Spoiled Eldest Miss x Two-faced Madman

CHAPTER 52: It Feels Like I Can Never See Him Again.

　　In the blink of an eye, a man had died, and everyone’s expression changed drastically in shock.

　　“You dare, you insolent wretch!” Bishui Sword Master shouted, his long sword flashing from its sheath. A silver arc of light split the air, leaving a trail of residual shadows.

　　Among the gathered crowd, Bishui Sword Master was the undisputed leader. Nearing fifty, he was an established master swordsman of the older generation. His swordsmanship was superb, skilled in both offense and defense, and he ranked among the top three in the martial world's swordsman rankings.

　　As soon as Bishui Sword Master made his move, the man in the demon mask no longer bothered with idle words. With a cold snort, he met the attack head-on.

　　“¹Shibo, I’ll help you!”

　　One after another, people wielding weapons joined in, surrounding the masked man to take him down together.

　　At the same time, a flood of masked figures dressed in black surged in from outside. Many of them bore the markings of the Demonic Sect, charging in with fierce battle cries and merciless attacks.

　　The representatives from the major sects quickly drew their weapons to engage in battle.

　　Meanwhile, smaller sects took the opportunity to retreat amidst the chaos. Their strength and martial skill were limited—running was the wisest choice.

　　Blades clashed, swords flashed, and weapons met with a ringing chorus—the entire hall was thrown into utter chaos.

　　Jinshe Villa’s master, Jin You, had already locked the manual back into the wooden box at the first sign of trouble. With panic all over his face, he clutched the box tightly and tried to flee.

　　More than anyone, he understood that the Demonic Sect’s ambush must have something to do with the secret manual in his hands.

　　However, he had only taken two steps when a figure suddenly blocked his path. It was a curvaceous woman in a sheer red gauze dress, the snow-white skin of her chest barely concealed. Her face was caked with thick powder, and her lips were painted a bright, blood-red hue.

　　Jin You’s expression changed. “Protector Mei! You're Mei Xi!”

　　The woman covered her red lips and let out a giggle, her delicate frame shaking with laughter. “That’s right, Líng Shé Sword Master… it’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”

　　Jin You's expression was solemn as he placed the wooden box into the arms of the young man behind him. “Lin’er, go hide somewhere safe. Wait for Father to return.”

　　With that, he gave Jin Lin a push, then reached for his waist. A gentle motion along his belt unfastened a jade clasp. With a swift pull, he drew out a long, slender soft sword that looked like a stream of white silk!

　　As the soft sword was unsheathed, its blade—thin and flexible—quivered in the air, emitting a faint buzzing sound like a swarm of frenzied bees.

　　This was none other than the famed Líng Shé Sword. Its blade was coated with a layer of gold, which shimmered with fine golden flashes as it moved, giving it its name.

　　With the Líng Shé Sword in hand, the scholarly air between Jin You’s brows vanished, replaced by a steely determination.

　　“Come then, the renowned Protector Mei. Today, I’ll test your skill for myself.”

　　Mei Xi couldn’t help but chuckle, her eyes glimmering with amusement. She smiled sweetly. “Swordmaster of Líng Shé, let me see what your precious blade looks like after ten years of hiding. Don’t let me down, hmm?”

　　Even before her words faded, two thin willow-leaf blades appeared silently in her hands. Plum blossom engravings adorned the hilts, and a red groove ran along each blade. Whether it was lacquer or the dried blood of countless victims over the years was anyone’s guess.

　　On one side, Jin You and Mei Xi faced off. On the other, Bishui Sword Master clashed blades with Demon Mask.

　　The Demonic Sect had nearly gone all out this time. After all, it was the ‘debut’ of their sect leader. Each sect member had already chosen their target among the righteous forces.

　　Amid the chaos and uproar, An Jiu finally recovered from her initial dizziness.

　　The air reeked of blood. A casual glance showed someone’s throat pierced clean through by a sword, blood spurting from their artery like a geyser. She nearly vomited up last night’s dinner.

　　So this was the martial world—its true color woven from blood and valor.

　　Never before had An Jiu so deeply understood the meaning of that phrase.

　　He Ziqing was the fastest to react at the table. The moment Demon Mask spoke, he sensed danger. Before the chaos fully erupted, he quickly moved An Jiu and Pei Ji to a concealed, unnoticed corner, then rushed off with Lin Qingyan to confront the Demonic Sect.

　　He Ziqing was the textbook righteous male lead—noble and loyal, with a heart full of justice. It was simply impossible for him to stand by and do nothing in the face of the Demonic Sect's attack.

