Side Story: Past Life
Jingwu buried his mother in the hometown where she grew up. He had often heard his mother mention wanting to go home, and now that wish had come true.
She rented a small wooden house in the village, set up a protective barrier, and lived there for a while to heal her old injuries. She would get injured more or less in every competition, but at that time the Song family was in a hurry to push her out and win every competition to make a name for the Song family, so she didn't fully recover from her injuries.
In the match with Song Luoyan, her injuries were more severe than before. After that, she developed a physical aversion to competition and only wanted to recuperate quietly.
The days were peaceful, undisturbed by anyone, and free from endless competitions and training. She finally managed to heal her injuries gradually.
After living there for more than a month, a light drizzle began to fall. Jingwu was leaning against the window, staring blankly at the scenery outside, when he suddenly heard a sound coming from outside.
"Is Miss Jingwu here?"
Upon hearing the male voice, Jingwu snapped out of his daze and looked up in confusion. There was a barrier outside the house, so why would anyone come?
She saw a black and gold carriage parked outside, with the character "沉" (Chen) written on it in large characters.
She immediately recognized the newcomer as the head of a prominent family, the Shen family, which boasted numerous outstanding members. Before her, almost every competition had been won by a member of the Shen family.
This is not surprising, as the Shen family possesses a magical artifact that allows them to enter any barrier.
But why is the Shen family looking for her now? Could it be that now that she's left the Song family, those defeated rivals are starting to settle scores?
She hesitated for only a moment before opening the door and looking at the man and woman standing outside. The man was wearing a dark blue long coat and a jade crown. He looked to be in his forties or fifties and had a gentle and refined demeanor.
The woman wore a light purple dress, her hair was styled in a bun and adorned with a pearl hairpin. Her almond-shaped eyes held a smile, and she appeared to be only in her early thirties, exuding an elegant and refined air.
Jingwu looked at the two men and asked, "And who are you two?"
"Miss, I am the steward of the Shen family. I have come to visit you on the orders of our master." Steward Shen said with a smile, giving the coachman a wink.
The next second, the driver came over carrying a large box.
"These are gifts from our patriarch. I don't know if they suit your taste."
Jingwu frowned, looking at the newcomer with a vague suspicion in his heart.
"You've come for more than just a visit, haven't you? Just tell me what's on your mind."
“Young lady, you are intelligent and kind-hearted. I did come here on other matters. Our patriarch heard that you have left the Song family and have no further connection with them. He values your talent and would like to invite you to join the Shen family. Once you join the Shen family, you will enjoy the same food, clothing, and daily necessities as the eldest daughter of the Shen family’s main branch. You will also have a share of the Shen family’s assets. There will be no favoritism in the selection of metaphysical students; everything will be based on your own abilities. If anyone bullies you, the Shen family will definitely stand up for you.”
Butler Shen spoke at length, then looked up at the calm expression on the person in front of him. His smile froze, and after a light cough, he continued, "Miss, what do you think?"
Jingwu looked up at him, and after confirming that he meant no harm, she invited the two of them into the house and poured them tea before sitting down herself.
Seeing this, the two members of the Shen family thought there was hope, and their smiles became more genuine.
Before she left, the head of the family and his wife specifically instructed that she must be brought back to the Shen family.
After all, only the Song family doesn't appreciate such a genius.
"I'm sorry, but I don't want to join the Shen family, nor do I want to join any other family. Thank you for your kindness, Patriarch Shen. Please convey my gratitude when you return." Jing Wu's expression was very calm. After taking a sip from his cup, he said, "Please take the gifts outside with you as well."
The two members of the Shen family exchanged a glance, clearly not expecting a refusal.
After a moment's hesitation, the woman said, "Miss, I am the personal steward of the Madam of the Shen family. This time, the Madam specifically asked me to bring her private seal. If you are willing, you can immediately enter the Shen family and become a legitimate daughter under the Madam's name."
Jingwu chuckled softly, looking up at the two of them: "Thank you for your kindness, Madam, but I really didn't want to. How did you two find this place? And how did you know I had already left the Song family?"
Hearing the refusal, Steward Shen was disappointed, but still answered her question: "A few days ago, the eldest daughter of the Song family was supposed to enter the Underworld, but after waiting for several days, there was no movement at all. All the family heads were inquiring, and when our family head inquired, we learned that the Underworld suspected the eldest daughter of cheating and was investigating. Upon further inquiry, we discovered that you had already left the Song family. It's not just us looking for you; all the major families are looking for you, hoping to have you join them. The Song family found this place first, but they couldn't get in, so our family head immediately sent us with magical treasures to find you."
