"Third Miss, run forward, don't look back!"
When Li Susu regained consciousness, someone suddenly shoved her hard.
Her feet slipped, and she tumbled down the hillside.
It was December, with thick snow covering the ground, bone-chilling cold, and her body ached all over.
Just as she was about to crash into a tree at the bottom of the slope, a white jade bracelet materialized around Li Susu's wrist.
The bracelet shimmered with colorful radiance, its power barely stabilizing her body.
Li Susu felt dizzy and disoriented, taking quite some time to recover.
Before her eyes stretched a vast expanse of white. She sat up from the ground, realizing how utterly disheveled she looked.
Her pink-and-white padded jacket was stained with dirt, her hair had come loose from its bun, and one of her embroidered shoes was missing.
Su Su braced herself against the tree trunk and struggled to her feet.
From the jade bracelet on her wrist came the voice of a young boy, speaking seriously: "Master, this is the human world five hundred years ago."
Heavy snowflakes were still falling from the sky.
Su Su extended her hand, catching snowflakes in her palm that instantly melted from her body heat. The air was thick with abundant Spiritual Energy.
Her pale little face showed faint traces of astonishment.
Five hundred years later, the world would be shrouded in black mist, with Chimei Wangliang running rampant, and Spiritual Energy would become sparse and pitifully scarce.
"Ye Xi Wu is willing to relinquish her body." The jade bracelet paused before continuing, "She said she hopes you can protect her father and grandmother from that evil creature in the future."
Su Su replied: "Tell Ye Xi Wu that I promise her."
"Crossing five hundred years has drained my Spiritual Power, Master. I need to enter hibernation. Only call for me when you're in mortal danger."
"Alright." She raised her slender fingers and gently stroked the jade bracelet.
The glow on the bracelet dimmed, falling into silence.
Su Su closed her eyes, and the memories of the original host Ye Xi Wu began surfacing in her mind. After all, it wasn't her own body - the memories came intermittently, fragmented and blurry.
Ye Xi Wu was the third young miss of General Ye's household, and the only legitimate daughter of the Ye family.
Some time ago, she had fallen into water, becoming seriously ill with a long-lasting condition. Her worried grandmother had taken her to Tianhua Temple to pray.
Unexpectedly, at the temple, Ye Xi Wu and her personal maid Yin Qiao were both kidnapped by mountain bandits.
Ye Xi Wu and Yin Qiao had seized an opportunity when the bandits weren't paying attention to escape down the mountain.
The mistress and servant hadn't gotten far before the bandits discovered their escape.
The moment Su Su transmigrated into Ye Xi Wu's body coincided with this very scene - the maid pushing her mistress away, telling her to run.
A sharp pain shot through Su Su's foot. Looking down, she saw her ankle was badly swollen.
Su Su tried to ignore the pain as she began searching for an escape route.
She trudged through the deep snow, step by arduous step, covering her tracks as she went. Gasping for breath, she never stopped moving.
There was no telling when the bandits might return. If they found her now, her situation would undoubtedly be dire.
A weak young woman falling into the hands of mountain bandits - one could easily imagine what fate awaited her.
She hadn't walked far when rustling footsteps sounded through the snow.
Su Su quickly hid behind a large rock.
Sure enough, moments later, several burly men appeared nearby.
"Worthless fools, letting a mere woman escape right under your noses!" The leader, panting heavily, smacked one of his subordinates on the head.
"Big brother," the subordinate endured the blow without daring to resist, saying nervously, "Our intelligence was wrong. That girl isn't some rich merchant's daughter - she's General Ye's own daughter."The bandit leader's face twitched, his expression grim.
What bandit wasn't afraid of imperial troops?
His gaze turned fierce. "In that case, we must find her and eliminate any future trouble."
"What are you staring at? Go search separately!"
Su Su hid behind a rock as footsteps drew closer. She frowned, preparing to be discovered.
Fortunately, the footsteps paused near her before heading in another direction.