　　“Feeling better now?”

　　A gentle voice spoke beside her. An Jiu, clutching her aching forehead, looked up and realized she was leaning against Pei Ji.

　　Demon Mask had used internal energy to transmit his voice when he first appeared. Without martial arts of her own and no knowledge of how to guard against such a technique, she had been heavily affected—her head had been spinning for a while.

　　At the moment, Pei Ji sat in his wheelchair, and An Jiu was seated beside him, her body tilted, resting against his shoulder.

　　His cool fingertips gently pressed against her temple, massaging slowly. The dizziness faded bit by bit.

　　They were in quite a good spot—hidden behind a folding screen that blocked most of their view. An Jiu couldn’t see the bloodbath in the main hall, and those outside couldn’t see them either.

　　“Much better. I’m fine now.”

　　An Jiu sat up straight, and Pei Ji slowly withdrew his hand.

　　Outside the screen, the sounds of shouting and fighting rose and fell in waves, making An Jiu feel increasingly uneasy.

　　She wanted to run—just like the unnoticed maidservants who had fled in a panic—she wanted to get far away from this place of danger.

　　But she couldn’t. She couldn’t leave Pei Ji behind.

　　Even knowing he was the main villain, even knowing he had his own means of protecting himself and was far from the harmless appearance he showed—she still couldn’t abandon him.

　　Just then, someone suddenly ducked behind the screen, clutching their head in panic. At the sight of the familiar purple brocade robe, who else could it be but Ming Yi?

　　“Ming Yi!” An Jiu called out quickly.

　　The moment Ming Yi saw her, he immediately stopped in his tracks, eyes lighting up as if he had stumbled upon a fellow countryman in a foreign land.

　　“An Jiu, thank goodness you’re okay!”

　　He quickly strode over to her side, his face faintly pale and his expression filled with lingering fear—clearly still shaken.

　　“An Jiu, it’s terrifying out there. They started fighting and the blood’s everywhere! Why do they start killing at the drop of a hat? Can’t they just talk it out first?!”

　　He must’ve been really scared—he was talking nonstop, grumbling in a flurry.

　　An Jiu had been tense and uneasy all this time, but hearing him rant like that made her involuntarily relax.

　　She couldn’t help but smile slightly and teased, “That’s just how the jianghu is. You’ve been wandering it for so long and still don’t know that?”

　　Ming Yi muttered, “When have I ever seen anything like this?”

　　Fair enough—this kind of full-scale Demonic Sect assault only happened once every few decades. Normally, no one ever witnessed it.

　　Whenever these two were together, they couldn’t stop talking. It was always like that. Maybe it was because they were too nervous and needed something—anything—to take their minds off the fear.

　　So to Pei Ji, it looked like the moment Ming Yi showed up, An Jiu's entire world lit up.

　　Just a moment ago, she had been pale and dazed with fright. But now, faced with Ming Yi, her eyes sparkled, her voice grew livelier, and she even smiled gently at his teasing.

　　Seeing the curve of her eyes as she smiled, Pei Ji lowered his gaze silently, his fingers unconsciously tightening around the folded fan in his hand. The coolness of the white jade ribs seeped into his fingertips, then down into his heart.

　　This woman… it felt like she would never see him.

　　Bang!

　　A sudden loud crash echoed out.

　　The folding screen in front of them was struck violently by something and swayed precariously.

　　Their conversation cut off instantly. All three of them turned toward the source of the noise in alarm.

　　The next second, a sharp squelch rang out from the golden screen. A splash of dark liquid burst forth, slowly trailing down the surface, soaking into the brocade embroidered with mountains, rivers, and lakes.

　　“Well, well. Looks like we’ve got a few rats hiding back here.”

　　It seemed the voice had picked up on the sound of sharp inhaling behind the screen. Right after that line, a gleaming blade suddenly pierced straight through the screen, slicing a huge gash through the middle of the embroidered clouds and rivers.

　　Through the newly torn opening, the trio locked eyes with the intruder.

　　He was a man with a scruffy beard and a fearsome scar stretching across his face. In his hand was a massive cleaver, which he swung with terrifying ease. With just a few sweeps, the ornate screen was chopped down into a pile of useless wooden debris.

　　An Jiu: “!!!”

　　Ming Yi: “!!!”

　　As the two stared wide-eyed at the scar-faced man, he was also sizing them up. An Jiu didn’t notice the brief flicker of surprise in his eyes the moment he looked at her.

