Chapter 4: Alien Soul

Qi Yue was rolling down the mountainside.

She reached out, desperately trying to grab onto something, regretting her decision to take a shortcut with every fiber of her being. In the blink of an eye, the sky had turned dark and it had started to snow. One misstep and she had tumbled down. Just as she managed to grab a withered branch and some roots, the first-aid kit on her back swung forward with the force of inertia, slamming squarely into her forehead. Everything went black for Qi Yue...

It couldn't end like this, could it? That would be too ridiculous.

Well, this was great. She didn't even know if her career was over, but her life was definitely finished. Her boyfriend—no, her ex-boyfriend—would surely be impressed by her "foresight."

Qi Yue couldn't help but clench her hands; she was so unwilling to accept this!

She froze as she clenched her hand. It seemed that a dead person shouldn't be able to make such a movement. Moreover, her consciousness had remained clear, and she could still feel pain in her body. Immediately after, the pain intensified; it felt as if something had struck her stomach hard.

Qi Yue cried out and sat up, clutching her stomach, only to see the first-aid kit that had rolled off her body.

This bane of her existence again!

It had smashed her head, and now it was smashing her stomach. To make matters worse, she had stuffed it to the brim while restocking in the city.

Qi Yue, feeling indignant, raised her foot to kick the first-aid kit, but the moment she did, she was scared out of her wits.

What... what kind of strange clothes were these?

A white dress? A white gauze dress? Who would change a patient into this at a time like this? Besides, what kind of emergency doctor would dress themselves in this during the dead of winter? Had they lost their minds? The dead of winter...

As this thought flashed through her mind, Qi Yue looked up, dazed. Then she realized the rustling sound she had heard earlier wasn't tinnitus from a concussion, but the sound of heavy rain falling outside.

Qi Yue’s mouth hung open, unable to process the situation.

She turned her head stiffly, seeing the classical carved wooden doors, the windows, and the circular moon gate common in old-fashioned residential architecture. Further inside, she could see a bed draped with curtains...

A burning pain radiated from her neck, overshadowing the pain in the rest of her body. Qi Yue instinctively reached up to touch it.

"Ligature marks and bruising..." she muttered out of professional habit. Then, she looked up and saw a roof with exposed rafters and beams, with a strip of white cloth hanging down and swaying from one of the beams.

A cacophony of footsteps, accompanied by wailing, pierced through the sound of the rain from outside.

Qi Yue withdrew her gaze from the beam and looked toward the door. A group of people surged in. As they drew closer and became clearer, Qi Yue couldn't help but rub her eyes.

"Oh my god, am I dreaming?" she muttered.

This group of people were indeed human, but they were not the people she was familiar with. Regardless of age, they all wore their hair in buns and were dressed in clothes that no modern person would ever wear. They looked as if they had walked out of a painting, a television show, or the murals of an ancient tomb...

They carried the fresh scent of damp earth, and they were noisy.

"...Cry, cry, what are you crying for? There will be plenty of time for you to cry later..."

"...Wuwuwu, Mother Liu, hurry and tell the Madam of the Marquis's estate..."

The group spoke and wailed as they walked.

They stepped onto the threshold with quick strides. A-Ru looked toward the room, her face covered in tears.

"The Young Mistress, she..." she choked out, the words stuck in her throat.

Qi Yue sat on the floor, her eyes fixed on them, her bloodless lips slightly parted.

A-Ru reached up to cover her face.

Two screams pierced everyone's eardrums simultaneously.

"A ghost!"

Compared to A-Ru, who had collapsed to the ground trembling, Qi Yue scrambled backward on her hands and feet while screaming.

"You little hussy!" The leading woman was so startled by the sudden shout that she nearly fell. Upon seeing the figure—disheveled but agile—scurry into the inner chamber, she immediately guessed the cause and effect. Her anxious expression darkened, and she kicked A-Ru, who was still screaming on the floor. "Someone, tear her mouth open! What use is a mouth that only causes trouble?"

Three or four women immediately swarmed forward, striking and slapping A-Ru.

A-Ru dodged while crying. A-Hao, who had collapsed behind the others when A-Ru screamed, squeezed through, crying as she shielded A-Ru from the older women. She shouted that she wasn't lying to them, that the Young Mistress had truly hanged herself...

But the words "the Young Mistress is truly dead" never left her lips. The two maids had been so terrified in this short moment that they were shaking like chaff and couldn't catch their breath.

The leading woman glared at them indignantly, stepped inside, and looked up at the white cloth hanging from the beam, a cold sneer appearing on her face.

"Young Mistress," she called out.

There was no answer from the room.

"Young Mistress, do you have any other instructions?" she asked in a mocking, insincere tone, not expecting an answer.

Still, no one replied from within.

"If you have nothing else, this old servant will take her leave. The estate is busy with many affairs, the Madam is in poor health, and the two young ladies are helping manage the household. On top of that, the Aunt's family is holding a funeral, and we cannot afford any negligence with these mourning rites. It truly is a grievance to you, Young Mistress. When I have some leisure time, I will come back to keep you company." The woman spoke this long string of words slowly, then, without waiting for a reply, turned and left.

