Chapter 66

Chapter 66

Xing Shi glanced down at the driver.

He was a middle-aged man, unnaturally thin, with a face devoid of color.

Out of curiosity, Xing Shi followed him to the hospital under the pretense of having fallen and injured himself.

At the same time, he had 99 look up the man and soon obtained his basic information—a patient with a terminal illness.

The family, having received the news, rushed to the hospital in a panic. After some exchanges, they completed the picture.

The patient was in the late stages of cancer, with doctors estimating he had 3-6 months left to live and had already stopped treatment and returned home. He had said he wanted to go out to clear his mind today. His family hadn’t noticed that he had taken the car keys. He probably had a seizure while driving, which caused him to crash into the school. Fortunately, no serious casualties occurred.

The family wept and bowed. “We’re sorry. He must have had a seizure. He definitely didn’t mean to hit anyone, really.”

Xing Shi hurriedly supported them and comforted, “It’s okay. It’s not his fault.”

It was all a disaster out of nowhere.

Now, the man was still in emergency care. After all this commotion, who knew if he even had 3-6 months left.

As they spoke, the police officer next to them received a call from a colleague.

A strange car had entered the campus, and the security had immediately called the police. The police and ambulance had arrived almost at the same time.

The police divided into two groups. Some stayed at the scene for investigation, while others came to the hospital.

The suspect’s car was too old, with no dashcam. All they could do was check the school’s surveillance footage.

The footage showed that the driver seemed disoriented, but the police were unsure about the exact route he took. If further investigation confirms that he was genuinely unwell, not faking it or acting on someone else’s orders, this would likely be considered an accident.

The officer hung up the phone and turned to glance at Xing Shi.

The officer remembered that a few days ago, a mentally ill person had attacked someone with a knife, and the victim had also been Xing Shi. “It’s quite a coincidence, isn’t it?”

The family members couldn’t help but feel anxious, fearing that their family member might have acted out of confusion or desperation.

The police hadn’t finished their investigation yet and couldn’t draw conclusions easily. After offering some reassurance, the police pulled Xing Shi aside to ask if he had any enemies.

Xing Shi said, “No, I don’t.”

The police asked, “Haven’t had any run-ins with anyone lately?”

Xing Shi responded, “No.”

The police looked at him. “How’s your relationship with Fu Xiuning?”

Xing Shi replied seriously, “He’s my boyfriend. We’re really happy together. We’ve met each other’s families and are thinking about getting married.”

The police fell silent for a moment, and before they could ask anything else, Fu Xiuning arrived, having received a call from his bodyguards.

Xing Shi went to greet him. “Hey.”

Fu Xiuning gave him a once-over. “Did you hurt yourself?”

Xing Shi said, “I’m fine; I didn’t get injured.”

He hit the ground but used energy to cushion the fall, so he was fine—knowing someone would be worried.

Fu Xiuning's expression was troubled and he tightly held his hand.

Xing Shi hugged him. "Really, it's nothing."

Fu Xiuning reached out to hug him back, not daring to use too much force.

Xing Shi could feel his caution and asked with a smile, "Want me to strip down at home so you can check me out?"

Fu Xiuning said, "Okay."

99: "!"

It immediately said, "Feel free to strip, I'll provide shielding services!"

Xing Shi looked at Fu Xiuning and saw that he was serious, so he said, "Alright."

Seeing how readily he agreed, Fu Xiuning relaxed a bit, figuring Xing Shi must really be okay. He asked, "I heard the perpetrator is still alive?"

Xing Shi said, "They're still in critical condition."

Fu Xiuning held his hand and stayed with him as they waited.

The rescue didn't last long, ending after just over half an hour.

The patient was stabilized and regained consciousness.

99 was shocked again. "He's really still alive!"

Green Bean Paste was also shocked, but having just narrowly avoided being dismantled, it wisely stayed silent.

99 said, "Energy was pumped into the body to take control. It should be the same as a host from another world, right? So why is he still alive?"

Even with energy, their system couldn't take control of the host's body.

To take full control, it would need to replace the person entirely, which would mean the original soul would be gone.

The main system's explanation was that it had signed an agreement with the original owner, who had voluntarily given up their body.

Ever since 99 learned the truth, it knew this reason was pure nonsense.

This emergency system could control a human, and 99 had assumed it was similar to the host from another world principle, where the energy instantly took over the body. Yet, surprisingly, the person was still alive.

It asked, "What does this mean?"

Xing Shi didn't answer and went to the patient's bedside.

The police approached to see if the patient was ready to talk.

The patient's body was weak, but his mind was still relatively clear. After listening to the police, it took him a while to respond, "I... I felt like something took over my body, like I wasn't in control anymore."

The police observed his condition and decided to wait until he had slept before questioning him again.

