"Scum! Hand over the goods to me!"

The man, whose eyes are filled with a blood-red murderous intent, lifts his foot and brutally stomps on Zhong Li's chest. The followers around him shudder at the sound of cracking bones.

The man has always been ruthless, and the force of his stomp is too much for Zhong Li to bear. She instantly spews out fresh blood, her face as white as a sheet, but there's no fear in her pain-filled expression.

Instead, there's a mocking smile at the corner of her mouth, which sends shivers down the spines of the onlookers.

Zhong Li spits a mouthful of bloody saliva onto the man's body and says, "Want the goods? Go get them from the police station!"

"Damn it!"

Stung beyond endurance, the man draws his weapon from his waist and fires a shot directly at Zhong Li's abdomen: "How dare you betray me!"

"Ah!"

The intense pain makes Zhong Li arch her back, her hands instantly covered in thick, warm liquid.

And yet, she feels more relieved than she's ever been.

Ever since she was forced into this lifestyle, having to witness her best friend die right before her eyes, Zhong Li had long abandoned any desire to live.

But she won't let the baddies get off easy!

Looking at the man as if he's already dead, her tone icy cold, Zhong Li says, "Wait for your execution by firing squad!!"

"Scum!"

With several bangs in quick succession, Zhong Li finds her body aching to the point of numbness. The surrounding lights, once vibrant and colorful, gradually lose their hues, turning grey and dim.

Zhong Li wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but he seemed to hear a sharp siren ringing in the distance.

The man, in a fit of fury, had people throw Zhong Li into the sea.

“Bang!”

Bitter and salty seawater rushed in from all directions. Zhong Li was bobbing up and down in the water, yet his heart was strikingly serene.

How great, he was finally freed...

"Hold on! Don't sleep!"

Who was it? Who was calling me?

Zhong Li heard a chaotic mix of sounds around him, too indistinct to understand.

The one thing he was sure of was that someone was holding him tightly, providing him with the last vestige of warmth...

Who in the world was it?

Struggling, Zhong Li tried to open his eyes, only to find himself suspended in a vast dark space.

Suddenly, a beam of light shone directly down from above, forcing Zhong Li to squint his eyes.

Then, he saw an eerie image suspended in front of him, like scenes flashing past from a film reel.

As he continued watching, Zhong Li couldn't help but shed tears.

They were scenes from his past life.

She saw a late summer night in her third year of junior high, when she argued against her family's plans to move up north. The quarrel with her stepmother escalated into a slap across the face from her father. Hurt and angry, she left home only to be grabbed by someone at the corner not far from her house. A cloth was pressed to her mouth and nose and she was forcefully dragged into a white van which then sped off.

She saw a drooling, foul-smelling idiot with yellow-green snot running from his nose, struggling to approach her with a limp as he laughed grotesquely. He pinned her down…

She saw the idiot's father abusing her time and again. His mother was infuriated and beat her half to death with a stick as thick as an arm, procured from the stove room. Her legs were covered in traumatizingly brutal bruise marks…

She saw herself and a female teacher running desperately on the perilous mountain roads under the pitch-dark night. They finally escaped the mountains, only to plummet into a living hell where she was beaten daily to a bloody pulp and numbly had to entertain one guest after another…

She saw her best friend lying in a pool of blood, smiling bitterly as she uttered, "I'm finally free..."

She saw herself handing over a batch of important smuggling goods to an undercover agent, only to be captured, beaten, and thrown into the sea…

It was all so real, all so painful that Zhong Li could not help but let out a loud scream. She bolted upright, eyes wide open in terror.

The room she took in was an old but spotlessly white one, with a ceiling fan lazily spinning around. The smell of disinfectant permeated the air, and outside the window, cicadas' calls rose and fell, seemingly shouting, "It's so hot, we're going to die of the heat…”

Despite sitting still, Zhong Li was sweating due to the baking heat.

It's summer? But when she was attacked, it was winter.

Moreover, who had saved her?

