After Her Death, They Begged for Forgiveness - Chapter 44.2

As for Jiang Ruo’s mention of a “life countdown,” the cat demon paid it no mind.

If a great demon like her were to take the threats of an ordinary human seriously, then her centuries of existence would have been utterly wasted.

It’s a pity she couldn’t reveal her identity as a cat demon to her sister just yet, or her sister would surely think she had lost her mind.

Xu Bingqi’s anxiety felt glaring to Jiang Ruo, while Song Guanjin’s indifference only fueled her irritation further.

Jiang Ruo paused for a moment, unable to hold back any longer, and finally asked Song Guanjin, “Aren’t you the least bit afraid?”

“Why should I be afraid?” Song Guanjin blinked innocently. “After all, I’m not the one with delusions.”

Jiang Ruo was skilled at reading people. She understood that Song Guanjin didn’t believe a word she said, and although Xu Bingqi was anxious, she remained relatively calm likely because she only half-believed Jiang Ruo’s claims.

To convince them that her words were true, she had no choice but to present more evidence.

Jiang Ruo directly summoned the points panel and the recent notifications.

【Characters not mentioned in the novel’s plot require 250,000 points to eliminate.】

【Host, please patiently await the results in three days. The system will provide real-time feedback on whether Song Guanjin has been erased after three working days. We kindly ask for your continued attention.】

After confirming that both Xu Bingqi and Song Guanjin had seen the system panel’s message, Jiang Ruo revealed her first genuine smile of the evening.

The cat demon fell into deep thought after reading the text on the panel.

Over the past few centuries, she had already been astonished by the progress of human technology, but the information Jiang Ruo displayed left her utterly stunned.

So the “novel world” Jiang Ruo had mentioned earlier was real? This person wasn’t actually mentally unstable?

The cat demon attempted to touch the points panel, which resembled a projection, and grew even more surprised when she detected no trace of magical energy.

This was no illusion! She couldn’t sense any magical aura!

Song Guanjin narrowed her eyes slightly.

She had indeed underestimated her opponent this seemingly deranged rival in love.

Xu Bingqi was the first to speak after reading the message: “Characters not mentioned in the novel’s plot?”

But Song Guanjin was a cat demon could she even be considered a “character” in this context?

“Exactly. Even if Song Guanjin didn’t appear in the novel, I can still eliminate her.”

Jiang Ruo finally felt a surge of satisfaction. She crossed her legs and gazed with relish at the shock in Song Guanjin’s eyes, waiting for her rival to beg for mercy.

If Song Guanjin agreed to leave Xu Bingqi completely, Jiang Ruo could pretend to spare her.

That way, Song Guanjin would appear cowardly and self-serving in her sister’s eyes. Even if Song Guanjin vanished entirely, her sister wouldn’t grieve too much and might even accept Jiang Ruo in her place.

Xu Bingqi nodded gently and tentatively asked, “If 250,000 points can eliminate a person, can they also eliminate plants, flowers, or small animals?”

Jiang Ruo, who had been reveling in the feeling of having everything under control, was taken aback. “Eliminate plants, flowers, or small animals?”

She seemed unable to grasp her sister’s meaning.

Did her sister also keep a barking beagle?

“The system hasn’t developed that function yet,” Jiang Ruo added. “If you need it, Sister, I can help you deal with the plants and flowers. As for small animals, you could give them away.”

She had initially intended to offer to eliminate the plants and animals herself, but remembering Xu Bingqi’s love for flora and fauna, she quickly changed her approach.

Xu Bingqi let out a soft sigh of relief.

Song Guanjin is a cat demon, so technically she shouldn’t be considered human, right?

To be more precise, even if Song Guanjin currently appears human, I could simply help her take three days off and have her revert to her cat form afterward to safely navigate this situation.

Getting her to transform back into a cat is quite straightforward just get Song Guanjin drunk. That way, she wouldn’t realize I already know her secret as a cat demon, and we could smoothly avoid any danger.

Plus, I’d get to pet the cat.

It’s a triple win.

But thinking about Jiang Ruo’s cunning nature, Xu Bingqi frowned again, forcing herself to maintain her previous anxious expression.

If Jiang Ruo discovered they could exploit this loophole, she might devise new schemes.

Unfortunately, Xu Bingqi had no talent for acting, so her stiff expression appeared awkward and unnatural to Jiang Ruo.

Jiang Ruo eyed her suspiciously, sensing that Xu Bingqi’s expression seemed frozen.

Was she so devastated by the impending loss of that vase that she couldn’t think straight?

Jiang Ruo glanced at the “vase” and saw that she had recovered from her initial shock, even looking somewhat eager.

Truly brainless, still unwilling to face reality even with death looming.

“Sister, if you’re willing to come back to me, I might consider sparing Song Guanjin.”

Jiang Ruo felt it was easier to break through her sister’s psychological defenses and coaxed gently, “Besides, I’ve prepared a new body for you, one that will let you live a hundred years.”

The cat demon curled her lips in disdain upon hearing Jiang Ruo’s affectionate words, completely dismissing her.

After seeing that strange panel, she had thought Jiang Ruo was formidable, but promising a mere hundred years of life? In Song Guanjin’s eyes, “a hundred years” was no different from cursing someone to a short life.

What a pathetic promise.

If she were to make a vow, it would start at a thousand years at least, with no upper limit to feeling the passage of time though, of course, such promises would depend on her own cultivation.

Song Guanjin’s lips curved into a crescent moon-like smile; she felt she had utterly won.

Jiang Ruo keenly sensed the eerie atmosphere, her earlier confidence melting away like thin ice under the spring sun.

