Chapter one

Usually, no one would ever think about being reincarnated in a different place. Especially if that place is from your favorite novel series, and you become a character who wasn't supposed to exist in the first place.

What would anyone do in this situation? What will be their fate?

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Chao-Xing was an ordinary girl. That would be a total lie.

From a young age, Chao-Xing knew that her parents did not truly love her and that she was a neglected child. Of course, like any young child, she longed for attention, love, and her parents' acknowledgment. She knew, deep down, that her parents' actions broke their family. Her parents cheated constantly; she saw her mother bring different men to their home while her father wasn't there. Her mother would sleep with the men in the room, and sometimes, her terrible mother would sleep right before Chao-Xing.

Her father is a gambler and an addict. He would take any money for his gambling addiction and his 'wonderful' beer and alcohol. Her father is a naturally worthless scumbag who would take anyone's money for his benefit; her mother is no exception. Chao-Xing had to be the 'adult' of the two, finding change on the street and keeping a secret money jar in her room so she could buy some food or drink at the convenience store. Chao-Xing had to grow up with a mature attitude, and she could never act like a child like she was supposed to.

Chao-Xing's mother left them when she was ten years old. According to her mother, "I found someone I love. I no longer live with the child that ruined my life". A child who ruined her mother's life, Chao-Xing, was confused and didn't understand what her mother meant by that. She soon realized when she overheard her parents arguing about how their lives would be so much easier if Chao-Xing had never been born and that her mother should have aborted her. Chao-Xing's heart broke when she heard that.

Why did they keep her? Where were the in-laws? What did she do wrong? She didn't ask to be born. They had to keep her because abandoning your child where she lives is illegal, and of course, her parents don't want to deal with the cops. She doesn't know her in-laws since her parents never brought them up in her life.

Her mother did leave in the end with a man, and Chao-Xing never saw her again. So, she lived with her deadbeat father in their shitty apartment and had to deal with his constant drinking and gambling. Chao-Xing is now an eighteen-year-old girl who grew up without showing the proper emotions that match her "age." She saved enough money to attend school and had to push herself when she started college.

Chao-Xing thought she would fail school, and she had to teach herself basic math, history, writing, and reading, get along with other students and teachers, and work to save more money. But she made sure that she was at the top of her class! Her teacher would ask her, "What do you want to be when you grow up? What is your dream?" She doesn't know her dream, but she likes politics and learning about the law.

One day, while her father passed out drunk in their small apartment room, she decided to go to a bookstore and read to pass the time. There, she found a novel that caught her eye; she would have never guessed that she would love that novel.

Cultivating to survive.

That was the title of the novel. The word Cultivating caught her eye when she read the title, and because of that word, she picked up the book and examined it. This novel had Taoists, cultivations, martial arts, gods, demons, and death. She has never read a novel before because she needs more money and uses it all for school. She read the novel at the bookstore and enjoyed reading it very much.

She loved the character, and she pitied those who had died and suffered significant loss. Chao-Xing had never felt so intrigued and excited to read a novel with such elements. She started reading the first book, the second, and the third and read the whole series of novel books. She enjoyed them all, and they honestly gave her life.

If only she paid very close attention to how devastating and sad the novel is.

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Chao-Xing made it to her little apartment after reading the very last book of the novel she was reading. She took her shoes off by the door. "I'm home," she said as she switched the light switch on and saw that the small apartment was a mess. It was nothing out of the ordinary in their everyday lives, but Chao-Xing felt like something was wrong.

Usually, her father would be sitting on the floor with alcohol bottles surrounding him. Instead, he was there, and the apartment looked like an even bigger mess. If he were out gabbling, he would usually leave a note; it was the least he could do. Her brown eyes widened slightly, and she ran towards her room, only to see that it was completely trashed. Her breathing started to quicken slightly as she started to feel anxiety rise. She quickly looked around her room and checked the money she kept hidden, only to see that it was nowhere to be found. Chao-Xing had no idea what had happened, and she didn't know where her father had gone. She was too busy thinking, getting anxious, and worrying; she felt like throwing up.

Why was the place in such a mess? What happened to her money? Where did her dad go? So many questions, yet no answers. She calmed herself down and steadied her breathing. She heard a loud knock on the front door when she was utterly calm. She looked back, and the knocking didn't subside at all. She thought that maybe it was the landlord because they were, once again, late on rent.

She walked toward the door, unlocked it, and opened the door. Her mistake was not looking to see who it was on the other side of the door and that she had opened a door that would mark her end.

