Spoiled Eldest Miss x Two-faced Madman

CHAPTER 76: She Actually Dared To Betray Him?!

　　Fei Chen was the kind of guy who did what he said. That same day, he let them all out. When they walked out of the Discipline Hall, Pei Ji and Ah Qi were giving An Jiu very weird looks.

　　An Jiu could totally guess what was going through their heads. If she had to sum it up with a meme: [Spill it—what shady deal did you make with that monk?]

　　I mean, how else would just one meeting with Fei Chen result in everyone being released?

　　There had to be some secret deal going on behind the scenes.

　　Ah Qi was never one to hold back, and they hadn’t even stepped out the door yet before she loudly said, “Miss An, what did you say to that bald monk? Why’d he suddenly let us go?”

　　Before An Jiu could respond, Fei Chen spoke up, “This has nothing to do with An Tanyue. We’ve found new clues, and the truth has come to light. I was at fault over the past few days. Please accept my apology.”

　　Maybe because he felt guilty for accusing them, Fei Chen didn’t even mind being called ‘bald monk’ and kept his tone super polite.

　　But the moment he said that, both master and servant turned to look at An Jiu in perfect sync.

　　No way it has nothing to do with her. She goes out to talk to him, and suddenly he ‘finds the truth’? Yeah, sure. What a coincidence.

　　Compared to Ah Qi’s obvious suspicion, Pei Ji looked much calmer and more collected. With a gentle smile on his pale face, he said warmly, “I’m sure there’s a reason for all this. We won’t dwell on such a small matter.”

　　Then he paused slightly and asked, with casual curiosity, “But I wonder, who’s the real culprit? From what Master Fei Chen said earlier, it seems like you've already found the person. Can we clear our names now?”

　　Fei Chen nodded. “Of course. We’ve confirmed the intruder that night was someone from Qiansha Pavilion. It had nothing to do with you.”

　　“Qiansha Pavilion? How did you find that out?” Ah Qi asked quickly.

　　Fei Chen glanced sideways at her, still calm. “It’s confidential. I’m afraid I can’t reveal more.”

　　“I’m guessing Miss An told you something…” Pei Ji said with a gentle smile, his long, narrow eyes subtly locking onto An Jiu.

　　His face stayed serene, but underneath his sleeve, his hand was clenched into a tight fist, his fingernails digging into his palm.

　　Pei Ji wasn’t just some pretty face; he was sharp. Even if Fei Chen didn’t say anything outright, he picked up enough from those few words to make a terrifying guess.

　　An Jiu had betrayed him.

　　No, more precisely, she had betrayed Fei Yi.

　　She must have told Fei Chen about Fei Yi and even pinned the whole stolen Bodhi Seed incident on him. That’s how she got Fei Chen to shift his suspicions toward Qiansha Pavilion.

　　Sure, it was Qiansha Pavilion who did it, and they weren’t afraid of Wuyin Temple investigating. But still, Pei Ji was fuming, shocked, and furious.

　　How dare she?

　　She actually dared to betray him?

　　Where did she even get the guts?

　　It didn’t take long for Pei Ji to figure it out—where her sudden courage came from.

　　Because when they were heading down the mountain, guess who tagged along?

　　Fei Chen.

　　When asked why, Fei Chen said it was because he had wrongly accused them. As an apology, he was going to escort them all the way to meet up with He Ziqing.

　　Pei Ji’s gaze flicked toward the red-dressed girl up ahead, practically bouncing with joy as she looked up at Fei Chen, face glowing with happiness.

　　Of course. That’s why she suddenly got so bold—why she wasn’t scared that ‘Fei Yi’ might come after her.

　　She’d found herself a powerful backer.

　　Who knew what she had told Fei Chen earlier that morning, or what she had done? Otherwise, why would that stubborn monk suddenly change his mind, come down the mountain, and personally act as her bodyguard?

　　The more Pei Ji thought about it, the hotter the rage burned in his chest. It felt like his insides were on fire, even his knuckles turned white from clenching too hard.

　　If he didn’t have to keep up the act, if Fei Chen wasn’t standing right there, he would have already grabbed her by the throat and demanded to know how she dared to betray him.

　　But the worst part? She totally had him cornered.

　　With Fei Chen, a top-level fighter, now sticking close to them, Pei Ji had no chance to make a move.

