When a Yandere Cannon Fodder Meets a Dark, Twisted Villain - Chapter 47

Shi Yining slowly raised her eyes. Though tears blurred her vision, she could still clearly see the familiar face inches away—a face wearing a hint of undetectable trepidation, gazing at her with apology and tenderness.

“Why…”

If she loved her, why did she coldly refuse the sachet when it was first gifted, instead of accepting it?

She understood now that there must have been a misunderstanding, and she desperately wanted to know the answer.

As if sharing a telepathic connection, Shu Mo read the unspoken question. A flash of deep pain crossed her eyes, and her fingertips curled unconsciously as she began to explain the past, buried by time, in a low, raspy voice.

“At that time… Mother threatened your life, Ninger. She forced me to swear a poisonous oath that I would never be close to any cultivator of the Xuanqing Sect… especially you. I couldn’t… I couldn’t let any harm come to you…”

Each word was spoken with immense difficulty, as if it took every ounce of her strength.

Shu Mo pressed closer into her lover’s embrace, as if drawing strength from their shared warmth to continue dissecting these unpleasant memories.

Burying her face in the crook of Shi Yining’s neck, she rubbed against her slightly, her voice muffled. “When you offered that sachet filled with spiritual herbs, Kong Qing was watching from the side…”

She paused, her breathing growing heavy. “I knew her character well. If I had accepted it in front of her, she would have immediately gone to Mother to snitch, exaggerating everything… So, I could only endure the pain and refuse…”

Shi Yining felt the slight trembling of the body in her arms and heard the hidden pain and resentment in her voice. Silently, she tightened her grip, offering comfort.

Shu Mo’s breathing gradually steadied, though the bitterness in her voice remained. “I watched with my own eyes as Kong Qing took that sachet… I saw her cast that… provocative and triumphant smile at me…”

At this point, her long, slender fingers unconsciously gripped her lover’s sleeve. “In that moment, I was beyond furious… and I hated my own powerlessness.”

Shu Mo’s voice grew lower. “That night… I, who had always been the most observant of sect rules and self-restraint, did something no one would have expected… I found a way to hide my form and aura, and I quietly slipped into Kong Qing’s quarters…”

She looked up at the ethereal woman, as if seeking confirmation in her lover’s eyes that her honesty would be accepted.

Shi Yining listened quietly, her fingertips gently stroking the loose hair of the woman in her arms, offering silent encouragement.

Heart settling slightly, Shu Mo wrapped her arms around the other’s waist and continued, “I intended to steal the sachet back, but when I drew near… I found that Kong Qing was clutching it tightly in her hand, even in her sleep…”

She closed her eyes, as if trying to banish the unpleasant memory. “It was also from that moment that I truly understood… exactly what kind of intentions that Junior Sister harbored toward you, Ninger…”

Shi Yining’s thumb lightly brushed over the slight furrow in her lover’s brow. “Then… how did you get the sachet in the end, Mo’er?”

Shu Mo pursed her lips and spoke candidly: “I used Spirit-Sealing Needles to block her spiritual power, sending her into a deep sleep, and successfully took the sachet.”

She spoke bluntly, her tone even carrying a hint of the cold decisiveness she had felt during the act.

“When she woke and found the sachet missing, I was the first person she suspected. But unfortunately for her… she had no evidence. Moreover, in the hearts of our fellow disciples, I had always been ‘upright and beyond reproach.’ No one believed I would do such a thing. Only Mother was half-suspicious… I opened all my storage tools and let her search them. When she saw the sachet wasn’t there, her doubts faded… Later, Kong Qing was even punished by Mother for falsely accusing a fellow disciple.”

After finishing, Shu Mo fell silent for a moment, as if finally shedding a heavy mask.

She leaned forward slightly, her smooth forehead resting gently against her lover’s brow, so close they could feel each other’s warm breath.

When she spoke again, the coldness was entirely gone, replaced by a trace of lingering anxiety.

“Ninger, you see… I am actually far from the ‘perfect and flawless’ person the rumors describe… When I see others harboring improper thoughts about you, I get jealous, I get angry, and I even… wait for an opportunity to retaliate.”

She took a deep breath and asked the question hidden deep in her heart.

“Can you still love someone like me?”

Shi Yining did not answer immediately. Instead, she raised her hands to cradle Shu Mo’s face, looking into eyes filled with unease and anticipation, seeing her own small reflection within them.

Her thumbs brushed over the delicate skin, tracing the exquisite features.

Then, she lowered her head slightly and pressed a gentle, firm kiss onto her lover’s lips.

It was a brief touch, yet it spoke more than a thousand words.

