After being reborn with my scumbag ex-husband, I became his sister-in-law.

Song Xizhi vaguely remembered that after leaving the Imperial Hospital, he got into He Jingyan's carriage and suddenly lost consciousness.

Then it felt like I had entered a very illusory world, my consciousness was always hazy, sometimes clear and sometimes blurry.

Occasionally, you'll hear a ticking sound, as if someone is gently guiding you into a scene.

In that setting, you'll encounter familiar people from your daily life, and they'll say all sorts of things to you.

At first, Song Xizhi thought that was the real world. She thought that Pei Yunyi, Siqin and everyone else in it were real, so she talked to them and investigated the truth with them.

But later, Song Xizhi began to vaguely sense that something was amiss.

They often want to peek into their own inner world, or even reminisce about her past.

Song Xizhi has lived a second life and has too many secrets in her heart. She has never spoken them aloud and is particularly sensitive about them.

So when Pei Yunyi and Siqin from that world kept trying to find ways to question her past, she suddenly noticed something unusual and suspicious.

At first, she didn't want to talk, but she found that it had no effect at all.

Later, she began to deliberately give false information in an attempt to test them, but "Pei Yunyi" and "Siqin" from that world still interacted with her as usual, without noticing anything amiss.

From then on, Song Xizhi knew what he should do.

Song Xizhi stared at the pitch-black cellar before him, recalling everything he had experienced.

She finally discovered how the Xirong people had impersonated He Jingyan.

They must have used the same method on He Jingyan, prying into his memories by observing what he said and how he reacted in his "dream," in order to deceive others.

This proves that He Jingyan must still be alive at this moment, just like she is now.

Song Xizhi was in a daze for a moment before regaining his senses. He struggled with all his might, only to find that his hands and feet were bound.

With her hands tied behind her back and her feet wrapped in hemp rope, she suddenly rolled off the bed and onto the floor.

There were no suitable tools at hand, only an iron collar on the other side of the bed. The collar was not closed, but open, revealing the uneven joints.

The collar was probably used to lock her neck normally, but for some reason, it wasn't used this time. Instead, they simply put her on the bed and left in a hurry.

She could only bend down as much as she could and use the rough part of the collar's interface to rub the hemp rope on her back.

Unexpectedly, the very thing that usually kept her locked up became the only tool to save her.

Song Xizhi had no idea how long she had been grinding away; the darkness blurred her sense of time, and she could even smell the salty, metallic scent.

But she dared not stop; she could only grind relentlessly.

Not only did she rub the iron collar against the hemp rope on her back, but she also curled up, pressed her chest tightly against her thighs, and tore at the hemp rope on her legs with her teeth.

Once the bindings on his hands gradually loosened, Song Xizhi hurriedly sat up and began to untie the hemp ropes binding his feet.

Once the ropes binding his feet were untied, Song Xizhi groped his way towards the cellar exit in the darkness.

Thick smoke choked her breath; the cellar's exit was a series of earthen stone steps.

As Song Xizhi climbed higher, he felt the scorching heat more intensely.

She endured the scorching heat emanating from the black iron door above her head, trying to figure out how to open the square exit.

Before Song Xizhi could figure it out, he heard a noise coming from outside.

She tilted her head back and took a few steps back warily, only to see that the opening made of black iron had been opened a crack, and with a few creaking sounds, the crack grew bigger and bigger.

A ray of light shone in through the crack in the open door.

The cellar door was opened.

She watched as the door slowly opened, and what came into view was a corner of a man's black cloak.

The black cloak, stained with mud, was now swaying up and down with the man's movements.

Song Xizhi stared at the unfamiliar cloak, his eyes wide, feeling his breathing become more and more rapid, and his blood seemed to run in reverse.

She tried to back away, but her feet seemed rooted to the ground, preventing her from moving.

At this moment, Song Xizhi's heart turned completely cold.