PLEASE I FUCKED UP IN THIS CHAPTER.
NOTE:
AFTER THE CHAPTERS ONE AND TWO, COMES THIS CHAPTER. DON'T MISS PLACE IT.
I MESSED IT UP.
THANKS FOR READING
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"You're the eldest daughter of the Zhu family. Your name is Zhu Wenli," Hualia began, kneeling respectfully at Wenli's bedside. "As you heard, your parents—my master and mistress—left to obtain the approval letter for you to enter the realm of cultivators."
Wenli squinted at her. "Then why am I lying here? Why are you the one explaining this?"
Hualia hesitated. A frown tugged at her lips. She looked like she wanted to say more but was holding herself back. Wenli knew that look too well. She waved her fingers in front of Hualia's blank stare.
"You're wondering if I've lost my mind, right?" Wenli said sharply.
"N-no, Miss Wenli. It's just that…" Hualia bit her lip. "You collapsed. You said your head was splitting open, then you fainted. A terrible fever followed—hot enough to cook a meal on your skin. You were unconscious for a month. Then you woke up… like this."
Wenli sat up, pressing her palm to her forehead. "A month?" Her voice was low, stunned.
A pacing rhythm began under her bare feet against the cool stone. "So… am I dreaming? Or did I really possess someone's body?" she muttered. "But this is too vivid for a dream. And that name—Zhu Wenli—it's mine, just not completely…"
"Miss Wenli?" Hualia asked timidly.
"When are my parents returning?"
"Tomorrow morning."
Wenli exhaled slowly. "And… what kind of daughter was I to them? Before all this?"
"You were graceful. Intelligent. A little distant, but never cold. You never acted like this."
Wenli smiled faintly. "Well, let's not disappoint them. We'll welcome them properly, won't we?"
Hualia blinked in surprise, then nodded eagerly. "Yes, Miss Wenli."
The next morning…
"Miss Wenli, they've arrived," Hualia whispered urgently, shaking her shoulder.
Wenli's eyes opened groggily, her sleep not yet faded. "They're back?" she asked, sitting up quickly. "Tell them I'll be with them shortly."
Hualia bowed and left.
Wenli stepped into the receiving hall, only to freeze mid-step. There they were—her parents. Laughing and chatting softly as if no time had passed. As if the blood of another life didn't weigh on her heart like an anchor.
"Mom? Dad?" Her voice cracked.
Her mother looked up with a warm smile. "That's my daughter. Always so dramatic."
Wenli rushed forward and threw her arms around them. "You're here… you're really here…"
Her father stiffened at the sudden affection, blinking in confusion. "Zhu Wenli, are you all right?"
Zhu, not Zhao.
It hit her again. These weren't the parents she knew. But they had the same faces. Same warmth. Same laughter.
"Do… do you know anyone named Zhao?" she asked cautiously.
Her mother looked at her, amused. "Is that someone you wish to marry?"
Wenli stepped back, stunned.
"What is this place?" she whispered later, curled up in her chambers with the acceptance letter gripped tightly in her hand. "Why do they look exactly like them? Why do they feel like them?"
Hualia entered quietly. "Miss Wenli, are you… disappointed?"
"I don't know what I am," she replied, staring into the candle's flickering light.
Three Days Later –
Wenli's hair shimmered with oils. Her robes were laced with pearls and jade. She looked like a royal bride, not a girl heading off to cultivate qi.
Her father spared no expense—he had fought tooth and nail to win her a place at the elite Wangshou Academy. It should've been a moment of pride, but a nagging tension hung in the air.
Then—chaos.
"Master Zhu!" a guard whispered at the party. "The Evil Overlord's men are here!"
Wenli's father turned pale. "They must've found out…"
"We have to get your daughter out of here. Now."
He ran to find his wife. The guard rushed to Wenli's room.
The doors slammed open.
Wenli jumped up, indignant. "Have you no manners?!"
"No time! You must leave at once!"
Just as she was about to demand answers, screams erupted from the courtyard. Steel clashing. Blood-curdling shrieks.
"Hualia, go!" Wenli ordered, grabbing a cloak.
They fled into the mountains—escaping by mere minutes. Behind them, the Zhu residence burned. Bodies littered the floors like discarded dolls.
Wenli found her parents—lifeless, covered in blood.
"Mom… Dad…" she choked, dropping to her knees.
Hualia sobbed behind her, but Wenli didn't hear it.
She remembered—
Three Days After Her Return to Shanghai
Her father's best friend arrived with police. The charges: embezzlement. Fraud. Distribution of expired drugs.
Her family was stunned.
"We were framed," her father insisted.
But their betrayer smiled with venom. "I never wanted you to succeed. I only wanted your wealth. And now, I've taken it."
Soon after, assassins came.
Wenli's entire family was slaughtered.
She barely escaped, but was later shot—by the son of the man who betrayed them.
And in her most dying moment, after her foolish actions without thinking, she made a cry:
"I curse the heavens for this tragedy."
Then, she collapsed, losing her life almost immediately.
In the Afterlife — The Reconsideration Hall
She stood in a glowing chamber between time and spirit.
"Ungrateful girl," an elder thundered. "You dared curse the heavens."
"We gave you family. You squandered it," another hissed.
Wenli stared blankly. "What is this place?"
"The Reconsideration Hall. You're in a coma, not yet dead. We offer you one more chance."
"What's the catch?"
"Three rules:
Stay alive at all costs.
You will meet three companions—one will betray you, two will be loyal. Choose wisely.
Your curse will become your trial. Break it or be consumed."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then your soul dies, and your loved ones vanish with it."
Wenli gritted her teeth. "Fine. I'll survive. And when I do—I'll make even the heavens bow."
Back in the Ancient Realm
Wenli stirred, the weight of blood, pain, and memories crashing over her.
She tried to rise but her body was heavy. Sore. Her maid Hualia lay against her, weeping quietly.
Then—voices.
"They won't survive the night," one man said coldly.
"Let's leave. The girl's half-dead," another replied.
But as they turned, Wenli's trembling hand grasped the hem of a dark robe.
Don't go… I must live… she wanted to plead. To beg. But pride couldn't allow her.
She let go quickly, unwilling to beg.
But as she glanced up, her breath caught.
That face…
Hua Wudi.
The son of her murderer.
The man who pulled the trigger.
She whispered his name, eyes wide—
"Hua Wudi…"
Then collapsed into unconsciousness.