　　“Young Master, we should go,” came a quiet voice from behind. It was Ah Qi, reminding him.

　　The Bodhi Seed had already been taken back to Qiansha Pavilion. If Pei Ji wanted to absorb its energy, they had to leave now.

　　His best move at this point was to split from the group.

　　Get away from Fei Chen’s watchful eyes. Once he absorbed the Bodhi Seed’s power, then he’d come back.

　　That was the original plan anyway—head back to Qiansha Pavilion after descending the mountain. Now that Fei Chen had set his sights on the Pavilion, they had even more reason to return quickly and use the seed.

　　Pei Ji’s dark eyes were filled with shadows as he stared at the girl and the monk walking side by side ahead of him.

　　The girl’s red dress fluttered, her figure elegant and light. The monk stood tall in his golden-red kasaya, practically glowing in the sun.

　　It should have been a normal, uneventful scene, but in Pei Ji’s eyes, it felt like a needle stabbing straight into him, so sharp and blinding it hurt.

　　He shut his eyes abruptly. When Ah Qi nudged him again, he answered coldly, “Wait a little longer.”

　　“Wait for what? We’re almost at the foot of the mountain,” Ah Qi asked, confused.

　　Wait for what?

　　Yeah... he wanted to know that too. What exactly was he waiting for?

　　Just then, a soft, startled cry came from up ahead. Pei Ji’s eyes snapped open. He saw the monk holding the girl steady. She had stumbled, and his face showed genuine concern.

　　“An Tanyue, the path is slippery. Be careful.”

　　The first thing the girl in red did, instead of thanking him, was instinctively turn around... and glance behind her.

　　That one glance landed straight into the deep eyes of the man in white. Judging by his expression, he’d probably been watching her for a while.

　　The girl froze for a second, then quickly looked away like she’d been shocked.

　　Her ears turned a little red, probably from embarrassment. She quickly steadied herself and pulled her hand back, quietly saying to Fei Chen, “Thank you, Master Fei Chen.”

　　Fei Chen still looked as calm and aloof as ever, like he hadn’t noticed the girl’s flustered state at all. “No need.”

　　Pei Ji used to always feel like he couldn’t read An Jiu at all, like she was unpredictable and hard to figure out.

　　But now, watching from the sidelines, it suddenly felt like a blindfold had been ripped from his eyes. For the first time ever, things were crystal clear.

　　Her ears were red. That kind of joy was written all over her face.

　　Don’t be fooled by how quickly she pulled her hand back. For all he knew, that slip just now might have been completely on purpose, just to get close to that bald monk.

　　Pei Ji knew An Jiu too well. Back when she liked Fei Yi, hadn’t she used every trick in the book to flirt and seduce him?

　　His gaze locked onto the blush blooming on her ears under the sun, and his fingers unconsciously tightened. The delicate jade fan bone in his palm cracked without him realizing.

　　A soft crack echoed in his ears, snapping him out of it.

　　It was like someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over his head, instantly cooling his boiling thoughts.

　　Why was he even caring about who she liked?

　　This flirtatious, fickle, always-changing woman wasn’t worth his attention. Right?

　　Thinking that, Pei Ji shut his eyes and didn’t look at the pair again.

　　Soon, they all reached the foot of the mountain.

　　Ah Qi looked like he wanted to say something, but when he saw how terrible his young master’s face looked, he swallowed his words and said nothing.

　　Once they passed the mountain gate, the group headed to a nearby town to wait for a reply from He Ziqing and his companion.

　　In the jianghu, people had their own ways of sending messages. Qiansha Pavilion used owls, and Zhùjiàn Villa used carrier pigeons.

　　An Jiu soon received word from Lin Qingyan. Turns out they were currently in Wuyi Mountain, not far from here.

　　He Ziqing still hadn’t found the person he was looking for—rumor had it that person was hiding deep in the mountains. The two of them had been searching for clues but hadn’t found anything yet.

　　If there was nothing urgent, An Jiu could just wait for them here in town.

　　“They’re still in the mountains,” she said, “and told us to wait for them outside…”

　　Just as An Jiu finished speaking, a calm male voice came from beside her: “Apologies. I, Pei, haven’t been feeling well. I plan to return to Medicine King Valley to rest for a while. I’m afraid I won’t be able to stay with you two any longer.”

　　An Jiu turned her head and saw the man in white looking a bit pale, with a tired, worn-out look in his eyes and expression.

