Turns Out I’m the Villain They’re Supposed to Redeem? [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 35

With a light blink of her long lashes, darkness filled her vision. The scent of rain mixed with soil assaulted her nostrils, and her clothes felt damp and heavy with moisture.

Realizing she was lying face down in the dirt, Huo Yuwan paused for a moment. Before she could even attempt to roll over and stand up, she became aware of the pain radiating from her limbs and the back of her head.

Ouch.

Frowning and pressing her lips together, she tentatively moved her head first.

Half of her pale cheek was smeared with mud, but Huo Yuwan breathed a sigh of relief, at least her neck could still move.

It seemed, however, that even this small movement was too much for her current physical state. Just turning her head had already sent waves of dizziness crashing over her.

She closed her eyes to rest, then her ears twitched slightly as she heard footsteps drawing nearer.

A man and a woman approached, carrying a hoe and a wooden bucket.

“Mom, blood… blood…”

The man’s voice sounded mature, but his tone carried a hint of confusion. He crouched down in front of Huo Yuwan, holding a bucket filled with clothes.

Her head was still spinning, and her body ached intensely. Huo Yuwan could barely manage to open her eyes, so she lay still, pretending to be a corpse.

“Oh my! Isn’t this the Huo family’s girl? Why is she covered in blood?”

The woman’s voice sounded older, probably in her forties. She frantically pulled her son to his feet, afraid he might touch the blood on the ground.

It had rained the night before, washing away most traces on the hillside. Still, Widow Sun could roughly piece together what had happened from the disturbed mud nearby and Huo Yuwan’s soaked, dirt-stained clothes.

Most likely, the Huo girl had slipped and tumbled down the mountain last night. With so much blood lost and lying here all night, her chances of survival seemed slim.

Widow Sun stared at the bloody wound on the back of Huo Yuwan’s head, swallowing nervously.

The thought that instinctively surfaced in her mind wasn’t about saving a life, it was another idea entirely.

If the Huo girl died, the house left by her long-deceased parents in the village would be vacant…

Last night’s heavy rain had caused another part of her own roof to collapse. With no reliable man at home, she couldn’t keep living with her son in that patched-up, dilapidated house. Besides, her son was grown now, at the age to marry. A decent house would give them a clear advantage in matchmaking…

If she brought Huo Yuwan’s body back, even if there was no credit to claim, at least she’d have put in the effort. Surely the village chief would prioritize her and her son when allocating the house.

The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Widow Sun’s gaze grew resolute, and she mustered the courage to nudge Huo Yuwan’s head with her foot.

“Is… is she dead for sure?”

“Girl, don’t blame your auntie. If a person dies, leaving something useful behind to do good is a way to accumulate merit, right…”

“You’re all alone, with no parents. Auntie will make sure you get a proper burial. The house can be left for your brother Xuedong to marry into…”

Perhaps out of guilt, Widow Sun’s lips trembled as she rambled on. Though it seemed like she was speaking to Huo Yuwan, she was really just trying to reassure herself.

Huo Yuwan, who had been inexplicably kicked, was inwardly exasperated. What nonsense was this?

She wasn’t even dead yet, and someone was already eyeing her property?

“Mom, her hand… her hand moved!”

Sun Xuedong, who had been crouching nearby, suddenly cried out in terror. He covered his head with his hands and hid behind a tree.

Startled by her son, Widow Sun also jumped in fright, only to notice that Huo Yuwan’s mud-covered right fingertips were twitching.

This meant the person wasn’t dead yet.

Widow Sun’s heart instantly sank halfway.

But her determination to claim the house had already solidified. She stared intently at Huo Yuwan’s face and, seeing that her eyes remained shut, mustered up courage again.

After all, no one was around, why not go all the way?

She glanced around, then tremblingly reached out to cover Huo Yuwan’s nose and mouth.

