After working nonstop for over two months, Xia Qingyue finally couldn’t take it anymore. She quit her job and spent the first few days just resting at home.
Quitting felt great at first, but anxiety about finding a new job soon crept in. To boost her mood, she treated herself to a shopping spree and traveled all over the country.
Today, she was hiking in a scenic area known for its primeval forests.
The sun shone brightly through the lush green trees, wildflowers bloomed in vibrant colors, a gentle breeze rustled through the leaves, and birdsong filled the air. Xia Qingyue couldn’t help but lose herself in the beauty of the moment, her mood instantly lifting.
Ding-dong!
Her phone buzzed repeatedly with WeChat notifications.
Xia Qingyue glanced at her phone as she walked.
At the top of her WeChat screen was a message from someone named Mu Yuqin.
She tapped to open it:
“Xia Qingyue, Feng’er’s college entrance exams are just over a month away. We’ve hired him a tutor for 5,000 yuan. Plus, his braces and dentist visits cost 10,000 yuan. Transfer 20,000 yuan immediately!”
She swiped to the next message, from Xia Pingxin:
“The last three months’ household expenses total 12,000 yuan. Transfer the money to my account immediately. Once the money’s in, we’ll let bygones be bygones.
Don’t be ungrateful! Thinking you can escape us by hiding in another city? I’ll find you soon enough!”
“And running away won’t help. I’m your father, and you’re my daughter. Now that you’re an adult, it’s your duty—and legally protected—to take care of me in my old age!”
Xia Qingyue sneered coldly. “Legally protected? Xia Pingxin, you’re delusional and utterly ridiculous! What law says I have to give you money right now? It’s laughable!”
She swiped to the next message, sent by someone named Xia Qingfeng: “Give me two thousand. Dare tell Mom and Dad, and you’ll see what I’ll do to you! (Three bloody knife emojis)”
After reading these messages, Xia Qingyue’s face remained calm, though her eyes blazed with icy fury.
“Ah, miss, watch your step!”
Before the warning had even finished, Xia Qingyue’s foot slipped. She lurched forward and tumbled down the slope. Only then did she realize that she had been so absorbed in her messages that she had wandered too close to the edge and was now rolling downhill.
The slope was steep, covered in towering trees and thick bushes. Xia Qingyue’s vision blurred as she tumbled, until everything went black.
Xia Qingyue woke up in pain. She sat up and reached for her throbbing head, only to find it wet and sticky with blood. A large bump had formed on her forehead.
She winced in pain, gasping for air. A heavy panting grew louder nearby.
Xia Qingqing looked up and her eyes widened. A big black dog was approaching her, tongue lolling. But what really surprised her was the surroundings.
First, she saw a sea of green. Then, rising above, a huge, natural sinkhole stretched upward like a giant bowl in the earth.
She was at the bottom of the sinkhole, surrounded by rocks of all shapes and sizes. In the distance, water trickled through cracks in the ground, its surface shimmering in the light.
The upper reaches of the sinkhole’s walls were rugged and bare, but gradually sloping downward, lush green grass covered the slopes in varying gradients—the very green expanse she had first noticed.
Looking up, Xia Qingqing estimated the depth of the sinkhole to be at least two or three hundred meters.
The sinkhole’s opening was roughly oval-shaped. Sunlight streamed through the opening, illuminating a patch of azure sky above. The trees and grass below glowed with a soft, golden light under the sun’s warm embrace.
“This… this?” Xia Qingyue was stunned.
Turning around, she saw a natural cave behind her, its entrance framed by a half-open wooden door. The door faced…
Seeing this scene, Xia Qingyue felt a sharp headache. She clutched her head, images flashing through her mind like broken fragments of memory.
Moments later, a wet, rough sensation on the back of her hand snapped her out of her reverie. She looked down at the big black dog, now standing before her, its tail wagging. Her face broke into a radiant smile, though tears welled up in her eyes.
“I’ve transmigrated!”
Xia Qingyue transmigrated into the body of her namesake, a woman who shared her name, appearance, and even looked a few years younger—the original owner was twenty-eight this year.
