The Cannon Fodder Crazy Beauty Has Awakened [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 45.2

Chi Jingyan snapped back to awareness, sharply turning her head away to evade Jiang Mengyu’s hand. She struggled to maintain composure, but her voice trembled uncontrollably. “What do you even want?”

Jiang Mengyu paused, withdrawing her hand. “Nothing much. Just a game.”

A game?

Chi Jingyan didn’t understand.

Jiang Mengyu continued, “Don’t let Zhou Heng come up yet.”

Her dark eyes fixed calmly on Chi Jingyan, a stark contrast to the latter’s anguish and despair.

“There’s more I want to say to you.”

“Unless you’d rather we both die ahead of schedule.”

The bomb strapped to Chi Jia was a sword hanging over Chi Jingyan’s head, ready to drop at any moment.

Yet Chi Jingyan only let out a cold laugh. “Then just blow me up already.”

Despite her words, she didn’t press the hidden communicator on her. She wasn’t afraid of death but she refused to die in confusion, or alongside someone she despised.

“You haven’t changed,” Jiang Mengyu murmured, almost sighing.

“Life doesn’t always give second chances.”

The words twisted like a knife in Chi Jingyan’s chest, the pain so sharp she could barely breathe. Her eyes reddened as she glared at Jiang Mengyu. “So what? You’re going to teach me a lesson yourself? Show me what it means to be cautious?”

Jiang Mengyu’s gaze reflected Chi Jingyan’s disheveled hair, tear-streaked eyes, and fragile silhouette.

“Do you remember?” Jiang Mengyu spoke slowly. “The second time we met was also here.”

The second time?

Chi Jingyan’s mind raced. They had crossed paths countless times, why would Jiang Mengyu call this the second?

Then when was the first?

At school?

Come to think of it, Jiang Mengyu had indeed become a completely different person after dropping out. Back then, Chi Jingyan had wondered but never dwelled on it.

Could it be?

Chi Jingyan stared at Jiang Mengyu, half-shocked, half-suspicious, her heartbeat erratic.

A sharp warning buzzed in her ear.

[Beep!! Host is prohibited from disclosing mission-related information to original characters!]

Jiang Mengyu ignored it, continuing, “Just mentioning Chu Muyao was enough to make you come without hesitation.”

This was the second time Chi Jingyan had fallen for the same trick.

She wanted to retort, if she hadn’t genuinely cared about Jiang Mengyu, why would she have rushed over?

But the indifference in Jiang Mengyu’s eyes choked back her words. Silent, Chi Jingyan averted her gaze, refusing to explain.

Jiang Mengyu knew exactly what she was thinking, how she was toying with her like a monkey in the palm of her hand, only to turn around and mock her for caring too much.

Heartbreak and disappointment surged within Chi Jingyan. Her eyes reddened, but her face was unusually pale. She pressed her lips tightly together, desperately holding back the tears threatening to spill.

Jiang Mengyu’s gaze lingered on Chi Jingyan’s face as she asked softly, “Are you angry?”

Blood rushed to Chi Jingyan’s head, her teeth clenched so tightly that it took her a long moment to taste the metallic tang in her mouth. She forced the words out, slow and deliberate, “Shouldn’t I be?”

“Because I lied to you?” Jiang Mengyu’s tone was light and unhurried, carrying an air of indifference. “It’s not like it’s the first time anyway.”

Chi Jingyan hadn’t planned to speak, but she couldn’t help the sarcasm that slipped out. “Oh? Then how many more things are you hiding from me?”

Since things had already come to this, why not lay everything bare? What else hadn’t Jiang Mengyu told her?

Chi Jingyan’s gaze wavered, on the verge of shattering.

Jiang Mengyu was silent for a moment before saying, “That night, downstairs in this building, when I told you I approached Chu Muyao to get your attention, that was a lie.”

Though Chi Jingyan had already suspected as much, hearing it aloud still sent a suffocating pain spreading through her chest. She dug her nails into her palm, barely maintaining her composure. “And then?”

“Going to the bar was also part of my plan.”

Chi Jingyan closed her eyes briefly. “You knew I’d be drugged?”

Jiang Mengyu: “Yes.”

Chi Jingyan didn’t ask how she knew. From the moment Jiang Mengyu mentioned the “second meeting,” she had already guessed. Perhaps the person standing before her now was nothing like the Jiang Mengyu she had first known, she just hadn’t wanted to believe it.

“Did it make you proud, watching me struggle in pain?” Chi Jingyan’s lips were bloodless. “Everything was under your control.”

