There were over twenty transmigrators in the group chat, and the worlds they had crossed into shared commonalities while remaining distinctly different. This was mainly reflected in their cultural backgrounds, especially in the ancient worlds, where history always seemed to take a turn in some world after the Qin Dynasty, developing toward unknown eras.
The transmigrators in the group had once imagined that some of them might cross into the same world, but after detailed comparisons, they all felt it was impossible. No one expected that this possibility actually existed. For a time, discussions buzzed, filled with a sense of wonder and an indescribable joy. This joy was for Gu Nuanyang.
The group members all felt heartbroken for Gu Nuanyang; she was the classic example of someone bitten by a snake once and fearing ropes for ten years. After settling in a mountain village, her life was akin to that of an ascetic monk. Sometimes, looking at the pictures she posted, everyone felt a pang of sympathy. As a transmigrator, and one holding a mustard-seed spatial treasure and possessing a transmigrator group chat at that, Gu Nuanyang's life was far too bitter.
When Gu Nuanyang realized she and Liu Zhong were in the same time and space, she almost wept tears of joy. With trembling hands, she conducted a more detailed confirmation with Liu Zhong in the group. Although she had been a mere peasant girl when she first transmigrated in her previous life, she had eventually risen to the position of Empress. While she might not know the surrounding countries in exhaustive detail, she had a basic understanding of them.
The more the two chatted, the more heated the atmosphere became. The other people in the group stayed silent, leaving the chat space to the two of them.
There are four great joys in life: sweet rain after a long drought, meeting an old friend in a distant land, the wedding night, and seeing one's name on the imperial examination pass list. It was just like the sigh Lin Xi once let out when she first obtained the transmigrator group chat. In a town, people from the home village are fellow townsmen; stepping out of the county, people from the same county are family. The larger the place one is in, the broader the scope of fellow townsmen becomes.
Gu Nuanyang and Liu Zhong had now left Earth, so even hearing a familiar accent made them feel immensely close. Not to mention they were both in the same group chat.
As Liu Zhong and Gu Nuanyang exchanged words in the group, catching up on the major events around them, their joy and excitement practically radiated through the screen. Aside from Xu Siyu and Chu Yi, everyone else in the group felt a little sour with envy.
How could surviving alone in another space-time compare to being together with friends? Let alone the fact that they all knew anyone added to this group, if nothing else, had decent character.
After the two finished a segment of their conversation, the group members tagged the group chat system to ask what was going on.
System Message: The reason the two worlds merged is that they are books written by the same author. When these worlds undergo changes, there will be a certain degree of fusion. Furthermore, when writing the novel, this author specifically set up characters from different countries in the same era to hook readers from the previous book.
With the system's explanation, everyone understood. In Gu Nuanyang's world, although it wasn't explicitly stated that she was the female lead of a novel world, the things that happened to her reeked heavily of it.
It fell just short of directly pointing out her identity as the female lead of a farming novel.
Gu Nuanyang didn't know the book's content, nor did she care about it. Right now, she just wanted to meet Liu Zhong; she wanted to find someone in this world to mutually support and rely on.
This mutual reliance wasn't romantic reliance between a man and a woman, but familial support.
At this time, the three kingdoms were at war, and Liu Zhong had a few students with him and couldn't leave. The two chatted in the group, confirming whether their future developments would conflict.
They ultimately confirmed that both wanted to lay low and live out this life. This wasn't hard to understand. Since transmigrating to this world, Liu Zhong hadn't received a shred of warmth, and he felt no sense of belonging to the country he was currently in. To put it bluntly, the life or death of the people in this country had nothing to do with him.
The current Liu Zhong had absorbed the lessons of countless transmigrator predecessors. Even if someone were severely injured and dying right in front of him, he wouldn't save them even if he had the ability to. Who knew if this would be the next Zhao Junqing?
Gu Nuanyang was even more so. She had been reborn in this life carrying hatred. Because of Zhao Junqing, she similarly had no sense of belonging to Da Xun. Being able to save those people in this commandery was already her limit; anything more was impossible.
