Chapter 627: 629, (second update)

Linglong dice: "By the way, the book signing is arranged for three days from now, on May 20th, and it will be on the first floor of the Everlasting Peace Building. Oh, what’s your usual contact number? I’ll be there to meet you."

Brocade Rivers and Mountains: "Okay, my mobile number is: 188**8888."

The editor on the other side of the screen saw this string of digits and involuntarily gasped! A mobile number has only 12 digits in total, and this person’s number is almost all 8s and 9s—a truly diamond-tier writer! Rich and capricious!

It took a good while for the editor to come to their senses.

Linglong dice: "136**5129, this is my number, you save it too."

Brocade Rivers and Mountains: "Okay, see you in three days."

With the date of the signing confirmed, Chu Jin breathed a sigh of relief. Since the news had been leaked, might as well go public with it.

She had just finished chatting with the editor when Mo Zhixuan came out of the bathroom.

He wasn’t wearing pajamas, just a white towel wrapped around his waist, revealing beautifully shaped obliques and eight-pack abs, as well as two long, strong legs. His hair was freshly washed, still wet, dripping water down his neck.

Master Mo didn’t just have a handsome face—he also had a damn good body. He appeared to be delicate and thin normally, but in reality, his physique was explosive enough to compete with professional models!

After drying his hair, Mr. Mo finally picked up his phone and started browsing Weibo.

With that scroll, Mr. Mo’s whole face sunk, dark and gloomy as if a building was about to collapse.

Chu Jin, who was nearly asleep, felt his sudden chill and opened her eyes. She understood what was happening as soon as she saw Mr. Mo’s phone.

"Don’t worry about this; I can handle it," Chu Jin said gently, holding his hand.

"How are you going to handle it?" Mo Zhixuan asked.

"By going public, of course," Chu Jin said at a measured pace, "We are together in the open, what’s there to fear?"

Upon hearing the word "public," Mr. Mo’s facial expression immediately softened.

Going public was good.

He liked that.

He wanted the whole world to know that he had an outstanding wife!

"Okay," Mo Zhixuan nodded slowly.

Two days later.

The homewrecker incident on Weibo was intensifying, but Chu Jin wasn’t in a rush to explain herself; she even reposted a Weibo about the upcoming book signing from a literature website: "May 20th, let’s not miss each other."

Her calm demeanor provoked jeers from a swarm of netizens.

[The Return of the Past really has a good attitude. At times like these, she still cares about the book signing. Be careful the book signing doesn’t turn into an egg-throwing event!]

[Does every mistress have skin this thick?]

[Our Sister Past is not a mistress! Please stop spouting nonsense here.]

And there was a group from the National Goddess Fan Club who came in droves to curse at Chu Jin.

Ever since the incident arose, the National Goddess’ fans had temporarily formed a support club.

[May all mistresses die out!]

[White Lotus!]

[Dammit! Are mistresses these days so brazen and self-righteous?]

[She became a mistress by skill, what rights do you have to curse her?]

The King Orders Me to Patrol the Mountains V: "I’ve never seen such a shameless person, still daring to promote the book signing here! Watch out for those brain-dead fans of the National Goddess spraying you to death! Are you brainless?! I really doubt that "Blooms like Brocade" was actually written by you yourself! The Return of the Past V."]

This person called The King Orders Me to Patrol the Mountains was clearly a troll, the kind that incites trouble on both sides.

Chu Jin slightly curved her lips, nonchalantly reposted the Weibo, and added a comment: "Trolls, why be afraid? If anyone should be scared, it’s you. Maybe... I’m really Chu Jin?"

With that statement, Weibo completely exploded!

The Return of the Past claims to be Chu Jin?

After all, no one had ever seen The Return of the Past in person.

Now there was a new spectacle to witness.

Moreover, the book signing for The Return of the Past’s new book was tomorrow. That statement undoubtedly created another hot topic for the signing event.

However, The Return of the Past had used an interrogative sentence. If she were really The Return of the Past, she should have been assertive rather than questioning. So, whether or not she really was The Return of the Past would be seen at tomorrow’s book signing.

[The Return of the Past, how can you be so shameless! You actually want to ride on the popularity of our Goddess!]

