I Redeemed Him, But Who Will Redeem Me? - Chapter 15

When Lin Xicai first experimented with the space, she only treated it as a storage box. Later, she realized its energy went far beyond that—rather than a storage box, it was more like a small world that obeyed her every whim.

At first, it was a vast, boundless white void, empty and desolate. After several adjustments, it seemed to resonate with her consciousness. That emptiness suddenly gained life, capable of changing its appearance according to the thoughts in her heart.

She sketched countless images in her mind until she had fully outlined the details of a spacious, luxurious house, reproducing her real-life home within that space.

Inside that house, every piece of furniture was perfectly replicated, with textures and details so realistic it was almost indistinguishable from her real home.

This place was her personal utopia.

Every day after school, she would enter it to sit, to rest.

At that moment, inside her carefully recreated “home,” Li Ci was lying quietly.

“Ah—”

“Ahhhhh—”

“You… you… you…”

A buzzing filled her ears as Lin Xicai frowned. A sharp, familiar childish voice rang out: “Y-you… you can’t use the space for this!”

Lin Xicai calmly regarded the light blue figure manifesting before her, her expression serene yet chilling. “So you managed to come back after all.”

“I…” the system’s voice weakened, then pitifully cried, “I couldn’t contact you! It’s like something blocked me; I couldn’t get to this world! I was freaking out! How… how could you… wait, forget that—” the system screamed, “How could you use the space for this kind of thing?!”

Lin Xicai adopted a shrugging, carefree attitude. “Wasn’t it you who said it was for storage?”

“This… this is not storage!”

“Worthless.”

The system flapped its wings anxiously, flying back and forth, unsettled. “What are you planning? What are you going to do now?”

Lin Xicai looked at it with a quiet, penetrating gaze. “He’s seriously affecting my studies. Letting him stick to me like a leech, my only possible outcome is death. Did I do something wrong?”

The system turned pale. “So you…”

“Don’t worry, I won’t touch a single hair on him,” Lin Xicai said with a soothing smile. “Once I finish my mission, I’ll immediately send him back home to his mom.”

The system was unsettled by her calm smile. If it had known this would happen, it would have never handed her the space for leisure—it never expected a teenage girl to think of using it this way. Many others with spaces never had such twisted ideas, yet here she was…

The system flapped its wings, shaking its head like a rattle, pleading: “No, you really can’t. Please release him now.”

“It’s too late,” Lin Xicai said, glancing at it. “If I release him now, will I even survive?”

She paused, softening her tone slightly, as if considering it: “I do this for myself, but not entirely. This person would destroy everyone—Xu Xian, me, that innocent uncle, even your male protagonist.”

Lin Xicai pressed her lips together and sighed slightly. “I even feel a bit of sympathy for your male protagonist. From the beginning, you told me he has an antisocial personality and a twisted future, yet you send women to redeem him while deliberately letting—or designing—circumstances for him to go evil. You’re pushing him to become a madman.”

“System,” Lin Xicai said earnestly, her voice persuasive, “you’re the only one in this world who can hear me speak honestly. Things have come this far, you won’t refuse to help me, right? Besides, I haven’t done anything that violates the rules, have I? I often rest and sleep in the space myself. Now I’m just letting a friend do the same. Isn’t that fine?”

The small system flapped its wings, dizzy from being twisted around by her logic. Something felt off…

The system hesitated. “…You can’t act on your own again.”

“I won’t,” Lin Xicai quickly assured. “I have less than a year left. I’m too busy with studies to do anything else.”

The system, half-convinced, muttered, “That’s better.”

“Of course,” Lin Xicai confirmed, giving it reassurance. “This directly affects my life and safety. How could I joke with my own life?”

The system flapped anxiously, circling her, confused by her maturity.

Lin Xicai checked the time, then calmly glanced at the door.

Suddenly, the door swung open, and the male class monitor rushed in, panting. He peeked inside and, seeing only Lin Xicai, seemed slightly relieved: “Are you okay?”

Lin Xicai shook her head. “I’m fine.”

“Well… why did Li Ci come to you? Where is he?” the monitor frowned.

Lin Xicai pursed her lips, a rare hint of timidity in her eyes. “He… didn’t come.”

The monitor seemed choked by the air itself. Coughing, he softened his voice, trying to offer awkward comfort: “Let’s go back then. Aren’t you scared, being alone in a place like this?”

