Spoiled Eldest Miss x Two-faced Madman

CHAPTER 89: His Mind Is Full of Love and Romance

　　【Pei Ji’s favorability +10. Current favorability: 85.】

　　The system notification suddenly popped up in her head, snapping An Jiu back to reality.

　　Only then did she have the time to look around, and she immediately noticed the bodies lying in a circle around them. Each person had countless silver needles stuck in their bodies.

　　There were no visible wounds on them, and hardly any signs of battle, but they had all died silently. Their faces were dark and lifeless, clearly poisoned to death.

　　Judging from the silver needles scattered everywhere, Pei Ji must have used an incredibly deadly hidden weapon—something that could instantly shoot thousands of poisoned needles in the blink of an eye, leaving no chance to defend. That was probably how these ten top fighters from the Demonic Sect were wiped out in an instant.

　　Looking further ahead, Protector Mei had already retreated to a safer distance. Her seductive and charming face had completely lost its color.

　　She didn’t run away, though. She stood from afar, still watching. The way she looked at Pei Ji was strange, like she was looking at some terrifying monster.

　　An Jiu met her gaze briefly, but the next second, a hot hand gently tapped her cheek.

　　“Are you scared?” A soft, warm voice came from behind her.

　　An Jiu turned to face him and instinctively replied, “Not at all. You did it to save me.”

　　If she were going to be scared, she would’ve been scared a long time ago. Why would she be scared now?

　　So her answer came from the bottom of her heart, and when it reached Pei Ji’s ears, he couldn’t help but curl his thin lips into a small smile.

　　He always smiled—like he wore a polite, ever-present mask—but none of those smiles ever felt as real as this one.

　　Even though he only slightly lifted the corners of his lips and his eyes softly curved downward, that simple smile made An Jiu freeze for a moment.

　　She pressed her lips together and smiled back, her eyes bright and happy. “Pei Ji, your legs are healed!”

　　Her voice was filled with pure joy. Anyone who heard her would know just how genuinely happy she was.

　　It was as if she was happier for his legs than if her own had healed.

　　The gentle smile on the white-robed young man faded just a little as he suddenly remembered something he had completely shoved aside. Maybe he hadn’t really forgotten. He’d just been in such a rush that he’d thrown everything to the back of his mind.

　　His legs really were healed, but now how was he supposed to explain pretending to be crippled this whole time?

　　And what about those hidden weapons and poison skills—how would he explain those?

　　It wouldn’t be hard to brush it off with strangers. They didn’t know him well, so they wouldn’t dig too deep.

　　The real issue was Lin Qingyan and He Ziqing, his so-called ‘friends.’

　　After living his life all over again, Pei Ji understood better than anyone how terrifying He Ziqing’s luck was.

　　Danger would always turn into safety for him. Misfortunes would always bring good fortune. It was like he was heaven’s favorite child. People who went against him always met tragic ends, but those who sided with him were destined for glory.

　　In his previous life, he had gone against He Ziqing once. This time, he didn’t want to repeat the same mistake.

　　As he was thinking about all this, he suddenly heard the girl lean in close to his ear and whisper, “So, you’ve been pretending all this time just to surprise me, huh?”

　　Pei Ji’s eyes flickered. His long, narrow black eyes narrowed slightly as his gaze lazily landed on the girl.

　　At some point, her cheeks had turned red. Her round, bright eyes darted around, mischief shining all over her face.

　　“Hmph, I’m not that easy to fool, you know. When you told me you couldn’t practice that martial art, you were lying to me, right?” She bit her lip hard, trying to hold back her grin, but her soft, rosy lips kept curling up in triumph. “What’s the point of hiding it? You faked it for so long, and now you’ve been exposed. But honestly, I am pretty surprised. I guess I’ll just let it slide this time~”

　　She was the kind of person who couldn’t hide her feelings. Whatever she thought would always show on her face.

　　With just one glance, Pei Ji immediately understood what was going on in her mind.

　　He had just gone all out to save her, revealing all his trump cards. And she was a vain, shallow woman. How could she not be pleased that a man had risked everything to save her?

　　Thinking of this, Pei Ji suddenly let go of her, taking a step back to put some distance between them.

　　Without saying a word, he sat back down in his wheelchair.　　

　　“Eh? Hey, Pei Ji, what’s wrong?”

