After Transmigrated As The Scummy Ex Of The White Lotus Female Supporting Character - Chapter 6

The instant Pei Wu heard that familiar voice, she could feel the emotions buried deep inside her heart—emotions that had long since gone numb beyond recognition—stirring like worms that had never seen the light, wriggling through the soil as they tried to crawl out. Carrying feelings twisted beyond recognition, they burrowed into every inch of her body.

It had been a long time since she last heard Lu Qianwei’s voice.

Before Lin Jun appeared, Lu Qianwei had especially loved singing to her. She was a singer praised as having “a voice kissed by an angel.” She was gentle, and she would smile as she stroked Pei Wu’s head, softly calling her, “Ah Wu.”

Pei Wu was no longer satisfied with Lu Qianwei’s superficial, distant tenderness. She could not bear that Lu Qianwei’s gentleness was spread so broadly among everyone. Wearing an innocent, harmless appearance, she drove away anyone who tried to get close to Lu Qianwei. She had thought that way, she could remain by Lu Qianwei’s side without the slightest risk.

Who knew that Lin Jun would become the variable?

No matter how Pei Wu targeted Lin Jun, no matter what filthy dirty water she splashed onto her, Lu Qianwei never abandoned Lin Jun from beginning to end.

Pei Wu had been far too unwilling to accept it. It was like a piece of candy that belonged to her had been mercilessly stolen by someone else. She only had that one piece of candy. Once it was taken, she had nothing left. So she lost her reason, did shameful things, and finally ended up in her current state.

She spent each day in a muddled daze, her mind broken down. She had nearly forgotten Lu Qianwei already. So when she heard Lu Qianwei’s voice again, the jealousy and hatred brewed from unwillingness and the affection she had once held for her almost came back to life.

A twisted desire to tear them apart surged within her.

Her ferocity was too obvious. Shang Yuqing saw it at a glance, and her heart sank. She tried in vain to console Pei Wu.

“Whether they’re doing well or not has nothing to do with you anymore.”

Shang Yuqing’s gaze was almost pitying. “Pei Wu, you can’t draw a prison around yourself in front of other people’s joy. Your sorrow and happiness should be ruled by you yourself.”

Pei Wu’s face seemed covered in frost. “Who are you to lecture me!”

Shang Yuqing sighed almost imperceptibly. “I’m not trying to lecture you. You’re just too self-centered and cold. I only want you to live a little more easily.”

“Easily?” Pei Wu seemed to have heard something hilarious. “Don’t forget, you played no small part in turning me into this. And now you’re telling me you want me to live more easily? Are you joking?”

Shang Yuqing felt that this person was not only mad, but also stubborn, the sort who loved getting stuck in a dead end. She walked forward and touched Pei Wu’s head.

“Pei Wu, live more for yourself. There are many people and many things that don’t need to be kept in your heart forever. It’s too tiring.”

Pei Wu slapped her hand away and gave a cold laugh. “Since when did you love preaching so much? What, did you spend the past few years living in a temple?”

Shang Yuqing only smiled and did not answer the question. “The soup is ready. I’ll serve it.”

After saying that, she went to lift the lid.

Pei Wu lowered her brows, her lips pressed tightly together. She blinked slowly, no one knew what she was thinking.

Perhaps she was thinking about what Shang Yuqing’s words meant, and what the purpose behind everything she was doing was.

Who were the people she did not need to keep brooding over? Which things?

Pei Wu did not understand. They had only not seen each other for a year or two, yet Shang Yuqing had changed so much that Pei Wu could no longer understand her.

The meal passed in silence.

After they finished cleaning up the bowls and chopsticks, Shang Yuqing received a call from Grandma Pei, asking her to go to Auntie Cheng’s house on the west side to pick something up.

She did not know where Auntie Cheng’s house was. Fortunately, Pei Wu knew. Pei Wu wanted to go alone, but naturally, Shang Yuqing refused to agree.

“There’s fog outside. Remember to wear a jacket,” Shang Yuqing reminded her.

“Mm.” Pei Wu put on a thin, long black shirt. Underneath, she was still wearing a black dress, which made her skin look even paler.

Shang Yuqing casually chose a loose light-green jacket. “Let’s go.”

There was only fog outside today and no rain, so neither of them brought an umbrella.

They had to go to the main road, and to get there, they had to pass up a slope. It was quite long too. Shang Yuqing’s stamina was poor, and after only a few steps, she was already panting. “Pei… Pei Wu, please… slow down.”

Pei Wu walked a little faster than her. Standing on a rock above, she turned around. “Can’t you hurry up?”

On both sides of the slope were dense bamboo groves, with large stretches of fog spreading through them. Pei Wu stood beside the bamboo, arms crossed, looking at her with a displeased expression.

Shang Yuqing held onto a bamboo stalk, groaning, “I’m old. My body can’t keep up. Be a little considerate.”

Pei Wu scoffed, expressing her mockery. Her eyes shifted, and she grabbed the bamboo nearest to her. Then she called out to Shang Yuqing, “Hey, hurry up. Otherwise—”

Pei Wu smiled with ill intent. Shang Yuqing did not understand what she meant, but in the next second, she did.

