Chapter 170: How Could There Be Such a Cruel Woman?
Chapter 170: Chapter 170: How Could There Be Such a Cruel Woman?
To revive her, the system had once again fallen into hibernation. This time, it was completely exhausted.
Before going offline, it even gave her all of its remaining Hundred Diseases Pills.
It had truly done its utmost for Cui Lingyao.
It was a debt she had to acknowledge.
As Cui Lingyao saw it, her mission now concerned not only her own life in the modern world, but the system’s survival as well.
No matter how much she loved Xie Jinbai, she couldn’t bring herself to abandon her life in another world, to stay in Great Yue and spend the rest of her days with him.
And she certainly couldn’t ignore the system that had exhausted its energy to save her.
So, the mission had to continue.
In fact, it was more urgent than ever.
Her rational mind had already made its decision. Cui Lingyao’s lips parted, as if to say something, but faced with the gentle, indulgent expression on the man before her, her throat constricted.
She found she couldn’t utter a single hurtful word.
"Don’t make it hard on yourself." Xie Jinbai didn’t possess the Mind Reading Technique, so he had no idea how much she was struggling.
He held her, comforting her softly. "If you can’t say it, then don’t. I’m not that curious anyway."
’It was happening again.’
’He was clearly such a domineering man, yet he insisted on putting on this act of unconditional acceptance.’
But filled with guilt as she was, this was the one thing Cui Lingyao couldn’t stand right now!
The taut string of the battle raging in her mind suddenly snapped, and a strange anger surged within her.
"Cut the act!"
Unsure if she was angry at herself or at him for looking so placid, Cui Lingyao lashed out, "Haven’t you already guessed? I’m not a good person. Even getting close to you was for a reason. I was just here to trick you and play with your feelings."
She struggled out of his arms, pulling away from his embrace and almost roaring in frustration, "Don’t you hate being lied to and betrayed more than anything? I’ve been playing you for a complete fool, so what’s with this magnanimous act?"
’Hate me.’
’Get your revenge.’
’What good does this unconditional acceptance do him, other than making me feel more guilty and bringing me closer to tears?’
’It’s not like I’ll get all soft-hearted and emotional over it!’
’I’m still going to find a way to make him take a concubine and have a child!’
Her emotions suddenly spiraled out of control. Caught off guard, Xie Jinbai was actually pushed away.
The moment he recovered, he quickly reached out and pulled her back into his embrace.
"I don’t blame you. I don’t blame you for anything," he said, holding her tight. "My heart just aches for you. I just want to know if you went through all this willingly, or if someone was... using you."
"Of course it was my choice! I took on this mission myself. No one forced me! You want to know my secrets, don’t you?"
Cui Lingyao was still struggling, but when she found she couldn’t break free from his embrace no matter how hard she tried, she grew reckless and decided to lay all her cards on the table. "Fine, I’ll tell you! From the very beginning—approaching you, winning you over, marrying you—it was all a scheme I’d planned out long ago. That includes drowning and leaving three years ago. That wasn’t an accident either!"
...
The tent suddenly fell silent.
Xie Jinbai’s expression stiffened as if he couldn’t comprehend her words. "What did you just say?"
’What does she mean, not an accident?’
"You heard me!"
The iron arms wrapped around her finally lost their strength. Cui Lingyao didn’t think this confrontation was suited for the most intimate of embraces between lovers, so she quickly scrambled out of his arms and sat bolt upright.
She hugged the bedding to her chest, her knees drawn up. Her knuckles were trembling slightly from the emotional turmoil.
Xie Jinbai sat up with her. When he saw her whitened knuckles, he wanted to take her hand and offer some support.
She pulled away.
It was as if their passionate lovemaking from that afternoon had been a lie. Now, she was once again treating him like an enemy she had to confront.
Their relationship, the cracks of which had only just been patched, was once again crumbling.
And he hadn’t even done a thing.
"Yaoyao..."
Bitterness rose in Xie Jinbai’s throat. He didn’t understand how a person could change so quickly.
He tilted his head back and took a deep breath. "Don’t treat me like this, please?"
His voice was laced with an unsuppressible, raw pain.
The sound of it made Cui Lingyao want to cry.
She blinked rapidly, holding back the urge to cry, and said in a small voice, "I’m not from this world. You’ve guessed that, haven’t you?"
’There were some things she just couldn’t run from.’
If she was going to lay her cards on the table, Xie Jinbai would have no choice in the matter.
From the very beginning, the choice had never been his.
He watched her, silent for a long moment, then nodded lightly. "I had my suspicions."
"You were right to suspect."
Cui Lingyao said, "I come from another world. The soul you saw... that’s what I really look like. I came to Great Yue for you. I kept getting closer to you, acting like I adored you, initiating hugs and kisses, and marrying you... It was all for an ulterior motive..."
Her voice caught in her throat. She quickly sniffled, suppressing the urge to cry as she rushed on, "Later, my objective was accomplished, and I could go back. But I had to die to be able to leave this world..."
"Here, every day felt like a year. I couldn’t stand to stay a single day longer. I spent every moment hoping to leave..."
Xie Jinbai’s pupils contracted in shock.
"That’s right," Cui Lingyao said, looking at him. "Three years ago, even if Li Wanrong hadn’t dragged me into the lake, I would have had to die anyway. I imagined all sorts of ways to do it: slitting my own throat, secretly buying arsenic to poison myself, or even biting my own tongue off..."
The methods of death she listed were hardly novel to Xie Jinbai; when it came to torture, he knew hundreds, even thousands, of ways to inflict pain.
But as she spoke, the color still drained from his face, leaving it deathly pale.
He thought back to those three years, a living hell, when he believed he had caused the death of the woman he loved. He had lost his beloved, living like a walking corpse, waging wars and leaving a trail of slaughter in his wake, all just to bring her back to life.
But he could never call her soul back.
No amount of soul-summoning treasures could bring her back.
’So that was why.’
’She wasn’t from this world at all. Her soul had already departed.’
’And all his regret, his pain, his self-torment... it had all been utterly pointless.’
’Her love was a lie. Their marital affection was a lie...’
’Even her death was a lie.’
’It was just a means for her to escape him.’
’She’d said that every day with him was like a year, that she couldn’t stand to stay a single day longer.’
’How could any woman be so cruel?’
Xie Jinbai’s eyes were bloodshot as he stared straight at her.
No one could withstand such a gaze.
Cui Lingyao lowered her gaze and said faintly, "See? I’m just that terrible. My intentions were never pure from the very beginning."
Xie Jinbai didn’t speak. His eyes were filled with such agony he was rendered speechless.
He looked... pitiful.
That was a word that should never be used to describe a man of his noble birth and immense power.
He was supposed to be forever disdainful of the world, forever cold, arrogant, and untamable.
Cui Lingyao’s fingers clenched the bedding, her eyes downcast as she suppressed the roiling emotions within her.
The silence stretched for several breaths.
For reasons she couldn’t quite name, she suddenly asked, "Do you know what my original objective was?"
"It was to make you fall in love with me."
Not even waiting for him to speak, Cui Lingyao answered her own question. "Actually, I didn’t need you to fall so deeply. But then your Love Value started skyrocketing, rising so fast that it couldn’t be stopped, and it shot straight to the maximum. I didn’t expect that either..."