Outside the city, in a dilapidated temple that had collapsed halfway.
A dozen or so ragged beggars huddled together, wolfing down the food they had begged for.
A gaze was fixed on them, or more precisely, on the food in their hands.
The old beggar looked over and saw a disheveled woman in the corner staring at them with longing eyes; the sound of her swallowing could be heard from afar.
Looking at the half-eaten steamed bun in his hand, the old beggar hesitated for a moment, then got up and walked to the corner to hand it to the woman.
The woman snatched it and stuffed it into her mouth. Even though she choked and her eyes rolled back, she couldn't bear to spit it out, as if that half-eaten steamed bun was some kind of heavenly delicacy.
The other beggars noticed this scene and complained:
"Old Li, why are you giving food to that crazy woman again? We're already being kind by taking her in, let alone providing her with meals."
The old beggar, known as Old Li, sighed, "She's crippled and insane, she's quite pitiful. I'll just eat one less bite."
A month ago, they got up early to prepare to go out begging, and this woman was lying at the entrance of the dilapidated temple. Her left arm was gone, and she was covered in blood and filth.
They were startled, thinking it was a dead person, but when they checked for breathing, they found that the person was still alive.
They carried the woman into the dilapidated temple, intending to let her go after she woke up, but when she did, she turned out to be insane.
She cried and screamed, saying that her precious child had been stolen, that she didn't belong in this world, and that she wanted to go home.
Then they started making a fuss about going back to the general's mansion to get their treasures back.
The beggars asked, "Which general's mansion are you talking about? Yesterday, a general surnamed Han was beheaded, and his body was thrown into a mass grave."
She ran to the mass grave and saw the corpses that had been gnawed to pieces by wild dogs. After returning, she became even more delirious.
She didn't even know how to beg. Sometimes she could get a little bit, but most of the time she was half-starved.
The old beggar was kind-hearted and would sometimes save a little food for her, which is why she didn't starve to death.
Qi An looked at the corner, quite satisfied with the woman's current situation.
This woman was Zhang Yanyan. When Han Xiuzhe was torturing her to death, Qi An took her away and abandoned her at the entrance of the dilapidated temple.
Song Xinlan wanted the Han family mother and son to die a horrible death, but she wanted Zhang Yanyan to lose everything and suffer a fate worse than death.
Nothing could be more painful for her than being left with nothing in this era.
Zhang Yanyan sat blankly in the corner, her hair greasy and tangled, her face covered in chilblains and oozing disgusting pus, making anyone who saw her feel nauseous.
In a daze, she heard someone in front of her ask, "Do you regret it?"
She looked up, but there was nothing in front of her but air.
Is she going increasingly insane?
Lately, her memory has been getting worse and worse. She often forgets who she is, what her name is, and where she comes from.
But this happens to be the time when she is awake.
Do you regret it?
How could I not regret it? I regret it every single second.
She wished she had just had a nightmare, and that when she opened her eyes she was still lying in her familiar little bedroom, with her parents calling her to eat over and over again.
She didn't unexpectedly get the bracelet, didn't possess someone else's body, and didn't steal someone else's husband.
She has an ordinary but warm home, and ordinary but loving parents.
She was not particularly attractive, but she was physically healthy.
Her family wasn't wealthy, but her parents did everything they could to give her the best.
How much did she despise these things that seem incredibly precious now?
He disliked his parents for being poor and disrespectable because they sold vegetables.
She felt that her appearance was ordinary, neither beautiful nor pretty.
I find life boring and lacking in excitement.
Every day she longed to escape that kind of life, yearning to be like the heroine in a time-travel novel, possessing a beautiful face and surrounded by a group of outstanding men.
Overjoyed at unexpectedly obtaining the spatial bracelet, she chose to travel through time and space without a second thought, and took over the body of a peasant girl.
She didn't consider at all whether it would frighten her parents, or what would happen to the peasant girl who had lost her body.
