A suffocating weight crushed her chest.

A low growl rumbled beside her ear. Hot breath fanned across her skin, making her shudder as the strange heat spread down her spine.

Su Qinglan's eyes snapped open, only to be met with golden eyes slit like a beast's, staring right into hers.

And that face… so dangerously handsome it made her heart skip.

Bronzed skin, Wild black hair spilling over a face carved to perfection. Striped markings crawling down his shoulders like molten ink. Fangs slightly bared. His massive body caging her completely, like a predator pinning its prey.

Her mind was wrapped in a heavy fog, thoughts slipping away before she could grasp them. Heat coiled deep inside her, burning her from the inside out; every place his skin touched hers felt like it was on fire. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears...loud, fast and frantic.

Something inside her throbbed painfully, a deep, aching that made it hard to breathe.

Her lips parted, a scream rising in her throat, but before she could make a sound, the haze around her eyes thickened, and the world tilted.

She felt herself drifting and slipping in and out of consciousness like a small boat tossed on a stormy sea.

And then… darkness swallowed her whole.

It felt like hours...before her eyes fluttered open again. A dim, cold light stabbed at her pupils. She blinked hard, trying to adjust, her lashes sticking together.

Every inch of her body ached, a deep, bone-deep pain, as if someone had smashed her skeleton apart and forced the pieces back together wrong.

Her head throbbed viciously. The moment she tried to push herself up, a bolt of pain shot through her, so sharp it stole her breath.

"Ugh—!"

Every muscle screamed in agony. And worse, she realized she was lying on a crude stone slab, covered only by a ragged, foul-smelling animal hide.

She tried to move again, but her legs trembled violently. Even… more important parts of her body throbbed painfully. And then...flashes of last night rushed into her mind.

Her eyes widened.

"Huh?! Wait—was that real?!"

Her pulse spiked. "Did… did I just get violated in some strange place?!"

Su Qinglan screamed. The ache in her body was proof enough that whatever happened wasn't a dream.

"Bastard! Just because you're handsome, who gave you the right to touch me?!" She spat through gritted teeth, her voice shaking with fury. She had never felt so humiliated in her life.

"Whoever you are… you're dead meat. You messed with the wrong woman!"

Her fingernails dug into her palms so hard that blood welled up, but the sting only fueled her rage.

She swung her legs off the slab, every muscle protesting, but her rage burned hotter than the pain. She was going to find that man and demand answers, maybe even punch his teeth out.

But the moment she tried to stand, something strange happened.

A heavy, dragging weight pulled her down, making her stumble back onto the cold stone.

"What the...?!"

Her breathing quickened. Something didn't feel right. Her balance was off, her body...much heavier.

She looked down, and her mind went blank.

Her hands… weren't her hands. They were thick and pudgy, with fingers that looked short and swollen. Her arms were soft, round, and pale...not the lean, toned limbs she'd trained for years to keep.

And her body…

It wasn't just different, it was unrecognizable. Her once slim, sharp figure was buried under layers of flesh. Her stomach spilled outward in folds, her thighs pressed against each other like overstuffed dough, and rolls clung to her sides and back like they had always been there.

She looked like a giant, overfilled sack of potatoes...lumpy, uneven, and completely alien.

Her voice shook in disbelief. "What the hell…? When… when did I become so fat?!"

Before her fury could explode, a wave of nausea slammed into her. Her temples throbbed. Strange, unfamiliar images flashed in her head...faces, voices, and places she had never seen before.

They weren't her memories.

Her breath came in sharp gasps. The truth slammed into her like a boulder that she had actually transmigrated.

This body belonged to a woman from a beast world, a place completely unlike anything Su Qinglan had ever known. A land where men could transform into massive beasts, each one carrying the power to crush stone with their bare hands.

Females were extremely rare here, and because of that, the tribes followed a different rule, polyandry. One female could have several male mates, and those mates would share and protect her for life.