　　When he noticed her looking, he raised his hand to cover his lips and let out a soft cough, then looked up at her weakly.

　　An Jiu seemed a bit stunned and stammered, “Y-You’re going back to Medicine King Valley? You’re not going to wait for Brother He and Lin Qingyan?”

　　Pei Ji spoke gently, “Along the way, I didn’t really do much. Qingyan has Brother He with her—she doesn’t need me. And I’m just a useless person. I don’t want to slow you down, so it’s better if I go back to Medicine King Valley.”

　　“But Brother He asked you to take care of me. How can you just leave like this?”

　　The girl in the red dress frowned, clearly upset. “And who said you were a burden? Did someone say something to you?”

　　Pei Ji looked at her deeply and gave a faint, empty smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Now that you have the Buddha’s son by your side, I can rest easy. As for who said it… don’t you already know, Miss An?”

　　That question hit her like a slap. She froze, suddenly realizing she was the one who always called him useless.

　　Her face went pale, and she bit her lip, her voice turning soft and fragile. “Pei Ji, don’t take what I said before seriously. I didn’t… I wasn’t really calling you useless. Don’t leave, okay? Let’s wait for Brother He together…”

　　She stepped in front of him, bent down next to his wheelchair, and gently tugged on his sleeve, giving it a little shake.

　　It was a gesture she’d done many times before. Pei Ji was used to it. In the past, it always wore down his patience, and he’d end up giving in to her strange, unreasonable requests.

　　But not this time.

　　His long lashes lowered, and a layer of icy frost settled in his dark, narrow eyes, cold and unmoving.

　　He still wore a smile, but there was no warmth in it at all. “Since Miss An seems so reluctant to part with me, why not come with me to Medicine King Valley?”

　　As soon as he said that, her pale fingers, which had been clutching his white sleeve, suddenly jerked as if she’d been shocked, and she quickly let go.

　　The girl’s eyes darted around nervously, clearly worried someone might’ve overheard that.

　　But before Pei Ji could notice anything, she quickly masked her expression, stood up, and took two steps back like she was trying to draw a line between them. Then she raised her voice and said crisply, “I-I'm not reluctant at all! Don’t flatter yourself, okay?!”

　　After blurting that out, she bolted off and ran to Fei Chen, who was standing not far away. As if she was making sure someone heard her, she said loudly, “I’m not going to Medicine King Valley! I’m going to find Brother He! If you wanna leave, then leave! Master Fei Chen, can you take me to find Brother He and the others?”

　　Fei Chen looked at Pei Ji, then at An Jiu. Whether he didn’t care or already saw this coming, there wasn’t the slightest hint of surprise on his face.　　

　　Fei Chen gave a light nod and said, “If you wish to, of course you can.”

　　Pei Ji’s lips, which were usually curled up in a polite smile by habit, pressed into a straight line.

　　He wasn’t actually surprised that An Jiu made this choice.

　　The only reason she tried to keep him around was probably just so she’d have someone to wait on her—how could she possibly actually not want him to leave?

　　He knew exactly where he stood in her heart—no one knew better than him.

　　How ridiculous… He actually believed she might want to go with him, even asked that stupid question like a fool.

　　His chest suddenly throbbed, like a sharp needle had stabbed right into it.

　　He looked down without a word, pressing his slender fingers lightly over his chest. His already pale face looked even more bloodless now, making his dark eyebrows and eyes stand out even more, like a delicate ink painting.

　　The poison had long stopped acting up. So why… why did it still hurt?

　　Thankfully, the pain disappeared as quickly as it came, like a dream fading into nothing. Even with his medical skills, he couldn’t trace where it came from.

　　He lowered his hand, clearly losing interest in everything, and turned to Ah Qi. “Let’s go. We’re heading back.”

　　At the edge of the street, An Jiu stood with Fei Chen, watching that master and servant climb into the carriage and slowly disappear from sight.

　　Fei Chen said, “You don’t need to worry. Once I find Xian Wuming and bring him to justice, he won’t be able to threaten you again.”

　　An Jiu kept her eyes on the distance for a long time before answering.

　　She gave a faint smile and said, “Let’s hope so.”

　

　　

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Author's Note:

It's about to get messy, my darlings! The second half of this book is pure melodrama! Seriously! Consider this your major spoiler warning!

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