Chapter 1: The Beginning

In deep winter, Lake Tai was a vast expanse of mist-covered water. In the night, it seemed to shimmer with silver light. A thin layer of fog drifted over the surface, crystallized by the low temperature; when the wind blew, it felt as piercing as needles of rain.

When Ling Qingyu fell from the small boat into the lake, the icy water jolted her awake from her hangover. She tried to stretch her body, only to find that she was already frozen stiff. Not only was her body unresponsive, but her limbs began to cramp the moment they touched the freezing water.

As her body continued to sink, amidst the agonizing suffocation, fragments of her life began to flash before her eyes.

Thirty-some years of the past flickered by in a rapid montage, finally settling on the thank-you banquet held after her father’s funeral: the beautiful woman whispering and giggling in her husband’s arms, and the expression of surprise yet relief on her husband’s face.

Having just finished all the divorce paperwork, she had come here alone to celebrate finally regaining her freedom—was this how it was all going to end?

*Just let it sink into silence,* she thought, yet a sudden surge of unwillingness and reluctance welled up in Ling Qingyu’s heart.

"Yuyu~ Yu'er~~"

"Mom! What will Mom do without me!"

Ling Qingyu began to struggle, but the stiffness of her body only caused her to sink faster.

"No! Mother!"

A cry came from somewhere distant, yet it also seemed to be right beside her.

A flash crossed her vision, and her body was suddenly free from the icy lake water. Ling Qingyu realized she had arrived in a vast, white space. So, she really was dead. Was this heaven after death? Or hell?

*Mother...*

The faint, delicate cry came again. Ling Qingyu groped her way toward the sound and saw a young girl lying on the ground, weeping.

"It's you?" The girl looked up, her plump face and eyes swollen from crying suddenly radiating a brilliant light.

"It's me." Ling Qingyu replied instinctively, then felt a pang of annoyance—what kind of conversation was this? But why did this girl’s face look so familiar? This figure, this round, flat face, the high-set buttocks, and the chest that was already beginning to develop. It suddenly hit her: this was the middle schooler from her near-death memory who had been fighting at a late-night food stall.

Damn! This is me!

But why was she wearing an ancient long dress, looking so frail and delicate?

"I was harmed by treacherous villains and died after falling into Lake Tai," the girl stood up and said. "My father and brothers have also been murdered by them. I have no strength to take revenge; I only ask that, since we are the same person, you take good care of my mother and avenge our deaths."

As soon as she finished speaking, she lunged forward.

Ling Qingyu was knocked over by the impact, and the ground suddenly vanished. With a "whoosh," Ling Qingyu felt herself fall into a container, and then, noisy shouts erupted in her ears...