She breathed in and out as a low rumble came from her stomach, but her mind kept wandering.

  Cultivotors? Theif? Killer? She was never one of these things, but the memories were too strong.

  She was never a criminal, but with all those memories, her mind made her aware of how to steal. She knew everything that the original body's owner knew and felt fear, adrenaline, pride, starvation, dehydration, loneliness, and exhaustion. She was surrounded by those considered rivals or enemies, and she slowly forgot her own name, using synonyms instead.

  Nanashi was always clumsy before, or was it the way she is? She didn't know she didn't understand. Maybe she is in a coma, maybe she experienced brain trauma, making false memories and causing vivid hallucinations of being someone else in what might as well be a different world.

  Her breath hitched again as her body coiled itself, making her curl up, heaving. She shouldn't throw up here. She stumbled up her stomach, turning her eyes, swimming as she stumbled to where her memories remembered going and using as a latrine.

  "Hu-Ghugh," She gagged, nearly choking on the fluids leaving her body.

  She felt empty, exhausted, and hungry. Nanashi was curled onto the stone floor, shuddering slightly but knowing that she needed to breathe to think. Another part of her recognized that she should change her priorities. She needed to eat, not think.

  Unfortunately, she was not thinking clearly and was more preoccupied with what was raw and fresh. If one were stabbed, their priority wouldn't be the food on their plate they had yet to eat, but instead to the fact that there was a hole in their body that shouldn't be there. For her, right now, memories of another's life were that knife only.

  "RUMBLE," Nanashi's stomach protested this time, causing pain.

  No matter how anxious she felt, it seems that a loss of appetite was not on the table. This... this body truly wasn't hers; her other self would have indigestion and lose any physical desire or need to consume food. It wasn't healthy, admittedly, yet here she was, feeling hungry, even with stress and pressure squeezing her heart and crushing her lungs.

  She rummaged around, hoping to find something to eat. The other self had drunk alcohol for the first time last night in the first place, so there should be alcohol and some food.

  Wine, rice, wild honey, and salt-dried meat. It wasn't a lot, but a lot more than she thought there would be. Grabbing the clean pot, Nanashi moved smoothly and started prepping the rice. She didn't fully trust any water at this point because of what seemed to be memories of a medieval society. Modern knowledge makes her keenly aware that drinking from the wrong water source can be fatal. So she wasn't going to rinse the rice grains or use water. Pouring in the wine with the rice, Nanashi lit a fire in a furnace, small wooden logs quick to burn beneath.

  The motions of lighting the flame were unnervingly easy. Okay, Nanashi wouldn't call herself a city girl, but she has never started a fire by hand. She had just done that, though, moving as she had done it thousands of times before.

  "Okay, just accept it, this isn't originally my body. Of course, there will be ingrained habits. Living with a missing leg for a long while, then having two legs once more, you have to relearn how to walk without a limp."

  Yep, she decided to give a pep talk. The pep talk may have been for her ears alone, but it was still a pep talk.

  She closed her eyes, opening them once more to finish making food. She left the honey alone but sliced off a chunk of the meat using a ragged blade on a small corner table that held two plaques. Funeral tablets, huh, people keep those? She didn't know what to do, but didn't want to waste meat when she would need it for the next couple of days. Though isn't it proper to follow the customs of those of a different culture to show respect for their beliefs?

  Now, worshiping theirs or any god, no, she will never do that. Learn about them, maybe, but Nanashi will choose what representation of god she worships.

  That wasn't the point of this action, though. These people might not be Nanashi's parents from her past self, but for this body, they were good people. Those deserving should receive proper respect. Flowers and a moment of silence in the United States, but in Japan, they burn incense and offer a prayer. She desired, like herself, to show respect as one should.

  She dug through the memories and saw one way to offer respect. Burn a small portion of food in a miniature bronze or silver ritual cauldron.

  She couldn't help but frown. After the death of a parent, only the closest male relative is legally allowed to inherit the family's lands or property. As a woman, she was only granted the legal right to own any of the items on the property. Although she was a woman, she still had the legal right to own land, not to inherit it. She had to take out a loan to cover the final amount after selling anything she owned that wasn't bolted down. She wanted to keep a small portion of her childhood.

  So at the age of 12, she took a loan. Now, 16 things have changed. She had finished paying off her debts the night before, hence the stealing of wine and the celebration of being debt-free.

  So with all that information, Nanashi knew why she woke up in this body hungover. Well, that explains the killer headache. The rice started to boil, and she snapped out of it, putting in slices of meat into the pot and covering it with a lid, holding the edge of her dress to push the pot back further away from the fire pit. Stepping back, Nanashi sighed.

  She turned to look at the funerary tablets, the only thing not sold, and felt bad for the original body's owner.

