Pain.
Cold.
Hunger.
Lin Shengsheng’s consciousness was violently dragged back to reality by a wrenching sensation so intense it felt as if her internal organs were being shaken loose.
Coarse gravel scraped against her bare ankles, a searing pain. The dry, biting wind sliced through her thin linen sacrificial robe like a knife, stealing the last traces of warmth from her body.
The instincts of the chief geneticist from the A-7 Sanctuary in the post-apocalyptic world allowed her to complete a preliminary analysis of her situation even before opening her eyes.
Extreme physical weakness, low body temperature, signs of long-term malnutrition and dehydration. Limbs feeble, muscles slack—this body’s condition was even worse than that of a ten-year-old child in the post-apocalyptic world.
She snapped her eyes open.
What greeted her was a desolate, gray-yellow expanse of barren hills stretching as far as the eye could see. The sky was a murky leaden gray, the sun so stingy it hid behind the clouds, casting only a sickly, faint glow.
The air was thick with a pungent mix of dust, sweat, and the musky stench of wild beasts, irritating her throat and making it itch.
Two unnaturally tall and robust “men” were dragging her across the sandy ground by her arms, one on each side, hauling her like a ragged sack. They were bare-chested, their skin a coppery bronze, muscles coiled with primitive explosive power. But what made Lin Shengsheng’s pupils contract sharply were the furry, distinctive hyena ears atop their heads and the ugly tails that occasionally flicked behind them.
Beastmen.
A term that existed only in novels and fantasies crashed into her reality with a brutality that brooked no doubt.
She had crossed over.
After being engulfed by a tide of infected creatures while protecting the “Seed of Life” sample, she had arrived in this primitive and savage world of beastmen.
Fragments of memory flooded in like a tide.
This body was also named Lin Shengsheng, a female of the Snow Rabbit tribe. In this world, females were rare and precious, meant to be cherished and protected. But she was an anomaly—a “defective product” born unable to transform into her beast form.
In a beastman world that revered strength, the inability to transform meant frailty, incompetence, a symbol of impure bloodline, a castaway abandoned by the gods.
Thus, when the tribe was struck by a severe drought, water sources dried up, and younglings died one after another, she, this “defective product,” became the natural choice for a sacrificial offering.
To be offered to the legendary, capricious “Mountain God” of the Gray Jaw Ridge, to appease divine wrath and seek blessings.
“Shengsheng, you’re awake?”
A delicate voice tinged with just the right amount of concern sounded beside her.
Lin Shengsheng turned her head with difficulty and saw a face that could be called perfect.
Liya, a female of the Red Fox tribe.
She had long, fiery-bright hair dyed with some kind of red berry, watery crimson eyes, and a carefully painted, pitiable beauty mark beneath the corner of her eye. She wore the same sacrificial robe as Lin Shengsheng, but hers was noticeably cleaner and better fitted, accentuating the slender, alluring curves of a young maiden.
Liya was the most popular female in the Broken Fang tribe and the original body’s only “close friend.”
At this moment, she gazed at Lin Shengsheng with those beautiful eyes glistening with crystalline tears, her face full of heartache and reluctance.
“Shengsheng, don’t blame the chief, and don’t blame everyone. The tribe can barely hold on anymore. This is the only way left.” She sobbed, her voice so fragile it seemed it would shatter with the slightest breeze. “Don’t worry, when you… when you meet the Mountain God, we will all pray for you.”
How touching.
If only Lin Shengsheng hadn’t caught that fleeting, almost unconcealable flash of jealousy and glee deep within those seemingly sorrowful eyes.
In the isolation labs of the apocalypse, Lin Shengsheng had witnessed too many betrayals and killings over survival resources. Lia’s clumsy acting, in her eyes, was nothing but a farcical mime.
Jealous of what?
Jealous that she, this “defective product,” though unable to shapeshift, had inherited the Snow Hare tribe’s top-tier appearance genes: snow-white hair, gem-like crimson eyes, and a face so delicate it resembled a doll’s, even though it was pale and gaunt from malnutrition.
Gleeful about what?
Gleeful that the only existence that could threaten her in terms of looks was about to disappear. From now on, all the males in the Broken Fang tribe would have eyes only for her, Lia.
“Hah.”
Lin Shengsheng sneered inwardly, not even bothering to waste the energy to speak.
Her silence, in Lia’s eyes, was despair and resignation.
The glee in Lia’s eyes grew stronger. She leaned in closer, her voice so soft only the two of them could hear, tinged with a hint of condescending pity. “Shengsheng, don’t be too upset. For a defective product like you, being able to make a final contribution to the tribe is a worthy death. It’s much more dignified than being abandoned by your mate in the future for not being able to bear healthy offspring and starving to death, isn’t it?”
