After Backstabbing The Villain, The System Allowed Me To Enter The Book Again - Chapter 35

Shen Huaixin remembered the setting in the novel: people with stable mental states and physically enhanced bodies had stronger resistance against pollution. She estimated that if she faced the pollution source head-on, she wouldn’t make it through the night before completely losing consciousness.

She put on a mask as a makeshift protective measure, swiped her city card to borrow a shared bike, and saw that the distance wasn’t far. The driver had already driven most of the way, so another ten minutes of cycling would get her home.

Her feet pedaled furiously, the rushing wind howling past her ears. The air along the roadside began to warp like a heatwave, the street stretching endlessly, resisting her advance. The pollution particles were so thick they felt almost tangible. Her ears buzzed, and she realized her earlier estimation had been far too optimistic.

Of course—this was pollution at the level of a final boss. By the book’s grading standards, it had probably reached SSS level. In such a fragile human body, there was no chance of survival.

Eight minutes later, Shen Huaixin was already coughing up bl00d. She fell off her bike, staggering forward on sheer willpower.

System: When the host dismounted, I automatically concealed your aura. Nearby pollution sources will not actively attack.

Shen Huaixin: What’s the point of concealing me? Don’t you have anything that can block the pollution itself?

System: …If such a thing existed, this world would’ve been saved long ago. That’s why the heroine with purification powers is the only hope left.

So reasonable she had no comeback.

Under this extreme pressure, Shen Huaixin’s consciousness was already hazy. She couldn’t tell how long it took to cross just a few dozen meters.

Luckily, facial recognition still worked. As the iron gate opened automatically, she saw the familiar butler. His eyes were hollow, staring into nothing, dark irises like bottomless pits. Shen Huaixin couldn’t help it—another mouthful of bl00d spilled out.

System: Don’t worry, I’ve already blocked your pain receptors. No matter how severe the pollution, you won’t feel pain.

Shen Huaixin: How much longer do I have?

Leaning against the door, her vision blurred. After a while, she recognized the residence. The once carefully tended garden plants had withered, some mutated with sharp fangs. Under the faint light, the pale flowers swayed with the wind, as though nodding and smiling at their guest.

She stood in the middle of the garden, like in a mist-shrouded forest. It was noon, yet all around was chilling darkness. A scene she’d never seen in the peaceful era—far beyond her naïve imaginings.

Deep within the mansion truly lay something akin to a demon lord, suppressed in ways humanity could barely comprehend.

System: About ten minutes before you’re fully assimilated into a pollution source. If you head to the kitchen for a knife now, you’ll make it in time.

Shen Huaixin: …What about Mom and Chumo?

System: Madam Shen is mutating. Shen Chumo is by her side.

“…”

Her heart sank. She stumbled a step forward.

Yesterday’s ordinary moments replayed vividly. She still remembered Madam Shen’s loving, focused gaze when she looked at her—willing to give everything for her daughter. But… all goodbyes seemed to come without warning.

Even with mental preparation, she never thought the last time she’d see her would be on an unremarkable morning, with the last words she said being—“Mom, I’m leaving.”

It felt like a farewell to the world itself.

System: Host, your role is about to wrap up. Don’t get too attached. Emotional fluctuations will hasten your mutation.

After a pause, Shen Huaixin dragged her awareness back from the fog. She nodded, gritted her teeth, and moved forward.

Pushing through layers of twisted branches, the towering building warped before her eyes. Familiar sharp sounds howled, but she dared not think who they belonged to.

When she pushed the door open, the Shen residence had turned into another space. Countless calendars hung suspended in the air, pages fluttering with wails.

From upstairs came a sharp, mournful cry:
“One year…”

Three hundred sixty-five pages ripped with a rustle.

“Two years…”

Even more pages flew, swirling into a storm. The snow-like sheets sliced the walls, leaving gashes that bled fresh red.

In the chaos, her head throbbed violently. She couldn’t tell directions. The system’s voice cut in:

System: The kitchen is on the left. Lay out the calendars like a carpet—they’ll carry you up to the second floor, to Shen Chumo’s room. You have ten minutes.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped left. With each step, it felt like she was treading on sticky, wet gum, pulling her down. Her mind plummeted.

