Midsummer in the third year of the Dongchen Kingdom.
The Bai Family Old Residence in Wanfu Village, Guangming County, Xuzhou.
"Eldest Brother, Mother... Mother has stopped breathing..."
"Mother, wake up, please wake up, sob, sob..."
"Mother, please don't die, don't leave us behind..."
Four boys and one girl, five children knelt in front of the bed, shaking the woman lying there and wailing miserably.
"Bang!" The main room door was kicked open.
The five children started in shock, and upon snapping back to their senses, scrambled to their feet in a panic and pressed their backs against the wooden door of the room.
"Thud! Thud! Thud!" The wooden door wobbled precariously.
The children's small faces turned flushed red, veins bulged on their foreheads, and beads of sweat the size of soybeans rolled down their cheeks, soaking the collars of their shirts.
Their hands gripped the door frame with all their might, their knuckles turning white.
Only a single thought filled their minds: they could not let these people in.
Seeing this, Mother Wang spat on the ground, placed her hands on her hips, and began to curse shrilly:
"You damned brats! Your mother was a member of the Bai family in life and will be a ghost of the Bai family in death! If you don't want to die, obediently open this door right now..."
Old Man Bai looked toward the wooden door, a flash of ferocity crossing his eyes. He waved a hand and stepped back aside.
The burly men exchanged glances, nodded, stepped back a few paces, broke into a run, and simultaneously threw all their weight and strength into kicking the door.
"Crash!" The wooden door gave way with a loud collapse.
The children were knocked flying, crashing heavily to the ground. Their eyes filled with tears, but they bit back their pain and refused to cry out.
Mother Wang sneered. "Hmph! A bunch of ungrateful wolf cubs! Just you wait, all of you, you'll get what's coming to you soon enough..."
Enduring a sharp pain, Bai Hu struggled to his feet. "I'm going to report you! I'll report you for murder for money!"
Mother Wang showed not a shred of fear. "You still want to report me? She carried on with another man, got caught, and died of shame by bashing her head against the wall! I'm only taking pity on you kids, otherwise an auspicious ghost marriage like this would never come her way."
"You're lying! Mother didn't do anything of the sort! It's you... you had no way out because of Little Uncle's gambling debts, so you tried to force Mother into a ghost marriage! When Mother refused, you beat her to death!" Bai Hu blurted out everything he knew in one breath.
"Slap!" A heavy blow sent him staggering.
With bloodshot eyes, Bai Hu glared at his grandfather and spread his arms wide. "Don't even think about taking Mother away for a ghost marriage! I won't allow it!"
"That's right! We won't allow it!" The other children scrambled up and stood in front of the bed, shielding the body like a mother hen protecting her chicks.
Old Man Bai frowned slightly. "Hmph! Since your mother has already passed away, it is best to bury her as soon as possible so she can rest in peace."
With a wave of his hand, several men stepped forward to grab the four children.
Wailing cries echoed through the room: "No! Mother, wake up, please wake up..."
At that exact moment, Tang Youyou on the bed snapped her eyes open.
The first thing she saw was a young girl kneeling on the ground, looking to be in her teens. Such a grown person, and she was actually calling her mother?
What on earth was going on?
She had been single for thirty-two years since birth and had never married; this young girl must have mistaken her for someone else.
At that very instant, memories that did not belong to her rushed into her mind like fragments of a movie.
It left her stunned, unable to process it for a long while.
Damn it! As a successful female corporate executive swimming in her private pool, she had slipped the moment she stepped out, hit the only flowerbed by the pool, and transmigrated into ancient times as a widow with the exact same name.
She complained inwardly: Tomorrow, headline news will probably read, 'Female Corporate Executive Commits Suicide in Private Swimming Pool for Unknown Reasons!'
Her parents would be thrilled—they could finally help her younger brother usurp all her property.
She was thirty-two, unmarried and childless, graduated from a prestigious university, and had spent a decade fighting for her career, earning the title of workplace devil woman! Decisive and fierce, she was deeply valued by her company.
