Early autumn, July.
The rising sun hung high in the sky, baking the cracked earth until it was searing hot. The surrounding expanse was vast and empty. On this country path, the only moving ox cart came to a halt. A girl with delicate features, covered in wounds and skeletal thinness, was roughly dragged to the ground by a man.
“She’s… she’s dead!”
“Shut the hell up! What rotten luck. We haven’t even sold her yet, and one’s already dead. Big brother, since she just died, let’s have some fun first. We can’t let this be a loss!”
“Big sister, big sister… Ah… ah… ah!”
Beside the ox cart, another dark, thin man flared up in rage. He pulled out a whip and lashed the screaming little girl ruthlessly. Instantly, the girl’s body was covered in bloody welts. Curling up on the ground, she writhed in unbearable pain.
“You little brat! Your sister, that money-losing wretch—I traded a bag of grain for her, and she fucking died just like that!”
Gu Xiao, lying on the ground, slowly regained consciousness. Before she even opened her eyes, she heard grieving and vicious voices echoing in her ears.
Immediately after, she felt a pair of restless hands wandering over her body.
Gu Xiao forced her eyes open and met a pair of murky eyes. A foul stench wafted from the man, and hands like gnarled tree roots were sprawled across her chest.
A chill of disgust rose from her heart. You dare touch your grandma? You must be tired of living!!
Before the man could react to her waking up, she delivered a backhanded elbow strike, cleanly dislocating his arm. Following that, she struck the back of his neck with her palm; a faint sound of bone cracking could be heard.
The man’s eyes bulged in shock as he instantly collapsed, dying with his eyes wide open.
Without anything to block it, the scorching sun dazzled her eyes. She realized the surrounding environment was not like the apocalypse. Everywhere she looked was desolate, devoid of life. Heat waves brushed against her cheeks, making it hard to breathe.
Not far away, several skeletal girls dressed in coarse linen were locked on the ox cart. Beside the cart, the dark, thin man held a whip, and a girl curled on the ground, unconscious.
Gu Xiao was dazed. Why were these people all wearing ancient costumes?
Hadn’t she died by falling from a building during a zombie suppression operation in the apocalypse?
Could she have transmigrated?!
After all, in the apocalypse, no one had the leisure or inclination to film period dramas!
The dark, thin man by the ox cart gasped, stunned by the sudden turn of events. “Second brother!! You little brat, I’ll kill you!”
As he spoke, the man raised his knife and rushed toward Gu Xiao, getting closer and closer.
Gu Xiao had no time to think. She used a sweep kick to trip the man. His head happened to land right on a protruding rock, and a burst of bright red blood instantly gushed out. The cracked earth was like a bloodthirsty demon, greedily drinking it in.
Only after this movement did she realize this body was not her own. There was not an ounce of fat on her, and she was covered in wounds, feeling so weak she might faint at any moment.
The girls on the ox cart watched Gu Xiao’s fluid movements in utter shock. Someone shouted “Run!” and the dazed, frightened girls finally burst into survival mode, scattering like startled birds and beasts.
Uh… they were scared by that?
As Gu Xiao was grumbling internally, a sharp pain suddenly pierced her head. Scenes flashed before her eyes as she was forced to accept foreign memories.
She had transmigrated into a fictional dynasty—the Dajiang Chao. The original owner of the body was thirteen years old and shared her name. Her mother had died three years ago, and her father had died in battle a year ago. Since then, she had depended on her younger sister, who was seven years younger than her, for survival.
After a year of severe drought, barbarians took the opportunity to launch a war, advancing with unstoppable momentum. Gujia Cun, where the original owner lived, decided to flee the famine as a village. The original owner’s grandmother and second uncle didn’t want to bring the two sisters along, so they sold them to human traffickers for grain. The original owner refused and tried to flee with her sister, but after being caught and beaten, her injuries went untreated. She eventually died, allowing Gu Xiao’s soul to transmigrate into her body.
After sorting through the memories, Gu Xiao couldn’t help but sigh. The original owner’s life was not much better than her own in the apocalypse.
Transmigration really was a matter of luck.
As the pain faded, Gu Xiao slowly opened her eyes. The surroundings were now deathly silent, with only the little girl still curled on the ground by the ox cart.
This little girl was the original owner’s younger sister, Gu Wan. To prevent her sister from being harmed, she had ignored her own safety and jumped off the cart, only to be whipped by that man. Her life or death remained unknown.
Ignoring her own pain, Gu Xiao hurried over and carefully lifted Gu Wan.
The girl’s face was bloodless, her cheeks sunken and stained with tears. Her lips were deathly pale, her body was skin and bones, and she was covered in scars.
“Wake up…” she called out anxiously, reaching out to check Gu Wan’s breathing. Fortunately, she was still alive.
But she couldn’t leave her without treatment. Gu Xiao tried to condense her Yineng, and suddenly, a blue light outlined the Xitong Kongjian.
Thank goodness, my Yineng is still here!
She immediately took out two bottles of Qiangshen Yaoji from the space. These had been developed in the apocalypse to deal with zombie infections and mutations. They were essential medicines; even someone half-dead could cling to life with one of these.
Ordinary people who drank it would become healthy and strong, and long-term consumption could grant immense strength.
Gu Xiao had relied on this to survive the apocalypse, as she had only awakened Jingshenxi Yineng and Kongjianxi Yineng.
Jingshenxi Yineng allowed one to control the minds of others for their own use. However, most battles in the apocalypse were against zombies and mutated plants or animals, which lacked functioning brains entirely.
Therefore, this “buff” ability essentially just allowed the few remaining humans to slaughter each other. If one encountered someone with stronger mental power, a momentary lapse could result in being killed instead.
Because of this, Gu Xiao had stockpiled a large amount of Qiangshen Yaoji and Dali Wan to increase her own physical combat power for self-defense.
As she fed the potion bit by bit into Gu Wan’s mouth, a ripple of emotion stirred in Gu Xiao’s heart. Having been alone in her previous life, she finally had a companion. She would definitely protect this little girl.
She opened the other bottle and downed it; this body’s constitution was too poor and needed nourishment.
It would take a while for the potion to take effect, so Gu Xiao strained to carry the little girl onto the ox cart. She placed the machete and the whip into the basket on the cart, which also contained two bags of coarse grain, a bag of flatbreads, and a pot.
After hurriedly taking some food from her space to grab a few bites, she began to loot the two men’s bodies.
This was a habit she had picked up in the apocalypse: always loot the bodies after a kill.
…
Gu Wan, lying on the ox cart, regained her strength. She slowly sat up and called out softly, “Big sister, big sister…”
Suddenly, she saw her sister rummaging through the belongings of two blood-covered corpses.