After Rebirth, the Heroine is Consumed by Overwhelming Regret Chapter 49

Hua Jiaolian was stunned for a moment.
Didn’t that fox demon just say they were once teammates? Why was the other person’s reaction so resistant, as if she hated her more than an enemy?
Could they be deliberately acting?
But what was the need? Their cultivation levels were both higher than hers; there was no need to play tricks. She was just an insignificant, minor character who could die at any moment. The other party hadn’t killed her immediately only because they were worried about the safety of those two people.
But she didn’t think it was necessary to delve too deeply into this matter. Anyway, it was just an empty promise—who knew if Ling Aorui could be cured or not? Since she couldn’t win them over, she might as well escape.
Her gaze remained fixed on the two of them, but her fingers secretly reached for a mechanism under the chair. As long as she touched the formation array below, she would immediately escape a thousand miles away through it.
But who knew this Ling Aorui was so sharp, almost inhumanly so. Seeing her make a move, Ling Aorui immediately swung her sword. Her physical condition was clearly terrible, and she even swayed when she walked, yet her sword strike was not messy at all.
Hua Jiaolian’s fingers were almost cleanly cut off.
Jiu Chan was also a bit stunned to see Ling Aorui actually attacking Hua Jiaolian. But she guessed this wretched pair was having an internal conflict, which was exactly what she wanted. She quickly stepped forward to take over and restrain Hua Jiaolian.
Hua Jiaolian was already frail and weak. Being frightened and restrained like this, she immediately started coughing and gasping for breath, her tear-filled eyes evoking pity. Jiu Chan couldn’t help but click her tongue. “You vixen, you sure have your ways! No wonder you were so good at snatching women in your past life. What, still not begging for mercy? If you don’t hand them over, I’ll rip out your demon bones!”
Demon bones weren’t just a demon’s bones; they were also related to their demonic power. If the demon bones were removed, the person would be crippled. At best, they’d be paralyzed; at worst, it was equivalent to death by a thousand cuts.
Hua Jiaolian was terrified, but she still stubbornly said, “You can’t just kill people randomly. I… I’m a naturally born fox demon. I haven’t committed any crime. You can’t kill me!”
“I can’t kill people randomly, but I have plenty of ways to torture you, little fox. In terms of seniority, I’m your ancestor. Stop wasting time. My patience is really running out.” Jiu Chan was indeed running out of patience. If it weren’t for the fear that this person had some hidden trick to harm Qi Qing and the others, she wouldn’t even bother saying another word.
But how could Hua Jiaolian not know what the other party was thinking? She knew that as long as she didn’t reveal her hand, these two wouldn’t dare to touch her; otherwise, Qi Qing and Yu Yan would truly have no way out.
The two sides faced off for a while. Suddenly, Ling Aorui said, “You don’t actually have any backup plan, do you?”
Hua Jiaolian’s heart tightened, and her eyes couldn’t help but glance at Ling Aorui. She indeed didn’t have one. Because she never expected to be exposed, nor did she expect her barrier to be broken. She was pretending to be calm and collected, just wanting to find a chance to escape. But how did this person know, and so confidently?
And how on earth was her barrier broken?
“As expected. You’re too much of a gambler, too overconfident, and never leave yourself a way out.” Seeing her reaction, Ling Aorui knew she had guessed correctly and couldn’t help but sneer. “It was the same in your past life. Old habits die hard.”
Hua Jiaolian felt herself crumbling. She didn’t know this person at all, but this person understood her so well. These descriptions were very accurate, pinpointing her biggest flaws. Her mother had warned her about them long ago, but she grew up in casinos, influenced by her surroundings. She loved the feeling of betting everything on a single throw and just couldn’t change.
“Who… who on earth are you?” she asked cautiously.
“None of your business. I just need to make sure you can’t harm Qi Qing.” Ling Aorui looked around, then searched Hua Jiaolian and found a storage ring. This ring looked ordinary, but after rubbing it, an image appeared.
Hua Jiaolian was completely dumbfounded.
This ring was a magic artifact she had modified from an ordinary storage ring. It was filled with all the precious magic artifacts she had collected. Naturally, the Wheel of Fate that held Qi Qing and Yu Yan was also inside.