She reached what might have been a kitchen. A counter was there, but instead of fire, it burned with cold blue flames, radiating chill.

Shen Huaixin: I don’t see a knife.

System: It’s right under your feet.

Shen Huaixin: That’s just a calendar.

System: …Your perception is compromised.

Rubbing her eyes hard, she picked up a page from the floor—cutting her hand in the process. Black mist seeped into the wound. It felt icy, like being wrapped by soft silken threads. She touched it again, and more bl00d dripped out.

Not enough… She swallowed, pressing the paper to her wrist.

System: Host, focus! Think about your reward! Ten million yuan!

Shen Huaixin: …Thanks, I’m awake now.

Following the system’s instructions, she tore calendars from the air and laid them on the ground, her bl00d soaking them into a gruesome crimson carpet.

She collapsed onto it, gasping heavily.

Though pain was blocked, bl00d loss and accelerated contamination left her drained. She wanted to close her eyes forever, but the obsession with money forced her to stay awake.

The makeshift calendar carpet lifted her upward like an elevator. When it reached the second floor, she followed the system’s guidance, heading toward Shen Chumo’s bedroom.

All around was pitch black—hand outstretched, she couldn’t see her fingers. Guided only by the system, she stumbled forward. With each step, bloody words appeared on the walls, dripping like confessions.

My child is gone.

Another step. To her right, more words:

I wasn’t a qualified mother.

She froze. But the bl00d kept gushing, spraying across walls, damp with a rainy stench.

He pretended to be my child. He deserves to die!
He killed Chumo!
Chumo cannot rest in peace! I must avenge him!
Kill him kill him kill him!

The words surged like a tidal wave, crashing into her, bursting into foamy claws that scratched at her body. Though pain was blocked, she could still feel the intensity of anguish.

Her legs trembled, clutching the knife, she kicked aside the bloody words and forced herself forward.

System: Host, five minutes left.

She hit an invisible barrier and slashed it open with her knife. Darkness split, revealing Shen Chumo.

He was desperately trying to absorb the pollution from Madam Shen, but she was already half-mutated, mind gone. Countless flying pages sliced his flesh piece by piece. His body was drenched in bl00d, almost unrecognizable.

“Monster! Bastard!” Madam Shen screamed and attacked wildly.

Shen Chumo didn’t dodge. The closer he got, the worse her corruption grew. Black crystalline masses spread across her face—the final stage before becoming a full pollution source.

“Mom…”

“You’re not my son!”

Shen Huaixin widened the tear enough to enter. The pollution density here was unimaginable. The system flashed endless red warnings, urging her to act before either noticed her.

She looked at the scene with unspeakable sorrow. The once noble, elegant Madam Shen was now disheveled, reeking of rot, her body crawling with black growths—no longer human.

She opened her mouth, voice as thin as a mosquito’s buzz: “Mom.”

The familiar, choking sound drew Madam Shen’s gaze. For an instant, clarity flickered in her eyes. Her lips trembled:

“Huaixin…” But soon hatred consumed her again. She snarled, “Kill him! Kill him!”

Pollution magnified one’s darkest emotions. Shen Huaixin knew—her mother was gone.

Shen Chumo froze.

From the moment she spoke, he had looked at her. But… he couldn’t believe it.

The girl’s lips, once like flower petals, were now grayish purple. Her bright black-and-white eyes were dyed pitch-black, glassy and lifeless. Her scarred hands bled continuously, pollution seeping in relentlessly.

He could see it. The girl he cherished most had already been thoroughly corrupted.

His gaze dropped to his trembling hands. The filth of guilt was everywhere—in his palms, his chest, rooted in his soul. A metallic sweetness surged in his throat; he coughed bl00d, his chest tightening like it was being torn apart.

The emotions in his chest were sourer than lemon, sharper than knives, heavier than hatred. Warm liquid streamed down his face. He wiped it, but it kept flowing, as though a valve had been broken—separating him forever from the world he knew.

The muddled fog of his emotions and perception finally cleared. Everything came into focus in a single moment.

Shen Huaixin had taught him what heartbreak was.

No—she had taught him everything. The sour, the sweet, the bitter, the joy, the sorrow—every emotion in the world began with her.