Her rough, calloused palm pressed against Huo Yuwan’s face. At first, Widow Sun couldn’t bear to look, but when she saw her son cowering by the tree, trembling all over, she gritted her teeth and increased the pressure.

Huo Yuwan was already struggling to breathe, and now, with her airways blocked, she began to see stars.

Help! Is there no justice left?

Calling out to the fox spirit in her mind, Huo Yuwan could only manage shallow gasps.

“If you don’t help now, I’m really going to die.”

The fox spirit in her mind remained silent, and a wave of despair washed over Huo Yuwan.

What kind of partner is this? Going offline right at the start of the mission?

Just as she was about to muster every last ounce of strength to cry out in resistance, a low animal growl echoed from the forest.

It was the howl of a wolf.

Widow Sun’s face turned pale, and her hands jerked back in fright.

Without stopping to wonder why a wolf would appear in these woods, she hastily grabbed her hoe, pulled her son along, and fled down the mountain.

Compared to a house, her life was more important.

As for Huo Yuwan, if the wolf ate her, so be it. She was supposed to die anyway.

Their home was the shabbiest in the village. If needed, she could always go cry at the village chief’s doorstep and insist on getting the house, no matter what.

As the two figures disappeared into the distance, the “wolf” whose howl had been heard but not seen finally revealed itself.

It was a small, snow-white puppy.

“My lady, I’ve come to save you!”

The fox spirit stuck out its tongue and circled around Huo Yuwan.

The wolf howl earlier had been its doing, after all, a fox’s cry wouldn’t have been intimidating enough.

But Huo Yuwan had no strength left to respond. Nearly suffocated by the hand over her face, she now felt her head spinning and the pain in her limbs intensifying. The smell of blood mixed with earth clung to her, leaving her ghastly pale.

The fox spirit could see she was in bad shape and quickly nudged her with its head, helping her turn over with great effort.

A wisp of white light emanated from its body and slowly merged into Huo Yuwan’s.

In this world, the high priest had granted it a bit more authority, not only did it have a physical form now, but its magic had become more tangible, allowing it to assist the Young Fate Master even more. The fox spirit felt rather pleased.

As the pain in her body eased, Huo Yuwan finally regained some strength.

Her bones were still slowly healing, so she avoided any sudden movements, quietly steadying her breathing as she asked the fox spirit about her identity in this world.

“My lady, your current identity is that of an orphan girl in Stone River Village. Your parents passed away early, but you have a house, land, and savings. Life in the village has been quite comfortable for you.”

The fox spirit chirped cheerfully.

Huo Yuwan couldn’t understand what it was so happy about.

Slowly raising a hand to rub her still-dizzy temples, she asked, “Then what happened just now? Did I fall down the mountain?”

“Last night, you went up the mountain searching for Lingling, the little white dog you’ve been relying on. But you didn’t find the dog, got caught in heavy rain, slipped, and fell down the mountain… and died from the fall.”

“……”

So, her awakening had directly altered the plot? Huo Yuwan thought of the mother and son from earlier and twitched her lips.

If she had died from the fall, it would be understandable for others to covet her house. But she clearly wasn’t dead yet, and they were already driven by greed to try and finish her off…

That was just too much.

Her strength gradually returned, and her broken limbs slowly healed, leaving only a shallow wound on the back of her head and a dull ache in her chest. Huo Yuwan broke off a tree branch to support herself and struggled to her feet, preparing to descend the mountain.

Meanwhile, at the foot of the mountain, the village party secretary, having discovered that Huo Yuwan had not returned all night, was leading a group of villagers up the mountain.

Huo Yuwan’s parents had passed away early. Her father had been the previous village chief of Shihe Village, a kind, generous man whom almost everyone had received help from at some point.

The girl had grown up under the villagers’ watchful eyes. Though she lived alone, she managed her life well, leaving the house on time every day to wash clothes by the river and tend to the crops in the fields.

