“Damn girl, you still dare kill someone?” A rough palm grabbed her hair and slammed her head toward the hard-packed ground. “I’ll beat you to death!”
The excruciating pain jolted Nan Jianli’s consciousness fully awake. Instinctive reactions honed through ten years of the apocalypse made her raise her hand and seize the other person’s wrist. With force in her fingers, she precisely crushed the bones.
The man let out an “ow!” of agony. His wrist bent at an unnatural angle, and his entire body was flung to the ground by a tremendous force, landing face-first in the dirt.
Nan Jianli shook her head, then propped herself up and sat on the ground. As a splitting pain surged through her, unfamiliar memories flooded into her mind like a tide.
Had she transmigrated?!
The thirty-fifth year of Qingyou. Beiping Village. Meng Daniu, born an idiot, had been picked up by her adoptive father, Meng Cheng’an, at the age of ten.
Her adoptive father had passed away, leaving behind a harsh stepmother, a ten-year-old younger sister named Meng Zhu, and a five-year-old younger brother named Meng Lou.
Ever since her adoptive father’s death, Liu-something had used raising the children as an excuse to manipulate Old Mrs. Meng and Meng the Eldest, constantly demanding money and grain from them.
But the north had suffered a drought for the past two years, leaving the crops with no harvest at all. On top of that, war had once again broken out at the border, and large numbers of refugees from the frontier were surging toward Beiping Village.
To avoid the disasters and trouble caused by the refugees, the village chief had decided three days ago that the entire village would relocate. No one had expected Liu-something to harbor such evil intentions. She had planned to sell the three children and elope with her lover, Wang Er.
Before dawn today, Meng Daniu had gotten up early to sweep the courtyard, only to happen upon Liu-something and Wang Er plotting together.
When the idiotic girl heard the words “human trafficker,” it was as though her deepest taboo had been touched. She had thrown herself at them and started fighting. In the ensuing chaos, she pushed Liu-something, whose head struck the stone mill in the courtyard. She had died on the spot.
When Wang Er saw that someone had died, his eyes reddened as well. He grabbed the shoulder pole from the corner of the courtyard and brought it down on Meng Daniu’s head.
That was how the original host had died. And she, Nan Jianli—the strongest survival fighter in an apocalyptic base—had exhausted her strength and died in battle against a Zombie tide. When she opened her eyes again, she had become the Meng family’s “idiotic eldest sister.”
“You—you crazy woman!” Wang Er clutched his deformed wrist and struggled backward on the ground, his eyes filled with terror.
The Meng Daniu in his memory was an idiot who didn’t even dare speak loudly. How had she become an entirely different person after taking a blow from the shoulder pole?
Her gaze was cold as ice, and the killing intent radiating from her entire body sent chills through even the gaps between his bones.
Nan Jianli said nothing. Her gaze swept across the courtyard.
Beside the stone mill, Liu-something’s corpse still lay stiffly on the ground, eyes wide open, a pool of blood spreading from the back of her head.
Well, at least she had transmigrated into this idiotic eldest sister—not that cliché, vicious stepmother.
After all, everyone liked being young, didn’t they?
Wang Er recovered his senses. Looking at the silent Nan Jianli, he wondered if he had imagined what had just happened. He immediately shouted, fierce on the outside but weak within:
“Daniu, you—you killed someone! You’ll have to pay with your life! Come with me now. I’ll take you somewhere safe. Otherwise, when the authorities arrive, they’ll drag you away and behead you!”
As he spoke, he retreated.
On the ground not far away lay the rope he had brought. As long as he tied up this idiot, he could make another bit of money.
Though the girl was an idiot, she was still a young girl. She ought to fetch some money.
In the apocalypse, zombies ran rampant and Mutant beasts wreaked havoc. Human hearts were even more treacherous. How could Nan Jianli possibly take a good-for-nothing like him seriously?
She slowly rose to her feet. Though her frame was thin, she possessed an imposing air that brooked no violation. With a cold snort, she said, her gaze icy as frost, “Get lost! It’s a fine day. Don’t force me to slap you.”