　　Pei Ji sat in the chair, his long lashes lowering to half-close his eyes as he calmly said, “I’m feeling a little unwell. Let me rest for a bit.”

　　As soon as he said that, An Jiu quickly shut her mouth.

　　What he said wasn’t a lie—he really did feel uncomfortable.

　　But that discomfort wasn’t just because of the restless energy surging through his body. It came from his heart.

　　He had just realized that he might actually like this woman, and the thought completely scrambled his mind. Now, he was falling into an even deeper confusion.

　　Pei Ji couldn’t understand why he would like An Jiu.

　　What was there to like about her? Besides her beautiful face, she didn’t seem to have any redeeming qualities.

　　He had always thought he liked Lin Qingyan. At least, that’s what he believed in his past life.

　　Lin Qingyan was beautiful, smart, kind, gentle, well-educated, and considerate—the perfect woman in everyone’s eyes.

　　So, near the end of his life, he had imprisoned Lin Qingyan and forced her to marry him.

　　Pei Ji didn’t understand love. He just thought that maybe dying together with the person he liked would make him feel a little happier.

　　But in the end, he found no joy at all.

　　Lin Qingyan didn’t love him, but he didn’t mind that. Marrying Lin Qingyan didn’t bring him any pleasure either. Even dying at Lin Qingyan’s hands didn’t make him feel any heartbreaking sense of betrayal.

　　After he was reborn, he realized that maybe what he felt for Lin Qingyan wasn't really love.

　　What is love, anyway? Pei Ji had no idea. He was still the same cold, heartless monster with no emotions.

　　Until just now, when he saw the red-clad girl being taken hostage and looking at him—Pei Ji’s heart suddenly jolted violently.

　　An overwhelming wave of fear, panic, and lingering dread clutched his chest like an iron grip. Right after that, came an uncontrollable rage, burning so fiercely he wanted to kill that man on the spot.

　　Pei Ji had never experienced such intense and urgent emotions before.

　　In that moment, he forgot reason, forgot his plan, forgot everything. All he could see was the teary-eyed girl. All he wanted was to get her back.

　　For a second there, he even forgot that she was supposed to be nothing more than his antidote vessel.

　　It was in that exact moment that Pei Ji finally understood his own heart.

　　He actually liked her!

　　How could he like her? How could he like that useless woman?

　　Just thinking about all the men An Jiu had flirted with—Fei Yi, then the Prince Ming, Ming Yi, then Fei Chen, and even He Ziqing… such a fickle woman, how could he possibly like her?

　　【Pei Ji’s favorability toward you -5, current favorability: 80.】

　　【Pei Ji’s favorability toward you +5, current favorability: 85.】

　　【……】

　　There it was again, the familiar stream of notifications flooding her screen.

　　An Jiu glanced at the man in the wheelchair. His face was a little pale, his brows faintly furrowed, his whole figure, bathed in brilliant sunlight, was like a flawless sculpture carved from white jade.

　　Who would have thought that this pure, untouchable young lord would, in this kind of situation, have his mind completely filled with love and romance?

　　An Jiu let out a sigh, trying to ignore the annoying notification spam as she turned to look at Protector Mei in the distance.

　　Because Pei Ji had just wiped out the Demonic Sect’s Ten Heavenly Devils, no one dared step forward now. The area around them was empty, no one willing to risk testing those deadly hidden weapons.

　　But of course, this was still Demonic Sect territory.

　　Right now, the situation was that An Jiu and Pei Ji were left alone in the open courtyard in front of the grand hall, surrounded from afar by a loose circle of people making sure they couldn’t escape.

　　While An Jiu was observing Protector Mei and the others, they were also carefully watching them.

　　“That’s a hidden weapon from Qianji Pavilion,” a voice quietly appeared next to Protector Mei and spoke in a low tone.

　　Protector Mei turned to him. “Qianji Pavilion?”

　　The person next to her was an old man in a long Taoist robe, with white hair and beard, and a simple wooden hairpin holding up his hair. He gave off an aura of someone who had long since abandoned worldly affairs.

　　This man was none other than Protector Lan, the most mysterious and rarely-seen protector of the Demonic Sect.

