That night, Feng Xiaohe kept trying to find a way to contact Feng Na. She asked Feng Xiaona how to use VPN software, then tried dialing Qu Xiqian’s number, but still had no luck.
The pitch-black night loomed like a monster ready to swallow people whole. The hollow dial tone from the other end of the phone made Feng Xiaohe tremble with fear. She had witnessed Tsukiyuki Rio’s financial power firsthand, and knew all too well the consequences of standing against her.
“Xiaona, you’re back.”
The moment Feng Xiaona stepped through the door, Feng Xiaohe rushed forward and wrapped her arms tightly around her younger sister’s delicate frame.
Feng Xiaona’s forehead was covered in sweat, and her pale blue dress was completely soaked through. Glimmering beads of sweat clung to her eyelashes before sliding down to the tip of her nose. Her exquisite face looked like a mask about to shatter, just one step away from total collapse.
In her sister’s eyes was a stain of grief, hurt, and exhaustion—a gaze identical to that of people on the verge of ending their own lives.
“Xiaona, are you okay?”
“Sister!”
Without a word, her sister wrapped her arms around Xiaohe’s waist and buried her little head against her sister’s chest like a puppy. Her stubborn eyes welled with blurry tears that soaked into Feng Xiaohe’s blouse.
“What exactly happened, Xiaona? It’s okay, your sister is right here. Take your time and tell me. Sister will help you figure something out.”
A gentle hand softly stroked Feng Xiaona’s hair. This was the first time she had ever seen her sister so fragile.
She asked in the softest voice, afraid of losing her little sister.
Feng Xiaona just kept crying, not answering her sister’s questions directly. She leaned on her sister’s shoulder to vent the grief in her heart. After crying for about ten minutes, Feng Xiaona wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.
“Sister, I’m tired. Let’s talk tomorrow…”
“Do you want to sleep together tonight?”
“Sorry, Sister. Not tonight.”
Swaying unsteadily, Feng Xiaona walked step by step toward her room and locked the door behind her.
If her other body—the one captured alive by Tsukiyuki Rio—was still breathing, she would be forced to witness unspeakably disgusting scenes. Feng Na was also a part of her own body. Feng Xiaona could tolerate Feng Na dying, but she absolutely would not allow that body to be defiled by anyone. It belonged only to Brother Sijin. If another man sullied it, Feng Xiaona would lose the courage to live and would end her own life.
“Please, die. Just die quickly, other me…”
She knelt before the window and prayed. Closing her eyes, she tried to shift her consciousness into Feng Na’s body to bite her tongue and end it all. That body was still unconscious, apparently being transported like cargo. The bumpy road worsened Feng Xiaona’s already battered injuries, as if ten thousand ants were gnawing at her flesh.
But under the influence of the drugs, she could not die.
At some point, Feng Xiaona heard a strange, beautiful song…
“Huh?”
Her consciousness was forcibly cut off.
This meant Feng Na’s body had ceased all biological activity. She had successfully died.
“I died?”
She tried once more to make her consciousness return to Feng Na’s body, but Feng Na was like a signal source that had been completely severed. She could no longer detect any connection between the two. Feng Na no longer existed.
“I died!”
The gloomy, hollow look in Feng Xiaona’s eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by a spark of brightness.
Losing to Tsukiyuki Rio truly stung Feng Xiaona’s pride. Dr. Hououin and the traitors within the Time Management Bureau had also caught her completely off guard. Watching the Tokyo Yakuza she had painstakingly built crumble in the blink of an eye made Feng Xiaona feel the crushing weight of a high-stakes gambler losing everything in a single moment.
Yet compared to the pain of having her body defiled, all of this was utterly insignificant.
“Brother Sijin! I’m still clean! I’m still your Xiaona!”
Feng Xiaona broke into a radiant smile, feeling the overwhelming relief of a survivor after a disaster over the death of her other self.
Next time, she absolutely would not fail again.
Now that she knew everything about Tsukiyuki Rio, she had to act with even greater caution.
After debugging a secret program in her room, Feng Xiaona left and went to find her sister.
“Sister, I’m all better now!” Feng Xiaona burst out of her room like a joyful little sprite. She ran to the living room and wrapped her arms around Feng Xiaohe’s waist again. “I’m sorry, Sister. I worried you earlier. I really did hit some setbacks just now, but I’ve completely recovered. Please don’t worry about me anymore.”
“What just happened, Xiaona?”
Her sister’s mood had flipped like a switch, leaving Feng Xiaohe completely unprepared.
“Actually, it was about stocks. At first I heard we lost money, so I was worried. Then I found out we actually made money. It really gave me a scare. Sister and I almost lost everything.”
Feng Xiaohe had previously agreed to let her sister manage and invest the money. Her sister had said she had a way to make money grow.
“Xiaona, even if we really do lose everything, it’s not a big deal. We can always start over. But if I lose you, then Sister has no reason to go on living either. So Xiaona, you must never give up. Even if it’s just for me, you have to live on strong.”
“I’m sorry, Sister…”
Feng Xiaona had lied, but it was the kind of lie her sister should believe.
She let out a heavy sigh of relief.
“Sister, is there something else? Earlier on the phone, you said you wanted to learn how to use a VPN. What was that about?”
“Today, Feng Na called me. She said a lot of things on the phone, and she was completely different from usual. I’m worried about her, so I wanted to reach out and contact her.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me this kind of thing sooner, Sister?”
Feng Xiaona immediately dialed a number on her phone. Before long, the other end connected.
Being prepared for a rainy day had indeed been the right move. Feng Xiaona had previously made recordings of Feng Na’s voice, so even though Feng Na was dead, she could still pretend Feng Na was alive and talking with her sister over the phone.
Though it was just a program, her sister would definitely not be able to tell.
“Hello, Sister Xiaohe.”
“Are you okay, Na?”
“Sorry, I said some harsh things this morning. I’m fine. I was just a bit emotionally worked up earlier. Please don’t take it to heart.” From the other end of the line came Feng Na’s calm voice.
“That’s good to hear.”
“Anything else? If not, I’ll hang up. I’m busy with work matters.”
“Alright, I won’t keep you then.”
After finishing the call with Feng Na, the weight on Feng Xiaohe’s heart finally lifted.
Feng Xiaona tilted her little head up and looked at Feng Xiaohe.
“Sister.”
“What is it, Xiaona?”
“Next vacation, let’s take a trip to Chuncheng together.”
“Why Chuncheng?”
“That’s Brother Sijin’s hometown.”
Ever since Brother Sijin had been taken away, Xiaona figured his family must be terribly worried. Feng Xiaona wanted to meet the family from her previous life once again.
