After Faking Her Death, the Top Actress Gets Amnesia - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“General, be careful!”

Before Yi Lan could react, an arrow plunged directly into her left shoulder. The pain slowly brought her back to her senses.

She lowered her gaze, looking at the arrow in her shoulder. The arrowhead was buried deep, and crimson blood oozed from around the wound, dripping down her armor plate by plate. Her eyes followed the trail of blood and found that she was still holding the other woman’s body, and in the woman’s chest were countless arrows just like the one in her shoulder.

Jiang Wendu was dead. She had betrayed her, and it was these very arrows that had killed her. In the future, many more soldiers would die by these arrows.

It was all her fault. She was to blame for not noticing sooner, for giving her the opportunity to betray her. If she had found out earlier, maybe she wouldn’t have died. And the soldiers wouldn’t have died either…

The arrows from the Northern Blaze army continued to rain down, and the soldiers blocked them with their weapons again and again.

Soldiers who couldn’t dodge fell one after another. Yi Lan watched their bodies drop, watched the relentless arrows from the enemy, and after a moment of hesitation, she finally set down the body in her arms. She stood up, forcefully snapped the shaft of the arrow in her shoulder, and raised her long spear, swearing her oath.

“I, Yi Lan, Commander of the Southern Border Army, swear on my life that the hatred of this night shall be repaid!”

Then she whistled, and her warhorse galloped to her side. She vaulted onto its back, raised her spear, and struck it hard on the rump. The horse neighed loudly and shot forward like an arrow from a bow, leaping over the shields and charging ahead.

“Kill!”

The chaotic roar of battle tore through the sky. The enemy’s arrows were like a downpour, all aimed at her. She swung her long spear, dodged on horseback, and charged forward alone, straight into the vanguard of the Northern Blaze army. Along the way, she was struck by more enemy arrows, but she acted as if she felt no pain, pulling them out and throwing them back, impaling the archer’s throat.

“Stop her!”

The leader of the enemy vanguard finally panicked. The armored soldiers quickly formed a line. Yi Lan saw this, squeezed her legs hard against her horse’s belly, raised her spear, and struck its rump again.

The horse neighed in pain and leaped forward, soaring over the countless shields. Yi Lan was now just a few feet from the vanguard leader. She swung her long arm down, and with a single strike of her spear, the leader’s head was sent flying a full ten feet away, blood splattering everywhere.

She raised her spear and yelled, “The Northern Blaze vanguard leader is dead! Soldiers, attack!”

With a backbone now, the Southern Border army charged forward. The vast grassland offered no cover. Armored soldiers formed a line at the front, while archers fired their arrows from behind. The enemy cavalry was now leaderless. After one volley of arrows, their previous arrogance was gone.

After a few brutal clashes, the Northern Blaze army gradually lost its advantage.

Just as the soldiers were preparing to catch their breath, enemy troops suddenly attacked from the east and south. The seventy thousand Southern Border soldiers were now surrounded on three sides. They were exhausted, but with no other options, they could only fight their way out.

Yi Lan and her deputy general led the charge, both wounded, but their spears and weapons never stopped.

The fierce battle lasted all night. The morning light reflected off the blood-soaked battlefield, which was now littered with corpses. The surviving soldiers’ robes were stained with blood. The flesh beneath their cold armor could grow a two-foot blade.

Finally, they fought their way out. Just then, the border army, bearing the “Jing” banner, arrived from a distance. The weary soldiers’ eyes lit up at the sight of friendly troops, and they waved their weapons, shouting, “Reinforcements! Reinforcements!”

“Hya!”

As the commander, Yi Lan rode forward to greet them. To her surprise, the leader of the border army suddenly made a gesture. The soldiers behind him immediately drew their long bows, nocked their eagle-feathered arrows, and pulled the strings taut. Swish! Thousands of arrows flew with the wind, streaking toward Yi Lan’s heart like meteors.

In the next second, the Defender General of the Southern Border and her soldiers were frozen in place by the incoming arrows, forming a tableau of blood.

They did not rest in peace.

“Hello, Yi Lan. Welcome to the 21st-century new era. This is an era where the internet economy is extremely developed. There is no war here, no killing. You can fully enjoy the peace and beauty of life, provided you complete a small mission.”

In her daze and dull pain, Yi Lan heard a strange, emotionless, mechanical voice. She looked around but couldn’t find the source of the sound. Confused, she asked, “Who is there?”

“I am System 001. You unfortunately died in the bloody battle at Green Ridge Peak. However, you do not seem very satisfied with this outcome. The system has conducted a comprehensive search and has detected that there is a person in this world who can help you resolve the knot in your heart. Do you know Jiang Wendu?”

Jiang Wendu!

Upon hearing those three words, all of Yi Lan’s anger, grievance, and hatred erupted at once. She instinctively tried to raise her spear, only to find that all her senses and limbs were unresponsive. Her surroundings were pitch black, but that voice was strikingly real.

“Where is Jiang Wendu?” she asked, her intent filled with fury.

The voice seemed not to have heard her and repeated: “Do you know Jiang Wendu?”

