Chapter 44: The Human Girl’s Struggle
Nan Zishi’s pupils contracted.
A myriad of guesses exploded in her mind.
’How could this male know about transmigration? Is he related to it somehow? Is he a transmigrator too?’
’No, he’s a Fox Beastman. He’s a Beastman from the Beast World.’
’He can’t possibly be a human from Earth!’
Seeing her reaction, Uncle Xiang knew he was right. He continued, "You have a system, a Childbirth System, right? Is it 00-something?"
"Yun’er’s system was 006. Yours probably isn’t far off. Are you 007 or 008?"
Goosebumps erupted all over Nan Zishi’s skin. She clenched her fists and asked, "How do you know about the Childbirth System? And who is Yun’er?"
"So it’s true," Uncle Xiang muttered to himself a few times.
He seemed to have gone mad.
One moment he was laughing maniacally, the next his face was filled with confusion.
"Why? Why did you appear before Hu Bai perfectly fine, and were even able to take him with you? Why?"
Nan Zishi was completely bewildered. She pressed him, "What is going on with you? What are you talking about?"
Uncle Xiang tilted his head back to look at the sky, as if processing his emotions. After a long moment, he finally spoke.
"My female master was named Li Yun. She was a transmigrated human woman carrying Childbirth System 006. She bore me a cub, and after completing her mission, she left to do the next one."
Nan Zishi: "..."
’Childbirth System 006?’
’Wasn’t she the first human woman to be tricked by the system into coming to the Beast World to do missions?’
Uncle Xiang stared at the sky, his expression vacant.
"She said she didn’t want to do the missions, and she didn’t want to have children.
But she would die if she didn’t. So she could only keep giving birth, over and over.
She said she would never fall in love with me, because she couldn’t possibly love a ’tool’."
Nan Zishi asked, "Your female master was a human woman with a system?"
Uncle Xiang continued to mutter, as if speaking to himself, yet also to Nan Zishi.
"Do you know? She told me she didn’t want to do this mission at all.
But the system said that if she didn’t, not only would she lose her own life, but she also wouldn’t be able to save her father, who had cancer."
"She gave birth to Xiang’er for me and then left, never to return. I don’t blame her. I pity her.
But Xiang’er was born with a disability. He had some intellectual problems. So I had to raise Xiang’er all on my own, which was very hard."
"Later, I suffered a backlash from my Mate Totem. My life was hanging by a thread, but the witch doctor saved me.
I asked around everywhere and finally heard the news... she had died giving birth to a cub.
And then, after that, my Xiang’er died too..."
Uncle Xiang’s voice was calm. These words had been buried in his heart for a very long time.
No one had ever believed him.
To finally say them aloud brought a sense of release.
The blood in Nan Zishi’s veins turned to ice. She stood there, numb.
"She didn’t go home? She didn’t go back to Earth?"
Uncle Xiang said, "Her body died in this world. I imagine, if her body is dead, how could she possibly go home?"
Nan Zishi’s body swayed, and she braced herself with both hands on the edge of a rock.
"Her system was 006?"
Uncle Xiang looked up at the sky, saying nothing.
*
From a distance, Hu Bai saw that something was wrong with Nan Zishi. He ran over and caught her as she was about to collapse.
Nan Zishi leaned into Hu Bai’s arms and closed her eyes, Uncle Xiang’s words flashing through her mind.
’She would die if she didn’t have children.’
’She died. She died in childbirth.’
’Her body died in this world, how could she go home?’
’Childbirth System 006.’
*
Over a year ago, after being abducted by the system and brought to the Beast World, Nan Zishi clung to the trunk of a tree, her cheeks flushed.
A sarcastic voice escaped her pink lips. "You dog of a system! To make me complete the mission, you actually drugged me!"
"I have no choice. Why won’t you do the mission? You’ll die if you don’t!"
"Do the mission?" Nan Zishi breathed heavily. "This damn childbirth mission."
"I’m a girl who grew up in the modern world, on Earth. I have my own independent personality. My values tell me that I cannot allow myself to be reduced to a breeding tool!"
"If you don’t do the mission, you will die."
Nan Zishi felt her sanity gradually slipping away.
