Chapter 1

The murky sky suddenly erupted with a dazzling radiance. A woman in strange attire fell out from the light, crashing onto the earth strewn with coarse gravel and soaked in bloody filth. Her leg was broken.

The woman cried out in pain, lifting her head. The moment she saw her surroundings, she snapped her mouth shut—she was too terrified to make a sound.

Before her lay countless severed limbs, mutilated bodies, and blood-stained blades and spears. Among the living, besides one person standing steady and firm, the rest were either lying down, breathing out but not in, or hugging their heads, shrinking in corners, looking for a chance to flee.

And the one standing steady was dressed in an ancient-style black robe, the hem soaked. She held a horrifyingly large long blade, disproportionately immense. The blade was slowly being pulled out of someone’s body, a bright red liquid trickling down with a dull thud.

The woman trembled uncontrollably, wondering what kind of sin she had committed. Why, the moment she arrived in this place, did she stumble upon a massacre?

The executioner’s clothes were disheveled, her long hair in disarray, caked with blood and filth, making her look exceptionally wretched. Holding the blade, she slowly turned towards her.

It was only then that the newcomer realized the executioner was also a woman.

This conclusion was drawn after she had stared intensely for a long while, peering through the gaps in the matted, long hair to glimpse a delicate chin.

She stared at her intensely. The other woman also looked at her silently. Through the strands of chaotic hair, a single blood-red eye was revealed, brimming with madness and struggle.

A deathly silence fell over the scene.

The oddly-dressed woman couldn’t take it anymore. She came from an Apocalypse World; waiting for death wasn’t her style. Although she was likely no match for this terrifying executioner, survival was a human instinct.

So, she propped herself up with her hands and slowly retreated backward, all the while keeping her eyes fixed on the other.

Who would have thought that staying still would have been better? The moment she moved, it was as if some strange switch had been triggered.

The madwoman burst forth with a sharp sonic boom, appearing before her in the blink of an eye. The massive blade, nearly as tall as a person, seemed like a piece of paper in the madwoman’s hand as she smoothly rested it on her shoulder.

The razor-sharp edge, reflecting cold light, pressed against her neck with perfect precision. The slightest move from her would result in a bloodbath.

She felt the story shouldn’t end this way, so she tried to salvage the situation: “Actually—”

But the madwoman cut her off. She half-crouched before her, looking at her with an odd, sticky, and cold gaze. Her tone matched her gaze—drifting and weak: “Why are you only coming now?”

Her heart trembled: “To be honest, I’d like to know too. Even if I’d arrived a day earlier, being able to avoid you would have been a good thing!”

She hadn’t even figured out how to answer when the madwoman, probably not needing her answer anyway, continued speaking to herself: “I’ve been waiting for you for so long.”

The madwoman reached out her other hand and gently stroked her cheek. It was cold, sticky, and carried a bloody stench. She didn’t need a mirror to know that disgusting traces of blood were surely being smeared across her face.

She tried to dodge, but the slight turn of her head brought a sharp pain to her neck. Immediately, warm liquid trickled down. So, she didn’t dare move anymore.

She could only let the madwoman touch her face repeatedly, looking at her with an expression mixing nostalgia and intense hatred.

A chill ran through her. Out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly glimpsed a black shadow, moving so fast it was barely visible—someone who had been hiding had seized the moment when the madwoman’s attention was entirely on her to launch a sneak attack.

Unfortunately, the moment the attacker got close, the madwoman backhandedly cleaved them in two with a single stroke.

The madwoman was like a statue; except for the arm holding the blade, she didn’t move a muscle.

She: …

Too, brutal, and, vicious!

She felt suffocated, a headache, and dizziness, but she didn’t dare faint. She was afraid that if she fainted, her neck would come off.

“Could it be you’ve mistaken me for someone else?” she asked, feigning calm.

The madwoman froze for a moment, pondering her words. After a brief pause, she pulled her lips into a mirthless smile: “How could that be? If you’re not her, then who else could you be?”

She opened her mouth to answer: “I am—”

And her mind went blank.

She had forgotten.

She remembered she was a woman from the Apocalypse World, knew how fun phones were, how delicious fried chicken was, but all specific experiences related to herself… everything was gone. Including her name.

Even worse, because she’d frozen up, the madwoman became absolutely convinced she was the person she’d been waiting for. Her smile was twisted and intoxicated: “You are called Li Jiangying. Have you remembered it?”

She answered unwillingly: “Remembered.”

