Scum A with a Sweet Black Lotus O – Chapter 137

The dust settles…?

Chi Guisi’s gaze was dark and frenzied.

Almost neurotic.

            

The dramatic scenes of heart-wrenching separation typical of idol dramas​¹ that one might imagine didn’t happen… nor was there time for them to act out such things.

After all, these two were both “rational” people.

Rational in how they treated others, and even more so in how they treated themselves.

            

It was unknown whether this outcome was within Chi Guisi’s expectations, or if it could satisfy her…

At least.

For the time being, none of her many emotions could be glimpsed on her face.

            

The two sides completed the exchange.

It had been agreed beforehand that everyone brought today would obey Fu Chaoyun’s orders and arrangements, with no objections allowed throughout the entire process.

This included handing them over to others, and included using their employer herself in an exchange…

            

After Pei Xuezhi’s previous two experiences, this time Chi Guisi watched the person exceptionally closely, giving the other party absolutely no chance to pull any tricks​².

Fu Chaoyun didn’t do so either.

—Who knew what terrifying things this lunatic would do if she completely lost her mind?

            

Give her what she wants, keep her stable for now…

It was just as those cold shackles were fastened onto Fu Chaoyun’s hands and feet, at the very moment of the exchange.

Almost brushing past her ear.

            

Chi Guisi spoke at a volume that Pei Xuezhi, standing nearby, could also hear.

“She doesn’t care about you that much either.”

This was said to Fu Chaoyun.

            

The “she” here referred to Pei Xuezhi.

All that high-sounding talk before, about not being able to unilaterally decide on an exchange, about how “that would be disrespectful,” and “the one left behind would only suffer more”…

Yet now, merely pushed to this point, when she (Chi Guisi) hadn’t even done anything hurtful yet, the other party had “eagerly” agreed.

            

Even more unexpectedly—

Pei Xuezhi showed no reaction at all and simply acquiesced to the deal.

Did that mean the weight of “Fu Chaoyun” in Pei Xuezhi’s heart was still not significant enough?

            

Thinking of this, a hidden pleasure welled up in Chi Guisi’s eyes.

This pleasure naturally couldn’t be hidden and soon surfaced on her face for all to see.

However, neither of the other two present took her provocation to heart.

            

Pei Xuezhi regained her freedom and also took command of all the personnel Fu Chaoyun had brought. Chi Guisi, who had been endlessly pestering Pei Xuezhi before, acted with unprecedented efficiency this time after getting Fu Chaoyun.

She used Fu Chaoyun as a bargaining chip, threatening, “Let us leave.”

Command of these people was already in Pei Xuezhi’s hands, and dark gun muzzles were still aimed at Chi Guisi’s group.

            

Her voice had barely faded when, after a standoff of less than three seconds, Pei Xuezhi waved her hand, granting them passage.

The night passed, and the morning sun began to rise.

The faint morning light filtered through the window eaves onto Pei Xuezhi’s face. What should have been a pale yellow, warm orange glow instead made her complexion seem overly pale.

            

It was unclear whether she hadn’t yet recovered from the earlier violence, or if it was…

Fu Chaoyun was very cooperative. But compared to her, Chi Guisi, who was about to gain her freedom, was much more relaxed. She even managed to joke with Pei Xuezhi at this moment, as if nothing had happened.

“Next time we meet, you’ll definitely like me.”

            

“Well then—”

She waved. “Goodbye.”

…

            

Before leaving, Chi Guisi had someone cover Fu Chaoyun’s eyes with a black cloth. Fu Chaoyun remained very cooperative throughout.

Pei Xuezhi watched silently from behind as the two departed.

The black cloth wasn’t too thick; a little light filtered through.

            

Fu Chaoyun followed along.

First, she sensed a prolonged darkness, then gradually, a faint light filtered in. They must have reached the outside.

Fu Chaoyun stopped first. Not only her, but all the surrounding footsteps halted in unison.

