The smell of burning rubber and cheap gasoline was the first thing to greet her. It was a pathetic, mechanical scent—nothing like the fragrance of sandalwood and blood she was used to.

In the bottom of the "Black Ghost Ravine," a crumpled silver sedan lay upside down like a dying insect. Smoke curled from the engine, and the silence of the forest was broken only by the rhythmic drip-drip-drip of fuel hitting the dry leaves.

Inside the wreckage, the girl known as Lin Ran was dead.

Her neck was bent at an impossible angle, her "ugly" face—marred by jagged, ink-black veins—was pressed into the shattered glass of the windshield. This was the moment the Lin family had planned. This was the "accident" that would erase the countryside embarrassment so the "Golden Daughter," Sofia, could shine.

Then, the air in the ravine turned cold.

Not just chilly—absolute zero.

The shadows under the trees began to crawl, stretching toward the car like worshipping subjects. A low, rhythmic thrumming vibrated through the earth, as if the planet itself were shivering.

CRACK.

The sound echoed through the canyon. It was the sound of bone snapping back into place.

The "corpse" moved.

Lin Ran’s hand, pale and stained with dirt, twitched. With a sickening series of pops and wet crunches, her spine straightened. Her head tilted back, and her neck reset itself with a violent jolt.

Slowly, the girl’s eyes opened.

They weren't the tear-filled, timid eyes of a rejected daughter. They were ancient, bottomless pits of golden-flecked darkness—eyes that had watched empires crumble and gods beg for mercy.

"What a... noisy era," a voice rasped. It was Lin Ran’s voice, but the tone was heavy with the weight of nine millennia.

The Zombie Ancestor, the one who had slept through the rise and fall of civilizations, took her first breath in 9,000 years. She coughed, spitting out a mouthful of blood and a shard of glass.

"Weak," she whispered, looking at her thin, bruised arms. "This body is made of paper. No... it's made of wet paper."

She felt the memories of the original Lin Ran flickering in her mind like a dying candle: the bullying at the countryside school, the biological father who looked at her with disgust, the "Golden Sister" who had sent these men to kill her today.

A cold, sharp smile touched her lips.

"Don't worry, little ghost," she murmured to the fading soul of the original girl. "Since I’ve borrowed your 'paper' body, I’ll pay the rent. I’ll start by turning your enemies into the dirt beneath my feet."

Above the ravine, footsteps crunched on the gravel.

"Is she dead?" a man’s voice called out.

"Has to be. Nobody survives a drop like that. Get down there, take the photo of her face so Miss Sofia can pay us, and let’s get out of here. This place is creepy."

Two men in leather jackets slid down the embankment, flashlights cutting through the gloom. They reached the car and shone the light inside.

The driver’s seat was empty.

"What the—? Where is she?"

"Over here, Junior."

The men spun around.

Lin Ran was sitting on a mossy rock five feet away. She was covered in blood, her cheap floral shirt was shredded, and she was casually holding a rusted piece of the car's bumper as if it were a royal scepter.

Despite her injuries, she looked bored. She looked like she was waiting for a bus.

"You..." the lead thug stammered, dropping his flashlight. "You should be dead! Your neck was broken!"

Lin Ran tilted her head, her black "vein" marks pulsing with a faint, eerie light. "My neck was indeed broken. It was very inconvenient. It made a terrible sound."

She stood up. Her movements were fluid, like water, but there was a terrifying heaviness to her footsteps. The ground seemed to groan under her flip-flops.

"Who sent you?" she asked, her voice calm. "Was it the girl who smells like fake lilies and insecurity? Sofia?"

"Kill her! Just kill her again!" the leader screamed, pulling out a switchblade.

He lunged. In the "Ancient World," this man wouldn't have been fit to be a footman's footman. To the Ancestor, his movement was so slow it was practically a photograph.

Lin Ran didn't even dodge. She simply reached out and caught the blade between two fingers.

Cling.

The steel snapped like a dry twig.

Before the man could scream, she stepped into his shadow. She placed a hand on his chest. It wasn't a punch; it was a gentle touch.

"Borrowing a bit of your 'life' to fix my skin," she whispered. "Be grateful. It’s the most useful thing you’ll ever do."

A visible gray mist was sucked out of the man’s mouth and into Lin Ran’s palm. He didn't even have time to cry out before he collapsed, his skin turning gray and withered as if he had aged fifty years in a second.