Wang Er was intimidated by her presence and paused. But when he thought that if he failed to capture the idiotic eldest sister, he might lose the other two children as well, he hardened his resolve.
The people from his village had left the day before. If he didn’t get some money to carry with him, he might starve to death on the road.
At that thought, Wang Er’s evil intentions suddenly swelled. He snatched up the shoulder pole beside him and swung it at Nan Jianli. “No one can stand in the way of my fortune!”
Nan Jianli’s gaze sharpened. Her body instinctively shifted to the side, moving so quickly that even she was astonished.
Huh?
The Special ability she had awakened in the apocalypse could actually be used in this body as well. It was just that, because this body was too weak, its power was less than one-tenth of what it had been in the apocalypse. But against an ordinary person, that was more than enough.
After dodging the shoulder pole, Nan Jianli swiftly kicked Wang Er in the knee. With a crisp crack, his leg bent backward at an unnatural angle.
Before he could even cry out, Nan Jianli spun around and came behind him.
She punched him directly in the back of the head.
Another crisp crack rang out. The back of Wang Er’s head instantly caved in, and his entire body collapsed to the ground like a lump of mud.
Nan Jianli lowered her eyes to look at the corpse and pursed her lips in dissatisfaction. “I didn’t even make tofu pudding out of his brains. One-star review.”
Just then, a burst of footsteps came from outside the courtyard. As the tightly closed gate was knocked on, an elderly voice rang out:
“Daniu, Daniu, are you home? Hurry and open the door for Grandma.”
Nan Jianli’s heart tightened. She recognized the voice as that of the original host’s adoptive grandmother, one of the few people in this world who had treated the original host well.
“Mother, take it easy. I’ll knock.” Another male voice rang out. It was the original host’s eldest uncle, Meng Chengping, an honest and upright man who was always helping the three siblings.
“Bang, bang, bang.” The knocking sounded again, accompanied by Old Mrs. Meng’s urging:
“Daniu? Did you sleep yourself silly? Open the door. Grandma will help you pack your things.”
Looking at the two corpses lying in the courtyard, Nan Jianli was suddenly at a loss. If the old lady saw this scene, she might be frightened into an illness.
She still wanted to wear the original host’s identity and live peacefully. She couldn’t accidentally hurt her own people.
“If only these two huge lumps could disappear!”
As soon as the thought crossed her mind, a green light suddenly flashed through the courtyard. In an instant, the corpses beside the stone mill and near the woodpile vanished into thin air!
The shoulder pole lying on the ground and the silver hairpin scattered nearby disappeared along with them.
“What’s going on? Where did they go?” Nan Jianli staggered back half a step, assuming a defensive stance as she warily surveyed her surroundings.
“What are you? Come out!” she shouted.
A flash of light passed before her eyes. The scene in front of her suddenly twisted, and a wondrous space floated within the familiar little courtyard.
It was a scene of beautiful mountains and clear waters, with the scent of fresh grass permeating the air.
A clear spring had gathered into a small pool. Beside it stood a wooden sign glowing faintly, with four ancient characters carved into it: “Fertile Fields of the Spirit Spring.”
The corpses of Liu-something and Wang Er, along with all the things that had disappeared from the courtyard, were now neatly arranged on the grass nearby.
“Sp… Spatial dimension…” Nan Jianli murmured. “Fertile Fields? Where are the fields?”
The next second, pain struck her forehead. The floating scene before her blurred and vanished.
“That’s for bullying my eldest granddaughter!” Old Mrs. Meng slapped away the hand of her eldest son, who had just flicked Nan Jianli on the forehead, then stared at her worriedly. “Daniu, what’s wrong? Missing your grandpa? Your grandpa’s been gone a long time. He went off to enjoy the good life.”
“Heh heh, Mother, I can’t even remember what my father looked like. How could Daniu be missing him?” Meng Chengping scratched his head sheepishly and said with a grin to Old Mrs. Meng.
“Did Daniu sleep herself silly?” he said, turning to look at Nan Jianli with concern. “Daniu, did you have a nightmare? Don’t be afraid. Grandma and I are here. Where are your younger siblings? And your stepmother?”