Stealing ML’s White Moonlight C01

Chapter 1

Lancheng was in the middle of July.

The warm sunlight bathed the earth, and a gentle breeze swept through the streets, making the pleasant weather almost lulling. At a traffic light, vehicles moved in an orderly fashion.

A taxi driver waiting for the green light yawned lazily. He had just closed his eyes for two seconds when, upon reopening them, he saw a large white truck speeding off like a silver fish—crashing directly into a black sedan that was making a proper left turn.

“Bang!”

The sedan was sent flying, flipping several times in midair before finally crashing onto the greenery strip under the horrified gazes of bystanders.

The taxi driver was stunned for a moment before reacting, screaming like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

“Ahhh! A car accident!”

The scene instantly turned chaotic. Pedestrians rushed forward, some good Samaritans immediately calling the police and an ambulance. The surrounding vehicles screeched to a stop as drivers got out and ran toward the crash site.

The truck driver, his hands trembling, stumbled out of the driver’s seat. Seeing the crumpled front end of the sedan, his knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.

Some bystanders felt a pang of sympathy and wanted to comfort him, but a friend quickly pulled them away.

“Someone like that doesn’t deserve pity. The people in that car were completely innocent.”

No one noticed that, inside the sedan, a young woman—her head bloodied from the violent impact—had stopped breathing for a few seconds before suddenly opening her eyes.

—

Shen Lihuan felt as if she had just woken from a dream.

In the dream, a girl who looked exactly like her at sixteen said, “I am your reincarnation. My time has come, and I hope you can live in my place. Take care of our parents.”

At first, Shen Lihuan thought she was hallucinating. Hadn’t she self-destructed? A Level-12 ability user’s sheer power was enough to devastate everything—how could she have survived? But the burning pain in her head told her she was still very much alive.

Shen Lihuan immediately sobered up. The dream had come true—she had actually been reborn.

Her vision gradually cleared, and she found herself half-lying stiffly in the backseat of the car, cradled in a woman’s embrace. A man had shielded them both with his body.

From where she sat, she could see the man in the driver’s seat, his body drenched in blood, already lifeless.

An urgent voice echoed in her mind: “Save Dad and Mom!”

So, these two were her parents. Shen Lihuan glanced at them. Their bodies were covered in blood, and their breathing was weak—on the verge of stopping. Without hesitation, she activated her wood-based ability, channeling an endless stream of vitality into them.

She had awakened her abilities after the apocalypse began and had fought her way up through countless zombie battles and missions. She had reached Level 12 in no time—an unbeatable force.

Now, unexpectedly reborn, her powers had come with her. Even with her usual calm nature, Shen Lihuan couldn’t help but let a faint smile curve her lips.

As long as she still had her abilities, she would never fear—even if this world turned into another apocalypse.

Just as she was lost in thought, a knocking sound came from the car window.

The good-hearted bystanders, eager to save them, had been about to break the window with their bare hands. Because she was trapped under her parents’ bodies and the glass was tinted black, no one had noticed she was awake.

Shen Lihuan lifted her head, her gaze clear. Her parents’ injuries were too severe—even with her abilities healing their bodies, the blood they had lost could not be restored. They needed to get to a hospital as soon as possible.

She didn’t dare move her parents, afraid of causing them further harm, so she struggled to extend a hand from her mother’s embrace, reaching for the car door.

The crowd gasped when they saw a hand moving inside the car. They instinctively took a step back, then quickly rushed forward again, cheering her on.

“Don’t fall asleep, hold on! Once the door opens, you’ll be saved!”

After some fumbling, Shen Lihuan finally managed to unlock the door. The tension in the air broke as the crowd surged forward, carefully pulling the passengers out of the wreckage.

Her body had lost too much blood, and her energy was fading fast. Just before losing consciousness, she remembered to activate her ability to heal herself.

As her vision blurred, she took in the sight of people outside in light summer clothing, their arms and legs exposed without a care. A rare sense of joy welled up in her serene eyes—she had truly left that devastated apocalyptic world behind.

