001: Hell is empty_1

June, Imperial City.

The sun blazed in a cloudless sky.

A gentle breeze brought relief, lifting the spirits.

Inside a private hospital.

From a heart monitor beside the operating table came the "beep beep" of its alarm.

In this tranquil space, the sound seemed particularly jarring.

"Scalpel."

"Gauze."

The nurses, methodical in their work, passed all the necessary tools into the surgeons' hands.

The woman on the operating table didn't resemble a typical patient; her skin was pale and her lips, rosy. Her complexion was creamy smooth... she didn't look sick at all.

Beside the woman was another operating table, where a young man lay. His skin was ashen, and even his lips had turned paper-white. He wore an oxygen mask, and he seemed... to have little time left.

Next to the man's bed, a middle-aged couple dressed in sterile surgical attire stood, both in tears and overwhelmed with worry.

The middle-aged man, sobbing, said, "Tianyi, just hold on a little longer, help is coming soon…"

The middle-aged woman, supporting the man's shoulder, comforted, "Junliang, don't worry, Tianyi will definitely get better…"

By the end, the woman was also overcome with tears, grief-stricken.

Unnoticed by anyone, a sinister light flashed in her eyes.

Mu Qingli opened her eyes amidst piercing pain.

She was met with a stark white light; disoriented, she tried to sit up but couldn't muster any strength.

Where was this?

How did she come to be here?

Mu Qingli surveyed her surroundings. Besides the beeping, she could also hear crying.

Struggling, Mu Qingli turned her head and saw two familiar figures. Hope filled her eyes as she mustered all her strength and uttered two words, "Dad... Mom..."

Upon hearing this.

Mu Junliang whirled around, his gaze landing on Mu Qingli on the operating table. His eyes, sharp and incredulous, quickly filled with disgust as he averted his gaze, looking at the chief surgeon working on a heart, "Why is she awake?!"

His brief words carried an unmistakable loathing.

Mu Qingli stared at her father in disbelief. Was she dreaming?

How could her own father talk to her in such a tone?

In the next moment, an even more intense pain struck.

This anguish was a clear indication that this was no dream.

It was then that Mu Qingli realized—

She was in an operating room.

Her body was being—

Cut open.

No wonder it hurt so much.

There was no mistaking the person on the operating table beside her. It was her biological brother—

Mu Tianyi.

The surgeon wore a large mask and over his eyes was a pair of gold-rimmed glasses.

Upon hearing this, he halted his work and looked down at Mu Qingli, his voice cold as he said, "Mr. Mu, no need to worry. The drugs haven't worn off her yet. Even if she's awake, it won't delay the surgery."

Hearing this, Mu Junliang breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good. Dr. Zhao, I leave Tianyi in your hands."

Hearing this response, Mu Qingliang turned to look at Mu Junliang as large tears rolled down from her eyes, hot with emotion, "Dad, why?"

Mu Junliang's kind expression instantly darkened, and with a twist of his brows and disdain in his voice, he said, "It's a blessing for you to extend Tianyi's life! Don't be ungrateful!"

The stepmother also looked at Mu Qingli with disgust and said mockingly, "Old Mu, she's just a dead person anyway. Let's be generous and not stoop to her level, getting angry will only harm our health."

"Why?" Mu Qingli looked at Mu Junliang, her eyes filled with a chilling light.

Mu Junliang gave her a cold glance, and with venom in his tone, he said, "Because I'm your father! You think I brought you back from the countryside for what? You think I've been feeding you these seven years for nothing? A worthless waste of money!"

Mu Qingli had grown up in Hua Mountain Village, a useless girl, and such a money-loser could not bring him any benefits.

His only use for her was to provide a fresh heart for his son, who had a congenital heart disease.

Hearing her biological father's cold-hearted words, Mu Qingli's beautiful face turned utterly pale.

She was once called Su Xiaoyu, the abandoned daughter of the Mu Family. Because of the preference for sons over daughters, she was discarded in Hua Mountain by her biological parents.