A twist in time

Prologue

Even after death many souls couldn't leave this earth behind, many regrets bound them to this world. Some souls stay for revenge, some stay to protect loved ones, some stay because their hopes and dreams were left unfulfilled, some stay because they still have attachments to their home and some stay here for reasons unknown to us.

CangSe SanRen and Wei ChangZe stayed behind for a long time to watch over their son and they're now ready to leave this world, as their son had finally found the happiness, he deserved. Qingheng-Jun and Madam Lan watched over their sons and even though one of them got his happy ending, their other son was still lonely, so they still watched over him, helplessly hoping they could help their child. Yu ZiYuan and Jiang FengMian watched over their child and grandchild. Madam Jin watched over her grandchild. So it was just a normal day for most of these ghosts, as they were all guarding their living loved ones. The only odd ones were the first two, who had finally found peace. Little did they know that this would be turning point for all of them.

30 years back in the past eight people opened their eyes with memories of the future and a chance to change it.

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"Mama! Baba! Wake up! I'm hungry!" a little child said jumping up and down next to the bed of his parents. "A-Ying?" CangSe asked, looking at the child next to her bed. "Yes Mama?" the child said tilting his head. His mother pulled him into a tight hug. "I dont know if this is a dream but if it is I don't want to wake up." she whispered. "Mama? Mama? I'm hungry!" Wei Ying whined, he was confused why his mother acted like this. Did she have a nightmare? "Mama did you have a nightmare?" the child said in worried tone and pat his mothers back, mimicking their behaviour whenever he came to them after having nightmares. "No no, I'm fine Mama just missed you." CangSe said and kissed her child's forehead. How much she had missed this. "But you saw me yesterday." The child giggled.

"What is going on here, A-Se? Wait. A-Ying?" ChangZe looked confused. He didn't know that you could dream after death. "Why are you both weird today?" the child asked suspiciously. Then he gasped and jumped back. "Are you a monster pretending to be my Mama and Baba?" the imaginative child said. CangSe quickly whispered. "I think we're in the past." Then she quickly went calm down her baby. "How on earth..." ChangZe wondered, but then he realised. This was an amazing chance to avoid all the suffering of their child. "Alright let's get ready and get breakfast!" he said, picking up his son and taking him to change and wash up. "We have to come up with a plan." He mouthed to his wife, who nodded in agreement.

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Madam Lan opened her eyes in a room that she hadn't seen in a while. Just as she tried to figure out, how she got here, she heard a knock at her door. She got up to check. However she didn't really realise, that she was actually alive and had a physical body, so she walked straight into a wall trying to get out. "What the?" she whispered. After she got up and recovered from the shock, she opened the door and was nearly knocked over by the person outside.

Qingheng-Jun had also woken up in the past and had been directly confronted by a servant, so he went to check up on his wife, to see if she had gone back in time too. He also wondered if she was still alright, as she would fall sick and pass away that year. He needed to check her condition and find a way to save her this time.

"Aìrén*, what are you doing here and where's A-Huan?" Madam Lan asked with a confused and sleepy tone. "Plus why can't I walk trough things anymore?" she was really confused and this overwhelming tiredness, that she hadn't felt, since she died, clouded her mind. "XīnGān*, it is you." Qingheng-Jun said in a slightly relieved tone. "Of course it's me! Or did you hug me thinking I was another woman?" she asked. "Of course not. Let's go inside and I'll explain the situation I assume that we are in." he said in a calm tone as he walked inside. After his death they had a lot of time to talk and figure things out, but right now he was still supposed to be in seclusion.

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When Jiang FengMian woke up, he was greeted with a familiar purple room. As he looked around, trying to figure out, why he was here exactly and all alone too, he saw some documents lying on a table and when he looked trough them realisation washed over him. He instantly got up and got dressed, before leaving to check on his wife. If she had gone back too, this would confirm the reality of this situation and give them the opportunity to make plans for the future. If she hadn't however, he would still have to fix up their strained relationship and make things right. He couldn't be a coward this time.

However shortly after he got out, he saw Yu Ziyuan walking towards him and realised that she had definitely also regressed. "My Lady let's talk inside, please." he said as soon as they stood in front of each other. Madam Yu just nodded with a cold expression, walking ahead already. "I also got a message from Lanling. Madam Jin is in the same situation so we have to visit her." She said vaguely in a low voice, but he understood. This situation was messier than he had expected. He wondered who else could be affected and hoped that it wouldn't be a Wen.

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Madam Jin was surprised to see her son again and as a child at that. Her son's spirit did follow around A-Ling of course, but it wasn't the same at all. So that morning she quickly send out a butterfly made out of spiritual energy to the Jiang sect, it contained a message to inform Yu ZiYuan of her situation. It was vague enough to make sure, that no one who wasn't from the future would understand the actual meaning. If her friend wasn't in the same situation, it would only seem like a normal message to her.

She later on decided to spend some time with her son, because she wanted to avoid her husband and she had missed her child dearly. This time around she'd fix her mistakes. Should she castrate her husband right now or a little later? She'd have to discuss that with Yu ZiYuan. If she castrated him after Mo Xuanyu was born she could thank the poor child for indirectly helping in solving her child's death, but could she actually stomach that? She had so many things to fix. She needed to avoid the death of her son and her daughter-in-law at all costs.

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Meanwhile someone else quickly sat up in their bed, remembering everything and realising their situation instantly. This time they would be able to do things right and not get caught. Also there were many new methods that were discovered in the future that would help him succeed. He got dressed and left his room. Ideas on how to change the future swirling in his mind. This was going to be one hell of a journey.

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心肝 (XĪNGĀN)

"心肝" literally means "heart and liver." While that might sound a bit too bloody for Westerners, the term is used to recognize the most important person, without whom you cannot live without (just like how you can't live without your heart or liver.)

The English term "my heart and soul" might come close to the intense meaning of "心肝." Overall, recognize that "心肝" is a very strong term of endearment, to be reserved only for those who are extremely precious to you.

Aìrén*

In Chinese, "爱(ài)" means "love" and "人(rén)" means "person/people," so "爱人(àiren)" literally means "the person you love." However, the term can't be used to refer to every person that you love: not your girlfriend, not your boyfriend, and not your lover. The term is reserved only for your husband or wife.

Alright so I just had this idea and I couldn't fall asleep until I wrote this. So yeah I'm open for feedback and sorry if the characters seem a little OOC, I'm trying to estimate their reaction to going back in time and also consider the fact, that they had so much time to talk things out, after dying. Corrections or constructive criticism is always welcome.
~Soul dealer - Lei