Unusual Fate Records

Chapter 363, Section 55: Before the Battle (Part 3)

Chen Ruolan jogged up to catch up with Chen Xingtong.

"Are you sure you don't need me to come and meet you? Look how brave I am!"

She was beaming as she ran in front of Chen Xingtong, blocking her way. She even waved her loose shirt, revealing her fair and slender arms, and made a gesture of showing off her muscles.

Chen Xingtong squinted at her smug little expression and said, "No need."

She actually knew it deep down.

Two days later, I will be able to leave this world.

She originally didn't want to participate in this operation. Once the time came, that annoying smiling mask would send her away from here and back to her own world.

However, the task assigned to this seemingly foolish person appears to be more dangerous than anticipated. If she doesn't stop this loophole, all the remaining pressure will fall on Chen Ruolan.

That’s all.

Chen Xingtong narrowed her eyes and agreed.

Anyway, she was the one who least needed help among everyone present.

But there's this simpleton who keeps talking about her all the time.

This put Chen Xingtong, who was holding the secret, in a very awkward position.

Now I need to come up with a decent excuse to fob her off.

"I'll keep a close eye on you then, and give me a signal immediately if anything goes wrong."

Chen Ruolan was still giving instructions.

"Chen Ruolan, aren't you annoying?"

Chen Xingtong rolled her eyes at her: "Can't you just stay at your post and behave yourself? You're acting like a mother hen. I've told you so many times, I have my own trump cards, you don't need to worry about me."

"Not worried? Then I wouldn't be myself." The woman with burgundy hair said this with great confidence.

indeed.

Chen Xingtong lowered her eyes and did not reply to Ma Shan.

She recalled a girl named Chen Ruolan in another world, who was just as passionate, burning herself to warm others.

Her wide grin was like a little sun, always bright and always striving for progress.

So, in the end, she was burned to ashes, leaving not even a trace.

Chen Xingtong's gaze instantly turned as cold as a frozen pool.

"Mind your own business."

"But I'll be very sad if anything happens to you," Chen Ruolan said gently, unwilling to give up, and quickly followed after her.

"Chen Ruolan".

Chen Xingtong stopped and glared at her: "At a time like this, you're still worried about others. Everyone has a few trump cards up their sleeve. Why are you dawdling like this?"

"That's true." She scratched her head and smiled sheepishly.

"You'd better be more careful." Chen Xingtong stared at her, his eyes devoid of any emotion. "Think more about yourself and don't trust anyone, or you'll be the one who suffers in the end."

"Oh." Chen Ruolan seemed to understand but not quite. "Why are you suddenly saying that? You're suddenly so serious..."

"Want to know?" Chen Xingtong lowered her head, not letting Chen Ruolan see her expression, her fists clenched tightly.

"Ah."

Chen Xingtong's face was expressionless and ashen.

Fragmented memories flashed through her mind, like shards of glass, sharp cuts that pierced her heart, drawing blood with each stroke.

"Chen Ruolan, one of the college student internet celebrities known as the 'Bull and Horse Sisters,' has been suspected of having indecent photos leaked."
"The 'Cow and Horse Sisters' have been caught in a scandal, and their accounts have been banned by the platform."
"Chen Ruolan, known as 'Cow and Horse Sisters,' has been doxxed and is suspected of disappearing."
……

Chen Xingtong looked directly at her, his gaze cold, and said:

"Because the last person named Chen Ruolan has already drowned in the university lake."

Chen Ruolan's pupils widened slightly, all the prepared ramblings stuck in her throat.

A moment of deathly silence.

"call--"

The wind rises, bringing back memories of parallel worlds.

……

[University News Flash] A body found floating in the center of the university lake! Identified as a well-known internet celebrity!

[Alert!] A series of deaths have occurred at XX University; all victims are female university students!

Chen Xingtong still remembers the days when she was doxxed and cyberbullied; it was like living hell.

It wasn't just the simple-minded Chen Ruolan; she herself couldn't hold her head up high wherever she went.

She endured being stalked, harassed, and slandered in private; being accused of inflating her social status to marry a rich man; and having her side hustle earn more money than her main job.

At that time, Chen Ruolan didn't even dare to stay in the dormitory. She hid in her rented room every day, afraid to go out. She curled up in a corner, her eyes unfocused, as if she had lost her soul.

"I do not have."

This was the first thing she said to Chen Xingtong.

Tears streamed down Chen Xingtong's face as he gently embraced her.

We all believe you.

She comforted him with tears in her eyes, holding the frail person in her arms tightly.

The two embraced, weeping silently.

