With a boom, Shen Xiaoyu's mind went blank, and even the system's error messages disappeared.
Tang Tang's words echoed in her mind: "She's known you're the pursuer for a long time. I originally thought Sister Huan would deal with you directly, but Huan said she wanted to keep you, turning you into a tool serving us."
Shen Xiaoyu clutched her head, her breathing becoming heavier. The pain following the explosive noise made her almost pass out, but the tension in her neural pathways prevented her from losing consciousness.
Su Huan hadn't shown any signs, instead watching her like a clown, watching her struggle desperately to survive like a trapped beast.
Perhaps she even found it interesting, watching Shen Xiaoyu become an obedient dog at her command, allowing herself to be tormented for ten years without ever rebelling.
But there was still one thing she didn't understand—
"What pursuer? Have you been reading too many novels?" She was probing, trying to figure out how Tang Tang knew about the pursuit mission.
Meanwhile, the system in her mind was on the verge of collapse, frantically investigating where the error had occurred, completely ignoring their conversation.
If it couldn't find the cause of the breakdown, it might be erased by the main god!
Tang Tang shrugged, not particularly concerned. "It doesn't matter if you don't admit it. What's important is that Su Huan believed it."
"For these ten years, she's been stringing you along. You're just a pitiful lapdog she used, and in the end, you'll die silently like a disgusting cockroach that can't see the light of day."
Shen Xiaoyu's expression froze slightly, the light in her eyes gradually disappearing.
Yes, whether it was true or false didn't matter. What mattered was that Su Huan believed it and carried out her plan thoroughly.
So Su Huan had known from the beginning that she was the pursuer, and also knew that if the mission failed, she would die. Yet she could so carelessly string her along, making her suffer in pain and guilt, fear and remorse, while pretending to know nothing.
Shen Xiaoyu's emotions gradually collapsed. She seemed to have lost all her strength and slumped on the sofa, unable to summon any energy.
Tang Tang didn't need to say anything more. Shen Xiaoyu understood Su Huan—suspicious, sensitive, and hating to be deceived. After knowing Shen Xiaoyu was the pursuer, she would never trust her again.
Her mission was destined to fail.
She was destined to be unable to save her mother or return home.
She didn't resent Su Huan for not letting her complete the mission; after all, no one wants to be deceived in matters of the heart. But apart from being forced to pursue Su Huan to complete her mission, she had never harmed Su Huan. How could Su Huan bear to toy with her for ten years?
Even if she had given her a quick end, told her to get lost, made her completely give up, or even let her end herself.
Su Huan, you are truly ruthless!
Shen Xiaoyu suddenly began to laugh. At first, it was low, but gradually her laughter grew louder. It seemed as if all the blood in her body had gathered in her face. Her face turned bright red, and the veins on her neck bulged, showing her emotional agitation.
Tears welled up in her eyes, more and more, until finally, her eyelashes could no longer bear the weight of the tears. Strings of teardrops rolled down her cheeks, wetting her clothes.
Tang Tang had been smiling at first, but slowly the smile disappeared from her face, and her brows furrowed slightly as she watched Shen Xiaoyu.
She didn't actually know if Shen Xiaoyu was the pursuer, but after she was reborn, she noticed something off about Shen Xiaoyu. She immediately confirmed that a different person had taken over this body, so she early on planted seeds of doubt in Su Huan's heart.
Shen Xiaoyu didn't disappoint her, allowing the seeds of doubt to take root and sprout, eventually growing into a towering tree.
Now it was proven that her guess was correct. Shen Xiaoyu really was the pursuer, and she was about to die because of the mission failure. Now no one could stop her from changing her original fate.
Tang Tang couldn't help but smile with satisfaction: "Shen Xiaoyu, I might be the last person you see in this world. Consider this me seeing you off. Farewell."
"Why tell me all this?" Shen Xiaoyu murmured. "Su Huan's plan has already succeeded. I no longer have any value. Why are you still telling me these things?"
Tang Tang's eyes flickered. "Because it's interesting. I wanted to see your face of despair after knowing the truth."
"I see. So you've seen it now. Are you satisfied?" A trace of mockery flashed across her face. "Can you get out of my house now?"
"Shen Xiaoyu, don't blame me. Every man for himself. It's just your bad luck that you stood in my way."
After saying this, Tang Tang got up and left.
The moment the door closed, Shen Xiaoyu tilted her head and coughed up a mouthful of blood. The system's protection seemed to have disappeared, and intense pain swept through her entire body.
Shen Xiaoyu cried out in pain, supporting her limp body to reach for the phone. She couldn't die here.
Her hands trembled severely, almost unable to hold the phone. With great difficulty, she finally dialed 120. When the call connected, her hoarse voice squeezed out.
"Help—help me—"
After saying these two words, Shen Xiaoyu completely passed out.
The phone fell beside her hand. The person on the other end frantically called to her, trying to get more information, but the quiet room had no sound.
When Shen Xiaoyu woke up again, she was in the hospital. She didn't know how long she had slept. Her whole body felt dizzy and drained of energy.
She didn't know how the ambulance had found her, but the strong smell of disinfectant in the hospital was reassuring. After her mind relaxed, she felt the abnormality in her body.
Whether it was an illusion or not, the system's protection function seemed to have disappeared. She felt the pain of her deteriorating body, penetrating deep into her marrow.
