Chapter 83 The system has more than one clone; that chance can only be for you...
Xu Wenci's words were like icicles, precisely piercing the secret that Gu Pei was trying to hide—a secret that he and Fu Yanli had already reached a consensus on.
"If I'm not mistaken, the system you have is only a small part of the operating system..." Xu Wenci's fingertips were still caressing the strange cufflink, his amber eyes like a venomous snake locking onto its prey, tightly coiling around Gu Pei.
Like Fu Yanli's eyes.
Gu Pei lowered his eyes.
The two of them... are indeed the same kind of people.
"It's just a system that's responsible for bringing you to us, or rather, guiding us to find you."
The operating system that possesses most of the permissions and data is not the system you have, right?
Gu Pei's fingers curled slightly, and he frowned.
Xu Wenci's keen insight exceeded his expectations.
"So what if it is?" Gu Pei forced himself to calm down, his Adam's apple bobbing as he pursed his lips. "What does it have to do with cufflinks..."
Xu Wenci's fingertips lightly tapped the smooth surface of the cufflink, producing a faint, almost inaudible tapping sound, each tap almost striking Gu Pei's taut nerves.
"The operating system is divided into many parts, right? One small part brings you, the creator, into the novel world, another small part should be in Fu Yanli... and perhaps there are many other parts..."
"And the system that Fu Yanli has should be carried by cufflinks."
Gu Pei clenched his fist tightly. His hand, which had just stopped bleeding, trembled slightly, and he gasped in pain.
This successfully attracted Xu Wenci's attention. The suppressed cry of pain was like a stone thrown into the lake, and the splashing water broke the balance between the two people.
Xu Wenci's gaze shifted from Gu Pei's face to his tightly clenched hand, which was now bleeding.
There was no concern in his eyes, only a cold scrutiny.
"It seems," Xu Wenci's voice remained calm, yet carried a barely perceptible hint of mockery, "that not only memories, but even pain has become a tool to change the subject, is that right?"
Gu Pei's face grew even paler, seemingly from the pain, but also from the helplessness of being hurt by Xu Wenci's sharp words.
“No…” he tried to explain, but his voice was dry and weak.
"Whether it is or not is no longer important." Fu Yanli's deep voice sounded from behind. He had walked to Xu Wenci's side without anyone noticing. His gaze moved up and landed on Gu Pei. His deep purple eyes seemed to devour all the light.
"He guessed right, didn't he?"
Fu Yanli's statement was not a question, but an affirmation.
Gu Pei completely lost his support, his back pressed tightly against the cold wall, as if only in this way could he draw a little sense of reality.
He looked at the two people standing side by side in front of him.
One offered a calm analysis, the other a silent confirmation; their collaboration was seamless.
It turns out they had been waiting for him in this world all along.
“Yes…” Gu Pei closed his eyes and squeezed out a few broken explanations from deep in his throat, “The operating system… has indeed been dispersed. The current operating system is just a framework; the real power has long been distributed among the various clones.”
As he spoke, his gaze involuntarily drifted to the gleaming cufflink in Xu Wenci's hand.
“And this cufflink,” Xu Wenci continued, feeling the cool touch on his fingertips, “contains Fu Yanli’s most important memories, and is also the core device of the operating system.”
He raised his eyes and looked at Gu Pei again. In the depths of his amber eyes, something seemed to have settled, like a small pebble.
"Go get it bandaged up," Fu Yanli suddenly said, glancing at Gu Pei's slightly trembling arm and pointing to the corner where the first-aid kit was placed.
Gu Pei glanced at Fu Yanli, thanked him softly, and quickly left.
Suddenly, he stopped and turned around: "That world... everything is going smoothly."
These words seemed to reassure Fu Yanli, and Xu Wenci subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief. The fact that Fu Yanli's plan was proceeding smoothly meant that their plan was at least half successful.
But when Xu Wenci tilted his head to look, Fu Yanli's face showed no surprise, as if he had expected this to happen.
This is the outcome.
He lowered his eyes.
Fu Yanli nudged his shoulder, then suddenly leaned close to his face, his bright eyes meeting his own, and said something unintelligible.
Swallowing hard, Xu Wenci snapped out of his daze, looked away, and gave a perfunctory reply.
Fu Yanli frowned: "Are you injured?"
Xu Wenci was taken aback by the question, and then belatedly realized that Fu Yanli's question was probably about whether he was injured.
He shook his head: "I misheard, I'm not injured."
"Don't you have any other questions you want to ask?" Xu Wenci stared intently at Fu Yanli, his eyes flashing with emotions that even he himself could not fathom.
For example, my plan?
For example, will I actually save you?
For example, am I an ingrate?
"No," Fu Yanli winked at him as usual, using sweet talk: "After all, our plans rely heavily on my baby..."
Baby?
Xu Wenci frowned. What baby?
I hate this nickname the most.
He nodded slightly, but did not express his dissatisfaction.
Fu Yanli looked at Xu Wenci's awkward expression—clearly dissatisfied yet forcibly suppressing it, even subconsciously nodding—and the smile in his eyes deepened, like ripples spreading across a lake after a stone has been thrown in.
