Spoiled Eldest Miss x Two-faced Madman

CHAPTER 2: The Flower Thief Has Accomplices?

　　

　　An Jiu hesitated for a long time before summoning her courage to ask, “Are you sure that completing the mission will allow me to go home?”

　　The system replied coldly,【The system does not lie.】

　　An Jiu took a deep breath. Even though she was panicking inside, she forced herself to stay rational and analyze the situation.

　　This system could enter her mind, hear her thoughts, and communicate through telepathy. It was clearly no ordinary system.

　　Since she was already here, it seemed like there was no other choice but to trust it.

　　An Jiu was not one to sit back and wait for her fate. For the sake of her life, for the sake of returning to the modern world and living her life as a glamorous heiress, she had to try to complete the mission. 

　　Even though this mission seemed incredibly difficult and her hopes were slim, she wouldn't give up easily. 

　　As a wealthy heiress, An Jiu was no ordinary spoiled and incompetent young lady. She had received an elite education from a young age, and even when facing difficulties, she could quickly calm down and formulate a plan in her mind.

　　For someone as psychologically dark as Pei Ji, the best way to make him fall in love with her was to care for him, cherish him, and warm him, allowing him to experience the beauty of the world and heal the pain and shadows in his heart.

　　The book “A Sword of Flying Frost” didn't actually detail how Pei Ji fell in love with Lin Qingyan.  

　　They appeared as childhood sweethearts from the start; in everyone's eyes, Pei Ji's meticulous care for Lin Qingyan clearly indicated that he had long been deeply in love with her.

　　They knew each other since childhood and were together day and night. Lin Qingyan was beautiful, lively, and kind, so it was only natural that Pei Ji fell in love with her.

　　In fact, the Pei and Lin families had even made a betrothal agreement for their children before they were even born.

　　However, after Pei Ji was born disabled, this verbal engagement was broken off.

　　It was said that it was the Pei family who took the initiative to cancel it. Pei Ji was disabled, with both legs crippled and poisoned, and no one knew when he might die from the poison. The Pei family didn't want to waste Lin Qingyan's time.

　　Everyone treated Pei Ji like a cripple. He couldn't walk, his meridians were severed, his limbs were weak, and even a five-year-old child could push him to the ground, making him unable to even crawl.

　　The book described a scene where Pei Ji recalled his first encounter with Lin Qingyan.

　　He was eight years old then, still suffering from the lingering effects of the poison and unable to move from his wheelchair. Lin Qingyan, accompanied by her parents, visited the Medicine King Valley and was playing in the garden when she stumbled upon Pei Ji who had fallen to the ground.

　　It had just rained in the garden, and the little boy lay in the mud, struggling in vain. He looked as pathetic as a stray dog that had fallen into the water.

　　It was Lin Qingyan who helped him up and sent him back to his room. She didn't look down on him or treat him differently. 

　　That day, the beautiful little girl was like a ray of light, descending into Pei Ji's dark world.

　　Of course, that description was An Jiu's imagination.

　　However, she guessed it wasn't far off. For Pei Ji, Lin Qingyan might have been his light, his salvation?

　　“Ugh, this is tough…”

　　An Jiu had a headache. Could she really break into a relationship built on such deep-rooted affection from childhood?

　　Whatever, let's try!

　　According to An Jiu's judgment, the reason why Pei Ji became so dark and unstable ultimately stemmed from his physical condition. Imagine anyone being unable to walk, sitting in a wheelchair for over a decade, and suffering excruciating pain from poison every month—anyone would become psychologically unstable.

　　She had just finished reading the book before she time-traveled, and she remembered the plot clearly.

　　The book mentioned that there were only two ways to save Pei Ji. One involved finding someone whose body was parasitized by an insect called “Twin-soul Gu,” then having that person consummate the relationship with Pei Ji to absorb the toxins from his body.

　　This was a life-for-a-life method. It seemed simple, but it was incredibly difficult to perform.

　　First, the person had to be a virgin born on the same day, month, and year as Pei Ji. This alone was nearly impossible to find.

　　Secondly, the “Twin-soul Gu” insect was a rare and incredibly valuable type of insect, and even Pei Ji, who had secretly searched for it for over a decade, hadn't found any trace of it.

　　Finally, the transfer of poison had to be mutually voluntary. The woman would experience excruciating pain during the process, a living hell. If she resisted in any way, the transfer would fail.

　　If the transfer of poison was successful, the woman would die.

　　This method was only a way to detoxify; it couldn't heal Pei Ji's severed meridians. 