  "I promise to show proper respect later on, but this is what I can offer you both right now."

  Nanashi, not knowing how to show any other proper respect, grabbed a small ashtray, put a few grains of rice in it, and placed a small burning piece of wood, turning the rice to ash in moments as she sat down to eat. The rice dish she made was nearly finished, so she focused on deciding what she wanted to do.

  At the same time, the rice was done cooking, and the wood was ash, so she tossed the wood piece into the fire. Stirring it up to put out the flames, Nanashi sat up and pulled the pot forward, and placed it on a ragged piece of cloth on a small side table.

  She started eating, though everything from her plans to the meal didn't taste that good. The meat was salty, and the rice was unique compared to modern-day rice breeds. She focused on eating as her mind wandered, her thoughts clouded over, but she started mentally listing what she had on herself and finished eating what she could, tossing a lid on her leftovers and leaving it on top of the fireplace.

  Rough cloth Hanfu, cloth shoes, wood hairpin, money pouch in dress sash with three coppers. Walking over to her bed, she slid underneath and wriggled a stone out of place, showing the land's deed and three gold coins. Grabbing one of the gold coins, she covered the hidden compartment once more.

  Standing up once more, she shuddered nervously. This was her new reality, but she was just happy that the memories allowed her to communicate in this world's language.

  "Hu su cha," She tried to speak, she really did, but she knew she had an accent. She could hear it on her tongue. Her words, equivalently translated, meant "I got this."

  Leaving the house, she felt underprepared. She had no luck finding a cart or anything to help carry all that she planned to purchase. Either she could make multiple trips or get a hand-pulled cart.

  Cars? What are those? They have carts and some versions of bikes. Animal or on foot transportation. Well, for mortals.

  She looked toward the market and started walking.

  Her home is half an hour's walk from the city's inner walls. The outer wall of the city was around an hour's walk. It's okay; it should be okay. This body has experience with such long physical activity.

  Her hands were small, young, and smooth with calluses in certain places from playing an instrument. She must have had a good life before she sold everything, even her name, which was forgotten in the annals of the past.

  She left walking with all she needed. Her home was quiet, but she already had a mental list of everything she needed. She reached behind her sash, pinching the gold coin between her fingers.

  When she started walking, she thought she could handle seeing what part of her wanted to deny, but she saw those men flying down from a tall mountain in the distance.

  They were cultivators flying down from the mountain, standing on the blades of steel, and leaping off to catch them before paying their respects and entering the inner city walls. She was also closing in, but saw how some bowed to the gate guard. Memories of how to properly bow in greeting were weird, but this was how this world does things; she will show the right courtesy and do the same.

  Part of her was just happy she didn't have to pay to enter, unlike merchants. So, with a smile, she bowed, her hands resting near her navel, right fist over left hand, a slight bend to the knees. With that greeting, the guard gave a skeptical look, though his nod showed she was allowed to pass through.

  She could hear everyone talking in her mind; she knew what they were saying in her ears. She had to say the language was similar to Mandarin, yet it was not. Japanese yet not, maybe her old name has no meaning here. The words had similar sounds but different meanings from what she knew.

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  Nanashi shook herself out of her introspection and started walking through the city's shopping area.

  Unlike the modern world, the layout was simple; the ruling government would be near the center of the city. Surrounding those buildings would be the rich and nobility, or a sect compound for local cultivators. Normally, they looked like wide-open spaces that allowed for large courtyards; pretty much, if you live there, you are powerful and influential in that city. Then there is the merchant district surrounding that. Normally, the shops there catered to the rich and powerful, so Nanashi doubts that she could enter that area without being accosted.

  Then there are the poorer sections of the city. Normally, the gutter runs along areas not on the direct roads, so it is closer to the outer city walls, but it bubbles between each gate far enough away that it is what the locals call in the walls' shadow. But before the slums and crime area near the merchant section, there was the cheaper shopping area where commoners went to shop. Like a night market or merchant district, it was a well-to-do area. Most people lived in the rooms above the storage area where they kept their products. Those without a shop bring in their products outside the city and set up along the roads hawking their wares.

  Nanashi walked over to a building with a sign reading "Beladors," a sign reading "open," and doors showing the shops' displays wide open. Now, the words on the door may mean "open," but the words themselves translate more closely to "doing business."

  The shop itself looked more like a woodworking shop, but it specialized in anything made from wood. Opening the door that led directly into the shop, rather than the display, Nanashi knocked on the door while entering.

  "Hello?" Her words in the local language were hard to enunciate; it seems actions were more natural in this body than the language itself. She had spoken with an accent, but a man behind the counter was writing things down while doing inventory. He looked up, seeming surprised that someone entered through the entry door rather than the shop doors with the displays.

