Chapter 1 — Silencing the Grievance

Bandits suddenly attacked the village, yet my husband—the militia captain—had led all the village militia along with his cherished first love into town to watch a movie. The village chief instructed me to fetch him back, but I flatly refused. In my past life, heavily pregnant, I had ridden a horse along the treacherous mountain shortcut straight to the theater, dragging him back to save the entire village. Consequently, his beloved was captured and defiled by a few escaping bandits, then thrown into the forest to be devoured by wolves. Afterward, my husband hunted down the bandits before locking himself away in a room for three days and three nights. When he finally emerged, he never spoke of the incident again. It was not until the county appointed me as the director of the women's association, taking her place in recognition of my bravery in saving the village, that my tragedy truly began. On the day I gave birth, my husband dragged my exhausted body deep into the forest. He shattered my legs with a heavy club, sliced open my abdomen, and left me to be eaten alive by wild beasts.

You colluded with bandits for your own selfish gain and caused her death. Since you loved imitating her so much, your death must be exactly the same.

When I opened my eyes, I had returned to the exact day the bandits raided the village. This time, he wanted to protect his beloved? Let him. Gunshots shattered the morning silence; I had been reborn. I rushed hurriedly toward the door, and the moment I pulled it wide open, the village chief burst inside, breathless and frantic.

Everest! Bandits have arrived! Quickly wake your husband and organize the militia to defend the village!

Before I could even utter a response, the village chief’s wife shouted from behind him.

Old Li, I’ve checked everywhere! Not a single able-bodied man is left in the village, and the rifles in the militia office have vanished too!

I lifted my gaze and saw most of the village women trailing behind her, their faces utterly pale with terror. The village chief stood frozen in shock. They… where on earth could they have gone? Knowing the truth that no one else dared to utter, I spoke plainly. They were led away by lock and key to watch a movie with Snow White.

Absurd! The village chief frowned deeply. The county just issued a warning that bandits have been rampant lately, ordering the militia to step up patrols. How could they abandon their posts to go see a film?

Hearing this, the women began to curse the woman known as Snow White, condemning her shamelessness for dragging away all the village men. Before their fury could subside, several more gunshots rang out in the distance. Screams of panic erupted among the crowd. The village chief managed to maintain his composure, shouting instructions. The remaining men, go quickly and bar the heavy stone gates! Sisters, all of you crawl into the underground tunnel and hide! Unless you hear the voice of someone you know, do not come out! This village possessed a unique geographical layout. There were only two paths leading in. The primary route was the wide road everyone frequented, guarded at the entrance by a massive stone gate erected by their ancestors. In these impoverished mountains, bandits were as common as stray dogs, and that gate was built specifically to keep them out. Once sealed, it was exceptionally difficult to reopen. The second path was a narrow, winding trail behind the mountain. It was so treacherous and steep that a single moment of carelessness meant plunging to one’s death. Though riding a horse along it took only half an hour to reach the town, nobody dared to travel it on ordinary days. After giving his orders, the village chief turned to me.

Everest, you know how to ride and you’ve traveled the mountain trail before. Quickly take the back path to find your husband and tell him to bring the militia back to save the village.

I bit my lip hard. Village chief, it isn’t that I refuse to go… I’m simply afraid that if I leave, lock and key will refuse to return as well. The moment those words left my lips, the entire crowd fell into an absolute, suffocating silence. Ever since Snow White had been assigned to the village as the women's association director, my husband’s eyes seemed permanently glued to her. The entire village knew my husband and I quarreled endlessly over the matter. Just as all eyes converged on me, making me wish the earth would swallow me out of sheer humiliation, my young sister-in-law stepped forward to diffuse the tension. Let me go! I’ve traveled that path before too. Besides, my sister-in-law is pregnant; if anything happened and she suffered a miscarriage, the cost would be far too high. The village chief nodded hesitantly, and my sister-in-law immediately ran back to her house, fetched a horse, and galloped away. The village chief’s wife then led the rest of us into the subterranean tunnel to await reinforcements. An hour and a half later, my sister-in-law finally returned. The moment her figure appeared at the tunnel entrance, the villagers cheered joyfully, believing she had successfully brought the militia back. To everyone’s utter astonishment, her face was drained of all color. The men refused to come back, not a single one. People stared in disbelief. What do you mean?! Tears streamed down my sister-in-law’s face as she choked out, They said I was making it up. Especially my brother… he claimed my sister-in-law and I had colluded to deceive the entire village. I knelt down and begged them, but they still cursed me as a shameless wretch. No one could imagine the grievance she had suffered; she broke down into uncontrollable sobs the moment she finished speaking. The atmosphere inside the tunnel grew heavy and oppressive. The women cursed Snow White bitterly, calling her a calamity. As the women's association director, she offered no help to the women whatsoever, spending all her time hovering around the men. Before their curses could even fade, a massive, earth-shattering explosion echoed from outside.