Chapter 1

"We’ve struck it lucky today, boys! We’ve rounded up every last one of the ‘cargo’ our superiors demanded. Hand them over at dawn — and we’ll be handsomely rewarded!" "You said it, Boss! We’ll finally be able to enjoy ourselves at the Drunken Spring Pavilion… But what do they need so many people for anyway? Is it true what they’re whispering — that they intend to use living souls to brew an Elixir of Immortality?" "**Shut your mouth!** Keep that ruinous tongue still if you value your life!" **BAM!** Su Qianqian was jolted awake by the violent impact. Her back slammed against cold, damp stone — pain shot through her so sharply it felt as though her soul had nearly been torn from her body. The stench of mildew mixed with iron‑rich blood rose thick and heavy. She forced her eyes open — and saw only rust‑stained iron bars and rotting straw mats. From the shadows deeper in the dungeon, stifled sobbing rose and fell — a tide of despair threatening to swallow them whole. "Husband… are we doomed?" "Fear not, my wife… across the Yellow Springs, I shall hold your hand." In a corner, a young couple huddled together, weeping, their faces streaked with dirt and tears. Su Qianqian turned her head — and her gaze settled upon the iron cage in the darkest corner. Inside lay a creature — hair wild and unkempt, neck encircled by a heavy iron chain bolted fast to the bars. Something about this scene… was terribly wrong. Su Qianqian looked down — and her heart lurched. She wore a plain linen robe, its collar worn thin and faded — **not her silk nightgown.** Her mind roared in shock. **She had been transmigrated into a novel!** She had become the character who shared her name — a doomed minor figure in that tragically romantic novel her best friend had ranted about endlessly just the night before. According to the story, the powerful Regent — the villain — had gone mad on the day the hero and heroine were to be wed. He had slaughtered the wedding guests — then taken his own life, dying for a love that had never been his. And the original Su Qianqian? She had been slain in this very dungeon in the very first chapter — her throat slit by a guard — **without so much as a single line of dialogue.** **She had arrived — at the moment of her death.** This… this could not be happening. Su Qianqian’s heart hammered wildly; cold sweat beaded at her temples. "**Silence, all of you!** One more sound — and I’ll send you straight to the afterlife!" The lead guard — face scarred, whip in hand — strode past, bringing a gust of biting wind. As he passed the cage, he shuddered involuntarily. He leaned toward his men and warned low — his voice edged with genuine dread: "Keep your distance from that madman. He remembers nothing — and when his rage takes him, **he kills.**" That unmistakable fear in the guard’s eyes gave Su Qianqian a spark of desperate resolve. **If death is fated — then I shall drag the most dangerous soul here down with me.** She drew a shaky breath. Ignoring the ache in every limb, she crept slowly — shielded by darkness — toward the cage. The man inside possessed preternaturally sharp senses. Even her slightest movement caught his attention instantly — eyes void of warmth yet burning with the ferocity of a lone wolf — locking upon her unblinkingly. "Do… do you wish some candy?" Su Qianqian’s voice was soft as drifting clouds — sweet, trembling, coaxing. From deep in his throat came a low, guttural growl — thick with wariness — as if in the next instant he might shatter these bars and tear her throat out. Heart pounding in her throat, Su Qianqian reached into her sleeve — her fingers closing around the only thing the original girl had possessed: **a single pine‑seed candy.** In this dungeon of rot and ruin, it exuded a startling, sweet fragrance. She placed it in her pale palm — holding it out through the gaps in the iron bars — right before his lips. He inhaled deeply — head tilting — like a wild creature testing whether its prey carries poison. "For… me? Why…?" It was a long moment before he spoke — each word slow and halting, voice rough and parched — like a child who had only just learned to speak. Su Qianqian gestured toward the weeping couple in the corner. "Do you see them? She is his **wife.** A wife is the one who gives you her very last sweet. She is the one who cherishes you — **and whom you would protect with your life.**" The haze in his eyes wavered. He stared at the candy — then fixed his gaze upon hers, unblinking. "**I am your wife.**" Su Qianqian spoke without the tremor of a lie — uttering the grandest falsehood of her new life — her voice soft, tender, honey‑sweet. "I was captured trying to save you. That is why I am here. And so… **you will protect me — won’t you? My husband.