Chapter 30
Shi Ye stared at the cartoon cat insulated bucket for a full three minutes, the only thought in his mind being: Qi Jin's aesthetic sense is sometimes really... back to basics.
She reached out and poked the grinning cat on the thermos, feeling the warmth of the metal casing. The soup was still hot; Qi Jin had probably kept it in an insulated bag the whole time, preventing it from getting cold during the half hour she hesitated downstairs.
“System,” she withdrew her hand and sat down on the sofa, “that mind-reading thing just now… did it only work on Qi Jin, or will I be forced to listen to an inner monologue and emotional analysis report every time I meet someone from now on?”
"Buzz... Theoretically... all living targets within range..." The system's electronic voice was still somewhat unstable, but much better than before. "However, due to the malfunction... the triggering conditions... are unstable... and may occur intermittently..."
"Does that mean, it depends on its mood?" Shi Ye concluded.
"That's one way to understand it."
Shi Ye sighed and leaned back into the sofa cushions. The living room was quiet, with only the occasional faint sound of a car outside the window. Without the comments and the mind-reading, the world suddenly seemed a little... too normal. So normal that it made her uneasy.
Her gaze swept across the coffee table and landed on her phone. The screen was dark, like a black brick.
Should we... send Qi Jin a message?
When the thought popped into her head, Shi Ye was stunned for a moment. She would never have done something like this before, except when required by a mission. But now, what was the mission? To push Qi Jin to Lin Xiaoyu? She herself found the idea ridiculously absurd.
The phone screen suddenly lit up.
It wasn't a notification; the screen lit up on its own. And the way it lit up was strange—it wasn't the usual lock screen, but rather the static-like screen of an old-fashioned TV with a bad signal, flickering and distorting a few times.
Shi Ye frowned and reached out to take it.
The moment her finger touched the cold screen, the static jumped, transforming into a line of extremely clear text that should absolutely not have appeared on her phone:
[Qin Ming's assets are being transferred abnormally... Target: Overseas... Related parties: Unknown... Risk assessment: High... Recommendation: Intervention.]
The font is a cold, formal Song typeface, and the background is a jarring pure white. Below it is even a rudimentary progress bar displaying "[Data Acquisition: 74%...]".
Shi Ye recoiled as if electrocuted, staring at the line of words, a chill running down his spine.
"System... did you do this?"
"Negative...this information stream...is not system-generated..." The system's voice carried a clear warning, "Detected...external data...intruding into the host's personal device...source...unknown..."
The progress bar has reached 78%.
Shi Ye's heart began to pound. Qin Ming? Asset transfer? Overseas? Anyone with a brain would know this couldn't be a good thing. And how did this information even get onto her phone? Was it a system glitch? The world was "collapsing from the edge," so even her phone was automatically playing NPCs' crime dramas?!
"Can we intercept it? Or at least find out where this information came from?" she asked quickly.
"Attempting to track... Signal malfunction... Buzz... Slight resonance with the underlying data of the current world line..." The system paused, its voice growing more serious. "Host, this might be... an early sign of 'Honkai'... Non-plot information... beginning to leak..."
Progress bar [85%]
Shi Ye stared at the line of text, her mind racing. Was Qin Ming going to run? Or was he planning a big heist before fleeing? Did Qi Jin know? She had just launched a business attack on Qin Ming. If Qin Ming were cornered, who would be the first person he would retaliate against?
Almost at the same time she thought of Qi Jin, the words on her phone screen changed again.
The progress bar disappeared, replaced by a new, shorter notification box:
[Related Alert: The GPS signal of a vehicle registered under the name of key figure 'Qi Jin' was abnormally interrupted at 23:47. Last location: Intersection of Jinxiu Road, West of the City. Status: Unknown.]
The time displayed is fifteen minutes ago.
Shi Ye's blood seemed to freeze instantly.
Jinxiu Road in the west of the city... Isn't that the only way Qi Jin can go back from her home? And it's a relatively remote section of the road.
Abnormal interruption? Unknown status?
"System!" Her voice was tense. "Check Qi Jin's current location! Immediately!"