The original body was also thirty-two, with four sons and a daughter. Five years ago, her husband had died at the frontier.
The sallow and malnourished woman before her was Lin Huahua, her eldest daughter-in-law who had married into the family not long ago.
Lin Huahua widened her eyes and pointed at her in utter disbelief. "Res... Resurrection from the dead?"
Mother Wang pulled her aside, muttering under her breath, "Get out of the way, you jinx! You hadn't even been in this family long before my daughter-in-law went and died."
A crowd of villagers had already gathered outside the courtyard. Mother Wang had been preparing to fake some tears, but upon seeing the person on the bed rolling her eyes around, she was so frightened she dropped straight onto her rump, shaking like a sieve.
With trembling hands, she muttered to herself, "She's come back from the dead!"
Lin Huahua looked toward the four restrained children. "Mother... seems to be alive..."
The four children began to struggle, crying out loudly.
"Help! Someone save us..."
Old Man Bai naturally noticed the commotion over here and signaled the men, who immediately clamped their hands over the children's mouths.
Lin Huahua inched away slowly, trying to crawl out while the men weren't paying attention; she had to go outside and find help.
Old Man Bai stepped forward to look at Tang Youyou lying on the bed, a momentary flicker of surprise crossing his face before malicious intent flashed in his eyes.
Then he blinked at Mother Wang. "I reckon you've lost your mind. The daughter-in-law simply can't let go of her children, that's why she hasn't closed her eyes in death!"
He walked straight up, picked up the quilt on the bed, and moved to cover Tang Youyou's face.
Tang Youyou was frantic. The old man clearly intended to kill her, but having just transmigrated, her body refused to obey commands and wouldn't budge an inch.
Was she really going to die the moment she arrived?
Standing close by, she could hear the old man muttering to himself: "Consider this the final contribution you make to my Bai family! You're dying for a good cause!"
Horrified, Lin Huahua forgot all about finding help and scrambled up in a panic to stop Old Man Bai.
"Grandfather, you can't do this..."
In her panic, she grabbed his hand, closed her eyes, and bit down hard.
"Ah! You bitch!"
Old Man Bai violently shook her off. Lin Huahua stumbled back a few steps, slammed into the wall, and passed out cold.
Bai Hu and his three brothers watched with bloodshot eyes, unable to move as muffled sounds of "mm-mm" escaped their throats.
Old Man Bai glanced at his bleeding hand, shook it off, and roared at Mother Wang, "What are you standing there for? Come over and help!"
With that, the two of them pressed the quilt down hard over her head.
Just as she was on the verge of suffocating, feeling returned to her left hand, and a splitting headache tore through her mind.
A surge of great joy filled Tang Youyou: maybe she wouldn't die after all.
Clenching her left hand into a fist, she thrust it upward with all her might.
"Bang!"
"Ah!" A miserable cry rang out.
At the same time, the weight of the quilt over her head slackened by half.
Seeing this, Old Man Bai was gripped by panic, his hands fumbling as he pressed down on her left hand with one palm.
Catching sight of the other men out of the corner of his eye, he rebuked angrily, "Are you not coming to help? Knock them out first! If we can't deliver today, you won't get off easily either!"
The men exchanged glances, irritation written across their faces.
"Old Man Bai, we only came here to carry away a corpse, not to commit murder!"
His face turned beet red, and unable to retort, he could only press down with greater force.
However, Tang Youyou was regaining control of her body bit by bit; within mere moments, her right hand could move as well.
"Bang!" Old Man Bai took a punch, staggered back a few steps, struggling to keep his footing.
Tang Youyou sat up abruptly, gasping in lungfuls of fresh air.
A moment later, she scanned the room and pointed straight at the burly men. "Let... let them go, or else—"
She climbed out of bed, rubbed her neck, and cracked her knuckles, producing a loud series of popping sounds.
The men swallowed hard. Someone that even the King of Hell dared not claim must possess some terrifying, unearthly power. With one accord, they released the children and bolted for the door.