The room felt frozen in silence.
Only Zhu Mingyue knew that the last thread of calm in his mind was about to snap.
He could clearly see a sharp, polished axe hanging behind Xie Pei’s waist. Under the sunlight, its blade reflected a blinding light.
He was certain that if he tried to run, Xie Pei could kill him with that axe within seconds.
There was poison in front of him and a weapon behind him. If Xie Pei wanted him dead, there was no way to survive.
Zhu Mingyue was still only a teenager. Once he understood his situation, he could not calmly face death.
Despair filled his face, and tears burst from his eyes.
At first, he only sobbed quietly, but soon he completely lost control and cried loudly.
Zhu Mingyue was very beautiful. Tears hung from his long eyelashes, and his red eyes made him look pitiful and delicate. Most people would have felt sympathy for him.
But Xie Pei was not like most people.
Just as on the wedding night when they first met, he watched Zhu Mingyue cry without feeling anything.
Zhu Mingyue cried for half an hour.
By the end, tears and snot were both running down his face. Xie Pei glanced at the mess near his shoes and stepped back in disgust.
How could someone cry so much?
For the first time, Xie Pei felt confused.
Suddenly, the sound of breaking pottery echoed through the room.
Zhu Mingyue looked down in surprise.
The medicine bowl had been smashed into pieces. The dark medicine spilled onto the dirt floor, giving off a foul smell.
A spark of hope appeared in Zhu Mingyue’s eyes.
“Do I not have to drink it now?” he asked.
At some point, Xie Pei had sat down on a chair and was carefully wiping the blade of his axe.
Zhu Mingyue trembled again.
Did Xie Pei think he refused to kill himself with poison and now wanted to use the axe instead?
Xie Pei had no idea what Zhu Mingyue was thinking.
He only felt that his new sister-in-law cried far too much.
He had only intended to scare him a little, but the endless crying was becoming irritating.
The hatred between him and Xie Hong had nothing to do with Zhu Mingyue.
He never intended to kill Zhu Mingyue.
Originally, he had planned to send him away before carrying out his revenge.
Unexpectedly, things had gone wrong, and Zhu Mingyue had accidentally witnessed everything.
Xie Hong refused to drink the medicine unless he got meat first.
How could Xie Pei allow that?
Since he would not drink willingly, Xie Pei forced it down his throat.
His own mother had died without even eating a decent meal.
She had wanted meat too.
Why should Xie Hong deserve it?
…
Xie Pei had waited many years for this day.
For years, he dreamed of killing Xie Hong with his own hands.
Just as Xie Hong had killed his mother.
When his mother married into the Xie family, she was already two months pregnant.
At that time, Xie Hong was only eight years old, and his biological mother had been dead for over a year.
His mother was kind-hearted.
Even after giving birth to Xie Pei, she took care of Xie Hong as her own child because she pitied him.
But behind his innocent appearance, Xie Hong was doing terrible things.
He spread rumors throughout the village that his stepmother had brought a bastard child into the family.
As a result, people constantly mocked and looked down on them.
When Xie Pei was young, he did not even know what a “bastard child” meant.
He only knew that no other children wanted to play with him.
The boy his mother told him to call “big brother” often beat him, insulted him, and stole his food.
At five years old, Xie Pei understood one thing:
Brothers were supposed to be close.
But he did not want this brother.
He hated Xie Hong.
…
As he grew older, Xie Pei became more withdrawn.
Without friends, he preferred spending time alone in the mountains.
Sometimes he caught rabbits, and his mother would cook them for the family.
Xie Hong always ate the most.
By eighteen, Xie Hong should have been married already.
However, because he was lazy and irresponsible, several marriage arrangements failed.
People often said stepchildren could never truly accept a stepparent.
But Xie Pei’s mother believed kindness would eventually earn Xie Hong’s love.
She worked hard and worried endlessly for him.
She even tried helping him find a wife.
Unfortunately, she never realized that Xie Hong blamed all his problems on her and Xie Pei.
In his mind, if they had never entered the family, he would have been the only son.
Everything in the Xie family would have belonged to him.
Finding a wife would have been easy.
So he decided to target the easiest victim:
Xie Pei’s mother.
Xie Pei first noticed something wrong when he was thirteen.
His mother’s health suddenly declined.
She lost her appetite and became weaker every day.
One day, he discovered that Xie Hong and his mother seemed unusually close.
Xie Hong often bought medicine from town and personally prepared it for her.