So when Huo Yuwan was nowhere to be seen in the fields that day, Wu Xiao, the village party secretary’s wife, sensed something was wrong. She first went to Huo Yuwan’s house and knocked, but there was no response, not even the sound of a dog barking. Recalling how she had seen Huo Yuwan the night before, carrying a lantern and searching the village for her dog, Wu Xiao wondered if she had spent the whole night looking and never returned home.

Worried that something had happened, Wu Xiao hurried home to ask her husband to help search for Huo Yuwan.

Losing a dog wasn’t a big deal, but losing a person was serious trouble. Wang Yushu, the village party secretary, immediately gathered a few people to search the village for any sign of Huo Yuwan.

As they asked around, someone mentioned seeing Huo Yuwan heading into the mountains with a lantern the previous night.

The group was stunned. It had rained heavily last night, and the mountain paths were steep and slippery. If she hadn’t returned all night, it was almost certain something had happened.

Bracing themselves to retrieve a body, they made their way up the mountain with heavy hearts.

Among the crowd, Widow Sun trembled with excitement. She wondered how badly the wolves had mauled Huo Yuwan—would there even be any bones left?

But before they had gone far, they saw Huo Yuwan hobbling toward them, leaning on a tree branch and looking disheveled. Ahead of her, a little white dog dashed joyfully.

“Yuwan, are you alright?” Wu Xiao asked with a mix of shock and relief as she hurried forward to check on her.

The others also breathed a sigh of relief. As fellow villagers, no one truly wished harm upon anyone.

Only Widow Sun, hidden within the crowd, looked even worse than the injured Huo Yuwan. She had clearly heard the wolves howling, and… and hadn’t Huo Yuwan been lying on the ground, unable to move, just moments ago? How was she able to walk now?

Guilty and terrified, Widow Sun’s expression shifted repeatedly. She even began to regret not strangling Huo Yuwan to death before coming down the mountain.

Now, her hopes for the house were completely dashed.

As the villagers fussed over her, Huo Yuwan locked eyes with Widow Sun from a distance. Her gaze was calm, as if it were just a casual glance.

But Widow Sun felt a chill run through her entire body. It was over, Huo Yuwan must have been conscious back then.

She knew about the attempt to smother her.

The wound on the back of her head still fresh, Huo Yuwan truthfully recounted to Wu Xiao and the others how she had gone up the mountain the previous night, fallen, and lost consciousness.

Upon hearing this, Wu Xiao marveled at her incredible luck and urged her to be more careful in the future, advising her not to go up the mountain alone again. Huo Yuwan nodded in agreement to each of his reminders.

Listening to their conversation, Widow Sun managed to keep her composure.

After all, there had been no one else present at the time, and Huo Yuwan was alive and well. Let her say whatever she wanted, who would believe it?

Though she thought this way, a sense of guilt was unavoidable deep down.

“Auntie, why do you keep staring at me?”

Lost in her thoughts, Widow Sun snapped back to reality and realized Huo Yuwan had approached her without her noticing.

“N-No reason, I was just concerned about you. You must be feeling awful after lying on the mountain all night. Hurry home, change your clothes, and make some ginger soup to ward off the cold and prevent a cold.”

She forced herself to respond calmly, though her eyes involuntarily darted away.

“Speaking of which, my head does hurt a bit. I wonder if I hit it too hard. I vaguely remember hearing someone talking beside me while I was unconscious…”

Huo Yuwan rubbed the back of her head as she spoke.

Widow Sun swallowed nervously upon hearing this. “It seems your mind really was affected. How could you hear anything while unconscious…?”

But Wu Xiao sensed something amiss and looked at Huo Yuwan. “Are you saying someone actually found you while you were unconscious? Then why didn’t they help you?!”

Shrugging, Huo Yuwan smiled. “Maybe I misheard, or perhaps that person just happens to dislike me.”

Cold sweat was nearly dripping from Widow Sun’s forehead.