Lin Xicai nodded, and they walked out together.

“Thank you,” Lin Xicai whispered. “I didn’t know what would happen, so I wanted at least one person to know where I went. I just transferred here, I don’t know many people, so I’m sorry for troubling you.”

“No problem. I’m the class monitor; can’t let you embarrass yourself in PE. But… how did you offend him?”

“Long story. I once saw him in a fight, then the police came. He assumed it was me who called them…”

“And that’s why he’s been harassing you? Bad luck.”

“I don’t know what to do. He didn’t come this time, but next time…”

The monitor frowned. “If he looks for you again, you… just tell me like today.”

“Thanks for today…”

They left the storage room, chatting casually on their way down. The system followed, observing everything. Clearly, it understood her strategy—she was creating a witness.

A teenage girl… why is she so cunning at doing this?

As they exited the gym, they unexpectedly ran into Xie Shi, standing not far away like a silent ghost.

He stared at her directly. Under his calm gaze flickered an unreadable light.

It was the longest he had ever stared at her. There was none of the usual mockery, annoyance, or frivolity.

Instead, there was an intense, burning something—curiosity, freshness, or perhaps… something else.

Lin Xicai froze for a moment under that strange gaze but reacted calmly, giving him a faint glance before blending back into the crowd.

Back in class, her restless heart finally settled. Thanks to that person, she realized that focusing on studying in peace was a rare, precious experience.

Lin Xicai was still in the early stages of learning. Often, she would start a class full of determination, become lost midway, and end by silently cursing herself.

During her struggles, she could feel a subtle, almost imperceptible gaze from the side—intense, complex, familiar yet different.

Meanwhile, Li Ci woke up in a strange house.

The dizzy sensation had not completely faded; his body was still tense.

He stood up, a flash of dark anger in his eyes, but instinctively felt uneasy.

In the storage room, he hadn’t seen when she acted. He only remembered a burst of white light binding him, then unconsciousness.

The surrounding silence was oppressive—as if the entire world consisted only of him.

Not a sound, not even air seemed alive; everything was frozen.

The room was simply furnished and sparsely decorated. He picked up an ashtray from the coffee table and moved toward the door lightly.

One step. Two steps. Three steps…

The door was less than half a meter away. Li Ci reached for the handle.

Suddenly, he felt a breath brush against him.

A faint, ghostly breath behind him.

He tried even harder to reach the door, but a sudden pain in his shoulder and neck caused his consciousness to falter…

When he woke again, he was still in the house, bound in a wicker chair at the center of the living room, humiliated and disheveled.

He struggled, but the thin, strong ropes dug painfully into his arms; the neatly tied knots didn’t move an inch.

Following a sensation, he looked back and saw Zhong Fei sitting on the sofa, quietly doing her homework.

When she noticed him looking, her gaze shifted from the book to him. Her eyes were clear and beautiful, calm and indifferent.

Veins bulged on Li Ci’s forehead, his eyes sparking with fury: “Do you want to die?”

The refined, handsome face finally shed its facade, revealing true malice. Lin Xicai studied his expression, her eyes flickering with unhidden mockery.

Li Ci glared at her, speaking each word slowly: “You have one chance to regret this. If you release me now, I’ll only think you were playing.”

Lin Xicai said nothing, seemingly finding him too noisy. She picked up a paper cup from the coffee table, approached the chair, and forcefully poured the water inside into his mouth.

Li Ci struggled violently, half went down his throat, half spilled on him. Choking, his eyes reddened. “What… did you give me to drink?!”

Before Lin Xicai could answer, he felt his strength drain at an incredible speed. His mind became fuzzy again. “You… wretch! What did you give me?!”

Lin Xicai still didn’t speak a word, as if he didn’t deserve it.

Confident that the drug had rendered him incapable of harming her, Lin Xicai kindly untied the ropes binding him.

As soon as he was free, Li Ci lunged at her, but she dodged. She looked down at him, her gaze light, like she was observing a piece of trash.

Then, her figure disappeared from the place.

Silent and unobtrusive, just as she had arrived.

Li Ci stared dumbfounded at the spot where she vanished, his entire body frozen. His screams and threats were strangled in his throat.

She disappeared before his eyes, out of thin air.

If he wasn’t hallucinating… he must be crazy.