No wonder she had always felt that Jiang Mengyu carried a detached cruelty, as if she existed outside the world. It turned out she truly was like this coldly observing as everyone obediently walked into her traps.

“If I hadn’t taken you away, you would have marked Chu Muyao.”

The system’s alarm blared deafeningly, the familiar pain returning just like the suppression she had endured in the last world after awakening. A dull ache spread through her body.

Jiang Mengyu’s expression remained unchanged. “You would have fallen in love with her and married her.”

Chi Jingyan suddenly understood. She didn’t doubt Jiang Mengyu’s words because it was indeed something she might have done.

Or rather, without Jiang Mengyu’s interference, Chi Jingyan would have inevitably ended up with Chu Muyao.

“So what? You didn’t want me to be with her?”

“Yes.”

Chi Jingyan’s lips curled mockingly. “Why? Don’t tell me it’s because you love me?”

Even now, a sliver of hope still lingered in Chi Jingyan’s heart. Though her tone was sarcastic, there was a hidden thread of testing beneath it.

But Jiang Mengyu didn’t answer. Instead, she turned her face away, no longer looking at Chi Jingyan. Her gaze fell emptily on the window, devoid of any emotion.

Chi Jingyan’s heart plummeted. It took her a long moment to find her voice again. “So… even saving my life was a lie?”

“Yes.”

How laughable.

Chi Jingyan didn’t know what expression to wear anymore. She had been wary and tormented over someone who didn’t even exist, even fabricating so-called “evidence,” only for it all to be a lie!

She had been played for a fool by Jiang Mengyu.

Her heart felt as though it were being sliced apart, the intense pain twisting her features slightly. She could no longer speak, only staring at Jiang Mengyu with a gaze full of obsession and despair.

Did Jiang Mengyu even have a heart?

Chi Jingyan’s voice was hoarse and strained. “What about the sister who gave you the name ‘Jiaojiao’? Was that fake too?”

Hearing this, Jiang Mengyu turned back to look at her. “No.”

That part was real.

Chi Jingyan wanted to laugh, but her body had no strength left. Her eyes brimmed with unshed tears, the shattered light in them flickering faintly. “So you’re still capable of telling the truth.”

But now, Chi Jingyan wasn’t sure anymore had Jiang Mengyu really never seen her as a replacement for that sister?

“Jiang Mengyu,” Chi Jingyan tried several times before finally forcing the words out. “Do you hate me?”

Jiang Mengyu shook her head. “No.”

So she hadn’t done all this out of hatred?

Chi Jingyan wanted to ask, Did you ever like me, even for a moment? But the words stuck in her throat. She was afraid of hearing an even crueler answer.

In the end, all she could whisper was, “Why?”

Why had she done all this?

Jiang Mengyu answered a question with another question. “Did you bring my diploma?”

Chi Jingyan remained silent. Jiang Mengyu stepped closer, reaching into her pocket to retrieve the diploma herself.

Chi Jingyan didn’t move a muscle. Though her body felt drained of strength, her back remained rigidly straight as she stared coldly at Jiang Mengyu.

A slightly mechanical voice echoed in Jiang Mengyu’s mind.

[Congratulations, Host! You have successfully completed the novice mission! Mission rewards: 5,000 points, Gift Pack ×1.]

[System Store unlocked.]

[Mission complete. Please prepare to leave this world.]

[Countdown to departure: 10 minutes.]

Jiang Mengyu ignored the voice of System No. 031. She casually stuffed the diploma into her pocket before turning her attention back to Chi Jingyan.

“You once said you’d repay everything you owed me.”

Chi Jingyan’s fingers twitched slightly at her sides. “So?”

“You still owe me two bullets.”

Something appeared in Jiang Mengyu’s hand. Chi Jingyan’s gaze dropped, recognizing the silver pistol.

It was the one she had given Jiang Mengyu.

The pain and fury reached such an extreme that Chi Jingyan’s expression grew eerily calm. A dark tide churned in the depths of her eyes. “Are you here to collect?”

“I told you, I wanted to play a game with you.”

As she spoke, Jiang Mengyu took Chi Jingyan’s hand and placed the gun in her palm.

“The rules are simple.”

“There’s only one bullet in this gun. One shot each, and it’s over.”

This game was called Russian Roulette.

Jiang Mengyu released her hand. “You go first.”

She had handed all the power of choice to Chi Jingyan.

If Jiang Mengyu’s luck wasn’t good enough, the first shot might be the one with the bullet.

