A Fisherman's Daughter of the Eastern Sea 1
This time, when Wen Qiushui woke up, she was inside a dilapidated wooden house. Even Yueqing, at her lowest, had worn fine silks and eaten meals of meat and vegetables, though she had been locked in a dungeon and bound in iron chains.
But the furnishings in this house were extremely crude and pitifully few. The cotton clothes she wore had been washed clean, though there were several patches on the cuffs.
It was fair to say this was the most destitute Wen Qiushui had ever been after transmigrating.
Wen Qiushui, however, remained calm. In her three lives after transmigrating, she had generally struck the moment she took a dislike to someone, and anyone who fell into her hands had come to a bad end.
But after three lives of fine clothes and delicacies, great power, martial arts at their peak, and unfettered freedom in the jianghu, the fear and emptiness left by her imprisonment on Kunlun Summit had mostly been soothed. Still, during her last life as Qiao Wanmian, she had noticed that something was amiss with her.
She had been too young and inexperienced when calamity struck her. What had happened back then had affected her, and when she saw Li Xiangyi, who was so much like her, demonic Qi had easily slipped in through the opening.
Ultimately, her cultivation of her State of Mind had fallen short. She could not assume that severing the roots of her emotions meant she had nothing to worry about. In her future transmigrations, she needed to cultivate her State of Mind and could not keep living the same sort of life over and over.
After all, though she had only transmigrated through three lives, she had encountered people she disliked, such as Xiao Ruojin and Xiao Ruofeng. As for the likes of Xiao Zijin and Shan Gudao, who had died by her sword, she had cut them down before they had much chance to strut about in front of her. She could hardly call them detestable; they had merely left some impression on her.
People like Ye Dingzhi, Baili Dongjun, and Di Feisheng had left her speechless. The first two had been so love-brained that she hardly knew what to say, while the last had nearly been hacked to death by her, yet kept eagerly chasing after her for another beating. He was a strange one too.
Useful workhorses like Su Changhe would work themselves to death for their dreams. Once she had won them over, she could sleep easy.
Then there were those whose talent she acknowledged, such as Ye Anshi and Li Xiangyi. Whether it was the former entering Buddhism through the demonic path or the latter's peerless gifts and even his shattering of the void, Wen Qiushui acknowledged them both as fellow travelers on the martial path.
Having encountered so many people, and with the Ice Heart Instruction constantly circulating to calm her heart and mind, Wen Qiushui's emotional scars had gradually healed. Thinking of the countless transmigrations still ahead of her, she decided she might as well try a different kind of life to temper her State of Mind.
With her mind made up, she no longer cared about her present circumstances. This was just the chance to conceal her identity and live as an ordinary person.
Wen Qiushui began sorting through the memories of this body.
The girl shared her surname, Wen, but had no given name. Since she was her parents' only daughter, they had simply called her Daya. The family of three had come to the Eastern Sea as refugees. After settling in Wang Family Village on its shores, they had made their living by fishing.
Daya was young and not very strong, so, like the other girls in the village, she gathered pearls in her spare time to earn money for the family.
Half a year ago, a great battle had taken place at the Eastern Sea: the masters of the Sigu Sect and the Golden Mandarin Duck Alliance had fought their decisive duel there. Because the village was relatively close to the battleground, the people of the village had later been hired by the Golden Mandarin Duck Alliance, which had come looking for someone, to search the sea for him.
The reward was generous, so this body's father had gone too. Although he was very afraid of people from the jianghu, the pay was so high that Father Wen had braved his fear and gone.
Though the Golden Mandarin Duck Alliance had a poor reputation, its members had not thought fishermen like Father Wen worth their notice. Father Wen had simply had bad luck: he had encountered a storm and never returned. Still, the wages he had already collected were considerable, and mother and daughter could have gotten by.
But storms could gather without warning. Mother Wen and Father Wen had loved each other dearly, and after he was gone, her health had gradually failed. All the family's money had gone toward buying medicine for her, but in the end, she had not been saved.
Thus, half a year ago, the body's original owner had been orphaned. Perhaps because her family was so poor, the villagers had not bullied her much; some kindhearted older women had even looked after her.
And because her family had been outsiders who had fled there as refugees, the girl lived in a fairly remote part of the village, in a house that was not much to speak of.
"Since we share a surname and she had no name, I'll use my original name, Wen Qiushui, in this life. Gathering pearls sounds rather interesting."
Wen Qiushui murmured to herself, deciding that she would not roam the jianghu in this life. Living peacefully as a pearl diver would be nice too.
I wonder what became of Li Xiangyi after his duel with Di Feisheng, without me around to influence things. The thought flashed through Wen Qiushui's mind, only to quickly dissolve into thoughts of what to eat that evening.
Though Wen Qiushui intended to become a pearl diver, it was much harder than being a person of the jianghu. At the very least, she currently had no idea how to light a fire or cook.
Fortunately, she was not truly a fisherman's daughter, and the Chaos Pearl still held supplies she had accumulated over three lives. Wen Qiushui took a lightly flavored pastry with little scent out of the pearl and ate it, just managing to fill her stomach.
"Daya, hurry up! It's time to gather pearls!" A woman's voice sounded outside. It was Chuncai, who, according to her memories, often went pearl diving with Daya.
She had come at just the right time. Although Wen Qiushui had the original owner's memories, she had never gathered pearls herself. She might as well go with someone else and see how it was done.
Following her memories, Wen Qiushui took a change of clothes and a blanket, then walked out the door.
Because Wen Qiushui lived in a remote spot, there were few households nearby. The only one directly opposite belonged to a single man who had arrived in the village only a few months ago. He knew something about medicinal herbs and called himself a traveling physician, so the village chief had let him stay there for free.
When Wen Qiushui stepped outside, the man across the way happened to be in his courtyard. On seeing her, he gave her a gentle nod in greeting.
Wen Qiushui left with Chuncai, her expression unchanged, but she could not help raising an eyebrow on the way. She had not expected Li Xiangyi to fall on such hard times.
That was right. Though the supposed traveling physician's appearance had changed greatly, Wen Qiushui had known he was Li Xiangyi after a single look.
It was not that she had any special feelings for Li Xiangyi. His appearance had changed greatly, and even his bearing was different. But Wen Qiushui was an immortal cultivator, and having transmigrated through several lives, she was especially sensitive to matters of the soul. One look at the presence of his soul was enough to tell her he was the same person as Li Xiangyi.
For now, however, Wen Qiushui was focused on adjusting to life as a fisherman's daughter. Given what Xiao Zijin and the others had done in her previous life, she was not particularly surprised that Li Xiangyi had ended up like this.
Although Wen Qiushui had not yet trained in martial arts, her breathing exercises had become second nature. She watched how long Chuncai stayed underwater and timed her own dives to last about as long. Unfortunately, they did not make many dives that day. She brought up no pearls, but retrieved many discarded swords and sabers instead. She had heard they could be sold at the smithy for some money.