　　Protector Lan gently stroked his beard and looked toward the white-robed young man in the wheelchair and the red-dressed girl standing behind him. He spoke calmly, “The Qianji Pavilion was once a legendary power in the martial world a hundred years ago. They specialized in hidden weapons and mechanisms. Many top martial artists died by their hands. But they offended a major sect and were eventually wiped out. I don’t know where this young man got the Qianji Pavilion’s legacy, but with his mastery of poisons too, we can’t beat him.”

　　Protector Lan’s words had barely fallen when the Demonic Sect members watching from a distance all gave up the idea of forcing an attack.

　　Just then, the sound of rushing wind came from inside the hall, and a person was suddenly thrown out, landing heavily on the ground.

　　It was Ah Qi.

　　He was covered in several injuries, half-lying on the ground, clutching his chest as he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

　　An Jiu was startled and quickly rushed over to help him up.

　　“Thank you, Miss An,” Ah Qi said as he got up, then moved to stand beside Pei Ji. He lowered his head and reported, “Young Master, the Demon Mask is too strong, and he still has the red silk in his hand. I didn’t dare get too close.”

　　Although Hua Mei had been taken away by Pei Zhou, the red silk she left behind was still in Hua Xuan’s hands.

　　Ah Qi and He Ziqing were both skilled fighters. Logically, they should have been able to handle Hua Xuan, but because they had to be cautious of the poisoned red silk, they ended up falling behind.

　　He Ziqing was fine, though, since he had taken an antidote earlier.

　　Pei Ji silently opened his eyes, pulled out a black-gold folding fan from his sleeve, and handed it to Ah Qi. “Use this.”

　　Ah Qi carefully accepted the fan and charged back into the hall.

　　This time, it didn’t take long. Soon, An Jiu saw some Demonic Sect members who had been surrounding them rushing into the hall as well.

　　Hua Xuan couldn’t hold on and called his men to gang up together.

　　But the protagonist is always unbeatable. No matter how powerful the villains are, the protagonist always wins in the end.

　　And if they can’t, well, they just need a breakthrough moment to suddenly level up and pull off a miraculous comeback.

　　An Jiu wasn’t inside the hall, so she didn’t know what happened, nor did she care to watch the bloody fight.

　　All she heard was a chaotic mess of shouting and yelling, some muffled conversations, the clashing sounds of weapons, and finally a few Demonic Sect members sprinting out of the hall in panic like headless chickens.　　

　　One of them spotted An Jiu and Pei Ji and lit up as if he had found a target. He immediately charged at them but was swiftly taken down mid-run by a silver needle right between the brows, crashing face-first to the ground.

　　Protector Mei and Protector Lan didn’t join the fight. Sensing that things were going downhill, they quietly slipped away from the mountain.

　　On the mountain path, the two of them looked neither worried nor panicked, just calm and indifferent.

　　Protector Mei said, “Looks like us two old folks need to lie low again for a few more years. Mr. Lan, which young seedling are you grooming this time?”

　　Protector Lan stroked his beard and said, “The one I picked up five years ago. His natural talent can’t compare to Hua Xuan’s, but his temperament is far better. If he rises to the top, the Demonic Sect can enjoy another few decades of peace.”

　　Not everyone wanted to live in constant chaos, not even people from the Demonic Sect.

　　Every few decades, the martial world from the Central Plains would band together to wipe out the Demonic Sect. Protector Lan had already been through three such campaigns.

　　Why couldn’t the Demonic Sect ever be fully destroyed? It was because people like Protector Lan were always quietly holding the line in the background.

　　The sect leaders might come and go like flowing water, but the Demonic Sect itself was as solid as iron.

　　If a sect leader died, so be it. It wouldn’t shake the foundation of the Demonic Sect. As long as their roots remained, the Demonic Sect would never truly perish.

　　There were countless orphans in the northern frontier. In just a few years, the Demonic Sect would grow another batch of followers.

　　Protector Mei sighed, “Too bad about old Ju. He slipped at the worst moment.”

　　Protector Lan replied, “Just pick one of his disciples to take his place as protector.”

　　As they talked, the two slowly disappeared along the mountain path.

　　At the same time, in the grand hall atop Mingguang Mountain, Hua Xuan was pierced through the heart by He Ziqing’s sword.

　　The Demonic Sect extermination campaign finally came to an end.

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T/N: Lol, these guys from the Demonic Sect is way too realistic! 🤣 Another Section Leader died? No problem, we’ve got a backup.

 

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