Starting Over

The Witch's graveyard was much more interesting than Jiang Han had imagined. It wasn't filled with the solemnity of death; instead, it brimmed with the witches' humorous views on mortality. Wine Immortal Ridge Cemetery had probably been established during the Republican Era, when Chinese witches began bringing Western customs back to China in large numbers.

They were Westernized, witty, romantic, and well-read.

One gravestone bore this epitaph:

"Seeking a spouse. Any witch from the Necromancy School, feel free to apply."

Another gravestone, overgrown with mushrooms, described a comical death. At the very end, it read:

"...May my death bring a smile to your face."

There were serious ones, too. For example:

"Our cause is destined to triumph."

Optimism about death was everywhere. After all, every year a few witches conquered death, and some who had been conquered by it would quietly climb back out... This was still rare among ordinary witches, but it had become common among Archwitches. Making sure an Archwitch was really dead was no simple matter.

Perhaps one day, Jiang Han would also be able to exist in this world without caring about death.

After wandering around twice, Jiang Han could understand why witches held barbecue parties in graveyards.

The graveyard's resources were truly abundant... The soil had been infused with magic power released as witch corpses decomposed, giving extraordinary plants an excellent environment to grow. The pervasive magical energy also preserved the spiritual nature of objects. It was an excellent place both to store and to produce magical items.

Where there was demand, witches would naturally come looking to do business.

Over time, graveyards—which were naturally ideal warehouses for magical items—became common marketplaces. They also gave rise to hot pot, barbecue, fried meat skewers, and other fast foods...

If you were wondering whether any of this would spoil your appetite, the answer was no.

Most witches had eaten noodles in a morgue at least once. Jiang Han had learned from her notes that she had done so herself. She'd eaten instant beef noodles in the morgue, according to the notes.

I wonder how the other me is doing in that other world. I wonder if the witch Jiang Han from this world took my place. Can she use electrical appliances? Will she get used to living like an ordinary person without magic? Or have both the other me and the version of me she was playing already disappeared?

Jiang Han sighed to herself. She had kept notes in her previous life, too. If the original owner of this witch's body had crossed over to her world, she should be able to find some useful information in them. I just hope she won't mind that I'm a virgin, the way I don't mind that she's a virgin...

No, wait, how should I put this...? Maybe she crossed over in 1994, too. In that case, I'd only be an eighteen-year-old virgin. It wouldn't be quite so embarrassing.

As her thoughts wandered, Cen Jing and Li Li chatted nearby:

Cen Jing asked, "Miss Li Li, have you thought about what you want to do in the future?"

Li Li replied, "Of course I have."

The Fox Witch's eyes sparkled. "I want to hunt dragons and study their habits, so I can continue my family's research on them."

Li Li wanted to carry on the family business. She really was a witch who was fascinated by dragons... Jiang Han nodded to herself. Knowledge in this world was so expensive that it was clearly best to continue learning along the path her family had already laid out. Changing careers would take a lot of money.

Besides, being able to turn your interests into a career had to be a wonderful thing. Jiang Han envied her—envied people who had goals of their own.

Other people had things they wanted to do, things they wanted to accomplish in this world.

What about her?

What did she want to do?

Jiang Han followed along in silence, listening as the witches and the witch spoke about their dreams.

She had tried so hard to fit into this world, so hard to become a witch. But none of that effort could overcome the fundamental feeling of estrangement. The witches' madness, their world, their freedom—no matter how hard she tried, a faint barrier still separated her from it all.

Her younger sister, Jiang Zhenling, was still sharp-tongued.

Her mother, Ye Keshu, was still self-centered.

And her fath... her second mother, Jiang Xuan...

The phrase "second mother" made her laugh.

She had to admit, the witches' world had its own peculiar sense of humor. It could always make people laugh when they were feeling low.

That burst of joy lifted her mood from pessimism to optimism, rekindling her courage after loneliness had made her feel like a stranger in a foreign land.

Jiang Han thought back to her previous life, when she'd transferred to a new school in a new city. She'd felt like a stranger then, too, going home every week and smiling at her concerned mother. Certainly, she had family who cared about her in this world. But what about the other world? Her original world?

The human heart was unfair!

The same love, the same family, the same affection from classmates—none of them carried the same weight in the heart.

Her father loved her, and her mother loved her, too. But Jiang Han knew that her mother meant far more to her than the rest of her family. That was unfair, but it was human emotion in its purest form. If she had to choose between the family she had here and the family she had there, she wouldn't even need long to choose her original world.

But she had to summon her courage.

She had to face the pain. Pain that couldn't kill a person would only make them stronger.

Jiang Han knew she would find the courage to start over in this new world, just as she had made new friends at her new school. She would get used to this world of witches.

She quietly patted her cheeks, determined to pull herself together and face this new world that made her feel so out of place.

The graveyard still made her a little uncomfortable, but she tried to think about it the way a witch would:

Maybe witches come up with their epitaphs years in advance, just waiting for the day to arrive so they can have all those clever lines carved into their gravestones...

All right! I'd better think up an impressive epitaph for myself!

That was the first small goal she set herself.

After another stroll around the graveyard, Cen Jing bought a little gift for each of them.

Li Li got a mushroom which, according to Cen Jing, would paralyze a dragon for a few seconds if it ate one.

Jiang Han got an Ai Jun Mushroom, placed in a pure black glass bottle. Cen Jing said it was one of the supplementary ingredients for a Dispel Magic potion.

Neither gift was particularly valuable, but they still showed how warm and thoughtful Cen Jing was.

After finishing her classes for the day, Jiang Han went home and lazily read for a while. As expected of a substitute teacher, she had us lazing around all day again. Sigh, Jiang Han, Jiang Han, you decided to start over, yet you're still slacking off. You can't keep doing this tomorrow...

But a few seconds later, she erased the thought from her mind.

That sort of resolution never worked out. It only became part of the joke!

So she sat up, took the Witch House business card from her notebook, and fell into thought...