Don’t Trust Gentle Beauties

Jiang Heng, a woman who died at twenty after a long, painful illness, transmigrates into the body of an orphan girl in a remote mountain village. For a month, she lives quietly, grateful for the villagers' care, until she is seized by them on the morning she was supposed to be sacrificed to an ancient beast on Jiyun Mountain. The villagers, including her benefactor Uncle Chen Wu, reveal that she was chosen because she is an outsider with no family ties, making her an expendable offering to appease the creature that feeds on fear. They force her into a cage and drive her up the mountain, where she is pushed through a magical barrier that knocks her unconscious.

Jiang Heng wakes up five days later in a dilapidated temple deep within the mountain's misty forests. Starving, injured, and terrified, she initially believes she is alone with a man-eating demon. She survives by foraging for hard cornmeal cakes left by her captors and drinking from a nearby stream. Her hope is reignited when she encounters Wen Qi, a strikingly beautiful young man who claims to be the mountain's guardian. He brings her food, tends to her sprained ankle after she falls from a cliff while hunting, and reveals that there is no beast on the mountain. He explains that the barrier was erected centuries ago by cultivators to protect the ruins of a mountain deity's sanctuary, and the "sacrifice" tradition is a lie told by outsiders to control the area.

As Jiang Heng recovers, she discovers the skeletal remains of a previous offering, identified by a jade bracelet as Granny Feng, who died at the bottom of the cliff. This revelation confirms that the mountain is dangerous even without a monster, due to its treacherous terrain and isolation. Wen Qi invites her to live with him in his bamboo house, offering her safety and companionship. Jiang Heng accepts, moving into his home where she is treated with gentle kindness. She learns that Wen Qi has lived alone on the mountain for years, tending to the ruins and the flora, and that he is not entirely human, possessing a coldness and ethereal beauty that sets him apart from ordinary people.

Life in the bamboo house brings Jiang Heng a sense of peace she never knew in her previous life or the village. She attempts to contribute by performing household chores, though she struggles with cooking. Wen Qi remains patient and caring, often bringing her food and tending to her injuries. However, Jiang Heng remains wary, aware that her survival depends on maintaining her usefulness and not becoming a burden. She begins to suspect that Wen Qi's true nature is more complex than he admits, and that his kindness may hide deeper secrets about his identity and the mountain's history. The story follows her adaptation to this new life, her growing dependence on Wen Qi, and her determination to survive in a world that has already tried to discard her once.