Although Lin Yujiao was inside her hidden space, she could still hear everything happening in the outside world.
Thud!
Something had fallen to the ground.
Her heart jolted.
Could there be thieves?
Peering through the narrow gap by the window, Lin Yujiao spotted two dark figures climbing over the low courtyard wall.
One of them bent down to pick something up, while the other cursed under his breath.
“Can’t you be a little quieter?”
The man retrieving the fallen object was unconcerned.
“What are you afraid of? Everyone must be asleep by now.”
Lin Yujiao’s gaze instantly sharpened.
The moment she heard their voices, memories belonging to this body surfaced in her mind.
She knew exactly who they were.
Li Demin and Lin Shengli, her eldest paternal uncle’s son—her own cousin.
So they still hadn’t given up.
They had caused a scene during the day, and now, that very night, they had sent two men climbing over her family’s courtyard wall.
Lin Yujiao was so furious that she laughed.
Fine.
If they weren’t afraid of dying, they could come right in.
She had her hidden space, and under the cover of this moonless night, did they really think she couldn’t deal with two worthless dogs?
In her previous life, Lin Yujiao had often gone about alone. For her own safety, she had always kept a few things on hand for self-defense.
She had pepper spray.
She also had a small electric baton, fully charged and ready to use.
She rummaged through her bag, took out what she needed, and prepared herself. Then she remained hidden inside her space, quietly waiting for the two men to walk straight into her trap.
Lin Shengli and Li Demin stood in the courtyard for a while. Only after hearing no movement from inside the house did they finally relax.
Lin Shengli lowered his voice.
“We’ll follow the plan. First, we’ll search the house together and find where she’s hidden the money. Then…”
Li Demin gave a lecherous grin.
The thought of Lin Yujiao’s smooth, delicate skin made his heart itch with anticipation. She was much fairer than the other young women in the village.
“You keep watch for me. When the time is about right, go call your mother and the others over.”
Their plan tonight was meant to accomplish two things at once.
First, they would steal the money.
Then Li Demin would ruin Lin Yujiao’s reputation, after which they would summon others to witness the scene.
Once everyone saw them together under such compromising circumstances, Lin Yujiao’s chastity and reputation would be destroyed.
What other choice would she have but to marry Li Demin?
That had been their plan the last time as well.
They simply hadn’t expected Lin Yujiao to fight back with everything she had.
Remembering the ferocity with which she had dragged him into the water that day, Li Demin’s chest tightened.
Fear crept over him once more.
Then he remembered what his aunt had told him.
This time, Lin Yujiao would never escape.
Once she married him, she would be his wife.
When that happened, he would have plenty of ways to settle the score with her.
His confidence immediately returned.
Rubbing his hands together impatiently, Li Demin whispered, “Hurry up. I can barely wait anymore.”
Lin Shengli curled his lips in disgust.
If he didn’t want this house so badly, he truly wouldn’t have wanted his beautiful cousin to marry such an ugly wretch.
What a pity.
Who could blame his cousin for having such an unfortunate fate?
Her parents were dead.
Without them to protect her, wasn’t she simply a lamb waiting to be slaughtered?
After tonight, this house could become his bridal home.
The thought filled Lin Shengli with excitement, and he wished they could finish everything immediately.
“Come on, let’s go!”
Lin Yujiao, who had heard their entire conversation, suddenly felt an ache in her chest.
It was probably the last trace of emotion left behind by the body’s original owner.
To be schemed against so viciously by one’s own blood cousin…
If the original Lin Yujiao were still here, who knew how devastated she would have been?
But Lin Yujiao was different.
She had never expected anything from these people, nor did she regard them as family.
Naturally, she felt no heartbreak.
Right now, all she felt was excitement at the thought of turning their scheme against them.
Creak.
The door to her parents’ room next door was pushed open.
The funeral had only recently ended, and the original Lin Yujiao truly had not been in any state of mind to sort through her parents’ belongings.
If Lin Yujiao had not arrived in this body, their plan might actually have succeeded.
But she wasn’t worried.
Earlier that day, she had already moved everything important from her parents’ room into her hidden space.
Lin Yujiao glanced to the side.
On the tea table sat a box containing everything of value the family possessed.
With all of it safely beside her, what could those two possibly find outside?
Nothing.
Li Demin and Lin Shengli practically turned the entire room upside down, yet they failed to find even a single fen.
“Damn it!”
Furious, Lin Shengli threw down a piece of clothing and looked toward his cousin’s room next door.
