When Cen Lingqiu opened her eyes, she was back in the System center.
She gasped for breath and instinctively touched her neck. The skin was smooth, without a single wound.
The accident had come too suddenly, descending in an instant. Before Cen Lingqiu could even react, she had died once again.
And once again, it was on Yu Mingjiao’s birthday.
Why could she never give her a complete birthday?
She must be heartbroken right now.
Is she crying?
Recalling the image of Yu Mingjiao sobbing uncontrollably, a sharp pain, like a surging tide, washed over Cen Lingqiu’s heart. The pain was so intense it made her double over, crouching on the ground. She covered her face, her pain suppressed, her eyes turning red.
The System detected her emotional state and asked with concern, “Qiuqiu, your emotions are in a terrible state. Did something happen? Is it because the mission failed? It’s okay, we can move on to the next mission.”
Cen Lingqiu shook her head, her voice hoarse. “77, I want to apply to return to that mission world.”
The System fell silent for a few seconds before its cold, mechanical voice replied, “That’s not possible, Qiuqiu. Do you realize your mission has failed again? It was clearly trending toward success before, but in a short time, the female lead’s self-destructive tendencies have risen again.”
Cen Lingqiu’s face was pale as she murmured, “Jiao Jiao.”
The System continued, “According to regulations, a task-taker cannot have a second chance to return to a mission world. The previous time was a rescue opportunity the center gave you, which is why you got a second chance. But you failed again, so the center cannot give you a third chance.”
Cen Lingqiu whispered, “Then what will happen to her?”
“We will either reassign a task-taker to approach the female lead, or we will destroy that world. The latter is a last resort when all else fails.”
“No.” Cen Lingqiu’s tone was panicked as she mumbled, “She can’t get close to someone else, and she can’t just disappear like that. That’s too cruel.”
“This is the method for when there are no other options.”
“77, help me think of a way. I have to go back to her side.” Cen Lingqiu’s eyes were resolute. “I promised her I would return to her side.”
“77, she’ll die. I have to go save her.”
System 77 had been with Cen Lingqiu for several years. This was the first time it had seen its host so emotionally turbulent, and the first time she had ever begged for anything.
“I will inquire with the center. Please wait for my news.”
“Okay.”
Cen Lingqiu endured two agonizing days. Just as her spirit was about to break, the System finally had news.
“Qiuqiu, there is one way.”
Cen Lingqiu felt as if she were hearing the music of the heavens. “What is it?”
“Ning Jia was a bug in the plot. This was the center’s mistake. After discussion, the center has decided to offer you a chance as compensation, but it will be very difficult.”
The method the System described required Cen Lingqiu to accept another mission: to be the villainous supporting female character in a novel set in a post-apocalyptic world. This character had a miserable fate, either on her way to being beaten or on her way to being devoured by mutants. Because it was so bloody and painful, almost no one accepted this mission.
If Cen Lingqiu could accept this mission, the System could temporarily maintain “Lin Qiu’s” life force. Once she completed the mission, she could continue to be “Lin Qiu.”
The System reminded her again, “But Qiuqiu, even if you return to that world, you won’t be able to stay for long. The character of Lin Qiu died long ago. Her body is no longer useful and is slowly aging, beginning to be destroyed by the world’s core, step by step. Even if you use countless nutrient solutions, it will be futile. In other words—” The System paused. “When you transmigrate into her body again, you will only be able to use this shell for two months at most. After two months, this body will completely rot.”
“This is not a worthwhile trade.”
“77, accept this mission for me,” Cen Lingqiu said without a hint of hesitation.
“Have you thought it through? This is a losing deal no matter how you look at it.”
“77, I must return to her side.”
The System couldn’t comprehend human emotions. “Why?”
Cen Lingqiu smiled faintly.
“Because I need to say goodbye to her.”
Every time she left, she never got to say goodbye to her.
Cen Lingqiu accepted the mission. Just as the System had said, this character was despised by everyone. Living in a lawless post-apocalyptic world, anyone could come and stomp on her. Cen Lingqiu spent every day in various forms of physical pain.
Her expression was always bland and calm. To her, this world was fake. She told herself that she was just having a nightmare, and once she woke up from it, she could see the person she longed to see.
And she did indeed dream every night.
