After the Scummy Alpha Marked the Crazy Beautiful Heroine - Chapter 50.1

Ever since An told her that Pei Jiuyao had fallen off the hospital bed, knocked over the IV stand, and then looked at her with sheer terror when she rushed in—Chi Yang had been on guard.

Pei Jiuyao had even ripped the IV needle straight out of her arm. Now, a large patch of bruised-purple skin and shallow cuts remained on her hand.

That was not the reaction of a normal patient waking up in a hospital.

Sure enough, Ying Ning later confirmed that traces of a muscle relaxant had been found in her IV line.

Standing outside the door, Chi Yang watched Pei Jiuyao sitting on the bed in a daze, her expression unreadable.

Since waking up, she seemed absent-minded, drifting off into her own thoughts. Sometimes her brows knit faintly. Sometimes she stared blankly at the phone in her hand, even though the screen had long since gone dark.

Chi Yang couldn’t understand why Pei Jiuyao never confided in her—why she insisted on burying everything deep inside.

Her love seemed to be only in words, never in action. She never leaned on her, never shared the things that mattered.

Not about Lin Leyi.

Not about Chu Si.

Not even about last night.

Every time Chi Yang thought about it, she nearly went mad.

Even after confessing, even after they were together, she never felt that Pei Jiuyao was wholly hers.

Until Ying Ning asked: “But haven’t you also hidden your own matters from Pei Jiuyao?”

Her possessiveness.

The cutthroat family power struggle.

“What good would it do for her to know? Isn’t it enough that I love her?” That was Chi Yang’s reply.

Ying Ning only shrugged.

Later, Chi Yang uncharacteristically began reflecting on herself.

Maybe she was afraid of hurting her—

Or scaring her away.

She didn’t even know why.

Perhaps because, in her subconscious, she had already lost Pei Jiuyao countless times.

Even now, with Pei Jiuyao right in front of her, it still felt unreal.

It had never felt real.

Ying Ning had advised: “Maybe Pei Jiuyao doesn’t need your protection. Maybe she’s capable of standing beside you and sharing the weight of everything you face.”

But what could she possibly take on? She had no background, no power, not even basic vigilance. She was like a naïve girl who truly believed the world would never hurt her.

How could anyone be so foolish?

In a world where even walking at night wasn’t safe, such innocence was the most fatal flaw.

She ought to remain under her wings, sheltered as she grew.

________________________________________

【You’ve already been to the Land of the Unclaimed.】

7023’s voice sniffed out the traces clinging to Pei Jiuyao.

During the days it had lost contact with this body, 7023 had thought its mission had failed again.

Fortunately, Pei Jiuyao had been clever.

Pei Jiuyao asked curiously, “What is that place?”

【It’s where the souls with nowhere to go are left. For example, when someone dies after failing their mission in this world, they get trapped there.】

“Trapped there?” Pei Jiuyao frowned. “Isn’t death just death? How could you still be trapped?”

【Think of it as a kind of punishment,】 7023 replied. 【Normally, you would never know of its existence until you failed a mission and were trapped there yourself. But since you’ve already been there…】

Then what about Chi Qing? Would she be trapped there in the future?

【But Host,】 7023 suddenly sounded smug about its choice, 【you truly are worthy of being my chosen one. Your mental strength is extraordinary. Normally, those who manage to return from the Land of the Unclaimed can’t tell dreams from reality for a long time. Some even end up insane.】

“Others have returned before?” Pei Jiuyao asked.

Before she could get an answer, a voice broke through her thoughts.

“Yaoyao, what are you thinking about?”

The moment Chi Yang stepped into the room, 7023’s connection was severed.

Pei Jiuyao looked up and smiled. “Xiao Li.”

Chi Yang walked over, pinched her cheeks with faint annoyance. “What’s on your mind? I’ve been standing here for a while.”

“Missing you,” Pei Jiuyao said softly.

“I don’t believe you.”

“Really.” Pei Jiuyao cupped Chi Yang’s face and shook it gently. “I was thinking about how not to lose you.”

The motion made Chi Yang close her eyes for a second. When she opened them again, her pupils carried a glimmer of light. Tilting her head, she rubbed her cheek against Pei Jiuyao’s palm.

Pei Jiuyao brushed her nose against hers. “You don’t know how long I’ve been searching for you.”

Chi Yang would never admit how terrified she had been these past few days. Terrified that she would lie there forever, never waking. That she would be left with only the body of flesh and blood before her, while the soul had already departed this world.

She recalled countless times when Pei Jiuyao had said she wasn’t the same person she once was—and countless times she had wondered how she could possibly bring her back.

She had always understood how terrifying loss was.

More than love or not-love, existence itself was the only thing that mattered. She just wanted Pei Jiuyao to stay alive.

Chi Yang lowered her gaze. Her fingertips traced along Pei Jiuyao’s lips, down her chin, along her neck, and to her collarbone.

The warmth of her touch was vivid—her pulse beating beneath the skin.

“You really did wake up. You’re not just my hallucination.”

As she spoke, for the first time in her life, Chi Yang wondered if she herself might be the one trapped inside an illusion, unable to escape.

She was a woman with a possessive heart. After her mother’s death, she had never been able to accept losing someone she loved.

Pei Jiuyao’s eyes darkened, faintly aching.

She caught Chi Yang’s chin, looked into her reddened eyes, and asked hoarsely, “Then are you real? Or am I the one trapped in a dream?”

“Of course I’m real,” Chi Yang replied.

“Then prove it to me.” Pei Jiuyao’s thumb brushed across her lips, her voice rough.

7023 had been wrong. Pei Jiuyao wasn’t that strong.

Sometimes, she too needed something to pull her back from the abyss.

