The whole family is insanely eavesdropping on my thoughts Chapter 579
Chapter 579: Blessing in Disguise
The young woman was carefully lifted by the crowd and placed in a corner.
Her son, his face pale with fear, clung to her side, sobbing softly. “Mother, please don’t leave me… Yu Yu doesn’t want to be a child without parents.” He didn’t fully understand life and death, but after seeing his father never wake up, he was beginning to grasp its meaning.
A physician hurried in with his medicine chest and carefully tended to her wounds.
“Has she not had a single drop of water today?” the physician asked.
“None,” the old madam replied between sobs, her voice nearly breaking. Her eyes had long lost their sight, and she could only clutch her daughter-in-law’s hand tightly, unwilling to let go.
“She has neither eaten nor drunk anything today, and she has cried herself to exhaustion. Her body is weak, but she is not in any mortal danger. Fortunately, her life was saved.” The physician prescribed some medicine, and before long, the woman slowly opened her eyes.
Seeing her mother-in-law and son by her side, she burst into tears.
The widow and orphan wept bitterly, their sorrow cutting into the hearts of those who listened.
Shan Shan lowered his head, silent. Lu Chao Chao walked over and murmured, “Do you still think a life is something that can be taken at will? That it can be stolen without consequence?”
Shan Shan kept his head lowered and said nothing.
Lu Chao Chao opened her small hand, a faint glow appearing in her palm—though no one else could see it.
She knew that Shan Shan had mistakenly recorded the wrong name, so she had sought out the Great Emperor of Fengdu to intercept the wandering soul.
Now, she turned toward the coffin and lightly waved her hand.
“Cough, cough…”
A sudden coughing sound emerged from within the coffin, but everyone was too busy comforting the grieving family to notice.
The little boy tilted his head. “I hear my father’s voice.”
The crowd assumed he was simply overwhelmed with grief and dismissed it.
A moment later, he spoke again, more insistent this time. “My father is coughing—it’s his voice!” Suddenly, he leaped up, exclaiming in shock.
Silence fell upon the mourning hall.
In that eerie stillness, the coughing became even clearer.
The color drained from everyone’s faces as their gazes slowly turned toward the coffin. Inside, a figure dressed in burial robes pushed against the wooden lid and sat up.
With another cough, he spat out a date pit.
“That almost killed me…” His voice was hoarse as he slumped over the edge of the coffin.
“A ghost! A ghost has risen!” The villagers, witnessing the shocking scene, screamed and fled, rushing toward the courtyard gate in terror.
In the blink of an eye, only the Li family and Lu Chao Chao’s group remained in the hall.
“Is it my son? My son?” The old madam, blind and unable to see what was happening, groped around desperately.
Her daughter-in-law, tears streaming down her face, stood shakily to her feet. “Husband… Are you here to take me with you? If so, I will follow you—even to the Yellow Springs.”
She reached out and grasped his hand, her voice choking with emotion.
Then, she froze.
She clutched his hand against her cheek.
“Warm? How can you be warm?” She reached out to feel his breath.
“Ah! Ah! Mother! He’s alive! My husband is alive!”
“He’s breathing—he’s breathing!” she cried in joy, laughing and weeping at once.
The physician was hurriedly pushed forward by the astonished crowd. Trembling, he took the man’s pulse.
Outside, the villagers peeked cautiously into the mourning hall.
After a moment, the physician examined the man’s eyes and breath before exclaiming, “I once read in an ancient medical text that in extreme cases, a person might enter a state of suspended animation.”
“Scholar Li must have choked on the date pit and lost consciousness—this must be what happened.”
“Just now, his wife knocked against the coffin, dislodging the pit!”
He turned and shouted, “He’s alive! He’s not dead!”
The Li family burst into fresh tears, this time of overwhelming joy. Li Zhao stood, expressing gratitude to his kind neighbors, promising to personally visit them the next day to thank them.
