He Yuan District, Building 4, Unit 603
In this long-uninhabited, silent room, sunlight streamed in from outside the window, landing on the wall and casting a long beam of light.
At that moment, a shadow suddenly appeared on the wall. The shadow began to grow upwards, and then a well-proportioned body slowly materialized.
"Meow~"
A cat's meow broke the silence in the room.
"Honestly, it always takes me a while to get used to a new body."
The speaker was a girl who looked about sixteen or seventeen years old.
She wore her hair in a hanging bun, was completely naked except for an exquisite phoenix lock around her neck. Her cheeks were full, and her eyes were clear and lively, giving her an air of mischievous intelligence.
She walked into the room, still naked, and rummaged through a cabinet.
"This dress is too big."
"This dress is too old-fashioned."
"Oh dear, I haven't thrown this dress away yet? But it's too old, the hem is rotted."
"Really, why didn't I prepare a few wearable clothes beforehand? What a miscalculation."
"Yes, you're not doing this for the first time, why can't you think of these things?" Just then, a voice picked up the girl's words.
The girl immediately jumped up in fright, like a cat, leaping lightly onto the nearby cabinet, her face full of wariness.
"Hurry and put on some clothes, what do you look like now?" Just then, several pieces of clothing were thrown in front of her.
"Sister Lu, you scared me to death." The girl breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the person who had arrived.
"Every time I see you reincarnate like this, I find it incredibly magical. How long will you live this time?"
"About ten years," the girl said as she put on her clothes.
This girl was Yang Ruoyun, and the technique she was using was the life-borrowing art that Su Jinxiu had mentioned.
She had borrowed ten years of life from Mo Yu, which were Mo Yu's remaining years. In the next ten years, her body would go through the stages of a person's life, from youth to middle age, then from middle age to old age, and finally die.
During this period, she would need to find a new subject to borrow life from. If she didn't find a new subject, she would truly die.
"This time, Feng Zhirun has finally appeared. When you meet him, perhaps he will have a way to extend your life."
"And you, Sister? Will you also achieve your wish?"
"I, I am already married. I only hope to reclaim the Dragon Gate and have a child of my own."
The Sister Lu mentioned by Yang Ruoyun was the eldest daughter-in-law of the Old Dragon King, Lu Caiwei.
She had known Yang Ruoyun for many years, and only she knew that there was a woman like Yang Ruoyun in the world.
"Meow~" Yang Ruoyun let out a meow.
The sound seemed to mock her, or perhaps admire her.
Lu Caiwei, as if not hearing the meaning in her meow, continued, "The Dragon King has given the Three Lives Book to the Su sisters. I believe Feng Zhirun will return soon. This time, you must seize the opportunity and absolutely not miss it. However, he is currently with the Su sisters, so I imagine your appearance will make him very troubled."
Lu Caiwei spoke, her elegant and noble face showing a rare, childlike mischievous smile.
"Meow~"
Yang Ruoyun meowed again, crouching on the chair like a cat, staring blankly ahead, not answering Lu Caiwei's words.
Seeing her like this, Lu Caiwei didn't say anything further. She stood up and said, "I just came to tell you this. I'm leaving now."
Lu Caiwei walked into the sunlight shining into the living room, merging with the sunlight, and disappeared from the room.
Yang Ruoyun, still crouched on the chair, meowed again, then instinctively raised her hand, extending her tongue as if to lick it, before realizing.
"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey... I'm not really a cat." Yang Ruoyun looked embarrassed.
Then she looked at the spot where Lu Caiwei had disappeared and pursed her lips.
"Just because I'm young every time I reincarnate doesn't mean I'm truly young. Do you think I'm an idiot?"
Yang Ruoyun said, jumped down from the chair, and began to busy herself around the house.
She pulled off coverings from the furniture, tidied up the room, and finally went into the bedroom, opening an exquisite vanity box on the dressing table and pulling out several documents from underneath.
One of them was a Great Xia ID card, bearing the name Yang Ruoyun, and the photo on it was none other than Yang Ruoyun, exactly as she was.
With this, she had a legal identity in Great Xia, which she had prepared before borrowing life.
After putting away the documents, she went to the living room and opened the refrigerator. It was empty, with no power. She then remembered that the main switch hadn't been turned on.
She flipped the main switch, and with a slight hum, the entire house suddenly seemed to "come alive."
Looking at this small home before her, Yang Ruoyun showed a contented smile.
Then she looked up at the photo frames on the wall.
These frames were filled with pictures of women, all taken at different stages of Yang Ruoyun's life.
However, cameras had only appeared relatively recently, so many photos were missing.
Yang Ruoyun not only borrowed life from Mo Yu, the cat, but before that, she had borrowed life from many creatures, and even people. However, she never dared to borrow life from overly powerful animals, especially large carnivores, because she worried that the animals' ferocity would pollute her soul, filling it with bestial nature.
But even so, over a dozen life-borrowing reincarnations had still contaminated her spirit.
However, she could still manage for now, so she didn't intend to see Feng Zhirun until Mo Yu's habits had completely faded.
And she didn't believe that Lu Caiwei's words just now were out of kindness.
"Gurgle, gurgle..."
Her stomach growled, startling Yang Ruoyun from her thoughts.
She then remembered that she hadn't eaten anything for several days.
So she dug out the money she had hidden, opened the door, and walked out.
At that moment, the door opposite hers also opened, and Fu Dalong, who lived opposite, came out.
Fu Dalong looked a little surprised to see Yang Ruoyun.
"Hello," Yang Ruoyun greeted him proactively.
"Are you Master Wei's relative?" Fu Dalong asked with some curiosity.
The Master Wei he mentioned was the boiler master at the machinery factory. Master Wei's son was a good student who went abroad to study and later settled overseas. After Master Wei and his wife passed away, the house had been empty for many years, uninhabited.
Yang Ruoyun shook her head and said, "No, my family bought this house before, but we never lived here. I just moved in recently."
Fu Dalong looked enlightened at her words, but didn't find it strange. He assumed Master Wei's son had sold the house long ago, as it was empty while he was abroad.
After saying this, Yang Ruoyun didn't say any more and hurried downstairs, as she was extremely hungry.
Fu Dalong wanted to say a few more words, but she had disappeared in the blink of an eye. He couldn't help but sigh, "Youth is truly wonderful."
Then he remembered things from his own youth, that person...