            

Even though she couldn’t see clearly, Fu Chaoyun could still feel Chi Guisi’s gaze on her at that moment.

It felt like thorns on her back, like sitting on pins and needles.

The Alpha merely tilted her head slightly. The gesture should have been somewhat playful and cute, but her lightly spoken words at this moment made one shudder.

            

“You’ve done such things on this land; surely you don’t think you can still leave safely, do you?”

Fu Chaoyun chuckled softly.

“Even if I agreed… those above​³ wouldn’t allow it.”

            

After the darkness, dawn was breaking.

Outside the hotel, countless public officials in formal attire had Chi Guisi completely surrounded. The firepower they possessed utterly overwhelmed Chi Guisi’s band of outlaws.

Indeed.

            

How could private forces ever compare…

They were too insignificant.

From start to finish, it was merely a game of cat and mouse, like catching a turtle in a jar​⁴. Everything that happened in the hotel was just a charade, playing along with Chi Guisi’s “antics.”

            

—This wasn’t so much Fu Chaoyun’s backup plan as it was a sign that, no matter when, where, or by whom, as long as one was on this land, the law would absolutely not be trampled.

…

Meanwhile, Pei Xuezhi was leading her people quickly down the stairwell.

            

Just as she reached the ground floor, “bang, bang” gunshots erupted outside. The shots seemed to pierce her heart, instantly turning her—a woman who dared to venture alone into the tiger’s den​⁵—into a bird startled by the twang of a bow​⁶.

Her heart rate skyrocketed.

Pei Xuezhi sprinted outside, just in time to see Chi Guisi being protected by her people. Judging by the firepower at the scene, Chi Guisi’s defeat was certain.

            

She inwardly heaved a sigh of relief and immediately began searching for Fu Chaoyun.

Even though Chi Guisi, as if sensing something, looked towards her at the same moment with a complex and profound gaze, Pei Xuezhi felt not the slightest ripple in her heart.

Fu Chaoyun was still amidst the crowd, the restraints on her hands and the black cloth over her face yet to be removed, but she was in a relatively safe position.

            

Thankfully.

Pei Xuezhi understood that at a time like this, a non-professional like herself would only cause trouble and be a burden to others if she went forward. So, she had to restrain herself and wait for the outcome.

Fu Chaoyun seemed to sense her presence. Even though her vision was obscured, she looked in Pei Xuezhi’s direction from afar amidst the chaos.

            

Though she couldn’t see, the Alpha smiled accurately in Pei Xuezhi’s direction.

Gentle and reassuring.

In an instant, they reached a tacit understanding.

            

Seeing this, Chi Guisi, who was off to the side, also smiled. Even as the people protecting her fell one by one, and even as they tried to get her into a car to escape, Chi Guisi made no move.

She just kept looking in that direction until she too was subdued—though “subdued” might not be quite right, as she showed no signs of struggle or resistance at all.

The situation changed too quickly, and the scene felt somewhat abrupt, yet Chi Guisi kept her gaze fixed firmly on Pei Xuezhi.

            

“Pei Xuezhi!”

She suddenly cried out, but when she spoke, it was to explain her actions, her azure eyes both paranoid and gentle.

“You know, I like you. I would never hurt you. What I did just now was only to scare her… How could I bear to hurt you? I love you…”

            

Pei Xuezhi ignored this final, ill-timed “heartfelt confession” and simply walked straight towards Fu Chaoyun.

She wasn’t deliberately trying to snub Chi Guisi or embarrass her; it was just that, at this moment, she couldn’t spare even the slightest bit of attention for anyone else.

Seeing this, Chi Guisi laughed uncontrollably, her gaze fixed deadly on Pei Xuezhi, her expression wilder and more frenzied than ever before.

            

Because Chi Guisi hadn’t resisted and had been quite cooperative during her arrest, she hadn’t been shot on the spot. The personnel watching her now heightened their vigilance, but Chi Guisi didn’t struggle; she just continued to yell.