Pei Wu shook the bamboo beside her, and at once, the rainwater accumulated from last night poured down with a splash. Shang Yuqing was not far from her and was drenched all over. She immediately dodged away. When she looked up, Pei Wu tilted her head and met her eyes provocatively.

Then Shang Yuqing saw something and laughed aloud. “Idiot, you got drenched too.”

“…”

Yes. Pei Wu had been so focused on messing with Shang Yuqing that she had forgotten she would get splashed too. Fortunately, there was not much rainwater, but Pei Wu’s face still darkened at once.

A little sulkily, she turned around and walked away.

Shang Yuqing still found her rather cute and smiled as she caught up to her.

“What, still angry? Don’t be mad. It’s easy to get crow’s feet that way.” Once they reached the main road, the path became much flatter. Shang Yuqing walked backward while facing Pei Wu, her smile light and clear.

Pei Wu turned her gaze elsewhere, her face cold as she refused to look at her.

“Oh, come on. You were clearly the one who shook it yourself. Why are you the one getting upset?” Shang Yuqing teased her.

The tips of Pei Wu’s ears turned slightly red. “Shut up. You’re annoying.”

After saying that, she passed Shang Yuqing and strode quickly ahead.

Shang Yuqing’s smile deepened. She felt that Pei Wu seemed to be growing cuter, at least a little more normal, with a little more vitality and humanity.

Did this mean she was a little farther away from deeply blackening?

The main road was a wide cement road. To the left were distant, open mountains. Perhaps because it had rained last night, the mountains were blurred into an ink-green shade, and strands of mist and cloud floated halfway up the slopes.

“Why does no one live in these houses?” Along the way, Shang Yuqing saw scattered houses here and there, but they were all empty.

Pei Wu said indifferently, “They all went outside. Don’t people always try to move upward? Who can stay in one place forever?”

She glanced at Shang Yuqing. “Everyone leaves. No matter who it is. Even you, once you’ve seen enough of my wretchedness, will leave this remote place too.”

“What about you?” Shang Yuqing automatically ignored the latter part of her sentence and focused only on the first part.

Pei Wu did not react for a moment. “What?”

“You said people have to move upward. I will move toward a better direction too. What about you? Are you planning to stay here for the rest of your life and never move forward?”

Pei Wu froze for a second. This question was extremely difficult. She had never thought about it before. To her, the best ending in this life would be to die here, to die on a warm, gentle spring day.

She did not need anyone to mourn her, nor did she need a funeral. When she could no longer endure, she only wanted to quietly die alone in this forgotten Yunshanju.

That would be best.

As for leaving, she had never thought about it. After all, monsters could not be seen by people.

“Where can I go?” Pei Wu seemed to smile bitterly. “Before me is nothing but endless fog. I don’t know whether ahead of me is a cliff or a deep sea. No matter which one it is, it means destruction for me.”

Pei Wu looked toward the distant fog, her tone somewhat dazed and insubstantial. “This morning, you said the fog would disperse. Let me tell you, it won’t.”

She turned her head and stared at Shang Yuqing, taking step after step backward until she retreated into the place where the fog was thickest. At some point, the fog had grown even denser. Pei Wu’s entire body was hidden within it, leaving only a faint outline visible.

“Because there will never be any sunlight at all. The fog will never disperse. Beside me and ahead of me, there will always be only a dead end buried deep in fog.”

“I can’t see you, and no one can see me from within the fog.”

My sorrow and joy, my grief and happiness, are all meaningless and empty. I rot away in the thick fog. No one sees me, and no one will love me.

Even if I am crying for help, none of you can see it.

When she was a child, she had hated fog very much. It confused her eyes and kept her from seeing far away. Unhappy, she had complained to her mother and asked when the fog would disperse.

Her mother’s eyes had been gentle and smiling, and she had given the same answer as Shang Yuqing.

It would be all right once the sun came out.

So Pei Wu kept waiting and waiting. She waited until her mother died in that room, until the fog drifted arrogantly into the room, until the smell of blood floated up—and still, she never waited for the sun to come out.

Her mother had died on a foggy day. From then on, her distant future and all the days after were shrouded in mist.

She could not get out anymore.

Pei Wu laid out all of her own ruin before Shang Yuqing, hoping Shang Yuqing would stay far away from her and leave her to live or die on her own.

Shang Yuqing was silent for a long time. She could not speak. The inexplicable heartache rising in her chest again made her lose even the ability to form words. That heartache turned into a fierce, sour throb, surging with endless sorrow.

She could not clearly trace the abnormality in her heart. She could not see through it or understand it, so she simply let it be.

She listened to the choice inside her heart.

Step by step, she walked forward. Under Pei Wu’s puzzled gaze, Shang Yuqing raised her hand and covered Pei Wu’s eyes.

“What are you doing? Let go!” Pei Wu tried to pry Shang Yuqing’s hand away.

“Be quiet.” Shang Yuqing’s voice was a little low, yet it carried a strange, compelling force.

“Pei Wu, I’ll take you out of the fog.”