On the other side of the door were a few men dressed in black, some with tattoos, piercings, and rough appearances, and anyone could tell that they were bad news just by looking at them. They look like they belong to the mafia. She went to shut the door on them quickly, but one of the men stopped her from closing it, and they began making their way inside as she stumbled backward to try and get a few feet away from them.

"Hey, little girl," one of the men called out as he looked at her with a disgusting smirk and looked her up and down. He went into his pocket, took out a piece of paper, and held it out in front of her to see. "It seems like your scumbag father had a bunch of debt in his hands and put you as his moderator. Sorry to say, but you'll have to pay his debt". Pay her father's debt. Her father was in debt and dared to put all that on his only child, his daughter, and now she has to pay his debt. Was that why the place was so messy, and her money was missing? He stole her money and left her all alone in a hurry.

Chao-Xing didn't know what to think or what to say. She was scared for the first time in her life and didn't know what to do. "I don't have the money to pay off his debt, and his debt is not my problem," she tells the man as she tries to keep her voice calm, hoping they don't hear her voice slightly shaking.

The man holding the paper still had a smirk on his face, but he seemed a bit dissatisfied. He gave the paper to another male who looked severe and was big and bulky. The man grabbed the paper and put it in his pocket. The first man walked toward Chao-Xing and said, "If you don't have the money, that's fine. I'll just have you do something else," he said as he licked his lips. She thought her heart would stop, as she knew what he was implying.

If she knew that this would happen to her, she would've acted any way she wanted without worrying about acting 'mature' when she was still a kid. She wants to get away from them. She doesn't want them anywhere near her or to touch her. Her eyes darted to her room, and she saw that her bedroom window was open. She was grateful that she left it open to feel the wind since they don't have any air conditioners.

Her eyes looked at the man, and then, back at the door, beads of sweat went down her temples as she debated whether to make a run for it. Run. Don't run. You have to run. If she doesn't run now, she will never have this chance again. Silence. She was silent, and everything around her was silent. The man raised a brow and said, "Hey, are you listening? Why the hell aren't you saying anything?" He questioned her, as his tone was getting irritated at this point.

Chao-Xing didn't respond to him and made a run for it toward her room. She should've known that it was no use to try and run away from a bunch of men who were bigger than and more robust than her, especially since they were the mafia. She didn't get too far, though, as the first man grabbed a fist full of her hair, pulled her back towards him, and put his hand against her mouth to keep her from yelling.

She tried struggling against him, as she wanted to get away and didn't want him touching her. She wants her mom. She wants her dad. No matter how terrible the two are, she wants her parents right now and wants to feel protected by them. "Damn it! Stop fucking struggling!" The man yelled, wholly irritated with her behavior. He removed his hand from her mouth, turned her around to face him, his other hand still gripping her hair, and slapped her across the face hard. He let go of her hair as he slapped her, and she fell to the ground from the impact.

Her lip started bleeding as he busted her lip from that slap, and her cheek started to bruise as the many rings on his fingers made the slap even harder. She tried crawling away from him and went to the wall behind her. She curled herself into a ball as a way to try and protect herself as the man took out a gun and pointed it at her head.

"I will shoot you dead," the man grumbled as he glared down at the petrified girl, who was still curled up in a ball as if she were looking for that protective warmth. The man clicked his tongue and put his gun away. "I have a better idea. How about I punish you for that little stunt you pulled?" he said as he nodded at the other men behind him and nodded. They understood what he meant and went to grab the girl and pull her from the ground roughly.

The first man went to the bathroom and filled the tub with water, not caring if it was hot or cold. "Bring her inside," he called out to the men from the bathroom. Chao-Xing was trying to pull away, but she didn't have the strength left from the shock and fear that she was feeling right now. "Please! Please let go of me!" She didn't know what else to say, as all that came out of her mouth was the word 'please.'

"Don't worry, little girl. We'll just play a game; if you don't pass out, we will let you go scot-free. But if you do pass out, we'll start all over." The man tells the scared girl as she looks up at him, her cheeks wet with her tears, her face pale, her hair messy from his gripping not too long ago, and a bit bruised on her cheek. The man ushered his men to drag her towards the bathtub, and they pushed her down on her knees, and she felt a big hand on the back of her head. The first man took a cigarette and a lighter out of his pocket; he lit the cigarette, put the lighter away, and put the end in his mouth between his teeth. "Remember, don't pass out, little girl," and with that, the men who were holding her down and the guy who was gripping the back of her head pushed her face down in the filled tub.