Su Su waited cautiously, not moving until all sounds faded. Peering out, she saw chaotic footprints in the snow—the bandits had vanished.
As she stood to leave, a returning bandit suddenly shouted, "Boss! Over here! The woman's here!"
Su Su immediately turned and fled.
But the bandits quickly closed in behind her.
Her body was already weak. Her vision blurred, the white snow blinding her path, until she abruptly collided with someone.
Several arrows whizzed past, striking down the pursuing bandits.
Su Su looked up into a refined face.
The youth wore white robes that blended with the snow. His cheeks were lean, his eyes dark and somewhat aloof.
His pale skin, crimson lips, and jet-black hair made him strikingly beautiful, yet his calm, detached eyes kept him from appearing feminine.
When Su Su bumped into him, he remained motionless. But upon meeting her gaze, he flinched and averted his eyes.
He steadied her, murmuring, "My apologies, Third Miss. I arrived too late."
Confused, Su Su could only shake her head.
Within moments, the bandits lay dead or wounded, the survivors having fled.
Soldiers behind the youth clasped their fists. "Third Miss! We failed you."
Remembering the maid who'd pushed her to safety, Su Su pleaded, "Yin Qiao is still in their hands. Please, find her."
The youth's dark eyes held hers. "Very well. I'll send men to search."
As the soldiers scattered, he looked down. "Are you injured?"
Before she could answer, he silently scooped her into his arms.
Startled by the stranger's embrace, Su Su felt resistance but dared not struggle, studying him instead.
A critical problem surfaced.
Though she possessed some of Ye Xiwu's memories, she couldn't match faces to identities.
So who was this young man?
His embrace offered no warmth, chilling as the frigid air.
Shivering in his arms, Su Su ventured, "I fell down the slope and hit my head. My memories are jumbled. Forgive me... I don't recognize you."
A flicker of strangeness crossed his eyes before he composed himself. "I am Tantai Jin. We were wed three months ago."
Su Su stiffened, staring up in disbelief.
Snowflakes dusted his hair, accentuating his ice-cold demeanor.
He tightened his hold, whispering, "Third Miss, are you cold?"
With his dark eyes and black hair, he appeared fragile and harmless.
Noticing her scrutiny, he humbly lowered his gaze.
Su Su grew even more rigid.
Pressing her lips together, she concealed her turmoil.Su Su never expected that the frail, beautiful youth before her would be the target of her mission.
The future Demon King who would kill at will and shatter souls with a mere thought.
Leaning against his chest, she could feel his tall frame was emaciated, his bones sharp and uncomfortable.
In an instant, hundreds of immortal techniques for killing flashed through her mind.
The urge was so overwhelming that her hands almost instinctively formed the seals for an assassination technique.
Yet nothing happened.
Belatedly, Su Su remembered she was now merely a mortal.
Her body was cold and wracked with pain. Had it been the original owner, consciousness would have long been lost. Su Su had pushed herself to the limit just remaining aware.
She tried to struggle free from the fiend's embrace, but her strength had completely left her. The next moment, darkness swallowed her vision as she lost consciousness.
The youth's footsteps halted.
Only after she fainted did he lower his gaze to look at the girl in his arms.
Her face was pale, yet this usually arrogant and detestable countenance appeared strangely gentle and pure against the snowy backdrop.
He frowned slightly, then indifferently averted his eyes and continued walking out of the bandit den.
Not long after, soldiers under General Ye brought back Ye Xi Wu's personal maid, Yin Qiao.
The maid lay collapsed in the snow.
Tantai Jin quietly observed the corpse on the ground.
Dozens of knife wounds covered Yin Qiao's body, her clothes in disarray. A bloody hole pierced her abdomen, and her face was mangled beyond recognition.
The air hung heavy with the metallic scent of blood.
A soldier asked, "Your Highness the Hostage, how should we handle this?"
After a brief glance, he replied casually, "She's dead? Then burn her."
His tone was as light as commenting on how heavy this winter's snowfall had been.
