The Master’s Mask Unveiled Again
Chapter 1000 - 999: Are You Afraid of Me?

Chapter 1000: Chapter 999: Are You Afraid of Me?

After the commotion, both Sui Yuan and Jing Che were already exhausted. The siblings went to the room to stay with their mother, while Jing Pei and Mo Fan had instructed others to lock up Jing Heng and Hong Junhua.

Lu Mian took a frustrated breath and turned to head toward the courtyard.

The sky had completely darkened.

The night loomed hollow, not a single star in sight.

Under the night sky, she had yet to fully dispel the lingering hostility within her.

The girl hung her head low, her hands rested on the railing, her figure steeped in loneliness.

Xiao Qimo followed closely behind.

The atmosphere felt slightly tense.

Lu Mian didn’t know what to say, and Xiao Qimo didn’t know how to begin speaking, fearing he might hurt her or come across as presumptuous.

Finally, it was the man who broke the silence: "I’ve already expedited the delivery of the RE Factor and Nourishing Elixir from the farm."

Without needing Lu Mian’s instructions, he had seen Shui Yanmeng’s condition and made his judgment. Unless her body was repaired with the RE Factor, the likelihood of survival within two days was virtually nonexistent.

"Thank you."

The atmosphere grew heavy once again. After a moment, Lu Mian gazed into the distance, her ink-black hair fluttering in the wind.

She suddenly asked softly, "Do you have any cigarettes or fire?"

"Didn’t you quit already?" After learning she had quit smoking, Xiao Qimo had stopped carrying such items with him.

Lu Mian nodded and didn’t push the matter further.

Her fingertips idly tapped against the railing as she spoke lightly: "Are you afraid of me?"

She must have seemed terrifying today.

Director Qimo, with all his elegance and finesse, surely hadn’t witnessed such scenes before.

She thought of herself as utterly awful.

Xiao Qimo chuckled, a refined smile laced with a touch of meaningful coldness: "No, I’m not."

After all, they were alike in some ways.

Were his hands truly any cleaner?

As the heir of his family, the head of a publicly traded company, and the commander of IEG’s first squad, he wasn’t much cleaner than Lu Mian.

He too had his moments of cold-heartedness and ruthlessness, only he hid them better, especially in front of the girl he loved.

His skill lay in concealing it, nothing more.

At that moment, he simply felt heartache—aching for his girl, for all that she had gone through, knowing that everything she had now was earned through her blood and sweat.

He marveled at the techniques she used against Jing Heng, wondering how many times she must have practiced them...

Xiao Qimo turned slightly and gently grasped Lu Mian’s hand. Despite his usual aversion to dirt, this time he didn’t care about the blood stains on her hand. He held her hand and brought it to the edge of his chin, speaking reverently: "Next time something like this happens, let me handle it for you, okay?"

Lu Mian looked up slightly.

"Even if you stand against the whole world, I will stand by your side," Xiao Qimo added. "If you are the Demon, then I am the God of Death. I will stay with you, only with you."

He thought, this must be what true love looks like.

Having seen every side of her and still loving her as deeply as ever, passionate and fervent.

He had never felt fear—his heartache overshadowed everything else.

He only wondered if the girl would be startled upon learning his hidden identity someday...

Though, she likely wouldn’t discover his role as commander in this lifetime.

So, it wasn’t a big problem.

This time, Lu Mian felt emotionally healed by Xiao Qimo. She smiled slightly, relieved: "You don’t need to step in; just watch, that’s enough."

She could handle this kind of matter entirely on her own.

Xiao Qimo: ...

No, I want to step in. Give me a chance, please...

——

Xi Mei was giving birth in the room. The event had come suddenly and without any preparation, leaving her emotionally shattered. The labor pains were unbearable, as if they were exacting revenge for all the anguish she had once caused Shui Yanmeng.

Several times in the middle, she couldn’t endure it and fainted, only to wake up and continue struggling through the arduous delivery, tormented by each agonizing moment.

She desperately pleaded with Ya Ling to give her pain relief or even perform surgery to extract the child.

Ya Ling responded coldly, saying she hadn’t brought those kinds of tools.

She was there to help Sui Yuan vent her frustration, not to save lives. What was the point of bringing pain relief or anesthetics?

For over an hour, Xi Mei’s screams showed no signs of stopping.

——

In a nearby room, Sui Yuan and Jing Che were accompanying their mother. Ye Jinwen stood nearby, observing Shui Yanmeng’s condition.

Shui Yanmeng seemed to know her days were numbered. Watching her two children, she had many words she wanted to say and matters she needed to entrust.

One by one, she spoke: "Yuanyuan."

Following her daughter’s wishes, Shui Yanmeng began calling her by her new name: "When you get married in the future, make sure to observe your partner’s character carefully. Don’t pay attention to what he says; focus on what he does. Family background and wealth don’t matter—what matters is that he must have good character and sound values."

This was essentially Shui Yanmeng’s tearful advice drawn from her own painful experiences.

When she finished speaking, tears rolled down from the middle-aged woman’s eyes, tinged slightly red if examined closely.

In her youth, she had been too naïve. Jing Heng’s one act of heroic rescue had caused her to fall completely.

She believed that he was a kind-hearted and brave man, someone worthy of entrusting her life to. She followed him without hesitation, even becoming pregnant before marriage.

But it was only after they lived together that she discovered the many flaws within this man.

Domineering, chauvinistic, disrespectful toward women, favoring sons over daughters, a mama’s boy...

During that time, her marriage was like walking on thin ice.

Even after having a son, the situation didn’t improve. Instead, Jing Heng began to suspect that the child wasn’t his own, questioning whether she had had ties with the Mercenary Alliance.

She thought that marriage had been bad enough, but she hadn’t expected that after their divorce, it would still become worse. Jing Heng fabricated her death, sent their two children to an orphanage, and locked her up in the Underground Palace.

That confinement lasted sixteen years.

It was also during that imprisonment that she learned Jing Heng had been the one to cheat.

Jing Heng had already been involved with Xi Mei, seamlessly marrying her after the divorce. With Xi Mei’s whispered manipulations, Shui Yanmeng’s life became a living hell.

She contemplated death more than once, but Jing Heng always brought her back to life.

The constant cycle led her to eventual numbness.

But these details were unnecessary to share with the children—she even secretly covered her scars.

Sui Yuan noticed her subtle actions, remaining quiet but feeling even more heartache.

"By the way."

Shui Yanmeng recalled the girl who had brought Jing Heng to the Underground Palace and looked intently at Sui Yuan: "Who is that girl?"

"You mean Mianmian? She’s my best friend, a bond of life and death."

At the mention of Lu Mian, Sui Yuan’s eyes sparkled—it was light, it was hope, it was her emotional anchor.

Just as Shui Yanmeng didn’t want Sui Yuan to worry, Sui Yuan didn’t tell her mother about the kidnapping incident. She simply mentioned that Lu Mian had saved her once, and they had become good friends ever since.

Shui Yanmeng suddenly seemed to understand, patting her daughter’s hand softly.

"Mom doesn’t mind if you like girls. Sometimes, girls can be more reliable than men!"