Spoiled Eldest Miss x Two-faced Madman

CHAPTER 115: He’s The Villain.

　　After a few months, An Jiu met her original body's wet nurse again. But since they hadn't seen each other in years and didn’t have much of a bond, the group didn’t stay long in Jiufang City. They only stayed a few days before leaving.

　　An Jiu took the chance to visit the girls who were rescued from the Dark Village. Seeing them doing fairly well at Zhou Yuru’s embroidery workshop, she felt relieved.

　　Before leaving Jiufang City, the group made a special stop at the site where the Dark Village once stood.

　　The underground network of tunnels had been completely filled in. There was no trace of it left. The old abandoned temple where everything began still stood outside the city. An Jiu looked at the broken statue inside and zoned out a little.

　　This was where it all started.

　　“What are you thinking about?” a deep voice said beside her. At the same time, something gently settled on her shoulder.

　　An Jiu turned her face and saw the white-robed man slowly withdrawing his hand. She looked down and noticed that a pure white outer robe was now draped over her shoulders.

　　“It just rained. Don’t catch a cold.”

　　An Jiu paused for a second, then said softly, “I was just thinking... It was here that I had an accident and someone saved me.”

　　Pei Ji’s expression shifted slightly. Then he lowered his gaze, opened the white jade fan in his hand in an awkward gesture, and said in a low voice, “It’s all in the past. No need to dwell on it.”

　　An Jiu glanced at him. She really wanted to say that using a fan after rain when it’s not hot was kind of weird, but she held it in. Instead, she mumbled to herself, “I’m just curious. Fei— I mean, Xian Wuming... he didn’t even know me back then but still helped me. Why did he turn out like that later?”

　　Pei Ji gave a small cough. “You care a lot about Xian Wuming?”

　　An Jiu quickly shook her head like a little rattle drum. “Of course not. I can’t even hate him enough. I’ll never forget what he did to me. I just want to know more about the terrible things he’s done so I can figure out his weaknesses. You know, the whole know-yourself-know-your-enemy thing. That way, you’ll always win.”

　　She sounded completely serious, and her determined expression showed she meant every word.

　　Then she asked, “Do you know any of the bad things he’s done out there?”

　　Pei Ji’s hand sped up unconsciously as he fanned himself. His voice dropped, sounding a little guilty. “I... don’t know.”

　　“Oh, you don’t?” An Jiu turned around to leave. “Then I’ll go ask Lin Qingyan and the others.”

　　She had barely taken a step when he stopped her. “Don’t go. I’ll tell you.”

　　An Jiu narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. “Didn’t you just say you didn’t know?”

　　A thin layer of sweat appeared on Pei Ji’s forehead. He casually wiped it off and said, “I only know a little. Xian Wuming’s a mysterious guy. Not much info out there about him...”

　　He explained himself under her skeptical stare, then carefully picked through some watered-down gossip floating around the martial world and shared that with her. The real version made Xian Wuming sound like pure evil, but what he told her was heavily edited.

　　Still, An Jiu got fired up and furious just from that. Pei Ji sat next to her silently, busy wiping sweat, not daring to say a word.

　　“Why are you sweating so much? Aren’t you supposed to be able to live at least another year or so? Don’t tell me you’re already falling apart.”

　　She looked at him with wide, bright eyes, obviously unsure what to make of it.

　　Pei Ji: “...”

　　“It’s a little hot.”

　　An Jiu stared at him even more strangely. “Hot? Are you sure you don’t have a fever?”

　　It had just rained earlier, and the breeze was chilly. That’s why he’d even draped a robe over her, wasn’t it?

　　Seeing her misunderstanding get worse, Pei Ji had to talk circles around her before she finally believed he wasn’t sick.

　　But when they stopped in the next town for dinner that night, she kept putting meat into his bowl non-stop, as if silently telling him to eat up and get stronger. She clearly thought he was too weak.