“Of course I love you,” she said softly, her eyes shimmering with a tender and certain smile. “How could I not love the Mo’er who cares about me, gets jealous for me, and tries everything to protect me…”

She pulled the woman back into her embrace, her voice soft yet clear in every word. “No matter what kind of person you are, as long as it is you, I love you.”

Shu Mo was stunned.

That “Of course I love you” was like a pebble dropped into a still lake, sending out ripples.

The soft, warm sensation on her lips—light as a falling petal, yet carrying an undeniable weight of treasure and conviction—lingered.

The kiss was short, but it left a burning imprint upon her heart.

All the unease and trepidation, the long-hidden fear that her true self would not be accepted by Ninger, dissolved like spring snow under the warmth of that single kiss and response.

She could clearly feel the temperature of Ninger’s fingertips and see the unreserved tenderness and certainty in her eyes—a gaze devoid of any reluctance or scrutiny, containing only total acceptance and affection.

So… every facet of her, whether good or bad, could be cherished and loved so deeply.

The unique, elegant, and cool fragrance of Ninger’s scent drifted into her nose. She buried her face deeper into the warmth of Ninger’s neck, nuzzling slightly like a cat that had finally been fully accepted and had let down all its defenses.

The warmth where their skin touched brought a grounding peace. This silent embrace and closeness were the most direct expressions of their shared emotions…

Time flowed silently in the stillness of their embrace. It was a long while before Shu Mo calmed slightly from the throbbing heart of being fully accepted. She spoke softly, continuing to explain the misunderstandings of the past.

“The second time you came to the Yuehua Sect to give me that bracelet…” She paused, a spark of pure joy flashing in her eyes before being overtaken by a heavy shadow. “In my heart, I truly loved it… But, at the very moment I took the bracelet and my fingertips brushed your palm, I sensed my mother’s presence… She was hidden in the shadows, watching us in silence…”

At this point, Shu Mo closed her eyes, her long lashes trembling slightly.

She slowly took her lover’s jade-like hand, their fingers interlacing tightly.

Shi Yining could feel that the fingertips of the hand clasping hers were turning slightly cold.

The low, raspy voice rose again. “I was terrified… terrified that Mother would strike out at you because of it. I know her methods better than anyone… At that time, my cultivation was insufficient; I was no match for her and lacked the strength to keep you safe. I could only suppress all my feelings and joy, hardening my heart to say those most heartless words…”

Shu Mo reopened her eyes to look at her lover, her gaze filled with self-reproach.

When she spoke again, every word felt as though it were being ground out of her heart.

“I could only use the most clumsy and hurtful way to push you away time and again, pushing you far away… to make you completely give up on me. That way, at least in Mother’s eyes, I was keeping my oath, and she wouldn’t harm you…”

This explanation laid bare her state of mind back then.

It wasn’t a simple rejection; it was the act of someone who, in order to protect the person she loved, had to personally push them away… step by step into the abyss of misunderstanding and resentment.

That pain, though long past, remained as vivid as yesterday.

Realization dawned in Shi Yining’s heart.

So… behind those icy rejections lay such a cautious, painstaking act of protection.

She couldn’t help but hold the person in her arms even tighter, as if trying to melt all the lost time of their past and present lives into this single embrace.

“Mo’er went to such lengths for me…” Shi Yining’s voice suddenly choked with emotion. “It is lamentable that I was so dull back then, failing to perceive even a fraction of it… Even years later, because of your rejections and distance, I harbored resentment and almost… almost caused your cultivation to be completely destroyed.”

She looked up, tears shimmering in her eyes, filled with genuine self-blame. “In truth, the one who should say sorry… is me. The me of the previous life was so despicable…”

“No!” Shu Mo interjected urgently. She cupped her lover’s jade-like face, her gaze burning with intensity. “In my heart, Ninger has always been kind. Everything in the previous life was born out of love… I knew you were afflicted by demonic poison then, coupled with the system’s manipulation. Your actions were not of your own will. I have never blamed you; Ninger, please do not blame yourself.”

The cold, hopeless rain of that previous life in the Wutong Forest seemed to fall upon her heart once more.

The piercing pain of the backlash when the Soul-Dissipating Bell wailed, the sense of liberation when falling from the cliff… complex emotions surged like a tide, finally transforming into two rows of hot, silent tears that slid down Shi Yining’s cheeks.

“So… Mo’er even knew about the demonic poison within me?”

Shu Mo gave a low hum of affirmation. She reached up to gently wipe the warm tears from her lover’s face with her thumb, her finger lingering at the corner of those reddened eyes, stroking them softly.

“When I accompanied you in the identity of Jiang Liuyue, I told you that I knew everything about your past life… I knew of all the grievances you suffered, I understood your lack of choice under the system’s coercion… and I could feel it all as if it were my own.”

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