But the original owner...was a cruel female. Hated by everyone.

Because her father was the tribe leader, she could bully anyone without consequence. She never cooked, never bathed, and never walked more than a few steps. She stole from others and never returned anything.

And last night…

Su Qinglan's stomach twisted. The original owner had actually drugged a new warrior her father rescued, a tiger beast warrior, and forced herself onto him.

And that tiger…

That infuriating beast who had pinned her down last night… was actually a victim.

His name was Hu Yan, a five-stripe ranking warrior of the tiger clan. Fierce and lethal. The kind of man people whispered about in awe… and kept their distance from.

And just like everyone else in the tribe, he despised the original owner of this body.

Her father, the tribe leader, had forced three powerful warriors to be her mates. But no matter how high their status, they could never openly defy the leader—so they tolerated her existence without affection, and refused to truly mate with her.

The original owner couldn't accept the humiliation. She was supposed to be their woman, yet they treated her like dirt. She became the tribe's biggest joke, the spoiled daughter no man wanted.

So, in her rage, she did something unforgivable—she drugged Hu Yan.

But fate played its own cruel trick. That same night, the original owner died. And in that exact moment, Su Qinglan's soul took over her body.

Su Qinglan bit her lip until she tasted blood.

The man she had been ready to curse to hell… was the one who had been wronged.

...

Su Qinglan sat frozen on the cold slab, her lips twitching.

…What kind of sick joke was this?

Five minutes ago, she was ready to hunt that man down and bash his head in with a rock. Now? She wasn't even sure she dared to look him in the eye.

Because even if she was innocent… the body she was in was not.

And Hu Yan, the terrifying tiger warrior had every reason to want her dead.

She swallowed hard. Damn it, this is so unfair! She hadn't even touched him! She was from an entirely different world!

Her name was also Su Qinglan. She was from a world where every day was a fight for survival, where zombies roamed the streets and the smell of blood was her alarm clock.

She'd been a fighter. A survivor. She had battled tooth and nail to stay alive in the apocalypse, dodging bullets, killing evolved beasts, and smashing zombie heads with whatever she could get her hands on.

Her last fight had been with the Zombie King itself, an ugly, massive thing that could split buildings in half with one swipe. And she'd been winning, almost in the fight.

Until the bastard decided to self-destruct.

She remembered the deafening explosion, the flash of burning light, the heat ripping through her body… and then nothing.

When she opened her eyes again....Boom!

She was in a Beast world.

With a stinking body, smelly animal hide, and a pissed-off tiger man who thought she'd drugged him.

Su Qinglan was still trying to wrap her head around this crazy transmigration when her stomach betrayed her.

Grrrrrr—!

The loud growl echoed in the quiet cave, making her freeze.

She stared down at her stomach like it had personally offended her. "Seriously? You're still hungry? Look at all this fat! Just burn that and feed yourself, why bother with food?" she muttered under her breath, poking at her soft belly in disbelief.

But before she could decide if she wanted to laugh or cry, another problem smacked her right in the face...literally.

The smell.

She hadn't noticed it before, but now that she was fully awake, it hit her like a punch to the nose.

The cave was disgusting.

It was dim and damp, the air was filled with the stench of rot. Pieces of spoiled meat were scattered around the floor, some of them were blackened with decay and others were crawling with white fat worms wriggling lazily through the flesh.

Piles of animal hides were thrown haphazardly in one corner, their fur clumped with dirt and grease. Judging by the smell, they hadn't seen sunlight, since the day they were made.

Her stomach turned. She lifted a hand to cover her nose, but the foulness was already in her lungs.

And then, she realized something worse.

The most horrifying smell… wasn't coming from the decayed meat or cave.

It was coming from her.

She froze, dread crawling up her spine. Slowly, hesitantly, she leaned down and sniffed herself.

Her eyes widened. Her brain short-circuited.

What the fuck…?!

