After My Death, the Female Lead Breaks the Heartless Path - Chapter 47

Xu Jingqiu sat in the chair for a while, waiting for her pitch-black vision to return to normal, the ringing in her ears to finally fade, and the sharp pain in her head to subside.

“Have some water to calm down,” Ye Shuran said, handing her a cup while looking at her with concern.

Xu Jingqiu snapped back to reality and stiffly took the cup, nearly dropping it. Ye Shuran quickly caught it before it could spill. “Thank you,” Xu Jingqiu said.

Ye Shuran didn’t know what else to say. She knew that trying to dissuade Xu Jingqiu was pointless once she made up her mind, not even ten oxen could pull her back. Even if she disagreed, all she could do was support her. “How are you feeling now?” she asked.

Xu Jingqiu carefully set the cup down and sighed in relief when she succeeded. She stood up and stretched. “I’m probably fine now. It won’t happen again.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Ye Shuran gave her a sharp knock on the head. “You still want there to be a next time? Don’t even think about it, understand? Do you have any idea how reckless you were? What if something happened to you?”

Xu Jingqiu covered her head and took a step back, muttering softly, “But we’re in the lab, and there are so many treatment pods here. If we were somewhere else, I definitely wouldn’t. Okay, okay! No next time, no next time!”

Ye Shuran waved her fist threateningly, then looked at Xu Jingqiu with a complicated expression. “You’ve changed again, just like when we first met.”

Xu Jingqiu wasn’t sure what Ye Shuran was thinking about but nodded in agreement. “Maybe it’s because my memories have been restored? Even the older ones are back. The memory chip was enhanced by our senior, and it contains all my memories.”

“I also made a copy of the memory chip. It should make things easier in the future.”

Ye Shuran was surprised to learn that Zero had a hand in this and couldn’t help but admire the first generation’s capabilities. Still, she couldn’t shake her worry and leaned in closer. “Are you really okay? Do you realize how risky this was? Is something else going on that’s making you so anxious?”

Xu Jingqiu nodded. “Yes, we don’t have much room to maneuver. This world is a mess, and we’re going to face more than just two enemies. I need to be in peak condition to handle it.”

Ye Shuran froze, her voice trembling slightly when she spoke again. “Huh? More than two?” She regretted it now, truly regretted it!

Xu Jingqiu looked at her apologetically and stepped forward to pat her shoulder. “I’m sorry.” She knew very well that if it weren’t for their relationship, Ye Shuran would never have been assigned here. In essence, she had dragged her into this.

Ye Shuran waved her hand weakly. “Why are you apologizing? It’s not like you wanted to come here. The real culprits are those outer gods. Should we head back now?”

Although the thought of facing Yin Ruolan made Xu Jingqiu instinctively want to avoid returning, the matters in the demon realm couldn’t be delayed. She nodded. “Yeah, let’s go. I’ll pack this place up. It won’t exist after this. Did you keep my room at Tianzhi?”

Ye Shuran gave her a thumbs-up. “Of course, don’t worry about that.”

Xu Jingqiu nodded, leaning one hand against the wall as she closed her eyes to begin her analysis. Soon, the entire room began to glow, then dissolved into particles and vanished, leaving them standing before the stone stele. When Xu Jingqiu opened her eyes, the stele had disappeared.

As for the books here, most of them were related to this place. Since she had already read them, there was no need to take them along, so she decided to leave them behind.

On the way back, Ye Shuran was driving while Xu Jingqiu sat in the passenger seat, her expression calm as she gazed out the window. However, during brief moments while driving, Ye Shuran would glance over and notice Xu Jingqiu’s vacant, distant stare.

Even though she said nothing and pretended everything was fine, it was clear she was deeply troubled yet unsure how to handle it, this was just like her.

After noticing that Xu Jingqiu hadn’t moved a muscle for two hours, Ye Shuran sighed in resignation, activated the autopilot mode, and turned to Xu Jingqiu. “How about we talk?”

Xu Jingqiu snapped out of her thoughts and instinctively replied, “Huh? I wasn’t thinking about her, I was just considering how to proceed with the sealing.” Only after speaking did she realize Ye Shuran hadn’t even mentioned Yin Ruolan.

Xu Jingqiu: …
Ye Shuran: …

“Oh? So you admit it yourself?” Ye Shuran sneered, staring intently at Xu Jingqiu.

After a long silence, Xu Jingqiu wavered between admitting the truth and stubbornly denying it and ultimately chose the latter. “You misheard.”

Misheard? That response only fueled Ye Shuran’s determination. “Alright, let’s hash this out. How many times have I heard that line? Isn’t this just like you? You care so much inside, but your mouth is harder than stone stubborn to the core.”

“Let me remind you: back in high school, when you were in charge of collecting money for the class and got framed after it was stolen, I asked you, and you stubbornly refused to say a word. Bullied? Not a word. Your wages taken by relatives? Not a word. And that crush, mmmph!”

