Although Jiang Chao had already known from earlier chapters of Pure Love that the male lead, Yang Ming, was a scumbag, he still hadn't expected things to reach this level of depravity.
Not long ago, Yang Ming had been inseparable from his childhood sweetheart, Li Xiaotong. The two of them had seemed completely devoted to each other, their history together suggesting a bond that could withstand anything. Yet before much time had even passed, he changed his heart again. Now he felt that the rich young lady, Liu Sha, who had suddenly appeared in his life, suited him even more. Her transformation from a sharp, temperamental girl into a devoted lover had deeply moved him.
Even so, he continued wavering between the two girls, his greed preventing him from choosing.
Everything came to a head when Li Xiaotong, guided by her sharp intuition, stormed back to his residence and caused a huge, screaming scene. She declared that she couldn't tolerate Liu Sha's existence.
But Liu Sha calmly said she could tolerate everything, including his infidelity.
That statement finally pushed Yang Ming to make a choice. In truth, he also found life with the rich young lady far more exciting. With endless money at his disposal, he would rather dine on expensive Western cuisine with Liu Sha than return to the modest, home-cooked meals Li Xiaotong prepared for him every day.
When Jiang Chao read this part, the savory steam of his forgotten noodles rising in the air, his disgust for the male lead grew even stronger.
He only hoped Su Li wouldn't listen to those ridiculous supporters who wanted everyone to stay a virgin while joining the harem. He couldn't accept a conclusion where both Xu Jing and Yang Qianqian were shoved into Yang Ming's growing collection of women. That was something he absolutely couldn't tolerate.
All he wanted was to see Xu Jing and Yang Qianqian live happily together, safe from the male lead's influence.
But the next development completely shattered his expectations.
He never imagined that Li Xiaotong, unable to accept Yang Ming's final choice of Liu Sha, would suddenly grab a sharp kitchen knife and stab him to death.
She even climbed on top of his body as he collapsed, driving the cold steel blade down again and again.
The scene instantly turned horrifyingly bloody, the ink used to depict the splattering fluids appearing almost dark and thick on the page.
Jiang Chao hadn't even finished his instant noodles yet, but his appetite vanished completely. He felt a sudden, sharp urge to vomit up what he had already eaten.
How did the art style suddenly shift into something this visceral?
Under Su Li's peak-level drawing skills, the panel showing the kitchen knife plunging into the male lead over a dozen times carried an intense visual impact. If someone put themselves in Li Xiaotong's perspective, they might even feel a rush of satisfaction.
A scumbag like this deserved to be stabbed to death. He had brought this end upon himself.
Jiang Chao suddenly felt fortunate.
If he had been projecting himself onto the male lead instead, the feeling would probably be painfully intense right now. Just moments earlier, the guy had been smugly imagining all the girls living together in harmony. Yet now he had been stabbed to death by the childhood sweetheart who once loved him so deeply, pinned beneath her as she thrust the knife downward again and again.
Strangely enough, Jiang Chao actually found the scene satisfying in a dark way.
His sense of morality was fairly straightforward. Ever since Yang Ming turned into a scumbag, he had completely started to hate the protagonist. Even though he still watched those sudden intimate scenes with excitement, he believed the credit belonged entirely to his favorite manga artist, Su Li. Out of respect for her hard work, he naturally had to appreciate the artwork carefully.
His intentions were pure, or so he told himself.
It was just unfortunate that after reading those scenes, his imagination still ran wild and his whole body heated up. All he could do was marvel at how incredible Su Li's artistic skill truly was.
Now that Yang Ming was dead, Jiang Chao's anticipation grew even stronger.
If he remembered correctly, the true mastermind behind Yang Ming's corruption had been Xu Jing. She had never personally done anything to him, but she had cleverly exploited the other girls' feelings for him. She had pushed them into competing with one another by any means necessary, her cold logic guiding their descents into madness.
In the end, Li Xiaotong had been abandoned, descended into darkness, and struck back by killing him.
Everything had unfolded exactly according to Xu Jing's goal.
She wanted Yang Qianqian to completely give up on Yang Ming.
That was right.