"Mother Liu, this..." A woman pointed to the white cloth hanging from the beam, asking for instructions.

The woman glanced sideways into the inner room and let out a scoff through her nose.

"Leave it. The Young Mistress is in poor health; it’s not convenient for her to climb up and down. It will be easier to use next time," she said indifferently.

These words were truly rebellious, but the women in the room showed no fear or surprise; instead, they all smiled.

"Look at how rushed we were, we didn't even manage to open an umbrella, and our clothes are all wet. Go tell the kitchen to boil some soup for Mother to warm up," another woman ordered.

A young maid scurried off. The others opened umbrellas and led the way, ushering the woman out.

As the woman walked out, she glanced sideways at the two maids still huddled on the ground.

Feeling that gaze chill their spines, the two maids huddled even closer together.

"It's fortunate I didn't listen to you and go tell the Madam of the Marquis's estate. Otherwise, my old bones would have been rattled to pieces by you two young things," she said slowly. "A-Ru, you used to serve the Old Madam. How is it that you haven't improved, but have instead regressed?"

A-Ru and A-Hao knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly.

"We truly dare not lie to Mother Liu, we truly dare not," A-Ru cried.

The woman didn't even look at them, stopped speaking, and stepped past them.

The group soon moved away, and laughter could be faintly heard through the rain and mist.

"...It took her so long to finally have the guts to hang herself..."

"...If you have the guts to play, you should have the guts to endure it. What a disappointment..."

"...If she had actually died, that would have been for the best. Our Young Master would finally be free..."

Listening to the unbridled laughter, the two maids looked at each other and then hugged each other, sobbing.

"Stop crying. It's a good thing the Young Mistress is fine. I'd rather be beaten and scolded than have her really..." A-Ru patted A-Hao, saying through tears.

A-Hao nodded.

The two helped each other up, ignoring the rain soaking their hair and clothes, and walked into the room in a few steps.

"Young Mistress?" they called out.

There was no answer from inside. A-Ru walked a few steps further into the inner room and saw the hem of a skirt peeking out from the side of the bed curtains.

"Young Mistress," she said, her voice softening, "are you really alright?"

A hand reached out slightly from behind the curtains, grabbed the fabric, and pulled it, wrapping herself up more tightly.

She was too ashamed to face anyone. A-Ru sighed; it was truly a disgrace if today's events were to spread.

"Young Mistress, should we find a doctor?" she asked softly again.

"No need." A thin voice finally came from behind the curtains. It sounded startled, trembling, hoarse, and short.

A-Ru stopped and looked back at A-Hao.

"I'm fine." The voice came from behind the curtains again, this time a bit louder. At the same time, half of a face peeked out from behind the curtains, glanced at A-Ru quickly, and hid back inside. "You... you go out."

A-Ru stood still.

"You should go change your clothes," the voice from behind the curtains said more fluently. "Be careful not to catch a cold."

Catch a cold? A-Ru was stunned. What did that mean?

Given the Young Mistress's temper, she didn't ask further.

"Then I will go change my clothes first, and then come back to serve you, Young Mistress," she said.

A sound of agreement came from behind the curtains.

A-Ru walked out. A-Hao was standing in the main room, looking up at the hanging white cloth with a pale face.

"Sister, this..." she asked timidly.

A-Ru moved a stool over, stood on it, and pulled it down, bundling it up in a few quick motions.

"Go burn it," she said.

A-Hao nodded and hurried to pick up the chair and stool that had been knocked over on the floor. Suddenly, she saw a silver-white box in the corner of the room.

"Sister, what is this?" she asked.

A-Ru looked over upon hearing this, also feeling puzzled. The object was square, and it had strange symbols and strange characters marked in red on it.

"We don't have this in our room, do we?" she said.

They had lived here for three years and could recognize the furnishings even with their eyes closed.

She reached out to pick it up.

"Don't touch it." A voice suddenly came from the inner room.

A-Ru and A-Hao were startled. They looked back and saw the Young Mistress peeking half her body out from the curtains, staring at them.

"Yes, yes," the two replied hurriedly, stepping back a few paces. "Young Mistress, we will take our leave now."

Watching the two lower their heads and retreat, even closing the door behind them, Qi Yue finally breathed a sigh of relief. Only after confirming that the two were not peeking from outside did she walk out.

She looked around, filled with astonishment and shock, her gaze finally landing on a bronze mirror nearby.

Qi Yue took a few deep breaths, walked over with the determination of someone heading to the execution ground, closed her eyes for a moment, and then opened them wide.

In the mirror, a completely unfamiliar face with a round face, almond eyes, and jade-like skin was staring back at her.

She pursed her lips, bared her teeth, and reached out to pull at her cheeks; the person in the mirror did the same.

"Oh my god..." Qi Yue muttered to herself. She finally put down the mirror, her gaze sweeping over the furniture in the room, which was undoubtedly authentic and definitely not a television set. "I've transmigrated..."

(End of chapter)