Chapter 31 World 2 [1]

What is the limit of human lifespan?

The oldest person on record was a woman who lived to be 134 years old.

But that is an extremely rare case, a unique existence among billions of people over thousands of years.

Jing Ke felt that she was not very greedy. She just wanted to accompany Shang Siyu until she was a hundred years old, which was more than thirty years less than the human limit. Isn't this a very simple idea and wish?

But Jing Ke cannot control the lifespan of others. Now she cannot go against the natural law of birth, aging, sickness and death to make her lover, who already has gray hair, return to youth.

"It's okay. I'm fine now. I'm ninety-nine years old, which means we can be together forever." Shang Siyu, lying on the hospital bed, seemed particularly relieved. The extra wrinkles on her face did not affect her beauty at all.

"Xiao Yu..." Jing Ke, who also had gray hair, held Shang Siyu's hand, her eyes red.

Jing Ke possesses a human body, but she has rarely been sick or injured. While her body will age over time, the rate of aging is much slower than that of an average person.

If Jing Ke wanted, her body could live to the human limit, which is 134 years old, as far as can be documented.

"Jing Ke, did you get what you wanted?" Shang Siyu, who had been taking a long time to finish a sentence, suddenly spoke clearly and fluently, "Is the luck I carry enough for you to exist for a long time?"

"Yes, it can allow me to exist for a very long time." Jing Ke nodded.

After Professor Lin's research made another breakthrough, Xinsheng Technology successfully became one of the top 100 companies in China with its new patented technology.

Shang Siyu's decision allowed this technology, which could benefit many people, to be popularized at the fastest speed. Even with government subsidies, she did not intend to make much money from ordinary people. Instead, she provided various subsidies.

After turning 40, Shang Siyu also started to do charity. He first established many special schools, and then spent time and energy on one-on-one assistance to poor students. He has been praised by the country countless times.

These things that can accumulate prestige and reputation also became Shang Sixu's luck, and Jing Ke benefited a lot from them.

"That's good. In the future, you must keep our memories well and don't lose them." A smile appeared in Shang Siyu's slightly cloudy eyes.

"Jing Ke, I want to go to sleep. Can you give me a goodnight kiss?" Shang Siyu asked.

Jing Ke asked for the first goodnight kiss, so let me ask Jing Ke for the last goodnight kiss.

"Okay." Jing Ke's voice trembled a little. Just like countless times before, she reached out and held Shang Siyu's face. After she closed her eyes, she gently kissed her.

"Xiao Yu, good night." Jing Ke said, and the tears that rolled down her face as she closed her eyes fell on the person who had stopped breathing on the hospital bed.

So this is death?

For the first time, Jing Ke understood the distance between life and death, a gap that he could never cross.

After taking some time to sort out his emotions, Jing Ke reached out and wiped away the tears on Shang Siyu's face, not knowing whether they belonged to him or her.

Jing Ke quietly tidied Shang Siyu's clothes and hairstyle so that she would be beautiful and decent after leaving.

According to the will that the two had already drawn up, all the property under their names will be handed over to the state and used for charity through the state.

Jing Ke and Shang Siyu had no children, so the funeral was presided over by Jing Ke. At her insistence, the names of both of them were engraved on the tombstone, and the photo was also the one used at their wedding.

No one knows where Jing Ke went after the funeral, but every year there are always a steady stream of people coming to the tombstone to pay their respects.

These people who came were all people Shang Siyu and Jing Ke had helped before. After breaking free from the shackles of their original fate, they all walked out a new path.

-

Jing Ke's body was obtained through a transaction with the small world. After paying a small price, her body turned into a handful of white ash and appeared in a sealed urn.

After completing the last step, Jing Ke, who had turned into a conscious body again, organized and packed up all the memories related to Shang Siyu in his body as he promised at the beginning. After backing up, one copy was stuffed into the core of the conscious body, and the other was transmitted to the main body that did not exist in any small world.

After completing this step, Jing Ke's consciousness became confused for a moment, and he suddenly couldn't remember how he obtained so much luck and energy.

After discovering that there was no part of his body in the current small world, Jing Ke began to sense the bodies scattered in other small worlds, and went to another independent small world according to the principle of proximity.

-

【Hello, you look like you need help.】

A sudden young female voice appeared in his mind out of nowhere, startling Shao Qing who was staring at the mirror in a daze.

After looking around and finding that there was no one else, Shao Qing patted her face gently. It seemed that she had put too much pressure on herself recently, which led to her auditory hallucinations.

[Are you looking for me? I exist in your consciousness, not by your side.]

