Dao Companion Crippled, Coveters Move

Chapter 262 260: Xiaohan, I Just Love You Too Much...

"Liyuan, it'll be time for lunch soon. Since the Business Saintess is visiting, we should make a big meal. Why don't you go to the cellar and get the Spirit Wine I've been saving?"

"Okay~"

After sending Ye Liyuan away, Pei Yuhang turned back to Shang Miaoyan. The warmth on his face vanished, replaced by an impatient expression. His voice was low and icy:

"Shang Miaoyan, stop trying to sow discord! I know perfectly well how Senior Sister Lu treats me. I don't need you meddling in my affairs!"

Hearing this, Shang Miaoyan let out a soft laugh, the mockery in her eyes deepening.

She slowly walked closer, her long skirt swaying gently, carrying a faint, pleasant fragrance. Her voice, however, was as cold as ice. "Know perfectly well? Heh. Xiaohan, you're so naive it's almost cute."

"Can you really not see what kind of person Lu Ruoxi is? She's using you to advance her Cultivation, deceiving Sister Liyuan, and even making you abandon your own Dao Companion to cultivate with her… Is *this* what you call 'knowing perfectly well'?"

Backed into a corner by her words, Pei Yuhang took a step back, his mind in turmoil. He found he had no rebuttal.

He gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, "Senior Sister Lu… She just needs my help. Back when Liyuan and I were in our most difficult time, she was the one who helped us. I'm just repaying her kindness now!"

"Kindness?" Shang Miaoyan scoffed, a flash of disdain in her eyes.

"Xiaohan, is your way of repaying a kindness to sleep with her?!"

Hearing her words, Pei Yuhang felt as if a cold knife had been viciously stabbed into his heart.

He wanted to argue, but found his words felt so pale and powerless.

But Shang Miaoyan pressed her advantage.

Lu Ruoxi had now become a major threat in her eyes. Shang Miaoyan hadn't expected this senior sister of Xiaohan's, whom she'd initially paid no mind, to have grown so formidable.

If this continued, it was entirely possible that Lu Ruoxi might even replace Ye Liyuan.

After all, Xiaohan and Ye Liyuan were both far too naive, completely played like puppets by Lu Ruoxi!

Shang Miaoyan had to scold Pei Yuhang to his senses; she would absolutely not pass up any opportunity to backstab that woman!

"Xiaohan, how long are you going to keep playing dumb?

Do you really not know what Lu Ruoxi's intentions are toward you? Do you really not know why she helped you and Sister Liyuan?

She just lusts after your body! If it weren't for your handsome face and your top-tier dual cultivation constitution, the Giant Sun Saint Body, would that Lu Fairy have helped you fill the bottomless pit of Spirit Stones that is Sister Liyuan?

Now that she has your body, she's starting to crave more. She's just taking advantage of your trust, trying to get you completely under her thumb, step by step.

And you, you're still foolishly thinking she has genuine feelings for you."

"…"

Shang Miaoyan's verbal onslaught left Pei Yuhang increasingly silent, and a suffocating atmosphere enveloped them.

Looking at Pei Yuhang like this, Shang Miaoyan couldn't bear it. A complex emotion flickered in her eyes. She sighed softly, and her voice suddenly softened:

"Xiaohan, I know you're kind and pure-hearted, and you don't like to assume the worst of others.

But that's exactly why I can't just stand by and watch you be manipulated by Lu Ruoxi. She's a deep schemer with ruthless methods. If you keep following her, sooner or later she'll eat you alive, leaving nothing but bones."

"At the very least, if you choose me, you won't have to worry about being separated from Sister Liyuan. I actually quite like pure-hearted people like her. In the future, we could hide it from her, the three of us living together… it could even become a beautiful story in its own right…"

Shang Miaoyan extended her olive branch, casually reaching out a fingertip to gently touch Pei Yuhang's body and trace a line downward.

SLAP—

Pei Yuhang slapped her finger away. He looked up, his voice hoarse. "And what about you? Shang Miaoyan, what makes you think I should trust you?

You keep saying you have genuine feelings for me, but are your actions really any more noble than Senior Sister Lu's?"

"Don't think I'll ever trust you again. You lied to me back then, told me Qianqian had remarried, and stopped me from going back to Lishui Village to see her. Because of that, I never even got to see her one last time. I, Pei Yuhang, will never forget that!

You will *never* have my trust!"

Shang Miaoyan froze. After hearing the name "Qianqian," she felt her heart stop for a moment.

'So… Xiaohan still hasn't forgotten that woman.'

'I really thought that with Ye Liyuan, he had moved on from the past.'

Shang Miaoyan finally understood what a disastrously bad move her supposed cleverness back then had been.

A trace of self-mockery entered her voice as she gave a bitter smile. "Yes, it's true. I, Shang Miaoyan, am no saint.

My methods are ruthless, and I'll do whatever it takes to achieve my goals.

But at least my feelings for you have never been fake… I just love you too much."

At this moment, it was as if Shang Miaoyan had removed all her masks. Her eyes glistened with a pleading light as she said softly, "Xiaohan, I know you probably can't accept me right now, but I'm not in a hurry.

I can wait. I'll wait until you're willing to believe me… I only hope that when that time comes, you'll still be willing to give me a chance."

Pei Yuhang's eyes were downcast, his expression still cold. His voice carried a detached politeness that kept her at a distance.

"Business Saintess, you're wrong about one thing. You don't love me… you only love yourself."

"Now, I'm going to prepare lunch for Liyuan. Whether you stay or go is up to you."

Shang Miaoyan watched Pei Yuhang's departing back, unable to snap out of her stupor for a long time.

Her expression still seemed calm, and her graceful figure stood motionless like an exquisite jade statue of a beauty. Only her limpid eyes betrayed a hint of inexpressible sorrow.

After a long while, her body suddenly trembled slightly, as if all her strength had been drained away, and she slowly crumpled to the ground.

"I'm sorry…"

Shang Miaoyan's fingers clenched the corner of her dress, her knuckles turning white from the force as if she were desperately suppressing something. Her shoulders trembled slightly, and her voice was almost inaudible.

"I'm sorry. I was just too young when I met you… I didn't know how to express my feelings…"

"I… I just wanted to be with you forever, to be the only one in your eyes."

Her tears finally escaped, sliding down her cheeks and dripping onto the floor, splashing into almost imperceptible droplets.

Her voice grew softer and softer, as if she were muttering to herself, or perhaps pouring her heart out to the one who had already left:

"I didn't mean… to cause you so much pain… Xiaohan, please, forgive me~!"

Shang Miaoyan squatted on the floor, her body curled into a ball, as if that could ward off the cold and loneliness in her heart.

She could no longer suppress her crying. Her initial soft whimpers turned into broken sobs.

At this moment, she was no longer the high and mighty Saintess, but just a little girl, lost in love and crying helplessly.

"I just… liked you so much…" Her voice was almost inaudible, as if speaking to herself, or perhaps to the one who could no longer hear.