"Attempting to connect to world line character data... buzzing... interference encountered..." The system's voice trailed off. "Key character data... shielding strength... abnormally high... unable to obtain real-time status..."
"What do you mean 'unable to access'?!" Shi Ye stood up, grabbed his phone and keys, and rushed out. "She just left here less than twenty minutes ago! Where could she have driven?! What does 'blocked' mean?!"
"Perhaps...the character is at...a special plot point...or..." The system paused for a moment, "or is being...interfered with by...external forces."
Shi Ye had already rushed to the door, flung it open, and the cool night air rushed in. As she tried to use a ride-hailing app with trembling fingers, she mentally yelled at the system: "What external force? Qin Ming? Or your broken world?!"
The ride-hailing app interface was also flickering, and the map was loading slowly, as if there was a connection problem.
"The underlying worldline is unstable... which may affect... all electronic devices and networks..." the system warned. "Host, please be careful..."
"Be careful my ass!" Shi Ye gritted her teeth, abandoned the ride-hailing app, and ran towards the main road outside the residential area. She was wearing her fluffy cartoon cat pajamas and slippers. The night wind was a little cold on her face, but the confusion and numbness in her mind were completely replaced by something sharper—panic.
Pure, physiological panic.
As she ran, she tried to call Qi Jin.
What came through the receiver was a long and regular busy tone, not "The number you dialed is temporarily unavailable," but the most primitive busy tone, as if the line had been physically cut off.
Once, twice, three times.
Shi Ye's heart sank. She hung up the phone, switched to WeChat, and sent a voice call request to Qi Jin. The connection animation on the screen rolled for a long time before finally displaying a red failure message.
Even internet communication has been cut off.
The streets were sparsely populated, with streetlights casting a dim, yellowish glow. Shi Ye stood by the roadside, her pajamas clinging to her body in the wind, one of her slippers missing, but she didn't even notice. She stared at the two strange notification messages on her phone screen, at the crashed interface of the ride-hailing app, at the unreachable phone numbers, and a profound sense of absurdity and powerlessness gripped her.
Is this what "Honkai" is?
From the initial garbled text on the phone, to the loss of communication, and then... Qi Jin went missing?
“System,” she said, her voice dry, “if Qi Jin really did get into trouble… was it because my mission failure caused a disruption in the timeline, prematurely triggering Qin Ming’s revenge plot?”
“Insufficient data...causal relationship cannot be determined..." The system's electronic voice sounded extremely cold at this moment, "but the timing...is highly coincidental."
Shi Ye closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The cold air stung her lungs. When she opened her eyes again, the stagnant water in her eyes was finally stirred up, churning with emotions she herself couldn't even recognize.
It's not numbness, it's not emptiness.
It's fear.
She was afraid something would happen to Qi Jin.
This realization was like a needle, unexpectedly piercing the psychological defenses she had built up over a long period of time with depression and a sense of duty.
"Find a car," she said softly, but her voice was unusually clear. "To Jinxiu Road in the west of the city. Now."
"Host, your condition..."
"I said, find a car!" Shi Ye interrupted, her gaze sweeping across the empty street. In the distance, a taxi with its "For hire" light on was slowly approaching. Ignoring her appearance, she rushed into the middle of the road, barefoot, and waved vigorously.
The taxi slowed down and stopped in front of her. The driver, a middle-aged man, rolled down the window and, seeing her attire and disheveled appearance, paused for a moment: "Young lady, what happened to you...?"
"Jinxiu Road, west of the city! Quick!" Shi Ye opened the car door and jumped in. Only after giving the address did she realize that she wasn't wearing shoes, was in her pajamas, and had one foot bare. But she couldn't care less now.
The driver gave her a strange look in the rearview mirror, but didn't ask any questions and stepped on the gas. The car merged into the sparse traffic of the night.
Shi Ye leaned back in the car seat, her heart pounding heavily in her chest. She looked down at her phone; the two warning messages on the screen were still starkly etched there. She exited, then opened it again; the messages were still there, like two ghosts she couldn't shake off.
