Chapter 2: One

Released on January 16, 2026

Ye Can walked through the pitch-black night.

In the cold, desolate chill of the night, her hair disheveled, she padded barefoot across the icy ground, leisurely taking in her surroundings.

It was utterly dark all around her—the blackness thicker than the deepest ink. She had no idea how long she had been walking here, nor had she found her way out of this endless void.

A frigid wind whistled past her ears, mournful as the wails of lost souls. Ye Can shook out her bloodstained sleeves. Aside from the wind and the sound of her own footsteps, there was nothing else to hear.

So this is what the world after death is like, she thought.

No eighteen levels of Hell from the legends, no void of nothingness as she had imagined—just eternally trapped in a pitch-black, freezing night, with no path out.

It felt awful.

Though she felt nothing but the cold, after walking for so long, she had no desire to keep going.

So Ye Can lay down right there, placing her hand on her abdomen and quietly closing her eyes.

Her body grew even colder, but her mind sharpened all the more.

Ye Can liked this icy sensation because there was something wrong with her head.

As a child, she had suffered from mental instability—quick to rage, prone to frenzy. She was never meant to be king of Yan Kingdom. But her father and brothers had died young, her younger siblings were all invalids, and the ministers had no choice but to put her on the throne.

Long before her ascension, Yan Kingdom had sunk into decadence, with court and country awash in corruption. Once she took the throne, hampered by her condition, she hadn’t accomplished much good.

At most, as a teenager, she had stormed into court with a sword and lopped off the heads of a few power-hungry ministers—those who fancied abducting beauties by force.

But she hadn’t done much evil either.

After all, she didn’t share her father’s obsession with building palaces or her eldest brother’s with toying with beauties. At worst, she had stolen the wife of a high minister’s son.

So when those two families finally rebelled, it was entirely predictable.

A king with a diseased mind, court politics controlled by sycophantic eunuchs who fawned upward and oppressed downward, the people starving—it was no surprise that officials with any shred of conscience couldn’t survive. Why wouldn’t they rebel? Were they supposed to wait to die?

Ye Can fully understood the needs of these normal people. So before the rebels breached the palace walls, she chose a dignified way to end it.

She had taken her own life with a dagger—and in doing so, fulfilled a certain woman’s long-held wish.

Ye Can patted her abdomen lightly, as if still feeling the cold, sticky flow of blood, which inexplicably reminded her of the wine she had drunk just before death.

She knew that woman she had dragged back to the palace had always wanted to kill her. But lacking status and opportunity, she had never succeeded.

Seeing as the woman had kept her company for several years, Ye Can decided to grant her wish before dying.

At this thought, Ye Can patted her own head, racking her brain, only to realize she didn’t even know the woman’s name.

She had never asked?

Ah, a diseased mind really isn’t reliable.

Whatever. That woman was probably reunited with her family by now, living a peaceful life. What was the point of dwelling on it?

The dead should lie still and savor the quiet of death.

Ye Can closed her eyes again.

She didn’t know how much time passed before a piercing bell tolled in her ears.

Ye Can frowned as a cacophony of panicked screams erupted around her.

“Approaching world edge… Approaching world edge…”

“World integration imminent! World integration imminent! Please take note!”

What were these sounds, these phrases? Ghostly incantations? Did the afterlife truly hold some other realm?

The voices droned on in her mind, annoying her to no end. She sat up and smacked her head furiously.

“Hey! Who’s talking to me? Stop yammering and answer me!”

The voice ignored her, shrieking madly: “World integrated! World integrated!”

“World starting!”

“System activating!”

“Favorability detection initiating!”

The surrounding darkness twisted and warped. A beam of light pierced straight through it. Ye Can clutched her head and turned away, squinting against the glare.

A massive thing with eyes like copper bells—glowing ones—barreled straight toward her.

She clutched her head, staggering to her feet and turning to face the oncoming monster. The ghosts of Hell come in such strange forms, she thought.

Blaring horns filled the air. Ye Can shuffled forward unsteadily and vaguely heard someone scream: “Get out of the way! Get out of the way!”

Suddenly, a shrill voice rang in her mind: “Favorability detection! Zero!”

Pain exploded in her head. Her body pitched forward.

With a thud, Ye Can’s face smashed into the ground.

The metallic tang of blood assaulted her nostrils. As her cheek met the cold pavement, she felt blood trickling.

Dead people shouldn’t bleed, she thought.

Just before blacking out completely, she sensed the light that had struck behind her swerve sharply, veering off in another direction.

Five meters away, Lin Zixi wrenched the steering wheel hard inside her car. She watched the figure slowly fading in front of her vehicle brush past, drenched in cold sweat.

She slammed on the brakes, pulling over to the roadside.

