Sequence Beyond: My Wife is a Mysterious Boss

"Okay, you won't be cold anymore once you dry yourself."

Su Wan picked up the towel from her knees and carefully wrapped it around Lin Bai's feet.

The movements were as gentle as if wiping a piece of exquisite porcelain that had just come out of the kiln.

Lin Bai looked down at the pale wrist swaying under the light. The horror he felt just now had dissipated considerably as the water cooled down.

I guess I'm just being paranoid.

Before transmigrating, I stayed up for three consecutive nights to finish my manuscript, which nearly drained my brain. It's no wonder my mental state was unstable.

How could someone develop paranoia when faced with such a flawless, goddess-like wife?

Lin Bai, you're like a wild boar that can't eat fine chaff.

"Honey, I'm a little tired. I want to go back to the room to rest first." Lin Bai pulled his foot back, slipped into his slippers, and tried to make his tone sound like a normal person.

Su Wan raised her head, and wisps of hair fell across her forehead, obscuring half of her eyes.

"Won't you watch TV a little longer? There's one of your favorite variety shows today."

"No, my head hurts, I want to go to sleep early."

Lin Bai stood up, not daring to look her in the eye again, and turned to walk towards the bedroom.

......

Leaning against the door, Lin Bai let out a long breath.

The bedroom was decorated warmly, with a photo of him and Su Wan on the bedside table.

The two are smiling sweetly in the photo, looking like an enviable couple, their love so sweet it could make you want to spread love everywhere.

"Hmph... Since we're here, let's make the best of it."

Lin Bai patted his cheeks, forcing himself to calm down, and walked to his desk to sit down.

The most urgent task is to figure out exactly what this parchment in my head is.

In this unfamiliar place, only this thing could give him a sense of security.

He closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into his mind.

In the darkness, the yellowed parchment floated silently, still bearing those three lines of bloody words.

"System? System Bro? Parchment Grandpa?"

Lin Bai tried to recite it silently in his mind.

No response.

It seems to be a voice-activated model; you have to input the information manually.

Lin Bai stared at the parchment and tentatively posed a very simple question to his mind:

Question: Does this parchment come with an instruction manual?

Almost the instant the thought arose, the original writing on the parchment vanished, and new blood-written words appeared, carrying a strange and eerie quality:

[Driving simulation in progress...]

[Estimated timeframe: 1300 years]

[Note: Even if you were to deduce this with your current intelligence, you might not be able to understand it.]

Lin Bai's lips twitched violently.

Holy crap... does this cheat code really have such a foul mouth?

Forget it, let's not hold grudges against petty people. Let's try something simpler.

Question: What is my name now?

[Driving simulation in progress...]

[Estimated simulation time: 0.01 second]

[Answer: Lin Bai.]

[Note: Is it really necessary to ask such a question? I suggest you go to the neurology emergency room.]

Lin Bai took a deep breath, resisting the urge to tear the tattered paper.

He can ask questions accurately, and although he's a bit sharp-tongued, he's still a cheat code.

In this case...

Lin Bai's eyes lit up.

As an ordinary person, my first reaction after time travel was naturally to make money.

With money, you can eat whatever you want, let alone be a kept man.

Wasn't the lottery being broadcast on TV just now?

Is it too much to ask this sharp-tongued paper to predict the next draw's numbers?

Lin Bai focused his mind:

Question: What will be the winning numbers for the next Double Color Ball lottery draw?

This time, the blood-written words on the parchment appeared somewhat slowly, carrying a sense of extreme contempt and mockery.

[Driving simulation in progress...]

[Estimated simulation time: 1 second]

[Answer: There is no such thing as "Double Color Ball" in this world, nor is there any publicly issued lottery.]

[Note: Stop dreaming. Thinking you can turn your life around with luck? In this godforsaken place, luck is the most useless garbage.]

Lin Bai's smile froze.

does not exist?

What kind of international joke is this?

Just now in the living room, he clearly heard the TV presenter announce: "The winning numbers for May 16th, 2124 are..."

With such clear sound and vivid visuals, how could it not exist?

A chill ran up my tailbone and straight to the top of my head; it was a fear even more piercing than before.

If the answer on the parchment is true, then what is being broadcast on TV?

Hallucination?

Or is it that... that TV program was completely fake?

Lin Bai felt his throat was dry, and subconsciously picked up the water glass on the table and took a sip, his hands trembling violently.

Not right.

This place is definitely not right, it's full of pits!

If even the lottery is fake, then what about time?

The time reported on TV just now was 2124.

Lin Bai stared intently at the parchment, and roared the next question into his mind:

Question: What is today's date?

The parchment trembled slightly, the blood-red words so vivid they seemed about to drip, as if mocking his ignorance:

[Driving simulation in progress...]

