The Female Supporting Character Refuses to Be Human Again - Chapter 218.1

When the family finally seemed to calm down from the overwhelming joy of seeing her awake, they realized that the small room was far too crowded. The middle-aged woman, who was the original body’s mother, began to usher everyone out of the room. She sent her sons, daughters-in-law, and even her husband outside, leaving only three people in the room: Meng Changjin, the original body’s mother, and her grandmother.

With fewer people around, Meng Changjin couldn’t help but breathe a quiet sigh of relief. She mentally called out to her companion, Xiao Si, to ask for clarification. She wanted to know if the original owner’s soul truly had disappeared without a trace.

If possible, Meng Changjin really didn’t want to take over someone else’s life like this. It made her feel uncomfortable. If the original owner had lived a miserable life, with no will to continue and no emotional attachments, Meng Changjin wouldn’t have minded taking over. But in this case, the original owner’s family clearly loved her very much, and she hadn’t wanted to die. That made it feel like such a waste.

Meng Changjin wasn’t the type to meddle without reason, but the purer the situation, the more hesitant she felt to disturb it. She didn’t want to take away the happiness that rightly belonged to someone else. She wasn’t a saint, but something about this situation just didn’t sit well with her.

At this point, Xiao Si seemed to understand that he couldn’t hide the truth anymore. He was worried that keeping secrets would only lead to bigger problems later. “Host, to be honest, the original soul was actually a fragment of your own soul. It merged completely with your soul, so it really can’t be separated out,” Xiao Si confessed in a straightforward manner.

Meng Changjin’s mouth twitched slightly. Wasn’t this just a bit too outrageous?

Xiao Si continued to explain, “Otherwise, don’t you think it’s too much of a coincidence that you ended up here? Why else would it be you?”

Meng Changjin was deep in thought, nodding slightly as she realized that this made sense. It wasn’t random; there was a reason she was here.

As she accepted Xiao Si’s explanation, memories that seemed distant yet vivid began to surface in her mind. It was as if she could now recall all the life experiences of this original body’s owner, or rather, of her own soul fragment, from childhood up to the point of death.

“Scoundrel,” Meng Changjin cursed under her breath as the memories settled in. The tragic death of the original owner wasn’t just due to the villagers’ ignorance. The main driving force behind it was actually that traveling monk who seemed so pious on the surface.

It turned out that this so-called monk wasn’t a real monk at all. He was a fraud. He showed up in the village asking for alms and donations, playing on the villagers’ respect for religion. Meng Changjin’s soul fragment had first spotted him in town, indulging in vices that were clearly against monastic rules. The realization that this supposed monk wasn’t what he seemed had shocked the naive girl.

Worried that the girl would expose his true nature, the fake monk tried to intimidate her into silence. His initial plan was only to scare her into keeping quiet, but when he realized that the villagers would easily fall for his tricks, he saw an opportunity. He spun a tale about the need for a sacrifice to the river god, conveniently pointing to the original owner as the ideal candidate.

This was the beginning of the end for the original body—young, innocent, and sacrificed on the altar of deceit. It was an absurd and cruel manipulation that led to her untimely demise. Meng Changjin knew she couldn’t just let this go.

“Hey, Xiao Si…” Meng Changjin muttered to her companion, hatching a plan to deal with the fraudster. Xiao Si agreed without hesitation. He knew better than to resist when Meng Changjin was set on something.

At that moment, Meng Changjin heard a voice filled with hope and sorrow. “Xiao Jin, do you not recognize your mother?” The middle-aged woman sitting by her bed asked tearfully, her voice trembling with emotion.

Meng Changjin looked at the woman and felt a twinge of discomfort. Despite now knowing that the original soul was part of her own, she still found it difficult to respond naturally. After a moment of hesitation, she forced the words out. The first time was awkward, but after a few more times, it seemed to come more easily.

The people in the village hadn’t known that Meng Changjin had been secretly brought back by her family after the supposed sacrifice to the river god. All they knew was that the Meng family had brought in a doctor, and no one had dared to ask why.

But now that Meng Changjin had awakened, there was no more need for secrecy. Still, she kept to herself for a few days, claiming she needed to recuperate.

Meanwhile, the villagers began to notice something strange. Posters had appeared all over the town, revealing the true identity of the fake monk, along with his history of fraud. The villagers were stunned to read about his misdeeds, including how he had tricked them into the so-called sacrifice to the river god.

🕵️‍♀️ Kliraz’s Curious Cat Corner 🧐

Oh, the plot thickens! This fake monk scamming an entire village is giving me some serious “wolf in sheep’s clothing”!Historically, con artists like this were unfortunately common in many cultures, not just in China. In ancient China, Buddhist and Taoist priests sometimes exploited the common people’s lack of education by pretending to have mystical powers (Teiser, S.F., 1988, The Ghost Festival in Medieval China. Princeton University Press). It’s a bit like how in Western history, traveling “snake oil salesmen” claimed to have miracle cures to swindle people out of their money (Young, J.H., 1961, The Toadstool Millionaires: A Social History of Patent Medicines in America before Federal Regulation. Princeton University Press).

Back in the day, people were often too respectful or fearful to question religious or authoritative figures, which allowed these fraudsters to flourish (Teiser, S.F., 1988, The Ghost Festival in Medieval China. Princeton University Press). These days, while scams still happen, the internet has made it easier for people to fact-check and share information, reducing the effectiveness of such deceptions (Merritt, R., 2020, The Age of Information: How the Internet Changed Everything. Digital Media Journal). Still, even in modern times, the trust in authority figures sometimes blinds people to their schemes—just think of the numerous online scams pretending to be government officials or charity organizations (Nguyen, T., 2018, Modern Scams in the Digital Age. Cybersecurity Review, 5(3), 102-109).

Meng Changjin’s struggle to fit into her new identity shows such a universal feeling of impostor syndrome (¬_¬). Who hasn’t felt like they don’t belong at some point, right? It’s comforting to see her slowly getting into her groove while planning to set things right. This chapter just screams justice on the horizon! ⚖️