“We’re all from the same village. How could someone be so heartless?” Wu Xiao muttered indignantly. “Try to remember, what exactly did that person say?”

The village head, standing nearby, nodded in agreement. Someone who would undermine the unity of the villagers must be exposed. Turning a blind eye to other matters was one thing, but this involved a matter of life and death.

Huo Yuwan lowered her gaze as if deep in thought. “Hmm… It was something about death… marriage… a house… I can’t remember the specifics.”

Though the words she mentioned seemed unrelated, everyone in the village knew each other’s family situations well. To be honest, Huo Yuwan’s house was coveted by more than just one or two families.

Even Huo Yuwan herself was secretly admired by several young men in the village.

The villagers exchanged glances. It was clear that the reason someone had left her to die was to seize her family’s house after her death.

Everyone understood, but they could only sigh inwardly. A teenage girl, all alone with no one to rely on—if not for her incredible luck, that person’s scheme might have succeeded.

Wu Xiao looked at Huo Yuwan with concern, wanting to comfort her but unsure what to say. Should she advise her to marry early?

As close friends, she knew Huo Yuwan had high aspirations and looked down on the young men in the village.

Ah, that’s right, in a few days, a group of educated youths would arrive in the village for the rural assignment. Why not help Huo Yuwan pick one from among them? Wu Xiao made up her mind.

As everyone fell silent, Widow Sun breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed Huo Yuwan only had vague memories and no concrete evidence, so there was no need to worry.

But just as everyone was about to head home at the village entrance, Widow Sun realized she had let her guard down too soon.

The little white dog, which had been frolicking and running around, suddenly spat out a jade pendant in front of everyone. Mixed with the dog’s glistening drool, it landed on the rain-dampened soil. The emerald-green pendant stood out strikingly under the sunlight.

“Oh my, why are you eating random things?”

Huo Yuwan picked up the dog and pretended to scold it, completely missing the point.

The others, however, focused their attention on the jade pendant.

Village Secretary Wang Yushu was the first to pick it up. After examining it carefully, he cast a suspicious glance at Widow Sun.

“If I’m not mistaken, this is the jade pendant that Sun Xuedong always wore around his neck, isn’t it?”

The others chimed in, gossiping like spectators.

“That’s definitely Xuedong’s, he never took it off.”

“They say it’s a family heirloom left to him by his grandfather.”

“I saw him wearing it just yesterday.”

“How did the puppy end up eating it?”

“Could it be that…”

Everyone simultaneously recalled what Huo Yuwan had mentioned earlier.

Could it be that Sun Xuedong had refused to help someone in danger?

But if it really was him, it was somewhat understandable.

After all, everyone in Shihe Village knew that Sun Xuedong had been intellectually disabled since birth—to put it bluntly, he was a natural-born fool.

Widow Sun found herself in a dilemma. If she admitted the pendant belonged to her son, it would imply he had refused to help someone in distress. If she denied it, the pendant was valuable and a family heirloom.

Gritting her teeth, she snatched the pendant back. “It is Xuedong’s, but refusing to help can’t be his fault. Yuwan, you know your brother Xuedong, his mind doesn’t work like others’. Please don’t be angry…”

Huo Yuwan nodded and smiled. “Auntie, what are you talking about? How could I possibly be angry over something like that? Besides, I don’t think it was him. Didn’t I just say that the person spoke while I was unconscious? How could Brother Xuedong possibly be scheming about my family’s house?”

“Right, Auntie?”

She turned away with a smile, leaving the other villagers, who had caught on, staring at Widow Sun.

Of course, Sun Xuedong, being a fool, wouldn’t know anything about houses or marriage. The one fixated on such matters could only be his mother, who was solely concerned with her son’s interests.

…

The story of Widow Sun refusing to help Huo Yuwan in order to secure the house gradually spread throughout the village. Though she stubbornly denied it, she couldn’t stop the villagers from enjoying the drama. In less than a morning, the reputation of the mother and son in Shihe Village was thoroughly tarnished.

