Chapter 67: Chapter 67: The System Upgraded into a Chatterbox?

Zhao Yu stood at the clinic’s entrance, looking nervously at Wen Ying. He only walked in after she nodded.

"Doctor Wen, about Miao Miao... I’ve been following the case with the authorities for the past two days. They found her remains and are in the process of confirming her identity. I heard they’ve already contacted her parents."

Wen Ying nodded and looked at him. "Are you afraid?"

Zhao Yu shook his head, his expression resolute. He wasn’t afraid anymore. Not one bit.

After learning what Miao Miao had been through, what he felt was more than just pity. Perhaps that’s how a stranger would feel. When people see a news story about a tragedy befalling a stranger, their reaction is usually fleeting. ’What a shame, such bad luck. They should just catch the bad guys and execute them! How pitiful!’

But to Zhao Yu, Miao Miao was clearly no longer a stranger.

She once was, but not anymore.

He had witnessed the scene of her death, had seen her ghost appear beside him. Once your paths cross with someone, they are no longer just an unrelated stranger in your life.

Miao Miao was his friend, maybe even like a sister to him.

He had been in agony for the past few days, but now, things were finally settling. "I’m not afraid of anything anymore. Those people have been captured! This will definitely be on the news in a few days, which should bring some justice for Miao Miao. After being away from home all these years, she can finally return to her parents."

As he spoke, Zhao Yu’s mood clearly sank again.

Yes, she would return to her parents, but only as a pile of bones, not as their living, breathing daughter.

Seeing Zhao Yu’s expression, Wen Ying was reminded of something from her past life. She had met a girl online, and they became good friends, often chatting and playing games together. But then one day, the girl suddenly disappeared. Someone else appeared in her place and told Wen Ying that the girl had passed away. She had drowned trying to save her younger brother.

Wen Ying remembered crying uncontrollably back then. She hadn’t even been twenty years old yet—that tender age when friendships mean the world, when you’d give up anything for a bond you cherish. At the time, it seemed no one could understand why she was so heartbroken over an online stranger, just as no one could understand Zhao Yu now.

Wen Ying wanted to say she understood, but in the end, she held her tongue. It wasn’t necessary.

"Two days?" Wen Ying suddenly recalled what Zhao Yu had just said.

"Yeah, the two days I didn’t come to the clinic," Zhao Yu repeated, clearly unaware of the impact his words had on Wen Ying.

’Have two days passed?’

Wen Ying glanced at the calendar. It was true. ’I just closed my eyes for what felt like a moment, and I spent two whole days on that mountain?’

’No wonder Uncle Zhang was so worried.’

’No wonder my Spiritual Energy has recovered so much. No wonder my cultivation has advanced quite a bit.’

"Doctor Wen, I wanted to ask... why was I able to see Miao Miao?"

Zhao Yu had thought about it for a long time after he left. ’That shoe was always there. Is it possible that no one else saw it?’

’After all that time, wouldn’t a sanitation worker have thrown it away?’

The more he thought about it, the stranger it all seemed.

Hearing Zhao Yu’s question, Wen Ying fell silent for a moment. "Do you really want to know?"

Zhao Yu nodded.

"And what if knowing affects your life?"

Zhao Yu fell silent.

"What if this even affects your family?"

Zhao Yu remained silent. He’d never imagined this could have something to do with his family. His family was just his parents and his grandfather.

They weren’t close to any other relatives.

’If his momentary curiosity ended up affecting his family, would it be worth it?’

Wen Ying didn’t press Zhao Yu for an answer. She looked down at the paper money she had drawn, tracing its surface with her finger.

A few minutes later, she wrapped up the paper money, intending to give it to Uncle Zhang, then took out ten sheets of Yellow Paper from a drawer.

It was the prize for the giveaway winner; she still hadn’t gotten around to mailing it.

She placed the items in a small waterproof bag, wrote the address on a slip of paper, and took it to be mailed. The third shop down was a package drop-off station. After sending it, Wen Ying returned to the clinic.

Zhao Yu was still sitting in the chair, lost in thought and clearly conflicted.

[System upgrade complete. Congratulations, Host, you have acquired the Skill: {Flying and Earth Drilling}.]

Wen Ying froze. ’Flying and Earth Drilling?’

’Is it the kind of Flying and Earth Drilling I’m thinking of?’

’I’ve only just started my cultivation, and I’m already ascending to the heavens in a single step?’

[Flying and Earth Drilling: That’s right, it’s exactly the kind of Flying and Earth Drilling you’re thinking of! Rejoice! Tremble in awe!]

[But you think you can actually perform Flying and Earth Drilling? Dream on, kiddo~]

[This Skill is the Host’s ultimate assistant for mailing packages~ No shipping fees, and it arrives in one hour flat! What a bargain, right? Don’t you think this system is just the best~]

[Oh, and I almost forgot, this Skill can be used three times per week~ Good luck, my Host!]

Wen Ying: "..."

’This damn system was obviously reading my mind. How else could it have been so spot-on?’

’And it kept mocking me, over and over!’

’And I just spent fifteen yuan mailing that package!’

’Is it too late to go back and get my money back?’

’Forget it. I’m not as shameless as the system!’

[Wow! The Host has so much reputation value! It seems that while this system was upgrading, the Host didn’t slack off at all! That’s a great habit to have! So, does the Host want to try the lottery?]

’I can’t tell what else changed with this system upgrade,’ Wen Ying thought, ’but it definitely upgraded into a chatterbox!’

’The lottery? Dream on!’

’At the very least, I can’t let the system walk all over me right now.’

Wen Ying looked at her reputation value and, despite herself, felt a small thrill of excitement.

’Eight hundred thousand!’

’That’s not eighty. It’s eight hundred thousand!’

’And this was what was left *after* the system used over three hundred thousand for the upgrade!’

"Doctor Wen, I’ve made up my mind." Zhao Yu’s voice cut through Wen Ying’s excited thoughts.

Seeing Zhao Yu’s determined expression, Wen Ying remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

"If this matter could affect my family, then that’s all the more reason I need to know! I want to know what connection Miao Miao has to my family!"

Zhao Yu had clearly thought it through, but he couldn’t find an answer.

"Your father isn’t an only child. He had a younger sister."

Zhao Yu froze when he heard this. ’An aunt?’

’How could I not know I have an aunt?’ Zhao Yu wondered. ’Come to think of it, Mom and Dad never really talked about my grandparents’ side of the family, but they never explicitly said Dad was an only child, either. So... is Miao Miao connected to my aunt somehow?’

"You’ve guessed correctly. Miao Miao is indeed connected to your aunt. It’s normal that you don’t know about her. When your aunt was very young... she was sent away. This was something your grandparents could never come to terms with for the rest of their lives, so while they were alive, your father never brought it up."

"Sent away? Why? I remember my dad once saying that my grandparents had always wanted a daughter, but they only had him, their one son. How could they possibly have sent my aunt away?" Zhao Yu couldn’t understand.