Chapter 1: Transmigration¹

So noisy…

He had been hunted and cornered while alive; why couldn’t he find peace even in death?

Zhao Mengcheng’s head throbbed with a splitting pain. He knew this was a side effect of overusing his Mental Power², so he could only grit his teeth and wait for the intense agony to pass.

The clamor around him did not let up, however. Instead, it grew even more heated.

“Dawa³, as long as you press your thumbprint⁴ here, you’ll have the money to get a doctor for your dad.”

“If you don’t do it now, we can wait, but your father can’t.”

“Your mother is already gone. If your father doesn’t make it, what will become of the three of you?”

A stout, fleshy woman wore an expression that suggested she was only acting in their best interest. Her voice sounded like a cracked bronze gong⁵. “You’re the eldest son. Since your father is ill, you’re the one in charge of the household.”

“Your aunt is only thinking of you. Your father’s condition is getting worse. What will you do if he doesn’t get medicine? Medicine costs money, and does your family have any silver left?”

The boy surrounded in the middle was only seven or eight years old. His eyes were full of panic, and he was struggling to maintain his composure. “But those are the only three mu⁶ of land our family has. If we sell them, what will we eat?”

“Uncle, could you lend me one tael of silver⁷ to save my dad? I promise I’ll pay you back in the future.”

The honest-looking man beside him glanced at him and simply said, “My family has no money. Besides, your family racked up a lot of debt for your mother’s funeral. If you don’t sell the land, how do you plan to pay it back?”

“I…” The boy was on the verge of tears, which welled up in his eyes.

The stout woman quickly added, “Dawa, sell the land to cure your father. There will be plenty of ways to buy the land back later. But if your father dies, what good will those three mu of land do for you three siblings?”

Seeing the boy waver, the man asked flatly, “Is your father’s life more important, or those three mu of land?”

The woman grabbed the boy’s hand. “Just press your print. Once the land is sold, there will be money for your father’s treatment. We’re all family. Would your uncle ever harm you?”

When Zhao Mengcheng was jolted awake by the agonizing pain, he saw the woman firmly forcing the boy’s finger down to make a print.

“Don’t sign…” Zhao Mengcheng used all his strength, but he could only manage a faint, short whisper.

“My dad is awake!” The boy suddenly broke free from the woman’s grip and lunged toward the bed.

Unexpectedly, with that lunge, Zhao Mengcheng didn’t even have time to see the child’s face clearly before a sharp pain hit his chest, and he lost consciousness once more.

Where is this?

I’m not dead!

Did I transmigrate?

The original host’s life flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern⁸. Only then did Zhao Mengcheng realize he hadn’t died, but had instead transmigrated into the body of an ancient man with the same name.

Memories belonging to another person surfaced. A massive flood of information rushed in instantly, causing Zhao Mengcheng to groan in pain.

Fortunately, Zhao Mengcheng was born with extraordinary Mental Power. Otherwise, this sudden impact would have turned him into a fool or a madman.

As the pain gradually receded, Zhao Mengcheng began to sort through the original host’s life.

This was a dynasty called Great Zhou⁹. The original host was also named Zhao Mengcheng, sharing the same name as him. He was born into an ordinary farming family in Qingshan Village, Changhe Town.

Zhao Mengcheng was the youngest child in the family. He had been clever and quick-witted since childhood, earning his parents’ favor. When he was ten, the elderly couple had gritted their teeth and spent money to send him to a private school in town for several years.

If everything had gone smoothly, even if Zhao Mengcheng hadn’t achieved a scholarly title¹⁰, he could have found a decent job after becoming literate.

Unfortunately, before Zhao Mengcheng could make a name for himself, the elderly couple died in an accident, leaving behind their underage youngest son.

Zhao Mengcheng had an older brother, Zhao Wencheng, the honest-looking man who had just been using threats and inducements to force his nephew to sell the land.

As the eldest son, Zhao Wencheng was already married with children at the time. No sooner had the parents passed away than he began clamoring to split the family estate, wanting to cast out his underage brother.

Even worse, Zhao Wencheng used the excuse that their parents had favored the younger brother since childhood and spent money on his education to justify not giving him any of the family’s house or fertile land.

After sorting through the memories, Zhao Mengcheng realized that while the parents had indeed favored the youngest, they hadn’t treated the eldest poorly. They hadn’t sent him to school because Zhao Wencheng had been slow-witted since childhood, and the family couldn’t afford it at the time.