[If it’s really about riding on popularity, that would indeed be quite shameless.]

[Disperse everyone, just disperse. Those who want to know the answer, just go to the book signing tomorrow and you’ll find out! Remember to prepare rotten cabbage and stink eggs!]

[Mommy, I have a premonition that The Return of the Past can’t really be the National Goddess, can she?]

Chu Jin stopped looking at the follow-up Weibo posts and went to the bathroom to take a shower after shutting off her phone.

She was currently living in a dormitory.

The other three in the dorm, seeing her act as if nothing was wrong, thought she was pretending to be strong, feigning calm, given how excellent Chu Jin usually was.

It was the age of information transparency, so the three others in the dorm knew about the stuff on Weibo.

"Little Wu, what do you think we should do to comfort Jin-ge a bit?"

"Yeah, Little Wu, you always had the best relationship with Jin-ge."

**

In another corner of the city.

Maximum Security Prison.

Zhao Yiling, wearing a red vest, was sitting on an iron bed with several fellow maximum security inmates surrounding her, nodding and bowing, patting her shoulders, and massaging her back—a clear display of a prison boss’s stature.

Three days left until her execution.

But there was no sign of despair or panic on her face before death; she even wore a smug smile, enjoying everyone’s service as if it were a matter of course.

She knew she wouldn’t die easily.

If Heaven had granted her a rebirth, it wouldn’t let her die off easily.

The time was right.

With a "pop", the light bulb exploded, and the originally white prison cell was plunged into darkness.

Darkness represents fear.

Especially for these inmates who had done guilty deeds, they were now screaming in panic.

"Ah!"

"Who bit me!"

"Who’s stepping on my foot!"

"What’s going on! What’s all the yelling about?" With the warden’s voice, the lights that had originally gone out suddenly came back on.

A few inmates looked at each other, and then shouted toward the person outside the door, "Report to the warden, we just had a power outage here!"

Seeing that there was no big deal inside, the warden sternly said, "No shouting allowed!"

"Yes!" the inmates responded in unison.

It was only a short while after the warden had walked away that the inmates noticed something was wrong. Their leader, Zhao Yiling, was gone!

She had been with them just a moment ago, and now she had vanished in the blink of an eye!

The prison spanned only ten square meters, with no place to hide in plain sight.

Importantly, the door to the cell had always been locked, with no one coming to open it!

This was the second floor; there was no possibility of tunneling out.

"Where’s the boss?"

"Have you seen the boss?"

"No!"

"Boss!"

The inmates became a frantic mess.

"Someone! Is the guard there? Somebody, come quickly!" The inmates banged on the heavy iron door with a "clank clank" sound.

"What is it? What are you blabbering about in the middle of the night?" The guard came over with a stern face.

The second-in-command inside the cell said, "Report to the guard, our boss is missing!"

"What boss?" the guard frowned slightly.

"Zhao Yiling, who lives with us in the same prison, Zhao Yiling is missing. She was just with us a moment ago, but then she disappeared in the blink of an eye..." The second-in-command was somewhat incoherent, panicking due to the sudden blackout and the sudden disappearance of Zhao Yiling.

The guard continued, "What Zhao Yiling? Where is this Zhao Yiling from? How many people are inside now?"

Upon hearing this, everyone’s heart skipped a beat, as if the guard had never seen Zhao Yiling before.

The second-in-command swallowed hard and then said, "Report, sir, there are currently 15 people."

"Isn’t that correct then! You have always been 15 people! Stop your senseless shouting and go to sleep!" The guard seemed to have truly forgotten about Zhao Yiling!

After saying that, she turned off the lights in the prison.

The prison was once again plunged into darkness.

In the darkness, everyone looked at each other in fear, not daring to make noise. Before this incident, there had always been 16 people living in their prison! And now, including the beds, there were only 15 left!

It was as though Zhao Yiling’s presence had been nothing but a dream.

Elsewhere.

When Zhao Yiling opened her eyes again, she found herself in a dense forest.

Silver moonlight spilled through the leaves, and it was clear to see that right in front of Zhao Yiling stood a woman dressed in blue, her face veiled, revealing only her eyes and obscuring her true features.

"Why did you save me?" Zhao Yiling surveyed her surroundings before her gaze settled on the woman in blue, and she spoke slowly.

