Lin Xiuyao felt the cold on her face. She groaned as she opened her eyes. Her body felt heavy. Every inch ached, and her head was swimming. All in all, she felt terrible. She squinted, attempting to focus.
Slowly, she sat up, whimpering as her aching body strained to do the motion. She assessed her surroundings. Her eyes widened. At first, she thought they left her on the floor of the house. Now, she knew she was too naive. They wanted to sell her in exchange for a job for her brother. She was still too optimistic.
She found herself on the ground in what used to be the ancestral hall. Years earlier, this place had been destroyed. From a glorious structure to a ghost of its former glory.
The roof sagged heavily. Wooden beams warped and splintered. Some tiles were cracked, others were missing. The inside was in disarray. Once an ancestral hall, then a grain warehouse. Now, it was nothing more than a shell.
Scattered kernels, broken pottery, and splintered wood. This was what Lin Xiuyao saw when she looked around the building. The floor was uneven, riddled with holes. The walls were crumbling in many places, so the autumn wind seeped in.
Lin Xiuyao smiled self-deprecatingly. If she thought there was any love left for her in her parents' hearts, she knew now she was mistaken.
She laughed. She couldn't help it. She had expected their surprise at her not wanting to marry. She even expected they would hit her. Being locked in a place like this was not on the list of things she expected would happen.
She thought about the events at home. She did not regret punching her father before fainting. Felial peity should be observed, but she still preferred to save her own life. She had made her choice abundantly clear.
The cold seeped into her bones. Her thin clothing did nothing to help her in this situation. Her body trembled. She wondered briefly if she would die in this place. If they left her here overnight, she might freeze to death.
If the thought crossed her mind, why didn't it cross her parents' minds? She closed her eyes, despair forming a shroud over her body. She shook her head frantically. This was not the time to feel sorry for herself. She would never allow herself to fall into self-loathing anymore.
This was a new life, and she would live her life the way she pleased. She did not come back to freeze in a rundown building. She stood, and a wave of dizziness hit her.
"I won't let you have your way," she said to herself.
She hobbled over to the door. Her trembling hands reached out. She had to know if they locked her in here. If she meant so little that they decided her life did not matter. She pushed, trying to open the door. She felt the resistance. Pushing harder, she grunted. The door did not move.
Disappointment filled her heart. She put her hand on her chest. Her shoulder slumped slightly before she straightened her posture. No. No more sadness. The moment she woke up, she told herself she would be a new person. She had already started when she rejected the proposal.
Inhale. Exhale. Take things one step at a time. That's what she told herself. She watched as her breath appeared. She thought quickly. Looking around the dilapidated building, she noticed the bricks. They were old. That much was evident. But now...she wondered if there was a possibility of breaking any of the weathered bricks.
"I need to find somewhere warm," she whispered. Her body shivered. She swallowed. Her throat was dry, and she couldn't help coughing. "If I can get out, I can find somewhere warm to stay."
She did not believe they would let her into the house if she went back. They were willing to throw her into this cold place. It was unlikely they would feel enough compassion to allow her into the house.
She pushed and pulled random bricks, attempting to find one loose enough for her to start removing. She was able to find some she could partially remove, but none she could take out completely. Ever so often, she would stop to rest.
After more than twenty minutes of trying random bricks, she finally pulled one out. It was night, and she could see nothing. She assumed the brick she pulled away led to the outside. She attempted to take more bricks from the wall, becoming excited every time she was able to pry one away.
When the hole was big enough, Lin Xiuyao peered in. She expected to see the light of the moon when she peered out. Never had she expected to see a tunnel. Her mouth dropped open, her eyes wide.
When did the family have a place like this?
She stared at the hole, the dust in the tunnel, and came to a realization. They don't know this place exists. And it wasn't found by the Red Guards.
Lin Xiuyao, on all fours, wondered what the tunnel was used for. She wondered briefly whether she should take a look. Then her body shivered from the cold. Curiosity aside, she decided she would take the risk. Between staying in a freezing building and following a possible warm tunnel, she preferred the tunnel.
She had died once; what difference did it make if she walked into a tunnel? What's the worst that could happen?
She had not completely pulled out all the bricks. She had to crawl in on her hands and knees. She did not mind. Crawling into the tunnel, she sneezed. The dust was thick. Her rational mind told her she was being irrational, but she threw caution to the wind.
As soon as she crawled through the opening, she stood. She patted the dust from her hands and the knees of her skirt. Following the corridor, she used her hand to cover her mouth and nose, in the hope of stopping the dust from affecting her too much.
Lin Xiuyao walked for a while before coming to the end of the corridor. What looked like a small chamber appeared before her eyes. The walls were smooth and polished. It rivaled the former ancestral hall. The room was bathed in a soft light, which puzzled Lin Xiuyao.
Before she stepped in, she could not see any light. Yet, as soon as she stepped in, she saw the soft light. Looking around, she could not find the source of the light. She was mainly thankful that it was warm. She did not dwell on the source of the light.
At the center of the chamber was a stone pedestal. She could see three things on the pedestal. One was an exquisite, small jade bottle. The other was a book. Neither the book nor the bottle showed any signs of wear and tear. It was as though they had only just been placed.
The third was a pendant. The chain the pendant hung from was thin. She felt she would be able to break it if she pulled hard enough. The pendant itself was shaped like a teardrop. It was glossy. Blue, just like a clear day without clouds.
Slowly, Lin Xiuyao approached the pedestal. Standing in front of it, she did not immediately reach for the things on the pedestal. It was strange enough to find a tunnel in the former ancestral hall; now she found these three things.
Lin Xiuyao felt that although she might have been driven crazy by Li Jun, she was not so crazy that she would touch something that might have been here for decades but didn't look old in the slightest. That was too strange. Yet, the more she looked at the items, the more her fingers twitched. She wanted to touch them.
She thought about the pros and cons, over and over. She could never come to a conclusion with herself. After going back and forth, she decided not to think about it. She grabbed the items quickly and went to a corner to sit down.
Her right hand held the book, her left, the jade bottle, and her pendant was threaded between her fingers. The Jade was cool to the touch, no dust. She put it close to her eyes, examining it. She pondered whether or not she would be able to sell the item.
After touching it all over, she placed it beside her. She raised her hand, examining the pendant. The more she looked at it, the more she liked it. She pulled the chain. It did not break. She used more and more strength each time, but the chain would not budge. She stroked it with her fingers.
Thinking it looked beautiful, she put it on. Her fingers rubbed the teardrop before dropping it into her clothing.
Next, she decided to examine the book in her hand. The cover was pristine. Her fingers stroked the spine of the book.
Slowly, she opened the book. Inside, the pages appeared delicate. She rubbed her fingers over the writing. The script was an elegant calligraphy. The writing itself was strange, yet she found she could understand it.
She traced the lines with her fingers. There was a complex arrangement of lines and symbols. Lin Xuiyao stared at them for what seemed like forever before she remembered a story from her youth.
The word came to her mind. Cultivation.
A story she used to hear when she was younger, yet here was a book on cultivation that she had never expected to see in her life.
The shock spread through her system. But she quickly reined herself in. Cultivation doesn't exist. It didn't make sense for her to get excited for something that didn't exist.
Yet, she couldn't stop the frantic beat of her heart.
Because what if it was true?