It was rancid and filthy. Like she'd been rolling in a dead carcass for a week. The stench clung to her skin, her hair, her clothes, if you could even call this ragged hide a "clothes." Even when she was in an apocalyptic world, she was cleaner than this.

She gagged.

"Yuck—"

She gagged again, louder this time, clutching her throat. "Oh hell no… I'm going to faint…"

She needed a bath now or she would definitely faint again from this smell.

She waddled over to the corner of the cave where some spare animal hides were stacked. Most were torn, greasy, and had a suspicious yellow crust on them.

She picked the one that looked least like it had been used to wipe someone's behind.

"Luxury fashion, beast-style," she muttered dryly, wrapping it awkwardly around her body.

It was too small.

Her fat squished out from the sides like dough in a stuffed bun.

"Whatever. I'm not here to win a beauty contest."

With great effort and the balance of a drunk baby deer, Su Qinglan began the journey out of the cave.

"One step…" she counted in her mind, arms flapping as she steadied herself against the wall. "Two steps… three—WHOA—!"

She slipped slightly, and had to grip a jagged stone like her life depended on it.

This body had no balance. Every step was a threat. Her thighs rubbed together like sandpaper, and her breath was already getting heavy.

"If I fall," she muttered, "someone's going to mistake me for a boulder and roll me down a hill."

But she was completely not hopeless...

The good news?

Fresh air.

The moment she stepped out, her lungs expanded in relief.

Blue sky, green forest, and the scent of flowers and earth, finally. She actually got out from that hell.

She squinted at the sunlight like heaven's spotlight.

"At least I'm not dodging mutant rats or chewing expired protein bars made of unknown powdered."

Seriously, compared to the apocalypse, this place was practically a luxury resort.

Back there, even breathing could kill you. The air was thick with toxins. Food was either expired, mutated, or suspiciously wiggling. Water had to be boiled five times and filtered through crushed bones to be somewhat drinkable.

Here? Trees, Sunlight, Meat (hopefully unmutated), No radiation and definitely no blood rain.

She could work with this.

"Yeah…" she nodded slowly, motivation returning. "I can live here. In fact... I'm going to live damn well." What this place is, compared to that apocalyptic hell.

But with good news, there are always bad news too.

Because she had no idea where the river was. Or if this tribe even used water.

"Don't tell me these beasts are just dry wiping... I swear, if I walked into a no-bath society…"

She gagged again thinking of the meat pile in her cave. If that was the standard of hygiene here, she'd rather return to the apocalypse.

She kept walking slowly, Her arms stretched out like wings for balance, her thighs squeaking with every step. A couple of beast children ran past her, pointing and giggling.

"Hey! Big Auntie's moving!"

"She's wobbling like a fruit worm!"

Su Qinglan gave them a death glare.

...

One of them tripped over a root and started crying.

Su Qinglan stared at the bawling brat, her lip twitching.

Oh, of course. The moment the little snot-nose hit the ground, every nearby beast turned to look at her like she had pushed him.

Really? she thought, watching the kid sniffle and point at her with fat tears dripping down his cheeks. I didn't even touch you, you drama cub.

In her apocalypse life, children had two modes: silent shadows who learned to survive or feral street rats who'd stab you for a piece of bread. This one? This one was the third kind. The loud, useless, blame-you-for-breathing kind.

Pain in the Ass.

She gave him her best innocent smile, one she'd used many times when lying through her teeth to armed raiders, and tilted her head. "Careful, little cub," she muttered under her breath so only she could hear, "blame me again and I'll feed you to the ferocious beast."

In her mind, she was already imagining it: the kid's wails echoing while she tossed him next to the ferocious beast. Very therapeutic.

The boy's mother hurried over, scooping him up like he'd been mauled by a bear. She shot Su Qinglan a glare sharp enough to cut stone.

Su Qinglan just stared back, expression flat, thinking, Lady, control your spawn. If you let them run wild, don't cry when they trip over their own feet.

