Chapter 1: The Return of the King

"Playing innocent, are you? Weren't you just another one I got my hands on."
"Zoom in! The sponsor wants to see her facial details clearly!"
"Little beauty, here I come..."
A greasy, revolting voice drifted over as Yun Fu's groggy mind slowly awakened. She opened her eyes to find herself staring into a pair of lecherous, muddy eyes. In front of her loomed the bloated, pockmarked face of a man in his forties or fifties, his heavy body descending toward her.
Her gaze instantly turned icy. With a sudden burst of strength, she seized the man's outstretched wrist. A sharp crack of bones fracturing was followed by his pig-like scream that reverberated through the entire room.
Out of the corner of her eye, Yun Fu took in the crowd of photographers encircling the bed, their cameras poised and ready.
Where was she?
How had she ended up here?
"You little whore, how dare you hit me? What are you all standing there for? Grab her, and shoot a group scene later!" The middle-aged brute, his dislocated hand swelling like a steamed bun, cursed through gritted teeth.
The others rushed forward.
Yun Fu let out a cold laugh. She was once the ace assassin of the Ancient Martial Continent, known as the Reaper. Did these lackeys really think they could handle her?
She rose gracefully, flexing her wrists and ankles, the chilling crackle of her joints echoing through the room.
As the men closed in, she spun with effortless precision, her foot slamming into the nearest man and sending him flying two meters back, crashing to the ground like a severed kite and coughing up blood.
She sidestepped another's punch, her delicate hand twisting the huge man's arm and, borrowing the force, hurled him through the air.
A few more lunged at her, only to have their arms broken or be kicked aside. In moments, the room was filled with groans and screams.
"You! This... this can't be..."
The old lecher who'd tried to force himself on her stared in terror, his fleshy face and wrinkles quivering in pain and fear.
The sponsor had said she was just a mindless pretty face! But this woman was a demon!
Yun Fu's cold gaze swept the chaos. She massaged her aching temples, picked up a fruit knife from the table, and strode toward the old man lying on the floor, her eyes bloodthirsty and glacial.
He shrank back, trembling, having never seen such a terrifying look.
Just as the cold, sharp blade was about to pierce his finger, he fell to his knees, begging for mercy with cold sweat streaming down his face.
"Please, madam, it was Du Xingyuan who sent us! We're just following orders! Spare my worthless life!"
Du Xingyuan?
Yun Fu frowned as a surge of unfamiliar memories rushed through her aching head, scenes flashing before her eyes like a spinning lantern.
She realized she had been reborn—into the body of a notorious, scandal-ridden starlet of the entertainment world, also named Yun Fu. Just two hours earlier, this body's original owner had caught her boyfriend, Du Xingyuan, in the act with her best friend Ning Lan in a car. Incensed, the pair had knocked her out and delivered her to this old pervert's bed, intent on destroying her completely.
How amusing.
Snapping back to the present, Yun Fu lightly slapped the old man's bloated face with the fruit knife.
His jowls quivered with every slap, his soul nearly fleeing his body in terror.
"If you want to live, call Du Xingyuan here," she said, her lips parting slightly, her fox-like eyes seductive yet icy. "Whatever you planned to do to me, do it to him instead."
Make them assault a man?
The old man hesitated, but as the knife's edge bit into his skin, pain jolted him into frantic nods. "Yes, yes, right away!"
"Excellent." Yun Fu stepped back, her cold eyes fixed on the bloodless man as he slid down the wall, shakily dialing his phone.
"If this isn't handled properly, every one of you will die," she added, lips curling like a bloodthirsty demoness.
"Yes, yes!"
The men, terrified out of their wits, nodded and bowed, looking utterly defeated.
Without another word, Yun Fu turned on her heel, striding elegantly into the bathroom.
In the cold-toned mirror, the reflection staring back was equally pale.
The woman in the glass had a face as smooth and luminous as lamb's fat jade, her upturned, alluring eyes both enchanting and limpid, her nose high and straight, her coral-pink lips full and sensual.
This face was an exquisite blend of seductive glamour and pure ethereal beauty.
Her figure was slender and graceful—a rare beauty indeed.
Yun Fu found herself quite satisfied with this new body.
Before long, footsteps and a commotion erupted outside the room.
Men's screams, curses, and wails echoed on.
Yun Fu sat on the toilet lid, her long legs crossed, flipping through the phone out of boredom.
The previous owner, a third-rate celebrity, had only a few hundred yuan in her bank account.
After combing through the original owner's social media, Yun Fu pieced together the facts.
She was desperately poor.
She had been exploited by Du Xingyuan's entertainment company for years. An unfair contract meant almost all her earnings ended up in the company's coffers.
Now that Du Xingyuan had wrung her dry, he was pouring all the company's resources into promoting Ning Lan. Having been caught, they decided to utterly destroy her.
With the information sorted, Yun Fu closed the phone.
Now that she had taken over this body, she would live for the original owner—and avenge her.
The torment outside lasted over three hours. Only when Du Xingyuan was finally thrown out of the hotel did Yun Fu retrieve the video of his humiliation, copying it to her phone before leaving.
Now, besides revenge, she needed money.
She had lived a life of luxury before—there was no way she would let herself suffer now.
A few hundred yuan wasn't even enough for a meal.

In her previous life, after earning the reputation of Viper, she was in such high demand as an assassin that clients offered hundreds of millions. Now, she needed a quick way to earn money.
Stepping out of the hotel, her phone flashed with a news alert.
A wealthy family in the capital—the Lian family—had an elderly matriarch critically ill. They were urgently seeking a doctor, offering thirty million as a reward.
Yun Fu raised an eyebrow, a smile curling her lips. With her last bit of cash, she hailed a taxi to the Lian family villa.
—
At that moment, inside the Lian family’s castle-like villa...
"You? Do you think the Lian family villa is some kind of marketplace—any stray cat or dog can walk in?"
"If I recall, you're that notorious third-rate actress, aren't you? Why aren’t you just sticking to showbiz? You dare come here pretending to be a doctor?"
"What do you know of medicine? You didn't even graduate university. Where did you get the nerve to come here?"
"Butler, what are you waiting for? Throw her out at once!"
A woman in a custom-fitted white dress sat regally on the leather sofa. Her delicate, cold features were meticulously made up, her every gesture radiating pride and arrogance. The contempt and disdain in her eyes as she looked at Yun Fu were unmistakable.
"Yes, ma’am."
As the butler approached Yun Fu, she glanced toward the old lady lying on the sickbed. "Stagnant blood, arrhythmia. The stagnation has worsened—it’s spread to the abdomen, left atrium, and right ventricle."
Her words left the room stunned.
The military doctors exchanged glances. This woman, barely in her twenties, spoke with such authority—and she seemed to make sense!
Lian Bingqing froze for a moment, then quickly regained her mocking composure. "Do you think a few random words will get you through?"
"Exactly. Miss Lian is the youngest medical prodigy in the country, and even she’s at a loss. And a showbiz outsider thinks she can do better?"
"She probably memorized a few lines for the thirty million reward."
"Ridiculous. Not just anyone can earn that money. Even we, with decades of medical experience, have no solution. What could a little girl possibly know?"
The military doctors sneered.
"If you drive me away, the old lady won’t last the day—her blood and energy will be exhausted and she’ll die," Yun Fu said, lips curled in a wild, defiant grin.
Everyone stared, speechless, stealing glances at the man seated at the center.
"How dare you curse my grandmother! Are you looking to die?" Lian Bingqing snapped, jumping to her feet. "Butler, arrest this madwoman and send her to jail!"
"Wait," said the tall, imposing man sitting across the sofa.