Spoiled Eldest Miss x Two-faced Madman

CHAPTER 103: How Could She Have Someone She Loves Deeply!

　　A fury like he had never felt before, mixed with utter disbelief, surged through him like a raging flood. In an instant, it shattered the dam of reason.

　　Pei Ji’s fingers trembled slightly as they brushed against the smear of blood at the corner of the girl’s lips. The blood was real. There was no mistaking it.

　　That vivid red staining his pale fingertips stung his eyes.

　　He carefully wiped it away, then reached into his sleeve and drew out several golden needles, pressing them swiftly into a few key acupoints on her body.

　　His breathing was all over the place. His mind was a chaotic mess, filled with only one phrase repeating itself in deafening waves:

　　How could she have someone she loves deeply?

　　How could she?

　　How dare she?

　　He wouldn't allow it!

　　The needles took effect quickly. Before long, the girl’s lashes began to flutter. She was about to wake up.

　　Pei Ji's black eyes darkened like a storm, locked on her face with deadly focus.

　　He was waiting for an answer. He had to know who it was. Who was the person she loved so much?

　　He had to kill him.

　　Before she died, he would kill that man right in front of her. He wanted her to watch as the one she loved was destroyed. Only then would his rage be satisfied.

　　Pei Ji didn’t even realize how terrifying his expression had become.

　　Within a single breath, a storm of wild, tangled thoughts flashed through his mind. One second, he wanted to strangle this woman. The next, he wanted to slaughter the man she loved. Then he was so consumed with jealousy, he nearly spat blood. Sometimes, he couldn’t believe it and suspected there was something wrong with the love Gu—this woman would never like anyone else.

　　These jumbled, frantic thoughts overwhelmed him. His already unstable internal force buckled under the emotional turbulence. A heavy ache struck his chest. His jaw clenched tight as he swallowed back the blood rising in his throat.

　　An Jiu hadn’t even opened her eyes yet, but her memory was already replaying that lovestruck version of herself from earlier.

　　The system’s hypnosis was only temporary, and after the shock from the love gu, its effects had basically worn off.

　　Right now, her mind was crystal clear. She didn’t love Pei Ji, and she didn’t love Fei Yi either. She only loved herself.

　　What a disaster. An absolute trainwreck.

　　An Jiu used to have zero understanding of people with a ‘love-brain.’ In her mind, those types must have had their brains eaten by zombies the moment they fell in love. How else could you explain doing so many unbelievably dumb things?

　　But now she finally understood. People that deep in love really did lose their minds.

　　If she had even half a brain, how could she have seriously thought about staying chaste for a man? Or worse, want to die just because someone tried to make her fall for another guy? That was peak love-brain!

　　The mere memory made An Jiu curl her toes in secondhand embarrassment, enough to dig out a whole three-bedroom apartment.

　　Just then, the system’s flat tone echoed in her mind:【Friendly reminder, Host: The hypnosis has worn off. You'll need to handle things on your own from here.】

　　“No problem,” An Jiu replied calmly.

　　She adjusted her mindset quickly and pulled herself back together.

　　There was still a tough battle ahead. She needed to stay sharp, completely focused.

　　She could feel an intense gaze fixed on her face, and she didn’t even need to guess who it was. That stabbing pain in her chest from earlier was gone now. According to the system, the love gu and her love-brain had canceled each other out. The love gu had died in the clash.

　　Apparently, her love-brain had been so extreme that even the love gu couldn’t compete.

　　Still, she couldn’t let the act fall apart. For the sake of her strategy, she had to keep performing.

　　Her lashes fluttered like butterfly wings as she slowly opened her eyes.

　　Those dark eyes gradually came into view, a little dazed at first, like she had just woken from a dream. But the moment her gaze landed on the man’s face, a bright light suddenly bloomed in her clear eyes.

　　It looked just like fireworks exploding across the night sky.

　　Her eyes sparkled, locked onto the man in front of her with unshakable focus.

　　“Fei Yi…”

　　She spoke his name with surprising accuracy, and the tone in her voice was something Pei Ji had never heard before—soft, warm, like a girl calling out to the one she loved. Sweet enough to melt.