  "Welcome, how might I be of assistance?" My mind translated it to the closest meaning as I got more used to communicating in this foreign language. Actually, she should think of it as the local language. The words themselves more closely mean 'Assistance is my duty, I shall do for you.'

  She shook her head, confusing the worker who was already looking ready to kick her out with her shaking head.

  "I was wondering if you have any hand-pulled carts that I can rent or purchase." The man closed his mouth, stopping his chastisement, and looked behind him, stroking his goatee, his green hair stark against his tanned skin and rough, leathery hands.

  Grabbing a wooden tablet with a nod, he turned around, holding three. "We currently have three total hand carts. Do you want to know the specifics of each or do you want the payment options?"

  Nanashi walked over to the counter, her palms pressed to the skirt of her dress.

  "Can you tell me about what is available to use right now?"

  Four wheels hand-pushed but can be attached to any beast of burden. She had none of that; the cost of three silvers to rent, and twenty to own, she turned that one down.

  One wheel with two stilts, closer to wheelbarrow-like in shape and design, meant to be lifted and pushed ahead of the person rather than behind. The cost was twenty copper to rent and one silver to own. The price wasn't horrible, but the final design caught her interest more.

  Two-wheeled handlebars allow one to pull the cart behind them. The cart itself is flat and stands even with the ground. When the stilt is placed, the bottom is deep enough to hold at least four crates without issues. The description alone was enough to make Nanashi excited, but the price was like water dousing her glee.

  "For this cart, it costs thirty silver to rent and seventy-five silver to own." His words made Nanashi want to cry. She preferred the final cart, but she didn't want to spend all her money on it alone.

  She had to turn her eyes away from the one she wanted, her mind focusing on what she should purchase instead. She had made up her mind about what she should purchase, and knowing full well that the final cart only cost so much because it is the preferred style in the local area.

  She thought about it over and over, but the first cart might cost a lot of silver, but it was a much better price than seventy-five silver. Though the price of the second cart would work wonderfully, it would require more trips into the inner part of the city rather than the outer farm lands.

  "Are you able to break down a gold coin?" The man's brown eyes seemed to sharpen with greed as he nodded his head.

  "Of course, but there will be a fee of five bronze coins if you do not make a purchase with it." She wasn't going to question it, but decided to accept the price.

  "I would like to purchase this one," She placed down the gold coin on the tablet about the cart information. The man, rubbing his hands together in greed, smiled and nodded, reaching into the counter and pulling out a wooden abacus and a pouch of money.

  He looked at the gold coin, grabbed it, bit with one of his canines, leaving a small divit in its corner, and nodded before his fingers moved across the board, making a clanking noise. He finished his math, he did it a second time, and started counting out coins, placing them in front of me.

  Honestly, seeing him bite my gold coin made her want to protest, but then memories made her calm down. Gold is not a strong material; unlike most metals, it is soft enough that simply biting it leaves an indentation, verifying whether it is real gold.

  "Your change will be eighty silver. Do you want me to break it down any further?" She thought about saying that it was fine, but then remembered she only had three bronze coins and would need to pay for low-cost items.

  "I would appreciate it if you broke down one of my silver coins into both copper and bronze." When he handed the money over, Nanashi started counting the change, making the man look surprised, and she nearly got angry at him. Two silvers and five coppers short.

  "Two silvers, five coppers is what you owe me." He had a scowel but handed over what he tried to pocket. It seems that, as a woman, she couldn't do basic math in her head. Too bad for him, she had an education.

  Most people here don't learn to do math mentally, but use the Abacus, which is used similarly to a calculator. Although Nanashi has no clue how to use one, his guess that she didn't know how to do math would have been correct if it were her prior self. Here and now, though, Nanashi did know how to do math.

  "Thank you for your business." After taking her to the cart, she purchased him. He shooed her away. It seems he wasn't happy to be told he shorted her money on purpose. Yeah, she doubts she would buy anything from here again if that man is here. Don't trust someone who purposely tries to keep some of your money.

  Nanashi started to pull the much larger, heavier cart normally pulled by a beast of burden, but light enough for a person to pull. She started to move the cart, which was uncomfortable and not the style she preferred, but she would rather not go to multiple places for a single cart.

  "Three copper per chicken and five for a rooster." An old crone spoke with a sharp nasal voice, her nose looking like it had been broken at some point, but was loud enough to be heard over many of the hawkers.

  "Ten bronze, twenty bronze for the rooster." A young boy, looking like a thirteen-year-old, had his arms crossed as he tried to bargain with the woman.