　　Before the sect launched the attack, their members had received a special mission—personally issued by the sect leader.

　　The order was to kill a woman—and to do it in front of her lover, so he’d be forced to watch it happen with his own eyes.

　　Absurd as it sounded, the sect members didn’t care about logic or decency. As long as it involved killing, they’d do it without hesitation.

　　Especially when the order came directly from the new sect leader—a total madman. If they failed, the leader’s fury would surely lead to a fate far worse than whatever awaited the unfortunate lovers.

　　The scar-faced man had seen the portraits of the targets. Now, standing before him were the very same pair from the mission: the little lovers.

　　His gaze lingered on the pale, terrified girl in red. His eyes flickered with a trace of amazement.

　　This woman… she’s actually pretty damn good-looking. Not even the Saintess of their sect could compare.

　　But then he frowned slightly.

　　Wait a minute—this woman’s a normal person?

　　Not just her—the young man clinging to her was just as ordinary. Only the cripple beside them had a bit of martial ability, but not much.

　　The scar-faced man was confused. Why would the sect leader want two ordinary people dead? Could it be… he had a thing for someone else’s wife, but got rejected, so now he’s out for revenge in a jealous rage?

　　As these thoughts ran through his mind, the scar-faced man didn’t waste any more time. He grinned broadly and said, “Tough luck, huh? You just happened to run into Grandpa Scar today. I don’t usually kill ordinary folk, but orders are orders. I plan on claiming a reward from the sect leader later—so sorry, sweetheart, nothing personal.”

　　Though he was known to have some twisted principles in the demonic sect—like sparing ordinary people—this time, the order came from the top. If he wanted to live and maybe even get a bonus, this pretty girl had to die.

　　With that, he raised the long blade in his hand, his figure blurring in a burst of speed as he shot toward An Jiu like a streak of lightning.

　　His words rang in their ears, but while Ming Yi didn’t fully grasp them, An Jiu caught onto a few key details instantly.

　　Orders from above? What kind of orders? To kill them?

　　Wait—why was he only targeting her?

　　Who wanted her dead? The Demonic Sect leader? ²Ming Ye wanted her dead? Why?! She hadn’t done anything to him!

　　As the cold flash of the blade came slicing toward her, An Jiu froze completely, unable to move. Her mind was blank, save for one furious, blood-curdling thought:

　　Ming Ye—you just wait. I, An Jiu, will remember this grudge!!!

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¹Glossary of common martial arts terms often seen in wuxia/xianxia novels:

1. Shīfù (师父) – Master/Teacher. The person who teaches martial arts (or cultivation). A respectful title.

2. Shīzū (师祖) – Grandmaster. Your master's master. Literally ‘ancestor master.’

3. Shībó (师伯) – Senior Uncle-Master. Your master's senior fellow disciple (i.e., they share the same master, but he's older in seniority).

4. Shīshū (师叔) – Junior Uncle-Master. Your master's junior fellow disciple (same master, but younger in seniority).

5. Shīmǔ (师母) – Master’s wife. Used to refer to your shifu’s wife, even if she doesn't directly teach you.

6. Shīxiōng (师兄) – Senior Martial Brother. Male disciple older than you under the same master/sect.

7. Shīdì (师弟) – Junior Martial Brother. Male disciple younger than you under the same master/sect.

8. Shījiě (师姐) – Senior Martial Sister. Female disciple older than you under the same master/sect.

9. Shīmèi (师妹) – Junior Martial Sister. Female disciple younger than you under the same master/sect.

10. Ménpài (门派) – Sect or Clan The martial arts group or school you belong to.

²It's Ming Ye (冥夜) — not Ming Yi. The name 冥夜 literally means ‘Dark Night’ or ‘Nether Night’. ‘冥’ can mean dark, obscure, or even the underworld, while ‘夜’ means night. It gives a mysterious, intimidating vibe—perfect for someone from the demonic sect.

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T/N: Hey guys! Just a heads-up—the last sentence is a little confusing since it mentions Ming Ye, but I remembered that the Demonic Sect Leader’s name is Hua Xuan. Sooo... either the author forgot, or there’s more going on that hasn’t been revealed yet. I haven’t translated the next part yet since I ran out of time today.

Also, even though I said I already read this novel, I kinda skimmed through it before—just checking if it was worth translating. Now that I’m actually working on the translation, I’m reading it slowly alongside you all. So yeah... I’m just as confused as you are right now, and I can’t wait to find out what’s next. Haha! 😆

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