Chapter 131 Past Events, That Night It Seemed Only He Died

Chapter 131 That Night in the Past, It Seemed Only He Had Died

From the moment Yu Xing transmigrated into this world, she had been relentlessly searching for Yu He, the original host's brother, dedicating immense effort to the quest. In fact, a significant reason for her and her grandmother's dire circumstances was this very search. Yu Xing's journey to the 25 Cities to find Yu He led her to discover the giant tree's seed, which ultimately resulted in her and her grandmother's capture.

Yet now, in this desolate wilderness, on this very night, Yu He had unexpectedly appeared before her.

As Yu He emerged from the shadows, walking step by step toward Yu Xing, his familiar face stirred a flood of memories and emotions belonging to the original host within Yu Xing's mind.

"Happy birthday," Yu He said, standing alive before Yu Xing, a faint, melancholic smile playing on his lips. He held out a cake to her, adding, "Make a wish on your birthday, then blow out the candle. Your wish might come true."

Yu Xing stared at him, unable to resist reaching out to lightly touch his face.

Yu He remained still, allowing her touch. Her fingertips brushed against his cheek—soft and warm—and the back of her hand felt the moist heat of his breath. This was undeniably a living person.

"Where have you been? Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you?!" Yu Xing suddenly burst out, grabbing Yu He by the collar and shaking him.

At that moment, she recalled what members of the Transmigrator Exchange Forum had said: some people don’t need to be sought out—when the time is right, they’ll appear on their own.

Yu He leaned slightly forward as Yu Xing gripped his collar. He lowered his head, his clear, black-and-white eyes fixed intently on her face, as if shimmering with unshed tears.

"Happy birthday," he repeated.

"Happy my ass!" Yu Xing swung her hand, smashing the cake onto the ground. "Today isn’t even my birthday!"

*Thud.*

The cake splattered across the riverbank, a ruined mess, its candle snuffed out.

In an instant, the only remaining light sources were the two moons in the sky.

Yu He lowered his gaze slightly, glancing at the splattered cake on the ground. Then he looked back at Yu Xing, observing her silently for a moment before extending his arms and pulling her into an embrace.

"Sister," Yu He's voice was right by her ear, thick with what sounded like unshed tears.

"Little Star."

"I missed you so much."

Yu Xing was held tightly by Yu He. He was very thin, yet the embrace felt heavy.

Her head rested against Yu He's chest, where she could feel his heartbeat. For a moment, she felt dazed as the original host's emotions surged within her. Overcome with a profound sense of grievance, tears streamed down her face.

"Brother," Yu Xing sniffled, "why didn't you come home?"

Yu He didn’t answer her question. The siblings held each other for a while before Yu He walked over to their grandmother. He crouched down and gazed at her for a moment. Then he lit a fire nearby. In the flickering light, Yu He handed Yu Xing a protein bar and said, "You must be hungry. Eat something."

Taking the protein bar, Yu Xing sat down by the fire as well.

The fire's warmth seeped into her bones. Yu He turned his head and looked at the ruined cake on the ground. "We were dirt poor back then, always starving. We never celebrated birthdays. Every time I passed by a bakery while working, I’d wonder how delicious it must taste and how happy you’d be if you had some cake."

As she watched Yu He, a memory surfaced in Yu Xing’s mind—an image of the siblings lingering outside a bakery, imagining a better future. She said, "But today isn’t my birthday."

The original host’s birthday was still over a month away. Yu Xing remembered clearly—Yu He shouldn’t have gotten it wrong.

Yu He suddenly gave a cryptic smile and said, "What difference does the date make?"

Yu Xing had too many unanswered questions about Yu He.

Before she could voice them, Yu He said, "Life outside the wall is dangerous. You can't survive here—you won't survive. I can get you forged papers so you can return inside the wall, but you can't go back to Seven Cities again."

Yu Xing stared at her long-lost brother. Before they parted, he had been a desperate kid who had to sell himself just to make ends meet. Now, he could offhandedly suggest getting her a fake identity.

She bit her lip, feeling the weight of it all. She knew her brother loved her and their grandmother, but there were things she couldn’t understand.

"What happened to Grandma?" Yu Xing drew her knees to her chest, watching Yu He across the fire.

Yu He lowered his head, his overgrown bangs obscuring his eyes.

When he didn’t answer, she kept pushing.

"You were clearly in Seven Cities—why didn’t you come home?" Yu Xing was certain. Even before she left for Twenty-Five Cities, Yu He had already been in Seven Cities.

She had later asked A Yuan under what circumstances the compass needle would go haywire. A Yuan said it was either broken, or the person she was looking for was right beside her—so close that the needle couldn’t point in any direction and just spun wildly.

Yu He remained silent, frozen in place like a statue.

Rage built inside her. Yu Xing reached into her storage ring and pulled out the photo she had found in the Twenty-Five Cities laboratory.