—

The accident had been severe. The driver in the front seat had passed away before the ambulance arrived, and the three in the back were also critically injured. As a result, the truck driver was taken directly to the police station.

He wept the entire way, repeating over and over that he hadn’t meant to do it. He had merely lost focus for a second and mistakenly stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake.

He had an elderly mother in her eighties, bedridden and paralyzed, a daughter battling leukemia in desperate need of surgery, and a newborn son who needed to be fed. If something happened to him, how would his family survive?

A young officer, new to the force, was still somewhat naive. Hearing the truck driver’s tragic backstory, his initially cold and angry expression softened.

An older, seasoned officer noticed and let out a low snort. The younger officer immediately straightened his face, regaining his composure.

The truck driver’s tear-filled eyes flashed for a second before turning murky again.

The three people sent to the hospital were quickly identified. The man was Shen Jiashu, chairman of Jialan Group; the woman was his wife, Gu Qinglan; and the girl was their daughter, Shen Lihuan, who was only sixteen years old this year.

She was at the prime of her youth, yet she had suffered such a catastrophe. Seeing the dried blood on the young girl’s forehead and face, even the most seasoned medical staff at the city hospital, accustomed to life and death, couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy.

Fortunately, the surgeries for all three family members were highly successful, and they were out of immediate danger.

…

Shen Lihuan felt as if she were lying atop undulating ocean waves, her body swaying endlessly, leaving her dizzy and disoriented.

Slowly, a surge of memories that did not belong to her forcefully invaded her mind. The brief life of the “self” from this lifetime unfolded in her mind like a painting.

The girl, Shen Lihuan, was born into a wealthy yet harmonious and loving family in the Green Nation. Her father, Shen Jiashu, was gentle and refined, while her mother, Gu Qinglan, was warm and kind.

From birth, she had been doted on by her parents, yet she had never been spoiled or willful. Instead, she had a calm and steady nature. Even though she was only sixteen, her parents no longer treated her like a child but as an adult, discussing matters with her as equals.

This time, they had gone out because her father’s eldest brother, Shen Jiayi, had suddenly passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage. The three of them were rushing to the imperial capital to attend her uncle’s funeral.

At sixteen years old, it was the first time Shen Lihuan realized that she had other relatives besides her parents. This was because, for the past sixteen years, her parents had never mentioned their family or visited any relatives.

After the initial shock, Shen Lihuan calmly accepted the situation. She was a kind-hearted girl, and she felt sad for the uncle she had never met. Seeing her father in deep sorrow, she and her mother had stayed by his side, comforting him for a long time.

Shen Jiashu was someone who had weathered many storms in life. He had no time to grieve; after a phone call with his father, Shen Zhongyuan, he quickly entrusted the company’s affairs to his most capable and loyal subordinates and rushed to the airport.

Who could have expected that they would suffer such a horrific car accident on the way?

After absorbing the memories, Shen Lihuan gradually regained consciousness from the darkness. Her long eyelashes trembled, and her heavy eyelids were slowly lifted, revealing a stark white ceiling. The distinct and overpowering scent of disinfectant filled her nostrils—a hallmark of hospitals.

She had just undergone surgery. Her head was wrapped in bandages, aching and heavy, but the pain was not enough to make her frown.

In the apocalypse, she had endured all kinds of suffering, even falling into a horde of zombies and nearly being torn apart and devoured. After ten long years in that world of destruction, she had long since abandoned weakness, pain, and fear.

She pressed a hand to her chest and murmured softly, “Don’t worry, I will honor and love our parents just like you did. Rest in peace.”

A light and ethereal voice echoed in the air before fading away. “Thank you!”

Shen Lihuan’s entire soul felt lighter. She knew that the other “self” had truly departed.

Before she had time to dwell on the sense of loss, she realized she was alone in the hospital room. She slowly sat up and pressed the call button by the bed. She couldn’t be at ease until she saw that her parents were safe.