A funeral had concluded with the dead crawling out of the coffin.
After ensuring his mother, wife, and child were settled, Li Zhao turned toward Zhu Mo and his companions, puzzled. “Honorable guests, I do not believe we have met before?”
Zhu Mo had already prepared an explanation. “I heard that you once traveled to the capital, seeking to apprentice under a master.”
Li Zhao nodded. “Yes, but I have no exceptional talent, and my humble origins…”
Naturally, he had failed in his attempt.
“Our young master once caught sight of you and was impressed by your character. If you do not mind, he would be willing to take you as a disciple.” Zhu Mo smiled warmly.
Li Zhao was stunned. “May I ask—who is this esteemed teacher?”
He had expected the name of some renowned scholar. If his master were even a juren, it would be enough to give him a place in the literary world.
But Zhu Mo grinned. “Lu Yuan Xiao, this year’s top scholar.”
“If you do not object, in a few days, you may formally become his student. Just know—he is rather young.”
Li Zhao was struck dumb, his hands shaking. “R-really? The fourteen-year-old, the one who placed first in all three imperial examinations?”
“What fortune! What great fortune!” Li Zhao was moved to tears, and his entire family rejoiced.
“They say those who survive disaster are blessed thereafter,” the old madam murmured with a smile.
“This is my wife, Lin Shi, and my son, Ah Yu.” Seeing that the mourning hall was still set for a funeral, Li Zhao invited his guests outside to sit.
Ah Yu, overjoyed that his father had awakened, rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a small snack he had been saving.
“Here, little brother, have this,” he offered to Shan Shan.
His red, swollen eyes still glistened with tears, and he licked his lips as he handed the treat over, clearly reluctant but determined to share.
Shan Shan took a bite. It was sweet.
But there was also a trace of bitterness.
Perhaps it was the change in his heart.
Li Zhao, studying Lu Chao Chao closely, suddenly patted his forehead. “This young lady… You look familiar.”
“As if we’ve met somewhere before…”
Lu Chao Chao merely smiled.
[This morning, when your soul was seized, it was I who stopped it.]
“Perhaps it is fate…” she said, grinning.
“Honorable guests, please stay for lunch. We don’t have much, just simple farmer’s fare,” the old madam said, wringing her hands.
Their family lived in poverty, like many scholars’ households.
“Too bad the chickens are all out, or we could have caught one for the little brother to try,” Ah Yu sighed regretfully.
The words had barely left his mouth before Shan Shan suddenly jumped up and sprinted outside.
They had never seen him move so swiftly.
He dove straight at a chicken, tackling it to the ground.
Then, grinning ingratiatingly, he held up the struggling bird to his sister.
Ah Yu: …
Li Zhao, embarrassed, lowered his head. “Forgive us, esteemed guests. Our Ah Yu has a rather… straightforward nature.”
“Catch two more and cook them for our honored guests!” he called.
At lunch, Lu Chao Chao ate heartily, oil dripping from her lips.
Before she left, she secretly left a large red pouch on the table.
Then, as an extra safeguard, she marked the Li household with a talisman, ensuring they would be protected from one life-threatening disaster.
After they departed, Li Zhao noticed the heavy pouch and gasped. “This… this is enough to buy a small house in the capital!”
Lin Shi’s hands trembled. “Enough to start a small business, even! It’s a fortune from the heavens!”
“When I reach the capital, I will find a way to repay their kindness,” Li Zhao vowed, overwhelmed with gratitude.
That night…
Just as he was about to drift off, a memory struck him like lightning.
He bolted upright.
“I remember now! I remember where I saw Chao Chao!”
“When I crossed into the underworld, she stopped me and said my little brother had mistakenly written my name! That, by pure accident, my soul had been taken!”
“To make amends, she sent me back—and even gifted me ten extra years of life!”
At that moment, he realized—
He had survived disaster.
And in doing so, he had gained the favor of a true powerhouse.
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation