Did I Succeed in Redeeming the Villain Today? - Chapter 87

Chapter 87: [Connection Failed, Matching You With A New…]

At this moment, Lu Ning didn’t yet understand what “consuming all energy” truly meant.

However, looking at the casualty data predicted by the system, she saw that besides Wutong’s certain death, countless others would be injured—especially Li Xiang and Pei Yinyue, one crippled and one critically wounded.

How could Lu Ning allow such a thing to happen?

Without hesitation, she pressed the button in the prompt: [Yes].

Tires screeched against the pavement, a sharp, ear-piercing sound. In the split second everyone realized the horror was unfolding, time seemed to slow down, magnifying the terror on their faces.

No one noticed the brave little cat standing firmly in front of her mistress, and no one saw the defensive barrier expanding from her body.

Except for Wutong.

She felt the time around her noticeably sluggish; a crystal-blue barrier was reflected in her pupils. That black kitten stood resolutely before her, determined to block the car speeding toward them.

An ominous premonition rose in Wutong’s heart: “No.”

“No, A-Ning!” she repeated, shaking her head and rushing forward to stop Lu Ning.

But as Wutong’s fingers were about to touch Lu Ning, she was burned by the energy leaking from her body. The kitten’s soft body was like an overloaded processor; every strand of fur was coated in a searing heat, emitting white steam into the winter air.

Wutong froze, and so did Lu Ning. Seeing the white mist rising from her own body, Lu Ning finally understood the meaning of the system prompt. That was her burning system energy—her life force draining away.

But I’m a system, she thought. I shouldn’t be able to die, right?

The kitten’s tail brushed the ground. Lu Ning wavered for a moment. But looking at the system screen showing the car’s trajectory, she focused her energy to continue altering the path of the vehicle.

Forget about dying. If she didn’t do this, it wouldn’t just be her who died!

Lu Ning firmly protected the person behind her—the version of Mu Qiuyu targeted by Su Qinghang—until the system showed the car’s trajectory had completely changed.

Until the system showed energy depletion.

Thump… thump, thump!

Her weakening heart beat erratically, knocking against her chest in a messy rhythm. It made her chest feel tight, filled with a sense of reluctance.

“Tongtong…” Lu Ning found her vision darkening. Fearing and unwilling to let go, she turned her head to look at Wutong. It felt as if every extra second she looked was a second less of regret.

“Sorry.”

Wutong thought Lu Ning was apologizing for the energy burn on her hand and shook her head quickly. But before the words “It’s okay” could leave her mouth, she saw the crystal-blue eyes of the kitten slowly dimming, turning into a dull pale gold under the fluorescent lights.

CRASH!

Suddenly, the barrier Lu Ning had maintained shattered. The car that had been intentionally aimed at the snack stall veered off in a bizarre direction, missing everyone and slamming straight into a roadside tree.

The wind swirled fallen leaves, making a brittle sound. Wutong was unharmed. Li Xiang and Pei Yinyue were uninjured.

Only the little cat who had stood before her mistress… was thrown back by the force of the redirected momentum.

Instantly, Lu Ning felt a surge of real, physical pain. The light before her eyes turned chaotic; the world spun. The fluorescent lights of the snack stall were excessively bright, stretching into halos in her vision.

The rough asphalt of the road scraped against her body, skinning her arms and knees. Pain surged from every direction—not just her skin; she felt as if her ribs were breaking. She instinctively curled into a ball, but in the confusion, she couldn’t feel her tail.

Strictly speaking, winter air shouldn’t be so humid. Yet, Lu Ning smelled the scent of alcohol. This made her feel deeply uneasy. She forced her eyes open, looking for Wutong for a sense of security.

However, the fluorescent lights of the snack stall now stretched down an entire street. Insects were chirping in a summer night. Lu Ning lay on the ground, staring at a world shrouded in darkness. She didn’t see Wutong; instead, another familiar figure was running toward her in a panic.

Who is it…

“Xiao Ning! Are you okay?!”

The frantic face entered Lu Ning’s sight, causing her to freeze.

“…Xiao Xiao?”

Lu Ning struggled to call out the name. Her blurred vision seemed to match the street outside the bar she had left before coming to this world.

But before Lu Ning could react, it was as if someone had cut the power. Her vision plunged into darkness.

Drip, drip.

The familiar sound of dripping water woke Lu Ning. She sat up from the ground. Before her was the familiar pitch-black void. She had returned to the world controlled by the system.

So, I didn’t return to my original world?

Realizing this, Lu Ning’s furrowed brows relaxed slightly. As long as she wasn’t truly back in the original world, it was okay. Perhaps she was just “broken” by the crash, resulting in a data connection error.

Just as this thought crossed her mind, a beam of white light shone in her vision. A little girl walked into view, her pace steady. Wherever she walked, the path lit up.

The little girl soon reached Lu Ning. She recognized this face—it was a scaled-down version of Mu Qiuyu as a child.

“Hello,” the little girl stood before Lu Ning and greeted her politely.

“Hello,” Lu Ning’s eyes naturally curved into a smile. In this mode of interaction with “Little Mu Qiuyu,” Lu Ning felt an instinctive familiarity. Not just because she had seen her here before, but because she felt as if she had “picked up” a girl like this during her own high school days.

“Tongtong, are you lost again?” Lu Ning asked.

She spoke familiarly to Little Mu Qiuyu, yet her eyes held confusion. This wasn’t a conscious thought; it was an instinctive, involuntary question.

Hearing the question, Little Mu Qiuyu shook her head. Her round pupils were darker than the night, staring at Lu Ning with deep seriousness: “It is A-Ning who is lost.”

“Me?” Lu Ning was puzzled.

Little Mu Qiuyu nodded, then reached out her small hand: “Does A-Ning want to go back with me?”

Lu Ning instinctively thought she meant going back to Mu Qiuyu’s world and nodded without hesitation: “Of course. Tongtong, take me back.”

With that, Lu Ning reached out. The girl’s well-defined fingers wrapped around the child’s soft hand. It felt as if, a long time ago, she had held this hand the same way to lead her home.

The winter night was so cold it felt as if the entire world was frozen. Streetlights stood quietly along the dark road. Just as everything was about to fall into slumber, a mess of footsteps disturbed the silence.

The accident at the school gate only made the local news for a few minutes before fading away because there were no casualties. Many who saw the news thought it was a miracle; the report stated the car, which should have plowed into the crowd, was diverted by a “mysterious force” and hit a tree at a bizarre angle.

The snack stall was intact. The students eating there were unharmed. Only a stray black cat passing by had died.

[Connection failed. Matching a new system for you…]

[Connection failed. Matching a new system for you…]

[Connection failed. Matching a new system for you…]

The mechanical voice of the system repeated endlessly in Mu Qiuyu’s ear. Streetlights flickered past her profile; her somber eyes seemed to hold the entire night within them. Mu Qiuyu’s expression was unprecedentedly grim; even the winter wind seemed to recoil.

If the system connection failed, she would reconnect. For every failure, she tried again. Why should she accept the system’s “re-matching”? Her system wasn’t dead.

Her eyes were filled with obsession. If the car couldn’t reach the pet hospital, she would walk. Until she saw Lu Ning with her own eyes, she wouldn’t believe anyone.

“Mu Qiuyu.”

As she walked toward the hospital in thin stilettos, a voice came from the darkness. She stopped instantly and looked toward the sound. The streetlights couldn’t reach the deep alley, but a figure was faintly outlined in the gloom.

Wutong stood there, holding something in her arms. It was a dark, limp body. The tail that was once fluffy and energetic now hung lifelessly over the girl’s arm.

Mu Qiuyu had never found the color black so piercing. She walked over to Wutong and immediately grabbed her by the throat.

“What did you do?! Why is she like this?! Why can’t I contact her?!”

Every question was heavy with suppressed rage. She tried to control herself, but Wutong was choked and struggled for breath. Physiological tears welled in Wutong’s eyes as she gasped out: “I… I can’t contact A-Ning either.”

It was too dark to see clearly, but Mu Qiuyu could see Wutong wearing her own face, looking tormented. The ferocity in Mu Qiuyu’s eyes flickered with a brief pang of pain. She restrained her strength and demanded: “Did you promise me? Did you say you would protect her? Is this the result of your protection?”

“I’m sorry… I didn’t think this would happen.” Wutong held the cat’s body, tears finally overflowing.