As the carriage rocked along, Li Susu fell into a dream.
She dreamed of her childhood.
She had been born five hundred years in the future, daughter of the leader of the foremost Immortal Sect.
Though born into privilege, Li Susu had been rather unfortunate.
To make a long story short, her era was ruled by fiends.
Simply put, Demonic Beasts had become the masters, while Cultivators and mortals were forced into hiding.
No one knew exactly when that fiend had come into existence. But since his emergence, his cruel methods had driven the Immortal Sects into continuous retreat.
At first, some skeptical sects tried to besiege him, but these Cultivators were brutally buried in the "Ten Thousand Immortals' Tomb," their Souls Scattered.
As countless Immortal Venerables fell, the remaining sects grew fearful and could only hide, barely clinging to survival.
Henceforth, mere mention of his name brought terror.
The sky was perpetually gray, Demonic Energy suppressing Spiritual Energy until cultivation became impossible. Plagues ravaged the mortal world, corpses littering the land.
This was the world Li Susu grew up in.
Now, exhausted in this mortal body, Li Susu unexpectedly dreamed of her childhood.
Truth be told, she hadn't recalled this nightmare in a long time.
Back then, she had just learned to Shapeshift, still a young girl with a fiery red Cinnabar mark between her brows.
Her father, the sect leader, had warned, "Su Su, you must never leave the sect grounds, or the Demonic Beasts will capture you and deliver you to the Demon King."
The green-robed Immortal Venerable pointed to the first memorial tablet.
"See? This was your eldest martial uncle, killed by the Demon King."
Then he pointed to the second tablet.
"This was your fifth martial uncle, killed by the Demon King, his Soul scattered to nothingness."Her hand moved to the third memorial tablet. The little girl Su Su, with a serious expression, nodded earnestly and continued, "I know, this is Second Uncle-Master. The Demon King killed him too. When he died, even his life-bound magical instrument was crushed. When Su Su grows up, I will definitely avenge all my uncles and masters."
The sect leader looked at the exquisitely lovely, righteous little girl and nodded with satisfaction.
However, Su Su was still young after all. Not long after, she was tricked into leaving the sect by a fellow disciple who had defected.
The next moment, she was captured by Demonic Beasts.
The Demonic Beasts surrounded her, praising the traitorous senior brother: "You've done well! This little girl's soul is extremely pure—the soul stone lit up brightly. The Demon Lord will surely reward you handsomely!"
The traitor bowed and scraped, overjoyed.
They presented Su Su to the Demon King.
The Demon Palace was drenched in blood, gloomy and dim. Experiencing this for the first time, Su Su was toyed with by the surrounding demons. No matter how she fought, she couldn't win or escape.
Finally, the girl grew so frantic that she transformed into her Original Form, covering her face with her wings as she sobbed pitifully.
That was her first time seeing the Demon King—the man who had killed so many of her uncles and masters.
He was very tall, seated on his throne, shrouded in black mist.
A black cloak enveloped his body, revealing only a pair of emotionless eyes.
The Demon King's skin was deathly pale. Propping his chin, he looked down on her disdainfully.
The lamps in the Demon Palace crackled and sputtered.
The little girl, tricked into coming to this demonic lair, was both regretful and heartbroken, sobbing until she hiccupped.
"I came specifically to pledge allegiance to the Demon Lord. This is my gift to him," the senior brother said, pointing at Su Su with an ingratiating smile.
Yet the next moment, his eyes widened, and a gurgling sound came from his throat as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Just like that, the senior brother died easily. Su Su quietly moved her wings aside and stared wide-eyed.
The Demon King extended a pale finger and lifted the little girl.
Su Su's large eyes welled with stubborn tears that refused to fall. "I'm not afraid of you!" she declared.
She thought her turn would come next.
Summoning all her courage, she stretched her neck, ready for death.
The Demon King studied her for a long time, then raised his hand and threw her back to the Hengyang Sect.
No one knew why the Demon King didn't kill Su Su—not even Su Su herself understood.
