The materials provided to Lin Xi by the group chat system came with a time-acceleration feature.
According to the records, not long after the divorce proceedings between Gu Yanxi and Wen Mingyue concluded, the Gu Group went bankrupt. The chairman of the group, Gu Xu, was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for his involvement in several financial crimes.
Gu Yanxi himself was sentenced to three years for unlawful detention and intentional assault after failing to obtain Wen Qing's forgiveness. Combined with his participation in the Gu Group's financial crimes, he was given a total sentence of ten years.
Ten years was a brutal stretch of time. At the very least, Gu Yanxi—who once refused to listen to reason, habitually mistook rejection for a coy game of hard-to-get, and believed everyone who spoke to him had an ulterior motive—finally realized that the world did not revolve around him.
A decade passed, and the stars shifted. By the time Gu Yanxi was released from prison, the Gu Group had long since been buried by the passage of time. Even if he searched online now, the entries on the online encyclopedias only recorded the scandals and misdeeds the Gu family had committed. Compared to the weight of their crimes, the charitable acts the Gu family had once performed were not even worth mentioning.
As Gu Yanxi’s mother, Zhou Jin still showed up on the day of his release. These ten years had not left many deep marks on Zhou Jin’s face.
She remained beautiful, though her temperament had become more refined and settled. After the collapse of the Gu Group, she had lived abroad and was now a violinist in a relatively famous opera house.
She was very satisfied with her current life. Even without the luxury and opulence she once enjoyed with the Gu family, her heart was free, and for Zhou Jin, that was enough.
Gu Yanxi was blind in one eye. To make daily life easier, he wore an eyepatch. He was thin and gaunt, his face aged beyond his years. Standing before Zhou Jin with his slightly hunched posture, he looked as though he were her peer rather than her son.
Gu Yanxi had grown much more taciturn. Seeing Zhou Jin filled him with complex emotions, and he didn't take the initiative to greet her. Zhou Jin didn't seem to have any intention of reminiscing either; she simply handed him a bank card.
"There's some money in this card—it's part of my savings. Live a good life from now on." After thrusting the card into Gu Yanxi’s hand, she turned to leave without a hint of lingering affection.
Gu Yanxi gripped the card tightly. Just as Zhou Jin was about to get into the car waiting at the prison gates, he called out to her, "Mom, is Wen Mingyue... doing well?"
People often say that time makes one forget many things, but others claim that fine wine only becomes more mellow and fragrant with the fermentation of time.
Gu Yanxi felt that his feelings for Wen Mingyue were like a jar of fine wine. Before the baptism of time, they were bland, thin, and harsh. Yet, after being stored away for years, they had become increasingly beautiful.
Gu Yanxi used to hate Wen Mingyue. He hated her coldness and her ruthlessness. But alongside that hatred, he couldn't help but recall every little detail of their time together.
The warm yellow nightlight that was always left on when he returned late from business engagements; the warm porridge waiting in the kitchen; the neatly ironed clothes in the wardrobe; the breakfast laid out on the dining table before he left in the morning...
He had never given these things a second thought before, but looking back now, they were filled with the taste of warmth.
Zhou Jin turned and glanced at Gu Yanxi. "Why even ask? You belong to two different worlds now."
Having said her piece, Zhou Jin got into the car and drove away without hesitation.
She left Gu Yanxi standing there, dazed and alone.
"You belong to two different worlds." Gu Yanxi used to hear this phrase often, usually from the fair-weather friends who flocked to him because of his family's status.
Because he didn't care about Wen Mingyue, she became the target of their cruel amusement. Gu Yanxi had never bothered to intervene. He felt it was the price Wen Mingyue had to pay—the ordeal she had to endure for trying to force her way into his social circle.
Back then, Gu Yanxi never imagined that he would hear those words again under these circumstances. Now, the positions and status of him and Wen Mingyue had undergone a complete reversal.
Gu Yanxi was consumed by resentment.
"Yanxi." A soft female voice called out from the side, and Gu Yanxi's eyes instantly lit up.
It had been ten years, and Wen Mingyue had not visited Gu Yanxi even once. It seemed he had almost forgotten what Wen Mingyue's voice sounded like.
He looked toward the source of the sound, and his expression darkened immediately.
"Wen Qing!!" Gu Yanxi hissed through gritted teeth. If there was one person he hated most in this life, it was Wen Qing.
After replaying the events of his life over and over during the past ten years, he knew Wen Qing was the culprit who had caused his current downfall. If she hadn't deceived him back then, he wouldn't have fallen so deeply for her, nor would he have betrayed Wen Mingyue for her sake. He certainly wouldn't have contracted this cursed AIDS, and he wouldn't have had his eye poked out by her.
Wen Qing—or perhaps she could be called the former World Consciousness of this minor world—wore a motherly smile as she strode toward Gu Yanxi. Like a doting mother, she snatched up his meager belongings and held onto them tightly.
"Yanxi, I've come to pick you up. You have nowhere else to go right now, do you? Why don't you come live with me?" The former World Consciousness looked at the man before her expectantly.
A wave of deep joy welled up within her. So this was the child she had once favored! Seeing him from this perspective, he really was quite handsome.
It was just a pity that this fine piece of jade was now flawed; he was blind in one eye. The former World Consciousness felt a pang of sorrow. If only she hadn't been kicked out by the Heavenly Dao System, if only she were still the World Consciousness of this world.
She could have easily healed the scars on Gu Yanxi's body, including his eye and the AIDS he suffered from. If she had enough energy, she could have even reversed time and space for him.
Gu Yanxi stared gloomily at Wen Qing for a long time, his gaze wandering over her body. Truth be told, after ten years in prison, Gu Yanxi had lived like a monk.