Xu Jingqiu expressionlessly covered Ye Shuran’s mouth. “Alright, I get it. No need to say more.”

How does this person remember everything? Things from so long ago?

Ye Shuran shot her a glare and pried her hand away. “Fine, fine, let’s drop it. Tell me, and I’ll help you figure it out.”

Xu Jingqiu unconsciously lowered her head, her hands fidgeting nervously. “I… it’s really nothing, is it? I just don’t know what to do next. What if Yin Ruolan doesn’t remember those things? And what if she does?”

Ye Shuran felt she couldn’t provide a definitive answer to that question right away. Not being directly involved, she didn’t feel qualified to judge. After a long pause, she suddenly reached out and pinched Xu Jingqiu’s cheek, just like she used to.

Xu Jingqiu was startled and looked at her in confusion.

Ye Shuran smiled softly and said, “I’m not in your position, so I can’t make any decisions for you. For this, you just need to follow your heart. No matter what happens, I’ll always stand by your side.”

Xu Jingqiu was taken aback for a moment, then smiled as well. “Okay.”

For the rest of the journey, Xu Jingqiu fell asleep. Considering how much energy she had expended during their trip, Ye Shuran didn’t wake her. Instead, she closed the window, turned on the air conditioner, and set it to a gentle breeze.

Even in her sleep, Xu Jingqiu remained restless, her brow furrowed. Ye Shuran reached out and smoothed it, sighing softly.

It felt like just a blink of an eye, yet it made her hallucinate the past, the days when Xu Jingqiu lived with her hands and feet tied.

Given their vastly different statuses, they should never have met. But by chance, during a period of whimsy, she decided to sponsor someone’s education and happened to choose Xu Jingqiu.

Their acquaintance began because she grew curious. She wanted to understand how someone could wear a smiling face for others, seemingly capable of soothing all complaints, yet be so deeply disillusioned with life, uninterested in anything.

She wanted to change that situation, so she transferred into Xu Jingqiu’s class and only then learned how dire her life truly was.

Burdened with baseless malice from her parents, isolated and helpless, enduring relentless bullying from her classmates without reason, without a single person to confide in. At home, relatives leeched off her, taking half the money she earned from part-time jobs, leaving her struggling to survive.

If she hadn’t met Ye Shuran, she might have truly dropped out of school.

Ye Shuran wanted to change this, so she drove away the parasitic relatives, stood up for Xu Jingqiu in front of the class, making it clear that Xu Jingqiu had someone to back her up.

In the end, her efforts weren’t in vain. Xu Jingqiu gradually became less disillusioned, regaining some vitality.

And the emergence of hope came with the appearance of Yin Ruolan.

As a friend, she was happy, yet also somewhat worried, given the vast disparity in their backgrounds. But in the end, she gave her approval, and Ye Shuran said nothing more until Yin Ruolan vanished, Xu Jingqiu lost her memory, and everything spiraled down the worst possible path.

Just as they were nearing the demon realm, Ye Shuran slammed on the brakes, jolting Xu Jingqiu awake. Dazed, Xu Jingqiu looked over and immediately snapped to attention upon seeing the person in front of the vehicle.

The man in front of the car was also terrified by the metal contraption, collapsing to the ground and unable to get up for a long while.

Ye Shuran initially waited patiently, but when the man remained seated, glaring at them with a sinister expression and muttering incomprehensible curses under his breath, her patience ran out. Without hesitation, she pressed the horn right in his face.

Qu Tao was initially furious that this unknown thing hadn’t swerved to avoid him and hadn’t even bothered to help him up after he fell, just sitting there instead.

“A tiger fallen on hard times bullied by dogs” wasn’t that exactly his situation? Once he got up, he’d make these two pay.

But before he could invoke his senior’s authority to retaliate, an ear-splitting blast nearly deafened him. Staggering to his feet, he watched as the metal box swerved around him and sped off.

“Ugh, what kind of person is that? He darts out in front of us, then just sits there cursing at me? I didn’t even hit him that’s how fast I reacted. What’s his problem?” Ye Shuran grumbled as she drove toward the demon palace.

Watching the small black dot disappear in the rearview mirror, Xu Jingqiu withdrew her gaze. Seeing that Ye Shuran was still ranting without a clue, she reminded her, “That man is probably the leader of the resistance.”

Only then did Ye Shuran recall the information she’d seen before, suddenly enlightened. “No wonder he didn’t look like a good person. How did you know? Have you met him before?”

“No,” Xu Jingqiu replied calmly, dropping a bombshell. “He carries the aura of an outer god.”

Ye Shuran was about to ask something more when the figure of Yin Ruolan appearing ahead caught her attention: “She’s here.”

Xu Jingqiu looked up, her eyes meeting Yin Ruolan’s, yet she showed no reaction. It was only after a long moment, when the car came to a stop, that she finally responded.

“Yeah, I see her.”

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