AITAMITB Chapter 55

Grandma Zhao passed away on the way back home from buying groceries.

She stumbled, returned home, sat on the sofa, fell asleep, and never woke up again.

There was still time, just enough time—

Zhao Xiaokui, holding back tears, turned the doorknob, and rushed into the house without even pulling out the keys.

In the living room, a vase of daisies was blooming brightly.

Her grandmother sat on the sofa, dressed neatly, hair combed, hands on her abdomen, sitting there with closed eyes, as if peacefully asleep.

Approaching the elderly, her outstretched hand was about to touch the chicken-skin-like skin of the old woman when suddenly everything went black.

The ticking sound resumed.

This time, without hesitation, she didn’t even take her school bag; she grabbed the keys at home and rushed out.

Leaving behind shocked teachers and classmates in the house.

She opened the door—

The old woman’s body was slowly tilting back, sinking into the sofa.

She stood still, not approaching. The surroundings gradually blurred, ultimately turning into darkness.

“Do you want to revive your grandmother?”

“I can turn back time, let you go back to your most regrettable day.”

“I can bestow upon you supreme power, fulfill your wishes, give you the authority, money, everything you desire, I can grant it to you…”

During the conversation, the darkness around Zhao Xiaokui faded away, and countless cheers surged up. She found herself standing on the stage of a concert.

Numerous fans held up light boards, cheers echoing like waves, her heart uncontrollably speeding up, adrenaline rushing. Her complexion slightly reddened due to excitement.

But Zhao Xiaokui only wanted to smile.

Because all the fans below were shouting one name: “Zhao Zijin! Zhao Zijin!”

“So, is it directly extracting scenes from the timeline…” she murmured as she looked at the scene before her.

At this moment, her heart was calm, and she even pulled the corners of her mouth with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

This evil god’s business wasn’t up to par…

Unaware of that, the evil god, whose intentions had already been exposed, was still diligently promoting.

It continued to release various scenes where Zhao Xiaokui reaped fame and fortune. Some were of her holding a concert for thousands, some of her holding a trophy in the spotlight, and even one with a handsome man kneeling and proposing to her…

Zhao Xiaokui’s gaze fell on the man’s face, contemplating.

Although most of the images the evil god showed her were somewhat blurry, like they had a hazy beauty filter, she still recognized the man proposing.

Rong Zhen.

Shen Zhifei’s ex-fiancé, her former playboy.

If this evil god could truly glimpse into the river of time and see what happened, then does that mean this proposal is a real event, existing in some unknown future she’s unaware of?

This made Zhao Xiaokui think of someone.

The lonely soul that once occupied her body.

If she hadn’t returned from the mermaid world, if her body continued to be used by another, would the scene before her eyes someday truly unfold?

The evil god’s life-winning short film continued playing.

After glimpsing the life of the “other self” in another future, Zhao Xiaokui gained a rough understanding of the person who once possessed her body.

Admiring vanity, narrow-minded, petty…

Yet, incredibly adept at disguise, with outstanding acting skills.

Relentless when suppressing dissent, but everyone, except the party involved, praised her, thinking she did everything right.

“Zhao Xiaokui” felt that singing was a waste of her talent. Clearly, being an actress was her true calling.

“As long as you’re willing to sign the contract, you can have everything.”

Zhao Xiaokui’s expression was indifferent. “What do I have to sacrifice to sign the contract?”

The evil god said, “I only need a small offering. Don’t worry, I won’t easily plunder human lives. I only require some inconsequential things. No one will die, no one will be harmed. Just follow what I say, and I can help you achieve all your desires, and make up for all your regrets.”

“Don’t you want to save your grandmother? She just stumbled; if you can stop it in time, she can live another twenty years at least. Don’t you want to go back to the past? Seize the opportunity, be ahead of everyone, grasp those chances you missed…”

“You will have a perfect family. Your husband will be rich and handsome, deeply in love with you. You will have a lovely pair of children…”

Zhao Xiaokui: “Idiot.”

The voice of the evil god abruptly stopped.

Even if it couldn’t keep up with the trends of the times and didn’t understand the phrase “idiot,” Zhao Xiaokui’s indifferent and undisturbed demeanor felt entirely appropriate.

“If you really could travel back in time, why endure being locked in a place no one can find, neither alive nor dead, neither human nor ghost? If you have such abilities, why not save yourself first?”

“Just because you’re called an evil god, you think you’re a god? You’re just a pitiful creature trapped in the crevices of time, maintaining your consciousness through the sacrifices of others. Do you even remember who you are? After devouring the consciousness and destinies of so many people, you’ve long become a filthy monster.”

“Other than using your contaminating power to connect to my dreams, what else can you do? Scare me by pretending to be a ghost? You might as well turn into a cockroach; I’m more afraid of that.”

After a brief silence, erupted a volcanic anger.

“I’m going to kill you—”

Zhao Xiaokui raised her hand, giving the middle finger to the empty space.

Her expression remained indifferent. It didn’t even know she had a girlfriend; what nonsense was this proposal scenario?

She cursed, “Idiot.”

Then, she voluntarily severed the connection with the evil god.

Zhao Xiaokui opened her eyes and, as expected, found herself lying in the Nightwalker Medical Department’s ward.

She stared at the ceiling for a while before letting out a long sigh.

Facing a seemingly high-level transcendental evil god, despite the bold trash talk, she felt incredibly uneasy inside.

