Chapter 293: A World Without Me

Learning just how much despair Chen Mo had been shouldering, tears streamed uncontrollably down the face of the real Su Yuqing as she watched this scene.

A world without her was simply too painful for Chen Mo.

Fortunately, the twists of fate weren’t all for the worse.

At least this time, fate had pushed everything onto the right track.

As the jade pendant held to her chest began to glow, Su Yuqing slowly regained consciousness.

When she opened her eyes, she discovered they were already brimming with tears.

After grabbing a tissue from the coffee table to wipe her tears, Su Yuqing finally noticed the slight weight on her lap.

She looked down to see Chen Mo sleeping peacefully on her lap like a child, his arms wrapped around her waist, his face a picture of carefree content.

Gazing at the tranquil scene, Su Yuqing, who felt as if she had just lived through a lifetime of tragedy, was overwhelmed with emotion.

’This world is so good. A world where Chen Mo no longer has to suffer is so good. A world where Chen Mo can be my salvation is so good!’

After such a surreal experience, Su Yuqing refused to believe it had just been a dream.

Because everything had been too real.

And it all added up.

Back when she first met Chen Mo, she had sensed there was something strange about his reaction when he opened the door and saw her.

He hadn’t shown the slightest confusion at her appearance. It was more of an inexplicable excitement.

Suspicion had taken root in her heart from that moment on.

It was just that she hadn’t dwelled on it at the time, and later, she hadn’t thought back on the incident at all.

Now, after experiencing that surreal world, she finally understood the reasons for everything.

Only now did she understand that while Chen Mo was saving her, his own heart was in desperate need of healing.

All this time, she had never understood his true state of mind, nor had she ever grasped even a fraction of his past pain.

She had only ever basked in his care, rarely paying any mind to his own thoughts.

At this moment, Su Yuqing’s love for Chen Mo gained a new layer of understanding and depth.

With a look of relief and adoration, she reached out and gently stroked Chen Mo’s handsome cheek.

Only when she felt his tangible touch did she finally feel at ease.

In the dream, she had wanted to touch and comfort him countless times, but he was always just out of reach, as untouchable as a reflection.

Now, she could finally, tangibly touch him.

This moment of possession was an eternity.

Su Yuqing’s touch was gentle, her hand trembling.

She was terrified that it would all vanish again, like a dream.

Meanwhile, in his dream, Chen Mo watched as a bolt of lightning struck down. Both Su Yuqings vanished, and his counterpart in this world collapsed, unconscious. He couldn’t help but look stunned.

’So this is how I originally transmigrated?’

’But my own body is still in this world, so what about the me from this world? Did I die?’

Just as Chen Mo was wondering about this, his unconscious counterpart in the dream slowly began to stir.

At that same moment, his phone began to ring.

He had an incoming call.

"Chen Mo, where are you?"

"What’s up?" Chen Mo asked, curious.

"Haha, we got news!"

"What news?" Chen Mo asked, surprised by the other person’s excitement.

"It’s the news you care about most! You might not even believe it, but talk about searching high and low for something only to have it fall right into your lap!

That high school girl’s case you’ve been investigating for so long—a death row inmate suddenly confessed right before his execution."

In an instant, Chen Mo, who had just been indifferent to everything, felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

"Who confessed?" he demanded excitedly.

"This guy actually does have a connection to the girl. They just had so few interactions that he slipped through the cracks during the initial investigation."

"Who is it?!" This was all Chen Mo cared about.

"It’s Lin Ranhai."

"Lin Ranhai?" Chen Mo immediately began searching his memory for the name. He quickly remembered who it was. "You mean, Su Yuqing’s stepmother’s brother?"

Chen Mo’s face filled with astonishment.

"That’s right, it’s him."

"How could it be him?"

For years, Chen Mo had repeatedly gone over all the case files and documents. He knew every piece of information about every single person investigated like the back of his hand.

As soon as a name was mentioned, he could instantly connect it to the relevant clues.

When it came to Lin Ranhai, Chen Mo immediately realized something wasn’t right. "Impossible. Lin Ranhai had an alibi for that time. A girl who was at his house provided it. How could it be him?"

’Why would a high school student invite a girl over, then leave her there all alone during a huge storm to go commit a crime in an old neighborhood so far away?’

Even when told the truth, Chen Mo still found it hard to believe.

"I don’t know. We’ll have to ask him for those details. But on top of that, there’s something even more unexpected. According to his confession, there was someone else present at the time."

"Someone else?"

This stunned Chen Mo even more. ’Crimes involving accomplices are usually easier to solve. They leave behind more varied clues. But Su Yuqing’s case has always looked like the work of a single perpetrator. How could it have been a group crime?’

"Who was the other one?" Chen Mo couldn’t think of anyone from his records who could have committed the crime with Lin Ranhai.

"You’ll never guess in a million years. The other one was Su Yuqing’s younger sister, Su Yaxi. She wasn’t very old at the time of the incident."

"What?! How could it be her?" Chen Mo was even more shocked.

He quickly hung up the phone and rushed down from the rooftop, ready to go and question the person involved about the details and motive behind the incident.

The real Chen Mo, watching from the side, felt his heart tremble. The truth his other self had sought for half a lifetime had been revealed in such a manner. Still, at least it would bring an end to the obsession that had haunted this world’s Chen Mo.

「The scene shifted.」

He had followed this world’s Chen Mo to the prison where Lin Ranhai was being held.

"You’re saying Su Yuqing’s case has something to do with you? Are you sure?"

Some death row inmates, in order to live a little longer, might fabricate involvement in murder cases to delay their execution.

So, just because someone confessed didn’t necessarily mean it was true.

Chen Mo still needed to investigate thoroughly.

"I can’t say for certain. It was an accident. I’m not really sure if I was the one who killed Su Yuqing, if Su Yaxi did, or if she just ran into something herself. But her death is related to me, at least somewhat, so I felt I should come clean."

With his buzz cut and the years he had served in prison as an adult, Lin Ranhai looked completely different from the high school version the real Chen Mo had seen.

His voice was also more weathered. However, what he was confessing would certainly be enough to delay his execution for a good while, as unraveling the case would be incredibly complicated.