“Baby…” Fu Yanli readily switched to this affectionate but not necessarily formal form of address, his tone relaxed, “Your plan is my plan. Whatever you want to do, I’ll follow along.”
Xu Wenci felt as if something had bumped into him, leaving him feeling numb and inexplicably irritated.
I hate Fu Yanli's seemingly unconditional trust the most.
"What exactly are your lost memories? Is your other soul the system?" Xu Wenci asked softly.
Fu Yanli pursed his lips: "Xu Wenci, after I, this ghost, died, why did you die too..."
After I die, you should live well, and then you will never meet me again.
Fu Yanli's words were like a pebble thrown into a deep pool, stirring up a silent yet intense ripple in Xu Wenci's lifeless heart.
The question was both too light and too heavy.
When Xu Wenci regained his senses, he could almost hear his blood rushing backward and his heart clenching.
He suddenly looked up and met Fu Yanli's deep purple eyes, which held no mockery, no pretense, only a cruel calm that had accumulated too many unknown past events.
Gu Pei had asked him this question before.
And now Fu Yanli is asking this question again.
The answer is obvious.
It turned out that Fu Yanli had sensed it.
As a spirit unwilling to relinquish its memories, it stays by Xu Wenci's side, reliving the pain of death every day, just to haunt Xu Wenci?
It seems so.
He did this so that he could survive in this world with a portion of the already out-of-control operating system, in order to protect Xu Wenci.
Xu Wenci's throat tightened. He tried to force a cold smile, but found that his lips were too stiff to form any curve.
Why did he have to die?
This question is like a rusty lock, locking away an answer that even he himself is unwilling to touch easily.
Unable to open the lock, Gu Pei took out an axe, chopped open the rusty iron block, and laid bare the whole truth.
Is it because the hatred hasn't subsided and there's still resentment?
Is it because their long entanglement has already bound their fates together?
Or is it because... beneath all the scheming and hatred, in a place he himself was unaware of, a habit that the two of them could not sever?
He didn't know.
Gu Pei had already given him the answer.
But he was unwilling to admit it.
“Your question,” Xu Wenci finally found his voice, his voice dry like sandpaper scraping the ground, “I refuse to answer.”
He avoided Fu Yanli's gaze, lowered his eyes to conceal the emotions within, and refocused on the initial question, "You still haven't answered me. What exactly are your lost memories? Is the other soul you sensed a clone of the operating system?"
Fu Yanli watched him quietly, watching Xu Wenci's fingertips tremble slightly despite his feigned composure, and watching Xu Wenci's subconsciously tense jawline.
He didn't press further, but simply sighed very softly.
“My memory is all jumbled up,” Fu Yanli said, unconsciously pressing his temples with his fingertips, teasing Xu Wenci, “My head hurts.”
Xu Wenci bit her lip, not looking at Fu Yanli, but simply reaching out and gently patting Fu Yanli's hand.
Fu Yanli, however, went a step further, grabbing Xu Wenci's wrist and gently stroking the scar on Xu Wenci's wrist with his fingers.
As Xu Wenci's wrist was being stroked, a look of helplessness and confusion unconsciously crept onto his face.
"When you helped me destroy the rules, you weren't a child, were you..." Xu Wenci gently broke free from Fu Yanli's grasp and asked softly.
Fu Yanli was stunned.
It's unclear whether it was because Xu Wenci broke free from his restraints or because of Xu Wenci's words.
Some vague fragments of memory suddenly and violently assaulted his consciousness.
A severe headache struck again, sharper than ever before, as if a red-hot iron rod was churning inside my skull.
He groaned, bent over uncontrollably, and pressed his fingers hard against his temples, veins bulging on his forehead.
Xu Wenci was startled by his sudden and violent reaction, and subconsciously stepped forward to support his swaying body.
“That’s right…” Fu Yanli’s voice trembled, but he tried his best to make every word clear, “The me of this world went to that world and destroyed your rules.”
"Why?" Xu Wenci gently patted Fu Yanli's back, his face full of concern, but he asked the question without thinking.
Why did you destroy my rules...?
Why, knowing how to break the rules, did you choose to break mine instead of letting me break yours...?
Why not destroy your own code of conduct...?
If seven-year-old Xu Wenci had been allowed to break his rules back then, it would have been easy.
Why not just destroy all the rules between the two of them...?
Why?
Fu Yanli gripped Xu Wenci's sleeve tightly, gently closed his eyes, and did not answer.
There's no reason why.
But upon closer examination, there are many reasons.
Because I don't want you to have a bad life.
Because I don't want you to repeat the tragedy of the last world.
Because I know that's not your personality.
Because I like you.
Because you only have one chance to break the rules.
That opportunity can only be yours.
Author's note: The story is in its final stages, with foreshadowing being fully resolved and the ending already taking shape.
After figuring out my thoughts, I felt very relaxed.
It has now become two updates a day, ensuring that the main story will be completed by November 22nd.
There shouldn't be any missed foreshadowing elements, and subsequent revisions should only fix typos and scene transitions, without altering the setting or plot.
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