She hadn’t told anyone about this ring. Why did this person know, and even find it on her so precisely?
Could it be that this person was really her partner in a past life?
But… but…
Why would her lover from a past life now turn against her?
Without this last resort, her life couldn’t be saved. What should she do now? Escape? But all her magic artifacts had been taken. What could she use to escape?
While her thoughts were racing, the two people in front saw the content of the image and almost simultaneously gasped. Jiu Chan was especially furious. She turned and wrapped her whip around Hua Jiaolian’s neck, demanding, “How on earth did you trick them into this? I order you to stop it right now, immediately!”
Ling Aorui also frowned deeply, but she wasn’t as outraged as Jiu Chan. She just stared at the screen, her eyes filled with a probing look, as if she also wanted to know the outcome.
Seeing that her last chance to escape was gone, Hua Jiaolian had nothing left to hide. She let out a sneer. “It can’t be stopped. Once the final trial begins, no one can stop the gamble.”
Then she looked up at Ling Aorui’s back and asked, “Why? Why are you helping others? Weren’t we partners in our past life? Didn’t you abandon others to save me?”
Ling Aorui didn’t turn around, only said coldly, “That has nothing to do with the you of this life.”
“But I want to live!” Hua Jiaolian begged. “Please tell me, tell me how I can survive. I’m willing to give anything for it—even my body, my fortune, everything. Anything I can give, I’ll give it all to you! I just want to live… I only want to live!”
Crying, she crawled forward on her knees to hug Ling Aorui’s legs. To be honest, she was very beautiful—the type of frail beauty who was both alluring and pitiful, and she didn’t have much time left to live. As the saying goes, when a person is about to die, their words are kind. Anyone who heard her plea would find it hard to remain unmoved.
But Ling Aorui merely looked down at her, her face showing disgust.
“Let go.”
How could Hua Jiaolian let go? She was already on the brink of life and death, and Ling Aorui was her last lifeline. If she held on tight, there was still a sliver of hope; otherwise, only death awaited.
She hugged tightly, endlessly repeating her pleas.
And Ling Aorui’s frown deepened.
This disgust grew with every tear Hua Jiaolian shed. Eventually, as if she could bear it no longer, Ling Aorui suddenly kicked her away. She held nothing back in this kick. Hua Jiaolian was sent flying to the opposite wall, and after hitting it hard, she vomited a lot of blood.
She looked rather horrifying.
“Save… save me…”
As Hua Jiaolian lay dying, she still looked in Ling Aorui’s direction, but Ling Aorui was no longer looking at her. Instead, she had turned to look at Qi Qing on the screen.
Jiu Chan hadn’t expected her to die so easily; she thought Hua Jiaolian had merely fainted. Hearing her say that the trial couldn’t be stopped once it began, Jiu Chan felt her heart clench with anxiety. She really couldn’t imagine how the two inside would choose, or how this farce would end.
Compared to Jiu Chan outside, who could only wait helplessly for the result, Qi Qing and Yu Yan inside the magic artifact were clearly suffering more. Three trials, each more severe than the last. The first time, Qi Qing let go of her past; the second time, Yu Yan let go of her future.
This time, they each stood under a guillotine.
And in their hands, they held the power of life and death over the other.
The choice Hua Jiaolian gave was: You could choose to kill the other person or kill yourself. If you chose to kill the other person, and they chose to sacrifice themselves, only then could you live. If you chose to kill yourself, and the other person chose the same, then both would die. Of course, if both chose to kill the other, both would also die.
This was a terrible dilemma.
No matter what they chose, the outcome would be bad.
If both chose to save themselves (by choosing to kill the other), it meant both were only thinking of themselves, selfishly, and deserved to die together.
Even if one was willing to die for the other (chose self-sacrifice), and the other accepted it (chose to kill the self-sacrificing one to live), the survivor would be tormented by guilt for the rest of their life.
This setup was designed to make them reveal their truest selves under the threat of death. Willing to kill for the other? Very good! Willing to give up returning to the Celestial Realm for the other? Also very good!
