Peerless Beauty – Chapter 18.1

Entering V Three-in-One

Ambiguity

“Why are you not sleeping at midnight, what are you doing?”

In the stillness of the night, a cold voice rang out, akin to a clear mountain spring, yet tinged with the hoarseness of someone who has just awakened, diluting the coldness and adding a touch of laziness.

“I, I…” Lu Yinxi gazed into Jian Qing’s suddenly opened eyes, trying to find a trace of surprise, but in those bright eyes, there was only the usual calm composure.

No panic, no surprise, no ambiguity.

She seems not to have noticed… not noticed that I secretly kissed her…

The heart that was suspended in mid-air landed on solid ground. Lu Yinxi swallowed the truth and the bitterness along with it, lying, “I just wanted to help you cover up with the blanket.”

“Really?” Jian Qing clearly didn’t believe her. “Last time you woke up in the middle of the night, you were silently touching me.”

“I—” Lu Yinxi’s gaze fell to Jian Qing’s chest, recalling the night they first met when she inadvertently touched her while stretching, the warm softness, and her cheeks quickly turned red. “I didn’t mean to…”

Jian Qing responded casually, “So it was intentional? That night, you knocked on my door holding a pillow, saying you were cold, afraid of the dark, wanted to watch the moon with me, and sleep together.”

In the end, she received a slap.

Upon hearing these words, Lu Yinxi’s face turned red to the roots of her neck, and she almost blurted out: “It wasn’t me who said that!”

It was the original owner who said it.

Just thinking about such words made her feel embarrassed. How could she say them out loud?

“How do you still remember that…” she mumbled for a while, not knowing how to refute, and then, feeling desperate, she said, “Even if I did it on purpose, the fact that you were seduced by me only shows that your willpower is not very strong…”

These words were shameless and unreasonable, but Jian Qing did not retort. She looked at Lu Yinxi, her gaze slowly sweeping over her eyes, nose, red lips, collarbone, and then…

Then she didn’t continue, slightly turned her face, and looked away.

She was lying on the sofa, her long hair casually spread over her shoulders, and a blanket covered her entire body, only exposing a large area of snow-white skin at her neck. Her cheeks were flushed with a hint of red, her sharp eyes had lost their focus, weakening the cold and strong aura she had during the day.

Lu Yinxi, borrowing the starlight, carefully observed her expression. She leaned down, got closer, and sniffed her neck. There was no smell of alcohol; the clear cold fragrance masked everything else.

Jian Qing glanced at Lu Yinxi: “Why do you act like a little dog?”

Lu Yinxi sniffed again and quietly asked her, “Are you drunk?”

Between the words, the warm breath fell onto the sensitive neck. Jian Qing was momentarily stunned, then reached out to press the head against her chest, gently rubbing it, and retorted, “No.”

Her voice still had a bit of hoarseness, making it sound exceptionally pleasant in the dim night.

Lu Yinxi buried her head in Jian Qing’s chest, feeling the warm, fragrant body, and her mind went blank.

Her face flushed red, she almost suffocated, and struggled to lift herself up. Just as she created a bit of distance, the hand around her waist suddenly tightened. In an instant, their positions switched, and she found herself lying on the sofa.

Looking up from below, she saw Jian Qing staring intently at her, with a brilliant starry sky behind her.

“You… you can’t do bad things…” She was somewhat scared, her voice trembling with nervousness. “Even if you’re drunk, if you do bad things, I’ll hit you…”

Jian Qing silently stared at her without saying a word. After a moment of eye contact, she bent down and placed a gentle kiss on the tear mole at the corner of her eye.

There were no additional movements.

Just her soft lips pressed against the tear mole at the corner of her eye.

An overwhelming cold fragrance permeated her lungs. Lu Yinxi closed her eyes, her heart beating violently. After hesitating for a moment, she gathered her courage, stretched out her hand, hooked it around Jian Qing’s neck, moved her body slightly, raised her head, and kissed her chin.

Rationality no longer existed; she acted purely on instinct.

Joy, bitterness, and that heart-throbbing feeling were all buried. She only wanted to be close to her, as close as possible.

The body pressing down from above grew heavier. Lu Yinxi pecked along her jawline bit by bit, but the person on top of her gradually became still.

