Chapter 1

“Brother Dagang, the military jeep behind us is catching up! What do we do now…?”

“Keep driving, don’t stop… Find a spot up ahead—I’ll throw that little girl in the backseat out!” the man’s voice was full of menace. His bloodshot eyes were locked on the green military jeep chasing behind them.

In the backseat, a disheveled young girl lay curled up. Her hands were tied behind her back, and she didn’t move at all—it looked like she had passed out.

She wore a dark blue floral dress that was stained with patches of dirt, making her appear very disheveled. Yet, the messy strands of hair that fell across her face couldn’t hide her delicate and fair features.

If the situation hadn’t been so urgent, the two men in the front seat would have already assaulted her. But with their lives now hanging by a thread, they had no time or mind for such depravity.

Yu Qingyue groggily regained consciousness, just in time to hear the vicious voice from the front seats.

She felt the car shaking violently, her stomach churning with nausea. A faint stench lingered in the air. Her head throbbed, her breath caught in her chest, and her body felt burning hot—she seemed to have a fever.

Most alarming of all, her hands were tied behind her back.

Had she been kidnapped?

But who would dare break into her home and abduct her?

The thought sent panic rising in her chest. She forced her heavy eyelids open with all her strength—

In her view were two crude-looking front car seats. The upholstery looked stiff and uncomfortable. She could tell this was a car—an old model she’d only ever seen in period dramas.

The interior looked outdated, even shabbier than a five-year-old Wuling minivan. It definitely didn’t belong in the modern era—it looked more like something from the 1980s.

In the front left seat was a man driving the car.

She couldn’t see his face clearly, but her eyes drifted down and spotted a gleaming knife resting on his thigh…

Whether it was due to the car’s jostling or the man’s nerves, she saw that his leg—the one holding the knife—was trembling uncontrollably.

As for the man sitting directly in front of her, she couldn’t see his face, only hear his frantic and cruel voice.

“Turn off at the bend ahead. Once we stop, I’ll open the back door and push her out!”

As the man’s vicious words fell, Yu Qingyue’s mind suddenly lit up with a flash of memory.

More precisely, the memory of this body’s original owner.

She had transmigrated—into a girl with the same name as her, Yu Qingyue, in the 1980s. No wonder the car looked so outdated—though in this era, it would’ve been considered a luxury.

But the two men in the car weren’t wealthy. They were infamous highway bandits—to put it plainly, robbers.

They didn’t rob people on foot; they hijacked cars. Yu Qingyue remembered reading about this kind of history in books—these bandits were brutal, their hands stained with blood, and they had committed countless crimes.

The original Yu Qingyue had run into these exact ruthless criminals!

Originally, these highway bandits only hijacked vehicles, not people. But the original Yu Qingyue had been standing by the roadside, her beauty catching their eyes. The two bandits got wicked thoughts and dragged her into the car.

Her family ran a large restaurant business—one of the few that survived and even thrived during difficult times, which meant they had real capability.

Her father, Yu Lishan, was no exception. On the surface, he was a businessman who had traveled to many countries, but in secret, he performed covert missions and gathered intelligence for the government. Though now living an ordinary life, he once served with great honor, and an old injury in his leg remained from that past.

With the start of economic reforms, the family’s business was booming.

The original Yu Qingyue had been kidnapped in the afternoon. Her father quickly realized something was wrong.

Given the rampant rise of highway bandits and his daughter’s beauty, he suspected the worst. Rumors said these bandits weren’t just carjackers—they had abducted several attractive girls.

Those girls were subjected to endless abuse and torture, and once the bandits had their way, they killed them. Their bodies were often too horrific to describe.

The thought of such a fate terrified Yu Lishan. He didn’t bother with official channels—he immediately mobilized his covert network and reported the situation.

Though retired and living undercover, Yu Lishan had contributed significantly over the years. His daughter’s potential abduction prompted serious attention from higher-ups. They dispatched a military officer who was already in the area on assignment to investigate.

Soldiers in this era had all seen real combat. Upon hearing about the highway bandits in Nan City, the officer rushed to assist. After coordinating with Yu Lishan, he drove off in pursuit of the bandits in the most likely direction.

Of course, Yu Qingyue—the new soul inhabiting this body—didn’t know any of this.

After sorting through the original Yu Qingyue’s memories, she felt a cold weight settle in her chest. Her head pounded, her body burned with fever, and her wrists were tied so tightly they had gone numb.

The original girl had struggled hard, tearing the skin on her wrists in the process.

Yu Qingyue winced and drew a sharp breath as she pushed herself up slightly and glanced out the car window.

Night was falling. Outside, a green military jeep was slowly catching up to the car she was trapped in.

The jeep’s window was rolled down, and she immediately spotted a man in military uniform in the driver’s seat.

At that exact moment, the man turned and looked at her.

Their eyes met…

His face was cold and stern, his eyes black as ink, his sharp and handsome features framed by a chilling, serious aura.

When he saw the disheveled girl in the backseat of the bandits’ car, his icy gaze flickered slightly. Then, he parted his lips.

He didn’t speak aloud, just mouthed the words.

Yu Qingyue understood. He was saying: “Don’t be afraid.”

She nodded through the window. Her expression remained calm—no outburst, no screaming for help.

Jiang Yu, the military officer, saw that the girl hadn’t panicked or cried out, and felt a subtle sense of relief. He also found himself just a little curious about her…

To stay that composed under such a crisis—Miss Yu was impressively calm.

Meanwhile, the two bandits inside the car panicked the moment they saw the military jeep.

“Shit, they’re catching up! Step on the gas and lose them!”

“The pedal’s already to the floor—there’s no way our car can outrun a military jeep…”

Seeing the green jeep drawing level with them, fear overwhelmed the bandits.

They had taken multiple lives—if they were caught, execution was their only fate.

Screech—

A sudden, sharp brake.

The driver slammed his foot down, jolting the vehicle to a halt.