“If—if there were no ‘Fu Chaoyun,’ would you… would you, just maybe, even a little… like me?”

Tears streamed down her face as she spoke, her voice choked with sobs and pleading. Even the tears of the most malicious person are clear and bright.

            

The faint morning light should have felt warm, but she seemed to remain enveloped in darkness. Gazing at Pei Xuezhi, she was like a desperate traveler trying to clutch at the very last glimmer of light.

However, Pei Xuezhi didn’t even turn her head.

“No.”

            

Or rather, impossible.

The devout believer continued her plea, “You don’t have to like me as much as I like you, and certainly not love!”

—Because she no longer dared to hope for too much.

            

“From start to finish, did you ever like me even a little? Even a tiny bit, even for just one very brief moment?”

“Never.”

Ice-cold and firm.

            

Hopeless, heartless.

Severing all ties.

Chi Guisi froze for a moment, yet this also seemed to be the answer she had expected. Even the so-called “possibility” only existed in her own beautiful delusions.

            

Let alone loving each other.

That was something she didn’t even dare to dream of.

It wasn’t a dream; it was an extravagant hope.

            

“Hahahaha—”

After a moment of shock, Chi Guisi began to laugh loudly again.

This person had completely lost her mind. Sensing her extremely unstable mental state, the guards had already restrained her movements—in any case, the process of arresting Chi Guisi had seemed excessively smooth, unusually so.

            

But they overlooked that she still had her mouth.

“You forced me, you forced me…”

Chi Guisi muttered neurotically, as if she had lost all sanity. Suddenly, she raised her head and, as if venting with her last ounce of strength, roared, “Do it!”

            

The hoarse cry seemed to pierce the clouds.

Immediately, Chi Guisi clearly saw Pei Xuezhi’s pupils contract sharply, and then she sprinted towards Fu Chaoyun, who wasn’t far off.

Fu Chaoyun was still some distance from Pei Xuezhi. With everything that had happened, Fu Chaoyun’s restraints hadn’t been loosened, so both her movement and vision were impaired. This meant she couldn’t—

            

!

Pei Xuezhi ran faster than she ever had in her life…

Reaching out her hand…

            

But she was still a step too late.

From an unknown nearby window, a gun muzzle appeared. The shot was silent, yet at point-blank range, the sound of the impact on Fu Chaoyun’s body exploded outwards!

Pei Xuezhi, being the closest, saw her vision quickly consumed by a single color—an overwhelming, indelible red. It spread like a tide, like a tsunami, irresistible, unyielding, engulfing her, finally dyeing her the same crimson…

            

All around fell silent.

Chi Guisi, witnessing this, was very satisfied.

In the dead silence, she laughed neurotically, “See? You do care about me… I always find a way to make you care about me! Haha, hahaha—”

            

The guards beside her moved to silence her, striking her. Chi Guisi, however, endured the blow, her eyes wide, almost masochistically watching the scene unfold nearby.

All Pei Xuezhi could embrace was red.

Memories of the past flooded her mind.

            

Proud, gentle, intimate, impossibly arrogant…

In the end, all that remained was a regretful Pei Xuezhi.

Her expression and voice were gone. Silence echoed emptily. Time, mixed with blood, dripped away through her fingers. An unknown amount of time passed, or perhaps only an instant, before she found her voice again.

            

But not the ability to form words.

“Aaaaargh—!”

The Alpha, lying in a pool of blood, gathered her last remaining strength, raised a hand, and lightly touched the Omega’s fingertip.

            

Like a dragonfly skimming water, a fleeting touch.

Weak, gentle, yet full of comfort.

That single touch halted all of Pei Xuezhi’s grief.

            

—Don’t panic, not dead.

…

In an unnoticed corner, after witnessing this scene, Chi Guisi fainted, a strange smile on her face…

            

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