After hearing the unfamiliar voice again, Shao Qing's eyes changed. After looking around again, he began to observe some corners that were not easy to be found.

"Is this a prank planned by the program crew? We haven't even reached the destination yet, and they're already arranging surprises for the guests?" Shao Qing didn't look panicked. He seemed to be talking to himself, but his hidden gaze had already scanned and checked this semi-enclosed bathroom many times.

There is nothing on the ground, nothing in the corners, and the ceiling is sealed, so electronic equipment should not be installed there.

After eliminating some impossible options in his mind, Shao Qing's gaze fell on the mirror in front of him. He first stared at his bright and bold facial features in the mirror for three seconds, then stretched out two fingers and pressed them on the mirror surface, leaning forward to observe.

The fingers and the fingers in the mirror have thickness, it is not a two-way mirror, and there is no hollow echo after knocking. It seems that there is really a wall behind the mirror.

But I couldn’t find any device that could make a sound on the ground, on the ceiling, or around me. So where did the sound I heard come from?

Shao Qing frowned slightly, her eyes falling on the task envelope she had placed on the shampooing table, which contained the tasks she needed to complete in the next week.

No, I checked the thickness of the envelope myself. There are only a few sheets of coated paper hidden inside. There is no way there could be any electronic equipment.

[I exist in your consciousness. I have no entity. You can call me a system.]

Shao Qing, female, 28 years old, graduated from Hai City Media College. During the first semester of her junior year, she was discovered by renowned director Hu during a campus recruitment event and cast as the leading actress. The film aired during the summer after her graduation and grossed over 2 billion yuan, earning her both Best Newcomer and Best Actress awards at the tender age of 22.

Afterward, she officially signed a contract with Zongheng Entertainment and was recommended by Director Hu to play the second female lead in another film. At the age of 24, she won the Best Supporting Actress award. That same year, she became the spokesperson for a luxury clothing brand, a domestic cosmetics brand, and a renowned domestic jewelry brand, becoming a sought-after A-list actress.

But the turning point came when you were 25. First, you were injured in an accident while filming. Due to the tight film schedule, you lost the leading female role. Then, an endorsement went wrong. Due to the negligence of your assistant, you wore jewelry from another brand. This was widely reported by marketing accounts, resulting in the loss of the endorsement.

[And your experiences between the ages of 26 and 27 were truly unlucky. You were simply out for dinner, but paparazzi secretly photographed you and fabricated rumors about you. You were then roped into hype by many men seeking traffic, leading to a massive loss of fans and a surge in haters.]

[Furthermore, your filming career has been incredibly difficult. Due to various mishaps and mistakes, you've lost three very promising roles. The only two you've managed to play were mediocre third female roles. Your first film was a box office flop, and your role in your second TV series was chopped down to a bare minimum due to censorship issues. After it aired, you were practically invisible.]

The voice in his mind calmly described Shao Qing's experiences in recent years. There was no personal emotion in his tone, just like the voice generated by AI, extremely regular and steady.

"Who are you and where are you?" Shao Qing said in a low voice.

After such an incredible thing happened to her, Shao Qing did not seem to panic. She did not directly believe the female voice that appeared inexplicably, but calmed down as quickly as possible.

Shao Qing admitted that none of the words that appeared in his mind about himself were wrong, but his experience was not a secret, and there were many people who knew about it. If someone was willing to find out, it would not be difficult to find out the content.

[I have no physical body. I currently reside in your consciousness. You can think of me as a higher-dimensional being.]

[System, when you humans get me, you usually call me this, but you can call me by my name, Jing Ke. My name is Jing Ke.]

Jing Ke consumed a lot of energy in traveling between worlds, so after recovering her body, she did not rashly travel a second time. Instead, after receiving relevant information, she chose Shao Qing as her future partner.

"System? Jing Ke?" Shao Qing gritted his teeth and slowly spat out these two words, and couldn't help feeling a sense of absurdity in his heart.

Wasn't this really a joke the production team was playing on themselves? She had also been surfing the Internet and reading novels. Aren't those systems tied to rebirth or time travel?

[Yes, if you don’t believe me, I can prove it to you.]

"How do you want to prove it?" Shao Qing asked.

[I reside in your consciousness. You don't need to speak. As long as you have the thought of talking to me, I can read your thoughts and respond.]

"Really? Jing Ke? This must be a lie?" Shao Qing tried.

"It's true. I'm glad you chose my name. As long as you sign a contract with me, I won't lie to you." Jing Ke said, feeling that the conversation between him and Shao Qing was somewhat familiar.

It seems that a similar scene and dialogue have been played out once before.

