Danmaku Warning: Grab the Cheat Before the Famine Escape

Qin Suining is a ten-year-old girl living in a rural village with her mother, Madam Zhou. Their father, Qin Shubai, has traveled to the capital to take the imperial examination. During a scorching summer day, a woman named Cuizhu arrives at their door, claiming to be a thirsty traveler. As Qin Suining prepares to open the door, she sees floating golden text describing Cuizhu and her mother as cannon fodder destined to die. The text reveals that Cuizhu was sent by Princess He’an to poison the family’s water supply because Qin Shubai has fallen in love with the princess, who intends to steal a magical artifact hidden within the Qin household. Qin Suining, realizing the danger, alerts her mother just as Cuizhu attempts to poison their water vat. Madam Zhou strikes Cuizhu unconscious with a ladle, and Qin Suining beats her with a fire poker until she confesses. Cuizhu reveals that Princess He’an is a transmigrator seeking a wooden hairpin with a peach blossom carving, which contains a cheat ability. Before dying from her own poison after being forced to drink the tainted water, Cuizhu warns that another assassin, Grandma Gui, is coming.

Qin Suining and her mother discover the peach blossom hairpin, which Madam Zhou had kept as a memento from her late mother-in-law. Guided by the floating text, Qin Suining pricks her finger to draw blood, activating the hairpin’s power. They are transported into a hidden spiritual space containing fertile land, a river, fruit trees, and wooden houses. The space also contains spirit spring water, which rejuvenates their bodies, erasing years of hard labor and aging. Realizing they cannot stay in their village, they loot their home, packing food, clothing, and tools into the space before setting their house on fire to cover their escape. They burn the corpses of Cuizhu and the arriving Grandma Gui and her son, who had come to kill them, within the flames. The mother and daughter disguise themselves as men and flee to Zhaohua County, purchasing grain, seeds, and a horse-drawn carriage.

As they travel north toward Dingshuo Prefecture to seek refuge with their maternal uncle, a massive locust swarm descends upon the region, destroying crops and causing widespread famine. The floating text, or danmu, warns them of the disaster, allowing them to hide in a forest cave before the swarm passes. Inside the cave, they encounter human traffickers holding captives, including children, and choose to remain hidden in their space to avoid detection. After escaping the cave, they continue their journey, witnessing the devastation of refugees and the breakdown of social order. Qin Suining learns the importance of self-preservation, rejecting the notion of helping strangers who might turn violent. The story follows their struggle to survive in a chaotic world, using the spiritual space to sustain themselves while evading the relentless pursuit of Princess He’an’s agents and the dangers of a famine-stricken land.