　　Therefore, in the book, Pei Ji set this method aside and directly sought out a martial arts manual. The manual could repair his meridians, and once they were restored, he would be able to practice martial arts and walk again. He originally planned to strengthen his abilities before looking for a way to detoxify himself. By the end of the story, he had sent someone to the southern frontier to gather information about the “Twin-soul Gu,” but unfortunately, everything fell apart when he faced Lin Qingyan and He Ziqing. All of his efforts came to nothing.

　　“Or, should I help him find the Twin-soul Gu? And get the martial arts manual for him ahead of time?”

　　An Jiu poked the system in her mind, “System, what do you think?”

　　The system answered promptly:【According to the system's analysis, this plan is too difficult. With the host's current abilities, it's unlikely to succeed.】

　　“???” An Jiu was furious. “Are you here to help me or to discourage me?”

　　【The system is simply stating the facts.】

　　An Jiu couldn't help but speak up, “Can you stop putting down my efforts and trying to make yourself look good? We're in the same boat here. If I don't complete my task, you won't get anything good either!”

　　As soon as she finished speaking, An Jiu suddenly raised her hand to cover her mouth.

　　Oh no!

　　Sure enough, the next second, she heard faint footsteps slowly approaching her.

　　“Hehe, little beauty, so you were hiding here. Don't hide, big brother is here to take care of you…”

　　A lewd voice sounded, vaguely reaching her ears through the closed cabinet door. An Jiu's heart pounded in her chest.

　　At this moment, An Jiu was experiencing the first scene of the female supporting character's appearance in the book.

　　Lin Qingyan, He Ziqing, and Pei Ji were traveling and arrived in a town called Jiufang City. Rumors of a flower thief were circulating in the city, and many innocent young girls had been victimized.

　　Naturally, the righteous protagonists wouldn't stand idly by. The male and female leads worked together to solve the case, searching for clues about the flower thief, and finally capturing him and rescuing the kidnapped girls.

　　Among these kidnapped girls was the female supporting character, An Jiu.

　　An Jiu wasn't from Jiufang City; she was originally the daughter of an official from the Capital. She had fled a forced marriage and came to Jiufang City to seek refuge with her childhood wet nurse.

　　An Jiu came from a prestigious family, raised with a delicate figure and striking beauty, her demeanor completely different from the local girls. As soon as she arrived in Jiufang City, she caught the eye of the flower thief.

　　Late at night, the flower thief snuck into the mansion and knocked out the servants. An Jiu had also heard the recent rumors. She had just arrived and was sleeping lightly when she was awakened by the noises outside. Realizing something was wrong, she quietly hid in the wardrobe.

　　Just then, An Jiu crossed over, and the person outside was indeed the flower thief.

　　In the book, An Jiu was saved at dawn.

　　Now, it was the dead of night, which meant she would be kidnapped by the flower thief for the entire night. During this night, she had to rely on her own strength to protect herself and avoid being violated by the flower thief until the male lead came to rescue her at dawn.

　　An Jiu thought: ¹“I might as well just be a shark bait!”

　　The footsteps grew closer, and the laughter became increasingly lewd. An Jiu dared not make a sound, holding her breath as she desperately knocked on the system: “System, system, come out quickly! Give me a golden finger! I'm just a helpless young lady, how am I supposed to deal with this flower thief?!”

　　【Please explore on your own.】

　　An Jiu exclaimed, “Useless system! What good are you?!”

　　Suddenly, the closed cabinet door burst open. An Jiu looked up to see a dark figure standing in front of her. The room was unlit, and it seemed like a storm was brewing outside. Amidst the flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder, she caught sight of the sinister smile spreading across the man's face.

　　An Jiu gasped, thinking bitterly that this scene could easily be used for a horror movie.

　　As she watched the lewd man reaching out towards her, An Jiu's mind raced. 

　　She couldn't figure out how the An Jiu in the book managed to hold on until the male and female leads came to rescue her.

　　She strained to recall details she had overlooked. If An Jiu in the book could do it, then so could she!

　　Unfortunately, there was too little useful information. An Jiu was just a malicious supporting character, and the author wouldn't waste extra words writing about her. She appeared only to be rescued, and no one knew what had happened before that.

　　An Jiu racked her brain but couldn't come up with a solution.

　　The flower thief's hand gripped her arm, preparing to pick her up.

　　An Jiu didn't resist; she knew that resisting would be futile and would only provoke him further. According to the book, the flower thief would take her away to his territory, and she still had time to think of a strategy.