"Can I really have a conversation in my head? Such an unscientific thing actually happened to me? What did I eat for lunch? It didn't seem to have any mushrooms in it?" Shao Qing thought divergently.

There was a dish at lunch that used mushrooms, but they weren't poisonous mushrooms, just ordinary mushrooms. You only took a bite of the vegetables and didn't eat the mushrooms.

"You know all this? Are you really a high-dimensional creature?" Shao Qing asked.

"Yes, you can understand it this way. If you sign a contract with me, I can help you change your current predicament and take back the luck that originally belonged to you."

"The luck that originally belonged to me? What do you mean? My luck is lost?" Shao Qing narrowed his eyes slightly and couldn't help but say it softly.

[Yes, your luck was stolen and transferred to another person.] Jing Ke was as frank as ever.

[Although this is a rule, I must tell you the truth. The theft of your luck is related to me. Before I developed self-awareness, I was guided by the rules and chose to trade with another person. That person stole your luck through me.]

I'm sorry. I apologize for my previous behavior.

Jing Ke didn't speak many long paragraphs in one breath this time, but after she finished speaking 107 words, Shao Qing's eyes darkened, and he stopped talking and communicating with Jing Ke unconsciously.

In just 107 words, Shao Qing heard too much information directly and could indirectly guess it.

It caused her already limited sense of absurdity to grow exponentially, almost swallowing her up.

So the reason why I have been unlucky and my career has been going downhill is because my luck has been taken away, and the thing that took away my luck has come to me, apologized to me, and said it wants to help me?

What does this mean? Is Jing Ke here to play a trick on me?

"An apology can't just be uttered. I'd rather see something that can be put into practice." Shao Qing closed his eyes, slowly exhaled, and then opened them again.

Shao Qing dispelled the unnecessary thoughts in his mind, and only extreme calmness remained in his originally emotional dark eyes.

[Yes, but before that, I want to sign a contract with you.]

[After the contract is signed, I will do my best to help you regain your luck and gain more luck. You only need to pay me half of the extra luck you gain.]

Shao Qing looked at himself in the mirror with calm eyes, and put a big question mark in his mind about this deal that sounded to be of only benefit to him.

A high-dimensional product that requires luck, calling itself a system, named Jing Ke?

No, this kind of thing is too ridiculous. It's outrageous no matter how you think about it.

In Shao Qing's opinion, the thing that suddenly appeared in his consciousness was more like a ghost with some special abilities.

After all, the entertainment industry is so chaotic, and there are many stars who are willing to keep little ghosts in order to become famous.

Moreover, the ability to steal other people's luck does not sound like a skill that a good person would have. It is more like an ability that appears in evil spirits.

Not to mention that this person who calls himself Jing Ke also needs to sign a contract with himself in order to obtain his own luck.

Parasitism and the absorption of luck, isn't this the usual ability of little ghosts?

Maybe this ghost named Jing Ke came to me just because he wanted to escape from the control of his original owner.

Jing Ke, who had learned to respect future traders, did not read Shao Qing's thoughts. After discovering that she did not respond to him, he thought she was weighing the pros and cons, so he thought he was considerate and gave her enough time to think.

Knock knock——

"Teacher Shao, it's almost time to depart. The other teachers are ready to get on the bus to go to the destination." The little assistant's voice sounded outside, urging Shao Qing who was in the bathroom.

"Okay, I got it. I'll be right there." Shao Qing replied. After taking a last look at himself in the mirror, he turned on the faucet and washed his hands again.

-

Shao Qing, whose luck was stolen for nearly three years, has seen a significant decline in reputation and image compared to three years ago, but there have always been people who have tied her up for hype, so her traffic and popularity are not low.

But in the long run, certain negative words will take root in her, and the so-called popularity is also gained through the quarrels between fans and black fans.

Shao Qing, who relies on his reputation to maintain his popularity, is destined to not get any good scripts, and is even less likely to get involved in mainstream movies.

At first, Zongheng Entertainment also hired water armies to interfere, and issued clarification announcements and lawyers' letters, but it was of no use at all. It even added fuel to the fire, causing Shao Qing's popularity to decline.

After about a year of hard work, Zongheng Entertainment gradually gave up on Shao Qing and instead arranged for her to take the black and red route.

If you can't get good scripts and good endorsements, then just do some variety shows, or guest-star in some idol dramas in a few small roles.

Shao Qing thought about changing and tried hard for it, but she always failed when she was about to make the next move and fell into a deeper pit.

Shao Qing never thought of giving up. She tried hard to seize every opportunity to clear her name. For example, the reality show she is currently participating in is also an opportunity that Shao Qing has worked hard to gain for herself.