Limbs trembling, Lin Zixi slumped in the driver’s seat, gasping as she stared into the endless night ahead, her heart pounding with aftershock.

It took her a while to recover. Then she turned the car around and slowly drove back.

She stopped again near where the person had collapsed by the road, switched on her headlights, and shone them directly on the figure.

Unbuckling her seatbelt, she dashed into the chilly night, sprinting toward the fallen body.

“Hey! Hey, are you okay?!”

Lin Zixi reached Ye Can’s side. In the glare of the headlights, she finally saw what the near-victim looked like.

The person lay facedown barefoot on the ground, draped in a black-and-red Hanfu brocaded with a golden dragon, long hair spilling over to hide her face. Lin Zixi guessed she was probably an extra from nearby Fanhua Film City.

But wandering the highway barefoot at one in the morning in early winter, ghostlike? She must be mentally unwell.

Thinking this, Lin Zixi cautiously prodded the body and called out softly: “Hey… hey… you okay?”

No response. Lin Zixi reached through the hair, pressing her fingertips to the neck. Beneath her cool fingertips, warm skin pulsed faintly. Lin Zixi’s heart, which had leaped to her throat, finally settled.

She took a deep breath, pulled out her phone, and dialed 120 without hesitation.

The district hospital nearest Fanhua Film City dispatched an ambulance quickly. Before it arrived, Lin Zixi grabbed every piece of clothing from her car and piled them over the person on the ground.

She didn’t dare move her, just kept her hand on the neck, feeling the pulse to confirm she was still alive.

The early winter night wind bit deep. Lin Zixi crouched by this half-dead stranger, calmly texting everyone around her to say she was safe.

Only when the ambulance arrived did she gather her clothes and watch the doctors and nurses deftly flip the prone figure onto a stretcher.

Under the harsh white lights, Lin Zixi glimpsed the blood-smeared face and froze.

Even caked in blood, the untouched patches of skin gleamed whiter than snow. Lin Zixi studied the shadowed contours of the face, a faint sense of familiarity stirring.

The paramedic gave a quick check, then helped the nurse lift her onto the stretcher. Lin Zixi watched the slender figure in Hanfu vanish into the night, then hurried back to her car with the clothes, following the ambulance to the hospital.

After some hassle at the hospital, the patient was moved from the ER to a regular ward.

The doctor emerged from the ER wearing a mask. Spotting Lin Zixi in the waiting area, he removed it and said, “Facial abrasions, mild concussion, severe hypoglycemia. Needs overnight observation.”

“No ID on her. Do you know her?”

Lin Zixi shook her head. “No, I don’t. I was driving home late and saw her wandering the road. She collapsed, so I called 120.”

The doctor pondered. “We’ll ask when she wakes up, then.”

Lin Zixi nodded. “Yeah, thanks, doctor.”

She added, “I’ll cover the medical bills for now. She can pay when she wakes.”

“Sounds good,” the doctor said after a pause. “That’s settled.”

He gave her a few more instructions. Lin Zixi paid at the counter with the nurse, then returned to Ye Can’s room. It was already half-past three in the morning, but the ER area bustled with worried families.

Weaving through anxious faces and coughs light and hacking, Lin Zixi pushed open Ye Can’s door.

She was alone in the room. Lin Zixi approached the bed, curiosity drawing her eyes to the person she had saved.

She glanced downward, then let her gaze linger on the face.

Staring at the sleeping features, Lin Zixi unconsciously reached out, her fingertip brushing the brows and eyes. The moment she made contact, fragmented images flooded her mind.

Amid swirling incense smoke and languid music, gauzy curtains billowed, revealing glimpses of spring warmth. She lay cradled in soft arms, a cold hand gripping her chin, forcing her head up.

A pair of lifeless eyes bored into hers. Cherry-thin lips spat icy words: “Look at me. Look properly for me!”

Lin Zixi shuddered and recoiled a step.

Shocked, she stared at the woman on the bed. She knew her—she had seen her before.

In her dreams, countless times.

But every time she woke, the face faded. Until today, when the dream figure gained sharp clarity.

Lin Zixi clenched her fist, peering cautiously again at the bed. She thought she saw the long lashes quiver. Her eyes flicked to the fingers—yes, the slender white digits twitched faintly.

She’s waking!

This realization sent chills crawling over Lin Zixi’s scalp, alarms blaring in her mind. She wanted to flee but couldn’t budge.

Her heart raced inexplicably. Leaning against the other bed, she watched the woman slowly open her eyes.

The woman looked around, muttering something. Lin Zixi watched tensely—and accidentally met her gaze.

In those indifferent eyes, surprise flashed for an instant.

“Why are you here?”

Surprise deepened: “What is your name?”