Relying solely on her righteousness, she sustained herself until the last “idiot” was uttered.

The disconnection happened so swiftly because, if she continued, she feared her legs might give in.

Zhao Xiaokui was confident in her abilities, and she had a good measure of her capabilities.

Fortunately, this adventure didn’t end without gains.

At least she gained a more comprehensive and objective understanding of the evil gods in the human world. She now knew what exactly they were.

As she suspected, the evil gods in the human world were different from those in the transcendental realm.

In the transcendental world, evil gods referred to gods contaminated by the power of the abyss, fallen from the divine realm to become demonic entities. Though labeled as evil gods and associated with wickedness, their divine nature remained unchanged. However, the polluted power made them more violently chaotic, and their temperament deviated from the usual balance and serenity of regular deities. They gradually leaned towards the abyssal races, becoming evil and disorderly.

Even with a hundred and twenty times more courage, Zhao Xiaokui wouldn’t dare to confront such evil gods.

No, she didn’t even need to speak. With her weak and pitiful strength, if the other side sneezed, she might disappear without a trace.

In contrast, the evil god in the human world, Zhao Xiaokui could sense their formidable power. They should be a high-level transcendental beings, but she didn’t feel the presence of divinity from them.

That’s why she could resist the temptations of the evil god, even hanging up on them unilaterally.

If it were a true god, just sitting there would make her obedient to any command. There would be no need for the crazy promotional short films.

However, the existence of the evil god also sounded an alarm for her.

“In daily affairs, one must be extremely cautious. If you need to endure, then endure. Today, I encountered an unlucky guy stuck in a time loop. Apart from painting him some rosy pictures, it was utterly useless. If I run into a boss tomorrow, with my small frame, I’ll likely be in deep trouble…”

Recalling her impulsive actions of rushing halfway into the darkness and then returning to rescue two teammates, Zhao Xiaokui sighed. She couldn’t explain what kind of adrenaline rush possessed her at that moment, making her act so recklessly.

But if time rewound, and she was asked if she would do it again, Zhao Xiaokui thought she probably would.

Gou Rixin and Lin Bai treated her as a teammate, willing to stay and face death rather than drag her down.

She couldn’t bring herself to abandon her teammates, watching helplessly as two people died in a mysterious domain.

Fortunately, in the end, all three of them managed to escape.

She made the right bet, and everyone was happy.

But she didn’t know the condition of Lin Bai and Gou Rixin’s bodies…

Zhao Xiaokui had expended too much stamina and transcendental power in the mysterious domain. Although she worried about her two teammates, lying down, she unconsciously closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

This sleep lasted a full twenty-four hours.

In the middle, Lin Bai woke up once, but she remained asleep. If it weren’t for the normal monitoring data, doctors might have suspected she had some undetectable brain injury from the battle with the evil god.

However, after various scans, no other problems were found. They could only wait for her to wake up before drawing any conclusions.

Zhang Hongyi sat by Zhao Xiaokui’s bedside for a while, looking at the young girl on the bed. He felt inexplicably saddened, wanting to smoke. He fumbled in his leather jacket pocket, but then remembered he was in a hospital. He put the already-pinched cigarette back into his pocket and went to the adjacent ward.

He had just entered when Lin Bai woke up and said, “Captain.”

Zhang Hongyi asked him how he was feeling.

This question had already been answered by Lin Bai during the doctor’s rounds; now, it was just being repeated.

“This time, thanks to Xiaokui. Fortunately, you both took her out when you went on the mission. Otherwise, by the time the rescue arrived, it would have been too late.”

Zhang Hongyi’s words were genuinely heartfelt. Having personally experienced the mysteries of a domain, he knew how terrifying such situations could be.

“How is she now?” Lin Bai asked.

“The doctor said there’s nothing major, just that she hasn’t woken up. It might have affected a hidden part of her brain. We’ll wait one more day, and if she still hasn’t woken up, we’ll use special methods to stimulate her awake.”

“I should have been more careful,” Lin Bai said with some self-blame.

Spatial overlaps could be detected with instruments. If he had investigated more carefully, they wouldn’t have all fallen into it together.

“Don’t talk about this now. Who the hell could have expected there would be a domain in S City? Those abandoned buildings have been there for four or five years, and no one paid attention. If there’s no one covering for it from above, I don’t believe it,” Zhang Hongyi patted Lin Bai’s shoulder. When going on a mission, it’s best not to shoulder all the problems, as it could lead to psychological issues. “I heard from Gou Rixin that you figured out the method to get out. They all followed your instructions to escape. You’ve done well.”

Lin Bai urgently asked, “Is Gou awake? When did he wake up?”

“Just a moment ago. He woke up before I went to see Xiaokui. He’s lucky; we happened to have Antidote No. 7 in the base; otherwise, it would have been hard to say.”

A smile finally appeared on Lin Bai’s face.

As the Night Watcher team captain, Zhang Hongyi had many things to attend to. Even with the two most important team members lying in bed, he didn’t have much time to rest. After seeing the three of them with his own eyes, he felt somewhat relieved. After saying a few words of concern, he left.

Once Zhang Hongyi left, Lin Bai lay with his eyes open, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Everything is fine…

Gou Rixin is alive, and Xiaokui is not dead.

He suddenly turned his head to look at the door.

Hong Ying was standing there quietly, wearing a red dress.

---