　　Pei Ji: You brought this on yourself. What else can you do but deal with it?

　　The next day, as they hit the road again and sat in the carriage, An Jiu suddenly got curious about Pei Ji’s fan.

　　She had never touched it before. She’d always been worried that it might be laced with poison or booby-trapped somehow. Maybe not enough to kill, but definitely enough to make her suffer. So she never even thought about going near it.

　　But now, feeling totally spoiled and favored, she didn’t hesitate. Whether it was his fan, his fingers, his belt, or even his hair, she could touch anything she wanted. The more she touched, the happier he seemed.

　　He was just like a puppy desperate for its master’s affection, tail wagging wildly with every little bit of attention.

　　So when An Jiu casually said, “Can I take a look at your fan?”

　　Pei Ji handed it to her instantly, without a second’s hesitation.

　　She took it and felt that it was smooth and cool to the touch, like polished jade. It felt really nice in her hand.

　　No wonder he’s always holding that fan like it’s glued to his hand.

　　There were thirty-six fan bones in total, each one smooth and pale like mutton fat jade. When opened, the fan felt thick and sturdy—clearly made from some rare material. Bold strokes spelled out a large character on the surface: “DOCTOR.”

　　An Jiu toyed with it for quite a while, but her body didn’t show any strange reactions.

　　She had no idea how he managed to handle poison so freely. In his hands, it was a deadly weapon. In hers, just a harmless toy.

　　While twirling the fan absentmindedly, she said, “Now that I think about it, Xian Wuming was pretty skilled with poison too. You two are kind of alike, huh?”

　　The man, who had been smiling at her just a moment ago, froze mid-expression. Though he recovered quickly, An Jiu caught the shift instantly.

　　“System, did you see that? He panicked.”

　　System:【Host, what are you trying to achieve by doing this?】

　　In her heart, An Jiu replied, “Just laying some groundwork.”

　　【Groundwork for what?】

　　“To pave the way for me to discover the truth about this matter.”

　　She smiled slightly. Under his quietly uneasy gaze, she asked like it was no big deal, “Since both of you are good with poison, who’s stronger—you or him?”

　　Seeing her casual expression and no sign of suspicion, Pei Ji subtly relaxed and replied with a smile, “We’ve never compared. I don’t really know.”

　　An Jiu nodded and said offhandedly, “True. Maybe you two can have a little competition sometime.”

　　That made another wave of cold sweat break out on Pei Ji.

　　Thankfully, she changed the subject soon after, and his nerves finally eased a bit.

　　Still, he didn’t forget the danger lurking behind that innocent question. That very day, he found an excuse to talk to Ah Qi alone and sent him ahead to Medicine King Valley. He ordered him to destroy every single item that could link him to Xian Wuming—no traces left behind.

　　Previously, Pei Ji had planned to control the martial world from the shadows using the identity of Xian Wuming. But now, he had completely let that go. He only wanted to draw a clear line between himself and that name.

　　From now on, he would only be the young master of Medicine King Valley, the revered and kind-hearted Doctor Pei.

　　Once he cured the poison in his body, he planned to secretly cut ties with Qiansha Pavilion and never involve himself with it again.

　　From then on, he only wanted to spend the rest of his life growing old together with her in Medicine King Valley.

　　Ah Qi accepted Pei Ji’s orders without a second thought, even though this meant scrapping everything they had planned and built over the years.

　　In Ah Qi’s mind, nothing mattered as long as it made the young master happy.

　　“By the way, Young Master, there’s something I need to confess,” Ah Qi said after receiving the task, lowering his head instead of leaving right away.

　　“What is it?”

　　“I secretly kept looking for another girl who could detoxify you, even after you took Miss An to Qiansha Pavilion. I just wanted to have a backup plan… and I’ve actually found someone now. But her body’s weak, so you’ll have to help nurse her back to health before she can help you. She’s already been sent to Medicine King Valley today, waiting for your instructions.”

