Upon opening her eyes again, a tingling numbness coursed through Jiang Ciyou's body, making her shudder.
She had been reborn. And fate, cruel as ever, had brought her back to the very day she had drugged Xie Chi.
"No... stop!"
His bare upper body was covered in scratch marks. She struggled desperately to push the man off, but his towering frame remained immovable, like a mountain she could not shake. Looking at the man who was usually cold, resolute, and inviolable—now drowning in carnal desire because of her—her heart filled with sorrow.
In her previous life, her unrequited love for Xie Chi had twisted into a demonic obsession. Ignoring his status as the instructor who had raised and trained her, she had drugged him, forced her way into his bed, and manipulated public pressure to force him into marriage.
Only later did she learn the cruel truth: Xie Chi and the doctor, Wen Zhishao, had long been in love. Before they could announce it, she had destroyed everything, taking advantage of him in his most vulnerable moment.
After their marriage, Xie Chi refused to even look at her. She spent thirty years in a cold, loveless prison of a marriage—a living widow.
Yet, when the earthquake struck, he used his own body to shield her, carving out the last space for her survival with his flesh and blood.
In his final moments, a drop of blood from his lips fell into the corner of her eye. With a sense of release, he whispered:
"Jiang Ciyou, you are my sin, and you are my punishment. Finally, the debt is paid..."
"But... if only I had never met you... how good that would have been."
In that instant, regret had consumed her entire being.
Given a second chance at life, she had only one goal: to step aside and ensure Xie Chi and Wen Zhishao found their happiness.
Broken fragments of sentences spilled from her lips: "Xie Chi, please, calm down..."
Xie Chi merely cast a freezing glance at her. He tore the military badge he never went without from his uniform and stuffed it into her mouth.
"Isn't this exactly what you wanted?"
The disgust in his eyes was like a sharp blade, plunging Jiang Ciyou's heart into acidic bitterness.
Tears slid from the corners of her eyes as she shook her head. "Xie Chi, I know I was wrong."
But Xie Chi did not stop. He gripped her slender waist, taking her again and again with a punishing intensity, not stopping until the first light of dawn broke. Jiang Ciyou lay there, covered in bruises, looking like a broken doll that had been played with too roughly.
Trembling, she pulled the bedsheet up to cover her body. Seeing this, Xie Chi let out a cold sneer and gripped her chin.
"Jiang Ciyou... you truly disgust me."
He bent down to retrieve his combat uniform, then grabbed her arm, dragging her off the bed and hauling her directly into the training room.
Inside the training room.
"Kneel."
Xie Chi's slender fingers gripped a training baton, his voice cold as frost.
Jiang Ciyou bit her lower lip and knelt. The next second, the baton in his hand landed heavily on her back.
She let out a muffled groan of pain, her fingernails digging into her palms. Xie Chi looked down at her from above.
His voice was coated in a layer of thin ice. "For showing disrespect and violating discipline against the instructor who raised you."
"You deserve punishment."
The baton landed on her back again and again, as if trying to whip the unwillingness out of her very soul. Jiang Ciyou was in so much pain she went numb, unable to hold herself up any longer, she collapsed onto the floor.
"Xie Chi..." Her voice trembled, losing its tune. "...It was I who stained your honor and violated the code."
"I regret it, I truly know I was wrong... Shifu."
Hearing the word "Shifu," the baton froze in mid-air.
When he first started training Jiang Ciyou, she would always call him "Shifu" cautiously, terrified he would give up on her.
But later, when she developed thoughts she shouldn't have, she began calling him by his full name, refusing to ever call him "Shifu" again.
The cold overhead lights flickered in his eyes, reflecting no warmth.
"I will give you one last chance."
He dragged Jiang Ciyou to the front of the room, his tone grim and imposing. "I want you to swear before the flag that you will never cross the line again in this lifetime."
"I, Jiang Ciyou, swear before the flag... I will never again harbor any impure thoughts toward Instructor Xie Chi... If I violate this oath, may I die a wretched death."
Xie Chi abruptly let go of her. Jiang Ciyou slammed heavily back onto the floor, blood from her back seeping into the ground drop by drop.
He turned and left without sparing her a single glance.
Her body was in agonizing pain. As she looked up in a daze, she remembered the day she first met Xie Chi.
It was in a refugee camp amidst the chaos of war. Violent rioters were dragging her away to pay off a debt. The people around her continued their tasks numbly, no one stepping in to save her.
Just then, Xie Chi, who was on a guard mission, saw her. Ignoring his teammates' objections, he stepped forward and saved her.
To this day, Jiang Ciyou could still remember that the sunset was the color of tangerines, making Xie Chi's cold eyes look incredibly warm.
He had reached out, gently wiping the mud from her face, and whispered softly:
"From now on, I will teach you the skills to survive... Don't be afraid. I won't let anyone hurt you again."
Xie Chi had been truly good to her. She had wanted to hold onto the first ray of light in her life so desperately that she had forgotten a simple truth.
When you clench your hands too tightly, the light ceases to exist.
Tears of relief slid from her eyes. Jiang Ciyou closed her eyes. She would never forget that he had saved her life in two lifetimes.
This time, she would stay far away from Xie Chi. She would silently bless him from a place he could not see.
She only prayed for his peace and joy for the rest of his life.
She didn't know how much time had passed before she finally regained some strength. Supporting herself against the wall, she stumbled back toward the dormitory. As she passed Xie Chi's room, a voice drifted out through the door that hadn't been fully closed.
His voice was indifferent, carrying a condescending dismissal.
"Jiang Ciyou? She is merely a subordinate I trained. Her thoughts are of no concern."
His gaze turned to Wen Zhishao, his eyes cool and calm. "It is only natural that we are together. In this world, only a professional and calm doctor like you is qualified to stand by my side."
Jiang Ciyou's eyelashes trembled slightly. She closed her eyes for a moment, then continued dragging her feet back to her room.
Back in the dormitory, she found her phone and called a senior from her university days.
"Senior, I want to ask... how can I become a Doctor Without Borders?"
The person on the other end paused for a few seconds before shouting in surprise:
"You really are willing? That's wonderful! You were the professor's most admired student. With you joining us, countless more people will survive! But... why the sudden change of heart? Didn't you say you wanted to stay in the army?"
In her past life, this senior had invited her too, but back then, she only wanted to stay by Xie Chi's side, eventually harming both herself and others.
Now that Xie Chi had someone he wanted to spend his life with, it was time for her to leave and atone for the mistakes she had once made.
Thinking of this, Jiang Ciyou took a deep breath.
"I was lucky to survive the war, but there is too much suffering in this world that goes unheard."
"I want to go out there. I want to save them."
Hanging up the phone, Jiang Ciyou took out a medical kit and applied medicine to her wounds in front of the mirror.
In the past, no matter how much of a scene she caused, Xie Chi had never laid a finger on her. Now...
Waves of throbbing pain radiated from her back. Trembling, she swallowed a painkiller, curled herself into a tight ball on the bed, and unknowingly drifted into sleep.