Chapter One: She, Chi Mu, Has Returned

[Ding!]

[Congratulations, Host. You have completed 9,999 quick transmigrations. The mission is accomplished. Returning to World D. Now opening World D’s portal.]

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She, Chi Mu, was finally home!

But—

Her throat burned with pain.

The noise around her was deafening.

The voices were vicious.

“Chi Mu, go die!”

“Once you’re dead, I’ll be the only heiress of the Chi family. No one will ever compare us again!”

Oh.

It was Chi Zhen’er.

The biological daughter the Chi family found three months ago.

Chi Mu opened her eyes, calm and composed, meeting the contorted face twisted by jealousy.

She glanced at the hand clutching her throat, deftly twisted her wrist, seized the other’s neck, and in one swift motion pinned her against the white wall.

Her lips curled into a faint smile. “Chi Zhen’er, long time no see.”

This was the very Chi Zhen’er who had sneaked into her room while she slept, lighting candles.

The flames caught the sofa, the sheets, and in moments the fire raged, yet Chi Zhen’er fled.

Leaving her alone in the inferno.

She suffered severe burns and was rushed to the hospital.

Endured the agony of repeated debridement until she lost consciousness.

It was this coma that plunged her into the worlds of quick transmigration, sweeping through 9,999 realms, only now returning after the mission was done.

Chi Mu’s grip tightened around Chi Zhen’er’s neck.

Her eyes lowered, coldly watching Chi Zhen’er’s face turn purple from suffocation.

Like watching a dying dog’s final struggle.

Just a little more pressure and her neck would snap with a crisp sound.

What a pity.

In this world, murder is a crime.

She was not worth it.

Chi Mu loosened her hand slightly, granting her a gasp of air.

Chi Zhen’er, able to breathe again, stared in disbelief at the woman before her, swathed head to toe in white gauze, her voice trembling, “You... how?”

Wasn’t she supposed to be too injured to move?

How was she even standing?

And with such strength?

Chi Mu’s lips curved coldly. “Thanks to you, I have learned many things. Let me demonstrate one.”

With that, she grabbed a rag and stuffed it into Chi Zhen’er’s mouth.

She then swiftly dislocated Chi Zhen’er’s arm, misaligning the bones, then set them back.

Again and again, ten rounds.

Chi Zhen’er turned ghostly pale, drenched in cold sweat, unable to scream, unable to fight back, until she finally lost consciousness.

A breath of pent-up anger released, Chi Mu felt invigorated.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside.

She quickly removed the rag from Chi Zhen’er’s mouth, tossed her onto the companion’s bed, and lay back on her own.

Yun Sufen entered, beaming as she saw Chi Mu awake, “Mu Mu, you’re finally awake! Your sister has been caring for you day and night these last two days. Wait, where is she?”

Chi Mu turned her face toward the other bed. “She was asleep when I woke.”

“She must be exhausted from looking after you. Poor girl, so pale.”

Yun Sufen fussed over Chi Zhen’er, tucking her in, then sat by Chi Mu’s side, speaking earnestly, “Mu Mu, you see, Zhen’er has been looking after you. She feels so guilty about what happened.”

“Don’t blame her for the fire. She just wanted to talk to her sister, so she set up a heart-shaped candle arrangement in your room. Who could have guessed the candles would set the room ablaze?”

“She suffered so much in the countryside all these years. Now that I’ve finally brought her home, I just want her to be happy. For my sake, can’t you forgive her?”

“When you’re better, I’ll take you to the best cosmetic surgeons. Your face will be restored, I promise.”

“As long as you behave, you’ll always be the eldest daughter of the Chi family. Whatever Zhen’er has, you’ll have too.”

“...”

Yun Sufen pressed gently and sternly, eyes full of expectation but not a trace of real concern.

Chi Mu recalled her younger self, always trying to please her parents, and found it bitterly funny.

Ever since Chi Zhen’er was lost, every year on Zhen’er’s birthday, the anniversary of her disappearance, Mid-Autumn, Spring Festival, or any day that reminded her foster parents of Zhen’er, she would be beaten, starved for a day, and spend the night in the basement.

She never understood—if her foster parents hated her so much, why keep her?

Since they raised her, she tried her utmost to please them, to make them happy, thinking it would mean fewer beatings and less hunger.

She had been far too soft and weak.

Chi Mu smiled faintly and murmured, “But what if it was intentional?”

“What?”

“Chi Zhen’er lit those candles on purpose. She set the fire to kill me.”

“Impossible! Zhen’er would never do that!” Yun Sufen denied instantly, defending Chi Zhen’er fiercely. “Mu Mu, you’re being unreasonable. Zhen’er has been caring for you day and night. How could you think such things of her?”

Chi Mu laughed quietly.

Clearly, to Yun Sufen, the truth didn’t matter.

She only cared that her own daughter, Chi Zhen’er, was unharmed.

Chi Mu said no more. “Fine, I forgive her.”

Not likely.

The pain Chi Zhen’er made her suffer, she would reclaim, piece by piece!

And the torment inflicted by the Chi family, she would return in full!

Yun Sufen, satisfied with the answer, finally softened, chatted with Chi Mu a while, then left.

Chi Mu suppressed her emotions and unwrapped the gauze from her arm.

The scars were hideous, monstrous.

Her legs and face were the same.

With current medicine and plastic surgery, restoration was impossible.

But—

She could do it.

It would just take time.

And several rare medicinal herbs.

In this era, with severe pollution and extinction of flora and fauna, such herbs were rarer than ever—worth billions.

As the adopted daughter of the Chi family, her pockets were emptier than her face was scarred.

Therefore, she first needed to make a few billion.

The quickest way was to hunt for treasure in the antique markets.

With this in mind, Chi Mu began searching for the largest antique market in Haishi...

...

Chi Zhen’er regained consciousness in the evening.

Seeing Yun Sufen nearby, she immediately threw herself into her mother’s arms, aggrieved, “Mom! Sister hit me! She choked me! She even broke my arm!”

Yun Sufen had just arrived, bringing goji berry and red date pigeon soup for Chi Zhen’er’s nourishment.

“What? She hit you? Where?” Yun Sufen’s face darkened. Chi Zhen’er stretched out her arm, “Here, and here—eh? It’s fine now?”

Chi Mu looked on, her expression innocent. “Sister, did you have a nightmare? I’m so badly hurt, I can barely move. If there was any hitting, it could only be you hitting me.”

Yun Sufen came to her senses, “Yes, your sister can’t move. There’s no way she could hit you. You must be tired and had a nightmare.”

For a moment, Chi Zhen’er doubted herself—was it really a dream? But the pain of bones being twisted out of place felt far too real.

However, in her current state, Chi Mu couldn’t possibly have done it.

Suspicious, Chi Zhen’er’s gaze flickered to the steaming pigeon soup, and a scheme began to form in her mind.