Or if Chi Jingyan was ruthless enough to ignore the rules entirely and fire multiple shots at Jiang Mengyu, then no matter when the bullet was discharged, Jiang Mengyu’s fate would be sealed.

Chi Jingyan could even throw the gun aside and kill Jiang Mengyu right then with the weapon she had brought.

She had just laid bare all her schemes and dark sides before Chi Jingyan. At this moment, Chi Jingyan’s hatred for her should be at its peak. Would the young lady, fueled by the fury of being toyed with and deceived, choose to kill her outright?

Jiang Mengyu took a step back, her dark eyes calmly fixed on Chi Jingyan.

Leaving the choice entirely to Chi Jingyan.

Chi Jingyan’s hand holding the gun trembled. The figure before her seemed shrouded in shadow, she couldn’t discern Jiang Mengyu’s expression, nor could she fathom what thoughts lay behind those eyes.

For a fleeting moment, she even thought Jiang Mengyu was deliberately provoking her to pull the trigger.

The two locked eyes in silence for a long time before Chi Jingyan finally began to move slowly.

Her choice defied all of Jiang Mengyu’s expectations, Chi Jingyan directly pointed the gun at her own heart and pulled the trigger repeatedly.

Didn’t Jiang Mengyu want her to return it? Fine, she would.

The scent of jasmine in the air suddenly intensified several times over. The hand holding the gun was seized by another, and Chi Jingyan lost her strength. Her vision blurred as if shrouded in thick fog, making it impossible to see Jiang Mengyu’s face clearly.

All she heard was Jiang Mengyu’s soft whisper: “Don’t you hate me?”

“I do.” Chi Jingyan’s voice sounded as if it had been forced from her throat.

Yet even knowing Jiang Mengyu had been deceiving her all along, Chi Jingyan couldn’t control her heart.

She couldn’t bear to see Jiang Mengyu die.

A flicker of something unfamiliar finally surfaced in Jiang Mengyu’s eyes. She reached out to wipe the tears from Chi Jingyan’s cheeks, her voice carrying a rare, almost dreamlike tenderness.

“Is that so?”

[Host, prepare to leave this world!]
[Countdown: one minute.]

Chi Jingyan could no longer suppress the overwhelming emotions inside her. Tears blurred her vision as she stubbornly retorted, “And what about you? Didn’t you want me to return it to you?”

Why had Jiang Mengyu stopped her from firing again?

“The medicine Chen Xiang gave to Chi Jia, I injected all of it into her.”

Jiang Mengyu’s words came faster than usual.

“She won’t be a threat to you anymore.”

Besides, this was something Jiang Mengyu had done alone. It had nothing to do with Chi Jingyan, and no blame could fall on her.

A sudden unease surged in Chi Jingyan’s chest. She seemed to sense something and widened her eyes, staring desperately at Jiang Mengyu as she tried to grab hold of her sleeve.

But her body inexplicably lost control, as if frozen in place, unable to move an inch.

Her fingers still clutched the gun tightly. Jiang Mengyu guided her hand backward, pressing the muzzle against her own heart.

Finally, Chi Jingyan understood her intention.

“No…”

Tears spilled uncontrollably from Chi Jingyan’s eyes. She struggled with all her might, but the once-gentle jasmine fragrance now coiled around her like chains, suppressing her resistance without mercy.

Somehow, Chi Jingyan suddenly recalled something Jiang Mengyu had once told her long ago.

“I promise I won’t use pheromones to control you again.”

“If I break that promise, punish me by letting you abandon me forever.”

Had it all been an omen from the start?

So now, was Jiang Mengyu planning to abandon her first?

After revealing all the truths, was she resolutely leaving her behind?

Chi Jingyan’s lips trembled as she pleaded, “Please…”

She could overlook Jiang Mengyu’s lies, forgive everything she had done, just as long as Jiang Mengyu didn’t leave her.

Don’t abandon her.

Jiang Mengyu gazed at her without blinking, the usual coldness in her expression softening slightly. The faintest smile touched her lips.

“Ayan, never trust someone too easily.”

[Countdown: 10, 9, 8…]

“And don’t hold out hope for bad people.”

Cool fingertips brushed over Chi Jingyan’s eyes, closing them gently.

“That congee you made wasn’t completely terrible either.”

That had been a lie too.

The system’s alarm blared like a death knell. Jiang Mengyu took one last, deep look at Chi Jingyan.

“Goodbye, Ayan.”

Bang!

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