"Lin Zhirou, you've finally played with fire and burned yourself."
The woman's icy voice echoed in his ear, each word piercing to the bone.
Lin Zhirou tensed her body and slightly raised her chin.
In this situation, she must remain calm and never panic. Lin Zhirou tightly clenched her fists, her fingernails digging hard into the flesh, leaving crescent - shaped marks.
She took a deep breath. The only person who could save her now was Pei Xiuyuan.
"Are you out of your mind?" Lin Zhirou shouted hoarsely at the top of her lungs. "Xiuyuan, if she kills me now, she'll jump out of the window and leave right away. Do you think those lackeys you've got can stop her?"
Pei Xiuyuan slightly narrowed his phoenix - eyes, his gaze as deep and unfathomable as a dead pool. He adjusted his glasses and said, "She won't leave me."
"Don't be delusional. No one can hold Shen Jianyi back. We have to join hands."
While the two were arguing fiercely in front, the man holding the woman from behind hooked the corners of his lips in a smile. The more intense their argument, the better it was for him.
Perhaps Pei Xiuyuan was provoked by those words. He threw down the bowl he was holding and walked step by step towards Shen Jianyi.
For some reason, this Pei Xiuyuan always gave her a sense of danger. He was an enigma.
"Jianyi, you said you won't leave me, right?" As Pei Xiuyuan spoke, he reached out his hand, trying to touch the woman's cheek.
But she quickly dodged, not giving him the chance at all.
Pei Xiuyuan frowned slightly, his eyes filled with a profound emotion. He pushed Lin Zhirou aside and unceremoniously pushed the woman to the ground.
At this moment, he seemed crazy and beyond redemption.
"If you dare to leave me, I'll kill you." Pei Xiuyuan exuded an aura of hostility. "You're my patient, my only patient."
Hearing such crazy words, Shen Jianyi shook her head. She tightened her grip on the dagger, ready to strike if the man dared to come closer.
At this moment, Lin Zhirou staggered to her feet. She stopped pretending and now looked like her true self.
The woman's hair was disheveled, and there was a thin layer of moisture in her red - rimmed eyes. Her dark eyes sparkled.
Her voice was choked with sobs as she said, "Shen Jianyi, why do all the men around me like you? You've only just met Pei Xiuyuan, and there's Jinsheng too..."
The more Lin Zhirou thought about it, the angrier she got. She wanted to settle the score with the woman right now. She moved quickly, picked up the fruit knife on the table and stabbed at the woman.
But Pei Xiuyuan was there. He quickly grabbed her wrist and snapped it with force.
"Crunch—"
The clear sound of a bone breaking echoed in the empty room.
Immediately afterwards, the fruit knife fell to the ground. Lin Zhirou trembled in pain and was pushed to the ground shakily.
It could be said that Pei Xiuyuan never cared about her feelings from beginning to end. All his attention was on the seriously - injured woman in front of him.
After this, Lin Zhirou really couldn't get up. The pain in her wrist was so intense that she couldn't recover.
At this moment.
Pei Xiuyuan was like a madman. He stepped closer and closer until the woman's dagger was pressed against his chest. Seeing that the woman didn't back down, he finally stopped.
"You're quite heartless." The man reached out his hand to take the dagger from Shen Jianyi, but was stabbed hard by her.
She could feel that the man must have been slightly injured, and this was when she didn't even use much force.
For such a person, Shen Jianyi didn't need to be polite. Her dagger was never meant for the enemy.
She raised her chin, her eyes full of contempt. Even with injuries, it didn't affect her aura at all. Her voice was as calm and emotionless as usual.
"Pei Xiuyuan, I'm not your patient. What you're doing is illegal imprisonment." She pressed the dagger a bit harder. "Even if I hurt you, it's just self - defense. Do you understand?"
"I understand!" He quickly grabbed the woman's hand and squeezed it tightly. "If I can die under your knife, I'll die without regret."
Shen Jianyi didn't understand. Just as Lin Zhirou said, the two of them had never met before. Why was he treating her like this and even willing to sacrifice his life?
What was wrong with this world?
She didn't want to ask more. She just thought the man was crazy. Otherwise, how could he act like this?
Pei Xiuyuan didn't care if the woman's dagger had hurt him. Even though blood was oozing out of the wound, he calmly took out the photo from his pocket.
The girl in the photo had the same expression as the woman in front of him, a bit surprised but mostly cold.
"You haven't changed." He reached out and touched the photo. "Your temper and personality are the same as before."
As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Jianyi felt something was wrong.
The man in front of her seemed to have mistaken her for Weiting. She and her younger sister did look a bit alike, but her sister was more gentle. Obviously, Pei Xiuyuan didn't notice.
"You've mistaken me for someone else." Shen Jianyi showed no emotion on the surface and remained calm, but her heart was pounding violently.
She also really wanted to know about Shen Weiting's whereabouts. Over the years, Shen Jianyi had never given up or forgotten.
Perhaps the belief that had kept her alive all this time was to find Shen Weiting. She firmly believed that her sister was still alive in this world.
Pei Xiuyuan held up the photo and compared it with the woman in front of him. They were very similar—
Just as he was about to fully confirm, the woman suddenly spoke. "I'm not the person in the photo. What's your relationship with this girl?"
"What did you say?" Pei Xiuyuan widened his eyes, the hostility in his eyes almost hitting the woman's face.
Shen Jianyi's voice was cold. She patiently repeated, "Can't you understand? I'm not her. You'd better give up this thought."
As soon as she finished speaking.
The man's body began to tremble with laughter. He covered his mouth with his hand, and his strange laughter was creepy.
Pei Xiuyuan took a deep breath, his eyelashes fluttered a few times. He lowered his eyes and looked at the dagger stuck in his chest. It had gone deeper. Without hesitation, he pulled it out.
"What are you laughing at?" Shen Jianyi was very vigilant.
But he wasn't panicked at all. He slowly took off his glasses and took out a black cotton cloth from his bosom to wipe them.
"You look so much like her. How could you not be?" Pei Xiuyuan's voice was extremely low. "Juanjuan, decades have passed. Are you still blaming Xiu - gege for not protecting you well back then?"
Who was Juanjuan? Xiu - gege...?
All this made Shen Jianyi's mind a complete mess. The relationships among them were so complicated. Wasn't the person in the photo supposed to be Weiting?