The peasant girl was an orphan with dark skin but a beautiful face. She used the spiritual spring to nourish her body and was quickly transformed into a charming little fairy.
Although she possessed a spatial ability, she disliked transmigrating into farming scenarios. How could those ordinary people in the village be worthy of her?
Soon, she successfully rescued a general on the battlefield, which further convinced her that she was the chosen one and that she was the perfect female protagonist in a time-travel story.
So she disregarded the fact that the general already had a wife and went home with him.
She told herself, "I'm just having fun. I'll go back when I'm done."
She didn't feel sorry for Song Xinlan at all. It was just a divorce, and her husband didn't love her anyway. She had actually helped her escape her misery.
Little did she know that the seemingly weak and easily bullied ancient woman turned out to be a devil, and the general she saved was an ungrateful bastard.
During those dark and hopeless days, she was almost devoured alive by that man.
Living in a peaceful era governed by the rule of law, she had never suffered such torment, nor had she ever witnessed such wicked human nature.
Not only did she nearly lose her life, but she also lost the bracelet that could have taken her away, leaving her trapped in this era forever.
Without a legal status and unable to earn a living, she had no chance of survival in the ancient world she despised, except by begging.
It turns out that the stories of time-traveling women thriving in ancient times are all fake; their sense of superiority is so foolish and ignorant.
Lost in thought, Zhang Yanyan fell asleep. It seemed she had truly gone back this time.
In the familiar living room, home-cooked dishes were laid out on the dining table. Dad was still cooking the last dish when Mom gently called out, "Yan Yan, dinner's ready."
She was about to excitedly respond when a voice rang out first: "Coming!"
The clean-cut and refreshing young girl walked out of her bedroom, gave each of her parents a hug, and said sweetly, "It's so good to have Mom and Dad, I'm so happy."
That ordinary face possessed a gentle and refined quality, appearing clean and soft.
The parents were overjoyed, hugging the girl tightly, and the three of them ate breakfast chatting and laughing.
Zhang Yanyan stared at the scene in disbelief, feeling a chill run down her spine.
This face, this body, is clearly hers, so who is this person?
A terrible thought popped into her head.
She occupied someone else's body, so where did the soul of that body go?
She lunged forward to hug her parents, but she passed right through them and couldn't touch anything.
She screamed frantically at her parents: "Dad, Mom, I'm Yan Yan! Look at me, I'm Yan Yan!"
No one could hear her parents constantly serving food to the girl; the family of three was enjoying a harmonious time together.
When she was around, the family never finished a meal properly; it was always either silence or arguments.
After dinner, the girl stopped her parents and offered to wash the dishes and fruit, then asked them to sit on the sofa to watch TV.
"Mom and Dad, you've worked so hard. You can rest, I'll do the washing."
The parents sat on the sofa, watching their busy daughter with satisfaction.
Mother: "Ever since Yan Yan had a fever and was in a coma for three days last year, she was like a completely different person when she woke up."
Dad: "That's right. She's so filial and sensible. She's never hurt us again. She even helps us sell vegetables. We never dared to dream of that before."
They concluded, "Yan Yan has finally grown up."
Zhang Yanyan burst into tears. What she had once discarded like trash had become a treasure to someone else.
"Dad, Mom, look at me! That's not Yan Yan! Yan Yan is right here. I want to go home, please look at me..."
She cried until her voice was hoarse, but it was no use.
Suddenly, a powerful force sucked her soul away. When she opened her eyes, she was still in that familiar dilapidated temple.
She was tearing at her hair with one hand, crying and laughing at the same time, her ghostly face making her both terrifying and pathetic.
The beggars ignored her; they were used to her alternating periods of lucidity and madness.
"Look, she's at it again. She can't go begging for food today."
"Damn, this is so annoying. Oh well, let's just save a little bit each, she won't starve."
A moment later, the woman who had gone mad suddenly stopped moving, giggled, and looked confused and bewildered.
Hmm, who is she again?
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