Turns Out I’m the Villain They’re Supposed to Redeem? [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 24

She just stared without saying a word, but Huo Yuwan acted as if she hadn’t noticed, cheerfully pulling her suitcase along to go through security.

“Are the two of you dating?”

Following closely behind her younger sister, Huo Yuqing wasn’t about to let her play dumb.

“No! Dr. Li and I share a supreme and noble friendship. Don’t taint our relationship with romance, sis.”

She refuted with well-reasoned arguments, her serious expression making her seem like a young nun who had just escaped from some convent, forbidden to touch matters of love.

But Huo Yuqing, standing beside her, could see it clearly, her ears were so red they looked about to burn up.

Seems like they’re still in the ambiguous stage.

Familiar with the stages of romance, Huo Yuqing automatically categorized her sister’s reaction accordingly.

“Alright, alright, my mistake.”

Hearing the teasing laughter in her sister’s voice, Huo Yuwan let out a soft humph, but at the same time, an inexplicable confusion, known only to herself, welled up in her heart.

…

When they arrived at the high-speed rail station in town, their eldest sister, Huo Yushuang, came to pick them up in the family car. She happened to be returning home with her child that day and, upon hearing her two younger sisters were coming back, brought their mother and the child along to fetch them.

After loading the luggage into the trunk, the two sisters got into the car, filling the six-seater almost to capacity.

On the way, Huo Yuqing played with her little niece, while Huo Yuwan took the certificate she had won in a debate competition out of her backpack to show their mother.

“How rare. I’ve only ever seen your second sister bring home certificates like this before.”

Their mother flipped through the single-page certificate over and over, a smile never leaving her face.

Huo Yushuang glanced at the passenger seat and chuckled, “When Mom told me you’d won an award, I didn’t believe it. How did someone who never even got a ‘Three Good Students’ award in elementary school suddenly become so enlightened in college?”

Huo Yuwan, who was secretly fishing a lollipop out of her little niece’s pocket, didn’t show a hint of modesty. Swinging her head proudly, she said, “It must be natural talent. That’s what all the teachers at school say about me.”

Her boastful demeanor successfully made everyone in the car laugh.

At noon, the family ate at a restaurant in town. Their father also rushed back from work, and the family chatted and laughed merrily over the meal. Sitting among her family, Huo Yuwan didn’t feel the slightest bit awkward or out of place.

The Huo family lived in a two-story house in town. After lunch, they returned home, and their father helped carry his daughters’ suitcases to their respective rooms on the second floor before hurrying back to work.

Huo Yuwan lay on her bed in her room, staring at the ceiling, feeling increasingly puzzled.

She rolled out of bed and began unconsciously rummaging through the desk by the window.

In the drawer, she found the original owner’s old diary. Huo Yuwan opened it and read through it, but the contents were nothing special, just the daily complaints of a teenage girl.

However, the more she read, the stranger she felt.

The words flowed effortlessly, and she could even imagine the tone the original owner had used while writing them, giving Huo Yuwan the impression that she herself had written them.

But in her memory, her own personality and the original owner’s were clearly not similar.

The more she read, the more absurd it seemed. How had she never noticed before that her handwriting was so similar to the original owner’s?

Oh, right.

Because the original owner had never taken notes in her schoolbooks, she hadn’t even bothered to write her name.

“You’ve noticed, my lord?”

The fox spirit’s tentative voice echoed in her mind.

“Actually, it’s not that I didn’t want to tell you, but the High Priest instructed that I could only reveal it after you yourself sensed something amiss.”

Huo Yuwan fell silent. She restrained herself repeatedly, words caught between speech and hesitation.

“You’re not going to say that I and the original host are actually the same person, are you?”

“You’re truly clever, my lord.”

The fox spirit praised her with a hint of shyness.

“But I’ve always lived among the fox tribe before…”

“Is it the Soul-Splitting Art?”

Suddenly recalling something she had once read in an ancient text, Huo Yuwan asked uncertainly.

“Yes, but logically, you shouldn’t know about this secret art. My lord, did you sneak a peek at the forbidden books the High Priest hid away?” The fox spirit sounded puzzled.

Pressing her lips together, Huo Yuwan laughed awkwardly twice to mask her guilt.

Before she had taken human form, she had been mischievous enough to sneak into the training grounds of the clan leader’s lineage. It was then that she had stumbled upon the ancient book by chance.

Over the years, however, her master had never taught her this technique, and gradually, Huo Yuwan had nearly forgotten about it.

She never expected that the first time she encountered this secret art would be on herself.

Huo Yuwan fell into a speechless silence.

The so-called Soul-Splitting Art involved separating the soul. The three ethereal souls and seven corporeal souls were originally meant to reside within a single body, but under the influence of this art, they could be split apart and exist independently.

Each strand of the soul could function on its own within a separate human body.

But there were side effects. Each soul fragment became more fragile, memories could become fragmented, and it wasn’t as poetic as “together we are a flame, apart we are scattered stars.” A single misstep could result in the human host of a soul fragment turning into a fool.

“To prevent any misunderstanding, the High Priest instructed that this must be made clear to you.”

“Go on.”

Huo Yuwan felt an inexplicable tension in her chest.

“The Soul-Separation Art was something you personally requested the High Priest to use on you. So, please don’t curse our master in your heart or show any disrespect.”

Nearly choking on her breath, Huo Yuwan collapsed onto the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling above.

So, this wasn’t just some ordinary training mission…

What was her purpose in coming here?

