Chapter 105

Whether in The System or in reality, Jiang Liu had experienced death many times, yet the effects of amnesia had caused her to forget it all completely. But even after leaving the church and returning to the rest area, she was still immersed in the sensation of dying, unable to pull herself away. The overwhelming, slow-burning stimulus allowed her to clearly perceive the fading of life, and at the same time, countless memory fragments flooded her mind along with this feeling.

The box of the past, sealed away by The System, was finally opened at this very moment. Amidst the countless chaotic memories, she caught a glimpse of her forgotten decades of wandering and also recalled the subtle stirring in her heart when she first met Xiao Si.

—Never forget your original reason for entering the game.

Jiang Liu had once been unclear about the meaning of Zhang Xiaochen’s reminder, but now, with her memories returned, she tugged at the corners of her lips. Her expression was a mix of a smile and tears, yet it held a kind of unbelievable sorrow. To think she had entered the game for such a simple, even laughable, wish, and thus began a century of drifting.

The sound of water from the bathroom had stopped at some point. Yang Caisi walked out, drying her hair, and saw her staring blankly out the window. Following her gaze, she could see that the leaves on the trees in the street had already turned yellow and withered. As a gust of west wind blew past, the yellow leaves swayed and floated to the ground, but none of the pedestrians on the street paid them any mind, only hurrying on their way.

Unconsciously, it was already autumn.

“What are you thinking about?” Yang Caisi casually hung the towel on the wall and asked in a low voice as she half-embraced her from behind. Her hair was still dripping, and cool water droplets rolled down, disappearing into Jiang Liu’s collarbone. The sensation brought Jiang Liu back to her senses. She tilted her head to look at the person before her and gestured to a certain height.

“When I first met you, you were only this tall.” She pointed to her own knee, her voice tinged with disbelief. Even though her memories had returned, the sense of unreality still loomed over her. So many years had passed in a flash.

She caressed Yang Caisi’s face with a touch of pity, her fingers tracing the corners of her eyes and brows as if accurately sketching them, finally resting on her slender cheeks. The memory of the young girl completely overlapped with the person before her. Jiang Liu raised an eyebrow and smiled, sighing, “Time flies so fast.”

She wanted to touch her a little longer, but her outstretched hand was caught by Yang Caisi, who, with an almost irresistible force, guided it to her own waist. A dark light flashed in Yang Caisi’s eyes, and she stared at her with a look of displeasure. “Don’t say things like that.”

She didn’t want to hear any words of reminiscence from Jiang Liu’s mouth. She hoped even more that Jiang Liu would not treat her as a younger sister, but as a woman. “Is it wrong to praise you too?” Jiang Liu couldn’t help but laugh. She playfully pinched her waist a couple of times, expecting the person before her to beam with joy and struggle frantically in her hands as she had in the past.

But it didn’t happen.

At her touch, Yang Caisi took a sharp breath and grabbed her wandering hands, her expression gradually becoming obscure. The two had just showered, and their scents had almost merged into one. In this private and safe environment, some unspeakable, romantic thoughts stirred in Yang Caisi’s heart.

She was slightly shorter, so now she had to half-tug at Jiang Liu’s collar to make her lower her head. This proximity caused her breathing to become momentarily disordered, and her voice unconsciously took on a low, husky quality. “I’d rather you praise me for being amazing.”

Jiang Liu unconsciously swallowed, praising her as she wished. “You’ve grown up very well.”

She hadn’t taught her much back then. With the intention of taking care of Xiao Si for a lifetime, she had raised her according to her own nature and never expected anything. She never thought that so many years later, she would have become another version of herself—strong, calm, composed, and even possessing a madness she herself lacked.

Probably not even Qiao Ke would have thought that Yang Caisi would set the main quest with the goal of ‘killing herself’, right? Yang Caisi had grown up very well, but…

“But, I’d rather you were more obedient and cute.”

If she hadn’t suffered so much, perhaps she wouldn’t have become the person she was today.

A light sigh escaped Jiang Liu’s lips. Her hands followed her will, and she lowered her head to hook them around Xiao Si’s neck, their breaths gradually drawing closer. “Don’t do things like this again in the future.”

They had already survived the most difficult days. From now on, no one could separate them again. Even death could only be considered an additive to their emotions.

“I’ll listen to you.” Yang Caisi couldn’t quite describe the feeling in her heart, but her eyes inexplicably welled up with moisture. She leaned against her shoulder and bit down hard.

“Hiss…”

Even through the delicate silk, Jiang Liu couldn’t help but suck in a breath. Then, her face broke into a smile, and she patted her on the back, her voice also tinged with a restless energy. It was as if another flame had shot up from the bite mark on her shoulder, burning through her limbs and organs, clamoring to get closer to the person before her.

Jiang Liu’s eyes shifted, and she leaned in close to her ear, speaking in a low, coaxing voice. “I don’t think I ever taught you that between women, you can also…”

Before she could finish her sentence, Yang Caisi’s body in her arms stiffened for a moment. Then, her eyes lit up, and she lowered her head even closer to her.

The delicate touch moved from her shoulder to her neck, and the sparks completely ignited the fuse. The two of them fell together into the vast sea, and as far as the eye could see, only streaks of starlight fell from the sky, creating ripples on the surface of the water.

—In a deserted place, they teased each other’s hearts. Two cherries, as if born on the same stem, envied each other’s fragrant lips.

