After My Death, Everyone Repented (Transmigration) - Chapter 65

Xie Shaojun and the system conversed as the hijacked vehicle sped unhindered down the highway.

Just minutes earlier, an accident had occurred at the highway exit ahead, a three-car pileup, forcing four lanes to merge into one.

Traffic was blocked, and the van was forced to change lanes. Jian Qing toyed with the blade in her hand, her thoughts unclear as she glanced at Chi Yi several times.

Chi Yi’s gaze was calm, her expression devoid of any surprise or alarm.

She sat relaxed in the back seat, as though she were the one holding the knife, not the one with a blade pressed to her neck and her limbs bound.

Jian Qing couldn’t stand her composure. With a sudden jerk, she hooked the blade around Chi Yi’s necklace. Chi Yi turned her head sharply, looking down at Jian Qing with an icy stare.

“Let go.”

Jian Qing froze for a moment under Chi Yi’s frosty gaze before letting out a venomous laugh. “You’re ordering me, Chi Yi? Do you really not understand your situation, or are you just pretending?”

“What situation? The one where I get blown up?” Chi Yi smirked, pointing at the black backpack on Jian Qing’s back. “Bomb. Last year’s U.S. military stock. I thought you were smarter than this. You dare play with explosives?”

“Does it even matter now whether I’m smart or not?” Jian Qing’s smile twisted into something bitter.

“Murder. Financial crimes. Knowing you were the other woman and still doing it. Public opinion turning against you. Total defeat.” Jian Qing’s voice rose as she listed her crimes, no longer pressing the blade against Chi Yi.

She didn’t seem worried about Chi Yi making any sudden moves. Instead, she laughed a few times, placed the backpack on her lap, and unzipped it.

Inside was a black timing device, flanked by two bombs on either side.

The display screen connected to the bombs showed a bold countdown: “03:00:00.”

“Let’s play a game,” Jian Qing said to Chi Yi. “I didn’t want to involve innocent people, I only wanted to play with you and Xie Shaojun. But.”

“You’ve taken all the necessary security measures. I couldn’t find Xie Shaojun, and I couldn’t get close to you. So, I had to resort to bombs.” Jian Qing smirked. “The police hiding in the shadows won’t dare step in to protect you now, and your bodyguards won’t chase us, because…” She raised a finger to her lips, mimicking an explosion. “Boom!”

She whispered, “Airports, downtown streets, highways, there are so many ordinary people. If the police try to save you now, countless innocents will die with you.”

“I should have killed you a week ago,” Chi Yi said.

“That would’ve been more interesting if Xie Shaojun had heard it herself. Too bad you hid her away.”

Chi Yi glanced at her. “Jian Qing, do you really think you can escape?”

Jian Qing had no intention of escaping. She crossed her legs and replied, “I’m already finished. I just wanted to play one last game with you before I die.”

“How about this? Let’s make a bet. If Xie Shaojun can save you within three hours, if she’s willing to trade her life for yours, I’ll let you go. If she doesn’t show up in three hours, she lives, and you die.”

“You’re insane!” Chi Yi said coldly. “She’s in a coma.”

“What does it matter?” Jian Qing admitted she was sick in the head: “Xie Shaojun can leave her body. Maybe she’s right beside you now. Since you keep claiming to love each other, let me see how far she’s willing to go for you. I do love her, but I love tragic, doomed love even more, one alive, one dead, how fascinating. She once treated me the same way.”

Chi Yi’s gaze burned as she looked over. The coarse ropes binding her feet had somehow been sliced open with a blade, and she suddenly kicked the backpack in front of Jian Qing.

The backpack toppled to the ground, but before it could hit the floor, Jian Qing immediately dropped to her knees and cradled the bomb protectively against her chest.

At the same time, the mercenary in the front seat restrained Chi Yi, pressing her face against the van’s window. Yet Chi Yi’s expression remained calm as she warned, “Jian Qing!”

“I told you don’t touch her.”

“You’re panicking, Chi Yi. Too bad it’s too late.” Jian Qing’s smile only widened as she ordered her men to rebind Chi Yi’s feet.

It was at this moment that Xie Shaojun finished her conversation with the system. The skull pendant tapped three times against Chi Yi’s chest.

Unsure if Chi Yi would understand, Xie Shaojun then told the system: “Send me back.”

