Volume One, Chapter One: Never Show Mercy
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Shen Qingqing suddenly opened her eyes. She had been reborn—reborn at the moment the cable car derailed.
At the instant of derailment, her fiancé Xu Mingxuan forcefully threw her aside.
When she came to her senses, Xu Mingxuan was already holding Xu Minyu—his adopted younger sister—on the opposite side.
Just as in her previous life, the cable car cabin plummeted swiftly through the air. The fear of weightlessness and the pain of betrayal surged over Shen Qingqing once more.
With a sudden roar, a loud crash echoed!
The cabin was caught and supported by a large tree growing from the cliffside, hanging at a precarious angle.
The weight on either side of the cabin was uneven: Shen Qingqing was above, while Xu Mingxuan and Xu Minyu were below.
Only moments passed before the tree, unable to bear the burden, began to give way, and the cabin started sliding slowly again.
Xu Mingxuan, still holding Xu Minyu, looked up at Shen Qingqing: “Qingqing, give me your hand! The three of us must maintain balance to safely await rescue.”
This time, Shen Qingqing did not immediately reach out.
She slowly lowered her gaze, looking faintly down at the abyss below.
Beneath the valley lay a bottomless primordial forest.
In her past life, it was here that she, despite the betrayal, still held Xu Mingxuan’s hand with goodwill—only to meet a tragic, shattered end.
She remembered: just as she stretched out her hand, Xu Mingxuan and Xu Minyu seized the opportunity to climb to the upper side of the cabin...
At the moment Shen Qingqing’s arm lost strength, Xu Mingxuan kicked her waist.
As she despairingly fell off the cliff, the deceitful couple clung tightly to the cabin’s handrails, coldly watching her.
Xu Minyu said, “I’m sorry, Qingqing. The treetop can only bear two people’s weight, not a third. My brother chose me...”
Xu Mingxuan added, “Maybe this is your fate. You loved me so deeply that you died for me—perhaps that’s a kind of fulfillment...”
Shen Qingqing fell in despair, striking branches and the cliffside.
Her face was torn, her skull shattered...
But the deepest pain was in her heart.
She had known Xu Mingxuan for seven years, loved him for four.
Their families were close, and knowing about their relationship, urged them relentlessly to marry.
The wedding was supposed to follow their graduation trip.
Who would have thought this journey would not only reveal the truth but also claim her life?
Xu Minyu—her best friend, her future sister-in-law—had shattered her worldview and life.
In fact, Xu Minyu had been sent to the Xu family by Shen Qingqing herself.
Xu Minyu was originally a close sister Shen Qingqing met at the orphanage.
After Shen Qingqing was taken in by the antique dealer Shen Dahai in Jing City, Xu Minyu often expressed envy, whether intentionally or not.
In the first year of high school, Shen Qingqing heard that the Xu family wanted to sponsor a female student.
She immediately recommended Xu Minyu.
Xu Minyu was sensitive and prone to pessimism, initially struggling to adapt to the Xu household, timid like a meek little rabbit.
It was Shen Qingqing who constantly encouraged her, played with her, helping her regain confidence gradually.
After the college entrance exam, when Xu Mingxuan confessed to Shen Qingqing, Xu Minyu was right there, shipping them as a perfect couple.
She said Xu Mingxuan and Shen Qingqing were the couple she believed in for life.
Even when their dates became a three-person trip, Shen Qingqing never doubted her.
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Until the night before descending the mountain by cable car, Shen Qingqing woke from sleep to see Xu Mingxuan and Xu Minyu on the living room sofa, fingers entwined, lost in passionate embrace...
Afterward, Xu Mingxuan’s candid confession shattered Shen Qingqing into pieces.
He said:
“I’ve long loved Minyu. The reason I didn’t break up with you was for the sake of both families’ interests.”
“If you still want to be Mrs. Xu, don’t speak about Minyu and me.”
“Even if I marry you, I will never separate from Minyu.”
When the three boarded the cable car to descend, Shen Qingqing was still wondering if she had done something wrong to deserve this fate.
