After the Scummy Alpha Marked the Crazy Beautiful Heroine - Chapter 47.2

Ross tapped her cheek with her knife. “Then how did they find this warehouse?”

Because you confiscated Chi Yang’s phone. The tracker works even when shut off. Wherever she goes, Chi Qing can follow.

Jiuyao forced a crooked smile, nudging the blade aside. “Maybe… you’ve got a mole among you.”

Ross’s face twisted with fury. She kicked her hard in the leg. Jiuyao collapsed with a hiss of pain.

“Don’t play games with me!” She wasn’t satisfied—she drove her knife into her shoulder and twisted.

The air froze.

“Fu—…” After half a minute, the searing agony radiated from her clavicle straight into her heart.

For one fleeting second, a thought flashed through Jiuyao’s mind—

If I die here… will I get one last look at my old world?

But she realized something new: a knife in the shoulder doesn’t kill you. It just drowns you in pain so intense it numbs the brain and scatters the mind.

God, this villain is impossible to flip.

Why were TV villains always brainless—ranting speeches before dying—while the one she got stuck with was armed to the teeth, willing to stab and shoot at the drop of a hat?

Jiuyao knew the explosion had to be Chi Qing’s people. The blast was close enough to hear—rescue wasn’t far.

The fact that she could still think at all was testament to her sheer willpower.

Hopefully that tracker wasn’t left behind at the last warehouse…

Oh no. Maybe it really was.

Stall her. Come on, think of something, idiot!

The world was spinning, sound muffled. She forced her eyes open, seeing only blurred outlines and pale light. Even her own voice sounded distant.

“Actually… I’m the one who hired you.”

Ross lowered her head. “What did you say?”

In a daze, Jiuyao blinked back into awareness. “I said—I’m the one who hired you.”

“She’s… actually my sponsor.” Her words broke and faltered. “She keeps me, but I don’t like her at all. I just wanted to find a way to get money, then play the victim. I never thought you’d torture me like this…”

Ross’s expression didn’t change. “Password for the order?”

…Wait. There’s a password?

Pei Jiuyao said, “I don’t remember. Why don’t you give me my phone and I’ll check?”

Ross was so furious she laughed. “Are you looking for death?”

But this was a world inside a book—surely the code wouldn’t be too complicated?

Pei Jiuyao probed cautiously, “Heaven reigns above, tiger rules below?”

“***! Hand me a gun, I’ll blow her head off right now!”

“Wait!” Pei Jiuyao instinctively shielded her head. The wound on her body tore open with sharp pain, but she couldn’t care about that. She shouted, “Open sesame?”

BOOM!

A deafening explosion roared outside. White smoke instantly rushed in. Ross flinched, waving at the smoke clouding her face. A bad feeling surged in her gut. She yanked Pei Jiuyao up, pressing a knife hard against her neck.

“Ross, drop your weapon!” A cold, commanding voice rang from the doorway.

The haze thinned, revealing a woman striding forward.

Short hair. Around one meter eighty tall. Just a T-shirt on. A totem inked behind her ear—mercenary.

She raised her gun, aiming directly at Ross’s head.

“Stay back, or I kill the hostage!” Ross dragged Pei Jiuyao step by step deeper into the warehouse.

An advanced, flanked by a squad of SWAT officers.

“Where’s Chi Yang?” she demanded.

Ross’s voice was ice. “Chi Yang is in my hands. You pull that trigger and she dies instantly.”

BANG!

A bullet whizzed past Ross’s ear, slamming into the iron door. Pei Jiuyao flinched violently.

“The hostage in your hands means nothing to us,” An said flatly. “Hand over Chi Yang.”

Ross pressed the blade harder against Pei Jiuyao’s neck. The sharp edge bit into her skin; beads of blood welled up. Pei Jiuyao had no strength left to think—her body sagged. The instant her gaze met An’s, the tension drained out of her, her vision going hazy.

Behind her, Ross roared, “Bring Chi Yang out, now!”

But An’s voice remained steady, her gun unwavering as she advanced step by step. “Your people are already down. Don’t waste your breath, Ross.”

Only then did Ross realize—they truly didn’t care whether Pei Jiuyao lived or died. Regret flickered in her. She should’ve taken Chi Yang instead. Her grip on the knife wavered.

Fine then. Mutual destruction.

She shoved the warehouse doors wide open, then spun back, hurling her knife straight toward Chi Yang. In the same breath, she lunged for the self-destruct trigger inside the warehouse.

Pei Jiuyao’s eyes widened in horror. The knife hurtled closer and closer to Chi Yang. Time itself seemed to fracture, each frame dragging into slow motion.

She tried to throw herself forward—only for her knees to buckle, collapsing her to the ground.

BANG! BANG!

Two gunshots split the air.

An’s shot struck the knife dead-on, the bullet ricocheting off its edge and into Ross’s temple. The knife clattered into the wall with the impact.

Ross’s hand froze, hovering just a finger’s breadth away from the detonation switch—then dropped lifelessly.

At the same time, a distant sniper’s bullet pierced Ross’s heart.

