Early the next morning, Sun Juanfang was awakened by the sound of heart-wrenching sobbing. She looked over and saw that it was her sister-in-law, Li Yuexi, crying her heart out.
Here's what happened: after fainting the previous night, Li Yuexi awoke to find her son had stopped breathing. Having always regarded her son as her lifeline, she simply couldn't accept the cruel reality of his death.
Qian Mingwen, on the other hand, wanted to bury their son early to let him rest in peace, but he was met with hysterical resistance from Li Yuexi.
"No! My son is still alive! You heartless monster, why are you trying to bury him? I get it now—you're all evil, evil people…"
Seeing things about to escalate further—and a few of the constables beginning to lose patience—Qian Mingwen had no choice but to knock his wife unconscious.
And so, the seven-year-old boy became nothing more than a small mound of dirt, left alone in a deserted mountain valley, with no telling when his family might ever return to visit.
Ting-jie'er watched the scene and quietly asked her mother, "Mom, what is death? They said cousin died… will I ever see him again?"
"Ting-jie'er, your cousin just went to a faraway place. One day, we'll all go there and meet again. He just got there before us, that's all."
It was the only explanation Sun Juanfang could think of for her four-year-old daughter. She didn't know how else to explain death—especially the death of a young child, which always carries a unique sorrow.
Though she had completed many missions in various worlds, she still held a deep respect for the lives of children.
Just then, she turned her head and spotted her illegitimate daughter Qian Lanyue with a smile at the corners of her lips—a twisted smile of revenge fulfilled.
That sent a chill down Sun Juanfang's spine. Something about all this felt deeply wrong. Trusting her instincts, she quietly probed Qian Lanyue's memories using her psychic powers.
What she discovered was explosive: this illegitimate daughter wasn't simple at all—she was a reborn woman who had deliberately caused the death of her legitimate cousin!
Sun Juanfang didn't delve any deeper—probing too much could permanently damage the target's brain, turning them into a vegetable.
Still, she immediately opened a line to the system in her head:
"How the hell did a reborn woman end up in this world? Why didn't you warn me? What are you going to do to compensate me?"
System: "You're really hard to please, you know… This isn't our fault!"
"Host, she wasn't reborn at the beginning of the story, so we couldn't predict it. This has nothing to do with us or the System Bureau…"
After some "friendly negotiations," the system agreed to offer Sun Juanfang a few benefits—like rigging the mission spin wheel next time so she could choose the world she wanted.
Having experienced the cultivation world, Sun Juanfang had come to believe in karma. Turning someone into a fool for something that didn't yet concern her—wasn't a cause and effect she wanted to carry.
However, remembering how Qian Lanyue had deliberately tried to get close to Ting-jie'er, she didn't let the matter drop. She planted a mental restriction in the girl's mind: if Qian Lanyue ever acted with malicious intent toward them again, she would suffer the consequences.
After all, with a venomous snake nearby, how could she sit idly by and do nothing?
Meanwhile, Qian Lanyue sensed someone watching her. She looked around but saw no one, and her expression instantly switched to one of grief—perfectly timed.
That swift emotional switch only made Sun Juanfang more wary.
The death of the eldest son's legitimate child hit Old Lady Qian hard. Why had it been her precious grandson who died, while all the other children who took the medicine were fine?
No, wait—that wretched girl in the eldest son's family survived without medicine! Why was the world so unfair? Why didn't Heaven take that worthless money-losing girl instead?
When Li Yuexi finally woke up and learned of her son's burial, she appeared to have accepted the fact on the surface—but deep down, she was filled with suspicion.
She was sure something was wrong. She had to stay alive long enough to find the truth.
And sometimes, a woman's intuition is terrifyingly accurate.
Finding her daughter still alive brought her a small measure of comfort, helping her keep going.
Qian Lanmei, meanwhile, never expected to survive without the medicine. But remembering her dead brother made her feel deeply guilty under her mother's gaze.
Still, at just six years old, she dared not speak the truth she had witnessed. She was afraid—afraid of losing the motherly love she had waited so long to receive.
On the other side, Qian Lanyue caught a glimpse of her still-alive half-sister and was momentarily stunned. Then she quickly masked her expression.
Something had definitely changed—was her stepmother also reborn?
If so, that would explain the sudden difference in her behavior in this life.
This realization made Qian Lanyue deeply uneasy. Things were no longer within her control. She would have to tread carefully around this "mother" from now on.
Later, the group resumed their journey. The mood was somber—after all, a child had just died.
To make things worse, the rain from the day before had turned the mountain path into a slippery mess. Everyone had to watch their footing carefully, or they might slip and fall.
And falling on a mountain road was no joke—it could mean death with no body left to bury.
Even though Lord Wu had warned everyone multiple times, someone still slipped—and dragged several others down with them.
"Lord Wu! Something bad's happened! A few people fell off the path—you must send someone to check!"
The shouting woman was the wife of one of the fallen.
Wu Yu sighed inwardly. Why can't a single day go smoothly?
"Zhao San, Wang Wu—you two go down and see if anyone's still alive."
With that order, Lord Wu and the rest of the convoy continued forward. They were on a deadline—yesterday's rain had already caused delays, and they couldn't afford more.
Although the others were shaken, they dared not resist under the watch of the constables.
Sun Juanfang, anticipating the danger, had already moved quietly to the back of the group during the rain—better to avoid being dragged down by someone else's fall.
Later, the two constables returned with the expected report: all four who had fallen were dead.
The families of the deceased were devastated. The other three households blamed the one who slipped first.
"It's your damn fault! If your man wanted to die, fine—but why drag mine down too? Are you going to pay for my husband's life?!"
"That's right! You owe us compensation!"
"You must take responsibility!"
Just as a brawl was about to break out, Wu Yu stepped in:
"All of you, quiet! I'll make the call. The family of the one who slipped will compensate the other three with five taels of silver each. That settles it. If anyone argues again—I'll whip them myself."
Truth be told, Wu Yu didn't want to bother mediating. But he couldn't risk their march being delayed further—or worse, going over the limit of allowed deaths per the imperial decree.
Outwardly, the matter was resolved. But beneath the surface, grudges festered.