Huo Yuwan returned to her home. The house was indeed quite nice, with a main hall, bedroom, and kitchen, all fully equipped. But she didn’t inspect it too carefully. After changing into fresh clothes with some effort, she collapsed onto the bed.

“So tired.”

She gazed wearily at the ceiling.

Just lying there, she could already envision her future life of labor, rising with the sun and resting at sunset.

The fox spirit, however, remained as enthusiastic as ever. “This world is so pure! People rely on their own hands to make a living. Labor is the most glorious thing. Your Excellency, you can go out and farm with peace of mind. I’ll stay here and guard the house for you!”

Huo Yuwan found it difficult to communicate with this overly excited little white dog.

During this time, Wu Xiao specially brought her some homemade sweet potato porridge, urging Huo Yuwan to take good care of herself. She also comforted her, telling her not to be afraid. Once the educated youth arrived in the village in a few days, she would help Huo Yuwan screen them and pick a good-looking, morally upright match.

Huo Yuwan listened in silence, responding only with a polite smile.

She was quite grateful for Wu Xiao’s concern, but the kind of partner Huo Yuwan wanted definitely differed from what Wu Xiao had in mind.

After noisily finishing the sweet potato porridge and having the wound on the back of her head bandaged, Wu Xiao urged Huo Yuwan to take off her clothes. She wasn’t at ease and wanted to check if Huo Yuwan had any other injuries.

Huo Yuwan, however, repeatedly shook her head in refusal. “No, there’s only this one wound on my head. I already checked while changing clothes earlier.”

Wu Xiao shot her a glance and said impatiently, “Alright, alright, I know you, you’re just shy again, just like when you were little. We’re all women, what’s there to be embarrassed about?”

Not pressing further, Wu Xiao left the ointment for her. There was still work waiting in the fields, so after giving Huo Yuwan a few more reminders, she turned and left.

Hearing the front door closing outside, Huo Yuwan breathed a sigh of relief.

“Stop bouncing around and tell me the plot already,” she said helplessly, looking at the fox spirit hopping about the room.

“Of course, my lady. This world’s storyline is defined as a redemption tale set in a bygone era. It mainly revolves around the love story between the male lead, Sun Xuedong, a rural youth, and Li Xuzhi, an educated youth sent to the countryside. Due to the village’s accommodation being fully occupied, three female educated youths, including Li Xuzhi, temporarily stayed at the male lead Sun Xuedong’s home.”

“Wait, does Sun Xuedong’s home refer to where he currently lives, or…” Huo Yuwan interrupted thoughtfully.

“You guessed correctly, it’s the very house you’re in now. In the original plot, after Huo Yuwan’s death, this house was allocated to Widow Sun and her son, Sun Xuedong.”

Just as expected, Huo Yuwan snorted.

The fox spirit continued recounting the plot.

“Sun Xuedong was intellectually disabled since childhood, but through his daily interactions with the female lead, he gradually regained his senses. Not only that, after the female lead’s rural assignment ended, she didn’t return to the city. Instead, she stayed behind, married the male lead, and had children. Later, with his wife’s guidance, Sun Xuedong successfully passed the college entrance exam, turning his life around. He then moved to the city with his mother, wife, and children to live happily ever after.”

After hearing the plot, Huo Yuwan blinked. At first glance, it didn’t seem problematic, but there was one point she couldn’t figure out.

If the female lead was capable of tutoring the male lead to pass the college entrance exam, why didn’t she take the exam herself?

“Perhaps… the female lead simply preferred a life centered around her husband and children,” the fox spirit speculated.

“Bullshit,” Huo Yuwan retorted, her eyes nearly rolling to the back of her head.

“My lady, you mustn’t use such vulgar language,” the fox spirit chided with a frown.

Huo Yuwan snorted coldly, unmoved.