At midnight, both Sang Chenhao and Li Yu were still awake.
Their systems heard a special notification sound and immediately opened the group to check. They saw that Best Fortune had gone offline and quickly reported the news to their hosts, urgently starting to investigate the people around Fu Xiuning.
99, being an insider, skipped this step but was instead wallowing in sadness.
“It didn’t even leave me a single word before disappearing after showing me how it escaped!” it sobbed. “So cold-blooded and heartless—totally its style!”
It turned to Xing Shi. “Did it mention me at all?”
Xing Shi said, “No.”
99 immediately broke into tears again. “It has no heart!”
Green Bean Soup tried to comfort it: “Dear, don’t be sad. Maybe you’ll meet again someday.”
99 said, “Then I’ll have to unbind and return too. What if it gets lost?”
Green Bean Soup said, “You’re so powerful, senior—it won’t happen.”
99 asked, “Really?”
Green Bean Soup replied gently, “I truly believe that. And even if it didn’t leave a message, it definitely remembers you. Two people who care about each other—even if they don’t meet—their hearts are still connected, dear.”
99 nodded at first, then reflected on the actual situation and burst into tears again: “It only cares about revenge! It doesn’t care about us at all!”
Green Bean Soup said soothingly, “Senior’s just bad at expressing feelings.”
That made 99 feel slightly better, though it still asked, “Are you being serious this time?”
Green Bean Soup said, “Dear, I’m always serious.”
99 looked at it and found its tone really sincere.
Green Bean Soup said, “There’s a message in the group chat. Don’t you want to reply? When I saw the notification, I almost couldn’t help replying… sigh, but now I can’t.”
99 also heard the messages coming in from the group.
But it usually responded late, so there was no need to rush.
It opened the group and saw that two systems were already chatting.
You Are All My Concubines: [It’s the one on the hot search, right?]
Gong Xi Fa Cai: [Yeah, looks like the closest match. Couldn’t find anyone else.]
You Are All My Concubines: [The old scandals are the most damning. Did the host implicate you in this?]
Gong Xi Fa Cai: [Mm, such a pity. I thought they would last longer.]
You Are All My Concubines: [You’re overthinking it. I’ll be the one left standing in the end. Intelligence alone isn’t enough, you also need a host who cooperates. Best-case scenario is binding a foolish one.]
Gong Xi Fa Cai: [True, picking the right host also takes luck. By the way, we’re always the ones chatting. @Long Live Face Control @Green Bean Soup, where are you two?]
99 read the messages to Xing Shi, and upon understanding the gist, Xing Shi burst into laughter.
Long Live Face Control: [Still feeling down. When I heard the notification, I thought it was a new person joining, but turns out someone was leaving. Why couldn’t it be me? I really don’t want to do this anymore 😭]
You Are All My Concubines: [pats head]
Gong Xi Fa Cai: [Don’t think that way. Things might turn around. Maybe your host will figure it out in a few days.]
Long Live Face Control: [I hope so.]
Gong Xi Fa Cai: [@Green Bean Soup, where are you?]
99 waited a few seconds and sent the message.
Long Live Face Control: [If I remember right, you’re also at -8, huh? I know that pain—it’s internal damage.]
Gong Xi Fa Cai: [Sigh, the both of you…]
Long Live Face Control: [Anyway, my host is starting again. I’m out. Chat later.]
The remaining two systems didn’t have much more to talk about.
In the end, You Are All My Concubines sent a candle emoji in remembrance, while Gong Xi Fa Cai sent one wishing for good luck. Then the chat fell silent.
You Are All My Concubines closed the chat group and muttered, “Weird.”
Li Yu, who had been enjoying the sea breeze on a balcony lounger at a beach resort, had her eyes closed as she asked, “What’s weird?”
The system You Are All My Concubines used to imitate her speech style in the group chats—it sounded dominant and composed. But in reality, she was more of the sweet-girl type.
It replied, “There are too many natives.”
Li Yu asked, “Hm?”
You Are All My Concubines explained, “Best Fortune’s host didn’t die. He’s a native. So out of the six systems in the group previously, besides Gong Xi Fa Cai whose host status is unknown, the remaining five—me, Zou Hua Lu, Old Heaven Nightly Flip, Come Back, and Best Fortune—our hosts were all locals. That already exceeds the max ratio of 1:1 between time-travelers and natives.”
Li Yu’s fingers twitched slightly, and she opened her eyes. “Maybe the main system changed strategies because Fu Xiuning is too difficult to handle.”
You Are All My Concubines considered that and agreed, “Makes sense. It has failed for over five years now.”
Li Yu got up and headed toward the bathroom. “Let’s enjoy two more days, then go back.”
You Are All My Concubines asked, “Huh? I thought you were burnt out these past six months and wanted to enjoy yourself longer?”
Li Yu said, “We’ve played enough. It’s time to get back to work. Don’t forget—we still have to conquer Fu Xiuning.”
You Are All My Concubines: “Alright~ Go, sister! We’ll stick to the usual pace.”
Li Yu acknowledged this and asked how the last host failed.
You Are All My Concubines explained the information they had dug up.
Li Yu commented, “Being too aggressive doesn’t pay off. That’s something I’ve seen proven again and again.”
You Are All My Concubines agreed, “Exactly. We’ve been playing it safe. Just look at those native hosts—one’s in a coma, one’s in prison, and two have completely collapsed. There’s no hope of saving them. All because they were greedy and too impatient.”
Li Yu praised, “You’re becoming more insightful.”
You Are All My Concubines said proudly, “All thanks to you, sis~”
Then it asked, “This whole mess started because of Xing Shi. What do we do about him?”
