"Sis." That's all Song Kexin says on the phone, and it broke something in me. She's hiding in a wardrobe, her boyfriend just turned into a zombie, her phone is about to die, and her first instinct is to call her sister. Not her parents. Not anyone else. Xie Ning. The scene inside that wardrobe is one of the most terrifying and heartbreaking sequences I've read. Song Kexin pressing her hand over her mouth, tears streaming, watching long nails poke through the gap in the wardrobe door. The sound of A'Bin—her boyfriend, the guy she loved—slamming against the wood like a madman. And then the phone falls. That tiny noise. The silence that follows. The way Xie Ning's black longsword flies through the air and plunges into A'Bin's skull like she's been there before, like she's done this a hundred times. But what got me wasn't the action. It was what happened after. Song Kexin rushing out and throwing herself into Xie Ning's arms, and Xie Ning immediately pushing her away to say 'You have three minutes to pack.' Not a hug back. Not 'are you okay?' Just: move. Survive. Pack. And then Xie Ning sweeping everything in the house into a bag like a shopping maniac—rice, flour, oil, water, and then insisting Song Kexin grab all the sanitary pads from her room. The absurdity of it. The practicality. The love underneath all of it. She's not just saving her cousin's life; she's making sure she's prepared for whatever comes next. "Sis, your hand—why is it so hot?" Song Kexin asks, worried about her sister burning up with fever while they're running for their lives. And Xie Ning just says 'Don't worry, I won't turn into something like A'Bin.' She's dying inside, literally on fire, and her first concern is keeping her cousin calm. This is the kind of bond that doesn't need grand declarations. It's in the travel bag, the sanitary pads, the driving skills she somehow has despite just passing her test, the way she moves like she's done this before. Because she has. Twenty years ago, she failed to save this moment. This time, she won't.
I need to talk about the structure of this chapter because the author is playing with something really clever. The first half is all survival—night escape, snake fight, cave setup, herb retrieval, boar chase. It's relentless. No breathing room. And then—BAM—we cut to Qinghe Village. The grandmother discovering the theft, the villagers gathering, the chief announcing the children are missing. This structural pivot is genius because it does two things at once. First, it gives the reader a moment to exhale after all that mountain tension. Second, it reminds us that the antagonists are still out there, still angry, still plotting. The chapter ends on a cliffhanger with the villagers realizing the kids fled into the mountains and the danger that poses. The pacing between the two settings creates this push-pull rhythm: danger in the mountains, danger in the village. Meanwhile, the cave scenes themselves are well-paced—action (snake), then quieter moments (Yaya treating Lin Wanxing's wound, making porridge), then action again (boar). The author knows when to let scenes breathe and when to accelerate. The only thing I'd note is that the cave discovery and cleaning section could've been slightly tighter, but honestly, the domestic warmth of Yaya putting dandelion on the wound and the kids eating porridge felt necessary to ground the story before the next crisis hit.
Okay so let me just say this out loud—Shen Yingying is a CON artist and I am HERE for it. The way she puts on this radiant, sunbeam smile and loops her arm through Xie Fangzhu's arm like she's the most devoted wife in the world? Chilling. Absolutely chilling. And the best part? She's fully aware she's performing. She thinks to herself: "Could someone whose persona was to have eyes full of nothing but her Husband refuse? The answer was no." My god, the self-awareness. The calculation. And yet—here's the thing that got me—when Xie Fangzhu actually smiles back at her, when he pushes his bicycle and walks beside her, there's this tiny moment where the performance almost feels real. Or maybe he's performing too? The text says his lips pressed together and "a complicated look appeared in his eyes" when she was being all coquettish. What is he feeling? Pity? Amusement? Something else? I keep coming back to that look. Is he in on the act, or is he genuinely confused by this version of his wife? Either way, the tension between them is delicious. She's playing a role, he's watching her play it, and somewhere in that gap—boom. Romance or resentment, I can't tell which one's winning.
There's something deeply symbolic about the egg that runs through these chapters like a quiet thread. An egg is fragile. It can break with too much pressure. It contains potential life but is vulnerable on the outside. And in a village where a woman's reputation is treated as the most valuable thing she owns — where Aunt Wu can destroy someone's life with gossip and then demand compensation — the egg becomes this tiny, perfect symbol of everything Yiran is risking and everything Xiao Ziyi is protecting. She gives him an egg. He treats it like it could shatter. And in that moment, he's not just holding an egg — he's holding her trust, her vulnerability, her attempt to connect without appearing desperate. The fact that he eats it slowly, savoring it, makes me think he understands exactly what he's been given. Then there's the bicycle. In this rural setting, a bicycle represents mobility, independence, the ability to move through the world on your own terms. Yiran rides on the back of her brother's bike — she's being carried, protected, but also dependent. Xiao Ziyi watches her and thinks about buying his own bicycle. He wants to be able to move through her world freely, to show up where she is without needing permission or arrangement. It's a small thought but it speaks volumes about class and belonging. And the rumors themselves — they're another kind of symbol. Gossip in this village is a weapon, but it's also a reflection of collective anxiety. The villagers aren't just mean for no reason; they're scared. Scared of women who help too much and get talked about. Scared of outsiders. Scared of change. When Yiran stands up to Aunt Wu and the village turns against the rumor-monger instead, it's not just a personal victory — it's a small triumph of community over fear. The story keeps asking: who gets to tell a woman's story, and what happens when she tells it herself?
The story is good, specially the first 5 chaps so far. also the world background and characters are also amazing with there being hell and Lucifer and stuff and of course the system also? But I guess the grammar needs a bit more polishing, but doesn’t really affect much in the story? So I’ll give it a 4.8 hehe
Gu and the kids are going to the young man
As I said earlier, this is one of the finest writings. The writing quality is very good and the flow is very natural, I appreciate the author for his explanation in the author's thoughts section about the terms used in the novel. The world background, character designing and story development is good. Overall, it's a very good novel, which has lots of potential in it. Keep up the good work author
A few chapter in and its a great book so far. Love the description and characters. Kudos to you author?
After reading Chapter 25:I hope you remove the #dark and #villain tags because they do not express the novel even a little. The novel is about reincarnation and a good hero who gives his friends all his work and is also not selfish. I personally entered the novel because of the villain tag and I did not find even an atom of evil in the MC, so I hope you remove them and stop deceiving us.?
I like it, its a nice change of pace from the cliche Villan novels. Where they just add romance for no reason.Its got a generic world building tho,I recomend that you dont take as much inspiration from other works. As you did with your other novel.Otherwise looks good
The story is very captivating and well-written, I loved the ending of chapter 4. The way everything was set up, it gave me chills and so much more.
It's not a bad novel, and I'm wondering will in the future, the MC will be staying as a wolf and never able to have a humanoid form?