Zhenniang: The Three of Us (Part 3)
Rewinding to the first day of her transmigration, Ye Xiqing suddenly remembered a fun activity and immediately went shopping in the system shop.
Even in extremely extreme worlds, Ye Xiqing doesn't rely much on the system shop. The system was curious about why she suddenly had such a change of heart, and then discovered that she had purchased a fantasy world item: [Soul Transfer].
Skill Description: The three souls are ethereal, the seven spirits are elusive; after taking this medicine, one's spirit will roam freely in the void.
Similar to the [Contraceptive Pill], this is an equipment-type item that enhances soul skills. While equipped, it grants the ability to separate the soul from the body, allowing for the separation of spirit and flesh. It is an item from the extraordinary world but cannot be used in the ordinary world.
Logically speaking, this world is a completely ordinary world, and the "soul transfer" technique cannot be used. However, an ordinary world does not mean it lacks extraordinary elements, and time travel is a natural extraordinary element.
Although this world has a transmigrator, she doesn't actually transmigrate into the book. Her transmigration, like her rebirth in the previous world, is just a plot device.
The transmigrator does not come from the real world. The world she refers to before transmigrating is a sandbox world line that operates independently, just like the previous world.
The memories generated in the sandbox made her believe that she had transmigrated into a book, into the body of the original owner, a "cannon fodder female supporting character".
In fact, this world was born with her as the singularity. She is the female protagonist of this world. Zhao Zhenniang is the original owner of the system, while Ye Xiqing is the outsider who was truly brought in by the system.
Clearly, the system's authority is higher than that of each world, allowing her to directly take over this body without asking about the cause and effect.
As long as her authority surpasses that of the entire world, she can choose not to ask about the causes and consequences, or she can ask them if she wants to.
Now she wants to ask, why can't a world with time travel elements be considered an extraordinary world?
She will use the [Soul Separation Technique] to separate the other two "souls" that coexist in this body.
As soon as he finished speaking, not only did the system CPU burn out, but the CPU of the world's running program also burned out.
After running for a long time, I realized that Ye Xiqing's words made sense. This world does indeed have extraordinary elements, and they are even soul-type extraordinary elements. Therefore, there is no reason to refuse to use soul-type extraordinary items.
After much deliberation, the world's operating program determined that the item was effective, but no item's effect could exceed the world's set limits.
【Soul Separation】This world does not support the full function of soul separation. It will manifest as a state of three souls in one body in the form of "separate identity disorder".
At the same time, the skill description of [Soul Transfer] has been supplemented, changing from being completely unusable in the ordinary world to being usable in special circumstances.
If a situation of "multiple souls sharing one body" exists in the ordinary world, the [Soul Separation and Transfer] skill can provide the effect of separating different souls.
As for what "multiple souls sharing one body" means in the ordinary world, that's for those who come after to figure out for themselves.
...
Zhao Zhenniang looked at herself in horror as she "sleepwalked" again, knowing that the ghost had possessed her while she was away.
Mr. Zhao only had one daughter. His wife died during the birth of their second child, along with the unborn child. He wanted to remarry, but ended up being scammed.
He didn't get his son, and instead his entire fortune was extorted. A fortune teller calculated that he was destined to have no son, and Zhao's father was devastated.
After losing motivation, he would spend the money he earned each day on eating, drinking, gambling, and whoring. Anyway, his daughter would be the third young mistress of the Song family in the future, and he could live a long life clinging to his daughter.
With the Song family as his backing and a family-run oil mill in his hands, he lived a comfortable life, eating and drinking every day. In those days, he did quite well.
He was having such a great time that even the heavens were envious. One day, during a torrential downpour, he came home drunk, tripped, and fell into a ditch, dying instantly. By the time the villagers found him and carried him back, he was already dead.
The tragic circumstances were not enough to foster genuine fatherly affection in Zhao Zhenniang.
After her mother left, she became her father's new servant. By the age of six, she had learned to carry firewood, cook, and serve her own father.
The technique of pressing oil in the oil mill was originally passed down from father Zhao to his sons, not his daughters, in order to maintain the dignity of his ancestors.