Silence descended.

“Where’s Chi Qing?!” Chi Yang’s eyes brimmed red as she knelt, cradling the unconscious Pei Jiuyao in her arms. Her voice trembled with rage and grief. “Something like this happens and she still doesn’t show? Does she care about anything besides the company?!”

“Second Miss, Pei Jiuyao is injured. Let her go.”

It took all of An’s strength to pry Chi Yang’s stiff fingers loose. They lifted Pei Jiuyao onto a stretcher and pushed her into the waiting vehicle.

“I’m going with her.” Chi Yang shoved An’s hand away, stumbling after the stretcher in a daze. She barely heard An calling after her—

“Second Miss… the Old Madam has passed away.”

________________________________________

Three days later, Pei Jiuyao still hadn’t woken.

The doctors said she’d had old injuries. Any later, and her leg would’ve been ruined for good. Her ribs were intact but her stomach had bled; her shoulder bore knife wounds. None fatal—she only needed months to recover.

As for why she wouldn’t wake—

“It may be post-traumatic stress,” the doctor explained. “She doesn’t want to wake up.”

The return flight was the same as when they had come—same aircraft, same route. Only this time, the cabin was crowded with stone-faced mercenaries bristling with knives. The sight of them alone made Chi Yang’s blood boil.

She raised her head coldly. “You all—get lost.”

An froze for a moment, then gestured for the others to withdraw. The men filed out of the cabin, shutting the door behind them.

Chi Yang’s gaze instantly softened. She reached over and poked at the soft flesh of Pei Jiuyao’s cheek, whispering, “Why won’t you wake up?”

Her face had grown thinner; even poking her no longer felt the same.

“Is it because you don’t want to see me anymore?” she murmured.

Then shook her head, answering herself softly, “Impossible. You love me the most.”

Chi Yang sighed, pulling down the window shade halfway. Light and shadow split across Pei Jiuyao’s face—half in darkness, half in glow.

Sleeping, she looked so obedient.

Chi Yang brushed a fingertip across her eyelashes.

She was like a sculpture, a specimen—utterly still. If not for the faint rise and fall of her breathing, she could’ve been mistaken for dead.

That thought made Chi Yang quickly lean closer, checking the breath under her nose.

Thank goodness—still alive.

“But why won’t you wake?” Chi Yang whispered, tilting her head against Pei Jiuyao’s shoulder. She guided Pei Jiuyao’s limp fingers to rest against her own head.

She didn’t care about her grandmother’s death. Years ago, her mother had worked tirelessly on a project. A single mistake at the company had earned her brutal scolding. She rushed back overnight, exhausted, and crashed her car.

All Chi Yang had ever wanted… was to spend a peaceful New Year with Pei Jiuyao.

What did family matters have to do with her? She hadn’t touched Minghe’s projects in years, had no say in its shares or power. Yet one mess after another still crashed into her life, hurting the innocent people around her.

She couldn’t help but think—if Pei Jiuyao had never met her, never had that so-called 100% pheromone compatibility, she wouldn’t be lying here now.

But if they’d never met…

A sour pang rose in her chest.

She didn’t want Pei Jiuyao to leave her.

Chi Yang turned over, sniffled softly, and poked at the soft flesh at Pei Jiuyao’s waist. “Wake up already. I miss you.”

________________________________________

The plane landed in the afternoon.

The sky over Haishi was heavy with dark clouds, a suffocating net pressing down over the city. Compared to Mermaid Island, though, this was practically a sunny day.

Pei Jiuyao was rushed straight to the hospital.

Chi Yang wanted to follow, but at the entrance she ran into Chi Qing.

Chi Qing wore a long black coat, a strip of white mourning ribbon pinned to her chest. Someone held a massive black umbrella behind her, though no rain or snow fell—the weather merely cold, gray, and sunless. Her presence was even gloomier than the sky.

Chi Yang glanced up. No rain. No snow. Not even sun.

“You came?” Her voice was weary, stripped of emotion. She had never managed to show Chi Qing much warmth anyway.

Chi Qing’s reply was just as flat. “Come home.”

“Do you remember what you told me before I left?” Chi Yang shoved her hands into her pockets, glancing at the hospital building. The wind tossed her hair into disarray.

“You said I didn’t need to come home this year. You told me to go on vacation with Jiuyao, that you’d handle everything here.”

“But she’s lying in a hospital bed right now!” Chi Yang’s voice broke, her emotions finally cracking through. She lowered her head, forcing herself back under control, and muttered hoarsely, “This is all because of me. Because of us.”

When she looked up again, the tip of her nose was red. Maybe from the bitter cold of Haishi’s winter.

She pressed her fingers against her eyes.

Chi Qing didn’t answer. She only opened the car door behind her.

“Come on. There’s still a mountain of things waiting.”

Then added, “Shen Xinyi is here. An will stay to guard her. Nothing will happen. And as long as you show your face at home, they won’t dare touch Pei Jiuyao again.”

Chi Yang looked back one last time, tucked her windswept hair behind her ears, and slid into the car.