Chapter 1: The Awakening
The first thing Shen Yuxi felt was pain. A sharp, suffocating pain that bloomed from her chest and radiated down to her limbs. Her throat was parched, her body freezing, and every muscle ached like it had been beaten.
She gasped, jerking upright from the straw mat beneath her. Her eyes fluttered open, greeted by the dim interior of a mud hut. The walls were cracked, and the thin blanket over her legs smelled of mildew. Her ears rang faintly, and outside, the soft whimpering of a child echoed in the distance.
"Where... am I?" Shen Yuxi muttered hoarsely.
Memories surged forward. She had been a trauma surgeon in the 21st century, standing in an emergency room during a mass casualty incident. Then—an explosion. Darkness.
She touched her chest. It was smooth, unmarred. Her fingers, thinner, bonier than before. Not her hands.
Panicked, she stumbled to a rusted mirror propped against the wall. A stranger's face stared back—beautiful, youthful, yet gaunt. Her eyes, however, were her own. Cool, calculating, and now widened in shock.
Transmigration.
A voice echoed in her mind. "Host has successfully bound with the dimensional space. Space activation complete."
A moment later, her consciousness touched something vast and hidden—an inner dimension brimming with water, seeds, tools, and even books. Her fingers trembled.
Outside, the door creaked open. A young girl peeked in, her face pale and clothes tattered. "Jiejie, are you alive? The village thought you'd died from the fever."
Shen Yuxi blinked. This must be the original host's sister. Her name surfaced faintly in her mind—A-Yun.
"I'm alright," Shen Yuxi said, voice steadier. "Come here. Tell me what happened."
As A-Yun crawled closer, Shen Yuxi's eyes narrowed. The village was starving. Famine had swept the region. The man the original host was engaged to had abandoned her. They were living on the brink.
Shen Yuxi looked toward the window. Snow fell softly outside, blanketing the barren fields. She curled her hands into fists.
She would survive. She would rise. With the space in her mind and the skills of a modern surgeon and strategist, she would seize her fate—no matter what era this was.
And then she heard the distant thunder of hooves.
Soldiers.
A column of military men was approaching the village.
And leading them—an imposing man with dark eyes and a commanding presence.
Huo Jiancheng.
Destiny had arrived.
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[End of Chapter 1]