　　Perhaps seeing her compliant and not screaming, the flower thief was quite pleased. He raised his hand and touched her shoulder, and An Jiu suddenly found herself unable to speak.

　　He pressed on her mute acupoint and then hoisted her over his shoulder.

　　At the same time, the useless system made a sound:【Crisis detected for the host. Would you like to transfer the original memories?】

　　An Jiu's eyes lit up, and she quickly responded with her thoughts, “Transfer, transfer, transfer!”

　　With a booming sound in her mind, An Jiu suddenly received a series of memories—those were the eighteen years of the supporting character “An Jiu's” life.

　　An Jiu felt dizzy but finally understood why “An Jiu” was able to avoid being harmed in the end.

　　Although An Jiu was bold enough to escape a forced marriage alone, she wasn't truly reckless. She had a small snake that she had raised since childhood. The snake was quite intelligent, and anyone who tried to harm her would get bitten.

　　The snake's venom wasn't strong enough to be lethal, but it was enough to paralyze a person for a while, which was sufficient to deal with ordinary foes.

　　In the book, when An Jiu made her appearance, the small snake should have already been dead.

　　Since the small snake didn't appear afterward, An Jiu was being rescued at the moment when the flower thief was tearing her clothes.

　　An Jiu speculated that when the flower thief encountered the original host, he faced significant resistance. As a result, the flower thief knocked An Jiu unconscious, and the small snake bit him. They both fell into unconsciousness, which delayed things for an entire night.

　　By the time the male and female leads arrived, the flower thief had just brought An Jiu back to his lair and was preparing to take advantage of her.

　　Having learned from this experience, it was likely that the flower thief had killed the small snake in advance. After all, the snake was harmless, and once precautions were taken, it posed no threat to someone skilled in martial arts.

　　An Jiu strained to recall a seemingly insignificant plot detail.

　　At that time, An Jiu was being rescued by He Ziqing, who draped a cloak over her. An Jiu knelt on the ground, crying so hard that she could barely catch her breath. Everyone thought she was simply terrified, but now that An Jiu reflected on it, she realized that An Jiu was probably also crying for her pet snake.

　　Suppressing her discomfort as she lay on the flower thief's shoulder, An Jiu felt a slight itch on her wrist.

　　On her left wrist was a thin silver ring, about the thickness of her pinky finger. If one didn't look closely, they might think it was just a silver bracelet, but in fact, it was a small silver snake.

　　The small snake slowly coiled around her wrist, its scales feeling cool to the touch. It seemed to have just been awakened, flicking its tongue in and out, eager to move.

　　Most people would be terrified in this situation, likely crying and panicking. However, An Jiu, having received the original host's memories, felt an inexplicable sense of closeness to the small snake and didn't find it frightening at all.

　　After struggling for a while, she finally managed to move a few fingers and gently stroked the small snake's cool body to calm it down.

　　Now wasn't the right moment to act. The flower thief was currently sprinting across rooftops while carrying her. If she bit him, she could escape, but she wouldn't encounter the male and female leads that way.

　　An Jiu decided to follow the plot and wait until they reached the flower thief's lair to take action.

　　Time passed quickly, and soon the flower thief brought An Jiu to a dilapidated temple outside the city. Indeed, his hideout was an old, crumbling temple.

　　Tsk, tsk, what a lowly hideout for a thief.

　　An Jiu was thrown to the ground, and at the same time, there was a loud clap of thunder in the night sky, followed by heavy raindrops.

　　“Hehe, little beauty, you've been waiting impatiently, haven't you? Big brother is here to take care of you now~!”

　　The man, lustful and impatient, lunged towards her. An Jiu's heart raced, but her eyes were calm, her fingers wrapped around the coiled snake, ready to strike.

　　However, before the snake could act, the flower thief's movements suddenly stopped. Then, with a thud, he fell to the ground.

　　An Jiu's heart skipped a beat. At that moment, a bolt of lightning struck down, and An Jiu squinted to see a tall figure standing in front of the temple.

　　The figure was clad in white, his back straight, his black hair cascading down to his waist. He wore a delicate silver mask on his face, and from a distance, he looked at her amidst the flashing lightning and roaring thunder.

　　An Jiu: “???”

　　“System, you explain this to me. Why does the flower thief have an accomplice!?”

________________

Glossary:

¹“I might as well just be a shark bait!”: It means An Jiu feels her situation is hopeless and she's willing to accept whatever negative consequences may follow, even if it means facing certain danger or destruction. The imagery of shark bait highlights the inevitability and the perilous nature of the situation she face. She's essentially saying, “What's the point of fighting? I'm doomed anyway.”

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