Though Qi Yanzhou had been unconscious earlier, he wasn’t completely unaware.
He knew everything—how Ye Chutang had fed him pills to suppress his fire poison, how she had used him as an antidote.
The thought of being taken advantage of by a woman enraged him. He slammed his fist into the ground.
"Taking advantage of a man’s weakness!"
The smooth floor cracked, and the oil lamp by the wall trembled.
Qi Yanzhou’s pupils constricted as he noticed something startling.
His internal energy had recovered far faster than expected.
In the past, after a poison flare-up, it took at least three days for his strength to fully return.
"Why would Ye Chutang carry medicine to suppress fire poison? Could she really cure it?"
"But if she knew medicine, how could she have been drugged and harmed by servants?"
Qi Yanzhou couldn’t make sense of it, and he didn’t have time to dwell on it.
The convoy returning from the southern border to the capital was nearing the city. He had to rejoin them before his unauthorized absence was discovered.
He stood, pulled on the black outer robe draped over a vegetable rack, and slipped silently out of the cellar.
The villagers were still fighting the fire, their shouts filling the air. Ye Chutang didn’t notice Qi Yanzhou’s departure.
Before long, the flames in the main house were extinguished.
But the fire in the west wing and the kitchen raged too fiercely—no one could get close.
The village head pointed at the charred skeleton of the west wing, his face grim.
"Miss Ye… there’s nothing more we can do."
Ye Chutang nodded understandingly. "You’ve already risked enough to help. I wouldn’t ask anyone to endanger themselves for three bodies."
"Thank you for your kindness, Miss Ye. If Minister Ye questions this, please explain that we tried—it was simply beyond our control."
The Ye family owned vast farmland near the village, employing locals during harvest season.
The extra income had improved many lives, so the villagers were grateful to Ye Jingchuan.
But knowing he disliked his eldest daughter, they had turned a blind eye to her struggles.
Now, the village head’s face burned with shame as he begged Ye Chutang to speak on their behalf.
She knew the real culprits behind the original owner’s suffering were the Ye family, not the villagers.
"Don’t worry, I’ll make sure the truth is known."
Then she turned to Aunt Wang.
"Aunt Wang, please distribute the earnings from the embroidery work to everyone who helped tonight."
Aunt Wang waved her hands. "Miss Ye, that’s too generous."
Ye Chutang smiled sincerely. "You saved me and half the estate. It’s the least I can do. I don’t have much, but I hope it’s enough."
Seeing her resolve, Aunt Wang relented.
"Then I’ll thank you on everyone’s behalf."
"It’s almost the hour of the Ox—everyone should rest. There’s work tomorrow."
The villagers dispersed, weary but relieved.
Aunt Wang hesitated before speaking. "Miss Ye, you’ve had a fright tonight. Would you like to stay with us?"
"The east wing is still livable. I wouldn’t want to trouble your son."
Understanding the unspoken concern—her unmarried son’s reputation—Aunt Wang nodded.
"Very well. We’ll come back at dawn to help clean up."
Once alone, Ye Chutang returned to the cellar.
Thinking the air too stale, she planned to drag the man back to the east wing to share the space.
But the cellar was empty. The handsome man she’d just tasted had vanished.
"What a shame—such a perfect waist, gone."
Her tone was regretful, but her expression showed none.
After transmigrating from the apocalypse, she declared: Men aren’t essential—supplies are!
But the cracks on the ground made her pause.
She had actually slept with a martial arts master!
Ye Chutang was exhausted and promptly shoved the master out of her mind, retreating to the east chamber to sleep.
The moment she lay down, something hard poked her backside.
She reached under and pulled out an exquisite black jade token.
A four-clawed serpent coiled around a single character: "Chen."
The black jade token belonged to Qi Yanzhou.
When he entered the icy pool to suppress his fire toxin, he had placed the token—symbolizing his identity—in the sleeve pocket of his outer robe.
Later, Ye Chutang wrapped him in that robe and carried him back to the estate.
The token had accidentally fallen onto the bed when she stripped off his robe to dry it.
Ye Chutang tucked the token into her spatial storage and stepped inside as well.
In her past life, she was the heir of an ancient martial family’s medical and poison legacy. Just after coming of age, she inherited the ancestral healing space.
Back then, the space was small—about 200 square meters with a height of three meters.
Inside, she could sense the outside world but could stay for no more than ten minutes.
The space was bright, though sunlight never reached it, and time stood still.
At its center was a spirit spring, its waters capable of strengthening the body and enhancing plants.
Half the space was dedicated to rare medicinal herbs.
Irrigated by the spirit spring, they grew normally but with potency ten times greater than ordinary herbs.
The other half served as a storage room.
It held medicinal ingredients, Western medicine, common medical equipment, power generators, daily necessities, and food.
There was also a rest area for meals and baths during wilderness trips.
Later, the apocalypse arrived. Ninety percent of humanity turned into zombies, and flora and fauna mutated.
Ye Chutang awakened an earth-based ability, and her space became upgradable—but at the cost of virtue points.
Saving good people, killing villains, exterminating zombies, and eliminating mutated creatures that threatened humanity all earned varying amounts of virtue points.
The first space upgrade consumed 100,000 virtue points.
It expanded to a massive 1,000 square meters with a ten-meter height, centered around the spirit spring.
Ye Chutang collected countless seeds and even transplanted some unmutated fruit trees, reserving 200 square meters for vegetables and orchards.
The rest was filled with neatly organized shipping containers, packed with the supplies and weapons she’d hoarded—almost to capacity.
The next upgrade required one million virtue points.
She’d saved up enough before, but the apocalypse was unpredictable. Using her earth ability also drained virtue points, so she held off on upgrading.
She’d assumed her space and abilities would let her survive the apocalypse with ease, but then…
A colossal fireball plummeted from the sky. Before she could react in her sleep, she—and the entire base—were incinerated without a trace.
When she opened her eyes again, she had become the eldest daughter of Ye Jingchuan, the Minister of Revenue of Beichen Kingdom.
As Ye Chutang marveled at nature’s terrifying power, she was ejected from the space when her time limit expired.
Resting her hands behind her head, she gazed at the gray bed canopy overhead and smirked.
"Ancient times beat the apocalypse any day. This transmigration was a win."
No sooner had she spoken than a dull ache settled in her chest.
Her mind replayed the original host’s desperate vow before smashing her head against the wall:
"After death, I’ll return as a vengeful ghost and slaughter you all!"
Ye Chutang knew the original host’s targets weren’t just the three members of the Liu Family, who’d directly caused her death.
Her scum of a father and stepmother were also on the list.
She pressed a hand to her chest and vowed, "Don't worry. Since I've taken over your body, I'll fulfill your dying wish for you. Don't linger as a vengeful spirit—they're not worth it. Go peacefully to your next life."
Yes, she had made up her mind—she was going back to the Minister's residence to give that scum of a father and that wretched stepsister the beating they deserved!
