Side Story 1: System Escape

Side Story 1: System Escape

"Let me go! I am the future Regent's wife! I am the chosen one!"

Su Rou was being held up by two burly guards, her feet off the ground, kicking her legs desperately.

Her makeup was ruined, and the stench of foul smells and cheap perfume made the two guards roll their eyes.

[System! System, where the hell are you?!]

[Help me! Use that "power pill" or "hypnosis"! Hurry!]

Su Rou screamed at the top of her lungs in her mind.

Finally, that cold, mechanical voice rang out again, accompanied by a faint, crackling sound of unstable electricity:

[Beep! Warning! Host is in extreme danger!]

[Forcibly activating emergency defense mode... Preparing to release a "psychic shockwave," all living beings within a ten-meter radius will fall into a coma...]

A wicked gleam of ecstatic joy flashed in Su Rou's eyes.

If she can knock these people unconscious, she can escape!

They might even take the opportunity to kill Tang Li!

Just one second before the system's loading bar was about to complete.

"Wait a minute."

Tang Li, who had been sitting in the pavilion watching the play, suddenly stood up.

She didn't look at Su Rou, but instead cast her gaze at the empty air above Su Rou's head, a cold, unfathomable smile playing on her lips.

"Don't rush to throw it away."

Tangli waved her hand, signaling the old woman to stop.

She walked slowly to Su Rou, but didn't get too close (after all, it smelled terrible). Instead, she turned her head slightly and looked at a small gray mouse squatting in the corner.

"What did Zhaocai's cousin just say?"

The little gray mouse immediately stood up on its hind legs, gesturing frantically with its two front paws and making rapid squeaking noises:

[Squeak! Squeak squeak!]

Tang Li nodded, as if she had understood some incredible secret, then turned to Su Rou—

Or rather, speaking slowly to the thing in Su Rou's mind:

"Oh... so you wanted to unleash a 'psychic shockwave'?"

"You want us all to pass out?"

【！！！】

The system in Su Rou's mind, which had been running smoothly, suddenly froze.

[Beep...beep...Alert! An unknown error has been detected!]

Why does this native NPC know about the system's plans?!

Before the system could even react.

On a treetop, a myna bird that was preening its feathers suddenly opened its beak and, in a hoarse, raspy voice, precisely repeated the system's "thoughts":

[Energy remaining at 3%! Energy insufficient! Should we forcibly overdraw our life force?]

Immediately afterwards, a koi carp in the pond surfaced:

[Gurgle... It's scared! The metal box's frequency has gone erratic!]

Even the big white dog at Pei Yunjing's feet yawned, adding insult to injury:

[Roar... It tried to run away. It felt this place was haunted.]

At that moment, the system completely crashed.

As a product of a higher dimension, it has experienced countless worlds and conquered countless male protagonists.

But it had never seen such a terrifying world!

In this world, there is absolutely no privacy!

Every instruction it gave, every plan it made, and even every energy fluctuation it made was clearly heard by the seemingly ordinary birds and beasts around it!

[A ghost! There's a ghost!]

The system emitted a piercing scream (only the pear tree and the animals could hear it):

This woman is a bug! She's a virus!

The animals here are all sentient! It's terrifying! I want to go home!

Tang Li looked at Su Rou's face, which was distorted and twitching due to the system's malfunction, and smiled slightly.

She held up one finger, pointed to the sky, and spoke in a stream of consciousness that only she and the system could understand:

Trying to run away?

Since you're here, you think you can leave without leaving anything behind?

Believe it or not, I'll make all the rats in Beijing go inside your host's brain every night and gnaw on the electrical wires!

[Beep—! ...

The system was so terrified by this threat that its core code nearly cracked.

Chewing on electrical wires? That's practically a body attack!

[Unbind! Unbind now!]

[This system is quitting! This host is too much! This villain is too twisted! Goodbye! No, never again!]

"Sizzle—"

Su Rou's body suddenly convulsed violently.

An invisible white light shot out from the top of her head, rushing towards the sky at the speed of light, and disappeared into the vast universe without uttering a sound.

The system has run away.

"ah……"

With the system's departure, the "beauty filter" and "aura of elegance" that Su Rou had maintained with props shattered instantly.

Her skin became dull and rough, and fine lines appeared at the corners of her eyes. She looked as if she had aged ten years in an instant, turning into an ordinary, even somewhat vulgar, woman.

"System?"

Su Rou called out in terror, but received no response.

Her greatest asset, her magic weapon that defied fate, was just... scared away by a few mice and birds?

"It's...it's all over..."

Su Rou collapsed to the ground, her face ashen.

"princess?"

Han Zheng was completely bewildered. He only saw the princess speak a few words to thin air, and the woman seemed to have lost her soul.

"It's alright now."

Tang Li clapped her hands and turned to look at Pei Yunjing, who had been silently guarding her from behind:

"Your Highness, that 'filthy thing' has already escaped."

"The remaining one..."

She pointed to Su Rou on the ground, who had completely collapsed, and her eyes regained their clarity:

"It's no use anymore."

Although Pei Yunjing couldn't understand her conversation with the system, he guessed the gist of it from the reactions of the big white bird and the sparrow.

"Since it's useless..."

Pei Yunjing glanced at Su Rou with disgust, not even having the desire to kill her.

"Then proceed according to the original plan."

He waved his hand:

"Throw them into a village on the outskirts of the city."

“That… pigsty.”

Pei Yunjing's lips curled into a cold smile as he thought of an "old friend" (Tuoba Xiao):

"I heard that the old sow there is in a bad mood lately, and she's just short of... someone to clean up her poop."

"No! I'm a transmigrator! I'm the female lead! You can't treat me like this!" Su Rou screamed in despair.

But no one paid her any attention; the old women dragged her away like a dead pig.

What awaits her is the daily stench of pig manure and that group of grumpy old sows.

This might be more suitable for her than death.

"Alright, it's quiet now."

Tang Li stretched and sat back down next to Pei Yunjing, picking up the half-cold cup of tea:

"These days, any Tom, Dick, or Harry dares to bring a system out and about."

Pei Yunjing looked at her, his eyes full of doting affection.

He reached out and took the iced tea from her hand, replacing it with a hot one: "In the future, for things like this, just close the door and unleash the dogs."

"Don't waste your brainpower on this kind of thing."