Spoiled Eldest Miss x Two-faced Madman

CHAPTER 88: Maybe, He Likes Her.

　　Pei Ji suddenly made his move, catching everyone off guard. Even An Jiu was stunned for a good while.

　　She knew better than anyone what Pei Ji’s plan was, and she also knew just how much trouble it would cause for him to reveal his identity at this moment.

　　The reason she called out to him for help was just out of habit.

　　But his response really took her by surprise.

　　Protector Ju had already let his guard down, not taking the ‘crippled’ young divine doctor seriously at all. Caught completely off guard, a silver needle as fine as a strand of hair pierced right into the center of his forehead.

　　Protector Ju only felt a sudden chill between his brows. In the next instant, that subtle chill exploded and swept through his entire body. His vision instantly went dark, and he collapsed to the ground.

　　That silver needle was laced with deadly poison!

　　Even in death, Protector Ju’s face was still frozen in that greasy, perverted smile. His eyes were wide open, as if he had seen something terrifying, but he had no time to react at all. 

　　In just a single breath, one of the Four Great Protectors was instantly killed.

　　Because An Jiu had been dragged along by him, she was also pulled to the ground. She quickly scrambled out from under the now-stiffening corpse, her fingers tightly clutching the thin little snake tail that was hanging from her wrist.

　　She originally planned to use her little snake to escape, but now she didn’t need to.

　　The little snake wasn’t very useful in combat, so An Jiu rarely used it. In the eyes of martial artists, a snake that small could be crushed with just one finger. She really didn’t want it to die.

　　Besides, she hadn’t faced many real dangers so far. The only time she had truly been in danger was when Wu Sheng kidnapped her, and back then, it was her little snake that saved her.

　　As for what happened later with Xian Wuming…

　　At first, the little snake had wanted to bite him, but An Jiu quietly stopped it. Somehow, the little snake seemed to recognize his scent and thought he was someone close to An Jiu. After that, whenever he came near her, the little snake wouldn’t move at all.

　　Just now, when she was grabbed by Protector Ju, An Jiu had looked weak and helpless on the outside, but in reality, her hand was already gripping the little snake, ready to act.

　　Lowering his guard and finding a chance to escape wouldn’t have been that hard.

　　But now, she didn’t need to do anything at all.

　　Protector Ju died in a flash, but Pei Ji didn’t stop moving.

　　Before his body even touched the ground, his snow-white robe flared out midair like a blooming white camellia. The silver needle in his hand swiftly spun around and shot toward the charming woman nearby.

　　That woman was none other than Protector Mei, Mei Xi, one of the Four Great Protectors, who had previously visited Jinshe Villa.

　　After An Jiu escaped, she smartly ran straight to Pei Ji’s wheelchair and crouched down quietly, hugging her knees.

　　In a situation like this, it was better for a weak girl like her who couldn’t even fight a chicken to stay out of the way. Otherwise, she might die without even knowing how it happened.

　　Pei Ji’s eyes stayed fixed on Protector Mei, but his attention was still mostly on the red-clothed girl by his side. He noticed how she obediently ran to his wheelchair, using it as a shield while crouching down, only her big round eyes peeking out at him.

　　The wild, violent emotion swelling in his chest instantly settled down, and the chaos in his mind cleared.

　　Seeing that she was safe and unharmed, Pei Ji finally focused all his energy on the battle that was about to begin.

　　Protector Mei wasn’t slow to react. The moment Protector Ju died, she moved.

　　She drew a strange, twisted longsword. The blade was dark and ancient, bent in several segments, looking like a serpent or a plum branch standing firm in the cold wind.

　　As soon as the sword appeared, a sharp, icy chill swept through the place. Even though the sun was blazing overhead and it was the peak of summer in June, the air temperature suddenly plummeted as if winter had arrived.

　　An Jiu, dressed in her light summer clothes, hugged her arms and shivered from the cold.

　　In the next second, the icy wind vanished. Pei Ji had landed, now standing just a short distance in front of An Jiu, firmly shielding her behind him.

　　His inner force surged outward, making his snow-white robe and jet-black hair whip wildly in the wind.

　　An Jiu had never seen him stand up as ‘Pei Ji’ before. Seeing it now gave her an unexpectedly fresh feeling.

　　Neither Fei Yi nor Xian Wuming was anything like Pei Ji.

