Xiaoyao Lingzhifu

A mud-brick house.

A pomegranate tree.

A small fenced courtyard.

Lin Mu stared at the simple house before him, his memories tangled.

Wasn't he undergoing tribulation in the Nine Heavens?

How could he be in such a shabby place?

Before he could comprehend his thoughts, a basin of cold water mixed with vegetable leaves fell from the sky, splashing all over him.

"Why are you lying on the ground pretending to be dead? Get up and get to work!"

Lin Mu looked up.

A middle-aged village woman, wearing a straw hat and a coarse linen shirt, and with a dark complexion, was roaring at him.

Who was this person?

Why was she so aggressive?

"You lazy glutton! I asked you to chop some wood, but you're sleeping here like a fool. If I don't give you a beating today, you won't even know why the flowers are so red!"

The middle-aged village woman, noticing Lin Mu's stunned state, immediately picked up a nearby bamboo broom and hit him.

Lin Mu quickly got up from the ground, frantically blocking the woman's attacks with his hands. But no matter how he dodged, he was still struck.

Lin Mu was shocked and furious.

What was the origin of this woman? What kind of peerless divine weapon was she wielding? How could she possibly damage his supreme and invincible body?

At this moment, Lin Mu felt a pain in his head.

A wave of unfamiliar memories flooded back like a tide.

He had failed in his tribulation.

His body, unable to withstand the myriad thunder tribulations, was reduced to ash.

But his spirit remained, wandering the universe, eventually landing on Earth and possessing a young man from a mountain village who had died suddenly.

This young man, also named Lin Mu, was a live-in son-in-law.

Because of his undisciplined personality, his gluttony, and his idleness, his wife and mother-in-law deeply disliked him.

The vicious woman before him was none other than the original owner's mother-in-law—Wang Dongyan.

After sorting out the mystery, Lin Mu smiled bitterly.

How could he have possessed such a useless person? Not only was his character shabby, but his body was also shabby. He was beaten so badly by a middle-aged village woman that he couldn't even fight back.

"Stop it! I'll go chop some wood."

Lin Mu waved his hands quickly.

He didn't want to make his frail body even worse.

"Then be quick! Get moving!"

Wang Dongyan glared at Lin Mu with a fierce look, ready to attack again if the disagreement persisted.

Lin Mu didn't give Wang Dongyan a chance.

He hurried to a corner where miscellaneous items were stored, grabbed an axe and some hemp rope, and fled the fenced courtyard, heading up the mountain.

With the memories of the original owner, Lin Mu had a basic understanding of this world.

This wasn't the world of cultivation, but Earth.

He was currently in a small village at the foot of Qingxia Mountain—"Qingxia Village."

Most villagers made a living by growing rice, wheat, fruits, vegetables, and raising fish, shrimp, crabs, chickens, ducks, and geese.

Wang Dongyan lost her husband early in life and lived with her daughter, Chen Wenxin. The mother and daughter contracted a fish pond and four mu of farmland. They also raised over twenty chickens in the yard, working tirelessly from dawn to dusk every day.

The original owner, though young and capable, was lazy and gluttonous.

How could Wang Dongyan and Chen Wenxin treat him with such a positive attitude?

Realizing this, Lin Mu felt no resentment.

He deserved a beating for all his time.

But this body was his now, and Lin Mu didn't want to be beaten.

The mountain path was difficult to navigate.

It took Lin Mu half an hour to reach the halfway point, leaving him breathless with exhaustion.

This body was too weak.

Thankfully, there was a forest nearby.

After a short rest, Lin Mu grabbed his axe and began to work.

He didn't chop down the entire tree, only the branches.

This saved him a lot of energy.

Even so, it took Lin Mu a full hour to complete the task. Four bundles of firewood weighed over a hundred pounds.

Lin Mu couldn't carry them back with his physique, so he had to drag them along.

Just as he was about to descend the mountain, a cry for help suddenly rang out from the front.

"Help, help..."

The voice sounded like a woman.

In this desolate place, could he have encountered bandits?

If they were mountain bandits, wouldn't he be in danger?

Lin Mu's thoughts raced, but he still took a step and ran towards the sound of the call for help.

He deliberately kept his pace low.

If it was as he suspected, there would be an opportunity for a surprise attack.

Only when he got closer did Lin Mu realize he had overestimated his suspicions.

There were no bandits at all, but a woman who had fallen into the river and drowned.

And he knew this woman; it was the original owner's wife, Chen Wenxin. Seeing Lin Mu, Chen Wenxin, thrashing in the water, tried to scream for help, but before she could utter a word, the river water rushed into her mouth, choking her so hard she couldn't utter a word. She could only wave her hands frantically.

"Don't worry, calm down."

Lin Mu didn't rush into the water to save her.

His energy had already been depleted from climbing the mountain and chopping wood.

Water in this situation was too dangerous.

He might not be able to save her, and he might even get himself in the water.

Lin Mu looked around and saw trees nearby. He quickly untied the hemp rope from his waist, tied one end to a tree trunk, and threw the other end into the water.

"Hold on to the rope, I'll pull you out!" Lin Mu shouted.

Chen Wenxin panicked in the water, grabbing the rope with both hands several times but failing.

Lin Mu immediately pulled the rope back.

Chen Wenxin: "..."

Lin Mu quickly stripped off his clothes, tied them to the rope, and threw them back into the river. The hemp rope fell into the water, and the clothes tied to it were blown away by the current.

Chen Wenxin quickly reached out to grab it.

This time, she managed to grab it.

She first grabbed Lin Mu's clothes, then traced the rope along his clothes and wrapped it around his wrist, refusing to let go, her will to survive strong.

Lin Mu confirmed Chen Wenxin's grip and then pulled hard on the rope.

As he pulled, he backed away, using his own weight to pull Chen Wenxin out of the water bit by bit.

After a tremendous effort, nearly collapsing from exhaustion, Lin Mu finally succeeded in pulling Chen Wenxin ashore.

He was also grateful.

Fortunately, he had the good sense to not jump in to save her.

Otherwise, he would have been buried with Chen Wenxin.

"Are you okay?"

Although Lin Mu knew from the original owner's memories that his mother-in-law and wife disliked him, he still offered a casual question of concern. "It's okay..."

Chen Wenxin slumped to the ground, gasping for air and occasionally coughing to release the water stuck in her throat.

It took a while for Chen Wenxin to recover.

She slowly stood up, her wet hair draped over her shoulders. Her thin clothes, soaked by the river water, revealed her youthful figure. But even her disheveled appearance couldn't conceal her delicate beauty.

She's a beauty.

Lin Mu commented in his mind, but didn't dwell on her. Instead, he untied the clothes from the hemp rope, pulled them on, and said, "I'm going back now. Let's go down the mountain together."

Chen Wenxin took two steps back, wary of what he said.

Lin Mu smiled.

He had forgotten that Chen Wenxin hadn't had a favorable impression of the original owner.

Furthermore, the original owner had expressed inappropriate feelings towards Chen Wenxin more than once.

It was natural for Chen Wenxin to be wary. "Then I'll be leaving first."

Lin Mu put away the hemp rope, brushed off his damp clothes, and turned to leave.

Chen Wenxin picked up the sickle from the ground and followed Lin Mu from a distance.

Her clothes were soaked; she couldn't just stay in the mountains like this.

However, watching Lin Mu dragging firewood ahead, Chen Wenxin couldn't help but feel a little puzzled.

Lin Mu was usually either idle or thieving. Even when forced to work, he was lazy and passive.

The sun had risen from the west today, and this guy had come out to the mountains to chop firewood?