The theme of this reality show is survival on a deserted island, which is very popular among audiences nowadays. The program team uses the pursuit of authenticity as its selling point.

There are a total of four permanent guests and two flying guests. They need to successfully spend seven days on a deserted island where there is no one else, carrying only basic supplies and a small amount of food.

Unlike other recorded and edited variety shows, live broadcasts leave little room for fabrication. Therefore, during these seven days, each person will have a dedicated photographer, and live broadcasts will be started at irregular intervals, with the main focus being on authenticity.

Shao Qing has never participated in this type of variety show since her debut. In her opinion, this desert island survival variety show is a good opportunity to make a comeback.

As long as Shao Qing is given a chance to show her true self to the audience, she will be confident that she can turn the situation around.

-

After coming out of the bathroom, Shao Qing greeted the staff and was then taken into a business car, where he sat with Xu Yin, who was also a guest on the flight.

"Teacher Shao, are you feeling unwell? It seems like you were away for quite a long time just now." Xu Yin asked with concern.

When Shao Qing noticed this behavior, she almost instantly noticed the perfunctory tone in the other party's words. There seemed to be something else hidden in the seemingly caring eyes.

"I'm not feeling unwell. I just spent some time studying my makeup for today in the bathroom." Shao Qing smiled and gave an answer that looked normal but was actually perfunctory.

Shao Qing's facial features are very bright and bold. Many stars will blush unconsciously after looking into her eyes, and the younger ones will even be so shy that they lower their heads.

So even though Shao Qing, who had attractive facial features, just smiled politely, he still succeeded in distracting Xu Yin for a moment, and he responded a beat late.

"That's good." Xu Yin replied slightly embarrassedly.

The black business car drove steadily on the road. According to the arrangement of the program team, the program officially started when the car arrived at the dock.

The director of the program team is entirely responsible for when the live broadcast will start. The photographer who follows the live broadcast will only remind the guests before the live broadcast begins. Whether the guests are willing or not, they cannot change the fact that the live broadcast has started.

Shao Qing and Xu Yin are both the flying guests this time. Both were invited because they are very popular and have great topic value.

There is no need to say much about the former Shao Qing. Her popularity is basically contributed by the quarrels between fans. She is always the talk of the town wherever she goes.

The latter's popularity comes from the fact that he has starred in hit works for three consecutive years. In the first year, he played a supporting role that was almost nameless, in the second year he was the second male lead, and in the third year he was the absolute leading actor in a movie that grossed 2 billion yuan at the box office.

Xu Yin's fans have grown from over 3 million to over 30 million in three years, making him a top star. It is said that he has been cast as the male lead in a new year's drama that will be produced at the end of the year.

Apart from the initial greetings and a few polite words, Shao Qing and Xu Yin seemed to have no intention of starting a conversation and remained in the car with their eyes closed to rest.

It was not until half an hour later, when the program crew's vehicle arrived at the destination, that they exchanged a few words in front of the camera.

The two were flying guests, so they arrived at the dock five minutes later than the four regular guests. They played around in front of the camera for a while before getting out of the car.

There was no live broadcast at this time, and the few people who had met in advance just introduced themselves according to the usual process.

The four permanent guests are three men and one woman. The three men are Liu Chang, an internet celebrity survival expert, Li Liming who has been playing tough guys on the screen for many years, and Zheng Xingxing, the idol who won the first place in last year's talent show with excellent singing and dancing skills.

As for the only permanent female guest, she is even more impressive. She is Yu Hongjun, a veteran star in film, television and music, and has a very high national popularity.

After greeting everyone one by one, everyone got on the speedboat in order and headed towards their destination.

The original dock was soon left behind by the speedboat. After a brief greeting, the accompanying photographer started the live broadcast mode.

The audience who had received the notice in advance rushed into the live broadcast room and soon the screen was filled with barrages of comments.

[The live broadcast has begun. If you sign a contract with me, I can provide you with some useful real-time barrage feedback.] Jing Ke, who had been silent all the way, suddenly spoke up.

Shao Qing's eyebrows moved slightly. Her ability to manage her expressions in front of the camera was excellent. Even when she was photographed close up, she did not reveal any flaws.

"Words are not enough. If you don't prove that you can help me, I won't believe your words, let alone sign any contract with you."

Shao Qing did not deny that she did need help now, but she was not the kind of person who would seek help from anyone when she was desperate. Otherwise, she would not have been able to hold on until now after her luck was stolen.

[Okay, in the next three hours, if you need anything, you can tell me and I will help you according to the situation.] After a brief thought, Jing Ke made a concession.