Doing something foolish like saving a person of extraordinary status was enough to experience once; Gu Nuanyang would absolutely never do it a second time.
After confirming their future goals aligned and discussing it repeatedly, Gu Nuanyang decided to head over to the Da Qian Dynasty to find Liu Zhong.
To this, the people in the group did not dissuade her. Gu Nuanyang's body had constantly been nourished by the spiritual spring from her fingertips. When practicing the Yi Shu Thirteen Meridians, her progress was remarkably gratifying.
She had already practiced to the seventh stage, whereas Lin Duxi, someone who frequently needed to go on missions, had only reached the fifth stage. Based on this alone, it was enough for Gu Nuanyang to roam freely in her world.
If there were occasionally a few people she couldn't defeat, her space was full of firearms. Wouldn't wiping someone out then be as simple as drinking water?
There was even less need to worry about food and daily necessities. Her space was stocked with food and supplies. If she found walking too tiring, she could even pull out a mountain motorcycle on the spot and ride through the mountains.
But Gu Nuanyang didn't plan to do this. After her rebirth, she had absorbed the lessons of her previous life, and the word "caution" seemed carved into her very bones.
During the time she lived in the small mountain village, she hadn't taken out a single item that exceeded the era or didn't fit her identity. Even when eating something delicious, she would hide at home late at night to eat it secretly.
There was a period when she was so cautious that she even entrusted Lin Xi to dispose of the garbage generated by using modern products or items unfitting of her status.
However, that situation lasted for a very short time, and the current her would no longer be as paranoid as before.
Gu Nuanyang was an impatient person; once she decided on something, she intended to do it immediately.
She thoroughly inspected the front and back of her house to ensure there wasn't the slightest item that exceeded the era or didn't fit her identity before heading over to the neighbor's house to talk.
She casually revealed her intention to leave. Her departure made the village chief very reluctant, but they also knew that in this day and age, if they didn't leave, staying in the village would only mean death.
The imperial court was losing ground in the war. Even at this point, those so-called princes were still engaging in internal strife regardless of the situation. The harsh miscellaneous taxes increased day by day, each with a more resounding name than the last.
Coupled with the fact that the weather this year was somewhat abnormal—it was already June, yet it hadn't rained much, while the sun grew fiercer by the day.
The wild grass along the village roads had already turned yellow, drooping listlessly every day. Even the leaves on the mountain trees lacked their former green. The leaves and fruits that would normally be full and plump by this time of year were now either withered and yellow or only the size of a fingernail.
The small animals that used to run all over the mountains were also far fewer this year.
Everyone in the village knew that a year of famine had arrived. In just the past couple of days, quite a few people were preparing to flee the disaster. Some families left together, while others sent their younger generation ahead to find a place to settle before returning to pick up the rest.
Gu Nuanyang also had memories of this year's great famine. In her previous life, a continuous two-year famine broke out within the Eldest Prince's territory. During this disaster, the Eldest Prince made major errors in his decision-making. After these mistakes were exposed, he lost his qualifications to compete for the throne.
Gu Nuanyang originally hadn't thought about this matter. After all, when she previously visited other counties to distribute the spiritual spring water from her fingertips, she saw that those places had no major issues.
It wasn't until she returned and chatted with the village chief that she remembered this event. Precisely because she remembered, she decided to beat them at their own game and leave directly.
Not long after talking to the village chief, she closed her door and left. On her way out of the village, she ran into the village hunter, a twenty-seven-year-old man who had not yet taken a wife.
Gu Nuanyang was on good terms with him. After exchanging a few words, she departed. The hunter stood there in a daze for a long time. Not long after, he took his crossbow down the mountain and joined the army.
While Gu Nuanyang was busy traveling, the chat in the group continued.
Everyone was quite curious about the ending of the book Gu Nuanyang was in.
It just so happened that the group chat system became very fond of gossip after its upgrade. Seeing that everyone was interested, it didn't keep them in suspense.