Her dreams were filled with Yu Mingjiao’s face, contorted in heart-wrenching sobs.
Cen Lingqiu would be startled awake every time. She would clutch her chest with a hand that was missing its little finger, panting softly.
One of her companions saw her suffering every day and asked, “You get hurt every day, and so many people hate you. Why don’t you just die?”
This wasn’t meant as a taunt. In the post-apocalyptic world, with mutant creatures everywhere, one could be eaten at any moment. Many people, not wanting to be eaten, would rather choose suicide.
Cen Lingqiu couldn’t answer her.
Her mission was to be killed by the protagonists after they achieved victory, giving them a certain satisfaction of revenge. Only then would her character’s purpose be fulfilled.
She couldn’t die yet.
If she died, she would fail.
“I want to go home,” Cen Lingqiu said, sitting amidst a pile of rubble and looking at the distant sunset, her tone calm and resolute.
“Is your family waiting for you?”
Cen Lingqiu hummed in agreement and repeated herself.
“I must go home.”
Cen Lingqiu didn’t know how long she persevered in this world. Perhaps from experiencing too much pain, she gradually became numb to it.
Much of the time, her thoughts would drift. She was always thinking about Yu Mingjiao.
Wondering if she was crying.
If she was eating properly.
If she had gotten thinner again.
Was she living well now?
Was she really waiting for her?
Relying on these conjectures, she could endure for a very, very long time.
Perhaps because she missed Yu Mingjiao so much, Cen Lingqiu became very sensitive to women with bangs and long, black hair. Sometimes, when she saw a woman with long, straight black hair, she would stare for a long time.
It was as if she was using this hidden method to transfer her longing for Yu Mingjiao.
She truly worried every single day about how Yu Mingjiao was doing.
Even though her own situation was already dire enough.
Cen Lingqiu hadn’t expected this mission to take so long. It took the male and female leads nearly five years to successfully eliminate the mutants, and Cen Lingqiu was killed by the female lead one winter.
The female lead shot her with a gun.
For Cen Lingqiu, it was a very easy way to die.
Before she died, Cen Lingqiu smiled. The female lead saw her smile and asked, puzzled, “What are you smiling about?”
Cen Lingqiu smiled because this long nightmare was finally over.
She could finally go to Yu Mingjiao’s side.
After completing the mission, Cen Lingqiu couldn’t wait to return to the world where Yu Mingjiao was.
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself lying in a hospital.
She touched her neck; there was a deep scar.
The System had indeed maintained this body’s life force. For an ordinary person, a slit throat like this would have meant certain death.
But just as the System had said, this body was slowly aging. On the first day she woke up, she found her limbs sore and weak, lacking the strength to do anything.
She didn’t even have the strength to get out of bed.
Even though she was burning with anxiety, there was nothing she could do but force herself to rest in the hospital for a few days.
When Zhang Li saw her awake, she hugged her and cried her heart out.
Deep wrinkles had appeared at the corners of Zhang Li’s eyes. The wealthy, refined look on her face had diminished by more than half, and she had aged considerably.
It made sense, after all. Five years had passed.
Through her tearful account, Cen Lingqiu learned what had happened.
After she was killed by Ning Jia, Lin Dong finally realized his mistake. He felt he was responsible for Lin Qiu’s death, and under immense guilt, he turned himself in. With the Lin family’s influence mediating, he was sentenced to nearly thirty years in prison.
As for Ning Jia, she committed suicide by taking pills that very night.
When Zhang Li discovered that she still had a breath of life, having already lost her son, she absolutely could not lose her daughter as well. So she used the most advanced equipment to maintain her body, waiting day after day for five years for her to wake up.
Things had changed, and people were no longer the same.
Looking at Zhang Li’s weathered face, Cen Lingqiu couldn’t bear to tell her that she, too, wouldn’t last much longer. In two months at most, this body would truly become a corpse.
“By the way, Qiuqiu.” Zhang Li wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. “Once you’re feeling a bit better, go see that child, Yu Mingjiao.”
Cen Lingqiu’s pupils contracted. “What happened to her?”
Zhang Li sighed. “That child… never mind, just go see for yourself.”
“Did something happen to her? Is she okay physically?”
Zhang Li slowly shook her head.
“Qiuqiu, that child has gone mad.”