He didn't know what the situation was with Wen Mingyue yet, but as for Wen Qing... it wasn't impossible to use her as a way to vent his frustrations.
Gu Yanxi followed Wen Qing home.
After the former World Consciousness merged into Wen Qing's body, she had moved to an urban village and rented a shop to sell groceries.
Over the years, business had been decent, but she hadn't managed to save any money. The reason was that the original "Wen Qing" had never truly left; for ten years, the two of them had been fighting for control over the body.
After years of a back-and-forth struggle, they had reached a superficial balance.
During the day, the former World Consciousness controlled the body. After seven in the evening, control reverted to the original Wen Qing.
Wen Qing had always been a hedonist. Whatever money the former World Consciousness earned during the day would be spent by the original Wen Qing at night. It didn't matter where the former World Consciousness tried to hide the money; it was useless.
Fortunately, Wen Qing knew how to manage things for the long haul; otherwise, the shop wouldn’t have been able to stay in business.
The living quarters were located right behind the small shop. No sooner had Wen Qing set down Gu Yanxi’s belongings than his hand clamped around her throat.
The former world consciousness’s face turned pale instantly.
Gu Yanxi’s voice was like a demonic whisper in her ear. "Wen Qing, I have to hand it to you—you’re truly brave. You destroyed my family and left me a cripple. How do you have the audacity to show your face to me again?"
"Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?"
The former world consciousness’s face drained of all color. Ever since she had been cast into Wen Qing’s body, all her previous powers had vanished. Now, her physical condition was even more fragile than that of an average woman.
Gu Yanxi had spent ten years in prison, and during those years, he had never stopped training. His grip was incredibly powerful; the former world consciousness used every ounce of her strength, but she couldn't even budge his fingers.
Just like that afternoon ten years ago, he watched with cold composure as Wen Qing’s breath slowly faded away.
Just before the former world consciousness stopped breathing altogether, Gu Yanxi released his grip. She slumped to the floor, clutching her throat and coughing violently, just as she had ten years prior.
Before she could even catch her breath, he hoisted her up like a sack of rags and tossed her onto the bed.
The former world consciousness was truly terrified now. She had always viewed Gu Yanxi as her own son.
Out of her own selfish motives, the women she had arranged for her "son" were all flawed in some way.
Wen Qing was one thing, but even Wen Mingyue had been suppressed by her in various ways, all because of a strange, inexplicable jealousy.
But in all honesty, the former world consciousness had never desired to be Gu Yanxi’s woman. She had simply wanted to treat him like a mother would.
Gu Yanxi didn't care about any of that. He pinned Wen Qing down, his hand still on her throat, and took out ten years of pent-up lust on her.
Afterward, he ignored Wen Qing as she huddled at the foot of the bed and lit a cigarette. "Why act like such a saint? Where was this modesty when you were playing around with four or five Black men?"
The former world consciousness clutched her chest. Gu Yanxi finished dressing and walked over to pat her cheek. "Wen Qing, I don't care what your motives were for bringing me back here, but you and I are far from finished."
"Remember this: I will make your life a living hell," Gu Yanxi threatened.
In the years that followed, Gu Yanxi stayed true to his word.
He became the very person he used to despise, spending his days drinking and gambling. His entire livelihood was provided by the former world consciousness and Wen Qing.
Gu Yanxi had long since noticed the difference in "Wen Qing" between day and night, but he didn't care.
On an ordinary morning when Gu Yanxi was forty-five years old, he returned home reeking of cigarettes and cheap perfume.
As he passed a store, a television inside was broadcasting an animated series.
Gu Yanxi stopped to watch. It was Wen Mingyue’s work. He stood there silently until the episode ended, then walked away without a word.
Upon returning home, he dragged the former world consciousness from the shop where she was working to the living quarters in the back and subjected her to a brutal beating.
The former world consciousness had grown accustomed to scenes like this. After Gu Yanxi returned to his room to sleep, she silently picked herself up off the floor.
"Do you still love this 'son' of yours? Are you still willing to do anything for him?"
The former world consciousness looked up at the sky. She had heard those questions countless times over the past ten years.
In the beginning, she truly believed her "motherly love" could touch Gu Yanxi, molding him into the ideal son of her dreams.
Later, after being beaten into a daze, she couldn't help but wonder: Was she wrong to change everyone in this world, forcing them to revolve around him?
"I was wrong." By now, the former world consciousness realized that without the protection of her "motherly love," Gu Yanxi was nothing more than a complete scumbag.
He was reckless and self-indulgent, doing whatever he pleased and refusing to tolerate the slightest bit of defiance from anyone.
"Unfortunately, it's too late. You restarted this world four times, so you must experience your 'son's' kindness four times, each time in a different identity."
The former world consciousness said nothing. She had no strength left to struggle, and she knew that once she had completed these four experiences, she would simply fade away into nothingness.
She dragged herself forward on legs that Gu Yanxi had broken time and time again.
The real Wen Qing had passed away after a particularly brutal beating one night, leaving the former world consciousness in full control of the body.
But the former world consciousness took no joy in this; now that the real Wen Qing was gone, the beatings came at all hours, day and night.
Lin Xi tossed the files aside after finishing them. She felt not a shred of sympathy for what the former world consciousness was going through.
Someone tagged her in the group chat. She clicked the notification and saw a message from Jiang Ying, a new member who hadn't spoken a word since joining.
[Jiang Ying from the Zombie Apocalypse World: @Earth Girl Lin Xi, hello. Do you know a man named Lin Zhongxun? He asked me to pass a message to you.]
