Su Qingli had always felt that Heaven was somehow a little hard of hearing.
Countless times, she had begged Heaven to go easy on her in life, but apparently, it always misunderstood her request as—
“Bring it on.”
When she was young, she had no money. She worked hard for several years, and by the time she finally made some money, she was no longer young.
Today was her twenty-eighth birthday, and she spent it on an operating table in the hospital.
After undergoing three major surgeries in a row, she had just taken out her phone to order herself some takeout. But before the food could even arrive, she suddenly died from exhaustion and transmigrated into another world.
At this moment, she was lying underneath a bed, clutching her head. After sorting through the unfamiliar memories in her mind, her vision suddenly went black again.
She had transmigrated into the body of a poor family’s daughter in Xia Kingdom’s Ping’an County, Xiaoshi Village.
The original owner had the same name as her—Su Qingli.
Her father had died in battle years ago. There was only her elderly mother, two older brothers, and one sister-in-law left in the family.
As for this youngest daughter, she was quite difficult to describe.
She had been spoiled rotten by her family from a young age. She stole chickens, snatched dogs, got into fights, and cursed at people on a daily basis. Everyone hated her.
She had even emptied the family’s entire savings for a scumbag man and borrowed money from loan sharks, pushing her entire family toward ruin.
This morning, the original owner had just returned from the scumbag’s family home when a trafficker knocked her unconscious with a club and sold her into this bandit’s den.
The trafficker had probably hit her too hard and killed the original owner on the spot, allowing Su Qingli to take over her body.
Now, Su Qingli’s head hurt, and her heart felt numb.
In the corner nearby, a man with a hole smashed into his head was lying in a pool of blood, his fate unknown.
She had just hit him with a wooden pillow.
The next second, the door was suddenly pushed open with a loud bang.
“Chief! Chief!”
Two guards carrying knives and clubs rushed inside.
They immediately spotted the wide-open window and then saw the bandit chief lying in a pool of blood. They instantly flew into a rage and cursed.
“Damn it! That little wench escaped! Hurry and chase her!”
Before long, the footsteps outside completely disappeared.
Su Qingli crawled out from underneath the bed. After making sure no one was outside, she immediately plunged into the darkness of the night.
“Quick, quick, quick! There’s only one way down the mountain. That little wench couldn’t have gotten far. Hurry and chase her!”
The bandits held up their knives, swords, and torches as they thundered toward her.
Su Qingli immediately realized something was wrong. She quickly slipped into an old, dilapidated woodshed.
The moment she closed the door and turned around, her entire body stiffened, and her heart nearly stopped.
Oh my God!
There was actually someone else in the woodshed!
Using the moonlight shining through the window, she carefully looked over and saw that it was a man.
He was sitting on the floor with his back against a pillar. He wore an intricately carved mask with openwork designs over his face, while both of his hands were tied behind the pillar in the center of the room with thick ropes.
His long hair was disheveled, and the smell of blood was heavy in the air. He looked extremely miserable.
Hearing someone break into the room, the man slowly raised his head and casually glanced at her.
There was no panic or surprise in his eyes.
His gaze was as empty as a stagnant pool, as though he were looking at an unrelated object.
Their eyes met.
Su Qingli pressed her back against the door, her breathing almost coming to a stop.
The next second, she rushed over and covered his mouth with her hand.
“Shh! Don’t say anything!”
The man’s body stiffened. Before long, he began struggling.
Su Qingli whispered sternly, “Don’t move. There are people outside!”
The man stopped for only a second before struggling even harder.
Su Qingli looked down and finally realized that she had covered his nose as well. She quickly let go.
“Ah, sorry, sorry.”
The man took a deep breath and was just about to cough when she covered his mouth again.
“Sorry. Bear with it for a moment. You can cough later.”
“…”
One second, two seconds…
It wasn’t until the footsteps outside had faded into the distance that Su Qingli finally removed her hand.
She was just about to speak when the man moved first.
He coughed several times, his voice hoarse as though it had been ground out by a millstone.
“Who sent you to kill me?”
“Huh?”
Su Qingli was stunned and hurriedly waved her hands.
“I’m not here to kill you.”
“Then you came to save me?” The man took several rapid breaths. “Leave. You don’t need to save me.”
“Huh?”
Su Qingli was even more confused.
No, she hadn’t planned on saving him either.
Having read countless novels in her previous life, she knew very well that a man encountered in the wilderness could not be saved casually.
Unless that man was Zhang Yi.
“Then you can rest here, Big Brother. I won’t disturb you.”
Su Qingli smiled politely, patted her backside, and walked out the door without the slightest hesitation.
But after wandering around for a while, she discovered that these bandits had chosen an exceptionally well-hidden location for their hideout.
The stronghold was surrounded by mountains on three sides. The area was filled with either cliffs or steep precipices.
She wandered around in circles but simply couldn’t find a way down the mountain.
As the saying went, there is no difficult thing in the world as long as you’re willing to give up.
Su Qingli decisively turned around and went back to the woodshed.
“Hey, Big Brother, do you know the way down the mountain?”
Su Qingli didn’t feel embarrassed at all.
When the man saw her return, his eyes still revealed no emotion.
He looked like someone who was barely alive.
“Behind the house. Northeast corner.”
He was extremely economical with his words, his attitude still distant and cold.
“Thanks, bro.”
Su Qingli grinned. Before leaving, she pointed at the ropes around his body.
“Are you really sure you don’t need me to save you?”
“No.”
“Alright.”
You said it yourself. Don’t blame me for leaving you to your fate.
Su Qingli said nothing more and turned to leave once again.
Following the man’s directions, she indeed found a small path leading down the mountain in the northeast corner behind the woodshed.
However, the path connected to a narrow cliffside walkway, and more than a dozen bandits were guarding the end.
As another saying went, when you know there is a tiger on the mountain, you shouldn’t knowingly walk into its territory.
Without hesitation, Su Qingli turned around and went back to the woodshed.
“There are several bandits guarding the walkway. There’s no way out.”
She said this merely as a complaint, but unexpectedly, the man replied,
“I know.”
Su Qingli was instantly speechless.
“Then why didn’t you tell me earlier?!”
The man’s tone remained calm.
“You didn’t ask.”
Su Qingli was rendered speechless. She almost laughed out of anger.
Where did these bandits find such a human log?
“Then do you know if there’s another way out?” Su Qingli deliberately added, “One without bandits guarding it.”
“No.”
“Then can you perform qinggong? Like those martial arts heroes in TV dramas… Oh, no, I mean, like the heroes in storybooks who can leap onto rooftops and walk across walls!”
“No.”
“Then what about martial arts? The kind where you go whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, and knock down a whole group of men in black in just a few moves!”
“No.”
“Oh~”
Su Qingli didn’t want to talk to him anymore.
Her eyes shifted, and she noticed the injuries on his body.
There was no need to mention the external wounds. Judging from the strong smell of blood, his injuries were probably quite serious.
Then she looked at the twisted shape of his legs.
Could he have some kind of leg disability?