……

Until the school issued the withdrawal notice.

"The student in the photo has seriously violated discipline... causing a negative social impact... therefore, after consideration by the school... Chen XX is hereby expelled from the school..."

Surprisingly, the school's announcement came incredibly quickly, abruptly extinguishing the last glimmer of hope.

"Dogbrick School has gone mad! What right do they have?! What can one photo prove?! These days, who doesn't know how to Photoshop?!" Chen Xingtong roared like a madman.

“It’s true…” Chen Ruolan bit her lip.

"What did you say..." Chen Xingtong felt all her strength drain away instantly, her heart aching as if it were being torn apart.

"The photos... are real."

Chen Ruolan buried her head in her knees, her loose, wine-red hair cascading down her shoulders.

"But they just took pictures, they didn't do anything else."

That's where their brilliance lies: no real relationship occurred, not even fingerprints were left, and there was absolutely no evidence.

Chen Ruolan seemed to recall the nightmare from that day, and subconsciously shrank into the corner.

"Let's go report this to the police! A bunch of people with cerebral palsy, why are they so fixated on the victim while no one is paying attention to the perpetrators! And the school for people with cerebral palsy is the same, they don't even bother to investigate!"

Chen Xingtong was unwilling to give up and pulled her along.

"It's no use." Chen Ruolan's eyes were lifeless.

"Why!"

"I can't say...that they...will implicate you..."

Chen Ruolan huddled up in a ball, trembling.

"Are you an idiot?!" Chen Xingtong cried out in anguish.

"Chen Ruolan! Then tell me, who did it!" Chen Xingtong's eyes were bloodshot, and she was trembling with anger.

"Who the hell did this bastard do?! What did he do to you?!"

Her heart was bleeding.

"This damn school is better off gone. If you want to quit, I'll quit with you."

“You still have me, Fu Qinziyue, and Yan Wuxun. They’ve been running around everywhere lately, helping you investigate clues and collect evidence.”

Chen Xingtong's tears kept falling.

"It will be alright, everything will be alright."

She cried as she hugged the doll-like girl next to her.

"The bad guys will be brought to justice, and justice will give you fairness. You must pull yourself together..."

“Let’s find a place where nobody knows you. With our skills, we can definitely make a good living.”

Chen Xingtong choked up as she spoke.

During that darkest period, Chen Xingtong became the sunshine that shone into Chen Ruolan's heart.

With her last ounce of courage, Chen Ruolan struggled to raise her hand and catch it.

……

until--

One day, Chen Xingtong was packing Chen Ruolan's luggage when she found the suitcase half-open and the clothes in disarray.

Chen Ruolan herself was not inside the house.

"Chen Ruolan!"

Chen Xingtong quickly contacted the other three people. Because they needed to conduct the investigation discreetly, they did not appear in Chen Ruolan's room. Unexpectedly, when Chen Xingtong left, the criminal took advantage of the situation.

"Chen Ruolan!!"

Chen Xingtong cried out in pain.

Subsequently, while the surveillance footage was being investigated, devastating news also emerged.

……

reality.

Chen Xingtong closed her eyes, clenched her fists, her face contorted in a grimace, but she couldn't utter a word.

"What you're seeing is Chen Ruolan's corpse, isn't it?"

Chen Ruolan felt heavy-hearted.

He softly called out to the person of the same name from another world, as if he himself had been caught in that terrible storm of public opinion, overwhelmed by malice, slander, defamation and ridicule, and finally met with villains and died in suffocating despair.

"The autopsy showed that she was still a virgin at the time, and the public opinion was completely refuted. But... those perpetrators! Those masterminds behind the scenes! They all acted as if nothing had happened! They are still at large!"

Chen Xingtong was so angry that veins bulged on his face.

"I haven't gotten justice for her yet, I haven't brought the murderer to justice yet. Don't worry, I won't give up so easily."

She said coldly.

Actually, she didn't dare to look at Chen Ruolan, and silently recited a sentence in her heart.

I have not yet atoneed for my sins.

The murderer was probably the one who followed her and found Chen Ruolan's rented apartment.

"Um……"

Chen Ruolan was also filled with mixed feelings at this moment.

"So, the best thing you can do is not talk to me and not cause me any trouble."

Chen Xingtong coldly brushed Chen Ruolan's hand away and walked away into the distance.

Chen Ruolan was left standing there, her eyebrows drooping and her expression somber.

The picture freezes.

As the sun sets, their shadows stretch to the left and right, their expressions hidden in the backlight.

Lopsided.

(End of this chapter)