Chapter 371: Previous Life

The red thunder was different from the past, Gu Xiqiao could only feel like a forest was on fire, her mental power being chipped away bit by bit.

She could feel her soul being torn from her body, but her body was still holding on.

“You’re still not giving up in this state?” A surprised voice came from the void. “Hm? This mental power? It’s her…”

After what seemed to be a sigh, the scarlet vortex vanished instantly.

Gu Xiqiao stood mid-air in the void, her eyes closed tightly, as though in a deep slumber. She was surrounded by wisps of purple lightning, and the Seven-Frosted Blade was still beside her.

When she next opened her eyes, it was to see a sea of fire in front of her.

There was a thin figure within the flames, and she was huddled in a corner. Her dark, onyx eyes were bright as she quietly watched the flames spread to her, engulfing her entire person immediately, becoming nothingness.

Gu Xiqiao watched the scene in front of her in shock, and she raised her hand. It was her own hands.

But, in the fire, it had obviously been her!

Gu Xiqiao stood in mid-air, quietly watching all that was in front of her. Although an unknown number of years had passed in the time she had spent in the virtual space, she would never forget this scene. It was the scene where she had died in her previous life!

She raised her hands to her face again, seeing it to be somewhat transparent. She pursed her lips, what was going on now?

Why was she seeing this scene?

What the heck was happening?

Before she could ponder any deeper, her eyes were once again drawn to the scene in front of her.

Very quickly, someone had come to the door. It was the butler of the Gu family, and the light from the flames reflected on his face, a frightened look on it as he shouted, “Second Miss, Second Miss’ bedroom has caught fire!”

The entire Gu family ran out at that moment.

Gu Xijiin was watching the scene in a daze. She was downstairs, looking up from the bottom of the stairs to Gu Xiqiao’s room, until she saw Xia Zijun run in from the front door. The smile that had stretched across her face was wiped off immediately, and she grabbed Xia Zijun’s arms. “Zijun, my sister, she…”

Before she could say anything else, Xia Zijin had broken away from her hold and rushed upstairs.

“Young Master Xia!”

“Don’t go!”

No one expected Xia Zijun would run upstairs like a crazed man at this time, his hands that usually only did office work and finance were used to push the door that was ablaze open with all his might!

However, the fire had already spread too far and could no longer be controlled. Xia Zijun was forcefully pulled away from the door by some people.

Xia Zijun could only watch the room get further engulfed in flames, the fire licking the door teasingly as though mocking him, his eyes stained red.

The firefighters had arrived by this time, and the flames were quickly extinguished. Xia Zijun stood to the side, staring at the corner, refusing to budge from the room that had been on fire.

“Brother Xia… ” Xia Zijun’s current state felt like he was a stranger to her.

Hearing her voice, Xia Zijun’s head snapped up abruptly. He looked at Gu Xijin, punctuating his words slowly. “How did her room catch fire?”

“I… I don’t know…” Gu Xijin took a step back at the intense gaze on her.

“You don’t know?” Xia Zijun closed his eyes tightly, before opening them again. “Wasn’t it you who wanted to send her off?”

“What?” Gu Xijin was taken aback, she didn’t believe that Xia Zijun would know the truth.

Xia Zijun’s usually gentle eyes were now covered in a layer of frost. “Everyone knows that the method is cruel. Sending her off like this, is it also for her own good?”

Gu Xijin felt her legs shake, and when she looked at Xia Zijun again, she almost felt her legs give way.

Xia Zijun didn’t bother saying anything else, taking out his phone to make a call. “Uncle, all cooperation with the Gu family will stop from today onwards. Also, send a team to the Gu residence.”

Gu Xiqiao watched Xia Zijun and his family’s people collect her body and left.

There was surprise in her eyes.

When she had been in the void, she only knew that the Gu family became bankrupt after this incident. However, she didn’t know the events that lead up to that, but now she saw that even her body had been collected by Xia Zijun?

Gu Xiqiao was silent for a while, watching as the scene continued to unfold, not saying a word.

She finally realized that her soul had been pulled into this life, and she was watching what had happened after she had died in her previous life.

Gu Xiqiao watched Xia Zijun leave, but she didn’t follow after him, floating in her old room. She had appeared here as soon as she woke up, so in order for her to return, the exit must also be somewhere here.

Gu Xiqiao floated in her room the entire night, but she couldn’t find a way back. More importantly, she couldn’t leave the Gu residence!

Even she, Gu Xiqiao, couldn’t figure out what to do at the moment, and so she could only stick around to watch the commotion that unfolded in front of her.

Although she had died in her last life, she had left behind a lot of traps for the Gu family. Gu Xijin might have taken away all the plans that she had drawn up, but how it turned out would wholly depend on who was the person to implement it.

Right now, she was sitting on the sofa in the Gu residence living room, looking at Gu Xijin as she flipped through the documents.

“Elder Miss, with Xia Enterprise withdrawing from the partnerships, there are other investors who wish to bid. Please have a look.” The manager of the Gu family stood to her side, looking at Gu Xijin with admiration on his face. He didn’t seem the least concerned about Xia Enterprise’s withdrawal from the business.

In his eyes, Gu Xijin was in the middle of strategizing. The Gu family had already embarked into the international scene, experiencing countless turbulence in the process, and they had come out victorious each time.

At this point of time, Gu Xijin had completely obtained the faith and trust of the entire Gu Enterprise.