System Message: The novel Gu Nuanyang is in is exactly as everyone guessed, a farming novel. It tells the story of a modern orphan girl who transmigrates to become an ancient peasant girl. Her parents and sister are all pushovers. She fights off terrible relatives, gets rich, and conveniently falls in love with the current prince.
The author of this book is famous for writing bad endings. He wrote the book right up to the finale, without any side stories. Therefore, after the book ended, Zhao Junqing, who already harbored ill intentions toward Gu Nuanyang, awakened his consciousness, which led to Gu Nuanyang's subsequent tragic experiences.
Gu Nuanyang took a moment to glance at it but said nothing. Anyway, after she was reborn, blew the people who treated her badly into the sky, and then met Old Madam Zhou, she felt she had reconciled with the whole world.
The events of her past life could no longer shackle her. With a brisk pace, she blended into the crowd of refugees and headed toward the Great Qian Empire.
The chat in the group was still going on. Ah Huahua quietly dropped a massive bombshell in front of everyone.
Primitive World Ah Huahua: Family, I am getting married.
The people chatting in the group were stunned, and several of them coincidentally rubbed their eyes.
Domineering CEO's Evil Supporting Actress Ye Bingbing: With whom? Why so sudden? You never even breathed a word about this before.
Ah Huahua sat in her cave, looking at the melting snow outside, and smiled faintly.
Primitive World Ah Huahua: He is from my tribe and the same age as me. We have actually been spending time together for quite a while. A few days ago, I drank some of the wine Huanhuan gave me. After I got tipsy, he was sent over to find me by his older sister, Ah Shuishui, and somehow, we ended up sleeping together.
I haven't spoken in the group for the past few days because I was thinking about this. I figured since things have already escalated between us, I should take some responsibility. Ah Huahua's tribe was a matriarchal society.
Before getting involved with Ah Shuishui's younger brother, Mushi, she thought being single was pretty good. But after getting together with Mushi, she felt that being a couple was also okay. After all, compared to the other men in the tribe who walked around naked and hated bathing, Mushi was considered good.
At the very least, he knew to cover his sensitive areas and knew to wipe his body every few days even during the snowy season.
Because she never received warmth from her family growing up, Ah Huahua suddenly wanted to have a home of her own. She absolutely refused to admit that this was a psychological effect of seeing so many happy families recently.
Everyone was naturally happy with her decision. Seeing the unanimous blessings, a smile appeared on Ah Huahua's face. Then, she privately messaged Lin Xi, asking Lin Xi to get her some birth control pills.
Marriage was one thing, but she didn't want to have her own cubs just yet. She had already discussed this with Mushi. Mushi was also understanding of this; after all, he didn't want to drag a cub around so early either.
The main reason he got together with Ah Huahua was that he often heard her say she wanted children later in life.
Birth control pills were easy to get. Lin Xi agreed to go to the pharmacy the next day to buy them for Ah Huahua.
After Ah Huahua announced her good news, Xu Huanhuan also mentioned in the group that she had decided to officially get together with her partner, Gu Yuzhi.
Ancient World Xu Huanhuan: During my trip home to visit my family this time, I told my mom about my life in the ancient world. When I mentioned Gu Yuzhi, my mom said that life is only a few short decades, so one should enjoy it while it lasts. Gu Yuzhi is reasonably good-looking and to my liking, and I know his family background. Since he's unmarried and I'm unmarried, we might as well get together and live our lives.
Domineering CEO's Evil Supporting Actress Ye Bingbing: So you don't plan to get married?
Ancient World Xu Huanhuan: No marriage. If I get married, I'll have to serve his parents and a whole extended family of relatives. Without marrying, I only need to deal with him. If he ever wrongs me one day, I can just kick him to the curb and find someone else. My father and brothers in this world hold quite high and powerful positions and can protect me. If there ever comes a day when they can't protect me, we'll talk about it then.
