Chapter 1: Reborn Amid the Mysterious

There was no light, no smell, and no sense of touch—only this boundless, infinite darkness…

‘Am I not dead?’

Gu Lian’s consciousness awoke within this suffocating darkness. She instinctively tried to press her hand against her chest, but she felt nothing but a void.

**[Since I have chosen you, you cannot die.]**

A voice drifted through the darkness, leaving Gu Lian dazed.

“What the hell?”

**[Chosen One, consider carefully whether you will inherit my power. This is your only chance at rebirth.]**

“Uh…?”

**[If you do not choose, you will return to the very moment of your death.]**

“If I may be so bold, do I even have a choice?”

**[No.]**

“Uh, then I accept?”

**[Hahaha! You shall feel the sweetness of the power of deathly stillness. This crown belonged to you all along!]**

“Crap, can you be a bit clearer?!”

Suddenly, a wave of drowsiness washed over her brain. Before her death, she had not closed her eyes for 48 hours.

Now, added to the burning sensation radiating from various parts of her body, Gu Lian felt utterly exhausted. Her body instinctively curled into a ball as she drifted off to sleep.

***

When Gu Lian woke up again, she found herself secured to a chair by several leather straps, each as thick as a wrist. The surrounding walls were made of metal, and the only light came through the crack in the door in front of her.

‘Where… is this? Wait, why am I tied up… No, how did my hands become so thin?!’

Gu Lian’s eyelids trembled violently. Coupled with that nonsense about being a “Chosen One” from the mysterious voice, an ominous premonition surged in her heart.

No, it was a very bad feeling. However, now was not the time to worry about that.

Gu Lian took a deep breath and quickly calmed down. She had indeed been stabbed to death by a dagger. Logically speaking, after dying, she shouldn’t have appeared here. Shouldn’t she be in a hospital, a morgue, or an autopsy room?

Could it be that after she died, someone took her body out to desecrate it?

Gu Lian felt it was highly likely someone would do such a thing. After all, the world was full of weirdos. Of course, she couldn’t rule out the possibility that her killer wanted to faked the cause of her death.

Gu Lian scanned her surroundings. The corners of the walls were covered in spiderwebs, and there were no signs of anyone having been there recently. Even the door was covered in a layer of dust, proving that no one had entered this place in a long time.

Aside from the crack in the door, no light filtered in. The gloom was suffocating, and the air was thick with the distinct, sour stench of rotting food.

As the pungent odor hit her nose, Gu Lian tried to struggle, but she found she couldn’t even turn her head. Her entire body was locked tight by the leather straps. Only her two palms could move, but even they were sluggish due to poor blood circulation caused by the tightened restraints.

To wake up from darkness only to face the predicament of being tied to a chair!

‘Dammit, someone is really trying to kill me!’

Just as Gu Lian raised her right hand to see if she could tear away the other straps, a foul stench like rotten eggs flooded her nostrils. This was the smell of gas!

‘Screw this, they’re really trying to mess with me!’

She was so angry she nearly coughed up blood.

Being tied to a chair at the start was bad enough, but now she was being told the gas levels in the air were extremely high? Were they trying to poison her?!

However, Gu Lian began to control her breathing. The effects of gas poisoning usually set in within 10 minutes, but if she controlled her breathing, she could likely hold out for about 15 minutes. Every second counted!

With that thought, Gu Lian opened her hand. A metal tag strung together with woven rattan appeared in her palm.

Seeing the metal tag, Gu Lian narrowed her eyes. It seemed she hadn’t been searched yet. They hadn’t even confiscated her identification tag. Were they so confident that no one would find her body?

Regardless, it was a huge help right now.

Holding the flat side of the metal tag with one hand, Gu Lian wedged it into the connection point of the strap.

*Click, click, click…*

The metal tag slipped into the gap of the buckle with extreme dexterity. Gu Lian’s eyes were fixed on the strap buckle on her left wrist. As her fingers wiggled back and forth, the buckle popped open with a soft snap. Having freed her left hand, Gu Lian switched to using both hands to grip the metal tag and began undoing the straps on her body one by one.

First her upper arms, then her neck, her waist…

After undoing the final strap on her ankle, a sound like dozens of buzzing flies filled her ears. Gu Ye shook her head, forcing her numb hands to prop herself up as she stood from the chair.

Her fair, slender, bare feet stepped onto the cold floor. The stimulus of the chill cleared Gu Lian’s head slightly. She trotted to the door, turned the handle, and pushed it open. Sunlight flooded the dark room.

As the warm sunlight hit her face, Gu Lian ignored the state of the small dark room and immediately began observing her surroundings.

This was roughly a 100 square meter apartment, consisting of a living room and the small room she had just left. Gu Lian didn’t pay attention to anything else, searching frantically for the front door.

