夺舍 – It literally means "obtain" and "dispose". In xianxia novels, this is the concept of stealing another's body. In the event where someone who has at least achieved 元婴期 dies (some stories allow lower "levels" to have this ability), they are capable of surviving with only their souls/spirits. They then have the choice to steal someone's body, preferably someone talented and "low-leveled". Usually, the author will impose a rule where the amount of times they can do this is limited. The character then has to re-train the body, as their "levels" are tied to their body. In English, this is termed as "walk-in" but I feel that this particular term(as well as possession) lacks the malicious feel compared to body-stealing.
Continent of Cangnan(苍南大陆), Kingdom of An(安国), City of Nandu(南都城).
It was after midnight, and there was a turbulence in the sky.
Dark clouds rolled about in the sky as bursts of wind blew towards the ground. In between the gaps of the thick clouds, lightning could be seen moving about erratically. Once in a while, light shone through the edges of the clouds, as if a powerful surge of energy was being gathered, waiting to deliver a powerful blow.
Suddenly, a golden dot appeared from a gap in the center of cloud and descended straight towards the ground. That golden dot, or more accurately a ray of golden light, was extremely small and shockingly fast. In the blink of an eye, the golden light disappeared somewhere in a row of houses, and all was quiet. The gigantic cloud that had been turbulent only moments earlier, slowly dispersed and revealed the gigantic moon behind it.
"Boom!"
Ye Kong, who had been asleep all this time, felt an explosion deep within his soul. He woke up in an instant.
Having been unconscious for so long, his mind was not functioning properly. His thoughts flitted between images of the young lady and his gang leader.
Be careful! There's danger!
Ye Kong suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of danger.
A ball of white light was floating nearby. Ye Kong didn't know what it was, but he could feel its anger and hatred towards him.
How could a ball of light have emotions?
Before Ye Kong could ponder further, the ball of light rushed towards him. At that moment, the only thing he could think of was to run away.
Wait a second, I am a thug! Who am I afraid of? Ye Kong stopped abruptly.
When Ye Kong finally noticed his own state, he could only laugh. He realized that he had turned into a ball of white light as well, except he was several times larger than the other ball of light.
The other ball of light was not only smaller and dimmer, but felt weaker as well.
"Fuck, what the hell's wrong with you? I am much larger than you, why would I be afraid of you?" Ye Kong instinctively charged towards the ball of light.
The other ball of light was bluffing. It was only planning to drive the invader away. When it saw Ye Kong retaliating, the only thing it could do was run away while pleading for mercy.
However, Ye Kong could care less about that. In his subconscious, he could hear a "voice" stemming from his intuition.
"It's either you or him, you can only survive if you get rid of him!" Ye Kong pounced towards the other ball of light without any hesitation. The larger ball of light easily devoured the smaller ball of light. The smaller ball of light only managed to struggle a little before it was absorbed. Soon, within that particular space, only the larger ball of light that represented Ye Kong was left.
"Is this the rumored body-stealing?"
After an hour, Ye Kong was finally fully awakened. He had a brand new body and the previous inhabitant was complete devoured during the battle just now. The previous inhabitant, which was the smaller ball of light from just now, was only a twelve year old boy.
"He was only twelve years old. I have committed a grave sin." Ye Kong could only sigh regretfully. Even though he had no choice, he killed a twelve year old boy.
He may be a thug, but he was not a murderer. He did not expect that the first thing he did when he came into this new world was to murder an innocent soul… However, even if he was given a chance to redo it again, he would still make the same choice. After all, he was only a thug. He was not a saint that could sacrifice themself for a stranger from another world.
Ye Kong not only devoured every last bit of the boy, he also digested all of his memories. The memories of the child was fragmented. However, there were a few fragments that allow Ye Kong to understand a little of this world.
This continent was known as Continent of CangNan(苍南大陆). He was in one of numerous countries on the continent, Kingdom of An(安国). The civilization level of the continent was somewhat similar to that of ancient China. However, the language used here was different. Thankfully, he inherited the language from the child's memories. Unfortunately, the child could not read, so he would have to study it himself.
Truthfully, the information received was surprisingly little. It was strange that a twelve year old boy knew so little. On Earth, that would be the equivalent of a sixth-grader. At the very least, he should at least know a word or two.
Don't tell me, is this a family so poor that he couldn't attend school?
Ye Kong took another look at the boy's memories and realized that the truth was the complete opposite. The boy was from an affluent household. This was actually the manor of the "General Who Pacifies The South". The father of the child was the general himself. However, as for the name, the child had no idea.
"What a silly little bastard. How could he not even know what his father's name is?" Ye Kong laughed a little and continued to read his memories.
Although the child had no idea what his father's name is, his surname is definitely Ye, since the child's name was also Ye Kong. The two of them actually have the exact same name! He thought, It looks like the fact that I am in this strange world was something arranged. This is too much of a coincidence.
As for more information, he was unable to find more. However, deep within the child's memories, there were three particular thoughts, or to be more accurate obsessions.
First obsession – My mother is the only one nice to me. When I grow up, I will make sure she is well-fed and well-clothed. (TN: Aww…)
"What a filial child." Ye Kong nodded while smiling. In his previous life, he was an orphan and had never experience familial love. Now that he has a mother, it felt like a form of consolation. However, he was soon unable to smile.
Second obsession – Why does father and my step-siblings dislike me?
"I see, so he's not popular with his family."
Third obsession – I am not an idiot!!!
"Fuck! If you're not an idiot, how is it that you don't even know your father's name?" Ye Kong was about go crazy, God damn it. I don't mind that I traveled to another world. However, of all the bodies I could have stolen, how did I manage to steal the one of an idiot? If there is a god out there, are you messing with me?