“System,” she thought to herself, “what will happen if…if I abandon the mission? Will it collapse immediately? Or…is there some kind of buffer?”
“Unpredictable,” the system replied. “However, according to the protocol, mission failure is one of the triggering conditions for the collapse. If the host abandons the mission now, it may accelerate the process.”
Accelerated collapse...
Shi Ye watched the neon lights rushing past the window. The city remained vibrant and dazzling, but beneath this facade, something had begun to crumble. Her phone, her communications, Qi Jin's disappearance... all were cracks.
The source of the rift might be this "mistake" that shouldn't exist.
If she hadn't transmigrated, if she hadn't been bound to the system, if she hadn't pushed Qi Jin away time and time again for that damned mission...
The taxi suddenly braked sharply.
Shi Ye was caught off guard and lurched forward, his forehead hitting the back of the seat in front of him. "What happened?"
"There seems to be an accident ahead." The driver leaned forward to look. "There are police lights, it looks like the road is blocked."
Shi Ye's heart skipped a beat. She rushed to the window and looked out. About a hundred meters ahead, several police cars were parked across the middle of the road, their blue and red lights silently illuminating the night. She could vaguely see some reflective debris on the road and a few people wearing reflective vests walking around.
Intersection of Jinxiu Road.
The place where Qi Jin last appeared.
Shi Ye felt all the blood rush to her head, then instantly recede, leaving behind a cold, numb feeling. She didn't even wait for the car to come to a complete stop before throwing down a banknote, pulling open the door, and jumping out.
"Hey! Girl! Your shoes!" the driver shouted from behind.
Shi Ye didn't hear her. Barefoot, she ran towards the flashing police lights on the cold, rough asphalt. The night wind howled past her ears, fluttering the hem of her pajamas. Everything around her blurred, leaving only the blinding red and blue lights ahead and the pounding of her heart.
The closer you get, the clearer you can see.
A car accident did occur. A black sedan was overturned at the intersection, its front end severely deformed, with debris scattered all over the ground. An ambulance was parked nearby, and paramedics were carefully lifting a person out of the mangled car door…
Shi Ye's steps suddenly froze on the spot.
That car...
It's not the car that Qi Jin usually drives.
Neither the car model nor the color.
She stood frozen in place, like a statue that had suddenly lost its momentum, only her chest heaving violently. The cold night wind blew against her face, taking away the last bit of warmth she had gained from running.
It wasn't Qi Jin's car.
Where is Qi Jin?
“System…” her voice was hoarse.
"Buzz... Detected... faint residual data of a key figure nearby... direction... southeast alley..." The system's voice was distorted, "but the signal... is extremely unstable... status cannot be confirmed..."
Southeast alley?
Shi Ye immediately turned his head and looked at the dimly lit, unlit alleyway entrance next to the accident scene. It was pitch black there, a stark contrast to the flashing police lights and searchlights at the intersection, like a silent mouth that devoured light.
She ran toward the darkness almost without hesitation.
A sharp pain shot through the sole of her foot; she didn't know what had cut her. But she didn't care.
The light dimmed the moment I rushed into the alley. Only the glow of police lights at the distant intersection barely outlined the alley's rough shape. Piles of abandoned junk emanated a damp, garbage-like odor.
Shi Ye held his breath and strained his eyes to search in the darkness.
"Qi Jin?" she called out in a low voice, her voice sounding hollow in the narrow alley.
There was no response.
Only the faint sound of police sirens in the distance and the rustling of debris in the wind could be heard.
"System, your exact location!"
"Left front... fifteen meters... behind the obstacle... vital signs... faint... but present..."
Shi Ye's heart clenched. She trudged along the path indicated by the system, her steps uneven. She stepped on soft, mushy things—it could be garbage, or something else—but she didn't have time to look down.
After passing a pile of old cardboard boxes and wooden planks, the scene deep in the alley finally came into view.
In the extremely dim light, Shi Ye saw a figure leaning against the wall, half-sitting on the ground.
It is Qi Jin.
