She stares at herself in the yellow mirror with disbelief. Nothing in her life could have prepared her for this sort of situation she was currently in. Did she die or not?
No matter how much she looked, she had the same face as before and remained the same physically. Except now she has a whole new set of memories. They were not hers but it was as if she had lived through those memories herself.
Nothing scientific can explain what had happened to her. But if she thinks back on all the theories, maybe they traveled through a black hole. A black hole in the middle of the sky…
"How absurd."
There was only one thought that seemed to cheer her up. If she came here like this, her sister could also be in the same situation.
"Yahui."
Instinctively, her head turns to face the direction of the voice. She had reacted to the name so naturally that it scared her. Making her way towards the voice, she finds a middle aged woman. She was walking into the house with some bags of fish.
"Where did you suddenly disappear to? I thought you told me you were going to fetch extra money by helping the fishermen?"
Right. A new memory flashes through her mind as a group of four men appears. In their hands, they held the guts that had been taken from the dead fishes. In the memory, she was held down forcefully by two of the men.
They tried to pry her mouth open, but she managed to keep it shut. So they resorted to punching and kicking her until she spat out blood. Before all the blood could even be spit out, they shoved the guts into her mouth.
She winced in pain as the memories continued to flow. She was struggling in the water trying to grab a hold of the boat. Those men were keeping her head underwater as she tried to get back. The memories switch to her trying to swim upward but unable to. Then everything fades into darkness as she slowly sank to the bottom.
"Yahui!"
She flinched from the yell, finally coming back into reality from the memories.
"Are you not going to answer me? How did you get those bruises?"
"Huh?"
Her hands reached up to the bruises on her face as she thought back on the memories. This lady who was approaching her at a fast pace seemed to be her mother. Her body was hesitating to talk. Her mouth was shut tight, not being able to move to say anything. The lady finally touches her mouth and she realizes that it was bleeding once more.
"I..uh. Oh, that's right, I accidentally fell while trying to grab this big fish. The rock wasn't too big though, don't worry. Where's father?"
Her mother furrowed her brows while observing her. Yeline's eyes widened at the blatant lie that came out of her mouth. Even if she was in control of the body, she seemed to have a habit of spitting out lies. It seems that Yahui's mother didn't believe what was said, especially because Yeline had quickly changed the topic.
"He's coming back soon."
Her mother hands her an ointment that seemed to almost have nothing but a sliver of paste in it to her. Then she leaves the house and begins to prepare the fish in the bag.
She applies the ointment onto her bruises while rubbing her head to alleviate the remaining pain. There was something wrong with this whole situation. From the memories, she can infer that this body's family was in a dire situation. They were living wonderfully and enjoying riches before that event.
Her father fought against the barbarians trying to invade the capital. After losing the battle, he came home with legs that wouldn't ever work again. As for her mother, she lost her arm from cutting wood. This family seemed to be filled with misfortune as the owner of this body also seemed to be bullied.
They moved to the seaside to specialize in the exports and imports of goods. This was to create a steady income to pay for her education. This body was disguised as a boy for her to be able to get an education.
"What did the doctor say this time?"
Her mother finishes cutting up the fish into pieces and begins working on the herbs. Going over to help her mother, she quickly starts a little fire for her. Then a pot of water was placed over the fire, as her mother finished cutting up all the necessary ingredients.
"He said that we can save your father's legs. But, it is far too expensive."
That was right, there was another member of this family. Not only were they working for her education, they had sent over her younger sister to the capital. Even though she was barely 14, she insisted on working as a palace maid to earn income. Her mother silently continues preparing the meal while she goes back inside.
She remembered that she had been assigned some schoolwork from the teacher. Taking down some of the books on the shelves, she skimmed through it. It seems to contain only stuff about dignity and etiquette. Is this really what they teach to people?
As she flipped through a book, something slipped from it, falling onto the ground. She quickly picks it up to observe, realizing it was a letter. In its content, she read.
'Come to the ports at sunfall, don't be late or you'll know the consequences.'
This handwriting, she seemed to somewhat recognize who wrote it but she can't remember who. It was kind of ugly. She can only assume it was from those fishermen who had tried to kill her.
"Yahui."
Another voice called out her name. Her body jumps as a response to it, dropping the letter to the ground. She hurriedly tries to grab it but a man enters the house. Luckily she managed to hide it with her foot. He was sitting on a wheelchair, coming towards her as his eyes seemed to send chills down her spine.
"What have you been doing this whole time while you should be learning?"
She flinched from the man's scary eyes. This man seemed to be super angry, veins popping from the temples of his head. Yeline gathered herself as she usually did. Even if the man didn't scream, this body seemed to be afraid of him.
"W-what do you mean, Father?"
Even the voice coming out stuttered despite Yeline not being scared. The man sighs and closes the gap between them, raising his voice.
"Instead of using the money from your poor sister to study, you used it to mess with others and gamble?"
The sudden escalation seemed to attract her mother's attention as she came running into the house.
"W-."
SLAP!
The man had gone insane. Yeline held onto her cheek as her eyes widened. Despite Yahui's mother's attempt to stop her father, he still hit her.
"Do you not know how hard it is for Fu He? You're older than her by years yet she is here working to help you. And you turn around to use her money for such useless stuff! Do you know how much of a disappointment you are?!"
"Honey, stop it."
Yeline was still grasping everything that had just occurred. The slap hurts so much she felt aching from inside of her cheek. Maybe it was the pain from the fishermen's attack but it still hurt regardless.
"Can't you see, she's hurt."
Yahui's father glanced at her, huffing and puffing. It seemed he realized that she was all bruised over. His eyes scanned the bump on her head, somewhat still holding anger.
"Are you okay, Yahui?"
This felt like she was in some sort of telenova. A telenova that she enjoys watching, not experiencing. She closes her eyes shut as pain begins to sweep through her. Her body was sweating even though she felt cold.
Was a slap enough to make her this way? Was this body so weak?
As she glanced down, she realized that her hands were trembling nonstop. But this body seemed to be more concerned about something else. Her foot slowly slides the letter under a gap, hiding it from plain sight. Then she felt the faint darkness as her body collapsed.