However, in an instant, Ye Kong thought differently, Could I really trust the memories of an idiot? Who knows if he has read too many xuanhuan novels? Supposedly, lunatics enjoy making up stories in their minds.
(TN: He's debating whether this really is a different world.)
Ye Kong was elated for a moment, but quickly denied it. That's because he felt the difference between this world and Earth. What's different?
The air is different!
Could you feel the existence of air on Earth? You can't. The most you could so is to judge the air's quality.
However, Ye Kong could clearly sense the air in this world. The density of the air here was several times of that on Earth. He could not explain the feeling. He was not used to it and did not like it. It was like someone who used to drink plain water switched to sesame paste.
More importantly, from the air he was breathing in, he could detect a few different kinds of smell.
"Could this be lingqi1?" Ye Kong was excited at the notion, he had read a few novels in the xiuxian genre before and knew what it meant.
Everyone on Earth knows that as long as there's lingqi, you can cultivate! (TN: Probably only applies to people in China. LOL)
"I don't care anymore. I'll find out once I look outside." The current Ye Kong still did not dare to conclude that he was in another world. He stumbled down the bed and went outside.
"Wow! What an enormous moon!" The moment Ye Kong opened the door, he was greeted by the sight of a gigantic moon covering the sky.
"It's over. I really am in another world." Ye Kong stared at the moon in the sky, while he slowly made his way to the center of the yard.
"That brat, all I did was ask for 300 Yuan as protection fee! Just for that, you sent me to another world… Was there a need to be so malicious!" A cry filled with despair emanated from the tiny yard.
The moon here was particularly round and the night was particularly quiet. This cry filled with despair startled quite a few people who was not sleeping.
Chen Jiuniang2 had just finished her needlework, blown out the candles and was about to go to bed. When she heard her son's cry, she rushed towards her room's door and pulled it open.
However, she did not step outside. She was stopped by the sight of her son's figure. Under the moonlight, the thin frame of her son's body seemed even more frail. When she heard his sigh, sorrow gushed out from the bottom of her heart. She leaned on the door frame as tears rolled down her cheeks.
"If it was something I did in my past life, then punish me. Heavens, why are you doing this to my son…" Chen Jiuniang thought. She wiped her tears off and went back into the room to grab a slightly thick clothing.
When she got back to the doorway, she wiped her face again, in fear that her son would notice. Even though her son was foolish, he was filial.
"Son, were you having a nightmare? If you shout in the middle of the night, you'll wake up others. My son is a good boy, hurry and go back to sleep." Chen Jiuniang walked towards Ye Kong and placed the clothing on his thin back.
Ye Kong could only smile bitterly. He was already twenty four years on Earth. It had been a while since someone had used a tone used to talk to children on him and it made uncomfortable.
"Mom, ah, that's wrong. Mother…" Ye Kong had thought that he might have some difficulty calling her mother, but it was pretty easy in reality.
However, when he turned his head to look at her, he was shocked by what he saw.
Good heavens! Is this really my mother? Is she a human or a monster! Chen Jiuniang's face was weird, it could even be considered terrifying.
In Earth's terms, she was a two-face. When you only looked at the right side of her face, she was beautiful woman, but if you looked at the left…
That face would definitely cause you to have nightmares at night. The left side of her face was covered with a hideous black scar with red patches here and there, and there was even some hair strands growing on the red patches.
It just so happened that Ye Kong was standing on her left side.
Good heavens! No wonder his father and step-siblings don't like him.
Not only was he an idiot, he actually had a two-face as a mother!
Who the hell did I offend? To send me to a household like this! Please, someone tell me where I can buy a return ticket!
When Chen Jiuniang realized her son was staring at face, she quickly covered her face and lowered her head. She said, "Son, mother… mother… frightened you…"
Chen Jiuniang did not blame her son for finding her ugly. She was someone with low self-esteem. When her own son was frightened by her, she only wanted to find a place to bury herself.
"Oh, no. I wasn't frightened." Ye Kong realized his mistake and quickly denied it.
Even if he did not have any feelings for this new mother, he had just murdered her son after all. He could not destroy the remaining self-esteem of this woman.
"Mother, don't mind it. I… didn't mean anything by it. After all, a son doesn't mind his mother's ugliness, a dog doesn't mind the poverty of its owners. Anyway, there are women far uglier than you…" After Ye Kong finished, he realized what he said was still inappropriate, he quickly changed what he said, "Wrong! I should say that mother isn't ugly, you're still pretty…"
Now that I think about it, how could this be considered pretty? Wouldn't she think that I am being sarcastic?
"Mother, I… It's fine to be a little ugly. As the saying goes: The ugly wife is a treasure at home, while the pretty wife runs off with someone. Others do it more, while I do it less3."
Chen Jiuniang almost fainted when she heard what Ye Kong said. Is this really her son? My foolish son usually speaks with a stutter, but now he's speaking so fluently?
And how does he know "Others do it more, while I do it less."?
Could it be… He's no longer a fool?
1 – 灵气 = lingqi = Spiritual Energy. This is basically mana/chakra/reiki/ki etc.
2 – 陈九娘 = Chen Jiuniang
3 – 丑妻家中宝,美妻跟人跑,别人玩的多,自己玩的少 – The ugly wife is a treasure at home, while the pretty wife runs off with someone. Others do it more, while I do it less. This is a literal translation of the "saying".(I think this is more of an internet meme than a saying.) 玩 = Play. The "play" here refers to sex, so I translated it to "do it". The "I" here refers to the husband of the ugly wife.
Note: The above is my interpretation of the saying. I have yet to find any reliable source that explains it