The van’s license plate was 872B30. The police were following behind but didn’t dare approach, Jian Qing was holding a bomb, and if provoked, she could toss it into the crowd at any moment.

When Xie Shaojun woke up, police officers were by her side.

She immediately contacted Officer Wang, who was leading the operation, and demanded that the police drive her to the scene.

Half an hour later, she boarded another vehicle and caught up to Officer Wang’s pursuit car.

Once inside, she briefed the police on Chi Yi’s situation in Jian Qing’s van.

“Three assailants Jian Qing, the driver, and a mercenary.”

“The tracking device is last year’s latest U.S. military model black, about the size of a birdcage, with a three-hour positioning window.”

Chi Yi had deliberately baited Jian Qing into revealing details about the bomb. While discussing its specifications, she had used her fingertips to subtly pull aside the skull pendant’s rose-red clothing. Xie Shaojun could feel the chill against her body.

Though they hadn’t exchanged a single word, Xie Shaojun understood Chi Yi’s message, she wanted her to find a way back into her own body.

Xie Shaojun relayed every piece of intel she had to the police without missing a word.

Now seated in a police car, with an hour and a half left before the bomb’s detonation, the van exited the highway and sped toward the southern port.

The police followed at a cautious distance. Officer Wang, leading the rescue effort, attempted to negotiate with Jian Qing, but every call went unanswered.

It was clear Jian Qing had no intention of stopping to talk before reaching the port.

Officer Wang frowned.

“The port is densely populated, evacuation is nearly impossible.” The officer unfolded a map, tapping several coastal access points with a grim expression. “Disarming the bomb would take at least half an hour. By the time we locate the suspects’ hideout and rescue the hostage, we’d be way past the detonation window.”

Xie Shaojun studied the map and suddenly interjected, “The route to the port passes through the development zone.”

Her finger swiftly circled a newly constructed road on the map.

“We can use the traffic congestion to force the van onto this road,” Xie Shaojun looked up and said to Officer Wang. “This road has fewer vehicles and sparse pedestrians, making it easier for a traffic interception. If we successfully stop the van here, how confident are you in ensuring Chi Yi’s safety?”

Officer Wang’s eyes lit up: “Ninety percent.”

“One hundred percent,” Xie Shaojun corrected him. “Get her out safely, and I’ll help you stop the van.”

The van’s interior was like a birdcage, three rows of seats in the back, the driver in the front, and a burly mercenary sitting in the passenger seat.

Jian Qing sat in the second row, making a phone call, while Chi Yi, bound hand and foot, sat in the shadows of the last row.

The journey was a blur of speeding, roaring engines, the moon hanging high in the sky, and orange streetlights casting dim light into the dark van.

When Xie Shaojun’s voice came through Jian Qing’s phone, Chi Yi opened her eyes.

This was the fourth time in Chi Yi’s life she had heard Xie Shaojun make a life-or-death decision.

Of these four recent instances, two were due to soul separation, and one was Xie Shaojun’s own choice to leave.

Xie Shaojun was always ruthless, especially toward Chi Yi.

Chi Yi was in pain and full of resentment.

She loved Xie Shaojun. Maybe she truly wasn’t skilled in the art of romance, but her love for Xie Shaojun had never wavered. Yet Xie Shaojun’s feelings for her had always been tangled with other factors.

Last September, during the anniversary of Xie Shaojun’s death, Chi Yi had a habit of flipping through that blank black notebook. One night, the paper cut her finger, and as her blood seeped onto the page, words appeared:

“Don’t break character. Don’t love Chi Yi! Little Chi, be happy.”

That was when Chi Yi realized oh, so she was merely Xie Shaojun’s mission target. All those times Xie Shaojun had acted out of character, playing the role of a tough girl, suddenly made sense.

Chi Yi thought, if Xie Shaojun had warned herself in the diary not to fall in love, then why did she keep doing things that made it seem like she was deeply in love?

Xie Shaojun had played the part so convincingly that Chi Yi being deceived felt like the most natural thing in the world.

On New Year’s Day 2025, after reading the notebook’s contents, Chi Yi fell into a long depression.

Later, she met Zhu Sicheng and learned that the recordings in the voice recorder were inaudible to others, only Chi Yi could hear them.

Then she blacklisted Jian Qing, but Xie Shaojun’s presence in her life only grew fainter.

More and more things defied scientific explanation.

