Jiang Yan groaned, a searing pain splitting through her skull. Her eyelids fluttered open, the world swimming into a blur of shadows and dim light. The throbbing in her head made it hard to focus, but as her vision steadied, unease gripped her chest.
The room was small, poorly lit, its corners swallowed by darkness. She shifted instinctively—only to flinch when a stab of pain shot through her wrists. Looking down, her breath caught. Thick ropes dug into her skin, binding her tightly to a cold wooden pole.
Panicking, she struggled against the ropes, but they only cut deeper into her skin. Her eyes darted around the room, desperate to recall how she had ended up here. The last thing she remembered was that she was dying while Feng Yuansheng and that unknown person were trying to protect her.
A wave of confusion enveloped her.
'Wasn't she supposed to be dead? Was this heaven, or perhaps hell?'
As she tried to make sense of her situation, she heard faint voices in the distance. They seemed to be coming from outside the room. She strained her ears to listen, hoping to get some clue about her whereabouts.
Where was she? Where was Feng Yuansheng? She had been caught in that explosion, her body torn apart and dying. So why… why couldn't she feel the searing pain of death now? Her mind was in utter chaos.
She heard footsteps getting closer, and she tensed up, expecting the worst. Suddenly, the door creaked open, and a group of men entered the room. They were rough-looking, with menacing expressions on their faces.
Jiang Yan's heart raced as she looked at them, trying to figure out what they wanted from her. One of them stepped forward and looked at her with a cold, calculating gaze.
"So, you're finally awake," he said with a sneer. "We've been waiting for you."
Jiang Yan's eyes widened as she recognised the man in front of her. How could she even forget that tormenting day?
Her mind raced as she tried to make sense of what was happening. She couldn't remember anything that could explain why she was here, tied up in an abandoned factory with these strangers.
Her eyes scanned the room. This wasn't where she had died. Her heart skipped a beat. She froze at the calendar on the wall. The date… it couldn't be. She had been reborn—ten years earlier, back to when she was kidnapped at eighteen.
Jiang Yan's mind swirled with chaos. Reborn? It was impossible. She had never believed in anything supernatural, yet everything around her screamed otherwise. This… this was the most absurd thing that could ever happen to her.
The men in the room were dressed in outdated clothing, and the technology in the room was also outdated. She looked down at herself and realised that she was also dressed in clothes from ten years ago.
As she tried to make sense of it all, one of the men walked up to her and grabbed her by the hair. Jiang Yan winced as he yanked her head back.
"Listen, girl," he said, his breath hot on her face. "You're going to do exactly as we say, and you might just make it out of this alive."
Jiang Yan's heart raced as she realised the gravity of her situation. She was trapped in a time that she had already lived through, and she knew what was coming. She had been kidnapped ten years ago and had narrowly escaped with her life.
She cursed her luck for getting reborn on the day she was kidnapped. But this was not the time to ponder over that. She tried to think of a way to escape, but she was tied up and outnumbered. She closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down and think of a plan.
Jiang Yan's mind raced as she remembered the events of her kidnapping ten years ago. She had been tricked by her foster sister into going into the woods, and before she knew it, she had been kidnapped and brought to this abandoned factory.
She had been tortured, assaulted and harrassed for three days before she could escape, barely alive. But now, she didn't have that kind of time.
Jiang Yan's heart sank as she remembered what was about to happen today. Her foster grandmother had been searching for her in the mountains. She had come across a lost little boy who was hanging off a cliff and had tried to save him.
In the end, both her grandmother and the little boy perished. If she didn't hurry up, she was scared that the only family she had in this village would die as well.
Jiang Yan knew she had to act fast. She couldn't let the same thing happen to her again, and she couldn't let her only family suffer because of her.
She took a deep breath and tried to focus. She looked around the room, trying to find something that could help her. Her eyes fell on a rusty metal rod lying on the ground near her feet.
Her eyes flicked to the kidnappers' backs—this was it, her chance. Heart pounding, she twisted and squirmed, testing the ropes around her wrists. Memories from her past life flashed—how the terror of being kidnapped had forced her to learn self-defense and escape techniques. Painful as it had been, it was paying off now.
It hurt, but she gritted her teeth and kept going. After a few minutes, she felt the ropes begin to loosen. With a surge of energy, she twisted and wriggled until her hands were finally free.
She quickly freed her feet and rose slowly, every movement deliberate and silent. Her hands closed around a metal rod, and she squared herself, ready to confront the men who had kidnapped her.
One of the men suddenly noticed her standing. He snarled, "What do you think you're doing, your brat?"
Jiang Yan swung the metal rod with all her might, hitting the man who had been holding her captive earlier. He fell to the ground, unconscious. The other men were caught off guard by her sudden movement, but they quickly regrouped and closed in on her.
Another man growled, "You think you can take us all on, girl? Give up. You're outnumbered."
Jiang Yan stood her ground, determined not to back down. She swung the metal rod again, hitting another man and knocking him to the ground. But she knew she couldn't keep this up for long. Her body was weak, and she was facing too many attackers.
She looked around the room frantically, trying to find a way out. Her eyes landed on a small window near the ceiling. It was a long shot, but it was her only hope.
Jiang Yan made a run for it, dodging the men who were trying to grab her. One of them shouted, "Get her!"
She leapt onto a nearby crate and jumped up, grabbing onto the edge of the window. She heard one of the men sneer, "You'll never make it, girl."
With all her strength, Jiang Yan pulled herself up and managed to squeeze through the small opening. She landed on the other side with a thud, but she didn't stop. As she ran away, she heard the kidnappers shouting curses at her. She was safe now, and that was all that mattered.
Now she has the chance to save her grandmother from the same tragic fate. She couldn't let history repeat itself. She had to make it in time. Jiang Yan pushed herself to run faster, the trees blurring around her as she darted through the forest.
As Jiang Yan ran in the direction of the cliff, her heart was racing. This very cliff was where her grandmother had died. There was no guarantee that she could prevent the same tragedy from happening again; however, she had to try to save her. Her grandmother was her only family. Gritting her teeth, she ran with all her might, ignoring the pain in her legs and body.
As Jiang Yan neared the cliff's edge, the wind whipped past her face and the branches lashed at her wounds, causing fresh pain. But she pushed forward without hesitation. Though she tried to maintain her composure, fear still gripped her, causing her body to tremble at the thought of the worst.
***