[Estimated simulation time: 0.1 second]

[Answer: January 2nd, 1137th year of the Destruction Calendar.]

[Note: Congratulations, you've finally found something useful.]

Snapped!

The glass slipped from Lin Bai's hand, smashed on the wooden floor, and shattered.

Water splashed everywhere, wetting his trouser legs.

Lin Bai, however, was completely unaware, his whole body stiffening in the chair, his scalp tingling.

The Cataclysm... 1137?

Not 2124?

What blue planet, what city, what peaceful life...

Is it all fake?

The gentle sunset outside the window, the warm light and shadow on the floor, even the tender wife stewing pork rib soup.

Is it all fake?

This is not a rebirth urban novel at all.

This is a rule-based mystery with hellish difficulty!

"husband?"

Su Wan's voice suddenly came from outside the door.

They were very close together.

It was like... the sound coming from a face pressed tightly against the door.

Lin Bai's heart clenched, and all the muscles in his body tensed instantly.

"Wh...what's wrong?" He tried his best to control his voice, but the last syllable still trembled slightly.

"I heard the glass break."

Su Wan's voice remained gentle and soft, yet it carried an inexplicable, strangely sticky quality:

"Are you hurt? Let me go in and help you get ready, okay?"

"Need not!"

Lin Bai almost screamed in refusal, then realized he had overreacted and quickly tried to back down:

"Uh, I mean... I can manage on my own, I didn't cut my hand, so I won't bother you."

The air outside the door was quiet for a few seconds.

A deathly silence.

Lin Bai held his breath and stared intently at the brass doorknob.

"Click."

The door handle slowly turned downwards.

Lin Bai's pupils dilated, and his body instinctively shrank back, grabbing the table lamp on the table as a weapon.

The door handle was turned all the way and got stuck by the latch.

Can't open.

Luckily I locked it from the inside!

The activity outside the door stopped.

After a long while, Su Wan's soft voice rang out again.

"Oh well."

"Honey, you have to be careful."

"I'll be guarding the door... Call me anytime if you need anything."

No footsteps were heard.

She didn't leave.

She really was standing guard at the door!

Lin Bai could even picture Su Wan standing outside the door, wearing that simple dress and expressionless.

Those dark, hollow eyes stared intently at the wooden door.

crazy.

I must be completely insane.

Lin Bai slumped in the chair, panting heavily, his back soaked with cold sweat.

calm.

必须冷静。

Since the parchment could reveal the truth, it must know exactly what happened.

Lin Bai forced himself to refocus his attention on the parchment in his mind.

The sheer volume of information from that "Destruction Calendar" made him overlook a more important issue.

When exactly did this roll of parchment appear?

Comes with it from time travel?

No.

Lin Bai recalled the first time he saw the parchment.

There was a line of text on the paper at that time: [Question: What the hell is going on here?]

The tone and word choice of that line were exactly like Lin Bai's.

But he hadn't even started asking questions yet.

unless......

A terrifying thought took shape in Lin Bai's mind, making his fingertips feel icy cold.

[Question: Who posed the original question on the parchment?]

[Driving simulation in progress...]

[Estimated simulation time: 0.1 second]

[Answer: It was yourself.]

[Note: Why ask such a silly question? Do you have a goldfish's memory?]

really.

Lin Bai felt a little short of breath, as if an invisible hand was choking him.

If I'm asking this, why don't I have any memory of it?

It was deleted?

Or is it...?

Lin Bai, trembling, asked the most crucial, and perhaps most fatal, question of the night:

Question: When exactly did I transmigrate to this world?

The parchment emitted an eerie red glow in the darkness.

This time, the handwriting appeared even more slowly, as if each word carried a heavy, bloody scent.

[Driving simulation in progress...]

[Estimated simulation time: 1 second]

[Answer: 109 days ago.]

[Note: Oh, you finally remembered to ask this? Your reaction isn't too slow, just a little better than a pig.]

109 days.

More than three months.

Lin Bai stared at the number, his mind going blank.

What I thought was "this morning I just time-traveled" was actually three months ago?

So what have I been doing for the past three months?

And why is there not a single trace of memory?

Lin Bai's vision blurred, and through gritted teeth, he roared out one last question in his mind:

[Question: What exactly happened in the previous 108 days?]

The darkness boiled.

The blood on the parchment was so thick it couldn't be dissolved, like a bleeding wound.

The shocking handwriting slowly emerged, like a death sentence, carrying endless mockery and malice:

[Driving simulation in progress...]

[Estimated simulation time: 3 second]

[Answer: 108 days, and every single day, you died a horrible death.]

[Note: Congratulations, your 109th challenge has begun. Will you be able to make it through tonight? I doubt it.]

......