After Backstabbing The Villain, The System Allowed Me To Enter The Book Again - Chapter 36

Shen Huaixin’s face was expressionless as she gripped the knife, stepping slowly but firmly toward Shen Chumo.

At this moment, he seemed soulless, his eyes vacant. Aside from maintaining his ability to restrain Shen Mu, he appeared completely disinterested in everything else around him. Shen Huaixin had never seen him like this before and guessed that Shen Mu’s mutation had dealt him a tremendous blow.

[System: Host, great opportunity! You can stab him directly and complete the mission!]

Shen Huaixin remained silent, walking up to Shen Chumo. He gazed at her helplessly, his grief so dense it seemed almost tangible, stabbing at her heart and making the surrounding atmosphere increasingly unstable, on the verge of erupting.

Around them, Shen Mu’s cries scattered with flying sheets of paper, but the deepest danger came from this boy. The pollution surrounding him coalesced and thickened, spreading blackish, alien matter throughout the space—but he stood at the core, like a lotus in a pond, untouched by filth.

Everything should end here, Shen Huaixin thought. She was finally going to put a period to the tangled fate of Shen Mu and Chumo.

She didn’t hesitate. Passing by Shen Chumo, her gaze shifted to somewhere behind him.

[System: Host, what are you doing? Warning, you only have 3 minutes left!]

Under immense pressure, bl00d trickled from the corner of Shen Huaixin’s mouth, soaking her torn school uniform. Her body felt heavy, as if her internal organs were being twisted and contorted.

Her strength was fading, her consciousness blurring. She bent down and picked up a seemingly inconspicuous sheet of paper. Unlike the others, this one was larger, neater, and filled with familiar handwriting.

She hadn’t been mistaken. She had spent countless nights with this handwriting, watching it become more precise and vigorous.

“Mom,” she said, holding the paper to her chest with a daughter-like, coaxing smile as she walked toward Shen Mu, leaving a trail of bloody footprints. “Look at this.”

Shen Mu’s subconscious maternal instinct was stirred by her voice and expression. Her attacks ceased, and even though her brows furrowed and her face showed a struggle, she stepped back two paces.

Shen Huaixin felt a pang in her heart, unfolded the paper, and pushed it in front of her.

On the neatly lined grids, the first title read—“Anchor Point”.

Shen Mu’s mouth opened, her eyes blankly scanning line after line of dense writing. Normally, she could read novels at incredible speed, but now, with her mind in chaos, it was as if reading a foreign language, utterly difficult.

[System: Character OOC detected. Delivering electric shock warning.]

[Shen Huaixin: You forgot? Pain is already blocked.]

[System: …]

“Mom, this is Chumo’s essay.”

“Uh—ugh—uh,” Shen Mu muttered meaningless sounds, her fingers scrambling over the paper, crumpling it noisily.

Shen Huaixin slowly read aloud, word by word: “My mother is the best mother in the world.”

“…”

Shen Mu strangely quieted.

“Are we made of memories? I seem to have lost many childhood memories, yet gained many frightening, unreal dreams. They call this trauma response.”

“Whenever that happens, I wonder, who am I? Where am I going? But every time I am lost in confusion, I see my mother.”

Her voice choked: “I know, my anchor point is here. I am not nothing.”

Shen Mu’s fingers trembled as she tightly clutched the test paper. Her empty eyes scanned the essay, completely unable to comprehend it. She whimpered “uwu” as alien matter covered her face, leaving her unable to control her expressions. Tears streamed down her face.

“Chumo…” she murmured.

With Shen Mu’s call, the scattered papers fell to the ground like frost, and she opened her arms to embrace Shen Chumo. His eyes flickered, just beginning to respond.

He slowly reached out, draping his arm over Shen Mu’s thin, frail shoulder. By now, her shoulders had grown branch-like, sharp enough to pierce his hand.

“I… I am…” He looked at his hand, the crease between his brows deepening.

Fragments of memories flashed through his mind.

He saw himself floating in the air, doing nothing, omnipresent, coldly observing all the world’s evils. He saw a boy resembling him in appearance.

He couldn’t understand what the boy was doing day and night. Every time an adult passed, the boy’s body was covered with bruises. He would curl up at night, covering his mouth, wetting his pillow.

For three consecutive days, the boy’s body temperature rose. He was left in a dirty, broken straw hut.

The warmth comforted him, so he drew closer—until the boy reached out and touched him. The boy’s hoarse voice took him a long time to understand.

“I can’t take it anymore.”

“Please, don’t let my mother be sad. Tell her I’m safe, I still…” Long sentences made the boy cough violently, bl00d splattering his hands.

Shen Chumo instinctively felt the boy’s pain, floating to the table, but could not lift the cup no matter how many times he tried.