Later, he got lazy and got really angry seeing his daughter doing nothing, so he disregarded his dignity and handed the work over to her.
So, contrary to what people might think of as a touching story of a father raising his daughter, in the Zhao family, it was the daughter who raised the father.
The work in the oil mill was very strenuous, and Zhao Zhenniang didn't have time to think about anything else, such as whether her father treated her well or not. She was just used to getting up and working as soon as it was light every day.
Now that her father, who seemed to exist yet also seemed not to, was gone, she knew she should cry.
But after carrying back just a few pounds of firewood, she was so exhausted that her mind went blank and she couldn't even squeeze out a tear.
But if I don't cry, the villagers will gossip about me.
In this isolated little village, any son who only asks for money and ignores his father when he is about to die, or any daughter-in-law who steals pickled vegetables at her father-in-law's funeral, will be the subject of much gossip.
Zhao Zhenniang didn't want to be talked about like that, so she immediately put down her carrying pole and threw herself onto her father's body, weeping bitterly.
The others also cried a few times upon seeing this. Uncle Zhao wiped away his tears and said sadly, "Aunt, you're the only girl in your family. Have you thought about how to send your father off?"
Zhao Zhenniang was an official name given by Master Song to arrange a marriage for his son. Otherwise, what kind of proper name would a country girl have? In the village, everyone called her Aunt Zhao.
Uncle Zhao looked kind and gentle, but Zhao Zhenniang realized what was about to happen.
If her father doesn't take care of her anymore, she'll be someone's owner while she's alive, but once she dies, her family will be without an owner, and her family's belongings will be taken away by her uncles and aunts.
Zhao Zhenniang didn't know why she was so unfilial. Her own father was dead, yet she was still thinking about the inheritance. All she could think about now was how she would live in the future.
Looking at a group of uncles and elders, she, only sixteen years old and who had never been to school, suddenly had a sudden inspiration.
Hesitantly, he addressed the crowd, "I...I'll go talk to my father-in-law about it tomorrow..."
When she mentioned her father-in-law, everyone fell silent.
Although the Zhao family's private oil mill wasn't a particularly lucrative business, it was still quite profitable. Now that the Zhao family only had one maid left, everyone could take it without any qualms or involvement, making everyone naturally eager to profit from it.
But Zhao Zhenniang's husband's family was something Zhao's father boasted about every day, and everyone in the surrounding area knew about it. Before the Song family's decision was made, no one dared to make any rash moves.
Anyway, Zhao Zhenniang is now the third young mistress of the Song family, living a life of luxury, so she can't possibly want this broken-down family anymore.
Now that she's successful, it's only natural that she should show some appreciation to her uncles and elders.
Zhao Zhenniang's fear of the Song family allowed her to escape the first wave of extortion, but it also made her realize that she had to seek refuge with her husband's family.
She had never even met the third young master of the Song family, but in those days, women were like livestock; they needed an owner to be considered domestic animals.
She didn't know which master treated her well, but she knew she needed to find herself a new master.
With her deceased father's body on one side and an uncertain future on the other, Zhao Zhenniang thought she wouldn't be able to sleep, but she still drifted off to sleep.
When she woke up, she was startled to see an upside-down double happiness character appearing on the wall in front of her.
Originally a very auspicious character, a rope is tied to the two horizontal strokes at the bottom of the character, and a firewood figure wearing a veil and wedding clothes is swinging on its neck.
Since ancient times, happy occasions have been easily associated with some very evil things, not to mention there was a corpse next to it. Zhao Zhenniang was immediately terrified and reached out to wipe the painting away.
The moment she raised her hand, she realized that she had a pair of scissors in her hand and dust under her fingernails. This creepy little figure was actually drawn by herself!
Zhao Zhenniang was illiterate, but she could understand such a simple and clear picture. She immediately ran out the door to call for help, but lost consciousness again the moment she stepped out.
When she woke up, she found another little figure swinging on the wall, but this time the swinging posture was different. It was facing her directly, with its arms crossed, and judging from its clothes, it was herself.
Zhao Zhenniang was terrified and ran out the door crying, but she lost consciousness the moment she stepped out.