“Tell me, where is Jiang Wendu?!” Yi Lan’s aura of resentment was heavy. Though she was only a soul, the General’s presence was no less powerful than in her life. However, facing the cold, mechanical system, her question was just a non-sequitur.

The system repeated again: “Do you know Jiang Wendu? You only need to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’.”

After the mechanical voice repeated its question a dozen times, Yi Lan finally lost her patience and said, “Yes!”

“Ding! Match successful. Please wait…”

Her physical senses returned, and the darkness around her gradually dissipated, replaced by the bustling and prosperous life of a city.

City life?

Yi Lan’s eyes widened. A familiar figure suddenly appeared in her sight. The person was many times taller than usual, floating in the air. She was exposed and wanton, holding a blood-red lipstick and applying it to her lips, her gaze seductive.

She couldn’t bring herself to scold the other woman immediately. Instead, she instinctively tried to unwrap her own clothes. “Jiang Wendu, in front of everyone, how can you wear something like that?!”

Her fingers touched her blood-soaked armor, and she finally realized her situation. In an instant, she raised her spear, pointing it at the woman on the electronic screen, dressed in a backless dress with fiery red lips, and shouted, “Speak! Why did you deceive this General?!”

In the bustling crowd, people turned their heads. Some even stopped.

“Wow, is that cosplay? It’s so realistic!”

“I know, right? She has such a great presence. But who is she cosplaying? Do you know?”

“I don’t. But she must be a fan of actress Jiang. Wasn’t her recent show City Spring, Weeds Deep super popular?”

The music video continued to play. Yi Lan’s hands were covered in blood, and she ignored the onlookers, standing in the middle of the street, glaring at the person on the screen. The green light ended, and people began to disperse, but she remained motionless, frozen in place.

The cars behind her honked continuously. A patrolling traffic police officer walked over to move her along. “Hey, what are you doing? Can’t you see the light is red?”

Yi Lan did not move.

The officer reached out to push her away. Yi Lan gripped her spear tightly, ready to fight, but at that moment, the mechanical voice appeared in her mind again.

“Host, you must not. This is a society governed by law. You are obstructing public traffic. Law enforcement is intervening in your actions. Please cooperate immediately, or your future movements will be limited, and you will not be able to find the real Jiang Wendu.”

Yi Lan: ???

The system had said a lot before, and she hadn’t understood any of it, but she understood the last sentence about not being able to find the real Jiang Wendu. But she still didn’t truly get it.

She focused her gaze and looked at the screen again. Jiang Wendu’s image was gone, replaced by a cartoon squirrel pushing a pinecone. At the same time, the police officer easily pushed the dazed Yi Lan off the crosswalk, and traffic returned to normal.

“Can’t you see the red light? You young people have no sense of boundaries when you play around…”

The officer gave Yi Lan a verbal lecture. Passing pedestrians would occasionally give her a curious look, but her mind was completely on her revenge against Jiang Wendu. Now that she knew the figure on the screen was a fake, where could she find the real Jiang Wendu?

“Pay attention next time, got it?” The officer finished his lecture and wanted to confirm she had heard him.

Yi Lan looked up, her eyes cold and icy.

“What’s with that look? Are you being defiant?” the officer snapped.

The system quickly stepped in to mediate: [Host, quickly say ‘I got it’ so the system can take you to your mission target, actress Jiang, as soon as possible.]

Hearing this, Yi Lan hesitated for a half-second before slowly saying, “I… I got it.”

The officer grumbled a few more things before returning to his post. Yi Lan stood on the side of the road, looking at the slowly moving cars and the strangely dressed pedestrians. The realization dawned on her, a moment too late.

So this is what hell looks like!

Where was Jiang Wendu now? After all the bad things she’d done, would she go to hell? And where were the soldiers who had died? How could she face them when they met again in the underworld…?

“Host, this is not hell, nor is there any ‘underworld.’ Jiang Wendu is a top actress. The system has detected that she is currently filming in Raven City. However, Raven City is more than 130 kilometers from here. You are currently penniless and have no identity. The system cannot think of a way to send you to meet with actress Jiang.”

Yi Lan: ?

What is this thing? Ever since she had become conscious, this voice had been with her, yet she couldn’t see its shadow. Yi Lan couldn’t help but ask, “Who are you?”

“I am your System 001, host. I told you before that you unfortunately died in the bloody battle at Green Ridge Peak. However, you were not satisfied with that outcome, so this system has given you an opportunity for revenge.”

“An opportunity for revenge?”

“Yes, host. Jiang Wendu betrayed you, didn’t she? You can betray her in the same way.”

“The same way?”

“The system has detected that in this world, Jiang Wendu is obsessed with her career. Therefore, your mission is to find a way to get close to her, make her fall in love with you, and get her to give up her career and future for you. Then, you can dump her.”

“Dump her?”

“That’s right, dump her. Leave her with nothing, so she despairs and collapses to death. Wouldn’t that achieve your goal?”

Yi Lan didn’t understand what “dump her” meant, but she caught on to the information about “death” and immediately spoke. “Where is Jiang Wendu now?”

Seeing that the agreement had been made, the system happily said, “Don’t worry, host. This system will now find a way to take you to your mission target, Jiang Wendu.”

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