakened?
Five days ago, she had crossed over to this mysterious continent.
A year here consisted of twenty-four months: eight months of Warm Season, eight months of Flood Season, and eight months of Cold Season.
The Ten Winds Continent was vast and sparsely populated, with its people making a living by hunting Exotic Beasts and gathering plants.
Nearly everyone here cultivated Spirit Power. Upon reaching a certain age, men awakened as Martial Spirit Masters, specializing in combat and hunting Exotic Beasts. Women, on the other hand, awakened as Auxiliary Spirit Masters, capable of planting, Elixir Crafting, or Artifact Crafting.
When she woke up this morning, she felt a peculiar energy flowing in her chest and suspected it might be an awakening.
She had just tested it out and, to her surprise, it was indeed the case.
The original host had been a waste for eighteen years, yet she awakened as soon as Song Liuhua arrived. Could this be a belated golden finger?
Suddenly, a series of knocks echoed from the courtyard gate.
Just as Song Liuhua was about to stand up and open the door, a wave of dizziness overwhelmed her. Her vision darkened, and she collapsed headfirst into the vegetable patch.
It took her a long while to recover.
“Pfft, pfft,” she spat out the dirt from her mouth.
Song Liuhua pounded the ground in frustration.
She had almost forgotten—the original host was an injured sickly weakling!
And she had just used Spirit Power, which only made her weaker.
Five days ago, the original host was gathering wild vegetables in the suburbs when a Black Rock Pig broke into the safe zone. She took a blow meant for her fiancé’s younger sister, Xie Qingqing, and died on the spot.
Forced to inherit this half-dead body, Song Liuhua couldn’t help but curse the heavens for being insane.
Who could understand?
In her previous life, after her great-grandmother appeared in a dream, she spent her entire savings of 100,000 to buy a lottery ticket and won 200 million. But on the very first day she joyfully moved into her fully paid luxury apartment, a mischievous child randomly pressed elevator buttons, causing her to plunge down the shaft from the eighteenth floor.
Before she could even enjoy it, her multi-million dollar apartment and the remaining hundreds of millions vanished into thin air.
What sin had she committed to experience such extremes—from poverty to sudden wealth, then to utter destitution, all while saddled with a frail body on the verge of collapse—in just a few days?
Wasn’t this just toying with her?
Fuming, Song Liuhua gritted her teeth and viciously cursed the parents who raised that bratty child, wishing them ten more kids, every one of them just as unruly!
Let them be tormented to death!
Perhaps because she took too long to answer, the knocking grew more frantic.
Rolling her eyes in exasperation, Song Liuhua struggled to her feet and dragged her eighty-year-old-grandpa-like body to open the gate.
“Liuhua, what are you doing? Auntie has been calling for you forever. Why did it take you so long to open the door?”
Xie Liu-shi rubbed her sore fist, inwardly grumbling that this wretched girl was clearly alive and well, yet took so long to answer—how ill-mannered!
She then complained discontentedly, “You silly girl, are you slacking off again? Auntie tells you… we women ought to be virtuous and diligent… Your parents died early, and your elder brother is a man. No one taught you properly, but since you call me Auntie, I’ll teach you how to behave…”
Blah, blah, blah…
The middle-aged woman outside the door was slightly plump, wearing a blue-green cloth dress, with a small mole on her thick lips.
She was the mother of the original host’s fiancé, Xie Huaisheng—Madam Xie Liu.
As Madam Xie Liu chattered incessantly, Song Liuhua cast a disdainful glance at her.
Only when the woman had exhausted her words did Song Liuhua half-heartedly invite her into the sitting room. “Auntie, what a rare guest! To think you’d come today!”
Madam Xie Liu choked back her words, a flash of anger in her eyes.
She cursed inwardly at how tenaciously this wretched girl clung to life.
Why hadn’t the Black Rock Pig gored her to death!
Every time she recalled the incident, Madam Xie Liu felt a lingering fear. Her daughter was talented—a rare Second Grade Alchemist—and had just been accepted into the County Military Office a few days ago. She was counting on her daughter marrying into a good family to support her own, so nothing could go wrong!
As for Song Liuhua, this good-for-nothing, she was only useful for this one thing.
Remembering her purpose for visiting today, Madam Xie Liu forced a smile.
“Seeing you unharmed, Auntie can finally rest easy.”