Xu Huanhuan had returned home, untied the knots in her heart, and her personality had become much more open-minded. The group members were all happy about this. In their respective worlds, they had all more or less met people who made their hearts flutter, but having experienced so many bizarre things, they would subconsciously shrink back when it came to establishing a closer, intimate relationship with others.
Since Ah Huahua and Xu Huanhuan were able to take a step forward, everyone mostly offered their blessings. In a short while, Lin Xi received many gifts from the group members for Ah Huahua and Xu Huanhuan. Lin Xi forwarded all those items to the two of them.
It was getting late, and her hair was blown dry. The night in Yunnan Province was still chilly. After covering herself with a cotton quilt, her whole body felt comfortable, and sleepiness began to strike. Just as she was about to fall asleep, a message came through on her WeChat.
She took a look and was a bit stunned; it was sent by Li Sheng. He was the police officer who had visited her home with Li Yucheng right after she came back.
For a long time after that, she kept running into Li Sheng by chance, but later, he disappeared from her radar again.
Li Sheng asked Lin Xi out for tea. Lin Xi furrowed her brows slightly. She felt that she and Li Sheng were just nodding acquaintances. Running into each other on the street and exchanging a few words was fine, but making an appointment to drink tea together felt weird.
Just as she was about to refuse, Li Sheng's second message came through.
Li Sheng: I want to apologize to you here. Last time, Granny Sun said she wanted to introduce us, but I had a sudden mission. I've been very busy lately and only just found the time, so would you allow me to meet with you?
Lin Xi's psychological unease grew even deeper. Based on the few brief encounters she had with Li Sheng, it stood to reason that the impression he gave her in person was completely disconnected from the vibe the person on WeChat gave her.
After experiencing so many things, and recalling what Lin Zhongxun had told her before in the apocalyptic zombie world, alarm bells instantly went off in her mind. She didn't reply to Li Sheng, but her sleepiness completely vanished.
She opened the chat window with the system and asked if Li Sheng had been possessed. With the precedent of 'Xue Min', Lin Xi felt her guess wasn't ridiculous at all.
Faced with her inquiry, the group chat system played dead and didn't reply.
But playing dead and not replying was telling enough.
All sleepiness gone in an instant, Lin Xi sat up and stayed awake with her eyes open until dawn.
Early the next morning, after eating the rice noodles Chi Xiangping had cooked, Lin Xi headed to her great-aunt Sun Caohua's house.
Her great-aunt Sun Caohua was sitting in the sun stitching shoe soles. Beside her was a radio playing a Yunnan mountain opera, and the repetitive string of "Alili Alili Ali Ali Li" music was incredibly catchy.
Just hearing this one line, Lin Xi's mind was immediately filled with the lyrics.
Sun Caohua wore reading glasses and occasionally sang along with the radio. Behind her was a brilliantly blooming bougainvillea, and at hand was a bamboo basket. On top of the basket rested a winnowing pan, which held a pot of brewed tea and a few teacups. Hearing footsteps, she looked up, let out a sound of surprise upon seeing Lin Xi, and stood up to fetch a plate of sunflower seeds, candies, and pastries from the living room.
The pastries were traditional ones, so flaky that the crust crumbled, filled with hard red bean paste. They weren't overly sweet, and paired with the tea Sun Caohua brewed, they cut through any greasiness with an unknown, refreshing fragrance.
"Great-aunt, was the boy you wanted to introduce to me before named Li Sheng?"
In the Yunnan dialect, the pronunciation of Li Sheng and Li Sheng was basically the same, with only a difference in intonation. Such a subtle difference caused many people to have obvious variations when pronouncing the same name or place.
Her great-aunt was illiterate, making this difference even more pronounced.
Her great-aunt responded with a few affirmations, glanced toward the kitchen, and then whispered secretively, "Yes, yes. That young man has had bad luck."
Her great-aunt's words gave Lin Xi a feeling of "I knew it." She leaned closer to her great-aunt, picked up the shoe sole she was stitching to play with, and naturally lowered her voice.
