Becoming the Early-Dying Wife of the Sun-Breathing Ceiling - Chapter 1

When the day’s farm work finally came to an end, as sweat trickled down, I felt a slight sense of relief in my heart despite the exhaustion.

I looked up at the sun, which was about to sink below the horizon.

With no clouds to obscure it, the golden light fell upon my flushed cheeks. I straightened my waist and couldn’t help but pound my aching back.

Long hours of labor had left my body fatigued, but thankfully, I was still young. As long as I went back and got a good night’s sleep, I would be fully revitalized by the next day!

I rolled down my pant legs and gathered the firewood a neighbor had dropped off for me while passing by earlier, slinging the bundle onto my back.

So heavy! Is this the weight of life?

I had been living alone for several years now. My status as a little orphan girl earned the sympathy of the villagers, but in truth, I had accepted this situation with a very calm heart.

Having transmigrated from another world into this small mountain village, I had faced this situation from the start. Later, I realized that orphans like me were not uncommon.

Step by step, I walked through the fields, while in the distance, birds soared across the horizon.

Although the weather was still scorching, for someone who had just been drenched in sweat, the passing breeze could almost be called refreshing.

As I walked, I spotted a tightly tied bag by the roadside. Thinking it might be something someone had lost, I stopped to tighten the rope on my shoulders to prevent it from sliding off, then bent down to pick it up.

Once I had it in my hand, I realized it was a bag filled with water.

Strange, I thought. It doesn’t look like something someone brought to drink; they would have used better material if it were.

Out of curiosity, I decided to open the tied opening. Inside, I saw a dozen or so little tadpoles swimming around.

“What the…! So they’re tadpoles!” I couldn’t help but laugh.

It immediately reminded me of the children who often chased and played along these ridges. Perhaps one of them had caught them and then forgotten all about them.

If I left them alone, once the water in the bag ran dry, they would die silently.

“Even though you look so weak and tiny, you are lives after all!” I muttered, aiming the opening of the water bag toward the paddy field. “Live well!”

The little tadpoles flicked their thin little tails, scrambling to swim into the water.

“Ah! Remember to catch more mosquitoes when you grow up!” I couldn’t help but urge them.

Heaven knows my biggest annoyance in the summer is being bitten by mosquitoes…

Thinking that as long as they could survive, the world might have a few fewer pests, I stood up, feeling satisfied.

The firewood on my back was heavy, and my strength wouldn’t support much more lingering. Just as I turned my head.

There was an extra person standing behind me!!!

I was startled. When on earth did this person appear, and where did he come from? It was clearly empty all around just a moment ago!

As I steadied my mind and looked at him closely, I saw he was a youth with black hair and red eyes.

His red eyes were unfocused, like those of a blind person, yet they also seemed to possess a clarity that saw through everything in the world.

He wore striking sun-shaped earrings on his ears, and there was a red birthmark on his forehead that looked like it had been seared by flames.

At that moment, a certain thought flashed across my mind, but it was too vague to grasp.

Ignoring this abnormality, I noticed that although his clothes were quite shabby and worn, the skin visible on his hands and feet was as delicate and porcelain-white as could be.

Farmers don’t have skin that good, I thought to myself.

I speculated that he must be a lost, down-and-out young master who was blind?

Hmm, that seemed perfectly normal in this chaotic era; nothing was surprising. I thought this quite calmly.

Seeing him, I couldn’t help but feel pity, so I reached out my hand toward him. “If you have nowhere to go and don’t mind that I have nothing, please come to my house and stay for the night.”

My kindness came entirely from the friendliness the village neighbors had shown me; if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have survived.

Therefore, I had to hold goodwill toward this world, too.

The youth’s unfocused eyes shifted slightly. In that moment, I felt as if he could actually see that he could see right through everything.

He didn’t speak.

Is he a mute? That was truly pitiable. My heart softened immediately. I tentatively held his hand; he didn’t resist or pull away, so I brought him home…

After walking a distance, we arrived back in the village.

I pulled open my front door familiarly. Of course, it wasn’t locked, because there was nothing inside.

It was truly that destitute; if a bandit came by, they might have to donate to me instead.

“You sit for a while. I’ll go prepare dinner. Tomorrow, I’ll take you to town to find your family.”

I was already treating him entirely like a blind person, and perhaps a mute one, so I didn’t expect a reply. But he spoke up then.

“I don’t want to find my family…”

My hand, in the middle of pouring water, paused instantly. “You can talk?”

“You don’t want to find your family? Could it be that you ran away from home?”