Chao-Xing was thrashing and trying to pull her head out of the water-filled tub, but one of the men didn't let go of her head. Water fell on the ground as she tried to get her head out of the water. The first man was puffing out smoke from his cigarette. He looked at his men and nodded his head. The man that was gripping her head gripped her hair and roughly pulled her head out of the water, and she immediately started gasping for air and coughing, her heart beating fast from the fear and the thought that she was going to die.

"Wow! Good job! You didn't pass out."The man said as he took the cigarette out of his mouth and looked at her; his words were mocking. "Man, I'm loving this game of ours," he says with a loud laugh, looking at the sight of her fear, which turned to slight anger. She won't pay off her dad's debt, but she's not dumb enough to say the wrong word to him.

The man kneeled to her level and gripped her cheeks with his hand. She flinched a bit from the pain because of her bruised cheek. "It's a shame, though. You're pretty cute despite living in this dump," he says, looking at her face and then grins. "If you agree to stay with me, I can play a different game with you every night and spoil you if you're obedient."

"Hell no," she grits out as she glares at him, as she knows very well what he meant and knows that staying with him will be far worse than what she's going through right now. She will never agree to go with him. His grin went away, and his face became expressionless. "Too bad," he said as he stood up. "Seems like we'll have to play these games then," he says as he snaps his fingers, and the men dunk her head underwater again.

The man had his men do many things to Chao-Xing, including dunking her head underwater in the tub and giving her bruises from the hitting and kicks. She tried getting away from him again, but it only resulted in a bullet wound to the back of her left knee. It's been a long time, but she can't remember how long it has been and doesn't remember most of the torture she has been through. Her body was in pain; she was bloody and bruised; she doesn't remember much of what happened.

The light in her eyes was dull, and the hope of wanting someone to save her disappeared. Why didn't anyone come?

"We'll come back again tomorrow," the man said as he and his men left the apartment and left her alone. Again? Did they leave before? She has a small, hazy memory that if anyone left, a man would be watching her and making sure she didn't do anything ridiculous. She stood up and limped to her room. Her left leg was in terrible shape because of the bullet wound. She can't continue living like this anymore. She doesn't feel like living anymore.

Her father never returned home, and she has not heard anything about him. The apartment room has gotten dirtier from her inability to clean the place up. She stumbled into her room, and her leg gave out on her, and she fell to the ground by her bedside. She was a mess, as she was physically and mentally tired from what she had gone through so far. She looked around her room and saw a long, old electrical cord lying on the ground. It used to belong to her father; she doesn't exactly remember why he had it, but she felt slightly uncomfortable as she looked at it.

She put her arm on the edge of the bed and used it to help herself stand up. She limped towards the electrical cord and picked it up. As she stared at it for a few minutes, she thought about how this could help her find freedom, and she finally had something that could help her escape from hell.

She grabbed a chair from her desk and dragged it to the middle of the room. She got on top of the chair, ignoring the terrible pain in her leg. She tied the cord around the fan as best she could and gripped the electrical cord. She'll finally be free and can escape.

Then, she felt ice cold; she couldn't breathe and was stuck in darkness. She awoke abruptly and quickly sat up, gripping her throat and breathing quickly as she was covered in cold sweat. After catching her breath, she felt like she was on something soft and looked down. She was on a soft bed that was neatly made, and she looked around. The room was clean and a lot bigger than her apartment room. Also, it looked like one of those neat and expensive rooms from a historical Chinese drama, and it confused her even more.

She didn't know where she was and felt a pit in her stomach. She felt extremely uncomfortable and had some fear. She threw the blanket off her and went to get out of bed, but the second she stood up, the strength in her legs went out, and she fell hard on her knees. The impact was hard and loud enough for someone to hear from outside her room as someone opened a wooden sliding door.

"My lady, you shouldn't get out of bed yet. Your health isn't so great right now, so you should rest," a woman's voice said, and she looked up at the woman, seeing how she was wearing green Hanfu attire and her hair was up in twin buns. Hearing her call her 'my lady' confused her, and she didn't understand what she meant by that. But something caught her eye: her hair color was completely different and was longer than before as it reached the floor by just being on her knees.

She grabbed the ends of her hair, looked at its color, and saw it was white. It was a unique color, and I wondered if someone bleached the hell out of her hair and had it dyed white. "My lady? Is something wrong?" The woman questioned as she looked down at the girl, "Where am I?" She asked in a whisper, making the woman raise a brow at her.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean by that. Are you feeling alright? Are the effects of the poison worse than I thought?"The older woman stated this as she walked towards her and kneeled to her level. "Poisoned?" Chao-Xing questioned in a whisper as she looked at the old woman's hazel eyes, "My lady, forgive this servant for not being able to protect you better. Lady Ming-Yue, I'm glad you woke up and are safe."