"I saved you, and shouldn’t you thank me first?" the woman in blue retorted, her eyes harboring a shadowy intent.

"Thank?" Zhao Yiling’s lips curled up slightly, "There’s no such thing as a free lunch from the sky. You definitely have an ulterior motive for saving me, and since you have one, we’re engaged in a trade of equals. Why should I thank you?"

Having been resurrected, Zhao Yiling was no longer the same person as before, and with the ordeal of prison, she had matured much more than before.

The sense of superiority that once characterized her face was no longer visible.

Hearing this, the woman in blue looked up at Zhao Yiling, her tone unhurried, "The number one beauty of the Superpower World is truly intelligent beyond measure, as her reputation suggests..."

Zhao Yiling frowned slightly, staring intently at the woman in blue, "Who on earth are you?" She wasn’t really Zhao Yiling. She was Zheng Chuyi, reborn from the dead.

Yet, only she knew of her own resurrection, having told no one else. So how did this woman in blue come to know? How did she discern the truth?

"Who am I?" The woman in blue let out a light laugh, "I am someone who can help you."

Zhao Yiling narrowed her eyes, full of scrutiny, and didn’t take the bait, "I’ve been deceived once already; I can’t be deceived a second time!"

This time, she wanted to rely on her own strength for revenge, not on the help of anyone else.

"Rest assured," the woman in blue seemed to see through her thoughts and continued, "I truly can help you because we have a common enemy, Jun Huang!"

"A thousand years ago, Jun Huang stole your Mo Zhixuan, and after a thousand years, Jun Huang has taken him again. Don’t you hate her? If it weren’t for her, you would have reconciled with Mo Zhixuan long ago! Your transformation into what you are today is all thanks to Jun Huang!"

"There’s no need for you to point that out! I have my own brain! I will avenge my own grievances!" Zhao Yiling interrupted the woman in blue coldly.

At her words, the woman in blue scoffed, "Avenge yourself? If you could do that, you wouldn’t have met such a horrific end on the night of the extreme yin!"

That statement struck Zhao Yiling like a sword to the heart! She would never forget that humiliating night!

"Who exactly are you?" Zhao Yiling’s hands turned into claws, and she lunged at the woman in blue fiercely! This time, she definitely couldn’t let anyone threaten her!

The woman in blue smiled slightly, a hint of disdain flashing in her eyes, before she casually raised her right hand, grabbed Zhao Yiling’s wrist with a light tug, causing her to lose control and fall to the ground, clutching her chest and spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Clearly, Zhao Yiling had overestimated her own abilities.

"I advise you to be a little more docile," the woman in blue looked down at her, then spoke, "After all, if I have the means to resurrect you, I equally have the means to make you disappear!"

Her cold voice echoed, the blue pearl light reflecting off her veil, casting a strange glow.

Zhao Yiling knew that the woman in blue wasn’t exaggerating; she truly had that ability. And more crucially, Zhao Yiling had caught an important message from her words: her resurrection had all been orchestrated by the woman in blue.

This meant that the woman in blue had granted her the chance to be reborn.

Zhao Yiling was not someone devoid of perception. Immediately, she rose from the ground and prostrated herself before the woman in blue, "Thank you for the grace of saving my life." Now, Zhao Yiling completely let down her guard towards the woman in blue.

Similarly, she knew that this woman in blue could indeed be of help to her!

As the woman in blue had said, by herself she was no match for Jun Huang. Otherwise, she would not have died such a dire death on the night of the extreme yin!

"Get up," said the woman in blue with an indifferent glance, "Just remember to not be so foolish this time!"

Zhao Yiling stood up from the ground, "I won’t be! This time, I will make Jun Huang pay her debt in blood!"

The woman in blue smiled with satisfaction and pulled a secret manual from her bosom, tossing it to Zhao Yiling, "With your current level of expertise, you’re no match for Jun Huang. Moreover, you’re still in a mortal’s body. This manual I’m giving you is specifically designed to counter the Empress’ spirit within her. Train well, and when you’ve mastered it, that will be the day of your vengeance!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yiling’s face lit up with exhilaration, and she quickly bowed, "Thank you for your kindness. May I ask for your esteemed name?"

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read