Qiao Zhen tossed and turned in bed all night, unable to sleep; her eyelids kept twitching. The candlelight in the room flickered eerily.

She didn't know when she fell asleep; it might have been when the sky was just beginning to lighten, or perhaps when the first rays of sunlight parted the sky and the sea at sunrise. When Qiao Zhen woke up, she felt something was wrong. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something just felt off.

She had never been to this assassin organization's base, so she didn't know what the place was like at this time of day. She could only rely on her uncanny sixth sense.

"Squeak—"

Qiao Zhen looked up sharply at the open door. She was certain there was no one outside. The door must have been blown open by the wind, and given her mild obsessive-compulsive disorder about closing doors, it was impossible for her not to have closed it properly. Therefore, someone else had been in her room.

This realization immediately put her on edge. There were probably no more than ten people in the world who could come and go freely while she was asleep: Yuan Lin, Yuan Zhao, and some other people who ranked high in the martial arts world.

Qiao Zhen listened intently to the sounds outside the door; it was the sound of a man's footsteps, very light.

“Zhenzhen, look, I killed Yuan Lin.” Yuan Zhao happily held Yuan Lin’s head in his hand, showing it off to Qiao Zhen triumphantly. “Now your only choice is me.”

Qiao Zhen's pupils contracted slightly. She got up and went out barefoot. She looked at the corpses lying all over the assassin organization and the dried blood flowing on the ground.

Unbelievable, utterly unbelievable. She looked at Yuan Zhao's nonchalant expression, and finally just curved her thin lips into a smile, "Yes, now you're my only choice."

Yuan Zhao held Qiao Zhen's hand contentedly, ignoring the still-flowing wound on his leg, and led Qiao Zhen back to their farmhouse.

Qiao Zhen heard Chu Chu's voice in her mind: [Mission complete!]

Why haven't I gone back yet?

[It wasn't said that I could go back after completing the mission QAQ Whether this world's fortune can function normally after its collapse, and when Zhenzhen can leave, depends on the wishes of the mission target. Therefore, Zhenzhen will have to stay in this world for several years, or even decades...]

Qiao Zhen calmly accepted this capricious fact. "Oh, and what about you?"

[Successfully retired! (v^_^)v]

Qiao Zhen: ...[So after I provoked the target, I still have to bear the consequences of provoking him? Tell me, why does he keep holding me back? What's the point of this mission? To make the target do whatever it takes to overcome the tribulation?]

The meaning of this world lies in overcoming cowardice. Every task truly requires helping the target eliminate a negative personality trait. Until all emotions and desires are eradicated, leaving them with nothing but emptiness!

Qiao Zhen was speechless. Looking at the already broken Yuan Zhao, she could only serve him with utmost care.

That's what she was thinking, but her actions seemed uncontrollable. She kicked Yuan Zhao's shin hard, and by the time she realized what was happening, it was already done. "...Um, your leg is bleeding. Aren't you going to stop the bleeding?"

Yuan Zhao looked at Qiao Zhen with deep affection, but there was an indelible darkness in her eyes. "Zhenzhen, will you help me bandage this?"

Qiao Zhen squatted down resignedly. She rolled up Yuan Zhao's trouser leg, then pressed a finger against his wound. She looked up and asked with a smile, "It doesn't feel too painful, right?"

She did it on purpose; she was unwilling to accept it. She had timed it perfectly and decided to go all in, but the collapse of the world had nothing to do with fate, and the target of her mission was also capricious. This story couldn't be more tragic.

Yuan Zhao wasn't annoyed; he just stared at Qiao Zhen with an intensely focused gaze.

—Three years later.

Qiao Zhen and Yuan Zhao moved to another place to settle down, which was also a village with beautiful mountains and rivers.

Yuan Zhao gave up everything from the past and became a well-known melon farmer in the surrounding area. He was handsome, grew melons well, was good at martial arts, and was also rich. He also had a crazy wife named Qiao Zhen who was very devoted to him.

Yes, Qiao Zhen has already been labeled as Yuan Zhao's silly wife by the aunties in the village.

As for why the word "stupid" was used?

The story begins when Yuan Zhao and Qiao Zhen first entered the village.

At that time, Qiao Zhen could not accept the cruel reality that she had to continue to stay with Yuan Zhao, so she started to act out.

Every night at midnight, Qiao Zhen would stand on the big rock at the village entrance, chanting, "Ah~~~ Fifth Ring Road~ You're one ring less than the Sixth Ring Road~ One day~ you'll build the Seventh Ring Road~ What will happen when you build the Seventh Ring Road~ You'll be two rings more than the Fifth Ring Road~"

"Pig! You have two nostrils~ When you have a cold, you're always covered in snot~ Pig! You have dark eyes~ You look and look but you can't see the end~ Pig! Your ears are so big~ You flap and flap but you can't hear me calling you stupid~"

"The great river flows eastward, the stars in the sky point to the Big Dipper, hehe, hehe, pointing to the Big Dipper, a bowl of wine for a life-or-death friendship, a roar for justice on the road, and action when the time comes!"

If she could sing the silly charm of "The Song of the Fifth Ring Road," the playfulness of "The Song of the Pig," or even the majestic grandeur of "The Great River Flows East," she wouldn't be labeled as "foolish."

Qiao Zhen's singing started with great enthusiasm, then weakened, and ended with a vague feeling.

Many people who traveled to the village in the middle of the night thought they had encountered a female ghost singing an extremely eerie tune at the village entrance.

Whenever villagers approached Yuan Zhao about this matter, Yuan Zhao would affectionately offer Qiao Zhen a few words of advice, but he would usually hand her a bowl of water when she paused from singing.

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