Chi Yang’s gaze grew deep. Her lashes trembled, like the flutter of butterfly wings.

“I’ll prove it.”

She took Pei Jiuyao’s hand and placed it on her waist. With her other hand, she cupped Pei Jiuyao’s face and slowly leaned in.

Her kiss landed softly—on her forehead, her brow, her eyes, her cheeks, and finally, on the corner of her lips.

Hooking her arm around Pei Jiuyao’s neck, Chi Yang pried open her lips with the tip of her tongue, slipping inside. Her kiss carried both feverish longing and practiced dominance, entwining and teasing Pei Jiuyao’s tongue and mouth with deliberate skill.

Pei Jiuyao had never endured such a provocative kiss from Chi Yang before. It was as if she was savoring prey that belonged solely to her—occasionally toying with her, just to remind her that everything was under her control.

Her fingers pressed against Pei Jiuyao’s abdomen, slowly lifting her shirt, kneading upward.

Only then did Pei Jiuyao feel her soul being tugged back from some distant world—drawn piece by piece to Chi Yang’s side.

How could she like her this much?

From the very first glance.

Even enough to make her want to stay… If she hadn’t run into her mother in that Land of the Unclaimed, Pei Jiuyao feared she would have remained here, no matter the cost.

After a long moment, Chi Yang finally loosened her lips. A thin strand of silver trailed at the corner of her mouth, which she caught back into her mouth with a soft laugh.

One hand pressed against Pei Jiuyao’s chest, the other hooked around her neck. Forehead resting against hers, Chi Yang asked breathlessly, “Satisfied?”

Pei Jiuyao caught her wandering wrist. Her almond eyes were misted over, her breath still unsteady from that kiss, yet she let out a low chuckle. “Barely.”

Chi Yang frowned, pinching her chin. Her cool eyes glistened faintly with desire. “You call that barely?”

“I’d like to know how you intend to prove it,” Pei Jiuyao teased, raising a brow.

“You’ve picked up kissing quickly, Miss Chi… only—”

Pei Jiuyao’s hand slipped under Chi Yang’s shirt. “—you should be touching me like this.”

Her breath was fragrant, her voice gentle, yet her actions were utterly indecent.

Chi Yang’s waist weakened; her head dropped onto Pei Jiuyao’s shoulder, lips bitten tight as a muffled moan escaped her throat.

Pei Jiuyao had always loved to say outrageous things. Now was no exception. “I know every sensitive spot on you, Miss Chi.”

She punctuated her words by pinching Chi Yang’s slim waist.

Chi Yang grit her teeth with a stifled groan, nuzzling against her neck.

Pei Jiuyao was about to push further when she felt something wet on her own neck.

Startled, she cupped Chi Yang’s face.

Her lashes were lowered, obedient, with a droplet of moisture trembling on them. She bit her lip lightly.

When she lifted her head, tears slipped down her cheeks—not sorrowful, not distraught, just tinged with faint flush across her pale face.

And yet, inexplicably, Pei Jiuyao felt she was aggrieved.

Gently parting her lips with her thumb, Pei Jiuyao murmured in distress, “Don’t bite. Did I hurt you?”

“No.” Sitting in her lap, Chi Yang shook her head softly. “It’s just… you’ve only been gone a few days, but it feels like forever since I’ve seen you.”

Her fingertips traced Pei Jiuyao’s brows. “You’re real, aren’t you?”

Pei Jiuyao nipped her fingertip with her teeth, grinding lightly. “Very real.”

“And so are you. Because you hurt me.” Chi Yang’s tone carried mock blame, yet her eyes sparkled with laughter.

After a beat, her tears broke into a smile.

Pei Jiuyao leaned in, kissing the tear from her cheek before drawing her lips back into her mouth, grinding them slowly. Chi Yang’s sobs melted into sticky, breathless moans as her body softened beneath her.

“I want to mark you.”

From once rejecting this world to now—marking had become her proof of possession.

Nuzzling Chi Yang’s cheek, Pei Jiuyao coaxed gently, “I’ll bite lightly.”

She rolled over, pressing Chi Yang down onto the bed. Chi Yang hooked her legs around Pei Jiuyao’s waist, pulling her down with her.

“You Alphas are all unreasonable.”

Pei Jiuyao buried her nose against her neck. “And I’m unreasonable too?”

“Of course.” Chi Yang brushed her foot along Pei Jiuyao’s leg. “You can mark me. But I can’t do anything to you.”

Pei Jiuyao grinned, nudging the hand still tucked under her shirt. “I think you’ve done plenty.”

Chi Yang flushed scarlet, turning her head aside.

“Let me mark you—and then I’ll let you bite me back, hm?” Pei Jiuyao whispered against her ear. “Will you?”

“Then I’ll bite you several times.” Light flickered in Chi Yang’s eyes, lips pressed together. She hadn’t planned to refuse anyway, but she hadn’t expected Pei Jiuyao to allow her to bite back.

An Omega’s bite carried no marking power, yet their glands were fragile, intimate. Considering Pei Jiuyao had once been wounded there, she should have had shadows.

Yet she said it so easily, simply to soothe her possessive craving.

“I’ll bite hard,” Chi Yang warned, “and it’ll hurt you.”

Pei Jiuyao laughed softly. “I’m not afraid of pain.”

She lowered her mouth, biting at the mole behind her ear, kissing all the way down her neck until she reached her gland.

The sweet scent of strawberries spilled out uncontrollably. But instead of biting, Pei Jiuyao teased with her tongue—just as she had teased her lips earlier.

Her tongue pressed at the small opening, and Chi Yang immediately clenched the sheets, body jerking with a rush of heat pooling inside her.