“Bang!”
A powerful kick landed outside the door. The old, weathered wooden door slammed against the wall with a loud crash, shaking dust loose from the ceiling beams.
The girl lying sideways on the bed was jolted awake. She opened her confused eyes and stared blankly at the unfamiliar face standing in the doorway.
“Why aren’t you getting your lazy ass up yet? Do you expect me to help you wash up and dress too?”
The shrill, piercing scolding crashed into Qiu Yinong’s muddled consciousness, making even her newly fused soul tremble slightly.
She hadn’t been sleeping in, nor pretending to be sick.
She had been trapped deep within a bizarre and surreal dream — a life that belonged to another person with the exact same name as hers: a wandering poison doctor of the jianghu.
That woman had lived in an ancient feudal dynasty, traveling the martial world with her master, healing the sick and saving lives. Later, master and disciple secluded themselves in a remote medicinal valley deep in the mountains, spending decades studying herbs, refining medicine, and concocting poisons.
With a single set of silver needles, she could bring the dead back to life and restore flesh to bone — or silently take a life without anyone noticing.
At the end of that woman’s life, her soul and memories transformed into a streak of spiritual light and shot into Qiu Yinong’s forehead, merging completely with her own soul. During her unconscious state, she had inherited all of those memories.
Two completely different lifetimes of memories crashed together like two raging rivers, finally merging explosively within her mind.
“Our Huang family must owe your Qiu family in a past life! Every single one of you is here to collect debts!”
Old Madam Huang stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips, her short and fat body blocking the only source of light. The shadows made her dark yellow, mean-looking face appear even more vicious, and the disgust in her slanted eyes was impossible to miss.
Her voice was so sharp it hurt Qiu Yinong’s ears. At last, Qiu Yinong’s mind cleared completely, and the corner of her eye swept toward the calendar hanging on the mud wall.
May 8th, 1983!
Supporting herself on the rickety wooden bed, Qiu Yinong slowly sat up and looked around the room. Her gaze drifted across the shabby furniture while the damp, moldy smell unique to old earthen houses filled the air, making her frown slightly.
“Your damned short-lived father died clean enough, but he left behind a mountain of debt for my son to shoulder!”
“My son was soft-hearted enough to bring you, this burden, back home and even repay such a huge debt for you. Yet all you do is eat and drink for free! The sun’s already high in the sky and you’re still lying in bed. Do you think you’re some kind of ancestor to be worshipped?”
The sharp insults stabbed at her ears like steel needles. Qiu Yinong rubbed her aching temples.
Memories belonging to her original self surfaced in her mind.
The Qiu family had lived deep in the mountains for generations. They belonged to the Miao ethnic group and had practiced medicine for three generations, making them a famous family of Miao doctors across many nearby villages.
Ten days ago, a reservoir deep in the mountains had suddenly collapsed, causing devastating floods. Many homes were destroyed, and countless people became homeless. Exposed to wind and rain, many fell ill, so both she and her father had been recruited to help treat the victims.
But after taking medicine prescribed by her father, an elderly man never woke up again.
The dead man’s family blamed everything on her father. They beat him brutally and even shamelessly demanded compensation money.
Before the compensation issue could be settled, her father died from his injuries.
One life for another.
But the family still refused to let things go. They were overbearing and utterly shameless, ransacking her home and even forcing her to marry into their family as repayment.
In the end, it was her aunt — who had married far away in another province — who rushed back for the funeral and paid two thousand yuan to settle the matter.
After handling everything at home, Qiu Yinong followed her aunt to Shihai County. They had ridden the train for two days and three nights before finally arriving yesterday evening.
Qiu Yinong had already met this old woman last night.
She was her aunt’s mother-in-law and lived next door with her younger son. From the very first meeting, Qiu Yinong had sensed the woman’s intense dislike and hostility. During dinner, she constantly criticized her, treating her like a burden and a parasite sucking the Huang family dry.
It was true that her aunt had paid off her debt for her.
And in these times, two thousand yuan was an enormous amount of money. To Qiu Yinong, it was a great kindness.
She did not want conflict with her aunt’s family, so she calmly promised,
“Grandma Huang, my aunt paid off the debt for me. I already wrote an IOU and gave it to Uncle. I will repay the money.”
The confusion had vanished from her clear, untainted eyes, replaced only by a deep, unfathomable calm. Her plain blue clothing gave her delicate face an air of quiet mystery.
“You make it sound easy. Two thousand yuan isn’t two yuan! Where are you going to—”
Just as Old Madam Huang’s spit was about to spray onto her face, Qiu Yinong’s gaze suddenly turned sharp and icy.
Her eyes swept over like cold blades.
The rest of Old Madam Huang’s words froze in her throat from fright.
“I said I’ll repay it. I will return every single cent.”
Qiu Yinong’s voice was cold as ice shards.
Even she herself was startled by it, though she quickly regained composure.
She was no longer the same person she had been before.
A new soul now existed within her body. Because the poison doctor had grown up in a completely different environment, her personality was far colder and more ruthless — decisive and merciless in handling matters. Qiu Yinong still wasn’t fully accustomed to it.
“Old Madam Huang! The groom got blocked outside while picking up the bride! Hurry, let’s go watch the drama at the Yao family’s house!”
Hearing the neighbor’s shout from next door, Old Madam Huang immediately turned around. Before leaving, she shot Qiu Yinong a vicious glare.
“You’d better find a way to pay us back. Don’t even think about owing a single cent.”
With that, her short legs moved astonishingly fast as she hurried off, calling friends along the way to join the crowd going to watch the excitement.
No one else was home.
Her aunt and uncle had gone to work in the county town, and her three younger cousins were nowhere to be seen, probably out playing. Since Qiu Yinong wasn’t familiar with them, she had no intention of looking for them.
After washing up briefly, she grabbed a steamed sweet potato from the kitchen steamer to fill her stomach before wandering around the village.
Before coming here, she had asked her aunt about the place. The village was called Wankou Village, and beyond it stretched an endless sea. Nearly ninety percent of the villagers made their living through fishing and gathering seafood.
Qiu Yinong herself had grown up deep in the mountains and had never seen the ocean before. She knew nothing about the dangers hidden within it.
But the poison doctor whose memories now resided inside her had wandered the world for years and even crossed oceans before, witnessing the terrifying power of hurricanes and tsunamis firsthand.
Because of those memories, Qiu Yinong’s feelings toward the sea had changed.
The beautiful longing she once held for it had transformed into awe and reverence for the vast, mysterious blue expanse before her.
In the distance, tides surged toward the shore while waves crashed against the rocks with booming echoes. Even from far away, she could sense the overwhelming force of nature.
There wasn’t a single person walking along the beach now, not even fishermen. Qiu Yinong judged that this wasn’t a good time to explore there, so she decisively followed the crowd toward the east side of the village to watch the commotion instead.
“Since I’m here, I may as well settle in. Aunt’s gone to work, so I’ll just go chat with the neighbors first.”