Chi Yi couldn’t help but suspect that the world she lived in was bound by some kind of rule one everyone had to follow, just like the three restrictions in Xie Shaojun’s notebook.

Using technology from the R&D department, combined with world history, human brain composition, and the laws of natural plate movements, Chi Yi arrived at an absurd conclusion: time travelers existed.

Xie Shaojun was a mission-bound traveler, and Chi Yi was her target. It was even possible that Xie Shaojun’s bizarre, absurd act of donating a kidney at the end of her life was just another part of her mission.

For Chi Yi, 2025 was a year of gray skies and earth, filled with the absurdity and farce of never having truly been loved.

In July 2025, Chi Yi returned from Sri Lanka. From Xie Guangqi and Jian Qing, she found the answers she had been seeking.

Xie Shaojun hadn’t willingly chosen to donate her kidney, she had been forced to give it up.

Not for the mission.

At that moment, all of Chi Yi’s resentment vanished, leaving only heartache to fill her chest.

Even if Xie Shaojun had never liked her, she still felt indignant, heartbroken, and sorrowful for the Xie Shaojun of her past life.

That day, Chi Yi finally couldn’t hold on any longer, she had a breakdown. And it was also that day, in her most humiliating state, that she reunited with Xie Shaojun.

At first, Chi Yi didn’t quite understand. If Xie Shaojun didn’t like her, why had she revealed her identity when Chi Yi went to see the ocean?

It was so foolish. Because after learning that Xie Shaojun was still alive, Chi Yi had only one thought: to find her and possess her.

Perhaps Xie Shaojun was just inherently kind and soft-hearted, forever stuck in the story of the farmer and the snake, doing mental calculations rather than stepping out of the tale itself.

Even so, Chi Yi couldn’t help but be the snake. She wanted Xie Shaojun!

No matter the time, the circumstances, no matter how despicable, vile, or whatever other methods Chi Yi could think of and execute—she would do it, as long as she could keep this person by her side.

But in the end, Chi Yi didn’t get the chance to use any of those tactics on Xie Shaojun. Because the moment she saw her, all the resentment and unwillingness disappeared.

She simply wanted to be with her again, even if her skills in love were clumsy and awkward. Chi Yi no longer wanted to resort to schemes.

Even if she was just a stand-in in Xie Shaojun’s eyes, a paper character to be conquered, Chi Yi believed she could endure it. She was even mentally prepared to help Xie Shaojun pursue her next target.

And then, over the course of a long life, she would kick the so-called “beloved” out of Xie Shaojun’s heart.

In August, Xie Shaojun returned to the country and started working in the capital.

She ran a very small art studio, located far from the Xie family villa, a two-hour commute that wasn’t suitable for daily travel.

Yet, bafflingly, Xie Shaojun continued to live at home, wasting hours on the road every day.

Chi Yi couldn’t understand it.

One day, Chi Yi drove to the Xie family villa. That morning, Xie Shaojun didn’t take her own car. The August heat was sweltering, and fine beads of sweat trickled down Xie Shaojun’s nose.

Carrying a bag, she left the neighborhood and stood at the bus stop, waiting for a long time without success. This was the suburbs—few vehicles passed through.

Chi Yi instructed her driver to pull over, but Xie Shaojun turned away indifferently and headed for the nearby subway instead.

Xie Shaojun was very busy that day, constantly answering calls.

Chi Yi followed her onto Metro Line 4.

The morning rush was packed, bodies pressed together, sweat dripping.

Chi Yi watched as Xie Shaojun wiped her forehead five times, holding up an umbrella to fend off the crowd, constantly shifting her position.

She tried to stand where others avoided, her nose wrinkled. Whenever someone got too close, she used her umbrella to push them away. Her expression was indifferent, almost lazy. Someone cursed at her for opening an umbrella on the subway, calling her inconsiderate.

Xie Shaojun’s back stiffened slightly, but she endured it without explanation.

Chi Yi followed her the entire way.

After seeing her to work, Chi Yi called Xie Qingcheng and said, “I have an unused apartment near Xie Shaojun’s studio. It’s been empty for a long time, and I’m worried the facilities might deteriorate. Could your sister help by living there occasionally and cleaning up?”

Xie Qingcheng said, “That apartment is in a great location.”

“But my sister doesn’t want to move out.”

“What if I rent it to her at a low price?” Chi Yi asked.

Xie Qingcheng sighed and shook her head, saying, “It’s not about the price. Our family has been urging her to buy a house for a long time, to settle down in the capital. But for the past two years, my sister hasn’t bought a home, refused to settle down, and stopped celebrating her birthdays after waking up. When Dad gave her a red envelope, she just said thank you. Last year, I gave her a skull necklace, and she tossed it to the back of a drawer. Chi Yi, tell me, why is that?”

“Sometimes, I feel like she’s a stray cat, waiting at any moment to be claimed by someone.”

After hanging up that call, Chi Yi slapped herself.

That night, she desperately wanted to see Xie Shaojun, selfishly, stubbornly, against Xie Shaojun’s wishes. Even though meeting would only make Xie Shaojun despise her more.

Her persistent behavior would make Xie Shaojun uncomfortable, suffocated, and frown. But deep down, Chi Yi believed that within Xie Shaojun’s hesitant, indecisive refusals, there was also a hidden message, waiting for someone to claim her.

Chi Yi really, really wanted to be the one Xie Shaojun was waiting for.

Even if there would always be a “Little Chi” in Xie Shaojun’s heart, it didn’t matter anymore. What did it matter? Love was never fair. She could love her more, without expecting anything in return.

The third time Xie Shaojun fell into a coma, tears rolled down her cheeks as she lay on the gurney.

Chi Yi thought she was in pain and leaned closer, only to hear Xie Shaojun say, “You’re also an irresponsible person.”

And then, the words that followed: “Little Chi is you.”

Chi Yi didn’t understand what it meant, and Xie Shaojun never explained the weight behind those words.

Until now, in the cramped confines of the van.

Xie Shaojun pulled open the door, the streetlight spilling over her cascading curls.

Jian Qing asked her venomously, “The moment to prove your love for Chi Yi has come. Only one of you can survive. What will you choose?”

“Chi Yi.” Xie Shaojun stood at the van’s entrance, leaning in to look at Chi Yi as she called her name.

Her lips were pale, her nails colorless and dull from long illness and unconsciousness, resting against the doorframe.

Chi Yi loved Xie Shaojun’s hands slender, clean, the orange-red glow of the streetlights casting shadows between her fingers, making them appear long and sensual.

Chi Yi stared for a few seconds before shifting her gaze to meet Xie Shaojun’s eyes.

Xie Shaojun said to her, “I won’t choose, because you left me alone for so, so long… and later, I left you alone too.”

“Maybe sacrifice isn’t something that works between us. Because whether it’s me or you, we’ve both tested it there’s only one ending we can accept: living together or dying together. Not one of us living on for the other. Don’t you think so?”

In the dim interior of the van, Xie Shaojun’s voice seemed to echo from somewhere far away.

With her lazy, almost teasing tone, Chi Yi felt as if she heard a whisper from the depths of her soul: “Waiting to be claimed.”

Chi Yi opened her mouth, meeting Xie Shaojun’s gaze with difficulty, and said hoarsely, “It’s living or dying together.” And then, “I’m sorry.”

Their locked eyes didn’t last long. Suddenly, Xie Shaojun stretched out her arm, grabbed Chi Yi’s hand, and yanked her out of the van.

Fingers intertwined, they landed on the ground, kicking off their high heels.

Xie Shaojun pulled Chi Yi into a run ahead, and Chi Yi followed in her footsteps.

She said nothing, even though Chi Yi actually wanted to tell Xie Shaojun that there was no need to run, the driver hired by Jian Qing was actually her person, and no accidents would happen.

But it had been so long, so very long, since a night like this one, where the streetlights of Liuli Road cast their glow behind them, the massive leaves of the plane trees scattering dappled shadows as they ran halfway down the path.

No pedestrians in sight, the road ahead unknown, their long hair loosened by the wind, flying and tangling together.

Jian Qing cursed behind them: “Fuck. Xie Shaojun, you’ve got some nerve. If that’s how it is, none of you are leaving.”

At Jian Qing’s signal, the mercenary in the front seat swiftly kicked open the door and leaped out to grab them, only for his neck to be abruptly hooked, the seemingly docile driver in the driver’s seat used his legs to restrain the mercenary, wrestling with him.

At the critical moment.

Police officers poured into the van from behind. A gunshot rang out, and Jian Qing’s wrist was hit, the hand gripping the bomb going limp as it dropped. The bomb was swiftly caught by a bomb disposal officer who had rushed into the vehicle.