Chapter Two: Destiny

When Situ Yao regained consciousness once more, the first sounds she heard were a woman’s weeping, the roar of thunder shaking the heavens, and the relentless drumming of rain. She was momentarily disoriented—she remembered that before she’d lost consciousness, a storm had raged outside, with howling winds and lightning streaking across the sky. But when had another woman appeared?

She tried to move, only to hesitantly discover that she had become a newborn baby girl. What’s more, the woman crying was holding her in her arms.

What had happened to her?

Had she transmigrated?

Situ Yao was stunned. Had she really crossed over into another world? And so suddenly, without rhyme or reason! Other people transmigrated after dying—why had it happened to her in the blink of an eye?

“Yao’er, your mother has failed you. I’ve failed your father as well. Your father, he, he…” The woman’s voice, thick with sorrow, pulled Situ Yao from her scattered thoughts.

She was forced to listen to the woman’s anguished sobs, and could tell how heartbroken she was, how deeply she must have been wounded by something. For reasons unknown, Situ Yao felt an inexplicable sense of closeness to this woman, a desire to reach out and wipe away her tears.

The woman continued to cry for a long time, then drifted into a soft, murmured monologue, recounting one story after another. Gradually, a tale of twists and turns unfolded before Situ Yao.

Thunder crashed endlessly outside, the wind howled, and rain poured down in sheets, all mingling with the woman’s quiet sobs. The world of sound around Situ Yao seemed both chaotic and unnaturally clear at once. Every word the woman spoke landed precisely in her ears.

Situ Yao realized that this woman was her new mother. Her name was Silver Fox—an odd name, she thought, as if plucked from some myth or legend, the name of a divine beast. Truly peculiar.

Her father had left them before she was even born, never staying by Silver Fox’s side, and his fate remained unknown. She herself had been named Silver Yao.

Yet for some reason, Silver Fox spoke little of their family or background, recounting only the beautiful memories she shared with Silver Yao’s father. Situ Yao wasn’t sure what she should feel—should she stubbornly reject this reality, or resign herself and weep? Her mind was a chaotic whirlwind. She felt she ought to cry, yet no tears would come; no matter what, she simply couldn’t cry. She gazed blankly at her new mother.

“Ah!”

Her thoughts were a tangled mess; she wanted nothing more than to scream and let out the confusion inside. But she had forgotten one crucial thing: she was now a newborn baby.

Her thin, desperate wails drew Silver Fox’s attention. The woman hurried to rock her gently, cooing softly, “Yao’er, don’t cry, don’t cry. Mama is here. There’s nothing to fear. Be good, don’t cry.”

Situ Yao’s sobs quieted. She stared at Silver Fox in a daze, her eyes blank and bewildered.

Silver Fox looked so young, yet her hair was a cascade of silver, white as snow—truly living up to her name. Situ Yao thought, perhaps she had suffered something that turned her heart to ashes. She seemed a pitiable woman.

Yet she was also beautiful, with a gentle, approachable warmth—though sorrow lingered between her brows, tinting her beauty with melancholy. Situ Yao found herself wanting to smooth away those troubled lines.

Silver Fox noticed a plump, tiny hand reaching for her face, as if trying to smooth her furrowed brow. She smiled softly. “Good girl, Yao’er. Mama is fine now. I won’t cry anymore, and I won’t frown. You’re such a thoughtful child.”

Silver Fox smiled, surprised that her daughter, so small, already wanted to comfort her. Situ Yao looked at her mother’s happy face, unsure what she herself felt. She wanted to say, “I’m not your daughter—just a stranger who’s inexplicably come to this world,” but somehow the thought didn’t trouble her as much as she expected.

She looked at Silver Fox, not knowing what to say, or rather, incapable of saying anything at all. She could only smile—a pure, innocent baby’s smile that melted Silver Fox’s heart. Silver Fox scooped her up and planted a gentle kiss on her cheek.

It was the first time anyone had ever kissed Situ Yao. The gesture was so natural, so affectionate. Situ Yao’s round eyes stared at Silver Fox’s joyful face, and for reasons she couldn’t explain, she too began to smile.

Their laughter blended together, sweet and harmonious.

As the days passed, Situ Yao felt the warmth of Silver Fox’s love. Perhaps she ought to accept the truth—she’d transmigrated into this life. From now on, she would be Silver Yao, daughter of Silver Fox. She resolved to cherish her mother dearly.

Silver Fox truly was a wonderful mother. She poured all her love into her daughter, holding nothing back. Silver Yao, who had never known a mother’s love in the twenty-first century, felt a warmth she’d never dared to imagine. From a young age, she’d believed she didn’t deserve such things, that she was destined to be alone. Yet here, in this unfamiliar world, she finally had everything she’d once thought impossible.

Sometimes Silver Yao wondered if Heaven itself had taken pity on her, granting her this absurd transmigration so that, despite the blood on her hands and her solitary existence in her previous life, she could find warmth, love, and a sense of belonging in this new world.

It wasn’t until one day that she began to think, perhaps this was no random accident. Perhaps everything had been predestined. For on the fifteenth day of every month, a fox-shaped mark appeared on her back. Silver Fox was never surprised by it—she would only gaze at the mark with a strange, distant look, a look that reminded Silver Yao of the mysterious old man she once knew, for their eyes were so alike.

But Silver Fox never explained, leaving Silver Yao to gradually forget the matter.