Chapter 1: Chapter 1: A Pair of Children Falling from the Sky

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

In early February, a slender crescent moon hung on the cold night sky, and the stars seemed to hide away, fearing the cold.

The villagers went to bed early, and the village was silent, with only a sporadic bark or two from the dogs, sounding more like murmurs in their sleep than an alert.

In the fenced yard of the old Wang Family at the end of the village, an old yellow dog lay quietly.

Little An from the second branch slipped out of the east wing, quietly snuck into the old, low kitchen shack. The old yellow dog didn’t make a sound but wagged its tail, standing by the kitchen door as if keeping watch for Little An.

After a rustling sound, Little An came out of the kitchen. She looked at the dog waiting by the door, hesitated a little, but still broke off a small piece of cake for it, whispering, “This is all I can give you. If I give you more, Mother and Shi Tou will go hungry.”

Mother was pushed by her sister-in-law and grandmother this morning, hit her head, and lay in bed all day without eating.

Worried about her injured mother and her brother less than three months old, Little An sighed and rubbed the yellow dog’s head apologetically.

The dog seemed to understand but didn’t ask for more, whimpered softly, lowered its head to eat the small piece of cake, and then nudged its little owner’s body with its head.

Little An petted it, tucked the remaining cake into her clothes, and was about to sneak back to the back room where she and her family lived when she heard the west wing door bang loudly. Little An saw her aunt-in-law Shao Darong rush out and grab her arm.

“Ouch! Aunt-in-law, don’t hit me!” Little An cried out in pain.

Shao Darong said viciously and triumphantly, “Well, I knew it! The food’s been disappearing, and it’s you folks from the second branch who’ve been stealing it!” Her loud voice, brimming with excitement, stirred up the neighboring dogs instantly.

Even the old yellow jumped with fright, then barked angrily at the shadows.

**

Ling Chengyan had been fighting to the death on the battlefield a moment ago, an arrow through her back… Awakening, she found herself in a pitch-black room.

A woman argued outside, there were dogs barking, and a child… was crying?

The sounds were of women and children, not an enemy camp. So, she was… rescued?

Ling Chengyan threw off the blankets and got up, feeling a rush of pain, but it wasn’t from the fatal back wound.

Why was it the head?

She raised a hand to touch it, finding dried blood on her hair…

With a bang, the door was thrust open, and a tall, robust woman burst in: “… don’t pretend dumb and mute by hiding inside. Look at the lovely daughter you’ve raised, sneaking into the kitchen to steal food at night…”

The woman’s voice was as loud as thunder and as grating as a broken gong, making Ling Chengyan’s head pound. She couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to what the woman was saying.

Ling Chengyan only saw the child the woman was dragging along. The collar was choking the child’s throat, making it unable to breathe, and it looked like it was being choked to death—

Ling Chengyan snatched the child from the woman’s hands.

Stepping off the kang, she reached out, wrapped her hand around the woman’s collar, and effortlessly lifted her up and carried her outside.

“… Uh!” The woman tried to scream, but her throat was caught, stifling her voice to muffled sounds.

Once outside, Ling Chengyan threw the woman away as if discarding a piece of junk. Dusting off her hands, she began surveying the unfamiliar surroundings.

Outside, with a bit of borrowed moonlight, she could see the low, rounded outlines of the mud-brick dwellings, the mud walls not reaching human height, and the garden gate.

She was more certain she hadn’t been captured, and this wasn’t an enemy camp…

Alas, before she had time to think it through carefully, a shriveled old woman rushed out: “What are you up to again, you harbinger of bad luck? Stirring up troubles in the dead of night, trying to bring doom to us…”

The old woman rushed at her, cursing, almost spitting in Ling Chengyan’s face.