“It doesn’t matter if you can’t remember.” The madwoman opened her mouth. A flash of bright red, like a snake’s shadow, darted out and vanished. She murmured, grabbing Li Jiangying’s shoulder with one hand.

“It doesn’t matter if you can’t remember. Because from this day forward, you are never allowed to leave me.”

Li Jiangying couldn’t help but shiver all over, beginning to wonder just what kind of script she had drawn.

As compensation for losing her memory, while forgetting her own past, Li Jiangying had naturally gained a basic understanding of this world.

She knew this wasn’t Earth, wasn’t modern times, and wasn’t even an ordinary ancient world.

This was a world where powers beyond scientific common sense existed. People here could become immortals through cultivation!

Therefore, when the madwoman grabbed her and rushed into the sky, Li Jiangying wasn’t scared into screaming. When she saw people on the ground come out to attack, only to be killed in return, she could only sigh sadly.

Li Jiangying looked back. Because she was now at a high altitude, she finally saw the full picture of where she’d landed—jagged rocks covered in iron-rust red. From the regular edges barely discernible at the perimeter, Li Jiangying could tell this had once been a plaza or altar. But it must have been ages ago; weathered by sun and wind over the years, it was now dilapidated beyond recognition.

About three meters from where she had landed stood a statue, visually estimated to be four or five meters tall. Because the damage was too severe, covered in deep and chaotic gouges, it was now just a pitted column, making it impossible to identify what it had once depicted.

Before long, Li Jiangying couldn’t bear to look anymore and closed her eyes. The more she looked, the more tragic that mountain of corpses and sea of blood on the ground seemed. The more she looked, the more ferocious and terrifying the woman clutching her as she flew appeared.

The wind was strong at this height, chilling Li Jiangying’s skin. Her broken right leg, whipped by the howling wind, had gone from sharp, piercing pain to a numb, dull ache.

She didn’t know if this leg could still be saved… No, she should worry first about whether her own life could be preserved.

She lacked the courage to ask the madwoman where she was being taken. Fortunately, after less than ten minutes of flight, they reached their destination.

“Where is this?” After landing, Li Jiangying boldly supported herself on the madwoman’s shoulder. Otherwise, she couldn’t stand steady. Of course, this was mainly because that terrifying long blade had disappeared at some point.

“It’s our home.” The madwoman murmured as if in a trance.

“Are, you, sure?”

Li Jiangying looked in disbelief at the massive, palace-like building before her. Yes, if properly tidied, renovated, and decorated, it would certainly be a luxurious and impressive home. But the problem was that everything before “if” was just hypothetical.

Look at this half-collapsed palace wall, the tiles shattered all over the ground, the weeds in the wall cracks, on the roof, and covering the ground, almost enough to drown a person. The lacquer painted on the main gate was peeling and flaking off, the door knocker rusted and corroded. With every gust of wind, an eerie creaking sound emanated from it.

Li Jiangying even suspected that if she tried knocking on the door right now, she would be crushed to death by the collapsing gate.

Big shot, aren’t you a big shot who can slaughter a whole field single-handedly? You live in a place like this?

Li Jiangying dared to be angry but didn’t dare speak.

The madwoman, however, was completely immersed in her own world. She suddenly grew excited, turning her head left and right, muttering unintelligible fragments of words under her breath. Abruptly, she grabbed Li Jiangying’s arm and dragged her inside.

Perhaps even a madwoman had some sense of crisis. She didn’t enter through the main gate but dragged Li Jiangying in over the collapsed wall.

Li Jiangying grunted, stumbling as she was pulled along. Not following wasn’t an option; the madwoman was too strong, and she couldn’t break free at all.

Stinging blades of grass sliced across her hands and face, and her broken leg caused excruciating pain. By the time the madwoman dragged her through a courtyard and finally arrived at a relatively clean and tidy area, she was already drenched in cold sweat from the pain.

The moment the madwoman released her grip, Li Jiangying couldn’t help but slump to the ground, panting heavily.

The madwoman looked down at her. Li Jiangying forced an awkward smile.

“Jiangying, look, this is our home.” The madwoman pointed at a room. Her chaotic long hair hung in front of her face. Combined with her excited tone and wide, blood-red pupils, she looked just like a vengeful female ghost.

Li Jiangying was nearly scared into fainting by her. Unable to bear looking directly at the madwoman’s face, she turned to look at the room she was pointing at.

As a building within this palace complex, this room and its courtyard were much cleaner and tidier compared to the places they’d passed through earlier. It was obvious that it had been renovated; the wood, window paper, and red lacquer were all new.

The door frame was damaged, causing the door to not close properly. Through the crack, Li Jiangying discovered that the furnishings, tables, and chairs inside were quite complete. They weren’t old or shabby but could even be considered exquisite.

However, the tables and chairs were toppled all over the floor, and fragments of ornaments lay in chaotic disarray.

Li Jiangying massaged her forehead with a headache. Before she could refuse, the madwoman dragged her forward and pushed the door open.

Unable to struggle free, Li Jiangying was despairingly pulled inside. She gazed at the sky above the courtyard and thought mournfully: Farewell, my new world.

And it was precisely with that glance that she seemed to see a figure flash past in the garden in the courtyard.

So, besides this madwoman, there were other people here?!

Li Jiangying’s heart jumped violently. But as she was about to look closely, the madwoman pulled her into the room, and she could no longer see.

The madwoman completely ignored the utter mess on the floor, directly dragging her to the deepest part of the room. There stood a large wooden bed with carved patterns. With a toss from the madwoman, Li Jiangying tumbled into the middle of the bed.

Propping herself up on her arms in a panic, she raised her head just in time to see the woman, who moved like a mad rabbit, whoosh her face right up to hers.

Li Jiangying gasped sharply, almost being scared back down.

The madwoman stared at her, biting her lower lip and giggling foolishly. Li Jiangying was on the verge of tears: “Stop smiling, Sister, you’re scaring me to death.”

But the madwoman didn’t have an ounce of human understanding. She actually crawled onto the bed using both hands and feet. In this moment, Li Jiangying thought of a world-famous female celebrity—Sister Sadako.

She tried to retreat and evade, but her spirit and injured leg made dodging impossible. The madwoman grabbed her neck.

That long, cold hand was like some kind of cold-blooded creature—soft yet resilient, gripping Li Jiangying’s neck.

The madwoman exerted force with one hand, tightening her grip with a hoarse laugh. Li Jiangying struggled wildly but despaired to find that the hand clamped around her neck was like forged iron. Her counterattacks were nothing but a drizzle to the madwoman.

Physiological tears squeezed from the corners of her eyes. The suffocation felt like it would make her brain explode.

“If… by luck… I don’t die… I will absolutely… not let you off…”

Before losing consciousness, this was what Li Jiangying thought.

In the middle of the night, the world was pitch black. Holding her breath, Li Jiangying opened her eyes.

So heavy… Her chest felt so tight. Her leg ached, her neck ached, and even the scrapes from being dragged earlier began to sting with a fine, persistent pain.

She felt a moment of dazed confusion. Trying to raise her hand to touch her face and confirm she was truly alive, she found her arm was pressed down by something, completely immobile.

After keeping her eyes open for a moment and adjusting to the darkness, by the faint moonlight leaking through the cracks of the door and window, Li Jiangying realized someone was pressing down on her body—the madwoman!

She was right on top of her, still wearing her filthy clothes, not even having taken them off. Perhaps over time, the unidentified grime and bloodstains had fermented, emitting a piercing, metallic stench of blood.

She lay still for a moment, listening to the weak but steady breathing rhythm coming from the madwoman. She finally confirmed that the madwoman was asleep!

Carefully, Li Jiangying pushed her off her body. It must be said, the woman looked quite slender, but her weight was terrifyingly heavy.

Should she run now, or kill her!

Li Jiangying touched her neck; it burned with fiery pain. Given her current state, covered in injuries, she wouldn’t get far even if she ran. Besides, earlier, she had glimpsed what seemed like other living people in the courtyard.

Friend or foe was unknown, but the danger here was beyond doubt.

So, kill her then?

Li Jiangying sat on the edge of the bed, bent down, picked up a shard of broken porcelain, feeling stuck in a dilemma.

Before she could figure out a plan, a cold, soft presence suddenly pressed against her back. A ghastly breath whispered in her ear, and matted, tangled strands of hair fell over her shoulder.

In an instant, every hair on Li Jiangying’s body stood on end!

Two slender, supple arms wrapped around her waist. The ghostly woman behind her rubbed her cheek against the back of Li Jiangying’s head like a cat.

“Jiangying, Jiangying…” It was as if she had turned into a completely different person, calling out with a soft, clinging voice.

Too terrified to think, Li Jiangying grabbed the porcelain shard and slashed down at the arm encircling her waist!

Then, she discovered she hadn’t even left a red mark.

Li Jiangying: …

“You’re not human. You’re a devil.”