The winter stripped away all warmth. Wutong’s tears fell on the back of Mu Qiuyu’s hand, icy cold. Those were Wutong’s tears, but they were also Mu Qiuyu’s. Every question Mu Qiuyu asked Wutong was a question she was asking herself.

How could she have left Lu Ning to Wutong? Why didn’t she keep her by her side, even if it meant carrying her in her pocket as a ball or a hedgehog? She had always known no one was reliable—why did she believe in Wutong? Why did she believe in herself?

In the cold night, a puff of white mist escaped Mu Qiuyu’s lips. She loosened her grip on Wutong’s neck and commanded coldly: “Take me to the inner world.”

Wutong was surprised: “What are you going to do there?”

“I’m going to find her,” Mu Qiuyu said firmly.

“But… A-Ning isn’t in the inner world.” Wutong looked at Mu Qiuyu and spoke the difficult truth: “…A-Ning seems to have disappeared.”

That was not the answer Mu Qiuyu wanted. Hearing this, she tightened her grip again: “Shut up!”

Obsession flooded Mu Qiuyu’s eyes. She stubbornly rejected any evidence that Lu Ning was gone. It was as if, as long as no one spoke the words, what had happened didn’t exist.

“I—I’ll shut up…” Survival instinct made Wutong struggle against Mu Qiuyu’s wrist. “But can you please calm down!”

“What right do you have to ask that of me?” Mu Qiuyu looked at Wutong coldly. Her eyes appeared calm, but they were actually redder than Wutong’s.

She could not accept the fact that Lu Ning was gone. Mu Qiuyu couldn’t understand—it was just a car accident, how could Lu Ning disappear? Back at the abandoned factory, she had been so severely injured, hovering between life and death, yet she had returned to health in an instant. The cat was just a “shell” for Lu Ning. If she wanted, she could give her ten thousand identical shells.

She is a system. Systems don’t die.

These two sentences were Mu Qiuyu’s lifebuoys. She clung to them tightly, refusing to believe anything else. She even began to think, in her paranoia, that Wutong had hidden Lu Ning in the inner world to possess her alone—after all, she had done that before.

But what Mu Qiuyu refused to admit was that she didn’t feel any of the “pleasure” from Wutong this time. Because they were two sides of the same coin, she could feel Wutong’s heart, and Wutong could feel hers. Wutong knew this person was on the verge of a breakdown.

The world was too cruel to Mu Qiuyu. She hadn’t even seen Lu Ning for a final time; how could she accept this? Similarly, Wutong clung to the last shred of hope. Since Lu Ning hadn’t said goodbye to Mu Qiuyu, she couldn’t count as having left! How could she leave without a word again?

Looking at the motionless cat in her arms, Wutong’s eyes filled with tears again. She looked at the Mu Qiuyu standing before her and felt that leaving her alone in the real world might not be the best choice.

Thus, Wutong opened the passage from the inner world to the real world. She carefully held the cat’s body and said to Mu Qiuyu: “I’ll wait for you in the inner world. I hope you can find A-Ning.”

The cold wind echoed in the empty night as Wutong’s body became transparent and vanished in the alley. The path to the inner world opened for Mu Qiuyu, the bright white light carrying an aura of danger. Entering a forward passage in reverse caused the once peaceful environment to become distorted and savage.

As soon as Mu Qiuyu stepped into the passage, she felt herself bound by something. Countless data streams seemed to emerge from the white light, pulling at her and warning her, trying to prevent her from reaching the inner world.

But the more it resisted, the stronger Mu Qiuyu’s defiance grew. She ignored everything, letting the light pull into threads that sliced her arms; even as blood welled up, she didn’t look back. If Lu Ning had made a choice that caused her agonizing pain just to protect her, she would do the same.

She had to find Lu Ning. Even if she arrived covered in scars and was scolded by Lu Ning for it, she had to find her.

Mu Qiuyu fought the system with stubbornness, yet she wrapped her heart in softness. She realized she had indeed changed. But all the credit went to Lu Ning. Without Lu Ning, nothing would have meaning.

The weakness Mu Qiuyu had realized finally pierced her own heart. With this thought, she used all her strength to reach the end of the passage. At the end of the corridor stood a door that looked beautiful just to behold. A golden handle was set into a white frame, like the ending of a fairy tale—as if once the door opened, a wonderful world would await.

Mu Qiuyu stood before the door and tidied her appearance. She didn’t want to look so pathetic when she saw Lu Ning, or the girl would scold her again. At the thought of this, Mu Qiuyu smiled. Her heart always made an exception for Lu Ning.

As she wondered how to hide the cuts on her wrists from Lu Ning, she noticed the skin sliced by the white light was healing itself. This was her world; of course, it helped her unconditionally.

After a night of high tension, she had finally found one good thing. It made her feel that from then on, nothing bad would happen. Lu Ning must be waiting inside.

With this thought, Mu Qiuyu pushed open the door with a tense expression. A gentle breeze rushed toward her, as if to soothe her hardships. In this boundless world, poppies were blooming quietly. The sunset seemed permanently frozen here; the continuous red was intense and brilliant.

Mu Qiuyu stood at the entrance and instantly remembered the photos Lu Ning had shown her. Seeing it in person was even more breathtaking. She took the first step into the sea of flowers.

The world was bustling yet empty. She thought she would see Lu Ning here. And indeed, the shadows of Lu Ning were everywhere in this world.

But there was no Lu Ning.

“Did you find her?”

The girl’s voice was gentle and calm, blowing past like a breeze. Wutong walked through the fields of flowers from deep within the inner world toward Mu Qiuyu.

The question stung Mu Qiuyu’s nerves. She turned aggressively to look at Wutong, only to see a bloody chain around Wutong’s ankle. Wutong noticed her gaze, lifted her skirt, and showed her: “This is the connection between us.”

Mu Qiuyu wasn’t interested. She only asked coldly: “Where did you hide her?”

This wasn’t the first time Mu Qiuyu had asked. And it wasn’t the first time Wutong had calmly told her: “I didn’t hide her.”

“The time before when I couldn’t connect to her, wasn’t that your doing?” Mu Qiuyu gripped her “lifebuoy,” nearly losing her mind.

“That was because I felt a signal, so I blocked it,” Wutong explained, her eyes filling with sorrow. “But now I can’t feel that signal anymore. It’s as if…”

“It’s as it was before she came.” Wutong spoke her true feeling with difficulty.

Mu Qiuyu still didn’t believe it. Or rather, in her obsession, she refused to believe it. “Don’t act in front of me,” she hissed.

“She is your system. You know her status better than I do,” Wutong countered. While Mu Qiuyu was desperately suppressing her logic, Wutong had inherited her calmness. “Calm down. Isn’t your mission still unfinished?”

Hearing this, Mu Qiuyu turned silently to look at the endless poppies. The sea of flowers was vast; it felt as if at any moment, Lu Ning would suddenly appear, smiling and telling her that she and Wutong had both been tricked.

But the world remained quiet. So quiet it felt desolate.

“I saw myself in A-Ning’s future. Since that hasn’t happened yet, it’s impossible for her to disappear from my world,” Mu Qiuyu murmured, her heart shattered. Why hadn’t the future predicted by the system come true? Was it just a mirage given to someone walking in the desert?

Mu Qiuyu felt she was about to lose her grip on reality. She could no longer convince herself that Lu Ning hadn’t truly left her.

It was then that the system, which had been silent, finally reacted. A familiar prompt jumped into her vision: [You have a system message. Do you wish to open it?]

Mu Qiuyu’s eyes lit up instantly. She clicked to open it. Crystal-blue characters drifted out, forming lines of text in the air. Lu Ning’s time seemed hurried; the content looked like it had been written in a rush, with irregular formatting.

Tongtong, I’m so sorry I couldn’t see you one last time. To protect everyone, my system energy has been exhausted. I don’t regret my decision, I’m just worried about you. While you avenge your mother, please avenge me too.

I will meet you again, but until then, please accept this prompt box as your temporary system. It will take over for me and help you complete the remaining tasks.

Reading this, Mu Qiuyu somehow couldn’t reconcile the content with the Lu Ning she knew. Before she could process it, the prompt box Lu Ning mentioned jumped out joyfully: [Hello, Host! Until 60 returns, Prompt Box No. 1116 will be at your service.]

Mu Qiuyu looked at the prompt. She didn’t recall prompts having numbers. But her current mind couldn’t handle complex thoughts; she desperately asked: “Where is Lu Ning?”

The temporary system prompt soon gave her an answer. A piercing answer.

[According to preliminary system determination, System No. 60: Deceased.]

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