My sister, whom I raised, has turned evil after faking her death for three years.

The system paused for a moment, then responded in an extremely calm tone, as if nothing had happened: [Don't worry about the details. Judging from the result, the host did successfully leave the coffin, and someone was present to witness this historic moment. Although the process deviated slightly, the outcome was as expected.]

"As expected? Two living people lying on the ground is as expected?" Su Qing thought to herself incredulously.

[At least they released you.] The system's tone remained businesslike. [Functionally speaking, they completed their rendezvous mission.]

Su Qing's lips twitched, and she decided to stop arguing with the code.

She looked around; the moonlight was mostly obscured by dark clouds, and the cemetery was gloomy, with only the outline of the cobblestone path beneath her feet barely visible.

Because it was too dark, she didn't notice the paintings carved on the coffin lid, nor did she see the words on the tombstone. Instead, she first moved her fingers and then rotated her wrists before looking down at her perfectly intact hands.

She remembered the feeling of the knife piercing her chest, and how her blood wouldn't stop flowing in the torrential rain. But now, standing here, she was completely unharmed, even the scar on her right palm from the knife had disappeared completely.

[Host, your physical condition has reverted to that of an eighteen-year-old. However, the other attributes you acquired before and after eighteen remain unchanged, including temperament, strength, endurance, and the muscle memory you have developed—although you now look exactly the same as when you were first modified seven years ago.] The system's tone returned to its usual businesslike manner.

Su Qing held her hand up to her eyes and looked at it over and over. Then she looked down at her own outfit and tugged at the dark red bloodstain on her skirt. "What's with this blood? It's been three years and it's still so fresh?" She lowered her head and smelled the bloodstain. There was even a faint smell of blood.

[Your clothes have been changed. To fit the current scene, the system has given you this death-fading commemorative outfit. These bloodstains have been treated with a special process; they will never fade or disappear. Consider them a souvenir—not real blood.]

"..." Su Qing paused for a moment, "You're quite considerate."

[Thank you, this has always been the case.] The system calmly accepted this compliment, which was clearly not a compliment at all.

Su Qing was too lazy to argue with it anymore; her thoughts had already drifted back to the highway where the rain was pouring down.

Every frame of the car accident is still vividly etched in my mind: Cui Jiayi's festering and distorted face, the all-out effort she put into shielding Jiang Ran with her body, and the many words she spoke while holding Xiao Ran's hand in the rain.

The images were so vivid, as if they had just happened, so vivid that she subconsciously raised her hand and pressed her chest... The pain was gone, but the suffocating feeling still lingered deep in her heart.

"Is Xiao Ran alright?" Her voice suddenly softened, not as a question, but more like she was talking to herself.

The system did not respond immediately.

After a moment, its voice rang out again, still in its steady tone, but the wording was noticeably more deliberate than usual: [Although this violates the system's operating rules, given that the host has completed all the terms of the contract, I can make an exception and answer—Jiang Ran's current physical condition is rated A; she is safe and in good health.]

Su Qing didn't reply after hearing this. She just looked down at her clean palms, then slowly clenched her fists and pressed them against her chest, letting out a long breath.

The system whispered in her mind again: [After the fate line was broken, the host can no longer contact the target person. This is the underlying rule of the contract and cannot be bypassed. However, the host can rest assured that Jiang Ran's fate line has been repaired, and she will have a complete and happy life.]

Xiao Ran has her biological parents, her older brother, Jiang Yi, her childhood friend, and the Cheng family in the Jiang family—it's definitely much better than being with her older sister who barely makes ends meet with system subsidies and a dessert shop salary...

Su Qing nodded and looked away.

She didn't ask any more questions about Xiao Ran, nor did she hesitate any longer. Barefoot, she walked along the stone path towards the main gate of the cemetery.

The gate was a heavy wrought iron gate with an electronic combination lock, but the system had already silently unlocked all the locks for Su Qing when she walked to the gate.

The iron gate slowly opened in front of her, revealing the asphalt road winding down the mountain.

  

In another corner of the cemetery, the two unconscious thieves could never have imagined that the surveillance cables they had painstakingly sabotaged were not from outside the cemetery, but from inside.

Those densely packed wires buried under the flowers, deep in the tree canopy, and at the edge of the lawn are not connected to the external security system, but to miniature cameras hidden in every corner of the cemetery.

As for those cameras, some were installed three years ago, some were updated two years ago, and some were the latest models that were replaced just a week ago. Each replacement was carried out by the same person.

Warm yellow lights shone from the guard post outside the main gate of the cemetery.

Two security guards in their thirties had just finished a patrol and were resting in chairs.

One of the security guards, surnamed Li, with a round face, was holding up his phone and leaning close to another guard. The screen was playing a high-energy clip from a horror movie. A disheveled female ghost, dressed in a white dress and covered in blood, was seen clinging to a window, her fingernails scraping against the glass, making a sharp, piercing sound.

"Old Wang, look at this! Holy crap, it's terrifying! The sound effects are amazing!" Old Li moved his phone forward again, while he huddled behind the chair, revealing half his face, one eye squinting and the other wide open.

Old Wang glanced at the screen, expressionless, looking at his colleague who was both scared and engrossed in watching. He picked up his teacup and slowly took a sip: "You're so scared and you're still watching? Did you come to work or to look for thrills?"

"Oh, you don't understand. You only watch it if you're scared. What's the point if you're not scared? What kind of horror movie is it if it's not scary?" Old Li said emphatically, putting his phone on the stand and stuffing a cushion behind him, making full preparations for defense.

Old Wang shook his head helplessly, but his gaze was also drawn to the white shadow slowly crawling out of the television screen.

Just then, the sky outside darkened again, dark clouds obscured the moon, and the world outside the guard post was plunged into thick darkness.

The light in the guard post became the only source of light on this hillside, casting the shadows of two people huddled together in front of their phones on the glass window.

"Knock knock knock".

Suddenly, there were several knocking sounds on the glass.

At this moment, the female ghost in the movie is leaning out of the window, tapping the glass with her pale fingers, the rhythm almost exactly the same as the previous taps.

Old Li didn't even look up, assuming it was just the sound from the phone's speaker. He even marveled at how realistic the sound effects were, saying he could even hear the direction of the tapping on the glass.

Su Qing stood outside the guard post, looking at the two security guards inside who were huddled together looking at their phones, completely unaware of her presence. She then looked at the desolate wilderness, far from any village or town, and sighed inwardly.

She raised her hand and tapped the glass three more times, this time with a bit more force.