Chapter One: Awakening

“Liuli, wake up, please! Mother is about to be beaten to death by Father, you have to wake up and save her, please, please!”

A frantic, tearful boy’s voice echoed inside Mo Liuli’s mind, stirring her heart with restlessness and unease. Her groggy body swayed, intensifying her discomfort until it felt as if her entire stomach were churning.

Who was calling her? No, it wasn’t her they called—it was Liuli, the true owner of this body.

Her stomach roiled, eyelids weighed heavily, and she struggled in vain to open her eyes, clenching her fists and summoning all her will to break free from the haze.

Mo Zichuan kept pushing her, crying and shouting, and when he saw her eyelids fluttering as if she might awaken, he hastily removed the jade pendant from his waist and pressed it into her palm.

“Liuli, please wake up! Mother is waiting for you to save her! You have to wake up!”

By the end, his voice was choked with sobs, his grip on her hand trembled, and his whole body shook. Mo Liuli could feel his heartbreak and helplessness, his desperate urgency making her even more agitated.

As soon as the jade pendant touched her palm, a faint rosy stream of energy seeped into her skin, flowing through her body and bringing a glimmer of light to her muddled senses.

Suddenly, after what seemed like an eternity, Mo Liuli felt an itch in her throat and coughed up a mouthful of blood, flecked with tiny, wriggling parasites.

Lying weakly by the bedside, she stared at the dark red blood, and when she noticed the squirming insects within, a cold chill ran down her spine, her heart sinking into icy dread.

To cough up blood and expel such disgusting creatures—it was little wonder she’d been unconscious for so long.

Before she could react, her body was suddenly lifted, carried effortlessly out of the courtyard with a swift motion, and the jade pendant in her palm dimmed and fell silent after purging the parasites.

“Liuli! Zichuan will take you to save Mother now!”

The voice, still thick with tears, echoed hurriedly above her head. Mo Liuli was cradled in his arms as he ran, jolting her so violently that she could barely make out who carried her. She struggled to lift her head, managing to glimpse only his youthful jawline—not his features, leaving his identity uncertain.

“What’s happened to Mother? Put me down, I can walk on my own!” Mo Liuli frowned, her tone sharp and displeased.

His thin arms made her uncomfortable, and the unsteady movement worsened her already upset stomach, leaving her dizzy and nauseated.

The memories in her mind, muddled by her weakened state, were incomplete. She could only vaguely sketch an image of Mo Liuli’s mother from the fragments she recalled.

Perhaps startled by Mo Liuli’s commanding presence, Mo Zichuan awkwardly set her down, biting his lip, his brows furrowed with sorrow as he spoke. “Mother’s being beaten in the ancestral hall by Father, he says that she…”

“Idiot! Lead the way already!”

Before he could finish, Mo Liuli shoved him forcefully, cutting him off. As she landed barefoot on the ground, she finally caught sight of Mo Zichuan’s face and managed to match his name to the memory.

Barefoot, she followed Mo Zichuan to the ancestral hall, where at first glance she saw Lady Leng, suspended from a beam and whipped until her body was covered in wounds, barely clinging to life.

Because the Mo family’s lineage was distinctive, Mo Yuan’s wife retained her own surname rather than taking his.

Mo Liuli’s heart ached, and a sharp pain twisted in her abdomen. Compassion welled up from the depths of her soul as she cried out, “Mother!”