As time passed, the buzzing in her ears grew more piercing, and her vision seemed to be covered by a thin mist.

Finally, Gu Lian found what she was looking for.

There was a door at the end of the hallway on the left.

Gu Lian immediately stayed low and rushed toward it, but after only a few steps, her footing faltered, and her body tilted to the left.

She quickly reached out her left hand to lean against the wall to steady herself. The waves of weakness in her limbs and the sudden churning of her stomach made her extremely uncomfortable.

“Cough, cough…”

Gu Lian covered her mouth with her right hand. After her body swayed for a moment, she used the wall for support and walked to the door step by step. She gripped the handle and pulled down, but her heart instantly sank.

*Clack, clack, clack—*

Gu Lian pulled the handle again, but the security door remained motionless.

She turned her gaze. Not far from the door was a window, and sunlight was streaming into the room through it.

Gu Ye didn’t care about anything else and hurried toward the window. However, the weakness in her limbs was so severe that it took her nearly 5 minutes just to reach it.

“Ha… ha….”

Gu Lian leaned against the windowsill, her face flushed. She painfully reached out and pressed her hand against the glass.

Under the sunlight, she saw her own hand. What should have been fair skin was covered in bruises and filth. But no matter how hard she pushed, the window wouldn’t open.

“They… really… want me dead… don’t they?!”

Fine beads of cold sweat broke out on Gu Lian’s forehead. Her head felt as heavy as lead. Was she really going to die here?!

Leaning against the sill, she looked at the scenery outside. Through the glass, Gu Ye saw heavy traffic and pedestrians walking back and forth on the street. It was clearly filled with the typical bustle of a city, yet the room remained eerily silent.

‘Damn it, it’s soundproof glass…’

Gu Lian’s arm slid down the window, leaving five shallow scratch marks. Her burgundy eyes were still filled with a sense of hysterical desperation.

But the stench filling the room and the weakness in her body caused Gu Lian’s head to drop.

“This damn place!”

*Bang!*

The entire pane of glass trembled. Gu Ye suddenly raised her head. Her groggy brain now transmitted a spark of joy.

‘Is it not tempered glass?!’

She looked down. It didn’t seem to be that far from the ground. With the pedestrians passing below, she was at most on the third floor.

Not tempered, three floors high…

‘I won’t die from the fall!’

Having gathered this information, Gu Lian took a deep breath, staggered back a few steps, and then charged at the window. she leaped, slamming her side into the glass.

With a loud crash, glass shards flew everywhere. The edges of several shards sliced a jagged bloody gash across Gu Lian’s cheek.

In mid-air, Gu Lian’s vision began to spin until it finally fixed on the bright blue sky. There wasn’t a cloud in sight, and the crimson sun showered the earth with light.

‘It’s so beautiful…’

Her entire brain felt as if it had turned to stone. Gu Lian stared blankly at the sky as she and the glass fell toward the ground.

*Crash!*

The shattered glass fell, and sharp points pierced into Gu Lian’s body. But she only felt numbness; her consciousness was already slipping. Before hitting the ground, she managed to twist her body slightly so her shoulder took the impact.

With a heavy thud, Gu Lian hit the ground. The glass shards embedded in her skin were driven deeper. The world, which still held color, turned into a swirling vortex of meaningless light and shadow in her eyes.

“Ah!”

A scream rang out. Gu Lian, seeing stars, jerked slightly. She struggled to turn her head. The light pollution in her vision faded slightly, and she could vaguely see a little girl in a white dress. The girl was looking at her, lying amidst the glass shards, with a face full of terror.

Gu Lian’s clothes were tattered, and the bruises on her exposed skin and the bloody gashes on her face were enough to rattle the little girl’s nerves.

“Ah….”

Trembling, Gu Lian reached out a hand toward the girl. she wanted to say something, but her burning throat and throbbing head could only produce meaningless sounds.

“…”

The girl seemed to understand something. She rushed to Gu Lian’s side in a few steps and grabbed her hand. Her lips moved, but Gu Lian couldn’t hear a sound.

“Save… me….”

Using the last of her strength, Gu Lian felt as if her head had been struck by a heavy blow. Her vision went black, and she plunged into total darkness.

***

Time passed slowly. When Gu Lian woke up once more, a pure white ceiling met her eyes.

‘Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?’

After the trio of questions, Gu Lian sat up in bed, ignoring the pain in her body to observe her surroundings.

She was currently lying on a sterile hospital bed. The room was entirely white, the window was open, and a gentle breeze tossed the white curtains.

Looking down, her body was wrapped in white bandages. Several electrode pads were attached to her chest, with wires leading to a life monitor beside the bed. The machine was currently displaying her electrocardiogram.

‘Looks like I survived.’

Gu Lian let out a soft sigh, her body slumping back against the bed. At that moment, her relaxed face stiffened as an indescribable sensation rose from within.