"Nan Zishi, this is your first mission, that’s why you find it so hard to accept. But once you start the first one, it won’t be so painful later on."
"Go to hell, you @#$%...!" It was the first time in her life Nan Zishi had ever cursed so much, or so foully.
"You only have one hour left. If you don’t conceive a child within that hour, you will die."
Nan Zishi tried to remain calm. She retorted, "If I die, your mission fails too, right? What happens when your mission fails? Seeing how anxious you are, the price must be steep."
Nan Zishi let out a low laugh. "Then let’s just die together."
"Nan! Zi! Shi!" System 007’s voice was a mixture of panic and fury.
System 007 had never imagined a human girl could be so stubborn!
After a moment of anger, the system gradually calmed down and tried to persuade her. "The males of this world are absolutely loyal to their females. And they all have their own good qualities. Why don’t you just give it a try and see?"
"No. I don’t want to live anymore." Nan Zishi simply sat down on the ground. Her eyes were bloodshot from the aphrodisiac, but they held a clear, lucid gaze.
She tilted her head back and looked at the sky.
The system grit its teeth. "You humans have a saying: ’Life is precious, but love is of a higher price.’"
"And we humans also say, ’I don’t care if I live or die, as long as you die with me!’"
"..." ’She’s crazy, absolutely crazy! What is with the wonderful mental state of modern people from Earth?!’
The system compromised. "Let’s renegotiate the terms."
"You don’t have to have a hundred cubs. Just fifty. Deal?"
Nan Zishi sneered.
"Forty? No, thirty!"
Nan Zishi met its offer with cold indifference.
The system was going insane.
"That’s enough! I’m warning you, quit while you’re ahead!"
"First, I didn’t come to the Beast World voluntarily. What you did is kidnapping!"
"Second, I originally had a healthy body and a full life. You forced a countdown on my life, and when it ends, you’ll erase me. That’s murder!"
"Third, a wicked thing like the Childbirth System should never exist! I will never submit to you, you dog of a system. Let’s just die together!"
The system was driven to the brink. "Enough! Nan Zishi, just have cubs with seven males. I don’t care how many cubs. That should be acceptable, right?"
"This is my bottom line! I can’t go any lower!"
Nan Zishi closed her eyes and lay on the ground. She cherished her life dearly. If there was any chance, she would always choose to live. But that didn’t mean she was willing to abandon her soul and be reduced to a breeding tool.
If that was the price, she would rather die quietly.
The system’s tone suddenly changed. "Fine, fail then. The worst that can happen is I lose some more points."
"But, Nan Zishi... the person I originally intended to bind wasn’t you. It was the nurse at your hospital, Xiao Yi. I observed her for a long time. She was born in the countryside, has no great ambitions, and her parents are dead, leaving her with no family or attachments."
"Even if she disappeared, not many people would notice. She was a perfect host for me. You, on the other hand, are different. You have attachments. You’re stubborn, too opinionated, and your personality is too strong. On top of that, you’re far too sentimental. You are the least suitable human for the childbirth mission!"
"But just as I was about to bind with Xiao Yi, she bent down to tie her shoelace. And you happened to stand up to get some medicine. That’s how I accidentally bound myself to you!"
"I made a mistake, and I’ll take responsibility and lose the points. But if you don’t do the mission, after you die, I’ll just go back and bind with Xiao Yi!"
Nan Zishi’s eyes shot open.
Nurse Xiao Yi was a nurse she herself had recruited. She was an orphan with no parents. After she started working, Xiao Yi and Nan Zishi had always been excellent partners.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call them best friends.
’So, the Childbirth System’s original kidnapping target was Xiao Yi?’
"You have one hour left to choose. Are you going to begrudgingly complete this mission with me so I can lose fewer points? Or are you going to choose to die, after which I’ll go bind with your nurse!"
A fierce struggle erupted in Nan Zishi’s heart.
’The fact that this dog of a system could kidnap her from Earth and bring her to the Beast World proved it had the ability to rebind to a new host and bring her here too.’
’Should she go against her own will and do the childbirth mission?’
’Or should she choose a quick death, and let the system go bind with her best friend?’