Whatever, she had no business in this; it is good that she did not come to trouble her. She did not mind these little dramas of children.

The more important business was to locate where the damn river was.

But Su Qinglan's irritation evaporated the moment she spotted another child lingering nearby, a small boy with soft white hair, round cheeks, and two perfectly perky cat ears twitching atop his head.

Her heart melted just a little.

… Okay. That's so cute.

Her fingers actually itched to touch them, but one glance at her own hands... filthy, streaked with who-knows-what—made her pause. The last thing those velvet ears needed was a layer of unknown grime.

The little cub froze when her shadow fell over him. His big blue eyes locked onto hers, and for a moment, she thought he might start wailing like the last one.

But no, his lips pressed together, his tiny fists clenched at his sides, and he stood rigid like a soldier trying very, very hard not to disgrace his honor.

Oh? Playing the tough little warrior, are we?

Su Qinglan looked down, putting her face level with his. She flashed her most dazzling, most harmless smile.

…Which, given her face and the glint in her eyes, probably looked more like a predator about to play with her food.

She swore she saw those cat ears twitch, once in uncertainty, and then again in what might have been pure fear.

Yep. Terrified. Might faint any second.

Sorry, baby, Still, she needed him.

"Good child…" she cooed softly, her voice dipped in honey. "Tell me—where's the river around here?"

The boy didn't blink or move. If he was even breathing, she couldn't tell.

She leaned in closer, lowering her voice like they were sharing a dangerous secret. "It's important."

The cub swallowed audibly. His tail—she just noticed it—stiffened like a spear.

Su Qinglan waited, still wearing that smile.

The cub's little arm jerked up like a rusty lever, finger shaking as he pointed dead ahead.

"If… if you go straight, you'll find the river," he stammered.

Su Qinglan's lips stretched into the kind of smile small children saw right before bedtime nightmares began.

"What a good child," she cooed. "Next time, I'll bring you… snacks."

Judging by the way his cat ears gave one violent TWITCH, she wasn't sure if he was thrilled or on the verge of passing out.

Either way, mission accomplished.

She turned on her heel and strode toward the river, feeling victorious...until voices piped up behind her.

"Big Brother, you're a legend!" a boy stage-whispered. "You actually faced the fat demon and lived!"

"She wasn't that scary..." the cat-eared cub started.

"Not scary?! She smiled at you. My grandma says that's when predators strike!"

Another kid gasped. "You made her leave, though! She ran away because of your warrior spirit!"

"Yeah! I bet she was scared you'd… uh… bite her ankles!"

The group erupted in gasps and nods of approval.

"She's probably crying inside right now," a little boy added solemnly.

Su Qinglan's eye twitched so hard it could've started an earthquake.

Crying?

From behind came one last nail in the coffin:

"Next time she comes, we'll all hide behind you!"

Her hands flexed. Oh, little warrior… Enjoy your hero title while it lasts. Snacks are definitely off the table now.

Su Qinglan stomped through the grass, muttering curses under her breath about these narcissistic cubs and hero titles. But her irritation died the moment she saw it...

A river.

Her eyes went wide. Not just any river, but a long, glittering ribbon of pure liquid paradise. The water was so clear she could see straight to the bottom, where fat silver fish darted between smooth stones.

Sunlight danced on the surface like tiny shards of glass, making the whole thing look like a treasure chest had exploded.

Her apocalypse-hardened heart actually skipped. She had never seen so much clean water in her life. Back then, even muddy puddles were fought over like gold. And here was an endless, sparkling feast.

"Oh, I'm going to drink until my stomach explodes," she whispered with reverence.

She picked her way down the slope, careful not to slip and roll straight into the river like a sack of potatoes. Her bare feet crunched on the damp earth as she crouched at the edge, the cool mist brushing her cheeks.

Then she froze.

Because staring back at her from the surface was… that.

"Holy...moly! What kind of cow am I?!" She shrieked, clutching her face as if to confirm the reflection wasn't hers at all.