While Zhong Li was pondering over this, the door of the ward creaked open.

She looked up and saw a man in a green uniform. Seeing the pine branch emblem and red shield on his uniform collar, Zhong Li was taken aback.

The emblems told her unequivocally that the current year was between 1990 and 1998.

She was sure of this because her father was a retired soldier who had once taught her how to distinguish between military and police uniforms. The familiar deep blue uniform that she was accustomed to seeing did not appear until 1999.

"What...what on earth is going on?"

Zhong Li watched the approaching police officer, her questions lodged in her throat, unable to voice them out.

"Are you okay?"

Noticing Zhong Li's agitation, the man slightly frowned and pulled over a wooden stool from the side of the bed, then sat down.

Zhong Li shook her head, then nodded, and as if thinking of something, she snatched the medical record hanging by the bed. The shock almost made her faint again.

The bold, black Songti-script number two on it clearly stated: Jiang City People's Hospital, with the date marked as June 2, 1998.

Had she not cheated death, but instead...reborn? Reborn in her own hometown?

The her of now, was still herself at 16. Did that mean that the life-shattering kidnapping on May 29 had passed?

Zhong Li was on the verge of both crying and laughing, which made the police officer increasingly worried.

However, he had seen many survivors react this way, shedding tears of joy after a brush with death, and so he didn't find it unusual.

"Don't worry, I'll contact your family as soon as I can, but before that..."

The police officer took out a pen and paper: "I need your cooperation..."

Zhong Li quickly composed herself: "What kind of cooperation do you need from me?"

The man glanced at Zhong Li and then began, "Let's start with an introduction, my name is Ye Pei Zhi, I work at the Linjiang District police station..."

Zhong Li nodded: "My name is Zhong Li!"

Ye Peizhi then moved on to the main point: "This is what happened. The doctor confirmed that there are multiple signs of bondage on your body, and a significant amount of sleeping pills were found left inside you. Therefore, I suspect you may be involved in the recent human trafficking case. I hope you can assist us in the investigation!"

Zhong Li then lowered her head to look at the bruises crisscrossing her delicate wrists, some of the wounds looking rather hideous.

Compared to those in her previous life, this was nothing.

However, did she need to give an honest explanation now?

Zhong Li thought about it for a moment, then shook her head: "I'm sorry! I don't have any recollection."

It wasn't that Zhong Li didn't want to bring the criminals to justice. On the contrary, she wished she could skin and bone them.

But she truly didn't know who the kidnappers were. As for the gang leader she met later, they hadn't crossed paths in this life yet. If she revealed this abruptly, it would be too shocking. Even if Ye Peizhi believed her, would the news leak out? Would Brother Long retaliate?

All of these, like unknown bombs, made her dare not act rashly.

Even if she couldn't change the destined intersection with Brother Long, and even if she had to face him eventually, Zhong Li wished by that time she would have full self-protection capabilities, and even be able to confront Brother Long.

For now, all Zhong Li wanted to do was go home.

"The attackers approached from behind, and the drug they used was potent. I lost consciousness immediately."

"Did you notice anything peculiar at all? Say, their hands?" Ye Peizhi evidently didn't want to give up. He continued to press on: "Or perhaps you heard something? Smelled something?"

"I'm really sorry, but I can't remember anything!" Zhong Li held her forehead, pretending to have a headache, planning to move on from this topic.

"Well, that's okay then!" Seeing the young girl's face scrunched up, Ye Peizhi realized he might have been a bit too eager.

Thinking about the criminal who was still at large, while he himself was unable to bring them to justice, Ye Peizhi couldn't help but sigh and stand up: "You should get some rest! Please inform me immediately if you remember anything!"

Zhong Li nodded her head, then seeming to recall something, she quickly called out to the man: "Officer Ye, I'd like to go home tomorrow. Also, thank you for saving me!"

Finally, a hearty smile appeared on Ye Peizhi's stern face: "I'm not the one who saved your life!"