Miss Cannon Fodder Wants To Escape Death Flags - Chapter 372
Chapter 372
Those timid and humble wishes that could only appear in dreams suddenly came true.
His eyes burned, and with a flutter of his long lashes, a teardrop fell.
Pei Ji had endured countless beatings and the torment of demonic energy.
He was long accustomed to pain—no matter how unbearable, he could grit his teeth and endure, even if it meant fainting rather than crying out.
But this time, Pei Ji shed tears.
Gentleness is always more powerful than pain.
When the demonic energy receded, Pei Ji was already utterly exhausted, his strength nearly drained.
Ning Ning wiped away the tear at the corner of his eye.
“Are you sleepy?”
This time, he neither nodded nor shook his head.
The frail and pale boy, his breathing unsteady, with cold sweat on his forehead from the pain, gazed at her with moist eyes.
Suddenly, he reached out and tugged at Ning Ning’s sleeve.
Still shy and silent, Pei Ji didn’t speak, but Ning Ning quickly understood his intention.
“You want me to stay… and keep you company?”
He wanted to nod.
Yet before he could react, the small boy was once again gathered into her arms.
In the blink of an eye, he found himself lying on the bed.
Ning Ning carried a faint, sweet fragrance from her recent bath, a scent Pei Ji was unaccustomed to.
Having grown up in a cellar filled with the smell of blood, such sweetness was rare.
It was almost unbelievable—her embrace was softer than the quilt.
Instinctively, Pei Ji snuggled closer, hearing Ning Ning’s soft laughter.
“Go to sleep.”
She added, “Pei Ji, have a good dream.”
The boy closed his eyes and nestled tightly against her.
Pei Ji didn’t tell her that no dream he had ever had could compare to the beauty of this moment.
***
Ning Ning was a light sleeper.
In the middle of the night, she was startled awake by a faint rustling sound.
The candle had gone out at some point, and under the moonlight, she saw Pei Ji’s face.
The familiar, handsome features of his grown-up self.
His voice was low, carrying a hint of apology.
“Did I wake you?”
Ning Ning, still half-asleep, let herself be held by him.
“When did you wake up?”
Pei Ji, imitating her earlier gesture, patted her head gently.
“Not long ago.”
His memory returned faster than his body did.
When Ning Ning had fallen asleep, the younger Pei Ji had closed his eyes but hadn’t truly slept.
As a child, he had never been held as he slept, let alone with her voice still lingering in his ears.
Every moment felt too precious for him to waste on sleep.
When his memories returned, he sensed the flow of spiritual energy within him and quietly got out of bed to change into his original sleeping robe.
Everything that had happened today remained vividly etched in his mind.
He carefully tucked the flower petal into a drawer, repeatedly touching it, pondering how his life might have changed if he had met her earlier.
And yet, it was fortunate that he met Ning Ning in his youth.
As a child, he had only endless suffering and nothing to offer her.
Pei Ji refused to live under the shadow of protection—he wanted to shield the girl in his heart himself.
At Wangyue Peak, Ning Ning had only been half right.
Even if he possessed the power to move mountains and seas, he would willingly surrender to her gentleness.
“Ning Ning,” he called softly.
His voice still carried a trace of hoarseness from earlier tears.
It was usually clear and pure, but now it had taken on a tender, almost pleading quality.
“I like you.”
“I already knew that.”
Pei Ji’s chest faintly trembled as he spoke, and even the slightest vibration was evident to Ning Ning.
Her sleepiness deepened, and she jokingly whispered, “What’s this? Did you only realize today that you like me more than before?”
“No.”
Pei Ji pulled back slightly to look at her face.
In the long, silent night, her eyes seemed to glow.
“Every day, I like you.”
He pressed his lips to her forehead, then slowly moved downward.
In the cold, dark winter night, the warmth of his lips against her skin felt especially vivid and intense.
The heat finally rested on her lips.
Pei Ji’s movements were gentle, deliberately brushing against her before pulling away, like the soft, lingering rain of spring, stirring a delicate itch in the heart.
His voice carried an indescribable emotion as he murmured, “Tonight is different.”
The spring rain turned sudden and heavy, falling relentlessly.
Their tangled breaths merged, indistinguishable from one another.
Pei Ji heard the soft sound of her breath against the night and felt Ning Ning clutching at his collar.
He was losing control of the surging emotions within him.
He wanted to hold her closer, kiss her, and confess all the feelings overflowing from his chest.
When the kiss ended, Ning Ning’s face was flushed.
She was gradually getting used to the intimacy.
Although her heart still raced, she no longer froze in nervousness.
As she adjusted her breathing and was about to ask what was different about tonight, she heard Pei Ji’s slightly labored voice call her name.
He loved saying her name—those two simple syllables carried a tender nasal tone whenever he spoke them.
Pei Ji kissed her forehead again and again, and perhaps feeling that his next words were too candid, he adopted the earnest, serious tone characteristic of a sword cultivator.
“Tonight… I couldn’t help myself.”
He paused abruptly, as though struck by a sudden thought.
Under the moonlight, a faint blush bloomed on the young man’s cheeks.
Pei Ji’s lips curled into a smile, and a low, laughing sound emerged from his throat.
Brushing his lips against hers, he murmured in a husky tone.
It sounded like a whisper, yet carried a teasing lilt.
He softly called, “Sister.”
This was clearly a playful little act of revenge, though it was hard to tell who was taking advantage of whom.
Her ears and blood seemed to explode all at once.
Ning Ning curled her toes in helpless embarrassment, feeling as if her flushed face might melt from the heat.