With this confusion weighing on her, Huo Yuwan slowly closed her eyes.

What had she forgotten?

…

She woke up in the evening. Huo Yuwan grabbed her phone from beside the pillow and headed downstairs, checking her messages as she walked. She noticed that Li Xuzhi had sent her a message around three in the afternoon, asking if she had gotten home safely.

Next to the staircase landing on the second floor was a floor-to-ceiling window facing the street. Huo Yuwan instinctively glanced outside, then without a second thought, raised her phone and took a picture of the sunset through the window.

After nearly three months of interaction, Huo Yuwan had grown accustomed to sharing beautiful scenery and delicious food with Li Xuzhi.

I fell asleep in the afternoon. Here’s a view of the sunset near my place, Dr. Li.

Smiling, she sent the message and turned to continue downstairs.

Li Xuzhi, who was feeding a kitten, smiled faintly upon reading the message, saved the photo, and then took a picture of a little white fox busy eating.

As they exchanged messages back and forth, Huo Yuqing, who was sitting beside Huo Yuwan watching TV, glanced at her sister’s besotted smile and shook her head helplessly.

Still insisting it’s just friendship, even like this.

Having fully seen Qi Qiuyuan’s true colors, Huo Yuqing was gradually emerging from the shadow of her failed relationship. She now firmly believed in one saying:

The right person will stand within your future.

Beside her, her elder sister Huo Yushuang was chatting with their mother. Huo Yuqing overheard snippets of their conversation, which seemed to be about her little niece Mengmeng’s school matters.

Mengmeng attended an elementary school in town, close enough to come home for lunch. However, since last year, the school had mandated that students eat in the cafeteria, charging an additional 3,000 yuan per semester for meals. If the food were decent, it might be acceptable, but Mengmeng often came home complaining of hunger, saying the school meals were unpalatable.

Besides the meal fees, there were various other charges, extended hours fees, snack fees, experiment fees, activity fees, adding up to over 10,000 yuan a year.

Huo Yushuang was venting to their mother, frustrated that what was supposed to be compulsory education now cost almost as much as some private schools.

Blinking, Huo Yuqing chimed in, “You can report unauthorized fees to the local education bureau.”

Hearing her interjection, Huo Yushuang chuckled wryly, “They wouldn’t bother with issues from a small place like ours.”

Pausing her scrolling finger, Huo Yuqing fell into thought.

…

Dinner consisted of three dishes and a soup prepared by Mother Huo. Whether it was due to her awakened memories, Huo Yuqing found herself reminiscing about the past eighteen years of growing up in this house as she ate.

Her smile was evident, and she kept reaching for more food. At lunch, she had been too busy showing off in front of her parents to eat much meat, and after sleeping all afternoon, she was ravenous.

Seeing her younger daughter, who used to eat only a few bites before feeling full, suddenly eating so heartily, Mother Huo nearly thought the child had been starving outside. Heart aching, she served Huo Yuqing more dishes while asking her other daughter, “Didn’t you say the food at your school cafeteria was pretty good? Why does Yuqing look like she’s been reincarnated as a starving ghost?”

“Pfft! Cough, cough, cough! Huo Yuqing choked on her mother’s description while inwardly complaining about how her previous self, that wisp of a soul, had managed to survive until eighteen.

Eating so little, being lazy, disliking studies, and avoiding exercise, there wasn’t a trace of her current self in that past version.

Munching on a chicken wing, Huo Yuqing sighed in amazement at her own former self.

…

Meanwhile, far away in Kaicheng, the doorbell rang at Li Xuzhi’s apartment.

Setting the kitten on her lap aside, Li Xuzhi rose from the couch.

Upon opening the door and seeing the figure outside, her expression turned cold.

“Just because the family is no longer pushing us together, does that mean you’re too cold to even let me in for a sit-down?””

Qi Qiuyuan stood outside with a warm smile. “I hope you understand, Xuzhi, regardless of what the elders think, my feelings for you have always been genuine.”

She had long lost the initial spark she once felt for Huo Yuqing during their three-year relationship, so the breakup had no effect on her. In fact, she somewhat regretted not ending things sooner.

If only she had recognized Li Xuzhi’s worth earlier, perhaps they would already be together.

“Without the elders’ interference, I have nothing to say to you. I hope you understand that.” Blocking the doorway, Li Xuzhi responded politely, her gaze calmly lowered as if there was no need to even meet the other’s eyes.

She had always maintained this attitude towards Qi Qiuyuan, no matter how much the elders tried to pair them up, remaining consistently polite and distant. Yet, Qi Qiuyuan had begun to overstep his bounds.

“Sister Xuzhi, why must you be like this?”

With a seemingly helpless smile, Qi Qiuyuan took another step forward. “In what way am I inferior to Huo Yuwan?”

The corners of her lips curling slightly, Li Xuzhi finally looked up at him, her tone casual yet laced with unmistakable sarcasm.

“In what way are you comparable to her?”

Li Xuzhi only regretted having been too polite earlier, which had led Qi Qiuyuan to develop such a misconception.

Thinking that Li Xuzhi had easily believed the rumors circulating online or that Huo Yuwan had privately revealed the surveillance incident to her, Qi Qiuyuan felt a surge of anger but maintained a gentle smile on his face. “It seems Sister Xuzhi has some misunderstanding about me…”

Frowning impatiently, Li Xuzhi had no desire to prolong the conversation. “I have matters to attend to. Please leave.”

“Xuz…”

Before Qi Qiuyuan could finish speaking, the door slammed shut in his face.

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