He needed… hands. No, he needed a person. He realized this. Concentrating, he transformed into the boy’s form, landing on the ground, his fingers passing through the cup’s handle and lifting it, spilling water in the process.

Seeing him in the boy’s form, the bloodshot eyes lit up. The boy pulled out a strand of hair, his pale fingers holding it, and without a word, handed it to Shen Chumo.

“Take this hair—it’s my… proof…”

“Remember, your name is… Shen Chumo.”

“Please… fulfill my filial duty. Make Mom happy.”

Shen Chumo looked at the boy expressionlessly, recalling the usual gesture humans make when making promises, bowed his head, and then slowly lifted it.

The boy’s colorless face formed a faint, peaceful smile. Eyes closed, he slept calmly.

Shen Chumo pressed his lips, gently massaging the polluting forces within Shen Mu, softening them to make her passing less painful.

“Mom, don’t be sad,” Shen Chumo said, gazing at her. “Otherwise, Shen Chumo will be sad too.”

Shen Mu embraced him, forcing a smile. Before fully transforming into a source of pollution, Shen Chumo sealed her breath, and her eyes closed forever.

The knife in Shen Huaixin’s hand fell. Dizzy and weak, she collapsed, unable to distinguish her location. Each person’s mutation was different—Shen Mu had grown alien matter, using the Shen residence as flesh and the calendar as a blade, while Shen Huaixin’s mutation was silent, creeping, just as she had been.

Shen Chumo held her, his hands icy, trembling as they brushed her face. Starting from the heavily polluted fingers, she disintegrated like puzzle pieces, sobbing without words.

[Shen Huaixin: Mission failed?]

[System: We may have to reevaluate your performance.]

Shen Huaixin sighed, closing her eyes slightly, awaiting death. She had tried so hard for the million-dollar reward, yet in the end, spared Shen Mu from dying in hatred.

Fortunately, the result was positive.

“Don’t go…”

She faintly heard a voice calling, warm tears falling on her face. For Shen Chumo, he had already lost enough in one day. Since she was gone, he would no longer grieve.

She didn’t know if she managed to force a smile for his comfort, only feeling his increasingly tight embrace and deep, sorrowful wails.

Suddenly, she felt released, free from an indescribable suffocating burden. Looking down, she saw Shen Huaixin’s body dissipating, forming a pollution source dominated by her own subconscious.

[Shen Huaixin: Is it over…?]

[System: Although you haven’t fully died, you’re almost done for.]

[Shen Huaixin: Can I go?]

[System: Okay, I’ll send you back.]

As they spoke, Shen Huaixin looked down from the air. Shen Chumo’s eyes were bl00d-red, holding the remnants of her body, kneeling in silence like a sculpture.

“Don’t be sad. One less person abusing you in this world, isn’t that good?” Shen Huaixin thought, trying to comfort him.

He bent down, whispering into her ear as her form dissolved into light: “Wait for me.”

“…”

[System: Host? Time to move on.]

[Shen Huaixin: Wait a bit. I’ll stay and see how things unfold.]

[System: Although you’ve left your body, you yourself are a source of pollution and will continue to attract yourself. This place is unsafe for long stays.]

[Shen Huaixin: It’s okay, I’ll watch for a while.]

She saw Shen Chumo carefully lay her on his bed, tucking the blanket, apparently unaware most of her body had dissipated. He turned, walked out the damaged door, striding away.

Behind him, her original body dissolved into scattered light.

Shen Huaixin gazed at his back in silence.

She waited for him three days.

In the classroom, classmates whispered among themselves.

“Just now it was sunny and calm—where did that storm come from? And red alerts too!”

“Well, a day off isn’t bad, hehe.”

“When we go home, we’ll play online together.”

As the teacher dismissed the class, students dispersed like birds. Fang Xiaozheng packed her bag, glancing at the darkening sky. Sharp wind blew a few leaves against the window, startling her.

Earlier, Shen Huaixin had hurriedly taken leave. She wondered how she was now.

She pulled out her phone to contact Shen Huaixin, but the signal was gone. Grumbling, she stuffed it back into her bag. “What a crappy phone—already bricked.”

Shen Huaixin, as the leader, should have given everyone a phone to show team unity.

“小郑, going home together?” Xiong Chentao approached, backpack slung over one shoulder, bouncing.

Fang Xiaozheng nodded. “Lend me your phone. I’ll call Xin-jie.”

Xiong Chentao took out his phone, entered the unlock code, and handed it over. She noticed there was no signal in the top-right corner either. Frowning, she tried several numbers—still no connection.

“Maybe the storm affected the signal?” Xiong Chentao scratched his head.

“What about Tianyu?” Fang Xiaozheng asked.

“Just left. Why? We’re not going the same way.”

Fang Xiaozheng sighed. “I don’t know why, but I feel uneasy… Anyway, just stay home and don’t go out.”

Xiong Chentao replied with a casual “Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.”