Xing Shi learned from the doctor that his condition was not optimistic. He watched as the patient was wheeled away and exchanged a glance with Fu Xiuning, the two of them walking out together.

99, full of questions, hurriedly said, "Don't give me cryptic answers—what did you find out?"

Xing Shi said, "We figured out how it chooses its targets."

99 said, "What?"

Xing Shi said, "Low soul energy."

99 realized, "Right, the first one was a psychiatric patient, and this time it's a cancer patient."

From this, it can be inferred that the last person parasitized by the system was most likely in a similar situation, either mentally unwell or physically weak.

99 asked, "So why is he still alive? Is the mechanism different?"

Xing Shi said, "I think it's the same. It used to take one or two months to select a new host. The host can't be chosen casually like a suicide attacker; they need to be carefully selected. But no matter how they pick, the hosts have similar backgrounds—low presence, average family conditions, simple social relationships, right?"

99 said, "That's right."

Xing Shi said, "People like that have low soul energy."

He continued, "I guess it's not that it doesn't want to choose someone close to Fu Xiuning, but that it can't. It took a long time to pick Chai Xiaoyu, and it only assisted with the system, without taking over his body. That's because Chai Xiaoyu is well-liked and has many friends; it couldn't take over."

99 asked, "But the other native hosts were all ordinary people, right? It could have taken them over, so why didn't it?"

Xing Shi said, "Don't forget that the total energy it can invade is limited. Besides, people like that are easier to control."

99 found this reasonable and asked, "So then? Why did the driver survive?"

Xing Shi said, "Probably because I absorbed it in time."

A one-time system, unlike 99's, doesn't have a sophisticated procedure to erase memories or execute kills. Its only purpose is to launch an attack, and once that's done, it's over.

Originally, the energy was supposed to slowly dissipate over a few days, but he quickly absorbed the dissipating energy.

He said, "The host and the system share the same origin, but they manifest differently. The energy on him is the same as Yan Feng's, just missing a soul fragment. Do you know what that means?"

99 took a breath.

99 thought for a moment, feeling a bit horrified, "Does that mean... this energy can be treated like a transferred host, allowing it to control the person? And since this patient survived, does it mean the original host's soul is still there? They don't just push the original soul out immediately?"

Xing Shi nodded, "At least it's there at first, but it doesn't last long."

First, the original host's soul energy was already low. Second, the energy used by the transferred host is much stronger, making it difficult for the original host to hold on.

99 was even more horrified, "So the original host watched themselves slowly disappear? That's so unethical!"

Xing Shi nodded, then left the hospital.

Around noon, the two found a nearby restaurant, ate, and went home.

Xing Shi instructed 99 to activate the barrier and discussed this matter with Fu Xiuning.

As Shang Shang Qian said, with the world consciousness around, the main system can't do much until it makes progress in the mission. It couldn't even immediately erase a soul with low energy, let alone anything else.

But the suicide attacks were a serious problem and needed to be stopped quickly.

Earlier, when they exchanged glances at the hospital, they were brainstorming how to exploit this situation.

After finalizing the details, Fu Xiuning left the study and called Xiao Qin.

99 received a notification that the barrier was deactivated, and immediately asked, "Did you strip?"

Xing Shi remembered their conversation at the hospital and blurted out, "I stripped."

99 checked how long it took them and asked, "So... just a pure examination? Didn't do anything else?"

Xing Shi said, "What else?"

99 couldn't help but ask, "Is he not capable?"

Xing Shi said, "Cut the crap, my brother's just worried about me. Keep it clean."

99 said, "But you two are in a relationship. You stood in front of him naked, and he wasn't moved at all. He's just not capable!"

Xing Shi said, "Be careful, I'll tell him exactly what you said."

99: "?"

99 felt hurt. "We've talked about him many times before, and you never told him. But now I just said one thing, and you're going to tell him? You’re putting your boyfriend before your friends!"

Green Bean Paste finally couldn't hold it in and weakly said, "Dear, saying someone's boyfriend isn't capable—that's quite a serious accusation."

99 silently realized after two seconds, "Okay, I was wrong."

Green Bean Paste said, "And look, this shows that Fu Xiuning respects Xing Shi a lot. His concern outweighs his own desires."

99 suddenly got it. "You're right~"

Fu Xiuning hung up the phone and turned to see Xing Shi smiling. "What's going on?" he asked.

Xing Shi said, "Nothing much. When’s Brother Qin getting here?"

Fu Xiuning said, "Should be here soon. Let the bodyguards drive."

Xing Shi obediently said, "Okay."

Fu Xiuning stepped closer, gently touched his face, and kissed the corner of his mouth.

A little later, Assistant Qin arrived, and Xing Shi took him and the bodyguards back to the hospital.

The patient was already asleep, the police had left, and only the family remained by the bedside, looking exhausted.

