A New Lease on Life
Bai Yunshu's eyes fluttered open, and she found herself in a dark, cramped room with only a single bed and a bucket that reeked of urine. Confusion clouded her mind as she took in her surroundings. Where was she? How did she get here? The last thing she remembered was being shot, waiting for death's embrace. Had Zhang Kai locked her up instead?
She reached up to touch her head, expecting to find the grievous wound left by the bullet, but her fingers met only smooth, unblemished skin. Not even a bandage adorned the area. As she tried to sit up, an abnormal, feverish heat radiated from her body. Weakness overcame her, and she slumped back down, her head colliding with the cold, hard floor. A groan escaped her lips as a new wave of pain blossomed.
It was then that memories began to flood her mind - memories that didn't belong to her. Faces, places, and people she had never seen in her life played out like a movie reel, spanning from childhood to the present. Realization washed over her like a crashing wave. Something miraculous had occurred. Her soul had transmigrated, leaving behind the body of the 25-year-old spy and taking up residence in that of 18-year-old Feng Ruoxi.
The memories revealed the tragic circumstances surrounding this poor girl's demise. Feng Ruoxi came from an affluent family, but after her mother's passing, her father had swiftly taken a mistress, marrying her within six months. For years, the stepmother, Qiao Yingyao, had ill-treated Feng Ruoxi, harboring resentment due to her inability to conceive.
Two months ago, Qiao Yingyao had announced her pregnancy, bringing joy to the household - for they still clung to the notion that only a son could inherit the family business. Then, just two days prior, the stepmother had suffered a miscarriage, falsely accusing Feng Ruoxi of pushing her, a blatant lie. Bai Yunshu felt disgust churn in her gut as she witnessed the father's blind belief in his wife's words and his subsequent cruel punishment – forcing his only child to kneel in the rain for an entire night.
While such treatment would be considered child's play compared to the horrors she had witnessed as a spy, Bai Yunshu knew she had to handle the raging fever that had claimed Feng Ruoxi's life before it claimed hers as well. Slowly, she attempted to stand, her voice ringing out in a hoarse cry. "Hello? I need the bathroom! Hello, someone, please!"
Two guards descended the steps, one of them calling out, "Missy, what's wrong?"
"I need the bathroom," Bai Yunshu rasped, maintaining the meek, innocent demeanor the guards had come to expect from the mistreated Feng Ruoxi.
"Use that bucket," the guard replied, gesturing dismissively.
"It's a number two," she persisted, watching as the guards exchanged uneasy glances.
Having worked at the Feng villa for some time, they had born witness to the girl's mistreatment. One guard relented, "Okay, but please don't tell the master and madam. We're not supposed to let you out."
Bai Yunshu nodded, playing along with the fragile persona as the guards ushered her to a nearby bathroom. Once inside, she surveyed her surroundings, her gaze landing on a window. A plan began to form in her mind.
Soon, she found herself in the vast lavender gardens surrounding the estate, the sweet floral scent a stark contrast to the dank cell she had escaped. From the memories inherited from her host, she knew this garden held significance for the Feng family. Once, it had been a vibrant array of lilies - Ruoxi's late mother's favorite flower. But after her father's hasty remarriage, the calming garden underwent a transformation at the insistence of Qiao Yingyao, who despised lilies and favored lavender instead.
Bai Yunshu rolled her eyes at the pettiness, pushing aside the memories as she moved with the practiced stealth ingrained from years of dangerous missions. Getting caught was not an option; she needed to slip in and out undetected, using Ruoxi's intimate knowledge of the estate to her advantage.
Her first priority was tending to the raging fever and injuries from her night of torturous kneeling. Bai Yunshu made her way to the kitchen, deftly avoiding the eyes of any staff, and procured a first-aid kit stocked with the necessary supplies. Despite the dizziness threatening to overwhelm her, she pressed on, heading back to the lavender gardens and climbing through the window to return to her dank cell.
She flushed the empty toilet to provide a plausible excuse for her absence, emerging to find the guards waiting dutifully outside. Smiling weakly, Bai Yunshu hid the purloined medical supplies beneath her folded arms. "Thank you," she said, her voice a simpering imitation of the downtrodden Ruoxi. "I promise I won't tell."
The guards nodded, ushering her back into the cell and locking her in once more, unaware of her deception. As soon as they departed, Bai Yunshu set to work, tending to her bruised and battered knees before taking the medication to combat the dangerous fever. She tucked the remaining supplies beneath the thin mattress, her body craving the rest it so desperately needed.
Though the bed was uncomfortable, she knew she required proper sleep to regain her strength. There was no telling how long she might be trapped in this hell, but one thing was certain – she was alive, inhabiting another's body, granted an unexpected second chance. And Bai Yunshu intended to make the most of it, to exact revenge upon the organization that had stolen her brother's life. They would never see her coming, the perfect wolf among the sheep of this affluent family's fold.
As she drifted off to sleep, her mind churned with possibilities, formulating the beginnings of a plan. First, she would need to recover her full strength. Then, she could begin laying the groundwork for her vengeance, starting from within the Feng household itself. With her extensive training and Ruoxi's insider knowledge, none of them would ever suspect the meek, downtrodden girl was truly a lethal weapon biding her time.
A ghost of a smirk played across Bai Yunshu's lips at the thought. They had made a grave mistake in underestimating her and leaving her alive. Soon, they would pay the price for their arrogance and betrayal. For she was not one to forgive the unforgivable - the death of her beloved younger brother. Bai Chengling's soul would have justice, no matter how long it took or what paths she had to walk.
As sleep finally claimed her, scenes of her former life as a spy flickered through her mind's eye. The brutal training that had stripped away any lingering innocence, molding her into a precise and merciless weapon for her country. The countless missions and close brushes with death that should have ended her long ago.
Yet here she was, starting anew in the body of a wealthy young woman whose greatest hardship until now had been a cruel father and stepmother. A strange, bitter laugh nearly bubbled up at the absurdity of it all. If only the Feng family knew the viper they had allowed into their den, assuming she was defenseless and broken.
No, Bai Yunshu was far from broken. She was reborn, a phoenix rising from the ashes of her former existence. And with this new life came an insatiable thirst for long-overdue vengeance that would shake the very foundations of the organization that had betrayed her so completely.
With that final, resolute thought, she surrendered fully to the pull of sleep, letting it whisk her away into welcome oblivion until the sun crested the horizon on a new day - the first of her new, if unconventional, mission.