Two thunderous claps rolled across the sky, awakening her from deep sleep, followed by a cool dampness on her face—rain pouring down directly onto her.

Before she could open her eyes, intense pain radiated throughout her body, as if she had been crushed by a millstone several times over, nearly displacing her internal organs.

The pain brought tears streaming down her face, yet in her heart, she felt no terror, but rather a surge of wild joy:

Still alive.

She must have survived yet another surgery, and could still feel pain.

She had always been practical; as long as she could stay alive, even pain could be this vivid and lovely.

Then, she caught the strange sounds around her:

A rustling noise, like branches swaying in a storm, but right next to her ear; she could feel the strong wind sweeping across her rain-soaked skin, mercilessly stealing what little heat remained, making her body tremble in the cold.

This sensation was too real, nothing like being in a quiet, enclosed operating room!

That slight haziness instantly dispersed; she abruptly opened her eyes and fell into absolute astonishment:

No wonder the sound of wind and rain was so clear—the swaying branches and leaves were truly right before her eyes! Looking around with effort, she discovered herself seemingly hanging from a large tree. Above, dense clouds gathered and the sky was as black as an ink slab.

Raindrops fell in a shower, like silver needles from heaven. Fortunately, most were blocked by the extremely dense foliage. The leaves, wider than two of her palms, collected rainwater before suddenly dumping it on her head—that sensation was indescribably unpleasant.

This was how she had been so rudely awakened by the downpour.

She remembered that a moment ago, she had been rushed into surgery due to yet another organ failure, so how had she opened her eyes to find herself in a tree? Although her body ached, that feeling of life force being gradually eroded was gone. Heaven knows that bitterness had accompanied her for three years, causing unbearable suffering when it flared up.

Wait, palm? She raised her hand before her eyes.

Due to years of being bedridden with IV drips, her hands had been skeletal and veiny, the back of her hands covered with needle marks. How could these small, fair, tender hands—two sizes smaller—possibly be hers?

The five fingers obeyed her will, opening and closing.

…They were hers.

Then, unfamiliar memories surged like a tide, instantly filling her mind, yet they were somewhat thin and couldn’t fully occupy her consciousness. Breathing heavily, she still had the energy to observe the strange environment around her, trying to make sense of the situation.

The first thing that emerged was her name:

Feng Miaojun.

Next, she was only eleven years old.

More precisely, the body she now inhabited was that of an eleven-year-old girl, young and weak. Looking around, she seemed to have fallen into an irregular sinkhole, about half the size of a football field. Looking up, the walls rose sheer like frames of a painting, capturing the sky in somber tones; looking down, beneath her feet was pitch-black darkness with no visible bottom, and the surrounding cliffs were nearly ninety degrees steep.

It appeared she had fallen from the cliff above. Fortunately, several trees grew stubbornly in the crevices of the rock face, and she had been lucky enough to be caught by the sturdiest one, saving her from crashing to the bottom of the sinkhole and shattering to pieces.

She had unwittingly stood at death’s door, only to narrowly return.

With lingering fear, she patted the branch beneath her in gratitude, then began to worry about how to climb out. With her current small frame, wouldn’t she fall after climbing just a few yards?

Yet this moment truly confirmed that old saying: one should never despair over temporary setbacks, because—

Because life is just waiting to deliver its fatal blow.

As she sat trapped in this desperate situation, fretting over her inability to escape even with wings, a deafening roar suddenly erupted from the depths of the sinkhole!

That roar was so vast and far-reaching that it even drowned out the rumbling thunder above. She would never mistake the anger and hatred permeating it.

Most importantly, it was not a sound a human could make!

She quickly looked down.

Just then, a bolt of lightning flashed, illuminating heaven and earth, as well as the abyss below, allowing her to observe her surroundings more clearly:

The sinkhole was like a deep barrel. She hung from a tree on its wall, and it was about ten zhang (over thirty meters) more to the bottom. The bottom, however, was a deep pool with dark, unfathomable waters.

This would have been fine, but the lightning lit up the area as bright as day, allowing her to see clearly: a massive figure thrashing wildly in the pool below!

This creature was over eight zhang long (more than twenty-six meters), covered in golden scales with fins on its back. Its tail splashed water in all directions as it thrashed, shaped like a giant fish. She knew whales could grow to such sizes, but what whale would appear in a mountain pool?

Perhaps this pool is connected to the ocean? But upon seeing the creature’s head, she immediately dismissed this theory.

The creature had a camel-like head, deer-like horns, rabbit-like eyes, and ox-like ears—it resembled a legendary creature, both her most familiar and most alien totem—a dragon.

This was a monster with a dragon’s head and a fish’s body.

She felt her heart pounding uncontrollably and hurriedly pressed her hand against her chest, slumping back onto the branch.

Back to that damned question:

What kind of place was this?

Before the bubbles of her questions could rise like in a glass of soda, her eyes caught a small white figure.

It moved so quickly, in this dark and gloomy abyss, that it could easily have been overlooked. But staring wide-eyed without blinking, she discovered this figure was likely a living person, flitting between the dragon-headed monster, waves, and boulders at the bottom of the abyss. Rather than a ghost, the figure resembled a swallow skimming water, nimble and agile.

She also realized that despite the vast difference in size, this person seemed to be fighting the dragon-headed fish monster alone.

She lacked night vision and could only catch glimpses during flashes of lightning. Thus, this heart-stopping battle in the cold pool on a rainy night remained mostly hidden in profound darkness.

Occasionally, flashes of fire appeared below, as if the monster could breathe fire.

The person made no sound; she could only hear the massive disturbances caused by the dragon-headed monster and its earth-shaking roars. The strong winds it generated howled throughout the entire sinkhole, causing ancient trees on the cliff to shake violently. Even at her distance, she could barely hold onto the branch. She wondered what pressure the person facing the monster directly must be enduring.

Gradually, the roars became increasingly anguished yet increasingly desperate. She found it strange: could that person be winning?

The battle in the darkness continued for an unknown duration before the monster’s sounds suddenly ceased.

Then came a long silence, with only the pattern of rain falling on leaves and water.

This sound inexplicably made her feel safe.

Finally, after several consecutive lightning strikes illuminated the scene in the abyss