Taking the offered document, Gu Xijin lowered her head to look at it. Flipping through the papers, she bit her lips. “Xia Enterprise has really withdrawn their capital support, Xia Zijun…” She crushed the papers in her hand tightly, her tone cold as she said, “Implement the ten-year plan!”

Hearing her words, the manager immediately straightened up with surprise and glee in his eyes. “Understood, Elder Miss!”

Everyone in the top management of Gu Enterprise knew what the ten-year plan was. The main purpose of the plan was for Gu Enterprise to go global. However, Gu Xijin had said that it hadn’t been the right time yet, and now she was giving the go-ahead, how could he not be excited about it?

“Tch.” Gu Xiqiao leaned back against the sofa, looking at the two without much thought. “You could probably still live on for a few days if you hadn’t used this plan, once you use it…”

It’s a pity that no one could hear her voice as she was just a soul without a body.

Gu Xijin and the manager were excitedly discussing the plan, and the manager had already contacted the media, arranging for a press conference to announce this matter.

After the two had finished, calls started to come in for Gu Xijin one by one.

“Elder Miss, the project in the north is already in progress, but there seems to be a slight problem in regards to the economy here…”

“Elder Miss, the investment plan has been sent out, isn’t there a new one from the company yet…”

“Elder Miss…”

Countless calls along the same line kept coming in, and Gu Xijin suddenly realized that she truly didn’t know anything. That’s right, last time… this was all handled by Gu Xiqiao since she was the one to have drawn up the plans. Gu Xiqiao’s methods were domineering and aggressive, she didn’t need to worry about anything in Gu Enterprise when Gu Xijin implemented Gu Xiqiao’s plans.

It was precisely because of this that Xia Zijun would have his eye on Gu Xiqiao, which had given Gu Xijin the idea of sending her off for the last time.

However, what Gu Xijin didn’t expect was for Gu Enterprise to fall into chaos once Gu Xiqiao was no longer around!

Clenching her fist until her nails pierced her skin and blood flowed up, Gu Xijin gritted her teeth. The phone in her hands that she was holding tightly rang at this moment, and she looked down to see the caller. It was Mu Yunfan!

“Senior Brother…” When receiving Mu Yunfan’s call, Gu Xijin suddenly seemed to find her backbone again. Just as she was about to talk about the troubles that Gu Enterprise was facing, the words that Mu Yunfan said felt like thunder striking down on her.

“You killed her, Gu Xijin?” The voice on the other end was deeper and lower than usual.

Gu Xijin opened her mouth to deny it, but no words came out. Mu Yunfan seemed to not want to hear her answer either way, as he hung up the call when nothing was said in response.

Outside the front door, knocking had started on it. The one knocking was one of the managers of Gu Enterprise, and he had an anxious look on his face.

Gu Xiqiao floated outside the door, seeing Gu Xijin about to open the door, she casually flicked her hand. Gu Xijin staggered and almost fell down, but she didn’t care about that, catching herself and hurrying out the door to meet the manager.

Gu Xiqiao followed Gu Xijin out the door, and she suddenly realized that the front door of Gu Manor that she previously couldn’t leave, was not holding her inside anymore?

The pair of clear, onyx eyes narrowed slightly, exuding a deep chill. Gu Xiqiao looked at Gu Xijin’s back, and the corner of her lips curled downwards. No way, she was bound to Gu Xijin’s side?

God damn!

Gu Xiqiao rubbed her temples, but still followed Gu Xijin out either way.

Today was originally the day that Gu Enterprise would announce the ten-year plan to be put in motion, but the reporters were insistent about asking questions regarding the corruption cases in Gu Enterprise, and those upper management of Gu Enterprise who were uncooperative…

“Elder Miss Gu, did you anticipate the pressure that would come from Luo Enterprise?”

“Elder Miss Gu, do you have any comments regarding the bribery case in Gu Enterprise?”

“I’ve heard from Xia Enterprise’s chairman, that the person behind Gu Enterprise’s operations is not you, but the Second Miss Gu, is that true?”

Gu Xijin was not prepared to face this situation at all, and then a group of policemen turned up to escort her away from the press conference!

The reporters were left looking at each other, not expecting such a dramatic exit by the person they had been interviewing. After a while, someone realized that the new president of Luo Enterprise was also in attendance, the one who had wiped out Gu Enterprise in one fell swoop—Luo Wenlang! An excellent high achiever from A University, the one who had countless offers before he even graduated, someone that everyone was dying to get their hands on!

“President Luo, Gu Enterprise is already a multinational company. Might we know how…”

The young President Luo raised his head, the pair of dark eyes looking into the camera. He reached up to adjust the white band on his cuff before opening his mouth, “Without her, Gu Enterprise is nothing but a pile of dirt. As for the ten-year plan, that’s even more of a joke. I’ve heard her mention it once, and she said that if she wanted to, she could enter the global market anytime she wanted, but she was just too lazy to do it.”

“President Luo, the ‘she’ that you mention is…”

“Gu Enterprise’s Second Miss, no, it’s Miss Gu.” Luo Wenlang looked straight at the reporter who had asked the question.

“What is your relationship with her?” The reporter was stunned for a moment to have the attention of the young man, before he snapped out of his surprise and followed up with the question. “You’ve heard that Second Miss Gu has passed away in an accident, are you wearing that white band[1] for her?”

Luo Wenlang lowered his head. “I really wanted to get to know her, it’s unfortunate.” It was unfortunate that he wouldn’t ever have the chance to now.

This simple remark caused a huge tidal wave in all the media and financial world.

[1] In Chinese funeral etiquette, the white band is worn on the arms to signify that they are mourning the death of the deceased.