"The injuries are fine. Nothing serious."

A blurry voice drifted into her ears, and Evangeline Stormwell, lying on the ground, frowned without meaning to.

Cold wrapped around her whole body. Wind brushed past her skin, carrying the sharp scent of blood with it, raising goosebumps all over her. A jolt of alarm ran through her heart. Wasn't she dead?

The last sound she had heard before blacking out had clearly been a gunshot tearing through her abdomen, wet and brutal.

And now, sharp by nature and wary to the bone, she tried to open her eyes, only to find she simply could not.

"Young Master, about this young lady..."

Someone was speaking near her ear. Evangeline could feel dampness in the wind, thick and sticky with moisture. The grass and stones beneath her dug into her painfully. Her abdomen really did seem injured. Her arm burned as if on fire, and every breath sent stabs of pain through her chest.

"Take her back."

"Yes, sir."

Who was talking?

Evangeline's brows drew together in vigilance. Her hand moved instinctively toward her waist, feeling around for a long while, but she found no weapon at all.

Her heart tightened. Had the mission failed? Had she been captured?

Just as that thought crossed her mind, a flash of white burst in her head. Evangeline frowned. In the fragments of memory, a carriage was racing forward, and behind it seemed to be two elderly figures growing farther and farther away, crying out as they sent her off.

A sharp pain stabbed through her mind, and broken images kept surging up.

Bright red blood splashed across the carriage curtain. A sword piercing her abdomen. Countless men in black. The world tilting and spinning. And a... handsome man's face?

Then everything went dark again. He was the last person she had seen.

Evangeline skimmed through those scenes in a blur, her brows locked tight. She still did not fully understand what had happened, but she desperately wanted to force herself awake.

Only her eyelids felt as if they had been glued shut. No matter what she did, they would not open.

Then suddenly, an icy hand touched her chest.

That cold sensation pressed through her clothes against her skin, and Evangeline snapped awake at once. A heavy sense of danger crashed over her. Her eyes flew open, and she flipped up almost on instinct, sweeping out a hard kick.

The man abruptly withdrew his hand, turned his head to avoid her strike, and lightly tapped the top of her foot with his fingertip, neatly blocking the force of her kick. Then he stood before her with his hands behind his back, lips pressed together ever so slightly.

The man wore a broad hat that shadowed most of his face. Evangeline Stormwell couldn’t make him out clearly. The instant she kicked out, she reflexively looked at him, but all she caught was his eyes—cold as a winter spring, sharp and clear, carrying a chill that seemed to seep straight into her bones.

There was something strange about him, a pressure that rolled off his body and pressed down on her so hard she could barely breathe.

A faint golden light flickered at his fingertips. The glow fell into his eyes, and in that reflection, Evangeline saw her own face—a young girl of fifteen or sixteen, delicate and soft-featured.

That was not her.

The sudden movement pulled at the wound in her abdomen. Pain exploded through her body so fiercely that her vision blurred. Warm blood instantly soaked through her clothes and streamed down in thick rivulets.

This was not a place Evangeline knew.

And this man was dressed in wide-sleeved ancient robes.

She had… crossed over.

Without showing it on her face, Evangeline quietly swept her gaze around. She seemed to be in a forest. Night had nearly fallen, and only the torches in the hands of the few men before her cast a dim, wavering light over the area. Not far away, several corpses lay sprawled on the ground.

Bit by bit, she sorted through what was in front of her. She drew in a deep breath. Her head, dizzy from pain, was only now beginning to clear.

She was shaken beyond words, but the huge wound in her abdomen hurt so badly that cold sweat poured down her back. She had no time to think about anything else. She only stared at the people in front of her with full alertness.

That cold man looked like their leader.

Right now, she had no idea who was friend or foe, and that uncertainty filled her with a sense of danger she had never felt so strongly before.

“Young Master, should we…”

One of the men holding a torch stepped forward and spoke hesitantly, but the man cut him off with a slight wave of his hand.

He glanced at Evangeline once. His eyes were deep and unreadable, dark enough to swallow light. Then he said in an even tone, “Let her rest for a while. We stay here and recover.”

With that, he turned and walked away from the group.

The people around him lowered their heads and answered, “Yes, Young Master,” their voices respectful. Then they spread out, orderly and disciplined, each going about his own task.

There was no obvious killing intent on them, yet their eyes remained fixed on the surroundings at all times. Every one of them was on guard.

Evangeline remembered the few broken lines of conversation she had heard while half-conscious. It seemed this group had saved her.

She let out a quiet breath of relief.

At least for now, they did not look like enemies.

The moment her nerves loosened, her whole body gave way. Her legs went weak, and she dropped to the ground.

Pain crashed over her in an instant.

And mixed in with that pain came a flood of memories and information, surging into her mind from all directions, stabbing her brain so sharply that her head throbbed again.

After that sharp wave of pain finally passed, her thoughts slowly started to fall into place.

The place she was in now was called the Great Zhou Kingdom. Here, people worshiped spirit power above all else. Everyone cultivated the strength within their bodies, and once they reached a certain level, they could truly fight and stand above others. A person’s rank in spirit power was the mark of the strong.

And her identity here was the legitimate daughter of Chancellor Yun in the Great Zhou. Yet because she had been unable to cultivate since childhood, everyone had long treated her like useless trash. Still, the girl’s parents had never once despised her. They had loved her dearly and kept her sheltered, letting her grow up safe and cared for.

But not long ago, the Chancellor’s residence had suddenly come under attack by a group of powerful spirit cultivators. Chancellor Yun had seemed to sense danger ahead of time. Before disaster fully struck, he had hurriedly pushed Evangeline Stormwell into a carriage and sent her away in a rush.

Even then, she still had not escaped the pursuit.

Once she sorted out the situation in front of her, the shock in Evangeline’s heart lingered, but she forced herself calm almost at once. She had no idea how she had suddenly crossed into this place, but one thing was obvious—her situation right now was extremely dangerous.

Someone had carefully planned to move against the Chancellor’s residence. Before sending Evangeline away, Chancellor Yun and his wife must already have known what was coming.

Father and Mother are in danger!

She shot to her feet at once.

To her, that couple still felt strangely unfamiliar, yet in the original host’s memories, they had been gentle, loving parents through and through. She could not just leave them behind and pretend none of this mattered.

Enduring the stabbing pain in her abdomen, Evangeline turned and tried to head back, but all she could see before her was a dark, silent forest. The woods were deep and still, black as ink, and she could not make out the road ahead at all.

"Done resting?"

Seeing her suddenly move, the man in front of her stepped over. His whole body was wrapped in a black cloak. His brow lifted slightly, and in those eyes of his there was a kind of breathtaking elegance that made people afraid to meet his gaze. Then the corners of his lips curved into a faint smile, and he reached a hand toward her chest.

"Was it you people who brought me here?" Evangeline asked coldly. She took a step back, eyes fixed on him, every bit of her on guard.

"That’s right." The man leaned in with open interest, looking her up and down without the slightest restraint. After a brief pause, he said, "Didn’t expect it. A few days apart, and you’ve gotten much more stubborn."

A few days apart?

Evangeline froze inside, confused. Did this man know her? She lowered her eyes and searched through her thoughts for a moment, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not recall anyone like him in the original host’s life.

The man said nothing more. He simply reached again, this time for her clothes.

Evangeline’s expression changed at once. She tried to dodge, but the man did not withdraw. A golden gleam flashed once more at his fingertips, and in the next instant, a powerful surge of spirit energy locked her firmly in place.