Chapter 1 – Hejian Bandits
Jiang Pengji, a General of the Federation, female, former Commander of the Seventh Legion.
Why the “former” in front of her title?
Because she had already died in battle.
She vividly remembered how suddenly death arrived, catching her completely off guard.
But there was a silver lining; at least before she could savor the agony of death, her consciousness had already detached from her body.
An earth-shattering roar rang in her ears, as if it would shatter her eardrums, the world bathed in a red glow.
In the next instant, the scenery before her shifted to an eerie silence, an indescribable chill sweeping over her soul.
Though she had died just like that, there were a few tiny regrets.
However, for many warriors, dying without pain like this was a stroke of luck.
Yet, as an atheist who upheld science, she never imagined that death could bring along feelings.
What left her both amused and exasperated was that the pain she hadn’t experienced in life, she had just thoroughly relished in death.
A pain beyond description radiated from all over her body; she, who usually wouldn’t flinch from injuries, almost couldn’t suppress a wail.
It hurt, the kind that made her see stars.
This sensation left a deep impression, as if she were crammed into a tiny box, someone constantly compressing it from the outside, reducing the space within. And it felt as if there was no end to this process; it seemed they wouldn’t rest until she was squished down to palm-sized.
Suddenly, the unbearable pain seemed to surpass some limit, as something crashed against her head with a loud bang.
Ouch!
Jiang Pengji couldn’t help but curl up, the agony in her head overpowering the pain radiating from her limbs, leaving her without a shred of rationality or time to consider anything else. It felt as if besides the explosive and tearing pain, nothing else existed.
Hot!
The mind-splitting agony felt relentless; she even began to doubt if she was getting used to it, a sudden wave of indescribable heat engulfing her completely, as if she had fallen into an endless sea of fire, the moisture within her body evaporating away.
Where am I?
As this command popped in her mind, she desperately wanted to open her eyes and see her surroundings.
Could it be… that she had fallen into hell?
However, contrary to her wishes, her eyelids felt as heavy as if laden with a thousand pounds of lead, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t even open a crack.
In her hazy state, as her consciousness began to drift away, she faintly caught the sound of an ethereal electronic voice in her ears.
【Ding—The Palace Fighting Live Broadcast System is once again testing the host, initiating the scan program, scanning progress 1%…】
The cold, synthetic electronic voice drew closer to her; Jiang Pengji instinctively tried to perk up her ears for clarity.
【…Scanning progress 23%…27%…36%…42%…51%…】
What… is this… thing?
Jiang Pengji fought to gather her scattered thoughts, trying to figure out who the voice belonged to.
But it seemed the voice had no intention of acknowledging her, continuing to announce its information.
【Beep—Host body scan completed, binding confirmed…】
【Binding in progress… Further verification of host identity, please hold… Verification in progress… Verification complete…】
【Ding!】
A somewhat sharp sound rang out, making Jiang Pengji break into a cold sweat.
She felt as though a mass of black fog were stuffed into her head; when she tried to think, nothing came to mind.
That bizarre electronic voice was still calmly announcing.
【Name: Jiang Pengji】
【Gender: Female】
【Age: 41】
【Background: Unknown (tentative)】
【Specialty: Combat (tentative), Analytical Reasoning (tentative), Other Abilities (tentative)】
【Attributes: Unknown (tentative)】
Hearing her name and age, Jiang Pengji’s consciousness sharpened considerably; the voice in her ears no longer felt so ethereal and detached.
【Beginning soul integration, integration rate 0.1%… Beep, host points insufficient, integration temporarily halted, final integration 0.3%】
【System: Palace Fighting Live Broadcast Servicer 007 is at your service (Jiang Pengji → Liu Lanting)】
After this, the voice fell silent, quiet as if it had never existed.
Before she could think further, a gust of something brushed her cheek, and her scattered senses began to converge once more.
She vaguely felt the ground beneath her moving, and over time, the sensation of shaking grew stronger.
Creak, creak, creak—The sound of wood grinding reached her ears, followed by muffled sobs.
Someone?
She struggled to open her eyes; the darkness slowly morphed into a blurred scene.
But this act required too much effort, and it didn’t last long before her eyelids drooped again.
“Brother Lanting… Brother Lanting… wake up… come see Wanyuan…”
Amidst waves of calling, Jiang Pengji thought it had nothing to do with her, only to realize the voice’s owner was crying while shaking her shoulder, driving her already exhausted brain to almost the point of explosion…
She weakly replied, “Don’t, don’t shake me… my head’s spinning… I feel awful…”
Perhaps her voice was so faint it could be heard only by herself; the weeping and shaking person did not cease their actions.
In the end, Jiang Pengji raised her hand to swat away the dreadful hands, but her arms felt heavier than lead, moving even a fingertip consumed all her energy. Ultimately, she gave up the effort, focusing on adjusting her breathing while enduring the annoying sobbing beside her.
Unable to stop it, unable to resist, she decided to endure silently, hoping that once she got used to it, it wouldn’t feel so unbearable.
Clearly, she wasn’t the only one bothered by the crying; the person beside her also expressed their distaste.
“These stupid girls only know how to wail, listening to them is infuriating… Pfft!”
Spitting out some saliva, the Rough Coachman raised his whip and struck the horses with force.
The mountain road was rugged, and the carriage jolted as if it would fall apart.
His curses didn’t stop the crying within the carriage; on the contrary, out of fear, it grew louder.
In his irritation, the rough man raised his whip, fiercely striking the carriage curtain, causing a string of bead bells to jingle chaotically, scaring the Noble Girl inside into losing color, “If you cry another cry, I’ll whip you dead!”
Several carriages were racing along the mountain path, and there were two others trailing close behind.
If this reckless driving occurred on an unfamiliar mountain road, the likely outcome would be disaster.
However, these coachmen were skilled, intimately familiar with the mountain roads, and racing against time, they somehow made the three lavish carriages feel like they were involved in a high-speed chase.
“Don’t be so fierce; we worked hard to snatch these. Each of these ladies inside is a celebrated beauty from Hejian County. Just seeing this bunch is already a blessing from the last life.”