"What happened? Did something go wrong?"
Her secretive manner greatly satisfied Sun Caohua's psychological fondness for gossiping about others. She said, "Didn't your blind date with him fall through last time because he suddenly had a mission?"
"Yeah, yeah," Lin Xi played the role of a perfect conversational partner.
"I heard from your aunt that he was seriously injured during that mission and was bedridden until he woke up just a few days ago. Poor thing, I heard he's lost so much weight he looks like a telephone pole." Sun Caohua even looked a bit embarrassed as she said this.
She felt like she had committed a sin. She had insisted on introducing him to her grand-niece just because he was tall and had a good profession. Luckily, it didn't work out, or she wouldn't have known how to face Chi Xiangping.
Without a doubt, she knew Chi Xiangping would have definitely come looking to argue with her, wielding a big stick. Although she wasn't afraid, she was getting on in years and already had great-grandchildren; it would be too embarrassing to fight with her cousin-in-law.
"He woke up in the last two days?" Lin Xi asked.
"It must have been two or three days. Your eldest aunt just went to see him a couple of days ago," Sun Caohua finished, snatching the shoe sole back from Lin Xi's hand to continue her work.
Lin Xi sneered in her heart. She felt that these "people" were truly impatient, rushing to contact her right away. The time he messaged her last night was probably right after he was allowed to use his phone, right?
"Why are you suddenly asking about this?" Her great-aunt was a bit puzzled.
"I have a friend in Beijing who is also a police officer. When I was chatting with his family a few days ago, this suddenly came up, and I remembered you were going to introduce that person to me, so I came to ask you. Why are you still stitching shoe soles? Can your eyes handle it?"
Sun Caohua nodded, not thinking much of it. "I'm old, getting old. I can't handle it anymore. I used to finish a pair of shoe soles in a few days, but now I can't even finish one in a month."
Sun Caohua smacked her lips, still quite unyielding about getting older. Lin Xi's aunt came out holding a bag of plums.
"These are plums I got from your grandmother's house. They're a bit sour, take some back to eat."
Lin Xi didn't refuse politely. Whenever their family had good things, they would also bring some to her great-aunt's house. Lin Xi chatted with her for a while, and when Chi Xiangping sent a message, she took the opportunity to leave.
She went to the guesthouse, where Chi Xiangping was chatting with the guesthouse staff. Lin Xi walked to the pavilion outside and sat down. The koi in the artificial pond played around the pavilion, and several lotus flowers were blooming beautifully in the water.
She took out her phone, and Jiang Ying was sharing good news in the group.
Just at noon today, the vice-captain of the women's special forces, Feng Xinyue, successfully awakened a wood-type ability. And upon awakening, she was immediately at level two.
Jiang Ying proved that in the apocalyptic zombie world, the Yi Shu Thirteen Classics could indeed allow people without abilities to cultivate them. This shocked the entire women's special forces.
It even alarmed the military base. Just now, Jiang Ying had already been called over by the base commander once.
The group members all tagged Lin Duxi.
After all, both of their worlds were apocalyptic.
Lin Duxi was very helpless about this, but also very envious.
[Apocalyptic Wasteland Lin Duxi: I think my world probably unlocked the technology tree skills, not the special abilities.]
[Earth Girl Lin Xi: True, the weapons in your world could rival the firearms in the interstellar world. Against low-tech worlds, it's a dimensional strike.]
Following this topic, the group started discussing the differences between various identical backgrounds.
After chatting for a bit, Lin Xi remembered something and tagged Jiang Ying in the group: [Do you think Shangguan Xu knows that Feng Qingqing is the snake he raised when he was a child?]
[Apocalyptic Zombie World Jiang Ying: He probably knows. Before he threw up, he stared at that snake for a long time.]
[Primitive World Ah Shuishui: I think he can recognize it. After all, it's a pet he raised since childhood. Even among a pile of cats, I could recognize my Cao'er at a glance.]