Later, when Zhao Wencheng married and had children, the parents had provided the betrothal gifts and the money to raise the kids.

If one truly compared, the amount the elderly couple spent on their eldest son was no less than what they spent on the youngest.

Despite this, Zhao Laoda¹¹ still felt his parents were too biased and could not tolerate his brother at all.

The original host’s heart had grown cold toward his brother. To maintain his dignity, he agreed to the family split, leaving with only a pitifully small amount of belongings.

Life was bitter at first, but the original host endured it, never once asking his brother for help. Later, by using his literacy to find work as an accountant, he began to earn an income and slowly built up his own estate.

Once Zhao Mengcheng married, had children, and his life improved, Zhao Laoda came to visit again to make amends. Remembering they were brothers after all, the two began to interact again, though their relationship remained lukewarm.

But misfortune did not spare the original host. Three months ago, he was suddenly framed for falsifying accounts and stealing money from his employer. The employer threatened to report him to the authorities, and in the end, the family had to empty their savings to bail him out.

Devastated by this blow, the original host fell into a slump and became despondent. His wife was forced to work in the fields to support the family, but she suffered an unfortunate fall. After struggling for half a month, she passed away.

The original host was crushed. He borrowed money from everywhere just to bury his wife, and after the funeral, he returned home and became bedridden.

His illness brought hardship to the three children. The twin sons were only eight, and the youngest daughter was only five. They were all at an age where they were still naive and couldn’t possibly manage a household.

This led to the scene where Zhao Laoda and his wife came to persuade the children to sell the land while the original host was still lying in bed.

By the time Zhao Mengcheng finished sorting through the memories and woke up again, the room had grown dark, filled with the thick scent of medicine.

“Dad, you’re awake!” Zhao Dawa shouted in surprise.

Zhao Mengcheng looked at the child before him. The months of family upheaval had taken a toll on the three children. In the original host’s memory, the twins had been quite sturdy, but now they were thin and gaunt, making their eyes look exceptionally large and pitiful.

Seeing his father awake but silent, Zhao Dawa immediately grew worried. “Dad, are you okay? Do you feel unwell somewhere? I’ll go get the doctor right now.”

“Wait.”

Zhao Mengcheng grabbed the child but was nearly pulled off the bed, leaving him breathless.

He gained a clear understanding of how weak the body was. This illness had completely drained the original host. He paused to catch his breath before asking, “There’s a smell of medicine in the room. Where did you get the money to buy it?”

Zhao Dawa sniffled and lowered his head. “I sold our land.”

As expected. Zhao Mengcheng took a deep breath; he was a step too late.

Fearing his father would be angry, Zhao Dawa explained quickly, “Uncle said that selling the land would provide the money to treat you. As long as you get better, I’ll work hard in the future to buy our land back.”

It turned out that when Zhao Mengcheng had woken up for a moment earlier and then lost consciousness again, it had terrified the three children.

Zhao Laoda had seized the opportunity to fearmonger. “This illness has dragged on for too long. Doctor Liu in the village can’t cure it. We have to go to town to find a doctor, and everything costs money. Without money, would a doctor from town even come to our village for a house call?”

“Dawa, if you don’t sell the land to get medicine, your father is going to die. If you keep hesitating like this, I’m not going to bother with this anymore.”

After saying that, he grabbed his wife and made as if to leave.

In a state of extreme panic and terrified that his father would never wake up again, Zhao Dawa finally nodded and pressed his thumbprint.

“Dad, I’m sorry. I’m useless. I couldn’t borrow any money, so I had to sell the land. Dad, please don’t be angry. I’m already eight years old and can work in the fields. I’ll definitely buy our land back in the future.”

Zhao Mengcheng knew there was no use blaming the child now. The land was gone, and that was that. He had gained a second life for free; sooner or later, he would seek justice for the original host.

“Don’t cry. I’m fine, I’m just a little hungry.”

“I’ll go get some food for Dad,” Zhao Dawa said, quickly turning to run out.

Zhao Mengcheng took the opportunity to look around the room. By now, the Zhao family had sold everything they could. The house was stripped bare, and not a single valuable item could be found.

Zhao Dawa soon returned carrying a bowl of porridge. “Dad, eat quickly.”

