Chapter 117: World Four

Splash…

Nian Zhi’an opened her eyes. Above her head was stark white light and porcelain tiles, and the air around her was thick with the stench of blood. There were still dried tear tracks at the corners of her eyes—she didn’t know if they were the original host’s or her own.

She lifted her arm, and some water overflowed from the bathtub. A gruesome wound on her wrist came into view. The system had performed emergency treatment to stop the bleeding, but that was all. It hadn’t done anything more, as Nian Zhi’an hadn’t allowed the system to continue with the repairs.

【H-Host…】 If the system had facial features at that moment, its face would surely be filled with panic.

The only thing that could frighten it this much was the information Zuo Yuanxi had revealed before her death.

It wasn’t worrying about itself—it was afraid that Nian Zhi’an would be sentenced to extreme punishment by the Main System.

The very first rule in the System Rule Handbook was highlighted in red: Executors and systems alike were strictly forbidden from leaking any information about the System Space to residents of the original worlds. Violators would be erased.

【How could she possibly have known… It couldn’t be that you accidentally let something slip when you locked me in the Little Black Room, right?】

“The Main System hasn’t popped up to complain so far, which means I haven’t broken any rules, doesn’t it?” Nian Zhi’an replied expressionlessly.

The system thought about it and realized she was right.

【Then why…】

Before the Little System could finish speaking, Nian Zhi’an muted it.

“Did we say anything?” Nian Zhi’an forced a smile that couldn’t have been more fake. “Don’t go making wild guesses—or speaking them out loud. Got it?”

Nian Zhi’an cradled the Little System in her hands, and it couldn’t help but tremble involuntarily.

If her power before had merely restrained it, now the Little System felt like the Great Demon King could punch right through it…

Super scary! This was all Zuo Yuanxi’s doing!

A system under the roof had no choice but to lower its head.

The system immediately adopted a fawning attitude, agreeing that the host was always right and insisting it hadn’t heard a thing!

Nian Zhi’an stayed relatively calm as she stood up from the bathtub. She drained the tub full of bloodied water, rinsed off the remaining bloodstains on her body, changed into clean clothes, found the original host’s medicine kit at home, applied some ointment, wrapped it in gauze, and called it done.

Up to this point, the host seemed fairly normal, so they should be able to talk now.

【Host, don’t be too upset about that… Maybe we can go look for her first. I think since we’ve run into her in three worlds already, the odds are good that she’s in this one too!】

The Little System floated beside Nian Zhi’an. For once, it set aside its professional duties to encourage the host to go searching.

Nian Zhi’an fell silent for a moment but shook her head. “Send me the intel on this world first. If we’re going to find her, we need to handle the original host’s troubles too—we can’t drag her down with them.”

The original host had slit her wrists to commit suicide. She’d only just graduated from university, and for a young woman her age to choose such a desperate end, there had to be a heavy story behind it—perhaps even some unresolved obsessions.

【Got it. Sending it over now—please check your messages.】

“…” Nian Zhi’an didn’t check it right away. Instead, her gaze drifted to the window outside.

It was deep into the night, and by the moonlight, she could faintly make out the swaying shadows of trees.

Several camphor trees, thick and sturdy after more than a decade or two of growth, stood outside her residential complex. The original host’s home was on the fifth floor, with a perfect view of the treetops’ shaking silhouettes… like eerie ghostly figures.

People living here who were faint of heart couldn’t even draw back the curtains on this side at night.

But Nian Zhi’an frowned as she stared at the window. A sudden gust of wind blew outside, and something went “pat-pat-pat” slapping against the glass.

~~~

Nian Zhi’an’s expression turned fierce. She stood up at once and strode to the bedroom window, flinging it open with a “bang.”

A ghost hovered outside the window—no surprise, it had apparently fallen to its death. Its head resembled a split-open watermelon, while the rest of its body remained intact.

This world’s power level couldn’t compare to the previous one, but it was higher than the first two, so ghosts existed here.

For it to show up now, it was either after devouring the original host who’d just turned into a ghost or seizing her body by force. That poor girl had probably been harassed endlessly by this one—no, by this whole pack of them. Living in a place shrouded in such heavy Yin Qi would drive anyone with a sound mind off the deep end.

Guided by the principle that she’d used the original host’s body and thus had to resolve her karma, Nian Zhi’an reached out and grabbed the ghost’s neck just as it lunged viciously toward her. But before she could even squeeze, it turned straight into a wisp of smoke.

Nian Zhi’an glanced at her hand. She’d thought she’d used only a light touch, but with the power her wife had just gifted her, even that tiny bit had been enough to scatter the ghost soul to the winds.

~~~

The other ghost souls lurking in the tree shadows caught sight of this and fled in all directions, terrified that Nian Zhi’an might not be satisfied with just one and would turn her sights on them next.

【Host, feeling any better?】 The system nearly burst with glee when that cannon fodder ghost blundered into Nian Zhi’an at the peak of her foul mood. It had been fretting over how to let her vent—bottling up all that negativity would turn her into a nutcase sooner or later. Better to let it out.

When Nian Zhi’an didn’t respond, the system hurriedly pulled out the Pallas’s Cat plush the host had made in the previous world and placed it in her hands.