[Chasing Wife Crematorium Wen Mingyue: I also think he probably knows. Notice how he didn't scream when he was swept away; he seemed very calm.]
[Ancient World Peasant Old Lady Zhong Shuyan: Makes sense.]
The group members chimed in, discussing this question in depth. In the zombie world, Jiang Ying continued to immerse herself in training. In this apocalypse, only by being strong enough could she protect herself and others.
In the mountain forest not far from the Xuri Base, Shangguan Xu leaned against a pile of strange rocks, looking at Feng Qingqing, who was adjusting her breath not far away, tightly gripping a pistol.
Just as Lin Xi and the others had speculated in the transmigrators' chat group, Shangguan Xu had indeed recognized Feng Qingqing the moment she transformed into a snake.
However, he was not happy about it at all. Since last night, he had been hiding alone in this pile of rubble. The snake had been lying in the same spot, only occasionally looking at him with its massive eyes. Whenever it did, Shangguan Xu felt terrified.
Who wouldn't be afraid of those cold, gigantic vertical pupils? Shangguan Xu's habit of keeping reptile pets had basically been cured after the apocalypse began.
At this moment, Feng Qingqing had no time to care about Shangguan Xu. Ever since leaving the Rising Sun Base, she had found it difficult to even breathe, and now it had worsened to the point where she didn't want to breathe at all.
She felt that there was something in the air making her extremely uncomfortable, something that would deal her a fatal blow.
Moreover, the realgar powder had taken a massive toll on her. Inside her body, where humans couldn't see, her stomach had already been perforated by the realgar. The powder's destructive power was spreading toward her other organs, and once it left her stomach, it moved faster and faster.
Feng Qingqing opened her huge eyes and looked at Shangguan Xu. She felt that her life was coming to an end. She had a vague premonition that she wouldn't survive for more than two or three days.
She tossed all the supplies she had stored in her spatial dimension over to Shangguan Xu. That spatial dimension was an ability she had awakened after the apocalypse arrived.
During the time she teamed up with Shangguan Xu to head to the Rising Sun Base, she would go into the mountains alone every night to hunt. Even now, there was still a lot of mutant animal meat left in her space.
Shangguan Xu stared at her blankly, then picked up a piece of dried meat and began to eat. Feng Qingqing closed her massive eyes.
The suffocating substance in the air was only increasing. For some reason, the wounds on her body were hurting more and more.
Meanwhile, Lin Xi bantered with the group members, trying out different conversation tactics to chat with the group chat system.
Just like last night, the group chat system ignored her, and Li Sheng hadn't sent her any more messages either.
Lin Xi didn't reply to anyone either. She stopped talking in the group because Xue Min had arrived.
Or perhaps she shouldn't be called Xue Min anymore; she should be called Ma Yufen.
She didn't come alone. She brought along the son and daughter she had with Luo Qingfeng.
Her children gave Lin Xi a curious glance before walking away.
Ma Yufen walked straight toward Lin Xi and plopped down right next to her.
She tucked a strand of windblown hair behind her ear, took another look at Lin Xi, and let her tears fall. Her acting skills were far more impressive than the female leads in the tragic soap operas Lin Xi had watched as a child.
"Xiao Xi, I've spent this time at home reflecting on my mistakes. From the time you were little until now, I've neglected you so much. In a few days, it will be my forty-third birthday. I booked a table at the Yanxi Restaurant in the city. Could you please come?" Ma Yufen's eyes, which bore a slight resemblance to Lin Xi's, were filled with deep anticipation.
Lin Xi didn't answer her. Ma Yufen glanced at her son and daughter, who were busy taking photos. A flash of genuine tenderness crossed her eyes, but when she looked back at Lin Xi, that tenderness became exceptionally fake.
"Don't worry, Xiao Xi. It will just be me, you, and your younger brother and sister. We'll eat together as a family."
Lin Xi was just about to retort when the group chat system, which had been playing dead for a long time, popped up with a message: Agree to it.
