TFBAT – Chapter 1

Night had fallen. Chi Yuyang walked with light, brisk steps along the road home.

At twenty-one years old, she was studying veterinary medicine, a subject she loved deeply.

Today marked her last day of internship at the pet hospital, and she had just received the very first paycheck of her life.

What’s more, when her boss heard that she planned to adopt a cat, he gifted her several bags of cat food along with a pile of pet supplies.

So, after leaving the hospital, Chi Yuyang planned to first drop off the toolbox and other things at home, and then head to the pet shop to pick out a kitten.

But just as she was crossing the street outside the supermarket, the ground suddenly shook.

A wave of dizziness struck her, and then—she lost consciousness.

—

When Chi Yuyang opened her eyes again, what she saw was not skyscrapers, but towering trees reaching into the clouds.

“I must still be dreaming…” she murmured to herself.

Yet the crisp, refreshing fragrance in the air told her otherwise—this was neither her familiar city nor some absurd dream.

Panicked, Chi Yuyang quickly pulled out her phone, only to find it had no signal.

She tried dialing 110, but the call would not go through.

The phone displayed the time: 7:40 p.m.

She calculated that from the moment she fainted until now, only about an hour had passed.

Trembling, Chi Yuyang struggled to her feet and found her belongings scattered nearby—her toolbox, the cat food and pet supplies from her boss, as well as the daily necessities she had just bought at the supermarket.

“Could it be… I’ve been kidnapped?” she muttered.

But the forest around her was eerily silent, making her voice sound even more abrupt.

As an orphan with nothing to her name, Chi Yuyang didn’t think she was valuable enough to be kidnapped.

She was kind-hearted by nature, honest in her dealings with others, and rarely ever ran into people deliberately targeting her.

So why had she suddenly appeared here?

“Hello? Is anyone there?” Chi Yuyang called out tentatively.

But no answer came.

Having unexpectedly arrived in this unfamiliar place, the first thing she did after confirming she was unharmed was to check her belongings.

Aside from the toolbox and pet supplies, the things she had bought from the supermarket—salt, sugar, sanitary pads, snacks, and the like—were all still with her.

In her cloth bag she carried only her wallet, keys, lip balm, umbrella, an extra jacket, and other odds and ends.

Clearly, the salary she had just received today was of no immediate use.

The snacks in her bag would only meet her needs for a short while.

The toolbox contained tools for treating animals, but if necessary, they could also be used on people.

As for the pet supplies—Chi Yuyang decided to keep them for now, since she had no idea what situation she was in.

After all, cat food was still food. If worse came to worst, it was still better than gnawing on tree bark.

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind swept through. A wild fruit fell from somewhere above and struck her on the head.

The fruit resembled mulberries she knew, but its color was an odd pale blue.

Could it be poisonous?

Chi Yuyang hesitated for a moment, then chose to tuck the fruit into a plastic bag.

Looking around, she saw that the area was filled with strange vegetation.

Even the soil beneath her feet was covered with a faint layer of green.

A faint unease welled up in Chi Yuyang’s heart.

But with no signal on her phone, she had no way of knowing where she was.

Without a compass, she decided to trust her instincts.

Picking a direction, she began to move forward.

As she walked, countless thoughts crossed her mind—

Perhaps she had been thrust into some survival game like Blizzard Manor Mode.

Or maybe kidnappers had left her here to await ransom.

Or perhaps criminals had targeted her as prey, tossing her here to hunt her down for sport.

Whatever the case, staying put meant waiting for death.

And waiting passively was never Chi Yuyang’s way of handling things.

She had eaten a farewell dinner before leaving the pet hospital, so at the moment she wasn’t particularly hungry.

But she was thirsty.

Fortunately, she still had a bottle of water in her bag.

Though she knew it wouldn’t last long.

It seemed that the most urgent matter was to find a water source.

Since this was a forest, Chi Yuyang guessed there must be a stream nearby.

Relying on her sixth sense, she walked for about half an hour, yet the scenery around her remained unchanged.

Other than the endless towering trees, the only things she saw were all kinds of strange plants.

Most of these plants were green, but the fruits they bore were of dazzling colors.

Exhausted from walking, Chi Yuyang finally stopped and took out a bottle of mineral water, carefully sipping a mouthful to moisten her throat.

She still hadn’t found a source of water, and even though she was thirsty, she didn’t dare drink much.

Compared to a lack of food, humans die far quicker from dehydration.

What puzzled her even more was— along the way, she hadn’t encountered a single living being.

Not only were there no people, but not even animals could be seen.

Could it be that this forest was artificially created, and that was why no wild animals existed here?

The more she thought about it, the more terrified she felt. What on earth was the purpose of the person who had brought her here?

Even with these thoughts swirling in her mind, Chi Yuyang didn’t stop walking. After replenishing some water, she continued forward.

When the time on her phone reached 9 p.m., she finally heard the faint sound of flowing water in the distance.

Overjoyed, Chi Yuyang hurriedly ran toward the source of the sound.

Sure enough—it was a small stream.

Only now, as her tense nerves finally relaxed, did Chi Yuyang realize what had felt so off before.

Her phone showed it was already 9 p.m., yet the sky above was still a clear, brilliant blue.

Sunlight streamed down from one direction, but she couldn’t feel a trace of warmth.

In her memory, the only places where the sun had not yet set at nine o’clock were a few frontier regions.

But the city she lived in was along the southeastern coast.

How could she have been transported from the southeast coast to the frontier in just one hour?

Or perhaps… this place didn’t exist in the world she knew at all.

For now, she could only take things one step at a time.

Suppressing the doubts pressing down in her heart, Chi Yuyang hid her belongings in a concealed spot.

Then she pulled out a blunt pair of scissors from her toolbox and carefully crept toward the stream.

It was the only tool in her possession that could be considered a weapon.

Logically speaking, living creatures should exist near a water source.

Although blunt scissors were barely passable as a weapon, they still gave her a slight sense of security.

The closer she got to the stream, the more tense the atmosphere around her felt.

“Is anyone there?” Chi Yuyang hesitated for a moment before calling out.

Rather than wait passively for someone to strike first, it was better to draw their attention herself—

That is, if there really was an enemy.

Five minutes passed.

Nothing unusual happened.

The only sound she could hear was the babbling flow of the stream.

Even so, she tightened her grip on the scissors in her hand.

Either there was truly no life around here, or the other party was exceptionally patient.

And an enemy who could stay that patient… was often the most terrifying kind.

Another gust of wind blew, rustling the grass and trees.

Chi Yuyang’s sharp eyes caught sight of a cave hidden a few meters away behind a patch of forest.

She guessed that someone might live there—perhaps they simply weren’t home yet.

Steeling herself, Chi Yuyang decided to leave for now.

To be honest, her courage to face an enemy had only lasted for a fleeting instant.

Once she regained her senses, she realized that her back was already soaked in cold sweat.

She quietly retreated to the place where she had hidden her toolbox earlier.

This spot was more concealed compared to the exposed stream.

There were also several plants resembling lotus leaves growing nearby, enough to shield her figure from sight.

Chi Yuyang slowly sat down.

Nearly two hours of trekking, combined with the constant tension, had left her utterly drained.

As a small reward for finding the stream, she drank another sip of mineral water and then began her long wait.

During this time, her phone never managed to pick up any signal.

So she turned it off in advance.

She had no power bank, and clearly there was no place to charge it here either. Keeping it on would only drain the battery.

If she managed to escape this place, she would still need her phone to call for help.

Her eyes were locked on the direction of the cave, afraid she might miss the slightest rustle of movement.

No matter who she encountered, she had to find out exactly what was going on.

Yet instead of a person, what came first was the rumble of thunder.

Her heart sank—rain was coming.

Chi Yuyang glanced at the items at her feet.

If they got soaked, they would become useless.

She looked again at the cave in the distance.

The cave was full of unknowns, but if she lost her supplies, she wouldn’t survive long anyway. She might as well take the gamble.

Within moments, she made her decision.

Snatching up all her belongings, she dashed toward the cave.

Not long after she reached it, a torrential downpour crashed down, accompanied by deafening thunder.

Each strike felt as though it split directly against her heart.

Chi Yuyang let out a sigh—perhaps even the heavens thought her situation was pitiful.

Turning around, she began to inspect the cave.

Even with the faint light from outside, she couldn’t see its end.

It seemed quite deep.

An involuntary shiver ran through her—could this be the lair of a wild beast?

But along her journey here, she hadn’t seen a single animal—not even birds in the sky.

From the moment she entered the cave, no sound had come from within.

With the rain, the temperature plummeted, but fortunately Chi Yuyang was wearing long sleeves and pants, and she still had a jacket in her bag.

At the same time, she discovered that there was actually an extinguished campfire inside the cave.

Could it have been a human?

Animals shouldn’t be able to make fire.

Chi Yuyang took out her jacket and draped it over herself.

She didn’t dare to go deeper into the cave, only sitting close to the entrance.

Outside, the wind howled and the rain poured without end.

In the end, Chi Yuyang couldn’t hold back her tears.

But she never dared to cry out loud, only letting out faint whimpers.

As she cried, perhaps because the pressure finally found an outlet, she unexpectedly drifted off to sleep.

When she woke up again, the rain had already stopped.

Startled, Chi Yuyang hurriedly checked her belongings. Seeing that nothing was missing, she finally let out a sigh of relief.

She shouldn’t have fallen asleep.

At least, not until the danger had passed. She couldn’t afford to sleep so defenselessly.

But having just finished a long day of work, then walking such a distance, her body had reacted before her mind could resist.

She didn’t know how long she had slept, but the fullness in her stomach had already faded, and her lips felt parched from thirst.

At this point, only one-third of her bottled water remained.

Chi Yuyang applied some lip balm to moisten her lips, then took a small sip of water.

She rummaged through the snacks in the plastic bag, and in the end, only opened a pack of biscuits.

Just as she was about to take the first bite, a faint howling sound suddenly came from outside the cave.