Now that Yang Ming was dead, why would Yang Qianqian still cling to her older brother?
Surely the final outcome would be Xu Jing and Yang Qianqian living happily ever after, their yuri bond finally solidified.
A satisfied smile appeared on Jiang Chao's face as he kept reading, his thumb moving across the smooth paper.
Then the following development made his eyes widen again in shock.
He never expected that the rich young lady, Liu Sha, possessed such a terrifying hatchet technique. She used it to kill Li Xiaotong, even cutting open her stomach just to prove there was no child inside.
Well... that was strangely satisfying for the readers who hated Li Xiaotong.
Clearly, Liu Sha had also fallen into darkness after Yang Ming's death. The two of them had promised to become each other's angels, yet he had been sent to heaven by Li Xiaotong instead. The only way she could avenge him was through such extreme violence.
Jiang Chao felt that this ending was packed with outrageous, unpredictable plot twists.
The scene of Liu Sha chopping Li Xiaotong with the hatchet was just as bloody and horrifying. It felt like his mind had been contaminated by the sheer brutality of the panels.
He seriously began to suspect he had been reading a fake version of Pure Love.
When Liu Sha later resisted arrest, attacked a police officer, and was shot dead on the spot, Jiang Chao stared blankly at the page.
Characters were dying left and right like disposable extras.
Something about this ending was becoming more and more wrong.
Yet deep in his heart, one final hope still remained.
It was also the biggest reason he had continued reading Pure Love all this time.
Would Xu Jing and Yang Qianqian ultimately live happily together?
As long as that happened, all the mental contamination he had suffered earlier could be completely purified.
If it didn't...
Ha.
That kind of accident couldn't possibly happen.
Beautiful and kind Teacher Su Li had declared with absolute certainty that the ending would definitely be a perfect happy ending. Everything that happened earlier must have been temporary misfortune. The true happy ending surely referred to the beautiful yuri love between Xu Jing and Yang Qianqian.
Yes.
That had to be it.
Jiang Chao's smile grew brighter and brighter as he turned the page.
Until he reached the "Good Boat" ending that nearly shattered his soul.
Yang Qianqian actually sailed out to sea carrying her older brother's severed head. She sat on the deck, the blood staining her dress, looking into those dead eyes with a devotion that bordered on worship.
She completely abandoned Xu Jing.
How could this younger sister character be such an extreme brother complex case?
Why was she so hopelessly devoted to him, even when he was just a piece of flesh?
This was utterly ridiculous.
The brilliant smile on Jiang Chao's face froze solid, turning into a mask of horror.
What truly pushed him into a complete emotional collapse was the final, breathtaking panel.
Xu Jing stood alone on the beach, her simple white dress fluttering in the salt-laden breeze. The sunset behind her was a bleeding wound of orange and deep violet, casting her shadow long across the wet sand. In that moment, she became the most beautiful female character in Pure Love. Every line of her silhouette was a testament to a grace that transcended the gore of the previous pages.
She smiled faintly through her tears. The moisture on her cheeks reflected the amber light like tiny, fallen stars. She said that studying was the true love of her life. It was a lie she told to protect the last shreds of her dignity as she walked slowly into the rising tide. The water rose to meet her, cold and gray, until she was nothing more than a memory disappearing beneath the endless sea. It was a scene of such exquisite sorrow that it felt like the paper itself was weeping.
From that point on, her image as someone devoted to learning would be permanently etched into everyone's memory.
Whenever readers thought of Xu Jing, their first impression would surely be that she was a top student. After that came her tragic background, her devotion to her parents, her mastery of housework, and her deeply passionate, scorched-earth nature.
Completely shattered, Jiang Chao tore his copy of Wind Manga into pieces. The sound of the paper ripping echoed in the quiet dorm.
His eyes had turned bloodshot. He looked almost insane.
He muttered to himself in a broken voice, his hands shaking among the scattered fragments of the magazine.
"Why did it turn out like this? For the first time I found a manga artist I truly liked, and a series like Pure Love that spoke directly to my heart. Two happy things happened at the same time. And those two joys brought even more happiness. I should have had a time as wonderful as a dream… but why… why did it turn out like this?"