Yun Pianpian woke up abruptly amidst sharp pain.
She instinctively tried to lift her head, but the intense pain prevented her. Her neck felt pressed down by an invisible heavy weight, making even the simple act of looking up extremely difficult.
A heavy sense of pressure came from the back of her head, as if something weighty had pierced through it.
Immediately following, a reaction from another area was faster than her brain could process.
"Ahhh! My buttocks! It hurts so much!"
A cry of pain escaped her cracked lips. More than the headache, a fierce stinging pain in her buttocks dominated her senses. It felt as if someone had driven a steel needle from her tailbone all the way to her sciatic nerve; every slight movement brought a new wave of agony.
"Hiss—"
"Wuwu…" she groaned weakly, her trembling fingers cautiously reaching toward the source of the pain.
But she dared not use any force! If she applied any more pressure, her buttocks would likely shatter into several pieces.
However, she still couldn't open her eyes. She could only reach out and gently cover her buttocks, seemingly touching something sticky.
Worse still, every breath pulled at her chest cavity; not only could she feel the pain in her heart, but it also felt like a Blunt Knife was scraping against it.
"Calm down... conserve energy." She forced herself to analyze the situation as if she were at work. Forget it, saving strength was the best policy now; someone would find her eventually.
The rustling sound of leaves reached her ears, occasionally interspersed with the distant chirping of insects. There were no car horns, no human clamor, only the most primal sounds of the night. This was definitely not her rented room located in a busy district, where she could always hear the shouts from the barbecue stall downstairs.
Now Yun Pianpian understood clearly: she must be in a park, but she remembered falling asleep on the sofa in her rented room. How could she have teleported to a park? It couldn't be sleepwalking, could it?
"Damn it…" She gritted her teeth, cold sweat trickling down her temples.
She had a Morning Meeting tomorrow; the supervisor who always looked for excuses to dock her pay would certainly use this opportunity to fire her.
Fragments of memory stung her nerves: her grandfather's Withered Hand on the Hospital Bed, her younger brother's pale smile, the shocking figures on the hospital payment notices, and the endless Debt...
She had to work like a beast of burden every day, and then take on design jobs to work multiple shifts to repay the money.
But strangely, she didn't feel much fear at this moment. Years of hardship had already tempered her into a stubborn stone. She didn't resent fate, envy the rich, or even blame the relatives who refused to help.
In this world, the only person she could rely on was herself.
"Must... get up…" She took a deep breath, but the severe pain in her chest choked her into a cough. The taste of blood filled her mouth.
Just then, rustling sounds came from the distant bushes. It wasn't the wind, but the sound of some creature moving cautiously. Yun Pianpian froze, suddenly realizing an even more terrifying problem—not only did she not know why she was here, but she also didn't know what else was hidden in this darkness...
Yun Pianpian painfully spat out the dirt in her mouth; her throat was filled with the sweet, metallic Rust Smell. She struggled to prop herself up, finally managing to lift her head—
Swish!
A pair of Amber beast eyes suddenly lit up in the darkness, their icy gaze piercing like a blade's edge.
It was a pure white fierce tiger. Its fur shimmered with a silver sheen under the moonlight, but the king's mark on its forehead glowed eerily, like some ancient Rune. It crouched low in the thicket, muscles tense, Fangs slightly exposed, emitting a low growl that suggested it might pounce at any second.
"A, a tiger?!"
Yun Pianpian's blood instantly froze, her heart nearly stopping.
"Did it escape from the zoo? No... where would there be a zoo here?!"
Even stranger, the "King" pattern on this White Tiger's head, which should have been black, was a strange Silver White, like some ominous sign.
"Mutated? I'm done for, I'm done for... Am I really going to die by a tiger's mouth?!"
At the moment of life and death, human survival instinct is often faster than reason. Yun Pianpian trembled, but her mind was exceptionally clear—
Run!
But as soon as she moved, she realized her legs wouldn't obey; the wound on her lower rear pulled at her nerves, causing her vision to blacken with the slightest exertion.
"Can't get up... then crawl!"