“Looks like she took everything.”
Li Demin rubbed his hands together eagerly.
“Then let’s hurry into her room and look.”
He could no longer contain his impatience.
Lin Shengli nodded.
“All right. Let’s go.”
Hidden in the darkness, Lin Yujiao listened as their footsteps drew closer and closer.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Her heart pounded with excitement, and blood rushed through her veins.
Creak!
The door swung open.
A leg appeared in the doorway.
The instant Lin Shengli poked his head inside, Lin Yujiao emerged from her hidden space directly before him.
His face went pale.
“Ah!”
Lin Yujiao gave him no chance to react.
She pressed the electric baton against him.
Crackle!
Lin Shengli’s entire body convulsed.
Within two breaths, he collapsed to the floor, unable to move.
Lin Yujiao slowly raised her head.
A cold, bloodthirsty gleam flickered in her eyes as she stared at the remaining man, Li Demin.
Everything had happened too quickly.
Li Demin had watched Lin Yujiao suddenly appear out of nowhere. Then, using some strange object he couldn’t identify, she had somehow made Lin Shengli convulse and collapse.
From where he stood, he couldn’t clearly see the weapon in her hand.
To him, Lin Yujiao looked like a female ghost.
And whatever she had just used…
It had to be sorcery!
Ever since that day in the water, he had thought she resembled a water ghost.
What living person would drag someone toward deep water with such ferocity?
Wasn’t she afraid of dying herself?
His terror surged back with a vengeance.
Li Demin’s legs gave way, and he collapsed onto the ground.
“G-Ghost! A ghost! Don’t come any closer! Stay away from me…”
Seeing his terrified expression, Lin Yujiao’s lips curved into a faint smile.
Afraid of ghosts?
Living people could be far more terrifying than ghosts.
She walked toward him, one deliberate step at a time.
The room was so dark that Li Demin couldn’t even see her feet.
That only convinced him further that the figure approaching him wasn’t human.
“Don’t come closer! Stay away! My aunt told me to come here! Don’t come after me, go after her!”
Lin Yujiao stopped.
“Oh? And what did she tell you to do?”
Li Demin immediately spilled everything.
“She told me to ruin you! Then, then everyone would see us together, and you’d have no choice but to marry me.”
“S-She also said the house and money would go to Lin Shengli, and your father’s job would go to me.”
“And if, if you refused to obey, then we’d… we’d beat you until you did…”
Lin Yujiao looked at him as though she were already staring at a dead man.
So that was it.
These two families had already divided everything the original owner’s parents had left behind.
The house.
The money.
Her father’s job.
Even Lin Yujiao herself.
They had arranged everything among themselves as though none of it had ever belonged to her.
Li Demin didn’t dare look up.
His entire body trembled.
“I… I’ve told you everything. P-Please, let me go.”
Lin Yujiao’s voice was calm.
“Who said I was going to let you go?”
She stepped forward and pressed the electric baton against him.
Just like Lin Shengli, Li Demin convulsed before losing consciousness.
Lin Yujiao stared down at his disgusting face.
She remembered the original owner’s desperate struggle in the water, that final act of resistance when she had been willing to risk everything.
Lin Yujiao made her decision.
She would avenge the original Lin Yujiao.
And she would avenge herself.
…
The peaceful silence of Lin Family Village was suddenly shattered by a loud cry.
“Someone come quickly! Catch the thieves!”
The villagers jolted awake from their sleep.
“Thieves? Where are the thieves?”
“Oh no! That sounds like Yujiao!”
Auntie Cuihua scrambled out of bed. She quickly woke her husband and son, grabbed whatever they could use as weapons, and rushed outside.
Along the way, they encountered other villagers who had also hurried out, carrying poles, sticks, hoes, and whatever else they could find.
When thieves entered a village, everyone had to work together to catch them.
Caught up in the urgency of the moment, no one stopped to wonder how Lin Yujiao’s voice had managed to travel so far through the village.
Back at home, Lin Yujiao quietly put away the loudspeaker she had once bought for a social practice project in her previous life.
No one would ever guess where it had come from anyway.
The villagers soon rushed to the entrance of Lin Yujiao’s home.
There stood the young woman, fully dressed and seemingly unharmed.
Yet there was blood smeared across her fair, delicate face, while her eyes and nose were red from crying.
Of course, Lin Yujiao had used chili pepper to achieve that particular effect.
“Yujiao! What happened?”
Auntie Cuihua rushed toward her.
“Yujiao, where are you hurt?”