Lu Yinxi opened her eyes in confusion, and what she saw were dense, long eyelashes.

She parted her lips in disbelief: “You… you fell asleep again?”

In the silent living room, no one answered her question.

“Kissing me and you can still fall asleep? You, you—” The tender and affectionate atmosphere vanished in an instant. Lu Yinxi was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. “And you said you weren’t drunk…”

She sighed, lying on the sofa, her gaze falling on the dazzling river of stars above. She gently stroked the long hair of the person on top of her, filled with infinite love and tenderness, slowly savoring their intimate kisses.

Her thoughts became soft and delicate, and the joy in her heart seemed about to overflow.

In the height of her joy, threads of unease and anxiety emerged.

She knew very little about this world and this person; the only ending she knew was not a happy one.

A feeling of suffocation clogged her heart, and Lu Yinxi felt increasingly breathless. She used all her strength to push the sleeping person off her, climbed up from the sofa, and carefully tucked the blanket back over Jian Qing.

She squatted beside her, under the starlight, looking at her again and again, feeling reluctant to leave.

But some things must be done.

Just like how a clinician discovers symptoms, thinks about the causes, and treats the disease, emotions cannot solve problems. Upon discovering a problem, one must act, think, and resolve it.

Lu Yinxi stood up, took some paper, a pen, and a desk lamp from the room, and then squatted in front of the coffee table by the sofa. After taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, she began to scribble and write on the paper.

The fear and unease in her heart stemmed from her half-understanding of the plot.

In the past, she didn’t care about the plot’s ending; she just wanted to escape far away, protect herself, and return to reality.

Now, she cast aside her avoidance mentality and tried for the first time to deduce and guess the plot.

Jian Qing was set as the villain, who would later commit murder.

Analyzing the motives for the crime, murder can generally be categorized as crimes of passion, crimes for financial gain, sexual crimes, or revenge killings.

The term “sexual crimes” was immediately crossed out with a big X by Lu Yinxi, excluding it from consideration.

Crimes of passion: In the original text, Jian Qing had only one ambiguous relationship from beginning to end, and that was with Lu Yinxi herself.

Lu Yinxi recalled her own character in the book. It was far from positive. Not only was she depicted as a weak and dependent dodder flower, but she also cheated on Jian Qing multiple times…

She rubbed her nose and thought to herself that the author must be her anti-fan.

She was indeed paired with several CPs (couple pairings), but those were just normal marketing tactics during the airing of the drama to promote on-screen couples. It wasn’t like she actually had countless romantic relationships or was two-timing multiple people.

To think they wrote her to be that kind of person…

Lu Yinxi snorted softly in her heart.

But putting aside her issues, from short-term interactions, Jian Qing doesn’t seem like the type to commit a crime of passion.

She isn’t a love supremacist. Sometimes, she even neglects Lu Yinxi because of her work. She has made achievements in her professional field, has aspirations in scientific research, and holds a belief in curing diseases and saving lives. She wouldn’t destroy her future for the sake of romance.

Crimes of passion was ruled out.

A crime for financial gains… also impossible. She doesn’t lack money, nor is she greedy. Not to mention she comes from a wealthy second-generation family. Even though her relationship with her family is average, she has a stable income, enough for a comfortable life.

Crimes for financial gains was ruled out.

Only revenge killings was left. Lu Yinxi circled it, not daring to rule it out.

Whether it was the original character settings in the book or the impression from real-life interactions, Lu Yinxi always felt Jian Qing was the type to seek revenge for the smallest grievances.

She seemed indifferent, but her feelings of love and hatred were much stronger than those of ordinary people.

If she deeply loved someone, she would never let go, even unto death; if someone bore deep hatred towards her, she would find a way to exact revenge, even if it meant mutual destruction.

Next to the circled words “revenge killings,” Lu Yinxi added a big question mark.

If it was a revenge killing, it could be either a new grievance or an old feud.

If it was a new grievance, it should have occurred within a recent period.

If it was an old feud…

Lu Yinxi recalled the night they first met, the knife by Jian Qing’s bed, and her fear of the dark, and drew a knife and a lamp on the paper.

To be honest, up until now, she couldn’t see any indication that Jian Qing had any grudges with anyone.