Then next, could they kill themselves for the other?
You can? Excellent. But what if the other person doesn’t think so? What if they want to step over your corpse to survive? Thinking of this, can you still be willing? Willing? Fine! Then the survivor will be left with the shadow of your sacrifice!
Qi Qing and Yu Yan were not fools.
The moment they saw the options, they understood what they faced. They went back and forth, both willing to sacrifice for the other, but neither was willing to accept such a sacrifice. So, they reached a stalemate.
“I told you, I’ll return to my original world. I won’t really die. Please believe me, okay?” Qi Qing argued once more. “I swear, once I find a way, I’ll come back for you immediately.”
“What if you can’t come back? You said this world is a book. How difficult it is for a mortal to enter a book. I can’t take such a risk.” Yu Yan shook her head. “Let me die instead. I can reincarnate. You just wait where you are. At least I’ll still be in this world, won’t I?”
“I’ve already died once. I’m not afraid of death.”
“I’m a divine official. Even if I reincarnate, I have ways to find people.”
“Let me do it.”
“No, let me.”
The two argued back and forth, but the clock counting down wouldn’t wait forever. If they didn’t choose by the time it ran out, it would default to both wanting to live, and the final result would, of course, be both dying.
Tick—tock—
Qi Qing heard the sound and said urgently, “Yu Yan, why don’t you understand! I’m not worth you doing this. I have an unbearable past. I even died for my ex. Someone like me… with such a past… Let me die. After I’m dead, wouldn’t it be better for you to find a young, beautiful immortal lord with a clean history?”
“No! Qi Qing, I only love you. No matter what kind of past you have, whatever you experienced in your previous life, that’s all in the past. If I truly couldn’t let it go, I wouldn’t have come this far with you! Let me be frank. For you, I’ve reversed time and had my divine bones extracted. One more time and I’ll become a complete mortal. If you dare to die, then I’ll keep reversing time, making us live forever in this moment before death. I’m telling you, I mean what I say!”
Yu Yan’s eyes were bloodshot, tears streaming down. She knew her words sounded a bit unhinged, but she keenly sensed that if Qi Qing died, she would never come back.
Qi Qing indeed couldn’t come back.
She had already been reborn once. The System had once said this was her only chance. She didn’t pursue the female lead but instead became someone else’s love trial. What a great sin this was. No matter what she chose next, she would probably only die.
She had already failed the mission and couldn’t return to reality.
In other words, this time it was true death.
But how could she drag Yu Yan down with her?
Yu Yan had already done so much for her. If she dragged Yu Yan into death now, or even if Yu Yan were to live on alone in this strange world after her death, what meaning would that hold?
Could she really do as Yu Yan said, and wait for her reincarnation?
No, that wasn’t it. After everything that had happened, Qi Qing understood. The person from a past life and the person in the present life were not the same. They each had their own lives, and she couldn’t interfere.
So, letting herself live held no benefit.
Only giving Yu Yan the chance to live had meaning.
But she couldn’t say it directly; if she did, Yu Yan would be even less likely to let her die. The countdown was almost over. She had to make a decision.
“I’m sorry, A-Yan,” she said, her voice gentle, her smile as radiant as when they first met. Then, without hesitation, she pressed the “kill self” option.
Immediately after, she was forcibly pulled out of this world.
It was a hard-to-describe feeling, like having one’s soul sucked out of the body. As it floated rapidly upwards, she could still see the back of her own body’s head.
But now it wasn’t a body, but a corpse.
Cut in half at the waist, absolutely no chance of survival.
Qi Qing hadn’t even had time to lament her state of death when she found herself in an empty, pure white room. The room was bare, with only an office desk. Blue specks of light occasionally flitting across the walls made her realize this wasn’t the book world, nor did it seem like reality. If she had to describe it, it felt like a futuristic world.
“The mission failed, and you still have the mood to think about these things?”
A voice tinged with anger sounded. As the voice rose and fell, broken lines, somewhat like a sound wave display, occasionally appeared on the wall.
Yes, the mission failed.
Qi Qing thought, Then what? Was death awaiting her?