After asking about it, Xie Pei learned that this had been happening for three years.
His mother believed Xie Hong had finally accepted her and was showing filial respect.
She never refused a single bowl.
When she became sick, Xie Hong bought even more medicine.
But it was never medicine.
It was poison.
His mother was trapped in her own fantasy and could not see the truth.
Xie Pei tried to stop her.
Instead, she slapped him.
It was the first time his own mother had ever hit him.
And she did it for Xie Hong.
She said:
“Xie Hong is right. You were never close to me. Now you’re jealous because he treats me like a real mother. Why are you so dark-hearted?”
Those words came directly from her.
With red eyes, Xie Pei ran outside.
Waiting for him was Xie Hong’s proud and smug smile.
…
His mother died that autumn.
Along with her, Xie Pei buried years of resentment.
The next year, his father accidentally fell off a cliff and died.
Since there were no close elders left to make decisions, Xie Hong’s grandmother arranged for his father to be buried beside his first wife.
Xie Pei found it laughable.
The family love and romantic love his mother chased all her life never truly belonged to her.
The only thing that belonged to her was her son.
Yet she had treated him as a tool to please Xie Hong.
After her death, Xie Pei hid his true feelings and pretended to be weak and obedient.
He fooled everyone, including Xie Hong.
Whenever Xie Hong caught a cold, Xie Pei secretly added a herb to the medicine.
The herb reacted badly with alcohol.
Xie Hong loved drinking.
The more medicine he took, the worse his health became.
The worse he felt, the more medicine he wanted.
Over several years, his body slowly collapsed from the inside.
Zhu Mingyue’s arrival only sped up the process.
Even at the moment of death, Xie Hong never realized that Xie Pei was responsible.
After all, who would suspect someone they had abused for years?
Before Xie Hong died, Xie Pei finally told him the truth.
Seeing the terror in Xie Hong’s eyes and his unwillingness to die brought a strange sense of relief.
Was he happy?
Maybe a little.
But not much.
Just like the little love his mother had given him.
He only wanted justice.
One life for another.
He wanted to repay his foolish, kind mother and finally end eighteen years of suffering.
…
Suddenly, a pale hand reached toward the axe handle.
Xie Pei snapped out of his thoughts.
Zhu Mingyue had quietly approached and was trying to steal the axe.
The attempt failed.
Embarrassed, Zhu Mingyue lowered his head and twisted his clothes nervously.
Then Xie Pei suddenly said:
“You can leave.”
Zhu Mingyue froze.
“You… you mean… let me go?”
He was so excited he started stuttering.
Just moments ago he thought he was going to die.
Now Xie Pei was setting him free.
Xie Pei walked to the bed and laid Xie Hong’s body flat.
His face was pale and lifeless.
The sight of the corpse made everything feel real.
Xie Hong was dead.
Xie Pei had killed him.
And Xie Pei was letting him go.
Zhu Mingyue carefully asked,
“So… I can really leave?”
Xie Pei ignored him.
He simply stood beside the bed.
Zhu Mingyue was overjoyed.
But reality quickly returned.
Even if Xie Pei allowed him to leave, the villagers were watching.
He could not openly walk out of the village.
If he stayed until night, however, Xie Hong’s grandmother and relatives would return.
He was trapped between two dangers.
As he desperately searched for a solution, events moved faster than his thoughts.
…
The courtyard gate suddenly opened.
Zhu Mingyue and Xie Pei exchanged a glance.
For once, they understood each other perfectly.
Xie Hong’s grandmother rushed inside first.
What she saw was:
Zhu Mingyue kneeling beside the bed, crying sadly.
Xie Pei standing nearby with red eyes, clearly grieving.
And Xie Hong lying motionless on the bed.
The old woman froze.
Then she rolled her eyes back and collapsed.
“Mother!”
“Mother!”
Her two sons rushed forward and caught her.
After she woke up, they helped her stand.
She stumbled to Xie Hong’s bedside.
After confirming he was dead, she let out a heartbroken scream.
She had known he was dying.
She had only gone home to gather the family so they could care for him.
She never expected that trip would become her final goodbye.
His two uncles were crying as well.
Xie Hong might have been a disappointing nephew, but he was the only child their elder sister left behind.
Losing him still hurts.
Zhu Mingyue’s crying had seemed convincing before.
But compared to the family’s genuine grief, his acting looked fake.
So he quickly covered his face with his sleeve and occasionally shook his shoulders while pretending to sob.