After My Death, the Female Lead Breaks the Heartless Path - Chapter 3

It was on the night she was preparing to leave that Xu Jingqiu recovered all the memories she had once possessed.

She was not from this world. This world was originally just a novel she had written in her spare time, a story about a powerful female protagonist without any romantic pairing. There wasn’t even a character named “Xu Jingqiu” in it, and the protagonist’s name had been decided on a whim.

When creating this character, the name “Yin Ruolan” had popped into her mind out of nowhere, and she had instinctively typed those three characters into her computer.

In the original story, the female protagonist Yin Ruolan embarked on a journey to grow stronger and defeat an evil god after its resurrection and the invasion of malevolent creatures. Along the way, she met many like-minded comrades, and together, they pooled their strength to vanquish the evil god, restoring peace to the world.

Xu Jingqiu had once considered the possibility that her writing might become reality. When she learned that the world she had created had become a real one, she was somewhat surprised, though not overly so after all, it didn’t really concern her.

The problem, however, was that this book this world had been tampered with, and she had been added into it.

There was also a character who had appeared out of nowhere. By some unknown means, this character had also become a female protagonist, stirring up jealousy everywhere, seducing people left and right, and turning former close comrades into love rivals.

Perhaps because this character had learned of Xu Jingqiu’s identity, she had forcibly assigned Xu Jingqiu a role in this world, a cannon fodder character killed by Yin Ruolan to prove her path. After that, the female protagonist slew the evil god and ended up in a sweet, intimate relationship with Ai Yanran.

If Xu Jingqiu were to die, this world would likely fall completely under the control of that transmigrator and the forces behind her.

“Hey, hey, you’ve been asleep for a long time. Isn’t it about time you woke up? I’m bored to death.” Xu Jingqiu felt someone poking her cheek. When she didn’t respond, the person started pulling at her face, tugging and talking at the same time.

Xu Jingqiu: Patience level dropping.

Her eyelids still felt heavy, as if someone was preventing her from waking up. Her hand clenched unconsciously as Xu Jingqiu struggled to open her eyes and sit up.

“Ah, you’re finally holy crap, what are you doing?!” The woman had just breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Xu Jingqiu reach straight for her own chest.

Even though she was currently just a consciousness, with no blood to speak of, it was still terrifying!

With an expressionless face, Xu Jingqiu pulled out a mass of black mist, casually grabbed a plate from the nearby table, transformed it into a small cage, tossed the black mist inside, and threw it aside.

After finishing all this, Xu Jingqiu closed her eyes, lay back down with a serene expression, and went still.

Ye Shuran: ???

Why did she lie back down again?

“Hey, get up! Why are you sleeping again?” Ye Shuran grabbed her shoulders and started shaking her wildly.

Xu Jingqiu raised a hand to stop her. “Dizzy, my head is spinning.” She spoke as if she were about to faint, startling Ye Shuran into letting go abruptly. Xu Jingqiu’s head immediately hit the bed with a crisp thud.

Xu Jingqiu: …

Even dizzier now, and a little sore.

Feeling guilty, Ye Shuran helped her sit up and began rubbing her head apologetically. “Is your dizziness because you haven’t adjusted yet?”

“No, it’s just the influence from that guy. I’ll be fine after a while.” Xu Jingqiu shook her head while holding her forehead, then looked toward the black mist crashing against the cage. “That’s an Outer God, and also the Heavenly Dao of the world I was in before.”

Ye Shuran looked enlightened. “So it was Him who sought out Ai Yanran! I was wondering where she got the ability to kidnap you.”

Xu Jingqiu froze for a moment, surprised to hear a familiar name here. “Who?”

Ye Shuran looked at her with confusion. “Ai Yanran! The one who wrote you into her novel and then messed with your story. We’ve already investigated her adapted novel is the source of the chaos in that world. We were initially puzzled about how an ordinary person like her could have such abilities, but it turns out she was contacted by that Outer God long ago.”