Disgusted, Ling Chengyan frowned, raised a hand to block, “If there’s a problem, speak of it plainly, don’t babble senselessly…”

The old woman tore open her collar and pulled her own hair, wailing, “Oh, heaven, this harbinger of disaster is beating people, trying to beat me, an old woman, to death…”

The woman who had just lain on the ground pretending to be dead suddenly crawled over frantically, crying out, “Mother! Are you alright?… second son’s wife, how dare you lay hands on your mother-in-law?!”

“Who’s second son’s wife?” Ling Chengyan was bewildered when she heard a movement behind her.

Turning around, she saw a slender figure quickly slinking through the door behind her against the wall.

Then, there was a feeble cry of an infant: “Wah…”

Ling Chengyan was stunned.

She had just saved a five or six-year-old girl; how could there be a baby crying?

Inside the house, there was another presence, even if it was a baby, she should not have been unaware!

The person holding the swaddling cloth darted out, met Ling Chengyan’s gaze briefly, and involuntarily halted in her steps.

“Don’t take brother away, don’t take brother away… Mother, aunt wants to take brother away!” The little girl stumbled out, and taking advantage of the moment the other person paused, she pounced and clung to a leg, “Mother, don’t let them take brother away…”

The little girl cried and shouted heart-wrenchingly, making Ling Chengyan feel a bit sympathetic, furrowing her brows slightly.

Yet at this moment, the old woman who was wailing on the ground screamed, “The eldest daughter-in-law!”

After the short shout, the two women who had been playing the sympathetic card got up and came charging at Ling Chengyan.

Looking at the pair rushing towards her, Ling Chengyan snorted coldly, just with you?

Stepping back and turning slightly, the two lunging women missed, colliding into each other like rabid dogs.

Ling Chengyan, however, had no time to deal with them. She saw out of the corner of her eye that the person snatching the child was kicking the little girl!

One kick, and another, indiscriminately, hard and mercilessly!

Before anyone could see how Ling Chengyan moved, the assailant traced a parabola and was flung, landing heavily, and turning back, Ling Chengyan was shielding the little girl beside her, with the swaddling cloth that had just been snatched in her arms.

Ling Chengyan took two steps forward, exuding an authoritative presence, looking down and saying, “So young, how could the heart be so malicious?”

The woman who was thrown was dazed for a moment and, about to retort, shivered at Ling Chengyan’s gaze, then muttered defensively yet without momentum, “This little ill-starred creature was born with a tough fate. At birth, it caused his father to be imprisoned and pushed its grandfather to break a leg. If we don’t send him away, are we to wait until he curses the whole family to death?”

Ling Chengyan stared at the woman and asked, “Born with a tough fate that curses the family, who are you?”

“I’m his real aunt!”

Ling Chengyan pointed at the old woman and the other woman: “And them?”

“That’s the real grandmother and eldest daughter-in-law, are you mad…” The woman began to retort but was cut off as Ling Chengyan grabbed her collar, choking off her words.

“Ha, true grandmother, true aunt, with just you? Ridiculous!” Ling Chengyan sneered.

With a flick of her hand, Wang Lianxiang was thrown out, crashing into the other two, tumbling into a heap.

“You…” Wang Lianxiang wanted to curse but had her mouth covered by the eldest sister-in-law Shao Darong.

“Hold it; I have a feeling this won’t end well…” Shao Darong’s voice was strained, exuding an eerie aura in the dark night.

The Wang Family mother and daughter felt a chill over their scalps, shivering as they scrambled up, joining Shao Darong in rushing into the main house, slamming the door shut.

“Mother, you don’t have to worry about us, you better run… they won’t let up.” Little An tugged at her robe, trying to pull her away.

Ling Chengyan’s feet seemed to be rooted, unmovable by the little girl.

Shocked, she lowered her head. Her gaze slid over the crude, patched clothes on her body with a sense of ominous foreboding but still looked at the little girl, pointing at herself: “You, what did you just call me?”

“Mother… I’m Little An, don’t you recognize me and Shi Tou?” the little girl called tremblingly, then burst into tears.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep