The Book of the World sighed:

[Of course I am. When we needed your help to restore the order of the world in the book, the progress bar wasn't even at 100%. Now, thanks to you, we've reached this point, and for the world in the book, this progress is sufficient for it to self-repair.]

In short, Qiao Mei's role as a plot device has been fulfilled, and her presence or absence in the world of the book is currently negligible.

Qiao Mei fell silent. She changed from standing to sitting, and asked the Book of the World, feeling the cool breeze, "What about Ao Cang? What are his chances of surviving?"

The Book of the World didn't reply immediately. After a moment of silence, it said somewhat guiltily, "[That's quite a bit. It's gone from 10% to 50%. If he's lucky...]"

"Fifty percent?!" Qiao Mei laughed angrily. She reached out and grabbed the Book of Worlds floating beside her, her eyes turning cold as she asked, "Then how did this save Ao Cang's life? What did you say when you tricked me into entering the world within the book? You promised to let me save Ao Cang if I helped you repair the broken world within the book, but what about now?!"

The rescue wasn't even finished, and just when the book's world was able to repair itself, it kicked her out. Isn't that ridiculous?!

This barrage of questions silenced the Book of the World, and Qiao Mei, too lazy to waste any more breath, asked it directly: "Just tell me, can I go back? And what else are you hiding from me?"

If, as it claims, the world in the book can repair itself and no longer needs her, then why can she still see the progress bar, and why is it still there for her?

If that's the case, then it means that she still plays a significant role in the Book of the World and the world within it.

Otherwise, it could have simply run away without even saying hello.

As expected, the Book of the World fell silent again, clearly confirming Qiao Mei's guess.

"You don't want to talk about it, huh? Then I'll just jump off here. Anyway, you can't let me see Cangcang again!!"

Qiao Mei stood up again, startling the Book of the World, which immediately cried out: "No, no, no!! I'll tell you, okay?!"

It had never encountered someone as difficult as Qiao Mei before, but this time it was indeed in the wrong.

Left with no other choice, he could only tell her that she could go back, but she could no longer use her previous body.

[The previous Qiao Mei has already gone back. One body cannot accommodate two souls at the same time. You can probably guess that without me saying it, right?]

Qiao Mei didn't care which body she used; she only wanted to change the outcome of Ao Cang's death. Anything else was fine with her.

The Book of the World sighed again: "However, the current situation doesn't support you doing this. The reason I'm staying by your side is because I'm unsure if any further changes will occur in the world within the book."

To put it simply, you're like the initial code for the program running here. Everything needs to be built upon you. If problems arise later, it has to start all over again from your point. If you go back now, you won't be able to enter Qiao Mei's body to help when she needs you again.

This is quite contradictory.

Qiao Mei frowned: "Couldn't we just transfer me from another body into the 'me' in the book when the time comes?"

The Book of the World shook its head: "No, the original Qiao Mei's soul was extremely fragile due to her impending death. She cannot withstand frequent soul transfers, which is why I wanted you to return to your world first."

Qiao Mei was speechless: "This won't work, that won't work, so you still can't meet my request? Also, is it my soul in Qiao Mei's body, or the original Qiao Mei's soul in her body? The only difference is that it will make Lai Tan and Qiao Yingying notice, and there is no other reason, right?"

This time, the Book of the World answered quickly: "It's like this, I brought you back only to minimize the possibility that they'd discovered their world was just a book. If that weren't the case, you certainly wouldn't have needed to come out."

The fact that the world within the book is just one book is something that, apart from Qiao Mei and the Book of the World, no one else would have any way of knowing.

Lai Tan and Qiao Yingying discovered that she was no longer the Qiao Mei they knew, but at most they could only think that she was another soul, and they could never have imagined that the world they lived in was the world in the book.

So she began to argue with the Book of the World: "What if I can guarantee that they won't find out they live inside a book? Can I go back then?"

Theoretically speaking, that's true, but there's always a chance of something going wrong, you...

"If you don't agree and want me to continue waiting passively like this, and want me to clean up your messes when unexpected situations arise, then don't even think about it. I'm jumping off this building right now, and neither of us will have an easy time. What do you think?"

She couldn't accept Ao Cang's death, a fact that the Book of the World, which contained many of Qiao Mei's memories, knew best.

She had once refused to help Ao Cang because Ao Cang was involved, which forced Ao Cang to bring her back to the beginning, expending a huge amount of its energy.

If it happens again now, there's absolutely no way it can restart everything.

After what felt like the umpteenth deep sigh today, I could only give in.

"Alright, I can take you back, but to prevent the characters in the book from finding out they live in a book, I'll impose a language restriction on you. If you even have that thought, I'll force you to shut up."

Qiao Mei didn't care and readily agreed to the Book of the World.

Also, if you go back now, the soul of the previous Qiao Mei will disappear forever. Are you sure you want to do that?

She was never a saintly person, and she had a general understanding of Qiao Mei's personality.

She is unable to rely on or care for her parents and relatives, has no friends, and only has one thing on her mind: pursuing Xu Heyu. There is no point in her continuing to exist.

"I'm sure."

【Okay, but I need to remind you that her soul disappeared in the form of merging with yours. You might then inherit some of the feelings from her. Are you okay with that?】

Qiao Mei firmly believed in her own resolve and nodded: "I don't care."

【Alright, get ready. I'll open the portal back to the world in the book now. As for the new rules, I'll inquire with the higher-ups after you're there. After all, this way, you'll have completely replaced the original Qiao Mei and become a character in the book.】