It wasn’t impossible for someone his age to do such a thing.

“No, I told my family, and with their permission, I left on my own.” His voice was very pleasant, and he sat upright as he spoke slowly.

“Is that so…”

My tone was hesitant. Looking at his face, which still held a hint of immaturity, I suddenly realized something. I waved my hand in front of him. “So, you can see?”

He looked at me with his red, clear, and vibrant eyes and nodded. “Yes, I can see.”

Embarrassment crept over me. So this was a complete misunderstanding! I seem to have brought a perfectly sound, completely healthy man of the opposite sex home?

The sympathy and pity I had felt for the “weakling” dissipated entirely.

However, his quiet, obedient, and calm attitude made me feel favorable toward him. Most importantly… he was quite handsome and delicate!

“I see!” I couldn’t help but scratch my head. “So you’re just passing through? I’m truly sorry for bringing you home without asking.”

As I spoke, I felt heat rising to my face! So! So embarrassing!

“It doesn’t matter,” he said very softly. “It just so happens that I have nowhere to go, and I need a place to rest.”

After he finished speaking, he turned his face slightly, and his earrings swayed. “Do you live alone?”

He was considerate and gentle, which eased my embarrassment. My heart seemed to be beating a little fast. “Yeah, right… no, no, not really.”

He turned back to look at me again. When faced with his strange red eyes, I took a shallow breath and mumbled, “Yes, I live alone.”

At first, I had naturally told the truth, but later I felt it was inappropriate to tell a strange man that I lived alone, I should have said my father or brother had gone out!

But in the end, faced with those slightly indifferent red eyes, I chose the truth.

He should be a good person. I just had that kind of strong, inexplicable intuition.

“Then, you… you drink some water first!” I panicked as I poured him water and then rushed out the door. I put my hands on my face. “So hot!”

I opened the water jar, which reflected the image of a girl whose cheeks were as red as the clouds of the sunset, as if the sun’s warmth hadn’t yet dissipated.

After calming down a little outside and washing the vegetables, I walked back into the house before preparing dinner.

The boy was sitting properly on the chair without moving. He was very polite.

As soon as I walked in, his gaze followed me.

It’s so obvious; how on earth did I mistake him for a blind person… I grumbled to myself.

I placed my hand by my lips and cleared my throat. “Do you have any dietary restrictions?”

He shook his head.

“Then I’ll just make whatever.”

“Wait.” Before I could walk out, he stopped me. His clear tone carried a hint of hesitation. “Might I ask your name?”

He spoke very elegantly; it was clear he had been well-educated. So my guess that he was a young master was likely correct. In fact, I was already getting used to his presence.

“Oh! You can call me Hui! As you can see, a farmer~” I turned and smiled at him, spreading my hands in a gesture.

His eyes widened like a cat’s in slight surprise. After a while, he said unhurriedly, “My name is Tsugikuni Yoriichi, and I am a… monk.”

“Oh, okay.” I nodded to show I understood and stepped out without hesitation.

A monk! Images of bald heads flashed through my mind, but then I remembered his thick, high-tied black hair. I had heard that monks here could keep their hair and could also marry and have children just like laypeople, though he didn’t seem to be wearing monk robes.

I hurriedly shook my head. What on earth am I thinking!

Wait, what did he just say his name was? Tsugikuni Yoriichi? What a great name! The name sounded good, and the person was good-looking! But… it sounded a little familiar… Tsugikuni… Tsugikuni what!?

“Bang!” I slammed my knife down, and a round slice of white radish rolled onto the floor, just like my heart.

I rushed back into the room, gasping for air. “You… you… say what your name is!”

“Tsugikuni Yoriichi.” He repeated it, his expression slightly puzzled, as if he didn’t understand at all why I was so excited.

Tsugikuni Yoriichi!

Hiss! I sucked in a cold breath.

I looked at his sun earrings with dull, sluggish eyes, and then at the birthmark on his forehead…

What birthmark! That’s a natural-born demon slayer mark!

He was the invincible warrior from legend who walked in the mortal world with the bearing of a god!

The founder of Sun Breathing who single-handedly toyed with the Demon King!!!

A genius born with the transparent world, capable of seeing the flow of blood, muscle contraction, and even bone structure in the human body… An individual favored by the gods. Thinking of these descriptions, countless thoughts churned in my brain. I hadn’t even realized I was already clutching his lapels.

I looked up, unsure if I was filled with hope or despair, and asked again, “Say it again, what is your name…”

Please, don’t let it be that!