The second thug turned to run, his legs shaking so hard he fell over. "Monster! You're a monster!"

Lin Ran ignored him. she looked at her arm. The deep gashes from the car crash were knitting together, leaving behind faint, silver lines. The black veins on her face receded slightly, revealing a glimpse of a jawline so sharp it could cut silk.

She turned her gaze to the remaining thug, who was now sobbing and crawling away.

"Go back to the Lin family," she said, her voice echoing in the ravine. "Tell them the 'ugly girl' is coming home. Tell them I’m bringing a gift."

She looked down at the broken piece of the silver sedan in her hand.

"And tell the Lu family... I’ve decided to keep the engagement. After all, I need a servant to carry my snacks, and a 'Fiancé' sounds like a fancy word for a butler."

She began to walk. Every step she took, the grass behind her turned to ash, and the ghosts of the ravine bowed their heads in the shadows.

The Ancestor was back. And she was very, very hungry.

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The Lin family estate in the capital was glowing with the kind of superficial warmth that only immense wealth could buy. Crystal chandeliers cast golden light over marble floors, and the scent of expensive lilies filled the air—the favorite scent of the "Golden Daughter," Sofia Lin.

Inside the study, Lin Ru Hai, the head of the family, sipped a glass of aged whiskey. Opposite him sat his wife, Madam Ye, who was busy scrolling through a tablet, looking at high-end jewelry for their upcoming "Celebration of Peace."

"Is it done?" Madam Ye asked, her voice as sharp as a diamond cutter.

"The driver called," Lin Ru Hai replied, his eyes cold. "The car went off the cliff at Black Ghost Ravine. There’s no way that... eyesore... survived. By tomorrow, the news will report a tragic accident involving a country girl who couldn't handle the mountain roads."

Madam Ye sighed in relief. "Good. Now Sofia can marry into the Lu family without that girl’s shadow looming over her. Imagine the scandal if the capital saw that 'Lin Ran'—looking like a cursed demon with those black veins. It would have ruined our bloodline's reputation."

Just as she finished speaking, a thunderous BOOM shook the mansion.

The heavy, oak front doors—secured by a state-of-the-art electronic lock—flew off their hinges, skidding across the marble foyer like discarded toys.

The alarms wailed. Security guards rushed forward, batons drawn, only to freeze in their tracks.

A figure stood in the doorway.

She was drenched in the evening rain, her cheap, mud-stained floral shirt clinging to a frame that looked far too delicate to have kicked down a reinforced door. Her hair hung in matted clumps, and blood—dark and drying—streaked her forehead.

But it was her presence that stopped their hearts. The air around her felt heavy, as if the gravity in the room had suddenly tripled.

"Who... who are you?!" the head of security shouted, his hand trembling on his holster.

The girl tilted her head. The black, vine-like marks on her face seemed to writhe under the foyer’s lights. She took a step forward, her flip-flops making a wet slap on the pristine marble.

"You've lived in this house for ten years," the girl said, her voice low and resonant, carrying an authority that didn't belong to a nineteen-year-old. "And you don't recognize the Eldest Miss? Your eyes are as useless as your security system."

Lin Ru Hai and Madam Ye rushed onto the balcony overlooking the foyer. When Lin Ru Hai saw the girl, his glass shattered in his hand.

"Lin... Lin Ran?!"

"Junior, you should call me by my name with a bit more respect," Lin Ran said, looking up. Her golden-flecked eyes locked onto his, and for a second, Lin Ru Hai felt as if a physical weight had slammed into his chest. He gasped, clutching the railing.

"How are you alive?" Madam Ye shrieked, her face pale. "The accident—"

"The accident was a bit of a bore," Lin Ran interrupted. She began walking up the grand staircase, the guards parting like the Red Sea before her. None of them dared to touch her; every instinct in their bodies was screaming PREDATOR.

She reached the top of the stairs and walked right past her "parents" as if they were invisible. She headed straight for the dining hall, where a lavish spread of food had been set out for a dinner they were too "mournful" to eat.

She sat at the head of the table—the seat reserved for the patriarch.

She picked up a pair of silver chopsticks, weighed them in her hand, and then used them to skewer a piece of expensive Wagyu beef.

"The seasoning is mediocre," she remarked after a bite. "Too much salt, not enough soul."