She tossed it over the fire, and it landed at Yu He’s feet.

He reached down and picked it up.

"Not gonna say a damn thing?" Yu Xing hated his silence. "You did this to Grandma, didn’t you? Why would you do that?!"

Yu He stared at the photo in his hands, then suddenly laughed.

"Who do you think you are to question me?" He lifted his head, half his face cast in shadow. "Are you getting too into character?"

Yu Xing froze. "What?"

"Are you really Yu Xing?" His words iced her veins. "Or have you been pretending to be her for so long that you’ve forgotten who you really are?"

She stared at him in disbelief.

"Hah." Yu He sneered. "Wow, you’re actually upset. Have you really convinced yourself you’re Yu Xing? Then again, if you hadn’t, you wouldn’t have gone through hell to save Grandma from Seven Cities."

"How…" Crossing worlds had always been her deepest secret. She thought no one in this world knew—but now Yu He had exposed her, leaving her feeling completely exposed.

She trembled. How could Yu He know? How much did he know?

"How do I know?" His face contorted for a second, his eyes darkening. "The truth is… my family’s been gone for years…"

With a light flick of his fingers, he tossed the photo into the fire.

The orange flames licked at the photo, quickly reducing it to ashes.

Yu He’s mind dragged him back to that day—when he thought he had been reborn, rushing back to Seven Cities, back to his home.

At the door, he sensed something was wrong. It was open, and inside stood one of his colleagues.

On the dining room floor lay Grandma’s corpse. In the bedroom, his sister’s body sprawled across the bloodstained floor.

For a D-region family of outcasts, death came as easily as a cool night breeze. He just hadn’t expected it to come so soon…

"Another failure," his colleague sighed regretfully. "Sometimes I wonder if the so-called prophecies of the gods are all lies. Maybe it was all bullshit from the start."

The colleague pointed to the room and sighed, "What a pitiful girl. Her only family, her grandmother, passed away, and she sacrificed herself to make a wish, hoping her grandmother could come back to life. Tsk, how heartbreaking. A loser's wishes never come true."

The colleague tugged his hood up and turned to leave this place filled only with death.

Just as he was about to step out of the small, impoverished house, under Yu He's gaze, the gaunt corpse on the bloodstained floor moved.

The dead sister opened her eyes again. She climbed up from the ground, her face blank with confusion. After staring blankly at something for a while, she crawled onto the table and crouched there, gazing at the pattern drawn on the floor with her own blood.

The colleague choked back a gasp. "It's true! The prophecy of the gods is real! She's alive... As a welcome gift for her return, I'll give her something..."

As he spoke, he took out a plump, ripe seed from his pocket and, right in front of Yu He, stuffed it into the mouth of the corpse at his feet.

Yu He was yanked out of the house by his colleague.

The two stood outside in the cold night, watching everything inside.

They saw the formerly lifeless home come back to life. The girl healed her own wounds, the grandmother rose from the floor, rousing the girl like always, reminding her of school time...

Yu He felt as if he were the only one who had truly died that night.

Standing up, Yu He walked toward his grandmother.

Yu Xing scrambled to her feet, blocking his path, and asked warily, "What are you doing?"

"I'm taking her away," Yu He said coldly. "Move aside."

"No! I won't let you take her!" Yu Xing growled like a cornered animal. "I'll save her. I won't let you hurt her!"

"You?" Yu He sneered. "Who do you think you are? She's my grandmother, not yours."

The words stabbed through Yu Xing's heart. She shouted furiously, "I don't care! She loves me, so she's my grandmother!"

"She doesn't love you," Yu He said. "She loves Yu Xing. She just thinks you're her granddaughter."

"I DON'T CARE!!" Yu Xing roared in rage. "I will save her! I won't let you take her! Get out!"

Watching Yu Xing on the verge of losing control, Yu He frowned.

Then, a voice came from behind.

"Enough talking. Just grab her."

Two more figures emerged from the shadows of the trees. On the left was a buzz-cut woman, wearing a black jacket. Yu Xing recognized her—when Miao Yuanjin had helped investigate Yu He's whereabouts, this woman had showed up in their investigation. She was the one who had taken Yu He away. Two months ago, someone had seen her with Yu He near the Twenty-Fifth City.

The other person Yu Xing also recognized—it was the hooded man they had encountered while investigating the amusement park pollution incident with Bai Qinghe. Back then, they had traced the contamination to The Happy Restaurant and found footage of a hooded man planting the contaminants.

Moreover, this hooded man had kept showing up around Yu Xing multiple times without her knowledge.

The two stepped forward, taking positions on either side of Yu He. The hooded man looked at Yu Xing, a mocking glint in his eyes, and even waved at her. "We meet again. Go easy on your brother—he even had your back in Seventh City earlier today."