"Auntie, I'm here!"
Soon, a skinny woman came over, followed by a young girl about ten years old.
The three of them helped Xie Zhinuan change her clothes, she was still in shock.
"Come, drink the medicine!" Old Mrs. Ni held out the medicine.
After feeding Xie Zhinuan the medicine, Old Mrs. Ni left with Erwang's wife, the two of them gossiping in the yard,
"Auntie, could she be a simpleton?"
"She doesn't look like one, probably encountered some unbearable issues and jumped off a cliff..." Old Mrs. Ni speculated.
Inside the house, Xie Zhinuan's breathing grew heavier.
She, she, she...
Had she traveled through time? And suffered a severe injury.
It was also kind of this old couple, who had taken her in, not only providing her with porridge but also preparing and giving her medicine.
No..., why could she understand the old couple's conversation? Even what Erwang's wife said, she could understand it as well.
She knew nothing of the other matters.
How did she come to this place, body transferred, soul transferred?
What was the deal with that lake, and the mansion?
Xie Zhinuan stared at the ceiling for three days, puzzled, thinking about how she could get to that lake.
In the blink of an eye, she was lying at the mansion's entrance.
"..."
Xie Zhinuan slowly got up, her body still hurting.
It felt different from the other day.
She knocked on the door, "Is anyone there?"
No response.
Xie Zhinuan thought of a profound possibility, a space that might very well belong to her!
Pushing the door and entering, Xie Zhinuan, bearing the pain, walked and called out, "Is anyone there?"
Still no response.
However, she did see, each courtyard with a name on its gate.
"..."
Several of them, each with different names, and judging by the handwriting, they seemed not to be written by the same person.
"Welcome new owner!"
"Ah!"
Xie Zhinuan got startled.
"Owner, I am your space, everything in this space you can use freely. Currently, your courtyard is empty, I hope in the future, you can store whatever you find valuable or precious here, for the next space owner to use!"
"These courtyards, belonged to previous owners of the space, they also stored many things here. For the rest of your life, as long as your heart beats, the space belongs only to you. Once your heartbeat stops, the space will seek the next fateful person!"
Xie Zhinuan wanted to ask something else, but the space spoke again, "This spiritual spring within the space, has the effects of healing wounds, detoxifying, anti-aging, and all other benefits, you can use as you see fit. The space will not appear to disturb you anymore, farewell!"
The surroundings were utterly quiet, not even the sound of flowing water.
Xie Zhinuan was stunned for a while before she walked to the first courtyard and pushed the door open. There were five large rooms, she opened one, inside were shelves filled with bottles and jars, each with a piece of paper underneath, listing the medicine inside and what ailments it treated.
Xie Zhinuan picked up a bottle and gently shook it, it was full.
After placing it back, she picked up a few more, all of them full.
She then opened the other rooms, their shelves also held many full bottles, and on a table in a corner, there was something like a ledger.
Xie Zhinuan flipped it open.
The records indicated that the owner of this house was a woman named Qin Yuan, whose family had been physicians for generations. She was a female doctor and also an alchemist. The last line clearly stated that if someone with fate encountered it, they could use the elixirs inside the house at will.
The second page was written in a different handwriting, which mentioned her name was Han Miao, an ordinary merchant's daughter, listing which elixirs she had taken from the house...
Xie Zhinuan flipped through a few pages, jotting down these names, then closed the door and proceeded to the second courtyard. Just like before, the courtyard contained a house, but this one was filled with treasures she had never seen before: fine silks, satins, and on the table, there was a booklet with Han Miao's introduction along with clear, unmistakable records of what others had taken from it.
"..."
Xie Zhinuan put down the booklet and left, making her way to the last courtyard. Pushing the door open, she entered a room that was empty. She understood that this was her courtyard.
"..."
Nothing was there.
She proceeded to the main house, where there were writing brushes and a booklet on the table.
"..."
Xie Zhinuan thought for a moment, then took a brush and wrote down her own name, Xie Zhinuan!
She still hadn't figured out her situation and felt it was a dream, yet she could distinctly feel pain.
She could smell various scents, hear different sounds, and unlike a fragmented dream.
After she wrote her name, the space seemed to change again.
Xie Zhinuan stepped out of the courtyard and saw, beyond the archway, a shimmering golden light, beckoning her forward.
She stepped forward, crossing the archway, only to see the spring water gushing upward; the golden light was emanating from the spring's eye.
Xie Zhinuan approached, finding several ladles for scooping water made of gold, silver, jade, stone, wood, and bamboo, all neatly arranged in various sizes.
"..."
Could it be that the water tasted different when scooped with different ladles?
With a mindset of trying, she first used a bamboo ladle to drink the water. The bamboo's fresh and pure fragrance was delightful. Taking a small sip and swallowing it was like a gentle breeze, a drizzle passing through her stomach, making her shiver uncontrollably as the pain swiftly lessened.
She couldn't resist trying with jade next. The spring water in the jade spoon was crystal clear. Drinking a mouthful was exquisitely sweet.
After trying each one, the tastes indeed varied.
Xie Zhinuan drank a large ladleful again and felt her body grow hot. Her skin began to itch and throb, and visibly, black gunk started oozing from her hands.
"..."
Was this the legendary Spiritual Spring capable of cleansing marrow and transforming bones?
A voice in her head urged her to strip off her clothes quickly and wash herself in the lake.
And that's exactly what she did.
She stripped clean and jumped into the water.
The filth from her body emerged even faster, turning the surrounding water dark.
The fish disdainfully kept their distance.
"..."
Xie Zhinuan exhaled, then suddenly dived into the lake, chasing the fish that no longer feared her, and they began to play together in the water.
Only when no more black gunk seeped from her body did she finally sit on the shore, looking at the bruises on her body and slowly dressing herself.
She was no longer in pain; it was just that the bruises looked somewhat frightening.
She slowly combed her hair with her fingers, waiting for it to dry.
Her hair was soft and fine, emanating an indescribable fragrance, much like the scent of Leng Zhuxiang. She pulled her hair to her nose and gently sniffed, the clear and light scent mixed with a piercing coldness that touched the soul, proudly fragrant.
"Squeak!"
Old Lady Ni pushed the door open, "Miss, it's time to take your medicine!"
On hearing this, Xie Zhinuan's heart raced, and she cried out, "Go back!"
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself back on the kang...