　　Fei Yi was a righteous, steady, and slightly old-fashioned hero, while Xian Wuming was a temperamental, cold, and unpredictable villain. Both of them wore faces that didn’t really suit An Jiu’s taste.

　　Yet Pei Ji always thought she liked those looks, so every time he came to see her, he wore that same mask.

　　If she was being honest, An Jiu actually preferred Pei Ji’s real appearance.

　　Gentle, refined, elegant like a noble young master from a prestigious family, completely non-threatening. His features were soft and harmless, and when he smiled, it felt like a spring breeze brushing past.

　　An Jiu had a naturally strong and assertive personality, so she especially liked men with this calm, mild look. If they were in modern times, adding a pair of gold-rimmed glasses would make him perfect—quiet, classy, refined, the exact type of charming gentleman who secretly wasn’t as pure as he looked.

　　While she was busy daydreaming about all this, the situation on the other side was heating up fast.

　　Protector Mei was on guard, unlike Protector Ju who had been completely careless. After just exchanging a couple of moves, Protector Mei quickly noticed that this young man’s internal strength wasn’t as deep as hers, and his energy flow seemed unstable for some reason.

　　The silver needles he used were so fine they were barely noticeable, but if someone was cautious enough, they weren’t hard to dodge.

　　She figured Protector Ju had simply been caught off guard. But after going back and forth with Pei Ji for over a hundred moves, Protector Mei grew more and more uneasy, and the idea of retreating started creeping into her mind.

　　No matter what technique she used, the white-robed young man seemed to see through her completely. He could accurately predict her next move and then launch silver needles straight at her weak spots.

　　His internal strength clearly wasn’t as good as hers, and all he used were flying needles and light footwork. From beginning to end, he never strayed far from his wheelchair.

　　He was defending, she was attacking, but somehow she was the one falling behind.

　　What mattered most was that Pei Ji’s poison skills were top-notch. Not long ago, everyone in the Demonic Sect had clearly seen how the Saintess used poison to deal with those martial arts experts from the Central Plains. They had been secretly observing everything. Because of this, Protector Mei didn’t dare get too close to him at all.

　　With the clear gap between them, Protector Mei grew more and more flustered as the fight dragged on.

　　She blocked a wave of silver needles with her sword, but a few more needles slipped through while she was busy defending and shot straight toward her exposed side. Protector Mei twisted her body and quickly retreated several meters, just barely dodging them.

　　At the same time, she let out a sharp whistle, and suddenly several figures appeared in the open space in front of the hall.

　　These were the top ten martial artists trained by the Demonic Sect. They had originally been prepared to fight against the Central Plains martial artists, but the Saintess had already knocked them all out by herself. Hua Xuan also wanted to use He Ziqing to hone his skills, so these ten hadn’t stepped in.

　　“Go together. Kill him!” Protector Mei ordered.

　　“Yes!” The ten men responded in unison.

　　All ten of them were top-tier fighters, but even that wasn’t enough to challenge the entire martial world of the Central Plains. What made them dangerous was their formation—the Heaven's Net and Earth’s Web Ten Demon God Formation. When they worked together, they could trap even those far stronger than themselves.

　　This formation was the Demonic Sect’s ultimate trump card. When they scattered, they were like stars in the sky. When they gathered, they formed a deadly net with no escape.

　　An Jiu glanced at the ten people now surrounding them from all sides. Maybe because they were cautious of Pei Ji’s poison, none of them dared to get too close for now.

　　It seemed they wanted to trap Pei Ji in a deadlock.

　　An Jiu’s eyes shifted to the white-robed young man standing there. His fluttering sleeves had slowly settled. From behind, his tall figure and straight back made him look like a steadfast pine tree, standing strong no matter what.

　　Maybe he sensed her gaze. He slightly tilted his head to the side, not looking directly at her, but his gentle voice drifted over on the wind.

　　“Don’t be afraid. We’ll be fine.”

　　After a pause, he added softly, “Stay hidden. Don’t come out. Don’t look.”

　　An Jiu thought, maybe this was just the kind of confidence that came with being a big boss villain.

　　The moment she heard his words, she immediately stopped worrying and comfortably curled up again to continue being her pretty little useless self.

　　For some reason, she just trusted him, no questions asked.

　　Maybe it was because in the book, the villain was too powerful. In the end, he stood at the very top of the martial world. An Jiu didn’t believe that after getting a second chance at life, he would be caught off guard.