***

Having finally escaped from an instance, Jiang Liu slept soundly until noon. She had thought that the busy Yang Caisi would already be gone, but when she turned over, she found her holding a laptop, looking at something. As if afraid of disturbing Jiang Liu, a voice call notification popped up in the window, but she never answered it.

Jiang Liu sat up halfway and stretched, feeling completely refreshed from her sleep. “You’re awake?” Yang Caisi sensed the movement beside her, casually placed the laptop on the bedside table, and turned to look at Jiang Liu.

“Yeah, why didn’t I hear the alarm?” Jiang Liu nodded, her eyes still looking a bit drowsy.

Yang Caisi answered cheerfully, “I disabled it.”

Jiang Liu was stunned for a moment, then gave her a thumbs-up. “Nice one!”

She yawned and got up to get ready, only to find that her clothes had been neatly folded and placed at the foot of the bed by Yang Caisi, with a glass of warm water next to them. She couldn’t help but sigh from the bottom of her heart; life was so much better when someone was taking care of you.

“Gao Yuan has something to discuss with you,” Yang Caisi said, pointing to the computer screen, a hint of barely perceptible confusion in her voice.

Jiang Liu nodded. “Got it. I’ll arrange to have a meal with him later.”

A few more days had passed. She wondered how Gao Yuan’s investigation was going.

With an NPC like Yang Caisi treating, there was naturally no need to worry about points. Jiang Liu unhesitatingly chose a congee-base hot pot restaurant. The message was sent in advance, so by the time the two of them arrived, Zhao Ziming and Gao Yuan were already waiting at the table. “Xiao Yang, you’re up early,” Gao Yuan said with a look that seemed to see through everything. He lazily greeted the two of them, his tone full of teasing.

Yang Caisi rolled her eyes in annoyance, then turned to look at Zhao Ziming with a slight frown. “Why are you here?”

Zhao Ziming had originally wanted to give a cheerful greeting, but he didn’t expect to be so disliked right off the bat. He weakly lowered his arm and used Gao Yuan as an excuse. “Brother Gao asked me to come.”

“And Sister Jiang said she’d tell me everything if we made it out alive,” he muttered, looking at Yang Caisi ingratiatingly.

The latter turned to look at Jiang Liu. Seeing her nod, she pursed her lips and reluctantly agreed.

Seeing this, Gao Yuan couldn’t help but put an arm around Zhao Ziming’s shoulder, pointing fingers like an experienced person. “Xiao Yang holds a bit of a grudge. It’s no big deal, what are you afraid of?”

Zhao Ziming humbly asked for advice. “But I didn’t offend her.”

Gao Yuan chuckled and leaned in close to his ear, whispering, “Didn’t you cause trouble for Xiao Jiang when you first met?”

Zhao Ziming’s eyes widened. “???”

He was screaming injustice in his heart. That was ancient history. You couldn’t hold a grudge like that, could you?

The two of them seemed to be whispering, but Yang Caisi heard everything clearly. She gave Gao Yuan a cold glare but didn’t pay him much mind.

“Where are Xiao Meng and the others?” Jiang Liu ordered some dishes, then looked around and didn’t see anyone else.

Zhao Ziming scratched his head. “Tang Rui and the other two seem to have something to discuss with their supervisor. Jiang He is still unwilling to come down for a meal, probably sleeping. I’ll get him a takeout later.”

The dangers in the instances made it easy for people to forget their sorrows. But after coming out, everyone else had a happy reunion, while he was all alone. It was understandable that he didn’t want to go out. Jiang Liu understood this feeling as well and didn’t say much more.

Of course, eating was not the main purpose. After eating his fill, Gao Yuan finally couldn’t help but reveal his discovery.

“You were right. There’s something wrong with the batch of people you were with.”

His expression was a bit exaggerated, and his tone was uncontrollably surprised. Not only did Jiang Liu’s expression change, but even he himself, when he first heard the news, had stood in place in the cold wind for a good half an hour before calming down.

Jiang Liu put down her chopsticks and gradually pursed her lips, looking at Gao Yuan. “Just give me the results.”

“I don’t know the specific list, but I heard that you were all assigned to a special group at the time, and the main person in charge was Qiao Ke.”

Gao Yuan waved his hand, signaling her not to worry. “I found an old senior from Qiao Ke’s time and drank with him for two days before I managed to find out this much.”

That group was called the ‘Special Experimental Group’. Whether it was instance allocation or personnel investigation, Qiao Ke handled it all personally. No one knew what kind of experiment it was. Not to mention a junior like him, even people from that time would say they didn’t know when they thought back on it. The files of these people were stored separately. Even if they had broken into the archives, they might not have found any clues.

Hearing this, Jiang Liu couldn’t help but facepalm. She made a “three” gesture at him, her tone quite helpless. “Big brother, you only found out this little in three whole days?”

Gao Yuan immediately slammed the table in protest. “Who are you calling big brother! I don’t have a sister as old as you!”

Is that the point?? A few question marks rose above Jiang Liu’s head. She was almost amused to the point of anger by him. Fortunately, Gao Yuan was just trying to lighten the mood. After laughing, his expression turned serious again. He carefully looked around the restaurant and leaned closer to the table, his voice gradually lowering.

“But I found out who the other person in charge of the experimental group was at the time.”