**" --- # Chapter 1: Husband? Wife? — Part 2 In this dungeon of torment, no one had ever shown him warmth or kindness. Slowly, hesitantly, he reached out — his hands stained with grime yet elegant in structure — and took the candy between his fingers. He brought it to his mouth. Sweet. A taste so foreign it seemed to touch his very soul burst across his tongue. The savagery in his eyes receded — replaced by a kind of earnest, clinging innocence. "Wife…?" "That’s right." Su Qianqian beamed, her eyes bright and clear. "My… name?" He looked at her — gaze fixed, intense, unblinking. Su Qianqian smiled more warmly still, leaning close to whisper in his ear. "Your name is A‑Qing. Remember — you are my A‑Qing." She had no idea then — that this amnesiac man she had named so casually — was none other than the Regent. The man who would one day strike terror into the hearts of the entire court — the most powerful man in the realm. For now — this future scourge of empires simply chewed his cheap candy — and stared at her with terrifying focus. He burned the face of his only "light" into his mind forever. A‑Qing’s mind may have been simple as a child’s — yet he possessed a beast’s instinct for kindness. The sweetness on his tongue — and the girl before him, bright as dawn — stirred something strange and warm within his chaotic heart. **To have a wife… is good.** Su Qianqian sensed his defenses crumbling. Under the terrified gaze of the young couple huddled in the corner, she leaned closer still — her breath warm against his ear — voice soft, yet laced with a promise. "A‑Qing, the world outside is beautiful. The clouds are soft. The wind is sweet. There are berries dripping with syrup, steaming buns glistening with oil, and kites that fly high into the sky…" "A‑Qing, I will get you out. Do as I say — be quiet — and when night falls… we shall run away together. Will you?" "Yes." A low sound rumbled in his throat — and the wildness in his eyes was replaced by utter, absolute devotion. Su Qianqian’s fingers trembled as she worked a sharpened hairpin into the lock securing his chains and the cage. The mechanism clicked — and as it sprang open — loud, drunken laughter and heavy boots thudded at the dungeon entrance. "Where are those pretty little girls we brought in today? Haven’t touched them yet — so I’ll have the first taste!" A wave of stinking liquor washed over them. The scarred guard stumbled into view. His eyes locked onto Su Qianqian huddled in the corner — like a snake spotting prey. He lunged forward — seized her by the collar — and hurled her onto the straw matting like a helpless chick. "Pleasure me well — and tomorrow I might even toss you a bone!" His eyes were bleary, breath foul — and he loomed over her, reaching to tear at her thin robes. Su Qianqian met his gaze with sudden, steely resolve. She screamed with every ounce of strength she possessed: **"A‑Qing — help me!"** **CRACK.** The sound — sharp, sickening — of a neck snapped cleanly. The scarred man’s sneer froze forever. His head twisted backward — a full one hundred and eighty degrees. His eyes bulged lifelessly — reflecting only A‑Qing, standing silently behind him — face impassive, eyes cold as frozen ice. The body thudded heavily to the ground. Su Qianqian scrambled up — paying no mind to her disheveled clothes — and seized A‑Qing’s hand. **"Run!"** The young couple in the corner stared in horror — then exchanged a glance and scrambled to their feet, stumbling after them. They had barely stepped beyond the cell when patrol guards appeared. Before they could even shout — A‑Qing blurred into a streak of darkness — a shadow passing through the forest. **CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.** Short, sharp cracks echoed through the silence. The guards fell before drawing their blades — collapsing like sacks of grain. In the flickering torchlight, the crimson snake‑shaped tattoos upon their necks glowed — eerie and unnatural. Su Qianqian’s eyes widened. This was no simpleminded youth. **This was a reaper — a demon who had walked straight out of a slaughterhouse.** A‑Qing brushed imaginary blood from his fingers. He glanced at the young couple — fleeing ahead and abandoning them — and a flicker of disdain crossed his face. Then he turned back to Su Qianqian — and held out his hand, clumsy and earnest. "Wife… hold my hand." Su Qianqian’s heart raced. She looked at that hand — dust‑stained, steady, unshakable — and placed her own firmly within it. Together they burst out into the night — the sharp wind striking their faces. But before they could catch their breath — the mountain ridge ahead blazed to life. Torches by the thousands — a sea of fire stretching to the horizon. **The army had arrived.**