　　Since Pei Ji told her not to look, An Jiu obediently closed her eyes.

　　As her vision sank into darkness, she suddenly realized that the way he spoke to her just now had sounded a bit too gentle, almost unnaturally so.

　　There had been too many twists and turns in one day, and everything was happening too fast. An Jiu was feeling a little overwhelmed.

　　She wondered, was that just her imagination? Or was it something else?

　　Before she could figure it out, something warm lightly tapped her forehead.

　　Was it already over?

　　Startled, An Jiu quickly opened her eyes and looked up, only to see Pei Ji standing right in front of her, his head slightly lowered as he gazed at her.

　　The sun was hanging high above him, and the dazzling sunlight poured down along the edges of his jet-black hair, casting his face into the blinding glow where she couldn’t quite see it clearly.

　　An Jiu squinted against the harsh sunlight, her eyelashes casting faint shadows. In that moment, she saw a slender, clean hand reaching out toward her. His hand was pale and smooth like jade, completely untouched by any filth, almost transparent under the blazing sun.

　　“Get up.”

　　An Jiu blanked out for a second, then instinctively placed her hand in his palm.

　　The moment their fingertips touched, she couldn’t help but flinch.

　　For some reason, Pei Ji’s hand was unusually hot. It looked pale and cool like jade, but when she actually touched it, the heat was like something just pulled out of a furnace.

　　Just as she tried to pull back, those long, well-shaped fingers suddenly tightened, closing firmly around her soft hand like a cage catching its prey.

　　His grip was so strong, it felt like he might crush her.

　　The next moment, a powerful force pulled her up effortlessly.

　　Caught off guard, An Jiu was suddenly yanked to her feet, making her head spin and her vision blur.

　　As her sight darkened, she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist, pulling her into an incredibly hot embrace.

　　Even before getting close, she could already feel the heat radiating from him.

　　It was burning, scorching, like sitting right next to a blazing furnace. Waves of heat surrounded her, wrapping her up completely.

　　As soon as her vision cleared, An Jiu blurted out in a panic, “Pei Ji, why are you so hot? Are you running a fever?”

　　While speaking, she instinctively reached out to touch his forehead.

　　Her soft little hand was cool to the touch, her skin smooth and fair like jade, perfectly matching the phrase ‘ice-like beauty.’ When that smooth little hand landed on his forehead, she had to tip her head up and stand on her toes because he was so tall.

　　In this position, he could clearly see every tiny expression on her face.

　　The faint blush on her cheeks, the watery shine in her eyes from the harsh sunlight, the slight furrow between her brows, the tightly pressed pink lips, and the overflowing worry in her gaze.

　　She didn’t pay attention to the danger around them, nor did she look at what was happening with the others. It was like, in her world, his safety was the only thing that mattered.

　　Whether it was real or just his imagination, this realization quietly made him feel a bit happy.

　　Pei Ji lowered his eyes without a word. His dark pupils were hidden beneath his long, raven-like lashes, and a faint, fleeting gleam passed through them.

　　Only at this moment, with her tightly held in his arms, did that hollow feeling in his chest finally start to fade away.

　　“Pei Ji, your forehead’s burning up. Are you feeling sick? Say something, don’t scare me.”

　　He stayed silent for too long, and the girl couldn’t help but panic. Her eyes shimmered with even more worry.

　　The young man in white gently pulled her hand away from his forehead and spoke in a hoarse voice, “I’m fine.”

　　He stared at her deeply, and a slow, late realization began to surface in his heart.

　　Maybe… he liked her.

　　Liked her so much that he lost his calm, threw off his usual self-control, and broke his plans more than once.

　　Messed everything up so badly it could never be fixed.

________________

Gossip Corner:　　

[Even in death, Protector Ju’s face was still frozen in that greasy, perverted smile. His eyes were wide open, as if he had seen something terrifying, but he had no time to react at all.]

I tried to smile— not that greasy, perverted smile because I don’t know how— and widen my eyes at the same time. It’s super weird, ok? Definitely not recommended, haha. 😂 So, honestly, I think this part is kind of weird, but I can’t cut it. I tried to modify it, but I’d have to change a lot of things. In the end, I thought, whatever, maybe some people can make that weird face even if I can’t. So, I basically left it as the author wrote it.　

　　　　

　　

　　

Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter