After the Second Playthrough, the CP-Less Female Lead Kneels and Begs Me for Forgiveness [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 40

“I’ve always felt like I never told you, but I actually think the name ‘Xibei’ (Joy-Sorrow) is a bit strange. What kind of parents would choose such a name?”

Pei Xi spoke incessantly, even though there was no response.

As the sunset faded, a campfire crackled inside the mountain cave, the flames flickering and dancing. Pei Xi was boiling water using an iron basin she had scavenged from the riverbank. Usually, she boiled hot water to wipe down Shao Xibei’s body or to brew some broth.

Today, she took a few fish she had caught and turned them into soup. She mixed finely shredded fish meat into the liquid and fed it to her, just enough to keep a lingering thread of life in her body.

Pei Xi knew that staying here forever wasn’t an option; she had to take Shao Xibei to a town to find a physician.

After feeding Shao Xibei the fish soup and finishing the leftovers herself, Pei Xi picked up the iron basin, intending to return to the creek to fetch more water for the evening wash.

The moon had already risen, and night shrouded the dense forest. Pei Xi walked alone through the woods, accompanied by the intermittent howls of wild beasts and the constant rustling of the undergrowth.

She had long since grown used to this.

Drinking animal blood and eating raw meat had become her reality. Yet, she felt she had never lived so freely as she did now. If only Sister Shao would wake up, they could live in these deep mountains forever, just like… a “celestial couple” in a storybook.

At that thought, Pei Xi shook her head. How could two women be that? At most, she and Sister Shao would be “celestial sisters.”

Squatting by the creek, Pei Xi filled the basin to the brim, ready to head back.

However, her luck seemed to have run out. A dark shadow suddenly flashed through the bushes nearby. Under the moonlight, Pei Xi saw it—it was a wolf.

The wolf seemed surprised to encounter a human here. Its vertical pupils glowed green, and it let out a menacing growl, baring sharp, jagged fangs to warn the intruder.

Pei Xi’s expression remained unchanged. She noticed the wolf’s belly and front leg were injured; its leg trembled as it struggled to stand. Blood dripped steadily onto the ground, soaking into the mud. It appeared to be a young, sub-adult wolf on the run.

Just as she suspected, several more dark shadows emerged from behind the wolf. Sensing them, the wolf immediately turned and snarled at the newcomers.

Pei Xi looked over. In the moonlight, the silhouettes revealed themselves to be hyenas.

The hyenas spotted Pei Xi as well. Two of them broke away and began to circle her, clearly intending to slaughter both her and the wolf.

Surrounded, Pei Xi set down the iron basin and drew a stone shard from her waist. This stone had been polished until it was exceptionally sharp, usually used for butchering meat.

The wolf had already begun a desperate struggle with the hyenas, but a wounded, young wolf was no match for a pack. Within moments, its abdomen and limbs were covered in fresh bite wounds.

The two hyenas circling Pei Xi lunged at her with jaws agape.

Pei Xi held the stone shard and, manipulating it with spiritual energy, sent the stone flying. With lightning speed, it tore through the bellies of both hyenas. They collapsed instantly.

The death of their pack mates drew the attention of the remaining hyenas. They ceased their attack on the wolf and turned toward Pei Xi, their eyes burning with fury.

Pei Xi’s expression remained cold. Her pale pupils began to glow with an eerie blue light in the darkness. The stone shard seemed to gain a mind of its own, darting through the air and slicing the throats of the surrounding hyenas one by one.

In a heartbeat, they were all dead.

The wolf witnessed everything. As Pei Xi began to walk toward it, it let out a low, threatening growl. Though not fully grown, it was nearly half as tall as Pei Xi.

Its injuries made escape impossible. As the wolf stared into those glowing blue eyes, its legs slowly gave way, and it knelt. It lowered its blood-stained head, perhaps realizing its situation and choosing to submit.

Pei Xi looked down at the wolf as it whimpered.

“You’re in my way,” she said, indifferent to whether it understood her.

She walked around the creature and headed back; she had already spent too much time away.

Seeing her leave, the little wolf did not run away. Instead, it stumbled and followed her. Perhaps it understood that staying in the woods alone meant death, and its only hope was to follow this human.

Pei Xi returned to the cave with the water, the wolf following close behind. It paced at the entrance, hesitant to enter, and finally curled up at the mouth of the cave to lick its wounds.

Pei Xi noticed but ignored it. Her priority was heating the water to clean Shao Xibei’s body.

By the flickering firelight, Pei Xi lifted Shao Xibei’s clothing and used a warm, damp cloth to carefully wipe her skin. Looking at the body that had withered away until only ribs remained, her heart filled with nothing but ache and sorrow.

After finishing, Pei Xi gently adjusted the clothes and leaned her head against Shao Xibei’s chest.

The tears she had held back during countless nights of staring at the sky finally fell, soaking into Shao Xibei’s garment.

“Please, wake up. I don’t know how much longer I can hold on.”

Perhaps the heavens finally heard her plea.

Suddenly, a faint sound drifted down from above her head.

“…Pei… Xi.”

