The little girl nodded in fear, "But I didn't mean to, I apologized to my mom."
"Does an apology mean you have to be forgiven?" Mrs. Qi smiled. "Just like my darling."
“Jiaojiao, didn’t Mom tell you to make your sister listen to you? Why is she talking back to me?” Mrs. Qi said.
Qi Jiao immediately said, "Mom, I'm sorry, I was wrong."
"But will saying sorry always be met with 'it's okay'?" Mrs. Qi said, suddenly stubbing out her still-smoking cigarette on Qi Jiao's princess dress. The smell of burning fabric filled the air instantly. Qi Jiao cried out in pain, tears streaming down her face. She wanted to scream in pain but held it back. She knelt on the ground and said, "Mom, I'm sorry."
"I should be the one apologizing to you," Mrs. Qi said. "My dear, I'm sorry, but can you tell me it's okay?"
"Mom, it's...it's okay," Qi Jiao said, sobbing.
“Jiaojiao is so strong, how could she cry?” Mrs. Qi said, pressing the still-lit cigarette butt towards the little girl again.
...
The little girl burst into tears.
"I want to go home," the little girl said.
Mrs. Qi smiled and said, "I won't think about it anymore after a while."
The voice was like a devil's whisper: "Once you behave, you can go home."
...
The dim environment receded, reversed, and spun again.
Boom—
Liang Shi suddenly opened his eyes, raised his hand to touch his forehead, and found his hand covered in cold sweat.
The rain outside was getting heavier and heavier, accompanied by thunder and lightning, and it was showing signs of a downpour.
Unbeknownst to him, Liang Shi had slept for an entire afternoon.
But this sleep felt like sleep paralysis, and I felt completely exhausted.
She opened her phone and saw only a voice message from Lingdang using Sun Meirou's account, asking if she had arrived home yet.
She replied: "I've arrived. I just took a nap."
Sun Meirou: [Are you tired from carrying the bell? I'm sorry for troubling you.]
Liang Shi: [No, Lingdang is very well-behaved; it's just that I like to sleep when I'm free.]
Sun Meirou: [Okay.]
After exchanging pleasantries with Sun Meirou for a while, the conversation finally ended.
Liang Shi pressed his head into the pillow, trying to give himself a feeling of suffocation, and then released it.
She often thinks about things in this way.
After hesitating for a moment, she found Qi Jiao's number in her contacts, took a deep breath, and dialed it.
The phone rang for a long time before the other party answered. Just like before, it was a very gentle female voice, "Hello."
"Teacher Qi, do you remember me? I'm Liang Shi." Liang Shi introduced himself. "I got your number from Rainbow last time. We even met once at kindergarten."
Qi Jiao suddenly paused, and there was a very obvious sound of her swallowing.
Even through the screen, I could hear her nervousness. "Hello, is there...is there anything I can help you with?"
"I'd like to ask you a rather personal question," Liang Shi asked. "Have you seen me before?"
Qi Jiao: "...No, no."
Her stumbles revealed a significant problem.
Liang Shi immediately pressed, "Really not? When we were very young, in a dimly lit room, you and I both experienced something similar..."
"Jiaojiao, eating is eating." A stern female voice came from behind. "Whatever it is, we can talk about it after we finish eating. Have you forgotten what your mother taught you?"
Qi Jiao said nervously, "I remember, I'll hang up right away."
He then said into the receiver, "Excuse me, I need to eat. Let's talk on Monday."
After saying that, he hung up the phone.
Liang Shi stared at his phone, lost in thought.
Qi Jiao... she should remember those things from her childhood, right?
The main problem was that the feelings in the dream were so real, so real that it felt like they were being kicked and burned.
Those pains seemed to be the same ones she had experienced before.
This wasn't the first time she had received memories of the original owner. She had always viewed the events of the previous sacrificial ceremony, including the stories and experiences between Zhou Yi'an and Xu Qingzhu, from an outsider's perspective. She had never felt such a strong sense of immersion and empathy before.
Even that frightening room.
It was limited to fear.
But Mrs. Qi terrified her; just hearing her voice sent chills down her spine.
Liang Shi sent Qi Jiao a text message: 【See you Monday, Teacher Qi.】
She still needs to figure this out, and Qi Jiao is the best breakthrough point.
Just after sending the text message, that familiar mechanical voice entered her mind: [Ding-dong! Congratulations, host, for completing the additional task: Do crafts with Xu Qingzhu. Little Tong is very pleased this time, but unfortunately, the host failed to complete the task of accumulating 60 luck points in a short period, which would have been a bonus of five luck points. But...but...but...host, you were really close! You were just a hair's breadth away from victory, sigh. However, compared to before, it's still a big improvement.]
[Because you completed the bonus task, your bad luck value has now reached zero, and your luck value has accumulated to 54. The reward of 49,999 yuan has been deposited into your account. Please check your account. PS: In less than a month, you've already accumulated half of your luck value! We're proud of you! If only you could have progressed a little faster!]
Liang Shi: "..."
She's making good progress!
[Ding! Due to your excellent performance, you have been granted one opportunity to ask Xiao Tong a question. Don't miss this chance!]
Without a second thought, Liang Shi asked directly, "Did I come here when I was a child? Why do I feel so familiar with Mrs. Qi?"
system:【……】
After a two-second silence, the eerie mechanical voice said: [Sorry, host, heavenly secrets cannot be revealed.]
Liang Shi: "...?"
"Didn't you say I could ask?" Liang Shi was speechless.
System: [I didn't say I would definitely answer.]
Liang Shi: "Then what can you answer?"
System: [...For example, the storyline might be slightly out of sync right now.]
Liang Shi asked in surprise, "What?"
Didn't they say it wouldn't break?
System: [Fine, I'll lay my cards on the table.]
Liang Shi: "?"
System: [I just wanted to kindly remind you that the Liang family's true daughter is about to search for her relatives.]
Liang Shi: "..."
Tired, let's destroy it.
Chapter 42
The system will proactively remind you, indicating that you are on Liang Shi's side.
It may have realized that it was handing Liang Shi a mess, so it helped Liang Shi as much as possible without breaking the rules.
Having reached this conclusion, Liang Shi briefly abandoned the idea of giving up on himself and starting a "laissez-faire" mode.
Instead, I took advantage of the system's willingness to answer and asked a few more questions.
"If the timeline of the Liang family recognizing their true daughter is brought forward, what impact will it have on me?"
System: [I don't know.]
Liang Shi: "?"
"Then let me ask a different question. Regarding the original owner's sacrifice, did the entire Liang family know about it, or was it planned by Qiu Zimin alone?" Liang Shi continued to ask.
System: [Ah... I'm sorry, host, this question involves core story content and cannot be answered.]
Liang Shi: "..."
"What about the original owner's background? Whose daughter was she? Did Qiu Zimin have a grudge against her parents? Or was it a simple case of mistaken identity?"
System: 【……%￥#￥】
The crackling sound of electricity interfered with the system's response, and Liang Shi's ears underwent a "baptism".
Already feeling listless, she became even more irritated by the sound of electricity.
After the static stopped, the system sighed, mimicking a human's tone: "Host, it's not that I don't want to tell you, it's just that your questions touch upon the core of the story, and we can't say."
Liang Shi: "..."
After a moment of silence, Liang Shi smiled and asked, "Then what else can you tell me?"
The system was silent for a moment, then chuckled in a strange, mechanical voice, "Host, you will face a bloody disaster within two days. Remember to be sincere when you go to Yunfeng Mountain tomorrow."
Liang Shi: "...?"
If this system were a physical entity, she might pin it to the ground and beat it up.
She suppressed her inner turmoil and asked in a relatively calm tone, "Why did you send me to this book?"
System: [Ah? Sorry, host, this issue involves...]
“I didn’t want you to answer,” Liang Shi said through gritted teeth. “I wanted to say, if you want me to solve a mystery, wouldn’t it be better to send me to an infinite-flow puzzle game?”
system:【……】
Liang Shi: "That way I can die faster."
There's no need to cut meat with a dull knife.