Chapter 1: Transmigrating Before Death

A chill permeated her surroundings, followed immediately by Duan Yaoyao being jolted awake by excruciating pain. She struggled to open her eyes, but before her was nothing but a hollow void of darkness.

For a moment, Yaoyao felt lost, unsure of where she was. Was she dreaming?

But the pain served as a constant reminder that she was indeed in reality. Even though her eyes could not see, her naturally keen five senses allowed her to feel her arms being hoisted high by ropes at either end, her body suspended in mid-air. The air was thick with the viscous scent of blood and the nauseating stench of rotting, heart-wrenching wounds filling her nostrils.

Why was this happening! Where on earth was she?

Duan Yaoyao wanted to roar in fury. As a female War King who possessed absolute authority and led thousands to make life-and-death decisions on the battlefield, she had never suffered such an insult in her entire life, nor would she ever allow herself to fall into such a desperate predicament. But when she opened her mouth, she discovered it was also empty...

They had actually cut out her tongue!

From the moment she took her first life on the battlefield, Duan Yaoyao knew that everyone dies sooner or later; if not at the hands of an enemy, she wouldn't live long on the battlefield regardless.

She was not afraid of death, but she absolutely refused to die without knowing why!

Facing this cruel situation, only Duan Yaoyao could manage to calm down and analyze. She clearly remembered killing an assassin at a ball just a moment ago; how could everything be so different after a single sleep!

But something wasn't right. Even with the finest anesthetic, one couldn't sleep for this long. Could wounds rot and smell this quickly?

The various doubts caused her to momentarily forget the pain in her body. In the past, whenever someone tried to harm her behind her back, she had always taught them a lesson with ruthless methods!

Therefore, anyone could have harmed her!

But who had the capability to strike such a blow without her knowing?

To use such vicious methods against her, they must absolutely loathe her to the extreme!

They wanted to make her wish she were dead!

Just then, several nearly inaudible footsteps approached from a distance. Duan Yaoyao lifted her head, looking toward them with her hollow "eyes," only to hear someone on the opposite side suddenly let out a soft, charming giggle.

"Hehe, my dear sister, since you've already gone blind, what is it you're hoping to see?"

It was a female voice she had never heard before.

Duan Yaoyao's heart sank upon hearing it. Her only sister had been born to her third aunt and had been shot dead by her father years ago during a military uprising. Where did this sister come from?

Seeing her look of confusion, the woman's voice suddenly shifted, and she snorted coldly, "Shangguan Erya, are you trying to pretend you don't know me? I am your twin sister, born of the same father and mother—the Shangguan Yunzhu, whose light you've eclipsed since childhood, the one whom Grandmother and Mother only doted on you for, while neglecting me!"

Shangguan Erya? Shangguan Yunzhu? Who were they?

Duan Yaoyao felt dazed, beginning to doubt whether she was actually dreaming!

Before she could figure it out, Shangguan Yunzhu's voice rang out joyfully, "Oh, I almost forgot, your eyes were gouged out, and even your tongue was fed to the dogs! Hahaha!"

Duan Yaoyao shuddered at the woman's vicious words. Just how much hatred could drive a biological sister to treat her this way?

Seeing that she finally had a reaction, Shangguan Yunzhu spoke with increasing triumph, "Don't worry, I no longer intend to take that half-piece of blood jade the late Emperor bestowed upon you. Anyway, from now on, I will wear this face that is identical to yours, living in bliss with Brother-in-law, and replacing you as the Consort of the Heir to the Duke of Fu's Manor... Ha, don't blame me for being ruthless; it's simply that you were too stupid! You didn't even care about your own biological mother's life just to protect that blood jade!"

"Yunzhu," a man suddenly shouted, "why not just give her a quick death and be done with it!"

"Done with it, my foot!" Shangguan Yunzhu screamed, "Ning Lei, are you feeling pity? If you can't bear to part with your true wife, then go down to hell with her to have your eyes gouged and your tongue cut!"

The man's voice immediately weakened, "No, no, how could I sympathize with her!"

Duan Yaoyao felt contempt in her heart. She didn't know who this Shangguan Erya was, but to have her husband stolen by her own sister!

Ning Lei said placatingly, "You can do whatever you want, I'll listen to you!"

Shangguan Yunzhu huffed, "I wish I could turn Shangguan Erya to ashes right this instant! But I must still listen to the Master."

Duan Yaoyao was startled; there was actually a third person, and she hadn't heard a single footstep from them!

At that moment, a voice drifted over, sounding somewhat unreal.

The man's tone was indifferent yet carried a chilling frost, "Dying like this is a kind of blessing, after all."

The word "blessing" was light, yet it felt like a sharp blade scraping against her, making her whole body tremble!

Duan Yaoyao actually began to shake uncontrollably, as if she had a conditioned fear of this person.

She heard Shangguan Yunzhu call out from afar, "Here, Master."

Seeing the woman suspended in mid-air struggling frantically upon realizing her death was near, Shangguan Yunzhu felt a bloodthirsty surge of excitement at the sight of her ruined face and scarred body.

She giggled incessantly, saying grimly, "Then, my dear sister, you can go on dying slowly!"

With that, the three of them departed amidst terrifying laughter. Even though Duan Yaoyao was consumed by rage and held ten thousand questions in her heart, she could do nothing as her body was already failing her. She could feel her body temperature slowly dropping and her consciousness gradually dissipating. She saw many unfamiliar images flashing through her mind one after another—

She, Shangguan Erya—a legitimate daughter turned illegitimate; a woman of extraordinary talent who suppressed her brilliance; a woman framed by her legal mother and married to the wrong man; a woman who was bullied by her so-called relatives and was powerless to protect even those she wanted to protect most, only to have her eyes gouged and her tongue cut, dying a tragic death at the hands of her own sister and husband!

And there was even a cruel mastermind behind it all!

After seeing it all, it was as if Duan Yaoyao had personally experienced Shangguan Erya's life. She suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. Grief, indignation, shame, and pity all intertwined in her heart. She was angry at Shangguan Erya for being too patient and humble, which led to her being bullied time and again; she hated those so-called relatives for their scorpion-like hearts, being worse than beasts. If she were Shangguan Erya, she would never allow them to harm her even a fraction, and she would make those people wish they were dead!

But it was all too late!

*Drip—*

As the last drop of blood fell, the lonely soul from the Republican era was entirely unaware that she had already merged with the flesh and blood of this body's owner, their souls becoming one!