　　Before he finished speaking, Ah Qi knelt down and said, “Young Master, I made this decision on my own and kept it from you. Please punish me if I’ve overstepped.”

　　Pei Ji stared at the servant kneeling in front of him. Ah Qi, the one who had followed him the longest, truly understood him best.

　　Yes. Since Pei Ji no longer planned to use An Jiu to detoxify himself, of course he needed someone else.

　　Taking a life was nothing to him—easier than killing a chicken. He would feel no guilt. If he were capable of guilt, he wouldn’t have tricked An Jiu into becoming his cure in the first place.

　　Pei Ji had been prepared to wait, even if the antidote took longer to find. After all, he still had a year or so left to live.

　　He hadn’t expected such a surprise to come his way.

　　“Get up. I won’t hold this against you. You did well,” he said with a faint smile. “Take her to Medicine King Valley, but don’t let anyone know why she’s there. Just say she’s here seeking treatment.”

　　After a brief pause, he added, “Arrange for her to stay far away. Make sure she doesn’t run into An Jiu.”

　　“Yes, Young Master,” Ah Qi nodded and left to carry out the order.

　　The two of them had been speaking in a secluded forest. There was no one around, so neither of them realized that everything had been seen by An Jiu, who was far away, sitting in the carriage.

　　“I knew it. I just knew Pei Ji wasn’t the type to risk his life for love,” An Jiu said to the system.

　　System:【He is a villain.】

　　“Exactly. He’s the villain. This is how he’s supposed to act. If he really threw everything away for love, I’d honestly think he broke character.”

　　A sense of relief washed over An Jiu—but deep down, in the quietest part of her heart, there was also a faint and hollow feeling of disappointment.

　　How could anyone in this world truly be willing to die for love?

　　And how could she possibly be someone who’d receive that kind of love?

　　“It actually works better this way. He’s given me the perfect chance to make my move. Since he handed over the leverage himself, he can’t blame me for being ruthless.”

　　An Jiu smiled faintly, finally feeling free of any burden in her heart.

　　When Pei Ji came back and Ah Qi was nowhere to be seen, An Jiu asked knowingly, “Where did Ah Qi go?”

　　Pei Ji’s expression didn’t change. His smile remained as gentle as always. “I sent him back first to tidy up the house. Since we’ll have an extra person in the valley from now on, a lot of things need to be adjusted.”

　　Facing his gaze, An Jiu turned her head and blushed, but deep in her eyes, there was only calm indifference.

　　Jiufang City wasn’t too far from Medicine King Valley anymore. The group took their time and arrived in two days, first stopping at the Zhùjiàn Villa.

　　An Jiu and Pei Ji visited the manor together and met Lin Qingyan’s parents and siblings.

　　The Zhùjiàn Villa wasn’t considered a traditional martial arts clan. The Lin family practiced martial arts, but none were top fighters. What they truly excelled at was sword-making, their skills refined to perfection. Many martial artists bought their weapons here, which earned the Lin family some respect and standing in the martial world.

　　An Jiu watched the touching and sometimes hilarious show of the male and female leads meeting the parents. In the end, the two lovebirds received their families’ blessings and got engaged. There was no rush for the wedding—it was set for sometime after the new year.

　　After the new year… it was only July now, so still about half a year away.

　　Once her own wedding was set, Lin Qingyan came to ask An Jiu when she planned to marry Pei Ji.

　　An Jiu blushed and said it depended on what Pei Ji wanted, but deep down she couldn’t help sighing.

　　If everything went according to plan, her wedding wouldn’t be far off either.

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T/N: Thank you, reidsfangrl, for leaving such a sweet comment on the NU page—you’re such a sweetheart! Big thanks to all my amazing readers as well, whether you voted for this novel on NU or simply dropped by to read. I truly appreciate you all. Thanks again! ♥️

 

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