After saying this, she straightened up, reverting to that sorrowful, saintly demeanor, even lifting a hand to wipe away the nonexistent tears at the corner of her eye.
The surrounding hyena beastmen looked at Lia, their eyes filled with adoration and heartache.
“Lia is just too kind-hearted,” grumbled a male named “Sharpfang,” who was dragging Lin Shengsheng. “Why bother feeling sad for a defective product?”
“Exactly! It’s an honor for her to be an offering to the Mountain God!” another male, “Dirtyclaw,” chimed in, his gaze toward Lin Shengsheng full of disgust.
They dragged her with even greater force. Lin Shengsheng felt the bones in her arms groaning under the strain.
She closed her eyes, no longer looking at Lia’s hypocritical face or the contemptuous gazes around her.
Conserve energy.
Think calmly.
This was her first rule of survival in the apocalypse.
But… what else could she do?
In this savage world where strength reigned supreme, she, unarmed and frail, was like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
Despair, like the dust of the Grayjaw Ridge, seeped relentlessly into her heart.
Amidst this icy despair, a faint, almost imperceptible warmth suddenly stirred to life deep within her dantian.
That warmth was very weak, like a wisp of silk, slowly flowing through her parched meridians. Wherever it passed, it brought a tingling, almost newborn-like itch.
What… is this?
Lin Shengsheng’s consciousness instantly sharpened to its peak.
As a top-tier genetic physician, she was intimately familiar with every subtle change in her own body. Yet this warm current belonged neither to any known bioelectricity nor to any energy this body should possess according to her memory.
It had appeared out of thin air.
Was it a golden finger that had crossed over along with her soul?
Lin Shengsheng’s heart began to race uncontrollably.
The desire to survive, like dry firewood struck by a spark, instantly burst into roaring flames!
Whatever this was, it was her only hope!
The procession moved forward in silence, drawing closer to their destination.
A massive and eerie black altar appeared at the edge of the horizon.
The altar was constructed from unknown black megaliths, ancient and rugged in style, covered in marks eroded by time. An ominous aura—chilling, decaying, and thick with the scent of blood—drifted from the direction of the altar, causing all the beastmen to instinctively slow their steps, their eyes filled with reverence and fear.
“Hurry… hurry up! Bring the offering forward!”
The chieftain of the Broken Fang tribe, an elderly, one-eyed hyena beastman, urged in a hoarse voice. His gaze was fixed intently on the center of the altar, where an unimaginably enormous white figure lay.
It was a tiger.
A snow-white giant tiger, as massive as a small hill!
Even as it lay there, barely clinging to life, the terrifying pressure it exuded—rooted deep in its bloodline, from the very top of the food chain—still made the surrounding hyena beastmen’s legs go weak, almost forcing them to prostrate themselves.
Lin Shengsheng was shoved roughly forward, stumbling to the edge of the altar.
Only at this moment did she truly see the full form of this so-called “Mountain God.”
Its size was truly colossal—its shoulder height likely exceeded three meters, and its body length was even more astonishing. Its snow-white fur, which should have been the purest color in the world, was now covered in countless ferocious black curse markings.
These markings seemed alive, slowly writhing and spreading beneath its fur, emitting a dense aura of decay and death. With each twitch, the giant tiger’s body would convulse violently, and a suppressed, agonized growl would escape from deep within its throat.
Its breathing was faint yet scorching, each exhalation carrying a searing heatwave that felt as if it could ignite the air.
It was dying.
No, to be more precise, it was on the brink of being completely corrupted by this mysterious pollution known as the “Decay Curse,” about to fall into the abyss of becoming a mindless “Cursefallen.”
Instantly, memories of the “Cursefallen” from the original body’s mind surfaced in Lin Shengsheng’s thoughts.
They were monsters who, after being tainted by curses, lost all reason, retaining only the instincts of destruction and slaughter. They were the nightmares of all intelligent races.
And once this white tiger before her completely fell, its power would be enough to wipe the entire Broken Fang tribe from the face of this land in an instant!
The beastmen of the Broken Fang tribe had no idea that the object of their offering was a ticking nuclear bomb about to explode!
They only saw the “Mountain God” in agony and foolishly believed that their lack of piety had angered the deity, requiring a “pure” female offering to appease it.
How laughable, and how tragic.
“Go up! Hurry up!”
Dirty Claw behind her pushed impatiently with force.
Lin Shengsheng stumbled and was shoved onto the cold, rough stone surface of the altar.
The sticky sensation beneath her feet came from long-dried, blackened bloodstains—belonging to countless unknown sacrificial victims.
It’s over.
That was the first thought that flashed through Lin Shengsheng’s mind.
Whether she was crushed to death by the pain-driven, maddened giant tiger or torn apart after being completely cursed and corrupted, her fate would be no different.
Fear, like an icy hand, clenched tightly around her heart.