She quickly scanned her surroundings—a steep slope behind her, a ferocious beast staring her down in front, open grassland to the left, and to the right... dense bushes thirty meters away!
"That way!"
Yun Pianpian gritted her teeth, gripping the ground with her hands, crawling forward like an injured beast. She was used to being bullied as a child, so her ability to flee was honed to perfection, but this time, her body felt weighted with lead; every inch she moved seemed to drain all her strength.
"Faster... a little faster..."
She could feel the White Tiger's presence drawing nearer. Its hot breath puffed onto the back of her neck, stirring the fallen leaves. Its claws dug deeply into the soil, making dull "squishing" sounds, like the footsteps of death.
"Thirty meters... I can crawl there..."
However, reality was far crueler than imagination.
She crawled with all her might for a long time, but when she looked back—she hadn't moved even half a meter!
"It's over..."
In despair, she suddenly remembered—felines aren't very interested in dead things!
"Play dead!"
Yun Pianpian immediately held her breath, stiffening her body, collapsing onto the ground like a real corpse. Only her fingers continued to slowly inch forward, like a dying maggot, scraping bit by bit toward the bushes.
Where she crawled, she dragged a long Bloodstain; dark red liquid seeped into the soil, gleaming eerily under the moonlight.
"Hold on a little longer... if I can just get into the bushes, maybe I can live..."
But just as she was about to touch the bushes—
"Roar—!"
The White Tiger behind her let out a deafening roar, and then she heard the sound of sharp claws tearing through the air!
It was pouncing!
A person's will to survive is incredibly strong.
At the critical moment, Yun Pianpian cast aside all pain and rushed into the bushes with one burst of effort!
On the other side of the Scarlet Moon Mountain Range, a troop of people was advancing through the Morning Mist.
They were well-equipped; their Armor reflected a cold metallic sheen under the thin sunlight, and the Weapons hanging at their waists were ancient in style yet sharp, clearly not belonging to ordinary hunters or merchants.
At the very front of the group, a tall, imposing man reined in his horse, his silver-gray cloak lifting slightly in the wind, revealing a Token etched with Dark Patterns at his waist.
"Master!" A rider galloped up from behind. The newcomer dismounted and knelt on one knee, respectfully handing over a secret letter.
The man raised his hand to accept it, his well-defined fingers gripping one corner of the letter, his gaze quickly sweeping over the contents. His brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, then a wisp of faint blue flame ignited on his fingertip, and the letter instantly turned to ash, scattering in the wind.
"Continue forward." His voice was deep and brooks no argument.
The group set off again, their Horse Hooves crushing dry leaves, making faint sounds. And the direction they were heading was precisely toward the depths of the dense forest where Yun Pianpian lay.
Yun Pianpian finally managed to crawl into the bushes with great difficulty.
She dared not sit up—the wound on her buttocks caused her vision to blacken, but lying down pressed painfully on her chest, and every breath carried the Smell of Blood. After weighing her options, she could only curl up on her side like an injured beast, cautiously observing her surroundings.
Her face was smeared with mud and dried blood, revealing only a pair of eyes slightly reddened by pain. She looked down at her clothes and finally realized something was wrong—
"This... isn't my clothing!"
Her original short-sleeved T-shirt and jeans were gone, replaced by a tattered... ancient costume? The fabric was completely soaked with blood and mud, making its original color impossible to discern, but the style of the cuffs and lapels strongly resembled the Hanfu she had seen in TV dramas.
"I transmigrated?!"
This absurd thought had barely surfaced when the scene before her confirmed it further—
This was not a city park at all, nor was it any forest she was familiar with.
Towering ancient trees shot up from the ground; their trunks were so thick that perhaps five or six people would be needed to encircle them. The Tree Canopy soared into the clouds, obscuring the sky. Sunlight only managed to filter down in a few scattered Golden Threads through the gaps in the foliage, and Thin Mist flowed slowly through the woods, as if the entire forest were breathing.
The air was filled with the scent of damp earth, mixed with some unfamiliar herbal fragrance, and occasionally she could hear bird calls from the distance that she had never heard before.