She never expected that good deeds would go unrewarded; she would die here.
This time, she would not soften her heart; she would not let that treacherous couple trample over her corpse and live in comfort.
Shen Qingqing reined in her thoughts, no longer hesitating.
She gripped the handrail tightly and slowly lifted her foot, kicking Xu Mingxuan’s hand.
Xu Mingxuan’s strength was already depleted; this sudden kick completely drained him.
Holding Xu Minyu, he slid fearfully out of the cabin.
At the same moment, the cabin shook violently, broke free from the treetop, and plummeted rapidly through the air.
Shen Qingqing clenched her fists in defiance.
In her previous life, after falling off the cliff, the cabin had not slipped from the treetop.
In this second chance at life, was she still doomed to die?
At least, she had kicked the treacherous couple off to perish with her—that was some solace.
The cabin crashed and tumbled, finally plunging into the river.
Shen Qingqing’s head struck the handrail, and she lost consciousness.
When she regained awareness, it was dusk.
She lay beside a small river, drenched.
The cold sting confirmed she was alive.
“Alive... how wonderful,” Shen Qingqing smiled through tears.
Recalling her past self—compromising, reading others’ moods—only to be betrayed and die unjustly.
Thankfully, heaven had eyes and granted her a second chance.
Crack!
Suddenly, the sound of breaking branches came from the forest behind her.
Shen Qingqing immediately snapped back to alertness, scanning her surroundings cautiously.
This was a tropical rainforest; aside from the small river beside her, all she could see were dense and varied plants of unknown species.
Before coming, she had researched that this valley housed herds of Asian elephants, crocodiles, and various lizards and snakes...
A chill ran down her spine.
She glanced at the river, then fixed her gaze sharply on the forest behind.
Uncertain from which direction danger would come first, she dared not turn her back.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The sounds came again, this time rapid and steadily approaching.
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Could it be a rattlesnake?
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Shen Qingqing felt her heartbeat thunder in her ears.
She dragged her legs, attempting to rise, but found them aching and weak.
Desperately, she covered her mouth and sincerely prayed to heaven:
She wanted to live; she refused to die here.
Just then, a tall figure emerged from the forest.
A human!
Shen Qingqing’s lips curved slowly, finally stretching into a wide grin.
Yes! A man—a strikingly handsome man at least six foot two in height.
He wore a brownish starry camouflage uniform, standing upright with an imposing presence.
His nose was prominent, eyes deep-set, features sculpted and angular.
It was the first time Shen Qingqing had been so stunned by a man.
But none of that mattered.
What mattered most was that he was a human with two eyes and a mouth.
At this moment, to Shen Qingqing’s eyes, he was bathed in radiant light, as if descended from the heavens.
Mo Lingcheng walked toward Shen Qingqing with calm steps.
He glanced at her exaggerated smile, furrowing his brows, making a preliminary judgment: “You’re dumbfounded from the fall.”
His voice was low and magnetic, yet cold and impolite—far from amiable.
Though Shen Qingqing thought this, her mouth was quick to reply: “No! I’m just so happy to see you...”
Shen Qingqing had always been sweet-tongued, good at winning favor.
Mo Lingcheng snorted coldly, a sneer curling the corner of his mouth.
He hated smooth talkers the most.
He raised a hand slightly, letting a necklace slip from his fingertips.
It was the platinum chain Shen Qingqing always wore, with a copper bullet pendant.
Looking down on her, Mo Lingcheng’s eyes shone with an undeniable sharpness: “Where did you get this?”
Shen Qingqing felt the crushing force of his imposing aura and height.
In this moment, she dared not lie: “I don’t remember.”
“Don’t remember?” Mo Lingcheng’s lips curled into a cold smile.
He slowly crouched before her, drawing a sharp military knife from his waist.
As he gently rubbed the blade with his thumb, he looked coldly at Shen Qingqing: “Then there’s no need to keep you alive.
After all, falling from a cable car, dying is only natural...”