The sight that greeted me was nothing short of surreal—wooden houses with thatched roofs, people dressed in simple, ancient attire, and ox-drawn carts creaking along dusty roads.
This wasn't my world. This wasn't home. This was...
"Centuries ago," Xue Lian's voice purred from behind me. "Congratulations!"
I whipped around, my eyes narrowing. "Centuries ago? What are you talking about? You told me I was to go to the past to fix Jin Yutian's mistake, how could you have taken me back to the ancient time? What have you done?"
Xue Lian leaned against the wall, her snow-blue robe swaying gently. She chuckled, her laugh light trying to soothe the tense atmosphere. "Oh, you're going to love this part. I might have accidentally sent you back to a time before the Tang Dynasty. You know, when it didn't even exist yet. That might be a little problem on my part."
Her words slammed into me like a blow. "What?" I demanded, taking a shaky step toward her. "You must be kidding me? I didn't even exist during this time. My dad couldn't have been born in this timeline."
Xue Lian's smirk faded, replaced by a deep sigh."That's the problem with time traveling. Tsk, it's such a delicate process. And, oh, it gets better. I might have made a tiny little error with your transmigration. Um, how do I say this without throwing you off balance?"
She tapped her chin awkwardly, twirling a lock of her snow-white hair. "I might have accidentally swapped your soul with a body from this timeline. Maybe that's why you ended up here."
My stomach dropped. "What?" I choked out on my saliva. "You mean I am not Lin Xi? And the person that supposed to be in this body is in my body? In my timeline?"
Xue Lian clapped her hands together, a grin spreading across her face. "Ah, at least you're smart enough to think ahead! Yes, your soul went into this body, and her soul… well, let's just say she's having quite the time in your world."
My mind raced. "How could you do this? How could you completely swap me with a stranger and send me here?"
"I'm the thousand-year system guardian of the Frostbound System, not some all-knowing deity. My master called in sick, and I had to take over. Do you think I wanted this? I'm new to all of this, you know. But," she added with a wry smile, "one thing I'm certain of is that the Jin Yutian in your timeline is definitely going to get you killed in this one."
"You mean…" I said slowly, dread pooling in my chest. "Jin Yutian followed me to this timeline?"
Xue Lian lowered her head, retracing her steps to the bed. Clasping her hands together, she began to chant words after words until a silver piece dropped into her palms. "How do I explain all of this? The moment you slit your throat, Jin Yutian coughed out blood. He knew he was in existence because of you and somehow, you lived because of him."
I stood there, frozen, my mind unable to process her words. "Somehow you lived because of him." I repeated, my gaze fixed on Xue Lian. But no response came from me.
Xue Lian's patience snapped, and she slammed her palms into her face. "Ugh, you're killing me, Host. Let me spell it out for you!" She took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "He tampered with time the moment he used the Silver Jade Pendant. He's going to kill you in this timeline, and by doing that, you'll never be able to stop him in the future. Do you get it now?"
I couldn't find the words. I just stood there, staring at her in silence.
"Let me explain in simpler terms," Xue Lian went on, pacing in frustration. "To do this, he's going to come back before the Tang Dynasty was even created—back to a time when this world was still raw and untouched. He'll cultivate the Devil's Bone that saved him after you killed him and then transmigrate to your birth. His goal? To kill you before you even exist. That way, you can never stand in his way again."
The weight of her words crushed me, and I barely registered when she continued, her tone darkening. "For now, let's just say this: He knows your every thought, every move. And you? You have no idea he's watching you."
She smirked, crossing her arms. "So much for the trouble you brought by killing him in the first place."
I rolled my eyes, not bothering to hide the frustration. No regret though. I was too overwhelmed, too lost in the endless labyrinth of information she was throwing at me. I collapsed onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. "I don't even know what to do with all this," I muttered. "How do you expect me to stop someone who can do all this?"
"And that is where I come in."
I could hear Xue Lian's footsteps approach me, but I didn't care anymore. I was so exhausted, mentally drained, that I barely registered her presence. I snapped my head towards her, an incredulous look on my face.
"You?" I let out a harsh, humorless laugh. "You couldn't even do your damn job right. You messed up the timeline, you swapped my soul with someone else, and now you're telling me you can help me? How the hell am I supposed to rest easy knowing you're my guide? Everything you've done so far has been a disaster."
"In fact, I don't even believe any of this nonsense. You've thrown so much at me that my head feels like it's about to explode. All I want right now is to forget all of this for a moment. I'm going to go out, take some deep breaths, clear my head, and then sleep. Maybe by the time I wake up, I'll either be dead or back in my timeline. At least that'll make some sense."
I breathed out feeling the cold air rush into the room. "Now, go away from me. I want to sleep." I yelled at her and she laughed, walking away from me until she was at the door.
I breathed out, feeling the cold air rush into the room as I tried to find some semblance of peace, far away from the shenanigans Jin Yutian had put me in. "Now, go away from me. I want to sleep," I yelled, laying myself on the bed.
"Sleep? So you are going to sleep after telling you what sort of danger you are in? Gosh? I thought you'd be different."
"Well I am not so take your damn leave and shut the door on your way out." I closed my eyes, humming softly to myself. If sleep had brought me into this world, then surely it could take me back to my own time, right? It was a foolish thought, but at this point, I was willing to try anything.
I lay there for what felt like hours, but nothing happened. Nothing changed. I frowned, my frustration building. I pushed myself up from the bed, eyes darting around the room in search of something, anything, that could offer me an answer. The room was empty. No Xue Lian. No hints of anything unusual. Yet, I was still stuck here.
I groaned in irritation, standing from the bed and walking to the mirror. My reflection stared back at me, but something felt wrong. Who was I really? If I wasn't Lin Xi, then who the hell was I? The question nagged at me.
As I stared at myself, deep in thought, the door creaked open behind me. I froze, my pulse quickening as I turned to face the figure that slipped through the door. A slender woman cloaked entirely in black glided in, the door slamming shut behind her.
"Miss Shen, this won't take much of your time."
I blinked, terrified why she called me Miss Shen but the unease in my stomach grew when I noticed the silver dagger she gripped in her hand, her fingers tangled around the hilt.
"If this is another one of your plans to make me consider Xue Lian, stop it. It isn't funny anymore."
The fear I felt in that moment was undeniable. My voice trembled, and my heart raced as I took a step back. This wasn't some joke. This wasn't a bad dream. My body tensed with terror.
The woman in black was silent for a moment, but then, faster than I could react, she lunged. Before I could even fully comprehend her movements, her hands were around my neck, lifting me off the ground.
I gasped for air, struggling in her unrelenting grip. My hands shot up, pushing at her arms, but she was stronger. Too strong. Panic clawed at my chest as I choked, my breath coming in short gasps.
I could feel my vision fading, the edges of the room blurring. I couldn't die the second time.
"No!" I gasped, my voice weak. "I— I accept! I accept Xue Lian! I accept your system, your nonsense—just let me go!"
The words spilled from my lips in a breathless plea. And that's when everything froze.
Time itself seemed to stop, and I dropped back onto the bed, my body crumpling with exhaustion. I coughed harshly, trying to fill my lungs with air, feeling as if I had been suffocating for hours. My chest heaved painfully as I turned my head, eyes widening when I saw the woman in black—motionless, frozen mid-air.
"System Leveled up, Lin Xi. Do you want to progress?"