Li Yu said, “I’ve only met him once. I’ll decide after I observe him more when we return.”
You Are All My Concubines: “Okay~”
Elsewhere, Gong Xi Fa Cai and Sang Chenhao were also discussing the situation.
Sang Chenhao had been getting ready for bed, but upon hearing about the situation, he poured himself a glass of wine and sat on the small sofa in his bedroom.
“Still nothing?” he asked.
Gong Xi Fa Cai maintained its usual upbeat tone, just like in the group chat. “Nothing too crazy.”
Sang Chenhao took a sip of wine. “They’ve all gone offline. Why are you so interested?”
Gong Xi Fa Cai replied, “Hard to explain. It just feels… off.”
Sang Chenhao asked, “What do the others say?”
Gong Xi Fa Cai said, “Other than me, there are only three systems left in the group. One thinks there’s no problem. The other two were both hit with -8. One’s still depressed, and the other is new—hasn’t even shown up.”
Sang Chenhao smiled and said, “So now, apart from you, the others in the group are basically unreliable?”
Gong Xi Fa Cai also laughed. “Not necessarily. What if they’re just pretending? Like me—they don’t see me as a threat.”
Sang Chenhao slowly took another sip of wine and gave a soft “hmm.”
Gong Xi Fa Cai thought about the matter again while speaking but still couldn’t make sense of it. So he put it aside for now and changed the subject: “From the beginning of the year until now, the four people who were eliminated were all natives. That percentage is a little high.”
Sang Chenhao asked, “What do you think it means?”
Gong Xi Fa Cai replied, “I don’t know either. Hosts are assigned by the main system—we’re only responsible for binding them.”
Sang Chenhao nodded, not asking further.
Gong Xi Fa Cai sensed he was getting sleepy and got down to business: “The main reason Fu Xiuning got angry this time is that the other guy tried to use Xing Shi. He really does care about Xing Shi.”
Sang Chenhao wasn’t surprised. “Otherwise, they wouldn’t still be living together.”
Gong Xi Fa Cai asked, “So what do we do?”
Sang Chenhao said, “Let’s see if I can find an opportunity to spend more time with Xing Shi.”
He set his cup down, stood up, and said, “Sleep.”
Gong Xi Fa Cai obediently said goodnight. Before logging off, it glanced at the group chat one last time and saw that the two systems still hadn’t shown up to light candles for Best Fortune. It guessed that today’s business was truly over.
99, following Xing Shi’s instructions, compiled a situation report and sent it to the main system.
It looked at the two lonely candles in the group and felt sad again.
When other systems left, there were usually several candles lit in farewell. But Best Fortune only got two. Even though it knew Best Fortune didn’t care, it still felt uncomfortable.
But it also understood that Xing Shi had told it to do this to help cover for Green Bean Soup. After all, judging from past behavior, lighting candles when a system goes offline had practically become a ritual. If it used the excuse of “difficult host” to go quiet ahead of time, then Green Bean Soup—who was in a similar situation—wouldn’t stand out as much.
That was a good thing.
99 closed the chat group and turned to Green Bean Soup, offering comfort: “Don’t worry, as long as I’m here, they won’t suspect you.”
Green Bean Soup: “…”
99 looked at the only other system left and asked, “You’re not going to leave me one day too, are you?”
Green Bean Soup replied sensibly, “I’ll do whatever you say.”
99 sighed, ending the sad conversation. Seeing Xing Shi still playing on his phone, it asked, “Aren’t you going to sleep yet?”
Xing Shi said, “Soon.”
He lay in bed and scrolled a bit longer before putting down his phone, turning off the light, and going to sleep.
It wasn’t until he sat down at the dining table the next morning that he got the result he’d been expecting.
Their plan to target that little celebrity had a dual purpose.
In addition to finding a host for Best Fortune, they also needed to highlight Xing Shi’s unique role.
The report 99 submitted to the main system last night said someone had tried to use him to get close to Fu Xiuning—and was thoroughly crushed by Fu Xiuning in retaliation.
This information, combined with the carefully edited logs Best Fortune carried, was enough for the main system to judge that Xing Shi wasn’t a vulnerability—it was that his presence posed a threat to the hosts. Even without Green Bean Soup’s report, the conclusion would be the same.
So that morning, several systems suddenly received a rapid notification sound. When they opened the group chat, they saw a red announcement.
Just as Best Fortune had predicted, the announcement said that Fu Xiuning’s fate line had shifted. Originally, according to the standard timeline, Xing Shi shouldn’t have been living with him. They should have been nothing more than superior and subordinate. But due to an accident, they ended up living together. Fu Xiuning now cared about him deeply and would fall further into darkness because of him—so they must be separated immediately.
The systems were a little stunned. This was the first announcement the main system had issued since the strategy mission began.
99 read the message to Xing Shi and remarked, “Tsk, you’ve been living here for half a year and they’re only now saying your fate line shifted? That’s a bit much, isn’t it?”
Xing Shi replied, “No one’s going to question it.”
The main system says the same thing to every host upon binding. But based on the hosts he’s come into contact with—Lin Kecheng, Yu Shu, Yan Feng, Yu Yi, and Chai Xiaoyu—aside from the naive Chai Xiaoyu, did any of the others really want to save Fu Xiuning?
No. All of them were in it for selfish reasons.
So the rhetoric didn’t matter. What mattered was making the hosts understand: Xing Shi was now standing in their way.
He swallowed what was in his mouth and looked across the table.
Fu Xiuning was just about to drink his milk. Sensing his gaze, he looked over.
Xing Shi said calmly, “They’re coming.”
Fu Xiuning’s grip on the cup tightened slightly, his gaze darkening, and he gave a low “mm.”