"Where on earth is this..."
Yun Pianpian's throat tightened, her fingertips unconsciously digging into the soil. She recalled the strange White Tiger, her inexplicable appearance here, and the bizarre clothing on her body...
"Could it be... I really transmigrated to a Different World?"
This realization sent a chill through her entire body.
But soon, she gave a self-mocking tug at the corner of her mouth.
"It's better to be dead, anyway... in the real world, no one would collect my body."
She thought of her deceased grandfather and brother, the endless Debt, and the black-hearted boss who wanted to squeeze every last bit of value out of her...
"It's just a pity for the 'Uncle Hat,' no, the constable, who will have to go to the trouble of looking for me..."
She smiled bitterly, but her ears remained alert, vigilantly catching any movement around her.
That White Tiger... was it still nearby?
She certainly didn't want to become a wild beast's dinner.
Keep crawling!
Yun Pianpian gritted her teeth, wriggling painfully through the bushes like a dying worm. Her nails dug deep into the soil, her knuckles turning white from exertion, and her palms were already lacerated and bloody from sharp gravel and dead branches.
"Just hold on a little longer... someone will surely come..."
She believed this almost obsessively, as if as long as she didn't stop, fate would eventually grant her a way to live.
However, reality was far crueler than imagination.
Her movements were too large, causing the bushes to rustle, but what was more fatal was—the Smell of Blood.
Blood continuously seeped from her wounds, and the thick Rust Smell permeated the woods, acting like an invisible signal that traveled straight into the White Tiger's nostrils.
"Roar—!"
The low tiger roar was right up close. Yun Pianpian froze and slowly turned her head—
Through the gaps in the bushes, she saw the White Tiger pacing around the thicket, its Amber beast eyes locked onto her, its Fangs stark white, drool dripping from its mouth, as if it already considered her a meal on a plate.
"It's over..."
The White Tiger's sharp claws suddenly plunged into the bushes, the tip of the claw stopping just an inch from her ankle!
Yun Pianpian quickly pulled her leg back, her heart nearly leaping out of her throat. She desperately tried to burrow deeper into the bushes, but even the deepest part of this thicket had an end, and her strength was already exhausted.
Just as despair set in—
Clip, clop, clip.
The sound of orderly Horse Hooves came from the distance, steady in rhythm, approaching from afar.
Yun Pianpian startled, thinking she was hallucinating.
"Is that... people?"
She suddenly looked up, peering out through the gaps in the bushes—
As dawn broke, the Thin Mist was shattered by the sound of hooves, and a troop of riders arrived like divine soldiers descending from the sky, coming against the light.
The man leading them wore white clothes as pure as snow, his posture as straight as a pine tree, his Longbow fully drawn, the Arrow gleaming with cold light.
"Save... save me!"
Yun Pianpian screamed out with the last of her strength, her voice hoarse and nearly broken.
"HELP! Brave warrior, save me! Das Kede!"
She shouted any words of appeal she could think of, not even caring if the person could understand.
—This was her only hope!
The next instant, a sound of something piercing the air erupted!
"Whoosh—!"
The Arrow shot past like a meteor, whistling right past her left ear. The resulting gust of wind made her ear ache, and amidst the brief ringing, she heard a mournful tiger roar from behind.
"Roar—!"
Yun Pianpian stiffly turned her head and saw that the Arrow had pierced the White Tiger's front paw with perfect accuracy, pinning it firmly to the ground!
The White Tiger struggled in pain, but the Arrow seemed imbued with some kind of power, preventing it from breaking free.
And just then—
The Man in White Clothes had already leaped off his horse; his Sleeves Fluttering like a White Crane spreading its wings, he covered the distance to her in a few strides.
Yun Pianpian looked up. She couldn't make out his face against the backlight, only seeing his eyes, deep and still as an abyss, and his long hair swaying in the wind.
"Save..."
She tried to say more, but her strained nerves suddenly relaxed, and darkness surged toward her like a tide.
Before she completely lost consciousness, her final sensation was of strong arms gently lifting her—
So warm it made her want to cry.