Nian Zhi’an blinked at it in slight surprise. “You actually brought this along?”

【Heh heh, well, since we made the gift, it has to be delivered, right?】

A smile finally tugged at Nian Zhi’an’s lips. “You’re right. A gift that’s ready ought to be given.”

“You’re getting smarter by the minute.”

【Picked up a trick or two from your wife.】

Nian Zhi’an shot it a glare. “Why bother learning that?”

【Gotta think of ways to save myself when your wife’s not around, don’t I? How else do we keep going with the missions if I don’t keep you happy? You scared me half to death when you first arrived—I really thought you were gonna off yourself in that bathtub…】 The system kept chattering on and on.

Nian Zhi’an let out a mocking laugh. “You’re such a scaredy-cat. Relax, I won’t kill myself.”

She cupped her hands together, and a pure white Merfolk Pearl materialized in her palms. Thick Dragon Qi coiled around the pearl, from which faint dragon roars could be heard.

The system had been about to argue back, but the sight of it left the entire system speechless.

Unlike the defensive Longevity Lock, this was an offensive item—exact power unknown, but the Little System was certain its grade was no lower.

Hiss…

The Little System drew in a sharp breath. Its host now had two top-tier items, one for attack and one for defense?! If word got out in the System Space, they’d turn green with envy.

“She wants me to live well, so of course I won’t go throwing my life away.”

【As expected, you’re a total simp for your wife. I could talk myself hoarse and it still wouldn’t match a single word from her.】 The system grumbled.

Nian Zhi’an didn’t argue this time, because it was true.

Like the Longevity Lock, this Merfolk Pearl bound directly to her soul. Its grade was so high that even the Main System couldn’t remove it.

I’ll come find you soon.

Nian Zhi’an stowed the Merfolk Pearl away, then finally began receiving the original host’s memories and the plot.

This world was originally about an ordinary girl rising in the entertainment industry to become everyone’s favorite, dominating all comers. Along her path to stardom, she inevitably encountered one male supporting character after another. They protected her, cleared away all threats, and handed her the best resources on a silver platter. But supporting characters were supporting characters, no matter what—no amount of effort could stop the male lead, the award-winning actor, from winning the beauty in the end.

And then there was this world’s antagonist…

Nian Zhi’an’s expression shifted the moment she recalled the opening. She clearly remembered which world this was.

The antagonist was the male lead’s cousin, who’d risen to fame in the entertainment industry even earlier. Unfortunately, she’d been frail since childhood, with a congenital heart condition—a fragile porcelain doll who ended up in the hospital at the slightest emotional upset. But as the old saying goes, when God closes a door, he opens a window.

The antagonist possessed extraordinary acting talent. The female lead was a genius, but compared to the antagonist, she still fell short. To trample this lofty flower underfoot and claim the top spot for herself, the female lead would need more than just her own strength.

Perhaps it was fate, or perhaps the female lead orchestrated it deliberately, but she ended up starring alongside the antagonist in several films. The antagonist was usually gentle and soft-spoken, yet during filming, she was harsh on everyone else and even stricter with herself. The female lead often couldn’t keep up with her intensity, which became a regular occurrence. At those times, she inevitably earned a scolding from the director before enduring the antagonist’s “mockery.”

She went back home and cried her eyes out, so much so that several of the male side characters felt heartbroken for her. They indirectly pieced together that the antagonist had bullied her, so they privately decided to band together against the antagonist. They even worried that the female lead might feel burdened by guilt, so they kept all their actions from her, allowing her to remain a pure and innocent flower.

The antagonist drew the ire of her cousin because she despised the female lead and refused to let her set foot in the Shen Family home. After her cousin tried to sabotage her, she ruthlessly sought to utterly ruin him and bring everlasting disgrace upon him, all while dealing with the female lead’s endless petty schemes. Unfortunately, the antagonist’s role was merely to pave the way for the protagonist. At the critical moment, she succumbed to a sudden heart attack and died, leaving her vast family fortune to fall into the male lead’s hands and catapulting his career to its peak.

But not only did she live on just fine, she turned the tables completely. She bankrupted the male lead’s entire family, ensured the female lead could never rise again in the entertainment industry, and neatly packed off male side characters one through five… all of them straight to prison.

In this world, Nian Zhi’an followed the system’s wishes and stole the evidence that the antagonist had gathered on her cousin. Per s-232’s instructions, she was supposed to hand all of it over to the male lead, but unfortunately, word leaked out. The male lead drove up to intercept her, only for his brakes to fail. The two cars smashed right into each other.

Later, the police arrived and discovered the evidence the male lead had so desperately craved on the corpses. After taking a long detour, it ended up right back in the police’s hands once more. Combined with the charge of manslaughter, the male lead was sentenced to death with a reprieve.

Although no concrete evidence proved the female lead’s direct involvement in the incident, that didn’t mean she was innocent.

Under the antagonist’s relentless pressure, the female lead gradually faded from the public eye. Then one day, she suddenly appeared alongside the male lead—who should have been rotting in a prison cell—in a runaway car. The vehicle smashed through the guardrail and plunged straight into the sea, where the two met their end together.

Meanwhile, at the scene of the accident, another car sat parked nearby. When its window rolled down, the face that emerged belonged to none other than the antagonist.