Hearing this, Jingwu pursed his lips. It seemed that this place was not a good place to stay for long.
She told the two men once again that she did not want to join the Shen family before sending them away.
After seeing the two off, he immediately packed his things and left.
Jingwu found another remote village, rented a house, and set up a protective barrier.
She also rented an acre of land to try growing some vegetables.
Sometimes, she would go out to town to tell fortunes and catch ghosts to earn a little money.
More than a year passed like this. Jingwu sat by the river, about to go down to catch fish, when he noticed a boy beside him.
"Hey, what are you doing here all alone?"
Jingwu turned around and saw a handsome young man in a purple robe standing beside him.
She narrowed her eyes and vaguely saw a ghostly power emanating from him. But in the blink of an eye, he vanished.
That's strange. Could this person be from the underworld, sent by Song Luoyan?
Jingwu looked at him warily, frowning in confusion: "I don't know you."
The implication is that it's none of your business.
After saying that, she tried to take her things and walk to the other side.
But Yue Huai was like a shadow, following her everywhere she went.
He finally found this person after a lot of trouble. Such a gifted and compatible genius absolutely cannot be let go; he must be taken back to the Underworld, preferably...
The Song family may be blind, but he is not.
Seeing that the person behind him kept following him, Jingwu had no choice but to ignore him, roll up his trousers, and go into the river to catch fish.
Just as she was about to catch it, she saw the fish that was about to be in her hand suddenly fly up into the air.
She turned her head and saw Yue Huai using magic to scoop up all the fish from the river, which were now floating in mid-air.
Seeing this, Jingwu was speechless, which made him look foolish.
It's not like she doesn't know how; she just wanted to experience the joy of catching fish. Why is this person such a spoilsport!
Jingwu went ashore, ignored him, and prepared to go home with his things.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Yue Huai leaned closer, looking at her face, still holding a large fish in his arms. "Don't you want the fish anymore?"
Jing Wu suddenly turned his head and saw the thick Netherworld power on him again. After a moment's thought, he asked, "What's your name?"
"Me?" Yue Huai put the fish into her basket and said with a grin, "You can just call me A-Huai."
Ah Huai?
Jingwu murmured these two words in his heart, and the next second he remembered that the only important person in the underworld whose name contained Huai was the King of the Underworld. If he were just an ordinary person in the underworld, he would never have such a strong underworld power.
Could this person not have been sent by Song Luoyan? Is he the King of the Underworld?
Yue Huai looked at the person in front of him staring blankly at him, and waved his hand in front of her in confusion: "Hey, I still don't know your name."
Jingwu snapped out of his reverie and said softly, "Jingwu."
"That's a nice name, Awu, not bad."
Jingwu frowned and looked at him, his eyes seeming to question why he was called by his nickname.
Yue Huai was completely unaware that he was walking beside her and began to talk about how to cook fish.
And so, he followed her all the way back to the cabin, got a free meal, and even tried to stay overnight, but Jingwu pushed him out.
For several days in a row, wherever Jingwu appeared, Yue Huai would be there too.
Jingwu went from being annoyed at first to gradually getting used to having a little tagalong following her around. Over the past few days, she had figured out that the person in front of her was Hades, who meant her no harm, but she just didn't know why he was bothering her.
However, as long as they're not Song Luoyan's people, everything else is negotiable.
That day, after the two finished dinner, Yue Huai very conscientiously cleaned up the dishes and chopsticks, but the next second, he sat down on the edge of the bed.
"What are you doing?" Jingwu looked at him in confusion.
"I have nowhere to stay, sister, please let me stay here." Yue Huai hugged the big quilt, blinked at the person in front of him, trying to soften her heart: "You have two beds here."
He saw it for himself today; that's how kids on the street act spoiled with their parents.
Jingwu's heart skipped a beat when she heard "sister," then she tugged at the corner of her mouth, seeing such a grown woman acting cute, and pulled the quilt back up: "I don't have anywhere for you to stay here. Turn right when you go out, there's an inn."
"But I have no money." Yue Huai tried to stay, but the next second, several copper coins were stuffed into his hand.
The next second, he was pushed out the door.
"elder sister....."
The boy's pitiful voice came from outside the door. Jingwu sat in front of the dressing table, chuckled, and combed his hair with a wooden comb.
Seeing that the people inside wouldn't open the door, Yue Huai sat at the door for a while before returning to the underworld.
He couldn't stand staying in a human inn.
The next day, Jingwu had just woken up when he heard Yue Huai's voice.
As usual, the two sat together eating breakfast.
As Jingwu was finishing his meal, he suddenly thought of teasing him and asked, "I see you come from a good family, but you just hang around here every day. Aren't your family worried?"
Yue Huai almost choked on his porridge and hurriedly lied, "I... I plan to find a master to learn a trade, but I haven't found a suitable one yet."
"Your talent in mystical arts is exceptional; you could consider becoming an apprentice. There are four major families and three major sects. However, the Shen family is the leading family, and the Lengyue Temple is the leading sect. It depends on where you want to go," Jing Wu said casually.
"Then will you come with me to Lengyue Temple?"
"Cough, what?" Jingwu choked and looked at him: "Why do you want me to go with you to learn from a master?"
"Just go have some fun, you don't have anything else to do anyway." Yue Huai chuckled and looked at the person in front of him, saying, "It includes food and lodging, and you can leave anytime. You can just leave when you're tired of it."
Jingwu pursed his lips, intending to refuse instinctively, but after seeing the person's eyes, he suddenly changed his mind. Going to have some fun wasn't out of the question.
She responded softly, which was taken as an agreement.
When Yue Huai saw that she had agreed, he was in a great mood and immediately started pestering her with this and that.
The two went to Lengyue Temple the next day.
One concealed his cultivation level, and the other concealed his magical abilities; both entered the temple as ordinary disciples with some talent.
They were both assigned to the same master.
One day, the two of them went down the mountain with their master, fellow disciples and senior disciples to catch ghosts, and the group settled in an inn.
The master looked to be only in his fifties or sixties. He loved to drink, and as soon as he sat down, he filled the wine jug and slowly began to tell his story.
“There’s a wealthy merchant in the city who says his ancestral graves are a bit strange and wants us to go take a look. You younger ones, once we get there, don’t wander off or touch anything. You older ones, take good care of your junior brothers and sisters.”
"Yes, Master," the senior brothers and sisters replied obediently.
Jingwu and Yue Huai exchanged a glance and nodded in agreement.
After eating, we continued our journey.
One of the senior students frowned and muttered under his breath, "It's so far away, why doesn't it teleport?"
Upon hearing this, the master immediately gave him a sharp rap on the head and cursed, "Do you know how much spiritual energy teleportation consumes? What's the point of having legs on your body? Why would you need to consume spiritual energy to walk? Spiritual energy is easy to absorb."
The senior apprentice was instantly beaten and ran around wildly, shouting, "Master, Master, I was wrong."
Jingwu watched this scene and twitched the corner of her mouth. Luckily, she didn't say anything. She turned to look at Yue Huai, whose face was serious, and asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"
"Master's wine has leaked." Yue Huai looked at his master's gourd and said with a serious expression.
Jingwu looked over and didn't see that the gourd containing the wine was leaking. Hearing the laughter beside him, he realized that he had been tricked and turned around to give him a hard flick on the forehead.
Then, he turned and left.
"Awu, I was wrong." Yue Huai covered his head and quickly chased after the person, admitting his mistake as he did so.
The senior students watching this scene couldn't hide their gossip.
Despite the bickering along the way, we finally arrived before evening.
Upon arrival, they immediately went to the ancestral graves.
As soon as he entered the forest, Jingwu sensed something was wrong; the forest's magnetic field was abnormal.
She focused her gaze on the ancestral graves, her brow furrowing.
There's probably a zombie in that coffin.
The others had obviously noticed as well. The master instructed Jingwu and Yuehuai to retreat, and then joined forces with the other senior brothers and sisters to set up an array.
Jingwu's eyes fell on the wealthy businessman who was about to slowly walk away, and he grabbed him: "Where are you going?"
The wealthy businessman stammered, "I...I'll go prepare the meal for you."
"Tell the truth." Yue Huai walked over, his face turning cold.
The wealthy businessman was so frightened by the two men that he could only stammer, "I...I...there's a zombie in this coffin..."
"How did you know?" Jingwu looked at him strangely.
"My father is obsessed with metaphysics, and a few days ago he accidentally turned my recently deceased concubine into a zombie. So I buried her in the ancestral graveyard, hoping the ancestors could suppress her..."
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