"Plop—"
Surrounded by river water—cold, bone-chilling.
Li Sheng suddenly opened her eyes and found herself sinking, suffocating, her chest about to explode.
What's going on? Didn't she already die? Why is she in water?
With no time to think, Li Sheng struggled to swim upward.
Luckily, the water wasn't as deep as she imagined, and soon she broke through the surface.
On the riverbank, dozens of eyes stared at her in shock.
"How did she come up? Doesn't she not know how to swim?"
"Damn it, push her down again and teach her a lesson!"
A group of well-dressed men and women reached out, trying to shove Li Sheng back into the water.
Li Sheng's eyes turned icy. She leaped out of the river and swept her long leg in a clean arc, kicking the closest few people straight into the water.
Splash!
Water burst everywhere.
The group who had wanted to punish her froze in disbelief.
This country bumpkin… how did she suddenly become a different person?
Li Sheng's cold, sharp gaze swept over them. Her voice was low and dangerous.
"Who are you?"
The moment the words left her mouth, she felt something was wrong.
This wasn't her voice.
And she remembered clearly—she had died.
As the first female War God, she had been ambushed during a top-secret mission. Someone had leaked her plans. She didn't even know who the traitor was—not even at the moment of death.
But now… she was alive?
A wave of confusion flashed through her eyes. In the cold wind, her weak body swayed. The pain of drowning surged again. Her vision darkened—
Li Sheng fainted
...
The sharp smell of disinfectant filled the special ward.
In her coma, Li Sheng trembled.
Scenes long buried deep in her memory surged back.
Half the sky was stained red with fire. A woman's desperate voice echoed, every word trembling with tears—
"A Li, always remember, you are the only surviving bloodline of the ancient Li family!
Our Li family has been loyal for generations—unyielding, straight-spined, never ashamed before the heavens, never bowing to anyone.
We have always kept a clear conscience!"
"A Li, you must live on. Clear our family's name. Clear your father's name.
Seek justice for the heroic souls who died unjustly!"
"A Li, run… run fast…"
Li Sheng jolted awake and sat up.
No flames. No collapsing sky.
Only a clean, bright hospital ward.
On the TV opposite the bed, the news looped endlessly—the downfall of the ancient Li family, her supposed defection, and her "heinous betrayal."
It was ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.
Li Sheng let out a sudden laugh, her frail shoulders trembling. As she laughed, blood-red tears welled in her eyes, but she forced them back.
Don't cry.
Those who bullied me, humiliated me, destroyed me—listen clearly.
Even if I must crawl back from hell, I will seek justice for the Li family's blood-soaked debts.
A terrifying killing intent burst out, filling the entire ward.
The two nurses shivered when they saw the hatred burning in her blood-red eyes. Then, in an instant, she retracted her aura. Her gaze cleared, her face calm.
The door creaked open.
A girl in a wheelchair was pushed inside, accompanied by two men. The nurses immediately bowed respectfully—completely unlike their earlier cold attitude toward Li Sheng.
"Miss, you're here."
The girl nodded. When she saw Li Sheng awake, surprise flickered in her eyes, but she quickly masked it with concern.
"Ah Li, are you okay?"
At the sight of the girl, a stabbing pain seared through Li Sheng's head. A flood of foreign memories poured into her mind—all the grievances, all the helplessness of the original Li Sheng.
She understood.
She had been reborn in a girl with the same name.
This Li Sheng was the youngest, most pampered daughter of the Li family in Yaozhou City. But the pain began when she was ten.
Her father brought home another girl—Jiang Chuchu, the orphan of a friend who had died saving him. Out of guilt, he treated Jiang Chuchu like his own daughter.
That was when the tragedy began.
Since childhood, Jiang Chuchu used her innocent appearance and her pitiful background to slowly steal everything that belonged to Li Sheng.
Her bedroom.
Her clothes.
Her jewelry.
Even her fiancé treasured Jiang Chuchu more than her.
Whenever she resisted, she was scolded for being ungrateful to the "orphan" who saved her father's life.
Her brothers and father sided with Jiang Chuchu again and again.
The worst incident was in school—Jiang Chuchu falsely accused her of stealing. Without listening to any explanation, Father beat her so badly she could not get out of bed for a month.
Her heart turned cold.
She stopped talking. Stopped smiling. Her grades dropped. People called her a mute and a fool.
Until last night—her 19th birthday banquet.
She saw her fiancé and Jiang Chuchu embracing and kissing.
She lost control and confronted them, and in the argument, Jiang Chuchu "accidentally" fell down the stairs.
Everyone rushed to save Jiang Chuchu.
No one knew that the real Li Sheng was taken to the river… held down… and murdered on her birthday.
After sorting through everything, Li Sheng exhaled softly.
She placed a hand over her chest and whispered,
"Rest assured. Since I've borrowed your body, I will repay every grievance you suffered."
Jiang Chuchu finally rolled her wheelchair closer, her eyes misty with guilt.
"Ah Li, are you still blaming me? I explained to Dad and the others that you didn't push me, but they just wouldn't believe me…"
Her tone was soft, pitiful, innocent.
But when
she looked up—
She met Li Sheng's cold sneer.
"Whether I pushed you or not, the surveillance footage will tell the truth.
Don't you think so?"