When she woke up, she was already at Granny Wang's house near the dilapidated temple in the village. She couldn't help but widen her eyes: How dare this ghost come to Granny Wang's house!
Without thinking too much, I immediately went inside to ask Granny Wang for help—there's a ghost!
Granny Wang was a local woman who specialized in reading incense sticks.
When villagers encounter bad luck, illness, or disaster and have no money for medical treatment, they go to her to check their incense sticks to see if they have been possessed by evil spirits.
After receiving the money, Granny Wang performed a ritual with great fanfare, concluding that "you have recently encountered the White Tiger Star blocking your path" and "did someone in your family die a tragic death that wasn't properly sent away?"
After reading it, give them some ritual implements, talismans, or similar items to burn as a sacrifice to the deceased.
Later on, the illness and luck improved because the foul air was gone.
He died of an incurable illness; it was because the evil spirit was too powerful, and it was destined that this person would die. This calamity was his fate.
The few scraps of paper she burned certainly had no effect, but they were a placebo. After burning the paper, the person felt that the matter was over, the evil spirits were driven away, and that Granny Wang was truly effective.
Granny Wang felt guilty and returned the incense money to the deceased's family. She felt she hadn't done anything for them and didn't deserve the money; the evil spirits were too powerful.
Instruct the deceased's family to adjust the decorations, and to burn some paper money in certain places to create a false impression.
The evil spirit of the deceased will be dispelled, and they will be reborn into a better life. Their family members will also not be haunted by the evil spirit.
Thus, she remained undefeated regardless of the circumstances. By chance, she encountered several extraordinary events, which were passed down by the villagers as miracles. The more they were told, the more efficacious they became, and the more people in the vicinity believed in her.
Zhao Zhenniang is such a famous person, it's impossible for Granny Wang, who makes a living by incense offerings, not to know her. When she opened the door and saw her, she knew that she must have come for her father's funeral.
Funerals are lucrative, and Granny Wang was overjoyed, but she couldn't show it too much. She let Zhao Zhenniang in with a pained expression.
Zhao Zhenniang was almost scared out of her wits. When she saw Granny Wang, she immediately found her pillar of support and told Granny Wang about the frightening things that had happened that morning.
Granny Wang was happily waiting for Zhao Zhenniang to invite her to handle the funeral arrangements, but instead she heard a ghost story.
Huh? Zhao, such a spineless and cowardly person, could cause trouble even after death?
Unconvinced, he decided to follow Zhao Zhenniang to her house, but just as he stepped out the door, a pair of hands landed on his shoulders.
In this small town, there's no custom of patting someone on the shoulder from behind. Aunt Wang immediately turned around, wondering what Aunt Zhao was up to.
Turning around, I was met with a pair of eyes that seemed impermeable.
Zhao Zhenniang hadn't changed at all, yet she seemed like a completely different person in an instant.
The man grabbed her by the neck and dragged her back into the house with almost no effort.
...
When Zhao Zhenniang regained consciousness, she saw Granny Wang looking at her with a look of great alarm, as if she had seen something terrifying.
Needless to say, Zhao Zhenniang understood that Granny Wang already knew what had happened.
She looked at Granny Wang with a pleading expression, wondering what to do!
Aunt Wang: ...
Huh? You're asking me?
Watching Zhao Zhenniang's face change as quickly as turning the pages of a book, Granny Wang's heart trembled.
She's just a lowly incense burner, making up nonsense about ghosts and spirits to earn a living. How did she end up encountering something real?
Having witnessed such a bizarre event, Granny Wang was nearly scared to death.
But in life, a job is more important than anything else. Even so, Granny Wang still maintained her image as a virtuous old woman and tried her best not to show any fear in front of Zhao Zhenniang.
"You...that thing on you...I...I started talking to it."
"That thing is strange, but it's not a bad thing. She asked me to pass on a message that she is Ye Sangu, who is about to attain enlightenment, and whose immortal body is almost complete. She can predict the past and future."
"Because you had a crucial debt of gratitude with her in your past life, you can only become an immortal by settling it. I have calculated that you will face a period of misfortune that will endanger your life, so I have come to enlighten you."