Soon, an elderly man in a gray suit, looking tense, entered the room with several doctors and nurses in tow.

The moment the old man saw Shen Lihuan awake, his eyes welled up with tears. “Young Miss, you’re awake! Do you feel any discomfort?”

As he spoke, he quickly strode to her bedside, his affectionate gaze locked onto her.

The old man was Zhang Jing, the Shen family’s butler. He had watched Shen Lihuan grow up and treated her like his own granddaughter.

“Butler Grandpa, I’m fine. I don’t feel any discomfort. How are my parents and Uncle Li, the driver? I can’t rest easy until I see that they’re safe.”

Shen Lihuan’s tone was serious as she lifted the blanket, intending to get out of bed.

“Don’t!”

Everyone in the room immediately rushed to stop her.

A doctor, who appeared to be in his fifties and had a kindly face, quickly advised, “Miss Shen, please don’t worry. Mr. Shen and Mrs. Shen’s surgeries were very successful. Their injuries are just more severe than yours, so they haven’t woken up yet. Once they regain consciousness, they’ll be kept under observation for a few more days before they can be transferred to your room. But… as for Mr. Li, his injuries were too severe, and he unfortunately passed away. My deepest condolences.”

Hearing that Uncle Li had passed away, Shen Lihuan lowered her eyes. She had already known this. If the driver had still been alive when she arrived, she would have spared no effort in using her abilities to save him. But fate was cruel.

“Yes, Young Miss. You’ve just had surgery and shouldn’t get out of bed. Please listen to the doctors.”

Zhang Jing tried to persuade her earnestly.

“My legs aren’t injured. Why can’t I get up?” Shen Lihuan knew her own body. With her wood-type abilities nourishing her, she could be up and moving immediately without any issues.

She was used to being assertive. Even when she met Zhang Jing’s worried gaze, she only relented slightly. “Fine, I won’t walk on my own. Bring a wheelchair. I’ll go see my parents. Uncle Li is already gone. I can’t rest easy until I check on them.”

In the apocalypse, she had led a base for seven years. Even when speaking casually, there was an inherent authority in her tone. No one in the room found it strange; instead, they instinctively followed her command. Soon, a wheelchair was brought in.

A gentle-looking nurse pushed Shen Lihuan to Shen Jiashu and Gu Qinglan’s hospital room. As she gazed at their sleeping faces, a sharp glint flickered through her usually clear and calm peach blossom eyes. This accident—was it truly a natural disaster or human sabotage?

After seeing her parents, she returned to her room and leaned against the pillow. “Butler Grandpa, my parents haven’t woken up yet. Has there been any chaos at the company?”

“Young Miss, rest assured. The company’s executives are not inexperienced. Once they heard that Mr. and Mrs. Shen’s surgeries were successful, everything quickly stabilized.”

Shen Lihuan had always followed Shen Jiashu around to learn about the company, so Zhang Jing was not surprised that she asked about business matters. He answered truthfully.

“That’s good. Uncle Li’s passing is unfortunate. Make sure his family is taken care of. If they need anything in the future, send help. Don’t let them suffer.”

Shen Lihuan rubbed her forehead and added, “Also, have someone keep a close watch on the driver who caused the accident. Don’t let him die.”

Zhang Jing’s heart skipped a beat, his pupils widening slightly. “Young Miss, you mean…?”

“I suspect this was a premeditated murder. My parents haven’t woken up yet, so I’ll have to trouble you to handle this for now.”

Shen Lihuan’s dark eyes locked onto Zhang Jing’s, filled with unquestionable authority. Zhang Jing steadied himself and nodded solemnly, bending slightly at the waist. “Understood. I’ll make the arrangements immediately. Young Miss, you haven’t eaten anything since waking up. Wang Ma has prepared some porridge. I’ll have her bring it in.”

“Mm.” Shen Lihuan nodded. She was indeed hungry.