Chapter 173

Chapter 173

Wen Tangtang nodded. “At first, I proposed serving as the first test subject. But Wen Xin was worried the machine wasn’t ready, so he refused. He invented it, and without his cooperation, I had no idea how to activate it. I had no choice but to let him serve as the test subject.”

Her shoulders trembled, sobs catching in her throat as tears streamed uncontrollably down her cheeks. “How could an untested machine be completely safe? His body gradually deteriorated with every trial.”

Nan Mu’s breathing grew heavy. “So the warning in the Time Machine Experiment Manual-that a test subject should not use the Time Machine more than seven times or they would suffer severe adverse reactions-was recorded based on what happened to his body?”

“That’s right.” Wen Tangtang seemed to sink into her memories. “After he returned from the seventh trip, Wen Xin’s body gave out. Actually, the manual shouldn’t have specified seven. During his first few trials, flaws in the Time Machine caused enormous damage to his body. As the machine was gradually perfected, it became possible to avoid harming the test subject. That was why he wrote down seven at first.”

Nan Mu immediately caught her choice of words. “At first?”

“Yes. Because that figure wasn’t accurate. By then, the machine had been comparatively perfected, but we still had no second candidate to conduct the trials. In the end, I managed to persuade Wen Xin.”

Wen Xin had used the Time Machine seven times in total, but the first five had been calibration tests. His sixth temporal jump took him only three years into the past. It was only on his final attempt that Wen Xin successfully returned ten years and saw Wen Miao.

Nan Mu’s fingers trembled slightly. “Then did he…”

Before Nan Mu could finish, Wen Tangtang understood what he meant and cut him off cruelly. “No.”

“Wen Xin tried to change what happened, but he couldn’t stop it. Neither could I.” Desolation and helplessness welled inside Wen Tangtang. “You asked how we discovered Xu Lei was the killer. The truth is, we never found evidence that could prove it. We knew because… because we saw it with our own eyes!”

Wen Tangtang had returned to the past time and again, trying to change the brutal ending of Wen Miao’s tragic death. But no matter how hard she struggled, what she attempted, or what she fought for, she could not alter the fate that had already been decided.

Before that cruel reality, they were all so small, so fragile, and so utterly powerless. Wen Xin traveled through time seven times to change Wen Miao’s fate and ultimately sacrificed himself as well. What had any of it changed?

“So even with a Time Machine, fate can never be altered at will. Nan Mu, I don’t believe you’ve returned only once… I think you already know whether fate can truly be changed.”

Nan Mu lowered his eyes and clenched his jaw. “No matter what, I have to try again. That’s why you must help me. It’s the only way I’ll have a chance to change the past.”

Wen Tangtang smiled bitterly. “Help you? What could I possibly do?”

Nan Mu looked at her. “There is something. How many times did you go back? My body began showing abnormalities after my fourth trip.”

“That’s normal,” Wen Tangtang said. “Reversing time naturally affects the human body. So if you don’t want to die, you’d better stop using the Time Machine recklessly.”
“What I want to know is exactly how many chances I have left,” Nan Mu said.

Wen Tangtang looked at him with pity. “My body was already failing after six trips. If you don’t want to spend the rest of your life bedridden, you’d better do as I did and stop at five.”

Nan Mu’s brow furrowed, the slight droop at the corners of his eyes revealing the melancholy and sorrow buried within him. “In other words, I have only one chance left.”

…

Nan Mu’s questions had been answered. Although Wen Tangtang had worked at Wisdom Biotech Company for many years, she knew little about the truth behind Wen Miao’s murder.

It seemed that if Nan Mu wanted to learn more, he would have to investigate the people inside Wisdom Biotech Company.

“When do you plan to send me back to prison?”

Nan Mu paused as he began to rise. He raised an eyebrow, his tone complicated. “Why would you say that?”

Wen Tangtang gave a contemptuous sneer, narrowing her eyes as though she saw through everything. “Stop pretending. That police friend of yours is already waiting outside, isn’t he?”

Her sharpness surprised Nan Mu. “How… did you know I have a friend in the police?”

Wen Tangtang looked at him coldly from the corner of her eye. “When I was arrested, there was an officer… Qiu, wasn’t it? Officer Qiu used your name and tried every possible way to pry information out of me. I remember him very well.”

Understanding dawned on Nan Mu, and he slapped his forehead.

So Qiu Ziyu had told her. Nan Mu had almost thought Wen Tangtang had suddenly become more perceptive over the years.

With his plan exposed, Nan Mu inevitably felt awkward. He had intended to wait until Wen Tangtang recovered somewhat, then choose the right moment to persuade her to turn herself in.

But now that everything was in the open, he could only address the issue directly. He reasoned with her patiently. “You have committed a crime. Even if I let you leave, you’ll probably spend the rest of your life hiding. In my view, you should turn yourself in and go to the police station voluntarily with my friend. Say it was a crime of passion. I’ll hire one of the most renowned attorneys in the country to argue it down to negligent homicide. At most, you’ll serve less than seven years. It’ll pass in the blink of an eye.”

Wen Tangtang glanced at him, mockery entering her voice. “As expected of a titan of the business world. Even when discussing a crime, you make it sound effortless. How easy for you to say.”

Something in her words caught Nan Mu’s attention. He asked thoughtfully, “You went to enormous lengths to escape from the hospital. Is there something you need to do?”

A question suddenly occurred to him. He had never considered why Wen Tangtang had feigned illness to escape custody. He knew she had not fled prison simply to cling to life. Otherwise, she would not have remained silent when the police questioned her about the murder. Her account would determine the length of the sentence ultimately imposed by the judge. And if her goal had been to evade punishment, she would never have killed Xu Lei in front of a crowd without making the slightest attempt to conceal herself.

Qiu Ziyu had once said that when he saw Wen Tangtang in the interrogation room, she seemed to have almost no will to live. Why would someone like that suddenly fake an illness and escape custody?