　　After saying his name, she shyly pressed her lips together, the corners curving up in a bashful smile. Her eyes crinkled with mirth, her whole face lit up like she couldn’t hide her joy.

　　Pei Ji’s brow twitched, frowning hard out of nowhere.

　　His gaze lingered on the faint blush creeping across the girl's delicate face. He studied her expression carefully, and a sudden heaviness settled in his chest.

　　The love gu... had taken effect.

　　The moment that realization hit him, Pei Ji also understood—he might never get the answer he wanted now.

　　Even so, his voice was hoarse as he asked, “An Jiu, who do you like?”

　　The girl's cheeks were flushed pink, her bright, dewy eyes fixed on his handsome face. She hesitated, lips parting but not quite speaking.

　　She looked incredibly shy, but she didn’t want to refuse him either. After struggling with her embarrassment, she finally whispered, “I... I like you, Fei Yi.”

　　As soon as the words left her lips, those beautiful peach blossom eyes of hers shimmered even more. Light sparkled in them like a slow-moving river under the setting sun, glowing warm and golden.

　　Those eyes were locked on Pei Ji, not even blinking.

　　Anyone who saw her in this moment would believe it completely—that she was hopelessly, deeply in love with him. That to her, he was everything. That she couldn’t bear to be apart from him for even a second.

　　Under that kind of gaze, a powerful sense of satisfaction surged in Pei Ji’s chest.

　　What man wouldn’t feel fulfilled hearing the woman he loved say she liked him, with such tenderness in her eyes?

　　However, after the sense of satisfaction, what follows is a sense of loss and unwillingness that is countless times stronger.

　　It felt like a hole had been punched through his chest. Cold wind rushed through it, draining away his warmth and leaving behind nothing but icy emptiness.

　　Back before they arrived, she had asked him: “If the love you get is fake, not real, wouldn’t you feel unwilling?”

　　He had brushed it off.

　　He didn’t believe a woman like her could truly fall for anyone. She loved no one. Even if her feelings for him were fake, it was still better than nothing.

　　But now, he knew. She really did love someone once.

　　What a joke.

　　If she had loved no one at all, he could have accepted it. He would have been fine.

　　But now that he had seen how she looked when she truly loved someone—how could he possibly be okay with this?

　　Unfairness in the world was never about not having something. It was about someone else having more.

　　Now that he had a comparison, the more she acted like she loved him, the more bitter he felt. That bitterness gnawed at the hole in his chest like worms and ants, making it tear open even wider and more painful with each passing moment.

　　His blood felt like it was cooling down under her devoted gaze, losing all warmth.

　　Pei Ji clenched his teeth and forced himself to suppress the chaotic flow of inner energy coursing through his body. He stared at the blushing girl and asked coldly, “Before I asked you, who did you like?”

　　He couldn’t hold it in anymore. He grabbed her arm tightly, eyes red with emotion, his entire expression disheveled and on edge. His voice came out low and tense, nearly hysterical: “Who was it that you liked? Who was the person you loved? Tell me who it was!”　　

　　The girl’s face paled slightly. She had been startled by the frightening look in his eyes. Her eyes widened in alarm as she answered in a trembling voice, “I... I only like you, Fei Yi. What are you talking about? I don’t understand. Please don’t scare me...”

　　She was clearly frightened, her lashes trembling rapidly like fluttering wings.

　　But even then, she didn’t try to push him away. Instead, she reached out with her soft, pale hands and gently cupped his face, her voice full of concern. “Are you feeling unwell? I really do like you. Please, believe me...”

　　She paused. Seeing that his expression hadn’t changed, still full of something terrifying, the girl bit her lip as if making a big decision. Then she rose up on her toes and gently pressed her soft lips to the corner of his mouth.

　　A faint, sweet scent lingered in the air around the girl’s breath. Before it could be clearly distinguished, that light, dragonfly-kiss of a touch had already flitted away, leaving behind only a soft sweetness that refused to fade. Her cheeks flushed red as she pulled back, a faint dimple forming beside her lips. Her big, sparkling eyes curved into two delicate crescents like tiny moons.