"Get out of that chair!" Lin Ru Hai finally found his voice, though it was an octave higher than usual. "You're a disgrace! You come back looking like a beggar, breaking my doors—"

"I broke the door because it was locked," Lin Ran said, her eyes never leaving her plate. "And I sat here because I’m the eldest. According to the rites of the First Era... wait, you wouldn't know about the First Era. Let’s just say, I’m the Boss now."

"You've gone mad," Madam Ye hissed. "Security! Drag this girl to the basement! Call the mental hospital!"

The guards hesitated, then moved forward.

Lin Ran didn't look up. She simply tapped her silver chopsticks against the edge of the crystal water glass.

Ting.

The sound wave rippled outward. The guards suddenly felt their knees buckle. It wasn't magic they could see; it was a pure, physical pressure that slammed their foreheads into the floor. Six grown men were suddenly pinned to the marble, unable to lift their heads.

"I’m eating," Lin Ran said softly. "Noise is forbidden."

The room fell into a terrifying silence. Lin Ru Hai and Madam Ye stood frozen, their breath hitching. This wasn't the daughter they had sent away to the countryside. That girl was a stuttering, fearful mess who covered her face in shame.

This girl... this girl looked at them as if they were ants she was deciding whether or not to step on.

Just then, a light, melodic voice drifted from the hallway.

"Father? Mother? What was that loud noise? Is the guest here?"

Sofia Lin stepped into the room. she was dressed in a white silk gown, looking every bit the "Golden Daughter." But the moment her eyes fell on the girl sitting at the head of the table, her perfect mask shattered.

"You..." Sofia’s voice trembled. "How... why are you here?"

Lin Ran finally looked up. She set her chopsticks down and leaned back in the chair, a predatory smirk playing on her lips.

"Ah, the little sister who smells like fake lilies," Lin Ran murmured. "I heard you were worried about me. So worried you sent two 'friends' to check on me in the ravine."

She reached into her pocket and tossed something onto the table. It rolled across the white linen and stopped in front of Sofia.

It was a leather wallet—the one belonging to the lead thug.

"They won't be coming back for their paycheck, Sofia," Lin Ran said, her voice dropping to a chilling whisper. "But don't worry. Your Ancestor is here now. I'll make sure the Lin family's lives become... very, very interesting."

She stood up, grabbed a bottle of $5,000 wine, and began to walk toward the hallway.

"I’m taking the master suite," she announced. "The one with the balcony. Move my 'sister's' things to the attic. Or the trash. I don't really care which."

"You can't do this!" Sofia screamed, her face contorting with rage.

Lin Ran stopped, looking over her shoulder. The black veins on her face pulsed with a dark, hungry light.

"I just did, Junior. Now, go find me some spicy noodles. The real kind. If they aren't in my room in ten minutes, I’ll start breaking things. And I might start with your favorite piano."

As Lin Ran vanished into the shadows of the hallway, the temperature in the room finally began to rise, but the Lin family remained frozen in a cold, paralyzing fear.

The "Ugly Girl" hadn't just come back. She had brought a nightmare with her.

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The master suite was a sea of pastel pinks, expensive silks, and the cloying scent of designer perfumes. It was Sofia’s sanctuary. Or it had been, until ten minutes ago.

Lin Ran stood in the center of the room, looking at a $20,000 vanity mirror. She didn't look at the expensive creams or the gold-plated brushes. She looked at the reflection of the girl in the glass.

The black veins—the "Curse of the Rotting Soul"—were still there, tracing jagged paths from her collarbone up to her left temple. In the modern world, it looked like a terrifying skin disease. To Lin Ran, it was a familiar seal.

"Still too weak," she murmured, touching a vein. "But at least the eyes are mine."

Suddenly, the door burst open. Two burly maids, Sofia’s personal "enforcers," marched in, followed by a trembling butler carrying a steaming bowl of noodles.

"Miss Sofia says you have exactly one minute to get out of this room," the head maid barked, grabbing a handful of Lin Ran’s torn clothes to throw them out. "This isn't a dump for countryside trash!"

Lin Ran didn't move. She didn't even look at them. She reached out and took the bowl of noodles from the butler.

"The noodles are late," Lin Ran said. She took a sip of the broth. "And they're bland. But they’ll do for now."

"Are you deaf?!" The maid reached out to grab Lin Ran’s arm.

Snap.

In a movement too fast for the human eye to track, Lin Ran had twisted the maid’s wrist. The woman screamed, dropping to her knees. Lin Ran didn't let go; she used the maid’s hand as a literal sidewalk bench, sitting back on the edge of the vanity while continuing to eat her noodles.

"I said I was taking this room," Lin Ran said between bites. "Go tell your mistress that if she wants her jewelry back, she can find it in the garden pond. I found the clutter... distracting."

"You... you monster!" the other maid shrieked, running out to call for help.

The School of Ancient Arts: The Morning After

The news of Lin Ran’s "miraculous" return had spread through the capital’s elite circles like wildfire, but nowhere was the gossip hotter than at the Academy of Ancient Arts.

Lin Ran walked through the high-tech gates of the school wearing her old, oversized hoodie and a pair of $2 flip-flops. While other students stepped out of limousines in tailored uniforms, she looked like a ghost that had wandered into a fashion show.

"Is that her? The ugly one from the Lin family?"

"I heard she survived a cliff fall. Look at her face... it’s even creepier than before."

Lin Ran ignored the whispers. She was looking for a specific spot. She found it—a long, sun-drenched stone bench near the main fountain, the "Golden Spot" usually reserved for the student council.

She sat down, pulled a bag of spicy dried squid from her pocket, and put her feet up on the marble table.

"Hey! Get off there!"

A group of three students approached. At the center was Lu Han, the scumbag fiancé. He was tall, handsome in a generic way, and wearing a watch that cost more than a small house. Beside him was Sofia, looking pale and fragile, her eyes red from "crying" all night.

"Lin Ran," Lu Han said, his voice dripping with disgust. "Coming back to the city was a mistake. But coming to this school? You’re a stain on the Lu family’s reputation. We’re breaking the engagement. Today."

Lin Ran slowly chewed a piece of squid. She looked at Lu Han, then at Sofia, then back to her squid.

"You’re blocking my sun, Junior," she said calmly.

"Did you hear me?!" Lu Han slammed his hand on the marble table. "The engagement is over! You're lucky I'm even speaking to you. Look at yourself! You’re a freak!"

Lin Ran finally looked up. A cold, predatory glint appeared in her golden eyes. She stood up slowly, the flip-flops making a sharp thwack against the stone.

"You want to break the engagement?" she asked.

"Yes! I'm marrying Sofia. She’s the one with the talent, the beauty—"

"Fine," Lin Ran interrupted. She reached into her hoodie and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper—the original marriage contract. "But in my world, when a servant wants to leave their master, they have to pay a 'Departure Fee.'"

"Servant?! I’m the heir to the Lu family!"

"You're a loud-mouthed brat with a mediocre aura," Lin Ran countered. She stepped into his space. The air temperature around Lu Han suddenly plummeted. He felt his breath hitch as a layer of frost began to form on his expensive watch.

"If you want to marry this lily-scented snake, you have to do one thing," Lin Ran whispered, her voice carrying across the entire plaza.

"What?" Lu Han stammered, his teeth beginning to chatter.

"Kneel. Right here. On the sidewalk. And tell everyone that you aren't worthy of being Lin Ran’s footstool."

The crowd gasped. Sofia stepped forward, her voice trembling. "Sister, how can you be so cruel? Brother Han is just trying to be honest—"

"Shut up, Sofia," Lin Ran said, not even glancing at her. "I can smell the 'Death Qi' on your hands from the ravine. If you speak again, I’ll tell everyone exactly what you paid those two thugs."

Sofia froze, her face turning a ghostly white.

Lin Ran turned back to Lu Han. She tapped the marriage contract against his chest.

"Kneel. Or I'll drain the 'Fire Essence' out of your body right now and leave you as a block of ice for the janitors to sweep up."

To the shock of the hundreds of watching students, Lu Han’s legs actually began to buckle. It wasn't just fear—it was a literal, crushing pressure from the girl in the flip-flops.

Thump.

The "Prince" of the Academy hit the pavement.

Lin Ran smiled, a terrifying, beautiful expression that didn't reach her eyes. She tore the marriage contract into tiny pieces and let them flutter down onto his head like confetti.

"Engagement broken," she announced. She sat back down on the bench and reopened her bag of squid. "Now, someone get me a cold soda. This sun is making me thirsty."

As the crowd stood in stunned silence, a black military SUV pulled up to the curb. The door opened, and a pair of polished boots stepped out.

The "Cursed God of War," Mo Jue, looked across the plaza. His eyes locked onto the girl eating squid on the "Golden Bench."

For the first time in his life, his frozen heart gave a tiny, painful thud.

"Ancestor..." he whispered to himself. "I found you."

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