Ancient Eden

Chapter 1

Hi everyone ! Here’s the new novel I’m translating, I’ve been meaning to translate this for a long time, I’ve read this novel more than one year ago already but I’ve never got the time to translate it until now, some parts are still vivid in my mind, but I also forgot some other parts, so I might have forgotten some tags. Before reading this, check out the tags, as usual with Chinese novels, there are some issues with consent so it might not be everyone’s cup of tea ; and I’m pretty sure the reviews on NU will be roasting this novel as soon as I post it lol. I don’t want to spoil the novel, but I’ll just say that overall I personally enjoyed this novel very much and was addicted for the whole time it took me to read it.

Tags : Mature, Romance, Fantasy, Time Travel, Transported in Another World, Female Protagonist, Tribal world, Betrayal, R*pe, Power Couple, Farming, War

Update schedule : every sunday and monday. If you want to read more, I’ve already translated up to chapter 14 on kofi.

Chapter 1

(1.1)

Mu Qing, at 25 years old, was the tour guide of a travel agency.

This day was exactly the same as any other day. Together with a colleague, they were leading a tour group to their destination, an untouched forest. The outer part of the forest had been opened up as a tourist track just a few years ago. Being in the forest, stepping on the deep soft moss and fresh leaves, smelling the fragrant humid air, listening to the pine echoes and singing birds, feeling the wild forest breeze, looking at the lush forest through their eyes, the members of the group seemed to have traveled to another world, and a few of them even shouted that they would like to build a wooden house and live here permanently, and never go back to the city of steel and cement.

Hearing this, Mu Qing smiled faintly. She was already very familiar with this scenery to the point of overlooking it. Compared to those people, in fact, if she could choose, she would rather be sitting in the center of the city square on an iron bench, leisurely watching a few pigeons cooing on the dome of the glass frame building in the middle of the square.

Mu Qing was tired of the day, in the evening when she returned to the hostel located at the edge of the forest, her body felt like a broken frame. After taking a shower and blow-drying her hair carelessly, she had just laid down for a while when she heard someone banging on the door.

It was an old lady in the group whose thirteen-year-old grandson had sneaked out and who had not returned yet. The old lady was so anxious that she was in tears.

Mu Qing immediately called the forest patrol near the site to notify them. She then made every effort to comfort the old lady, saying it would be fine.

“It’ s not your grandson, you are naturally not anxious!”

The old lady’s words made her speechless and unable to breathe. Seeing that she was insisting on going out to look for him, she had no choice but to randomly put on a pair of jeans and take her own backpack to go along with her, while her colleague was reassuring the remaining members of the group, saying that it was dark and the road was unknown, asking them not to go out at will, lest they would get lost and cause more trouble.

In her bag, besides her wallet and cell phone, she also had a solar-powered flashlight, a compass, a survival whistle, a Swiss knife, and a telescope of small size, but with a tenfold magnification. These were the things she always kept in her backpack, although she probably would only need to use the flashlight later, but out of habit, she took her bag and put it on her back as she went out.

Mu Qing all year around led groups here, she was very familiar with the road. She accompanied the old lady to search for a while, before encountering the forest patrol members, who were dragging a kid behind. It was the old lady’s grandson, they said he was naughty and sneaked out on his own to play. Watching the old lady hugging her grandson while calling him her heart and soul, Mu Qing also breathed a sigh of relief. Just as they were going back, several lightning flashed across the sky, outlining the landscape contours of the forest, followed by the booming roar of rumbling thunder.

There were frequent thunderstorms in summer, not to mention that this was a forest area.

Seeing that the old lady and the others were already moving forward, she was about to follow them and start running back to the hostel, when suddenly a blinding lightning, like a ghost, covered the top of her head, and when she heard the eerie, like it was tearing through the atmosphere, terrible sound, it was already too late.

As the lightning hit the ground, she instantly vanished.

Hearing the sound of lightning, the patrolmen and the old lady all turned around, and were immediately frozen, like wooden chicken.

Mu Qing had disappeared into thin air. Just like a drop of water, evaporating along with the lightning.

***

Mu Qing regained consciousness.

She was struck by lightning. And now she was awake.

She opened her eyes with a jolt. The first thing she saw was not the white, horrible, fluorescent light on the ceiling of a hospital ward for heavily injured people. Instead, it was the sky.

A turquoise blue high distant sky.

It was a strange blue, a blue without any trace of impurities. And it was unusually high, high as if it could reach the end of the universe.

And now, she became that frog sitting in the well, watching the sky.

Translator : Laura