“Sister, I really have prepared a healthy body for you. I wanted to give it to you as a gift even before your rebirth.”Jiang Ruo leaned forward slightly, her gaze full of deep affection as she stared at Xu Bingqi: ‘I had it all planned out to give you that body, but it’s just too late now.'””

Xu Bingqi had no desire to revisit her pre-rebirth memories, nor the mind to do so.

All her focus was on figuring out how to act now should she still wear the expression of someone drowning in the grief and fear of knowing Guanjin was doomed?

Pity her, a composer with zero acting experience, now having to cross over into acting.

And as one of the lead roles, no less.

Seeing Xu Bingqi’s still indescribably frozen expression, Jiang Ruo’s tone grew slightly urgent: “If you don’t believe me, Sister, I’ll give you that body in a few days.”

“You’ve seen that body before, sister it’s Xiao Hua,” Jiang Ruo explained rapidly. “He’s the male lead in the novel, destined to live a hundred years and enjoy boundless wealth and honor. I wanted to give this body to you.”

Thinking of this, Jiang Ruo’s eyes stung with unshed tears. She had originally intended to gift Xiao Hua’s body to her sister, but when she tried to exchange the points, Xiao Hua was away on a business trip. The distance exceeded the allowable range for pairing, causing the exchange to fail and making the body transfer impossible.

By the time she found Xiao Hua and brought him back, her sister had already succumbed to her illness and passed away.

Recalling all these twists of fate, Jiang Ruo’s eyes reddened. Everything in her plan had been flawless, she should have been united with her sister, who would have inhabited Xiao Hua’s body, living happily together for a century after she completed the mission and reached the novel’s conclusion.

It was all that self-willed container’s fault.

Before her sister’s rebirth, she had always been the gentlest toward Jiang Ruo. If her sister were to develop feelings for anyone, it could only have been for her.

But in the end, because of that mobile container, all her careful scheming came to nothing, forcing her to start over from scratch.

Even though she eventually killed Xiao Hua in a fit of rage, none of it could undo what had already happened.

After listening to Jiang Ruo’s fervent promises, Xu Bingqi could no longer maintain her sorrowful expression and frowned in disgust.

“I don’t need it,” Xu Bingqi cut her off bluntly. “If you like it so much, keep it for yourself.”

Jiang Ruo’s gaze grew distant, sinking deeper into her obsession. “I will give this body to you, sister. Xiao Hua can’t escape. I’ll break both his legs beforehand, he won’t have a chance to resist.”

“I said I don’t need it,” Xu Bingqi leaned back slightly. “I’d rather die than be trapped in such a body.”

In fact, Xu Bingqi felt somewhat relieved that Jiang Ruo’s previous plan had failed.

Before her rebirth, she had been completely unaware of Jiang Ruo’s deranged state of mind. She couldn’t imagine the agony she would have endured if Jiang Ruo’s scheme had succeeded, forcing her into the body of the person she despised most.

She would have fallen into an abyss of endless suffering, with no escape unless she took her own life.

“But this is the most satisfactory vessel I could find,” Jiang Ruo’s eyes reddened ” or just wait a little longer, sister. I’ll keep searching for a new vessel, I’ll find one even better than Xiao Hua’s!”

Song Guanjin, who had been listening in confusion, finally found a gap in Jiang Ruo’s ramblings to interject, “Didn’t you hear? Sister said she doesn’t need it!”

She took her sister’s cold hand, her fingers tightening gradually, trying to transfer the warmth she had gathered in her palm.

The cat demon couldn’t fathom how her sister had endured such a madwoman for so long before her rebirth. It felt as if countless fine needles were piercing her heart, each beat tugging at this wrenching pain.

Before meeting her, her sister had been surrounded by such erratic people. Song Guanjin suddenly felt the weight of her responsibility, she must protect her sister from now on, ensuring her safety and well-being forever.

Pondering the obsessed madwoman’s words, she realized that for humans, longevity and wealth were crucial. That was why Jiang Ruo had tempted her sister with “a hundred years of life and endless riches.”

Her own only shortcoming now was her inability to provide her sister with boundless wealth and honor.

Song Guanjin set a new career goal for herself: she must take acting seriously, strive to land more roles in the future, and after becoming a film queen, make her sister wealthier than Jiang Ruoxiao Hua.

Xu Bingqi felt the warmth returning to her icy fingertips, and the overwhelming disgust in her heart eased slightly.

Her mind was clear now. Although she loathed Jiang Ruo’s plan intensely, she had keenly detected something unusual in Jiang Ruo’s words.

In the novel “The Group’s Darling,” Jiang Ruo deeply loved Xiao Hua, and before her rebirth, Jiang Ruo had indeed treated Xiao Hua with the same tenderness and affection as described in the book. But now, Jiang Ruo’s words made it seem as though she merely regarded Xiao Hua as a tool?

Moreover, Jiang Ruo kept mentioning using points to exchange for things like Song Guanjin’s life, or Xiao Hua’s body.

“You’re not actually the real female lead of this novel, are you?” Xu Bingqi connected all the clues into a coherent line: “You must be a transmigrator, right?”

She had heard Jiang Ruo mention a “system,” deducing that it was Jiang Ruo’s aid in completing her ultimate mission.

But now, everyone’s situation was drifting further and further from the novel’s plot, and Jiang Ruo was growing increasingly obsessive. Would Jiang Ruo’s system just stand by and do nothing?

This novel had now become nothing more than an empty shell; the real threat was the madwoman-like Jiang Ruo.

Jiang Ruo nodded: “Sister, you guessed it.”

A warning from the system about deducting points echoed in her ears, but Jiang Ruo paid it no mind. Instead, she asked with a playful tone: “Sister, do you want to know anything else? Like when this novel world first came into existence?”

Support