  "Are you trying to bleed me dry of my lifeblood? Even your shoes aren't worth as much as these chickens. Two copper per head, four for the rooster." The woman glared at the boy, daring him to go any lower, but it seems her provocation and claims that he was trying to rob her blind with the price didnt seem to worry him.

  "One copper per head, two for the rooster." The old crone ground her teeth but seemed to make up her mind. The look in the boy's eyes said he thought he would win in their bargaining.

  "Full price for the rooster and one copper per hen." The boy had made his deal and purchased six hens and one male rooster.

  Aren't chickens that hard to raise, right? Just daily water, food, and proper coop maintenance. Well, and making sure no predators are preying on the chickens and the eggs. Nanashi walked over to the older woman.

  "I would like to purchase one rooster and three hens." The woman, though, shook her head.

  "Oh dear, if you did that, you would more likely have no egg-producing hens due to stress and the male trying to overbreed the few." Blushing in embarrassment, she looked at the woman with gratitude.

  "It's my first flock that I am getting. I have no idea what I'm doing. How many hens should I get with one rooster?" From the brief interaction, she was somewhat treated like a simpleton.

  Six to ten hens per rooster, twenty hens for one rooster at maximum. So she got her chickens. She made a better deal compared to the boy from before, but she got handed a crate big enough to carry all of the clucking creatures.

  They smelled well, but Nanashi didn't mind and started walking forward through the streets. A few guards were identifiable through the crowd: one with a red sash and a gold feather embroidery, one with a short blade on the hip, one with a wooden staff, and one with a full-sized sword.

  The red to depict the fire that the empire, and a gold feather for the Phoenix, a representation of the emperor. From a philosophical perspective, it means they were the enforcers of the emperor's verdict.

  Nanashi saw the looks; men normally pull such a bulky cart, yet she was a 16-year-old going through puberty, pulling a large cart with chickens.

  "Do you know who might be selling animal feed?" Walking over to a grain seller, she saw that the grains were mostly good enough quality for humans but not low enough quality for her chickens.

  The man and woman manning the stall seemed upset that I was asking for other products instead of buying theirs.

  "Also, I would like twelve pounds of rice and five pounds of beans." The woman, realizing they still got a sale, smiled broadly as she spoke softly.

  "You could go to Li He, who sells animal feed at set prices for the same size of bag." The man had gotten busy weighing out a bag of rice, so Nanashi didn't mind him.

  "Is there any specific kind of dried beans you are interested in?" Nanashi nodded and started pointing at the beans.

  "Will this be five pounds each or five pounds per type?"

  The interaction took on a different meaning as things settled in her mind, prompting her to acknowledge that this trip would cost a lot of money.

  Coins flowed from her pouch, but by the end of it, her cart was full.

  Chickens, animal feed, Rice, Kidney beans, chickpeas, black beans, sewing needles with thread, Disposal crystal, fabric textiles, and a water crystal.

  Outside the cart, the most expensive thing purchased was the crystals. Fantasy land for the win disposal without plumbing. These crystals are real, from memories; nearly everyone who is well off would buy them, but they would cost a fortune. The only reason Nanashi even owns land and paid off several gold coins' worth of debt. Even though on a normal income, most people only earn one gold a year.

  Crime pays well as long as you don't get caught. Or so the thief who stole the original had believed. Riches to rags was her life. From a family farm with several workers, she had a small portion of land and a shack over her head.

  Nanashi shook her head. Apparently, she kept going back to thoughts about the prior debts and had to remind herself she wouldn't have made those decisions, but she will most definitely live by her own moral code now that she was here.

  Well, maybe not her old moral code.

  "How dare you insult this daddy? I shall show you what it truly means to be strong; let this father teach you." Daddy? father? What the hell?

  "Well, let this son of the new generation prove your need for early retirement."

  Many heard and saw the commotion before Nanashi did and rushed away. She was well; she looked at what looked like a brawl, and you know what. She didn't panic around men who could probably throw an SUV with a single negligent toss. She didn't even freak out; she just walked over to the woman trying to grab her valuables and mainly planting seeds for fruits and vegetables, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables.

  Part of her might not have understood the levity of cultivators brawling, but she didn't care. She was too far to the side of them, and any strike that would happen, she would be free from the danger.

  So instead of being afraid of being killed as an innocent bystander, she just wanted vegetables and seeds to grow plants.

  "Miss, how much does this cost?" I pointed at what looked like a watermelon, and the woman, not even stopping during her mad scramble, practically yelled in the silent yet tense street.

  "I don't care, take it all if you want. I am leaving." Nanashi was in a panic before the woman could run away. Grabbing her wrist and shoved five copper coins into the woman's hand. However, she didn't really seem to care. Neither did Nanashi, so she started loading her cart with multiple seeds and fruits.