Years later, the elders performed divination and decided to select someone to send back five hundred years to uncover the origins of the Demon Lord, prevent his awakening, and save all living beings.
The divination symbols spun around and finally pointed to Li Susu.
Su Su: "..." Suddenly, she felt a sense of mission, as if she were about to embark on a great path.
In her dream, a row of memorial tablets surrounded Su Su, cheering her on.
Su Su clasped her hands in salute to them and woke up.
She was no longer in that snowy field. The bed beneath her was warm, and the room was filled with a faint, cozy fragrance.
The charcoal fire burned brightly, tingeing her cheeks with a soft blush.
Before her, a maid of about fifteen or sixteen carefully bowed. "Young Miss, you're awake."
She helped Su Su up and fed her a sip of water.
Su Su's throat ached terribly, and she choked, coughing several times. The young maid's face instantly turned pale as she knelt on the ground. "Young Miss, spare me! Chun Tao didn't mean to!"
With that, she kowtowed, knocking her head against the floor with loud, unambiguous thuds.
Clearly, she was terrified of Su Su.
The original owner, Ye Xi Wu, had a vicious and cruel temperament. Just one cough from Su Su had frightened the maid so badly.
Su Su shook her head, trying not to scare her further, and said, "Get up. It's not your fault."Chun Tao nervously studied Su Su's expression. In the past, if the young lady felt unwell, she would never have let Chun Tao off lightly.
She carefully observed the young lady's face and, seeing that the third young lady truly had no intention of punishing her, Chun Tao breathed a sigh of relief and quickly set the teacup down properly.
"Where are we?" Su Su asked.
The young maid replied, "We're no longer at the temple, we've returned to the manor. Young lady, you've had a fever for two days."
Su Su asked, "Chun Tao, where is Tantai Jin?"
Having grown accustomed to calling him "Demon King" or "Evil Creature" along with others from the cultivation world, using the demon king's childhood name now felt quite unfamiliar.
Chun Tao watched her expression carefully and said quietly, "After the Hostage returned to the manor, he's been kneeling on the ice. I've been keeping watch for you, young lady, and he definitely hasn't gotten up."
Su Su looked at Chun Tao in surprise. What? Kneeling?
Fragmented memories flashed through her mind, and Su Su finally remembered what had happened.
This was the original host's order before being captured by the mountain bandits.
Su Su had been unconscious for two days, which meant Tantai Jin had been kneeling in the ice and snow for two days as well.
After thinking for a moment, Su Su asked Chun Tao, "Can you bring me a mirror?"
Chun Tao quickly handed over a bronze mirror. She secretly watched the third young lady - this was the first time the third young lady had spoken to her in such a gentle tone!
Su Su examined her current body. The mirror reflected a youthful face, about sixteen or seventeen years old. Almond-shaped eyes tilted upward, cherry lips small and delicate. Not absolutely stunning, but rather pretty in a girl-next-door way.
When Su Su tried smiling, it instantly carried a sense of cheerfulness and happiness.
Actually, Su Su's main focus wasn't on what the original host looked like.
She studied herself in the mirror for a long time.
So long that Chun Tao grew apprehensive and couldn't help asking, "Young lady, what are you looking at?"
Was she complaining again that she wasn't as charming as the eldest young lady?
Su Su thought to herself: Her martial uncle had once taught her how to read faces. "The mouth corresponds to the north in the water element, lips like cinnabar should be long. Teeth white, numerous, even and close together, naturally rising to high position."
Now she possessed none of these traits. Judging by this facial reading, she was destined to die before twenty - a fate of early death.
Su Su was puzzled. Although a mortal's lifespan is merely a fleeting hundred years, this body was still young. How could it be destined for early death?
Even with Su Su now inhabiting the body, there was no sign of change at all.
So how exactly would she die in the future?
For some reason, Su Su suddenly thought of the young demon king kneeling outside.
Li Susu of the Righteous Path suddenly raised her eyes.
Damn!
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