Thinking about it, she had already died three times. Once in reality. Then she was pulled into the book to be an NPC, failed, and killed herself. The System revived her to continue as an NPC, but she failed again. Although it wasn’t her fault this time, ultimately, she had reached another Bad Ending.
The System hadn’t appeared these past few days, probably because it was angry.
She had run down the mountain without consulting it and gotten together with Yu Yan on her own. They had clearly agreed to wait for news, but she had willfully made so many decisions.
As a host, she was a complete mess.
“It’s not angry. It’s been put in solitary confinement,” the mechanical voice suddenly said. “You two are really audacious. One dares to run off script randomly, and the other dares to bypass protocol to submit a report requesting a change of affection target. Is that something that can be changed casually? Oh, and when refused, it even hit its superior! Solitary confinement is letting it off easy!”
“Huh? The System was put in solitary confinement?” Qi Qing still didn’t know if the System had a name; she figured it was just one among many. But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. She only asked, “…Did I get it into trouble?”
“What do you think?” the voice said. “We were originally planning to release it once you succeeded in your mission. But you failed again. So, there’s no choice. We can only keep it confined until you complete the mission!”
“…What do you mean?”
“What else could it mean? Of course, it means correcting the plot and returning to the main storyline of pursuing the female lead! No one else can be the female lead. Only Ling Aorui. You must pursue Ling—”
Before it could finish speaking, Qi Qing threw the desk at the wall. The sound wave display on the wall abruptly stopped, turning into a screen emitting black smoke.
Only after doing it did Qi Qing realize, Oh no, I’ve done the same thing as the System. But right now, she really couldn’t bear to hear Ling Aorui’s name. It was like a conditioned reflex; she couldn’t help but lash out.
But then again, she was doomed anyway.
So what if she hit it?
The consequences of her actions came quickly. Two guards rushed in and took her to a cell. As soon as she entered, she saw a familiar face. The System’s real-world model was a bit sleeker than its on-screen appearance, but it still had that vacant AI look.
It saw Qi Qing and its mouth fell open.
Qi Qing was much calmer: “What a coincidence?”
“She hit the Chief Executive Officer,” said one of the guards who brought her. He also had an AI face and was expressionless, but his voice carried a hint of mockery. “You two are quite the partners, doing the exact same things.”
The cell door closed, without even a crack. There was only a large, white electronic wall. From time to time, a mobile surveillance feed would sweep across to monitor their movements.
“So this is the prison here? Interesting.”
“Is this really the time to be remarking on that? How did you end up here?” the System said urgently. “They locked me up so quickly, I didn’t have time to tell you. I don’t know what happened afterwards. You and Yu Yan, what ultimately happened?”
…
After a long pause, Qi Qing said faintly, “…Anyway, I’m already dead. What else could have happened?”
“You died…” the System said, realization dawning. “No wonder you’re here, and you even hit the Executive Officer. Why did you hit it?”
“Because it was forcing me to go back to the main storyline, and I just… couldn’t help it.”
“You really do have a strong aversion to Ling Aorui,” the System said. “I submitted a report before, but my superior didn’t agree. I argued my case forcefully with it at the time, and it actually replied, ‘If you can’t do it, just hold your nose and do it anyway.’ By the time I came to my senses, I had already smashed its outer casing…”
Qi Qing: “…”
The System suddenly said, “Want to talk?”
There was nothing to hide from her own System. Qi Qing told it everything that had happened. The more she spoke, the sadder she felt.
A thousand gold pieces are easy to obtain, but a true confidant is hard to find.
Yu Yan had done so much for her, yet she had abandoned her and “escaped” alone. The one who lived, Yu Yan, might not be so fortunate; she would surely be tormented by pain and self-blame. As for herself, Qi Qing felt she had merely taken the moral high ground to ease her own conscience.
I was still too cunning…
She wondered how much pain Yu Yan must be in right now.
As Qi Qing was lost in thought, the System’s voice suddenly rang out: “Are we just going to let Yu Yan suffer there alone and do nothing?”
“What else can we do?” Qi Qing asked, surprised.
“What else? Break out of prison!” the System said through gritted teeth.