"She told me to tell you that your marriage with the Song family is not a good match; if you marry into it, you will surely die. If you want to save your life, you must not do it."
Zhao Zhenniang: ...
So they've come to repay a debt of gratitude?
In their area, they believe that certain spiritual animals or objects can become immortals. Before becoming immortals, they must cultivate the Tao and give themselves a personal name.
Ye Sangu, judging from her surname, sounds like a plant spirit. Such spirits, which are inanimate objects that have become spirits, are considered rather evil by people. If you encounter one, you should send it away properly, otherwise it will cause trouble.
However, people also believe that the spirits who grant wishes to immortals can truly help people.
Knowing that she had no intention of harming anyone, Zhao Zhenniang's fear finally eased a little, but the problems she faced in reality were even more terrifying than ghosts and monsters, so Zhao Zhenniang couldn't help but ask Granny Wang.
"But I am a weak woman with no one to rely on. If my husband's family doesn't take me in, how am I supposed to survive?"
Granny Wang had never consulted a true deity before, so she could only grit her teeth and chant, hoping that "Third Aunt Ye" would have a spirit and come out to guide her through her confusion!
She concocted a haphazard ritual, unable to summon a true immortal, but she could summon a false one.
A short while later, Zhao Zhenniang lost consciousness again. When she returned, Granny Wang exclaimed excitedly, "I found out! I found out!"
She said I was your benefactor and could help you succeed. She asked me to postpone your wedding for three years, and after it was done, she would make you acknowledge me as your godmother.
"Postponing the wedding for three years can also avert bad luck!"
Zhao Zhenniang had been dealing with a lot of trouble lately and was already at a loss. At this moment, she couldn't think of anything else. She knelt down and called her godmother, promising to take care of her like her own daughter and to care for her in her old age and see her off in her final days.
As the head incense master in the neighborhood, Granny Wang certainly had no worries about food and drink. However, she had no younger disciples, and people around her dared not approach her because of her special profession. As she grew old, she worried about what would happen after she passed away.
The state of Zhao's daughter was terrifying, but what "Aunt Ye" said about recognizing a godparent hit Wang Gu Po's sore spot.
Aunt Wang hesitated for a long time, but finally gritted her teeth and did it!
Accompanying her newly adopted daughter to the Zhao family, this time "Aunt Ye" did not stop her.
There are many things that Zhao Zhenniang, a sixteen-year-old girl, cannot handle, but Granny Wang, an old woman who has experienced many things, can handle with ease.
Once inside the Song family, she started spouting all sorts of superstitious and auspicious nonsense, and the Song family immediately agreed to postpone the wedding for three years, allowing Zhao Zhenniang to observe mourning for the Song family and accumulate blessings.
Before leaving, he gave the steward one hundred silver dollars, asking him to help with Zhao's father's funeral arrangements.
The Song family took charge of the funeral arrangements, which meant they had officially recognized the young mistress, and the villagers stopped having any further thoughts.
After the funeral was over, Zhao Zhenniang was left with twenty silver dollars. Although she was simple-minded, she still understood social etiquette and quickly gave ten silver dollars to the steward.
The housekeeper, however, bowed and scraped as he refused, addressing her as the Third Young Mistress and saying it was only right for him to do things for her.
Zhao Zhenniang was deeply moved, never expecting the steward to be so kind.
Granny Wang and Zhao Zhenniang became godparents, so Granny Wang naturally stayed by Zhao Zhenniang's side to help her deal with her father's affairs.
Seeing this, he pursed his lips and said, "Do you even need to give it to me? I've already taken what I could get. It would be a miracle if such a small thing cost eighty dollars."
Never mind, even if she doesn't tell, she'll still get it.
At a funeral, everyone had their own thoughts, but in any case, Zhao's father's funeral was over, and a worry was put to rest.
Zhao Zhenniang didn't know what exactly happened with the "joyful death" incident, but she listened to advice and thought that after eating her fill, it was perfectly reasonable to ward off evil spirits.
As things gradually settled down, Zhao Zhenniang decided to start a new life.
But how did Aunt Ye possess her again?
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