Her mind was completely quiet. The formerly frantic system now made no sound at all. She didn't know if it had found the cause of the breakdown, or if there would be any compensation for her since the pursuit failed due to external factors.
Shen Xiaoyu hoped there would be, preferably something she could give to her still-sick mother. At least then all the grievances she had suffered wouldn't be in vain.
The nurse who came to check on her discovered she was awake and immediately called for a doctor.
Soon the doctor arrived and, looking at her test reports, tactfully expressed that she needed family accompaniment, and since it was already in the late stages, she could pass away at any time.
Shen Xiaoyu picked at her hand and smiled, shaking her head. "My family doesn't know about my condition, and I don't intend to tell them. Since I'm going to die anyway, it's better they don't know anything rather than being sad for me."
"But Miss Shen, in your condition, it's best to stay in the hospital," the doctor advised. "We'll use medical means to try our best to extend your life."
Shen Xiaoyu refused. She didn't need to extend her life; she needed to find a place to bury herself.
Seeing that the doctor wanted to persuade her further, Shen Xiaoyu immediately changed the subject. "By the way, how did I get to the hospital?"
She remembered that after dialing the phone, she passed out before she could finish speaking.
The doctor sighed. "Your girlfriend brought you in. That young lady fainted after hearing your diagnosis and is resting in the next room. Fortunately, she arrived in time; otherwise, you wouldn't have made it."
"My girlfriend?" Shen Xiaoyu was surprised. "But I'm single..."
Just as she finished speaking, Shen Xiaoyu heard movement at the door. Turning her head, she met Su Huan's reddened eyes. She seemed to have been crying, her water-filled eyes slightly swollen.
The doctor also saw the person at the door, with sympathy in his eyes. "Alright, talk well with each other. I hope Miss Shen will consider what I just said carefully. Even if you don't think about yourself, think about your girlfriend, especially since she's still..."
The doctor shook his head and turned to leave.
Shen Xiaoyu looked at the person at the door, her face instantly turning cold. "Why are you here?"
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Su Huan asked softly, gripping her hand tightly. "If I hadn't come to find you, you would have died."
"We don't need to keep in contact anymore." Shen Xiaoyu pulled her hand away, struggling to sit up. She pulled back the covers, about to get off the bed, but was stopped by Su Huan.
"What are you doing!" Su Huan said vigilantly. "I don't care what you want to do, but right now you must rest well in the hospital. The doctor said that although your cancer is advanced, with proper treatment, your life can be extended."
Her voice choked up, and when she mentioned cancer, her throat caught, even changing her voice.
Shen Xiaoyu, wearing a hospital gown, sat quietly on the edge of the bed, her gaze sweeping inch by inch over Su Huan's face, as if wanting to engrave her image in her heart.
"You act so convincingly," she said. "Su Huan, when you deceived me, did you also deceive yourself? Didn't you already know I was the pursuer?"
Su Huan's body suddenly trembled, and she quickly averted her eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You don't need to pretend anymore. Tang Tang told me everything. You've known I was the pursuer since ten years ago."
Shen Xiaoyu thought she would be angry, that she would furiously question why Su Huan had played her, but when she spoke out, her heart was very calm.
"Tang Tang is right. I am the pursuer. I approached you with a purpose." As she said this, she smiled, her eyes curving. "If the mission fails, I'll soon be erased. I've gotten what I deserve."
Su Huan froze, her body involuntarily trembling. "Impossible! How could you be erased? Impossible!"
She shook her head in disbelief, large tears falling down her pale cheeks, murmuring continuously, "Why would it be mission failure? Isn't it just that you can't leave this world if the pursuit isn't successful? How could there be punishment?"
Shen Xiaoyu's eyes held mockery. "Where there are rewards, there are naturally punishments. Otherwise, why would the system engage in a losing business? If it weren't for the reward, why do you think I would stay by your side for ten years!"
If it hadn't been for the hope that her mother would wake up, she would have abandoned the mission long ago!
But this was fine now. She could die together with her mother. They would meet again in another world.
Su Huan seemed not to have heard her words, immersed in her own world, murmuring like a madwoman.
Suddenly, she grabbed Shen Xiaoyu's hand, her eyes filled with hope. "All this is something you made up to trick me, isn't it? It's to make me soften my heart and say I love you so you can complete your mission and leave, right? This must be something you fabricated to trick me!"
She clutched Su Huan's hand tightly, while she was shouting loudly: "Where is the system? Where is the system? Make the system come out, I want to hear it say so myself! System! System!"
Su Huan surrounded Shen Xiaoyu, frantically trying to summon the system, but she didn't know how to do it, so she could only rely on shouting to make the system appear.
Shen Xiaoyu was completely confused by her words, and then a chill ran up her spine.
Wasn't all this told to her by Tang Tang? But Tang Tang couldn't possibly know in such detail, even knowing exactly what she had said to the system.
She stared hard at Su Huan, whose face had turned ugly, and said word by word, "How do you know what I said to the system?"
Su Huan's face instantly turned pale, almost unable to look Shen Xiaoyu in the eye.
"Su Huan, what's going on here?" Shen Xiaoyu coldly questioned. "What else are you hiding from me?" She didn't want to die without knowing the truth.
But Su Huan only trembled slightly, biting her lip hard, not saying a word.
She dared not speak.
She dared not imagine what would happen if Shen Xiaoyu knew the truth!