　　“I—I like Fei Yi the most.”

　　Her voice was soft and delicate, each word soaked in honey, sweet enough to melt into the heart.

　　His heartbeat faltered, beating wildly like it had caught some kind of illness.

　　Under her bright, soft, and adoring gaze, Pei Ji's expression unconsciously softened.

　　The little dimples on her cheeks were so sweet they seemed to sink into his heart. That cold chill in his chest melted in an instant, and his entire heart felt like it was being soaked in warm water.

　　There was probably nothing more blissful in this world than having your feelings returned so wholeheartedly.

　　That overwhelming wave of warmth and joy—it was unlike anything else.

　　Even someone like him, cold-blooded and emotionless, couldn’t help but drown in it.

　　But after the moment of bliss came another wave—deeper and colder—of emptiness.

　　She didn’t love him.

　　All those sweet words she just said were nothing more than lies born from the love gu's effect.

　　The one she truly loved was someone else.

　　Everything she was saying now, everything she was feeling toward him now, should have belonged to another man.

　　If you could have something real, who would ever settle for fake?

　　After living two lifetimes, more than twenty years in total, even dying once—Pei Ji now felt a profound kind of sorrow.

　　It was a feeling he had never experienced before, mostly because he rarely had emotions at all.

　　But now he felt frozen through, even as his heart burned under her gaze. Part of him was overjoyed by the love she showed him so clearly, while another part was in agony knowing it wasn’t real.

　　It felt like his heart had been ripped in two—one half engulfed in raging fire, the other buried in bone-deep ice.

　　And An Jiu remained blissfully unaware of what he was feeling.

　　She snuggled obediently in his arms, occasionally tilting up her little face to look at him with shining eyes. Each glance was followed by a shy smile, sweet enough to make anyone’s heart flutter beyond control.

　　Pei Ji had no idea that the girl in his arms was fully aware of what was going through his mind.

　　Even before she opened her eyes, An Jiu had already told the system to turn off the affection notifications.

　　Now that she had a moment to glance at the backend screen, it was packed with a jumble of notifications: -10, +10, -20, +20, back and forth nonstop. The dense flood of alerts made An Jiu silently thank herself for thinking ahead. If she hadn’t, her head would’ve been filled with constant chimes—how could she stay in character like that?

　　Thankfully, after all the ups and downs, the affection score finally settled at 85 and stayed still, like a stubborn turtle.

　　An Jiu was just flipping through the backend screen when the man suddenly scooped her up without warning and shot out of the tower, swiftly darting through the forest using light footwork, heading in a specific direction.

　　The emotional turbulence had stirred up a strong urge to kill in Pei Ji, but he soon realized—he didn’t even know who he was supposed to kill.

　　But that was fine. If he couldn't find the exact person, he’d hunt them down one by one and kill them all.

　　Unlike the struggle and resistance on their way here, this time the girl was unbelievably obedient. She let him carry her without fuss and even tilted her head curiously to ask, “Fei Yi, where are we going?”

　　The man stared at her deeply, his voice low and hoarse. “I’m taking you to meet someone.”

　　The girl blinked, her gaze never leaving his face. She looked at him the whole time without a single glance away, then casually asked, “Who are we going to meet?”

　　His tone was cold and flat, without the slightest hint of warmth.

　　“A monk.”

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Author’s Note:

What comes next is pure drama! All dog-blood tropes ahead! It’s the flavor this author loves! If it’s not your thing, sweethearts, don’t force yourself to keep reading!

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T/N: Sometimes I do feel a bit sorry for Pei Ji—especially when An Jiu acts like she loves him one moment and then like a spoiled brat the next, all while keeping her rational mind firmly set on not falling for him. But then I remind myself to see things from An Jiu’s perspective—and I realize she’s making the right call. Her goal is to go home, not to pity Pei Ji or fall for him.

Think about it. If there’s a man who sees us as his antidote and wouldn’t hesitate to kill us if things go wrong... could we really love him wholeheartedly and innocently? Of course not. Just because he had a tragic childhood doesn’t mean the world owes him kindness or has to bend to his every whim.

 

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