After saying this, Ye Shuran noticed that Xu Jingqiu still seemed completely unaware of what was going on and was utterly exasperated. “Don’t tell me you don’t even know who Ai Yanran is.”

Xu Jingqiu thought for a moment, then asked very innocently, “Isn’t she one of the female leads in the new novel? Is she not from this world either?”

Ye Shuran was completely speechless. “Ai Yanran! The one who kept pestering your girlfriend back when you two were dating! The heiress of the Ai family in the capital, the one who drove you and Yin Ruolan out of the capital and then hunted you down. Have you forgotten?”

Xu Jingqiu nodded honestly. “I forgot.”

“That shouldn’t be,” Ye Shuran stroked her chin. “With your vengeful nature, how could you forget being hunted for two years? Tsk tsk tsk, truly remarkable.”

“I remember how miserable you two were back then. Even though your ex-girlfriend was also a wealthy heiress with considerable influence, she cut off all ties with her family after eloping with you. Her family not only refused to help but even exposed your location more than once. I recall you saying the longest you stayed in one place was two days, and most nights you were too scared to sleep. How could you forget all that?”

“What do you remember then? What do you still remember about your ex-girlfriend? And there’s one more important thing.”

Ye Shuran suddenly grabbed Xu Jingqiu’s shoulders and asked with rare seriousness, “When did you join the Abnormal Affairs Bureau?”

Xu Jingqiu thought for a moment, then shook her head. “I don’t remember. About her, I only remember that she abandoned me. She didn’t want me anymore.” That was all she could recall about her ex-girlfriend.

“And we knew each other before? Before I joined the Abnormal Affairs Bureau, as you said?”

Ye Shuran’s eye twitched. “We grew up together, you jerk! Is that really all you remember?”

Xu Jingqiu nodded.

Ye Shuran sighed in exasperation, mentally lighting a candle for that ex-girlfriend, though she quickly dismissed the thought since she wasn’t close to her anyway. The sudden disappearance back then had infuriated her.

Now, she was more concerned about what came next. She couldn’t stand staying here any longer. “You’ve been asleep for twenty years. What are your plans now?”

“Twenty years?” Xu Jingqiu touched her head in confusion. “I’ve been asleep for twenty years?”

Ye Shuran gave her a resentful look. “Exactly! For twenty years, I’ve been guarding you while running around investigating the Penglai forces. My workload doubled, and no one paid me extra. Plus, black smoke kept coming out of you from time to time, do you have any idea how terrifying that was?”

That black smoke was likely an Outer God attempting to devour her, but it just didn’t succeed. Now, “Can I go back? My original body is still at headquarters, right?”

Ye Shuran spread her hands helplessly. “I regret to inform you there’s both good news and bad news. The good news is that headquarters quickly noticed your anomaly, properly preserved your body, and sent me here to establish an organization affiliated with the Otherworldly Institute. The bad news is that you’re still connected to this world, so you can’t leave just yet.”

Xu Jingqiu: …

She lay back down peacefully once more, as if accepting her fate.

A quarter of an hour later, Xu Jingqiu was sitting at the table, groaning softly while clutching her head and casting a resentful glare at Ye Shuran. Under her gaze, Ye Shuran inexplicably began to feel guilty and coughed awkwardly.

“How about you first learn what’s happened in the mortal realm and the floating Penglai Island over the past twenty years?”

Xu Jingqiu didn’t respond, knowing full well that the other would continue talking regardless.

Seeing that Xu Jingqiu showed no intention of replying after a couple of seconds, Ye Shuran went on, “You know what? Right after you ‘proved your Dao through death,’ Penglai, led by the Divine Maiden, wiped out the evil gods in one fell swoop, leaving only a few minor minions for the mortal sects to deal with. And guess what happened the very next day?”

Ye Shuran grew more and more animated as she spoke, gesturing excitedly and vividly recounting the entire campaign as if she had witnessed it firsthand. She ended with a cliffhanger, looking expectantly at Xu Jingqiu.

After hesitating for two seconds, Xu Jingqiu decided to play along. “What happened?”

“The Divine Maiden, Yin Ruolan, slaughtered her way through Penglai. Almost all of the Celestial Venerable’s faction were killed, leaving only the Celestial Venerable himself imprisoned.”

“Then, the following year, Ai Yanran joined Penglai, becoming the last person from the mortal realm to ascend to the island. She rescued the Celestial Venerable, and the two teamed up to try and ‘bring Yin Ruolan back to the righteous path.’ But instead, Yin Ruolan fell into demonic cultivation, fought her way out of Penglai, and descended to the demon realm, becoming the new Demon Sovereign.”

Xu Jingqiu’s movements paused, a breath caught in her throat as she forgot to exhale. “You’re saying Yin Ruolan turned to demonic cultivation?”

Although she had considered the possibility that Yin Ruolan might rebel against the plot and not follow its predetermined path, no one had told her the storyline would deviate this drastically. The Divine Maiden fallen to become the Demon Sovereign.

“That’s, a bit unexpected,” Xu Jingqiu admitted frankly.

Ye Shuran, however, held the opposite view. “I actually think it was to be expected. After all, she truly loved you so much so that she was willing to forsake the Dao she had pursued her entire life for your sake. You probably don’t know this, but she destroyed her Path of Emotionlessness and switched to cultivating the Path of Asura.”

“All these years, she’s been trying to resurrect you. See? It’s happening now.”

Ye Shuran pointed at the silver vortex behind Xu Jingqiu, from which golden chains extended, tightly wrapping around Xu Jingqiu’s soul and pulling her toward the vortex.

Xu Jingqiu looked at Ye Shuran, frowning slightly, her eyes filled with inquiry and confusion.

Ye Shuran waved at her with a smile. “See you later~ Ah, I need to wake up too. It’s time, there’s still so much to do.”

The last thing Xu Jingqiu saw was tree branches bursting through the ground, enveloping Ye Shuran before retreating back underground. Then, she lost consciousness once more.

When she opened her eyes again, the first thing she saw was the familiar ceiling, followed immediately by a biting chill that made her sneeze violently. Someone outside noticed she had awakened and hurriedly lifted her out, placing her on the bed and wrapping her tightly in a thick quilt.

Xu Jingqiu glanced around her surroundings. The layout was almost identical to the bedroom in the small courtyard where she had once lived, but the spiritual energy here was exceptionally abundant. Standing before her was Yin Ruolan.

She had been reborn or more accurately, Yin Ruolan had summoned her soul back, binding it with the Chains of Divine Restraint and forcibly reconnecting it to her body.

Yin Ruolan never expected this forbidden technique to actually succeed.

For this resurrection ritual, she had prepared for twenty years. Neither the forbidden arts of Penglai nor the secret techniques of the demon race could perfectly revive her Xiao Qiu. Worse, they risked summoning someone else entirely, severing any chance of Xu Jingqiu’s return.

So, she chose to create her own forbidden technique abandoning her Path of Emotionless Ascension to cultivate the Path of Asura instead, for only the Path of Asura could bridge life and death.

Fortunately, she had secretly formed a soulmate contract with Xu Jingqiu before, and she had also retrieved the Chains of Divine Restraint and various rare spiritual treasures from the former Demon Lord’s vault. Only after confirming every step was flawless did, she dare begin the resurrection ritual.

But in the end, she succeeded. She truly broke through the constraints of the Heavenly Dao and brought her Xiao Qiu back to the world of the living.

Her Xiao Qiu had truly returned not some imposter wearing her face. Were it not for the connection she felt through their soulmate contract, she would have thought this was yet another beautiful dream.

“Finally, it worked.”

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