She found herself in the fictional Dawan Kingdom, a world of danger and chaos. To survive, the original owner’s parents had hidden her away in a deep mountain sinkhole, seeking refuge from the world.
But their peace didn’t last. In their second year of hiding, the original owner’s father was killed by a wild beast while hunting.
Later that year, her mother, already grieving her husband, accidentally stepped on a hoe while farming, causing the tool to strike her head and kill her.
The original owner spent the winter alone, living a desolate and miserable life day after day. As suicidal thoughts grew stronger, she finally snapped. In a fit of despair, she ran headfirst into a large rock, ending her life.
Xia Qingyue couldn’t help but sigh at the tragic fate of this family.
She beckoned the black dog over, and it obediently padded up to her. Stroking its furry head, she said, “Heihei, from now on, it’s just us. We have to live well!”
“In my past life, I was born into an unhappy family. When Mu Yuqin gave birth to me and saw I was a girl, she scornfully abandoned me to my Grandma in the countryside.”
I grew up with my Grandma, who raised me on her own. My so-called parents never came to see me during all those years.
When I got into college, I worked odd jobs during the summer to earn some tuition money, but it wasn’t enough. So I went to Mu Yuqin and Xia Pingxin for help. They called me a bloodsucker and kicked me out.
Later, Grandma scraped together the rest of the tuition money.
During college, I worked hard to earn my living expenses and tuition through part-time jobs. By graduation, I had saved a bit of money and planned to work even harder to give Grandma a better life. But then, Grandma got sick…
Tears streamed down Xia Qingyue’s face as she choked on her words. “The money I had wasn’t enough for her treatment, so I had to ask them for help. But they kept delaying, saying Grandma was too old and they didn’t have the money. In the end, she passed away.”
“Woof, woof, woof!” Heihei, sensing Xia Qingyue’s distress, nudged her hand urgently with his head.
“When I was little, they ignored me completely. But as soon as I could earn money, they pounced, demanding monthly living expenses and even asking me to cover expenses for my half-brother, whom I’d never even met. When I refused, they came to my home and workplace, causing trouble.”
“Their tantrums cost me my job. Even so, I won’t give them a penny. They never cared about me before, and now that I can earn money, they want to bleed me dry? Heh, as if life were that easy!
I’d rather fight them to the bitter end than give in!”
“Alright, let’s not dwell on the past. We need to focus on the future.” Xia Qingyue wiped away her tears, forcing herself to cheer up.
She suddenly remembered that in her previous life, when she died, the money in her account…
She calmed down and did some quick calculations. Letting out a sigh of relief, she realized, “Good thing I spent most of it on food, drinks, and fun. There’s probably less than a thousand yuan left.”
The thought of leaving nothing for that family—and completely cutting ties with them—filled Xia Qingyue with satisfaction.
She pushed herself up from the large rock, but the moment she stood, dizziness overwhelmed her, nearly causing her to collapse.
No, this won’t do. I’ve lost too much blood and need treatment immediately.
Drawing on the original owner’s memories, Xia Qingyue found Half-Lotus and Bone-Penetrating Grass in the sinkhole. She crushed the herbs, applied them to the wound on her forehead, and wrapped her head with a clean strip of cloth.
When Xia Qingyue was a child living with her grandma in the countryside, she’d treat her injuries by gathering herbs from the mountains and applying them to her wounds. After a few days, she’d be all better.
Exhausted and panting, she collapsed onto a large rock at the cave entrance, needing a long while to recover.
Her stomach growled incessantly, and she was starving. She went to the kitchen to see if there was anything to eat.
The kitchen was an open space on the left side of the cave, featuring an earthen stove built by the original owner’s father, big enough for two pots. A pitch-black cauldron sat on the stove, but it was empty.
Next to the stove stood a wooden cabinet over two meters long, topped with a cutting board, a rusty iron knife, and a few scattered vegetable baskets and large round winnowing trays.
In a corner by the cabinet stood a small stone mill, about forty to fifty centimeters in diameter, its surface thick with dust from long disuse.
Relying on the original owner’s memories, Xia Qingyue finally found the last bit of coarse rice hidden in a corner at the bottom of the cabinet.