Yangzhou dock was shrouded in thick morning mist, resembling a mysterious dream wrapped in layers of gauze. Nian'an sat quietly on the bluestone steps, focused on mending a fishing net. The salty river breeze, heavy with moisture, brushed against her face and swept over her calloused fingertips. The wound she had sustained three days ago from an iron anchor had scarred over, yet it still throbbed with a faint pain, a reminder of the cruelty of this unfamiliar world. This was her seventh morning waking up in the Yongning Dynasty; the body she inhabited after departing from the Quantum Cloud was unimaginably fragile, and every minor movement could bring a jolt of pain.
"That's a novel way of mending, young lady," a raspy voice came from behind. Nian'an turned to see an old boatman pouring coarse wine into his mouth, his dim eyes fixed on the intricate plum-blossom knot at the edge of the net. "Is that... a military binding technique?"
Nian'an’s fingers paused slightly. Memories of dismantling bronze chains at the Chaos Bell Tower in her past life flooded back like a tide. Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she looped the hemp rope around the bamboo shuttle and deftly wove an improved fisherman’s knot. Her tone was calm and natural: "My father was in the water transport battalion." The lie flowed perfectly, as if she had rehearsed it countless times. Three hundred cycles of reincarnation had not only left her with fragmented memories but also gifted her the instinct to…
Chapter 70