“You have no idea—when I heard you were injured, I couldn’t sleep for nights. Unfortunately, I’ve been too busy with household matters to find time. But today, the moment I had a free moment, I came straight to see you.”
Song Liuhua glanced at her rosy cheeks and empty hands, curling her lips. “Oh? Auntie is so thoughtful~~”
“However, since I took the blow for Xie Qingqing and was injured this badly, I’m afraid I can’t take care of myself. My elder brother isn’t home either. Where is Xie Qingqing? I saved her life—surely it’s not too much to ask her to come tend to me for a while!”
As she spoke, Song Liuhua opportunistically coughed a few times.
Her pale cheeks instantly flushed with a sickly rosy hue.
Madam Xie Liu hadn’t expected Song Liuhua, who had always been as docile as a meek daughter-in-law in her presence, to dare make such an unreasonable demand.
Her eyebrows shot up instinctively. “How could that be? Qingqing is an alchemist! How could she wait on a good-for-nothing like…”
Catching herself, she softened her tone. “Qingqing has become a first-grade alchemist and left with the mercenary team to hunt in the West River Ridge yesterday. She won’t be back for several days. Auntie can see you’re fine—I’m sure resting at home for a few days will be enough for you to recover.”
“Actually… Auntie came to see you today because there’s something important I need to tell you.” Madam Xie Liu put on a troubled expression.
Having watched countless melodramatic shows and built up immunity to such tactics, Song Liuhua saw through Madam Xie Liu’s clumsy acting at a glance.
She rolled her eyes inwardly and calmly watched her performance.
Over the past few days, she’d heard plenty of gossip—rumors that the original host’s cheap fiancé, Xie Huaisheng, had been getting close to Wang San’er, with some even claiming the two had already registered their marriage at the county office.
Ever since her elder brother Song Yuan’s Spirit Abode was injured two months ago, causing him to fall from a fourth-grade Martial Spirit Master to a second-grade one, the Xie family had rarely visited. Moreover, even though the original host had saved her daughter, they hadn’t bothered to come until today. This sudden visit surely meant they were up to no good.
When she didn’t press for details, Madam Xie Liu gritted her teeth, cursing this wretched girl for not taking the bait.
Adjusting her expression, she pulled out a Divorce Contract from her bosom. “Liuhua, our Xie family has wronged you. Miss Wang San’er fell into the water and was saved by Huaisheng. Afterward, she became desperate—threatening to live or die unless she married our Huaisheng. If he didn’t marry her, she would kill herself.”
“Huaisheng had no choice. To save her, the two registered their marriage five days ago. We were afraid the news would devastate you and harm your health, so we waited until today to tell you. Please be understanding—let your engagement with Huaisheng be annulled.”
Song Liuhua stared at her thick lips parting and closing, revealing yellow teeth stained with vegetable scraps, yet the words that came out were utterly ridiculous.
Xie Dalang had actually married someone else without dissolving the engagement, all while keeping it secret from the original host. Song Liuhua was so furious she laughed.
Her delicate oval face, pale from injury, gained a touch of vivid charm when she smiled.
Xie Liusi curled her lips. What she disliked most was Song Liuhua’s face—that fragile, pitiful, innocent look that had bewitched her son into losing his senses. Even after marriage, he hadn’t settled down.
Thank goodness they hadn’t married her into the family. Otherwise, where would there be room for a mother-in-law like her?
Song Liuhua took the Divorce Contract and sneered, “Auntie, what are you saying? If you have the heart to save someone, does that mean I’m made of stone? If Wang San’er’s life is spared because of Xie Huaisheng, what does a mere man like him matter? I’ll take the Divorce Contract. From now on, marriages and alliances between me and the Xie family are none of each other’s concern.”
“You—!”
Xie Liusi had prepared for her to weep and wail, never expecting her to be so straightforward now.
Feigning sympathy, she comforted, “After all, our Xie family has wronged you. Auntie knows you’re a rare, good girl. You’ll surely find someone better than my Huaisheng.”
Song Liuhua’s temperament was nothing like her delicate appearance. She lifted her eyelids and retorted sarcastically, “What nonsense are you spouting? If I couldn’t even hold onto trash like your son, how can you expect me to find someone better? Auntie, you must be blinded by lard—go home and wash your brains clean!”