When they entered carrying items, the family member stood up in surprise. "Why are you here?"

Xing Shi said, "Just came to see Uncle."

He said, "I heard Uncle damaged some school property, and two students got hurt in the process. We'll cover the compensation for this."

The family member was even more surprised and hurriedly refused, "No, this was our fault. We should be the ones to pay."

Xing Shi sincerely said, "Auntie, I have my reasons for doing this. It's not out of sympathy, so please let us handle it."

The family member was very confused. "And what reason would that be?"

Xing Shi said, "That can only be discussed when Uncle wakes up. I'll leave my phone number with you. Please contact me the moment he wakes up, alright?"

The family member nodded. "Alright," she agreed.

Xing Shi left his phone number and handed the situation over to Assistant Qin.

Assistant Qin, who had been handling minor tasks for Fu Xiuning for years, was a very patient and kind person.

After some discussion, they left a sum of money for emergencies. If Uncle wasn’t satisfied later, they could always return it.

Xing Shi spent some time with her, then politely said goodbye, preparing to head to the company for training.

As soon as he arrived at the underground parking lot, he looked up and saw Li Yu getting out of a car.

This was the second time he had seen her since Yan Feng's funeral.

Li Yu also spotted him and walked towards the elevator, asking pointedly, "I remember you're a trainee, were you out on a job?"

Xing Shi said, "No, I ran into an issue today."

Li Yu asked, "What happened?"

Xing Shi briefly recounted the general events.

Li Yu, who was always cold, showed only a little surprise and asked, "Is everyone alright?"

Xing Shi said, "Yes, they dodged it in time."

Li Yu nodded, regaining her calm, and only when they were about to reach the third floor did she say, "Take care of yourself out there, try not to wander around."

Xing Shi smiled at her, "Thank you, Sister Li. I will."

"Ding," the elevator chimed as it stopped.

Li Yu watched him leave and said to the system, "Ah, he's really good-looking, and he smiles even better."

All Are Concubines, who often gushed over handsome faces with her, knew that this was another side of Li Yu. She said, "Yeah, too bad."

She asked, "Did you specifically ask for his location just to remind him to be more careful?"

Li Yu said, "Yes."

All Are Concubines sighed, "That seems a bit much, doesn't it?"

Li Yu said, "Is it? I'm not interfering with your main system's tasks. It's my business if I want to remind him. Whether the main system can deal with him is its problem. Even if Xing Shi doesn't wander off, your main system could still go after him at school. My reminder doesn't change anything, right?"

All Are Concubines was convinced, "Sister, you're right~"

Li Yu said, "Let's go, let's check on Fu Xiuning."

All Are Concubines said, "Okay~"

Fu Xiuning was sitting in his office when he heard a knock and told them to enter. He soon heard the familiar banter.

Li Yu said, "Look at that, haven't seen the boss for a while, and he's still this handsome."

All Are Concubines joined in, "Yeah!"

Li Yu said, "This face, this presence—absolutely perfect! There are plenty of handsome guys in the entertainment world, but none quite like him!"

All Are Concubines said, "Of course!"

Li Yu said, "I could work for him forever, I’ll work hard to earn money for you!"

All Are Concubines said, "Mm!"

Fu Xiuning was used to it and remained expressionless.

He believed Li Yu’s ability to manipulate the system was partly because of her genuine admiration for his looks.

He asked, "What's up?"

Li Yu placed the gift she was holding on the table and said calmly, "Some souvenirs I bought during this trip to relax. There's something for Xing Shi in there too. I saw him downstairs just now, but I didn’t feel like opening it. If you see him, could you give it to him?"

Fu Xiuning said, "Okay, thanks."

Li Yu said, "You're welcome," and left after exchanging a few casual words.

Fu Xiuning stayed in the office by himself until evening, then went to the restaurant to have dinner with Xing Shi.

However, the two of them ultimately didn't get to eat.

Because just as Xing Shi had picked up the food, he received a call from the patient's family saying that the person had woken up.

He relayed the message to Fu Xiuning, and the two of them put down their utensils and headed straight for the hospital.

When they arrived, the police were already there, questioning the patient.

The patient seemed more alert and insisted, "It didn’t take control of me that day; it had been controlling me for a few days already, I'm telling you."

The officer was about to respond more seriously when Xing Shi strode in.

The officer’s heart raced, worried that Xing Shi had overheard and might cause a scene. He quickly stood to stop him.

But Xing Shi slipped past him and took the patient’s hand.

"I believe you, Uncle!" Xing Shi said seriously and sincerely, "There are definitely things out there that don’t make sense! It must have taken control of you!"

The patient nodded eagerly.

Xing Shi said, "Take your time, Uncle. I believe you, no matter what."

The patient said, "Okay."

The police officer: "..."

What are you doing? You’re just making things worse!