Zhao Mengcheng looked down and saw it was mostly water. It was clear the family was about to run out of food.

He didn’t complain and finished it in one gulp. Only after there was something in his stomach did he feel a bit better. “Where are your younger brother and sister?”

Zhao Dawa swallowed hard. “Auntie Wang is helping look after them. Second Brother is also feeling a bit unwell.”

As the younger of the twins, the second son had been born with a weak constitution. He had been prone to illness since childhood. Zhao Dawa couldn’t take care of both his sick father and brother by himself, so he had temporarily left his brother next door.

Before he could finish speaking, the boy’s stomach let out a loud growl.

“Haven’t you eaten yet? Is there still grain in the house?” Zhao Mengcheng asked.

Zhao Dawa was clearly not good at lying. He lowered his head and said, “I’ve eaten. Don’t worry, Dad, there’s still food at home.”

“You go eat something too. A child shouldn’t go hungry.”

At Zhao Mengcheng’s insistence, Zhao Dawa reluctantly went out. He returned a moment later saying he was full. His stomach was indeed bulging, but it made a sloshing sound like water when patted.

Zhao Mengcheng frowned. “Is the house out of grain? Didn’t we just sell the land? How much did it sell for? Where is the money from the sale?”

It couldn’t have all been spent on medicine.

Zhao Dawa pulled a single copper coin from his robe. “Uncle said we needed the money urgently, so the land wouldn’t fetch a good price. The three mu of land sold for three taels of silver. We spent two and a half taels on the doctor and medicine, and this is all that’s left.”

Looking at those copper coins, Zhao Mengcheng felt like killing Zhao Wencheng.

In the wealthier parts of Great Zhou, good farmland could sell for five or six taels of silver per mu. It was cheaper in remote areas, but when the original owner had bought this land, he had spent nearly three taels per mu.

But now that it was being sold, a mu of land only fetched one tael of silver.

Even if they were desperate for cash, this price was far too low. Zhao Dawa was just a child and didn’t know better, but did Zhao Wencheng, the middleman, not know?

The family had no money and was burdened with debt. His only brother was unreliable. Instead of helping, he had kicked them while they were down, tricking his eldest nephew into selling fertile land for a pittance.

Realizing he had messed up, Zhao Dawa began to cry in distress. “Dad, I… did I do something wrong?”

He cried harder and harder. He had been living in fear these past few days while his only father lay gravely ill in bed. As the eldest son, the child had been under too much pressure.

Zhao Mengcheng gestured for him to come over.

He reached out and rubbed the boy’s head. The fuzzy texture made his heart soften. Fine, since he had taken over the original owner’s body, he would raise the man’s children for him.

“You did well. The land is gone, but that’s fine. As long as we’re still here, it’s okay. Don’t worry, Dad will get better, and I won’t let you suffer anymore.”

Only then did Zhao Dawa stop crying and smile, leaning dependently into his father’s arms.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door.

“Dawa, is your dad feeling any better?”

It was Auntie Wang from next door. The Wang family were honest people. Although they weren’t relatives, they had been very helpful neighbors after the Zhao family’s troubles began.

Auntie Wang walked in leading a child with each hand. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Zhao Mengcheng was awake. “It’s good that you’re awake,” she said repeatedly. “The children have been terrified lately. Yunniang¹² is already gone; if something happened to you too, what would these children do?”

“If not for yourself, then for the sake of these three children, you must pull yourself together.”

Zhao Mengcheng accepted the well-meaning advice. “I will take good care of the three children.”

Seeing that he was indeed much better and no longer looked half-dead, Auntie Wang left the two children and departed.

Zhao Mengcheng’s gaze fell upon the two children. The second son was the eldest’s twin, but they didn’t look alike. The eldest looked honest and simple, while the second son appeared much more refined. The third child was the only girl, and both of her eyes were red from crying.

“Dad, are you better? Please don’t be sick, Daddy.” The girl walked to the bedside and carefully touched Zhao Mengcheng’s cheek.

The child’s hand was soft and warm. Zhao Mengcheng instinctively wanted to pull away, but in the end, he reached out and patted the little girl’s head. “Daddy is better. I won’t be sick anymore.”

The little girl was still young, so she took his words at face value and laughed happily.

Zhao Mengcheng gestured for his two sons to come over as well. He was about to speak when he saw the second son’s legs give way, and the boy collapsed.

Translator’s Notes