Jian Qing’s interpersonal relationships were very simple; she kept a moderate distance from everyone, sometimes sincerely treating people well, but never getting close to anyone, including herself.

She completely shut herself off, wrapping herself tightly, like a cocoon, living a life that was both clear-headed and isolated.

Once upon a time, Lu Yinxi didn’t want to peel her open because she wasn’t interested.

Now, Lu Yinxi still doesn’t want to peel her open, afraid of accidentally hurting her wounds. She just wants to wait until she opens up to her.

When you truly like someone, you are willing to accept all of their past, the good and the bad, without reservation.

Following this line of thought, Lu Yinxi couldn’t think of any more reasons for now.

She put down the paper and pen, squatted in front of Jian Qing, gently stroked her long hair, and made a low promise: “Even if one day I leave you, leave this world, I will make sure to protect you first, not letting anyone hurt you.”

In the past 25 years, Lu Yinxi had never made such a promise to anyone.

The person on the sofa is serene but not weak, never showing vulnerability. Her face never reveals expressions of disappointment, sadness, or melancholy, as if she is inherently incapable of feeling negative emotions. She endures all pain silently, never evoking a desire for protection from others, only creating a sense of detachment.

Yet, Lu Yinxi developed tender feelings and pity for such a cold woman.

Human emotions are indeed strange and unpredictable.

In this unfamiliar world, she is alone and helpless, knowing very little. This person brought her into a familiar environment, creating a subtle bond between them.

Setting aside feelings of affection, due to that subtle bond, Jian Qing was also a special existence to her.

Lu Yinxi leaned against the sofa, sitting on the ground, and smiled faintly.

Tonight, she experienced a whirlwind of emotions: excitement, joy, bitterness, entanglement, rationality, pity—a tumultuous chaos that left her sleepless.

She couldn’t just sit idly by the sofa all night, so Lu Yinxi picked up the pen again, pulled out a clean sheet of paper, and began to carefully sketch Jian Qing’s sleeping figure.

This was the second time she had drawn her.

The first time she drew her, Lu Yinxi didn’t see her as a real person. She didn’t care about her attitude or her life and death; she just wanted to use her to survive in this unfamiliar world.

The second time she drew her, Lu Yinxi had begun to care for her and wanted to protect her. Her strokes became unprecedentedly gentle.

She wanted to hide these drawings, not letting anyone else see them.

Just like hiding that obscure affection deep in her heart, not telling anyone.

The morning sun shone on her body, and in a hazy state, Lu Yinxi felt the warmth. She opened her eyes and grabbed the phone by her head.

9 AM.

She got up and looked toward the other end of the sofa at Jian Qing.

Jian Qing was still asleep.

It was rare to see her sleep in.

Jian Qing was accustomed to waking up early. Regardless of whether it was a holiday, she would get up at 6 AM every day without fail. But today, she hadn’t woken up even by 9 AM.

It seems she was really drunk last night.

Lu Yinxi smiled, then worried if she might be sick, and crawled over to touch her forehead.

Normal temperature.

The person in sleep was disturbed, her eyebrows furrowed, showing signs of waking up.

Lu Yinxi was stunned for a moment, then immediately put on a dramatic act. She pulled open the collar of her robe a bit, messed up her hair, took out a tissue, hugged her knees, and sat in the corner of the sofa. Her eyes easily reddened, and she used the tissue to wipe away nonexistent tears.

When Jian Qing opened her eyes, she looked at the ceiling and squinted, feeling somewhat unfamiliar. It wasn’t the usual familiar environment she woke up to.

Her limbs were in that soft and powerless state typical after just waking up from sleep. She struggled to get up, and her vision collided with the scene of Lu Yinxi wiping her tears with reddened eyes. She was slightly startled, froze in place, and didn’t move.

This kind of post-drunken hangover, waking up to find a young girl beside her with a haggard face and sobbing, was the first time Jian Qing had encountered it, but not the first time she had seen it.

The children in the department, when holding their phones and playing all sorts of melodramatic TV dramas about rich families, she had glanced at them once or twice.

She looked down at her own robe.

Still fairly neat.

She looked at Lu Yinxi’s robe, somewhat messy.

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LP: Author not kidding, this vip chapter’s worth 3 chapters! And I’ll be dividing it so!

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