'Ming-Yue?' She doesn't know anyone by that name, and she's optimistic that her name is Chao-Xing and not Ming-Yue. And she was poisoned? She doesn't remember what happened at all. "Do you have a mirror?" She asked the woman, and she nodded her head with a smile, stood up, and went to look for a small hand mirror. The woman returned to her and handed her a white jade hand mirror, and Chao-Xing, well, Ming-Yue, looked into the mirror and was shocked. Her hair was white, and her eyes were bright blue, but for some reason, her expression of shock didn't look shocked at all; it was almost void of emotion.

The hair color and eye color baffled her the most. No one has white hair or blue eyes unless they wear colored eye contacts and bleach and dye their hair white. "I don't remember what happened," Ming-Yue says as she continues looking at herself in the mirror, and the old woman puts her wrinkled hand on her head. "It's okay, my lady. You don't usually have good health; the poison worsens it. I know that in time, your mind will no longer be hazy." She can hear the warmth and kindness in the old woman's tone and how gentle her hand felt on top of her head. It was strange, and she wasn't used to that at all. She nodded her head and set the mirror down on the ground. "Okay," she stated softly. Maybe this was a dream or even heaven, and she's finally away from that hell. But that doesn't explain her different looks and being called 'Ming-Yue.' It didn't matter to her as long as she was away from that hell.

Ming-Yue finally stood up from the floor after she self-assured herself; she realized that the clothes that she was wearing were also peculiar clothing that seemed like sleepwear; she was wearing white cotton hanfu pajamas.

The sleeves almost passed her palms, and they covered her ankles. Anyone would think it was far too big for her, as it looked like it completely consumed her. "I'm okay now. Sorry for making you worry," she tells the old woman; her voice sounded silky and held some power and authority. Of course, her voice seemed to match her looks when she looked at herself in the small mirror. Her appearance resembles her voice very well; despite her bright blue eyes, they looked serious and calm. And even Ming-Yue couldn't tell what she was thinking by looking at her face in the mirror.

She had a frown on her face and didn't look like this person had not smiled in years. The old woman looked at Ming-Yue; her expression seemed unchanging and dull. "I'm happy to hear that, my lady," she said softly.

"I would like to go out and feel the sun," Ming-Yue tells the woman as she walks towards the sliding door. The older woman immediately opened her mouth to say, "My lady, I wouldn't go out now. You have to recover, and you just barely woke up." Ming-yue can hear the worry in her voice when she protests wanting to go out.

"What if you faint because of the poison?" She questions her, which makes Ming-Yue wonder why she got poisoned.

'Who poisoned Ming-Yue?'

It was what went through her mind as the fact that someone poisoned Ming-Yue went through her mind, and she completely forgot about it since all she cared about at that moment was that she could start over in this new life. "And you are in your sleepwear." "You shouldn't run out in only your sleepwear." The woman says, and Ming-Yue looks down at her attire and then turns her attention to the woman with an aloof expression, "You're right..." She trails off.

In her first life, Ming-Yue was used to running out in her pajamas; she was used to running out in old, dirty rags as she and her family were poor and never had enough money. But she didn't realize at first that what she was wearing was sleep attire. It was clean, not at all dirty, and it didn't smell like moldy food and dead rats.

"Why don't you stay in bed and rest?"

It was an innocent suggestion from a servant to their master, but it sounded slightly off to Mong-Yue. She doesn't know how to put it, but this feeling is off, and all she can think about is how this unsettling feeling won't disappear.

Ming-Yue nodded her head at what the servant suggested and went to sit down on her bed. She should probably use this time to rest and get used to how different things are right now. Now that she thinks about it, she never truly knows the servant's name.

"What's your name?"

Ming-Yue asks her, as she is genuinely asking for her name. The servant raises a gray brow at Ming-Yue and stares at her like she has grown three heads and a tail. "My lady, has the poison made you confused? My name is Anhe," the servant said with a slight annoyance.

"I must go now. I have other stuff to do."

Anhe leaves the room, leaving Ming-Yue alone on her bed; she sits there, staring into space, as that little encounter was a bit awkward for her taste. What servant sounds annoyed at their master? Indeed, the original owner of this body didn't do anything terrible. The room she's staying in is clean, as are the clothes she's wearing, and she swears that the old woman sounded kinder when she first woke up.

She supposes she must figure out what happens after a short rest. She lays down and stares up at the ceiling. "I woke up not too long ago, but I'm already tired. Maybe I should sleep for a bit." Ming-Yue closed her eyes and went into a deep slumber, not expecting what would come in her dreams while awake.