As soon as Cen Lingqiu could get out of bed, she rushed to Yu Mingjiao’s home. Zhang Li’s words from that day echoed in her mind.
She said Yu Mingjiao had gone mad.
That she had become a lunatic.
Cen Lingqiu’s chest felt so tight she was on the verge of vomiting. Her heart pounded so fast, violently bursting against her flesh and bone, that she could hardly breathe.
She reached Yu Mingjiao’s door as quickly as she could and unlocked it.
The door opened.
Five years had passed, but the lock had never been changed, as if it had always been waiting for someone’s return.
Cen Lingqiu entered the familiar room. After a separation of nearly five years, everything felt like a lifetime ago. Cen Lingqiu actually felt a sense of trepidation, like a traveler returning home after a long absence.
Everything in the past seemed so distant, yet so close it was as if it had happened only yesterday.
She still clearly remembered everything about this house, and the face of its owner.
Her heart had never beaten so fast.
Cen Lingqiu’s hands began to sweat.
Finally about to see the person she longed for, Cen Lingqiu was surprisingly flustered.
What had Yu Mingjiao become?
After five years, had she become more mature?
Had she lost weight?
How would she react upon seeing her?
Would she cry?
Cen Lingqiu took a deep breath. Yu Mingjiao wasn’t in the living room. It was evening now, so she was probably sleeping in her room.
She gently opened the door to Yu Mingjiao’s room.
She saw Yu Mingjiao sitting in her wheelchair, drawing on a sketchpad. Her hair was very, very long, still with the same straight bangs and black color.
Her features had lost their childishness, replaced by a more stable expression. Her face was even more exquisite and gorgeous than before, like a mellow wine, rich and deeply colored.
She was very thin.
So thin it changed her appearance, with wrists so slender they looked as if they would snap with a twist.
Her face was pale, without a trace of color.
Cen Lingqiu opened her mouth. “Jiao Jiao.”
Hearing her voice, Yu Mingjiao looked up at her, then her eyes curved into a smile as she put down her paintbrush.
“Sister Lingqiu, you’re here.”
She opened her thin arms and smiled. “Please hug me, Sister Lingqiu.”
Cen Lingqiu vaguely felt that her smile was too hollow.
But she had missed Yu Mingjiao too much. She strode forward, bent down, and hugged her tightly.
“Jiao Jiao…” Cen Lingqiu held her tight. “I’m back.”
Yu Mingjiao just smiled. She hugged Cen Lingqiu back, resting her chin on Cen Lingqiu’s shoulder and nuzzling against her affectionately.
“Sister Lingqiu, why did you come to see me today?” Yu Mingjiao asked her.
Cen Lingqiu didn’t quite understand her words. “Didn’t I promise you I would come back?”
Yu Mingjiao’s voice held a hint of doubt. “But you came yesterday too. You always take a long time to appear by my side.”
Cen Lingqiu froze. She slowly released Yu Mingjiao, forcing a smile. “Jiao Jiao, what do you mean? Why don’t I understand?”
Yu Mingjiao tilted her head.
“Sister Lingqiu, why has your hair gotten longer?”
Cen Lingqiu originally had short hair, but over the past five years, it had grown quite long. This wasn’t strange, so she didn’t understand why Yu Mingjiao would say that.
Then, Yu Mingjiao added, “When you came to see me yesterday, you had short hair. And why are you wearing summer clothes? That red coat you wore yesterday was clearly very nice.”
Cen Lingqiu’s eyes widened abruptly.
She had only worn a red coat once in her life. She didn’t like red, but five years ago, because she wanted to celebrate Yu Mingjiao’s birthday, she had dressed more brightly for the first time and worn a red coat.
Short hair, a red coat—that was clearly how she looked when she celebrated her birthday five years ago.
She said she had just seen her yesterday, but they had clearly been separated for five years.
Cen Lingqiu recalled that ever since she entered the room, Yu Mingjiao had been unusually calm, a kind of habitual calm, as if this was something she had experienced many times and was perfectly normal.
After five years, even she couldn’t hide her emotional turmoil. How could the childlike Yu Mingjiao possibly be so calm today?
Putting it all together, Cen Lingqiu could only think of one possibility.
Yu Mingjiao might, possibly—
Be having some kind of hallucination.
