The story opens on a cool, dark night. A girl stands silently on the rooftop of a tall building, wind tousling her hair as neon lights flicker below. The city hums, but her world has long fallen silent.
"My life has been nothing but hell," she whispers to no one. "I was just a tool for my family… Never a daughter. Never a person. Just something to use."
And then—she jumps.
The fall is merciless.
Her body crashes onto the pavement below with a sickening crack. Blood splashes across the concrete. Her skull shatters like porcelain. Onlookers scream. One girl's life ends in agony, unnoticed by the ones who used her.
But death is not the end.
—
Somewhere far away, in a world lit by lanterns and touched by the glow of spirit energy, a little girl opens her eyes.
"…What?"
She blinks against the golden silk canopy above her and slowly sits up. Her breath comes in soft puffs as confusion spreads across her face.
"Wasn't I just… dead?"
She throws off the blanket and stops cold. Her hands—small, pale, and childlike—tremble before her.
"…Why are my hands like this?!"
Panicked, she stumbles off the bed and rushes to the ornate bronze mirror on a nearby stand. A porcelain doll-like face stares back at her. Wide eyes. Flawless skin. Glossy reddish brown hair down to her waist and eyes brown like mercury.
"This isn't… me," she mutters. "I transmigrated?"
All those Webtoons and novels—this situation was straight out of them.
"But wait… am I in a story I've read? Or is this just some random child's body?"
Then a terrifying thought hits her.
"Wait… Did I just take over a dead kid's body?!"
Her heart pounds faster. But after a moment of frantic pacing, she stops and forces herself to breathe.
"No… Calm down. Calm down. That life is over. This is a new one."
She looks into the mirror again and puffs her cheeks. "Well, if I looked like this in my old world, I would've been a child model for sure."
Just then, the door creaks open.
A woman in simple but elegant robes walks in. Her eyes land on the girl—and instantly overflow with tears.
"Young Lady Lin Xuèyàn Yuyan… You're… you're awake!"
Yuyan blinks. The woman turns and rushes out, yelling for others.
"…So my name is Lin Xuèyàn Yuyan?" she murmurs, then frowns. "Why does that name sound familiar?"
Before she can dwell on it, the door slams open again. A woman and a man rush in—both dressed in silks, both with weary eyes and trembling hands.
"My baby!" the woman cries, pulling her into a hug. "You're awake… I thought we lost you!"
Yuyan stiffens in the embrace at first. But warmth floods her chest. It's been so long since someone hugged her like this—with real emotion, not manipulation.
The man joins in, wrapping his arms around both. "It's a miracle… Truly the heavens have heard us."
After a moment, Yuyan relaxes into their hold.
They stay by her side for hours. The servants bring warm soup, fluffy buns, and soft fruit slices. Her parents tell her how she had been in a coma for two years after an accident. She listens quietly, piecing together the truth.
She had inherited the body of a little girl from the Xuèyàn Clan, once a noble bloodline known for rare spiritual blood techniques. But two years ago, the Heavenly Dao Sect—the so-called "righteous" sect of the continent—ambushed them under the guise of justice.
From a thriving clan of 200,000, fewer than 100 survived.
The girl whose body she now inhabits had been caught in that massacre. Badly wounded. Barely saved by her parents.
She must have died… just before Yuyan's soul took her place.
I'm sorry, Yuyan thinks, staring into her untouched soup. I'll live for the both of us now.
Her parents speak gently to her. Her father, Lin Jinhai, has a stern yet soft voice. Her mother, Lady Ruan, holds her hand and hums lullabies she somehow remembers. There's love here—genuine love—and Yuyan finds herself cherishing every second.
That night, for the first time in either life, she falls asleep with someone tucking her in.
⸻
The next morning, laughter echoes in the manor as her mother helps her brush her hair, and her father promises to take her to see the koi pond once she's stronger.
"Let's take it slow," her mother says. "You've only just returned to us."
Yuyan nods with a smile. This time, I'll live for myself. And for those who truly love me.
But as the day ends, a low buzz rings faintly in her ears. A sharp pain flashes behind her eyes.
She clutches her head—then hears a voice.
"Blood… must not rise again…"
She gasps.
When she looks up, the candlelight flickers.
Outside her room, standing just beyond the lantern's reach… is a shadow.
Watching.
Waiting