She kept her head down, her black T-shirt almost invisible in the darkness, only her exposed arms and profile were revealed in the occasional flashes of police lights in the distance, showing her pale outline. Beside her lay a…shared bicycle?
Shi Ye paused for a second.
Qi Jin...riding a shared bicycle?!
She walked quickly over and knelt down in front of Qi Jin. "Qi Jin? Qi Jin!"
Qi Jin seemed somewhat dazed. Hearing the voice, she slowly raised her head. There was a noticeable abrasion on her forehead, oozing blood, and her face was frighteningly pale in the dim light. But when she saw Shi Ye, her muddled eyes cleared for a moment, only to be replaced by a deeper look of astonishment.
"...Shi Ye?" Her voice was soft, tinged with uncertainty. "How come you..." Her gaze shifted downwards, landing on Shi Ye's bare feet and the stained legs of his cartoon pajama top. Her brows furrowed tightly. "Where are your shoes?"
Shi Ye didn't answer; she quickly scanned Qi Jin's condition. Besides the injury on his forehead, there seemed to be abrasions on his arms and knees, but there didn't appear to be serious bleeding or fractures. The shared bicycle was lying on its side, its front wheel twisted, clearly having been hit.
"What happened?" Shi asked, his voice tense without him even realizing it. "Where's your bike? Why are you riding this? There was a car accident at the intersection outside..."
“My car…” Qi Jin took a breath, as if trying to clear his head, “When we were almost at the intersection… the brakes suddenly failed… and the steering wheel locked up too…”
Shi Ye's heart sank. Brake failure? Steering wheel locked? This was definitely not an accident.
“I crashed into the green belt to cushion the impact… the car got stuck… I crawled out… and saw a car that looked like it was heading towards me… so I ran into this alley…” Qi Jin said haltingly, his breathing unsteady. “That car crashed into the telephone pole at the alley entrance… it was the one outside…”
So the car accident at the intersection was caused by the car chasing Qi Jin?
"And then? How did you..." Shi Ye looked at the shared bicycle.
"I was trying to find a way out... my phone had no signal... I saw a bicycle over there in the alley..." Qi Jin pressed his temple, seemingly a little embarrassed to say it, "I haven't ridden in a long time... I lost control when I turned... and crashed into the wall."
Shi Ye: "..."
Looking at the bloodied, disheveled president of the Qi Group who had crashed into a wall due to his clumsy bike-sharing skills, and recalling her own earlier frantic, barefoot run, the absurdity overshadowed her lingering fear, making her almost want to laugh.
But before the smile could even appear, it was suppressed by a colder reality.
Brakes failed, rear-ended, communications were lost...
This was not an accident.
This was aimed at Qi Jin. And the timing was so precise, right after she left her home.
Qin Ming? Or an "accident" generated by the collapsing world line itself?
"Can you stand up?" Shi Ye reached out his hand.
Qi Jin looked at her outstretched hand, hesitated for a moment, then grasped it. Shi Ye pulled her up forcefully. Qi Jin staggered, and Shi Ye instinctively supported her arm. Through the thin fabric of her T-shirt, she could feel Qi Jin's slight trembling and the chill in her skin.
"I'm fine." Qi Jin steadied himself and tried to pull his hand back, but Shi Ye didn't let go.
“There are police and ambulances outside,” Shi Ye said, his gaze falling on the wound on her forehead. “You need to get it treated.”
"Hmm." Qi Jin responded, but his gaze fell on Shi Ye's bare, dirty feet, and his brows furrowed again. "Your feet..."
"Take care of yourself first." Shi Ye interrupted her, helped her up, and slowly walked towards the light at the alley entrance.
The two were very close, and Shi Ye could smell a faint scent of blood and dust on Qi Jin. Qi Jin seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he remained silent, leaning some of his weight against her.
As they reached the alley entrance, the flashing police lights became blinding. A policeman noticed them and approached.
Shi Ye watched the police getting closer and closer, looked at Qi Jin's pale face beside him, felt the clear stinging pain from the soles of his feet, heard the silence of the system in his mind, and heard the two strange warnings on his phone that had not disappeared.
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