“Since childhood, I lived with my mother in Yangzhou. She was skilled in the six arts and made a living teaching the daughters of merchants awaiting marriage. We lived comfortably, and she even bought a maid to take care of me. However, this April, Mother suddenly sold our house and took me on a boat journey northward…”
The memories flooded An Jiu’s mind, and she saw that fragment of the past.
Mei Yanran and Mei Jiu were traveling by water when their boat was ambushed. The bandits boarded, killing indiscriminately. Mei Yanran, clutching Mei Jiu, jumped overboard. Two bandits, captivated by the mother and daughter’s beauty, gave chase.
An Jiu saw only the undulating water surface. She couldn’t see how Mei Yanran swam, but the fact that she outpaced two men while carrying a child proved she was no ordinary woman.
Mei Jiu fainted upon reaching shore. She couldn’t remember how she was separated from her mother. She only recalled waking up in a cave with a money pouch containing all their belongings from Yangzhou.
Believing her mother would return soon, Mei Jiu waited in the cave, clutching the pouch until she was on the brink of starvation. A hunter found her and took her home.
The hunter was an honest man who harbored no ill intentions despite Mei Jiu’s beauty. He brought her home for treatment, and his family was kind. However, his wife, fearing trouble, sent Mei Jiu to a nearby town to search for her family while the hunter was away.
The outcome was predictable. Mei Jiu, a sheltered and naive girl, was cheated of her money and sold to a slave trader within hours.
Learning of this experience, An Jiu gained a deeper understanding of Mei Jiu’s innocence. “Truly, astoundingly foolish!” she remarked.
Mei Jiu defended herself, “I had never left home before. All our neighbors were good people. How was I to know the outside world could be so cruel?”
Seizing the opportunity, An Jiu said, “You admit your lack of experience. From now on, do exactly as I say without question!”
“You’re a woman too. How much more experienced could you be?” Mei Jiu thought, worried about what if An Jiu asked her to do evil deeds.
An Jiu, displeased with both Mei Jiu’s spoken and unspoken words, retorted, “If crossing a thousand years doesn’t count as experience, what does?”
“A thousand years? Are you… a lady from a wealthy family a millennium ago?” Mei Jiu, now accustomed to An Jiu’s presence, found this topic intriguing rather than frightening.
“Wealthy family?” An Jiu scoffed.
Mei Jiu suddenly remembered An Jiu’s act of killing her father and shuddered. Yet, she felt sympathy for An Jiu, believing no one would harm their parent unless driven to extremes.
Mentioning the past momentarily dazed An Jiu. Memories of days filled with gunfire and bullets surfaced. Her most vivid recollection was of a war between two countries. Her organization served as mercenaries for Country B, a small but wealthy nation, against a superpower. Fifty-seven of them aimed to destroy the enemy’s border signal station.
Their operation proceeded smoothly until the final moment when thirty-five members, deep in enemy territory, were surrounded by over three thousand foes. Fortunately, the enemy hadn’t mobilized heavy artillery yet. The scene was a gruesome display of flesh and severed limbs.
This battle marked An Jiu’s rise to fame. Positioned as a sniper, she single-handedly eliminated 364 enemy soldiers and a helicopter. In that relatively peaceful era, many top ten snipers worldwide couldn’t match her kill count over their entire careers.
However, none of the thirty-five surrounding members survived, and even An Jiu, on the outskirts, barely escaped. In an instant, she lost thirty-five close comrades. The feeling was akin to when she had killed her father years ago—a suffocating pain and inescapable loneliness.
Mei Jiu, trembling, asked, “What… what was that?”
An Jiu snapped back to reality, her voice cold as a blade’s edge, “You saw it?”
Mei Jiu rushed to the spittoon, retching. The images in her mind were filled with blood, corpses, and the flames of war. Surrounded by death, devoid of any life, it resembled hell itself.
An Jiu realized that whenever she recalled a memory, Mei Jiu could access it too. However, An Jiu was accustomed to keeping herself deeply hidden and disliked reminiscing.
It seemed the heavens were fair. An Jiu possessed strong self-control, protecting herself from being consumed by the fusion. But Mei Jiu, being the original owner of this body, had an innate connection to it.
An Jiu didn’t despair. Even innate abilities could fail sometimes—how else would vegetative states occur?
The memories in An Jiu’s mind were shrouded in gunsmoke, the images not entirely clear. Only those who had truly experienced such despair could fully comprehend it.
It took Mei Jiu a long while to regain her composure.
“That was where I once lived,” An Jiu said flatly.
“Is it the eighteenth level of hell?” Mei Jiu asked, pale-faced and on the verge of tears. “I’ve never done anything evil. Why did I see hell?”
An Jiu had only controlled Mei Jiu’s body twice, yet managed to offend two people easily. Mei Jiu had been anxious about An Jiu’s lack of restraint, but now she understood why An Jiu wasn’t afraid of offending others—how could someone who killed as casually as mowing grass care about offending a person or two?
Mei Jiu realized she had been wrong earlier. This person didn’t just disregard others’ feelings; she cared about nothing at all.
“It was my homeland,” An Jiu said, lost in her thoughts, ignoring Mei Jiu’s musings.
An Jiu had never complained about her misfortunes, nor had she considered why she was unfortunate. But today, she suddenly understood. “My homeland was peaceful and beautiful. Most people lived their entire lives in peace. Some lived on the edge of a knife by their own choice, like me.”
She murmured, “If I have the chance in this life, I’d like to live peacefully.”
Finally, something normal! But given An Jiu’s history, Mei Jiu cautiously asked, “What if your future husband takes many beautiful concubines and indulges in debauchery outside… what would you do?”
An Jiu reminded herself that violence couldn’t solve problems. No killing! No impulsive actions!
Rejecting her usual brutally simple solutions, An Jiu thought seriously, “I’d castrate him, then bring all the women he likes back home for him!”
“An Jiu,” Mei Jiu sighed, “your life is destined to be extraordinary.”
“My lady,” Wenui knocked on the door.
Mei Jiu hurriedly tidied herself at the dressing table to appear less disheveled. “Come in.”
Wenui entered, bowing slightly. “My lady, all the boats at the ferry have been taken by Chayun Residence. Their people are refusing to let others use them. Moreover, it’s getting late. Perhaps you should go another day? It’s not worth antagonizing the Second Madam again.”
Mei Jiu’s heart tightened. An Jiu’s prediction had come true.
Though inexperienced, Mei Jiu wasn’t truly foolish. After An Jiu’s analysis, she wouldn’t rashly believe Wenui’s perfect excuse, no matter how plausible it seemed.