Pei Xi’s soul shuddered. Her hands began to tremble as she slowly lifted her head to look up.

She locked eyes with Shao Xibei’s half-opened gaze.

In that moment, Pei Xi couldn’t describe the emotions surging within her; the overwhelming mix of feelings eventually transformed into a fresh flood of tears. She grasped Shao Xibei’s hand, pressed her cheek against it, and sobbed uncontrollably, weeping like a small child.

Her voice trembled as she spoke: “Sister… Shao, you’re finally… awake… sob…”

Shao Xibei wanted to reach out and stroke Pei Xi’s head, but she was completely unable to move. She could only muster the strength to offer a comforting smile: “Don’t cry.”

Perhaps because Pei Xi had faithfully fed her broth every day, Shao Xibei’s voice wasn’t raspy; her words were still clear. However, her period of lucidity was brief. Within seconds, she lost consciousness once more.

Pei Xi gripped Shao Xibei’s hand tightly, the moment feeling almost like a hallucination. Yet, she was absolutely certain it had been real. She held that warm, slender hand, not daring to apply too much pressure.

“Next time… look at me a bit longer,” she whispered. I’m already taller than you now.

……

Total darkness. With her eyes closed, Shao Xibei felt as though she were suspended in mid-air, with nothingness beneath her. Countless memory fragments flooded her mind, making it feel as if it might explode.

At the exact moment her blood had mingled with Pei Xi’s, she had remembered everything.

Because the memories were so vast, she had remained in a deep slumber, only recently regaining consciousness. She could wake up occasionally, but each time was far too short, and she never saw anyone when she did.

She remembered everything now—including how she came to this world and what she needed to do.

Back then, she had been stabbed by Song Xin, and her soul was immediately taken away by the System. She remembered the System’s voice being fragmented and distorted at the time. It said its central core had been destroyed and it could no longer maintain its energy form. It told her it would be reincarnated in the next world and forget everything; it instructed her to ensure the reincarnated System was brought to the place where the Power of Law was strongest.

Then, it told her to have the System (who would be reincarnated as a human) use spiritual power to activate the core, which would trigger its memories. But the risk was extremely high, as both of them would lose their memories in this world. If she couldn’t identify the System, she would be trapped in this world until she died of old age, while the System would continuously reincarnate and forget, over and over again.

But they had no choice. If they didn’t leave, both she and the System would have faced total annihilation.

Fortunately, she had finally remembered everything and identified the System: it was Pei Xi.

Why didn’t the System tell me back then that our blood had to mingle to trigger the memories?

Thinking about how the usually cold and mechanical System would now obediently call her “Auntie” and cry out of grievance, Shao Xibei found it quite amusing. However, her body was likely riddled with fractures; after falling from such a height, she didn’t know when she would truly be able to get up.

I should take advantage of the situation while the System is still ‘Pei Xi.’

When Shao Xibei woke again from her stupor, it was daylight, and Pei Xi was gone. The exhaustion was slightly less than the day before—or rather, her body was recovering day by day. She tried to mobilize the spiritual energy in her body to check her injuries, but she was still too weak.

Suddenly, a furry face leaned in close to hers.

Shao Xibei nearly fainted from the shock. It was a wolf! In her current half-dead state, she was completely at the wolf’s mercy.

Pei Xi, come back quickly!

The wolf’s muzzle moved closer and closer, and Shao Xibei nearly stopped breathing. However, the wolf merely sniffed her, dropped a bunch of herbs it was carrying in its mouth beside her, and pulled its head back.

Shao Xibei let out a long, deep breath. Is this wolf being raised by Pei Xi?

Before long, her energy began to fail again, and her eyes gradually closed.

By the time Pei Xi returned carrying a rabbit, Shao Xibei was fast asleep. Pei Xi hadn’t seen the wolf from the previous night outside the cave and thought it had left, only to walk in and find it lying right next to Shao Xibei.

In that split second, Pei Xi’s heart seemed to stop.

Sensing her arrival, the wolf opened its beastly eyes and let out a soft whimper. Pei Xi looked closer and saw that Shao Xibei was still the same, unchanged. She shifted her gaze to the wolf.

The wolf quickly stood up, tucked its tail, and limped out, settling down in the same spot it had occupied the day before. Pei Xi noticed a few stalks of grass next to Shao Xibei. They had likely been brought by the wolf.

When animals are injured, they often instinctively seek out medicinal herbs to eat; they have a natural ability to distinguish which plants are helpful. Pei Xi gathered the herbs but did not give them to Shao Xibei, fearing an adverse reaction.

When Shao Xibei woke again, it was night. she saw Pei Xi sitting by the campfire.

Pei Xi was constantly watching her; the moment she saw her eyes open, she strode over immediately. This time, Pei Xi didn’t cry. Instead, she was so happy she couldn’t control her expression. It was the first time Shao Xibei had seen such a clear, genuine smile on Pei Xi’s face.

“Pei Xi, you’ve changed,” Shao Xibei said slowly. It seemed she had slept for a very, very long time.

Long enough for the little girl to grow into a young woman.

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