“Do you think I don’t dare to kill you?”
Yin Luoling asked coldly.
Her hand was steady as she pushed the blade another inch into Ling Huan’s skin, sending waves of sharp, stinging pain through him.
Ling Huan’s lips curled up slightly.
His tone was relaxed but not dismissive.
“Of course you dare to kill me, but — “
Before he could finish, Yin Luoling retracted her weapon in the blink of an eye and drove her elbow hard into his abdomen.
Although he protected his body with spiritual energy in time, Ling Huan was still sent flying.
He crashed into the solid wood round table behind him, causing a large amount of dazzling spirit stones to clatter onto the floor.
Intense pain exploded in his stomach.
The air was instantly sucked out of his lungs, and a sense of suffocation accompanied a violent urge to vomit, as if the last bit of air was being squeezed out of his body.
It took a long while for Ling Huan to recover from the agonizing pain.
His throat finally gave way, and he spat out a large amount of blood mixed with undigested food.
“Don’t push my buttons. I won’t hesitate to kill.”
Yin Luoling’s voice was calm, but every word was thick with murderous intent.
If it were anyone else, Ling Huan would have definitely played along to save his life.
But this was Yin Luoling.
This was the woman who had killed him for twenty days in the [Simulation Space], making him die thousands of times.
He could see her character from her movements; she showed no mercy to enemies.
She would use any means necessary to ensure her enemy stayed dead.
Yet, she hadn’t killed him.
She was only threatening him.
That meant he still had something she needed.
Since their first meeting, she had treated him like that beast Ling Huan, yet she had consistently hesitated to strike a fatal blow.
Was she afraid of making his parents sad?
That was too far-fetched.
Given her ruthlessness, she could easily make his death look like an unavoidable accident.
Ling Huan knew his parents’ temperaments, and he knew why they worked so hard — they had carried the burden of revitalizing the family for their entire lives, and “resilience” was carved into their very bones.
His parents were nearly fifty when they had him.
According to the teacher, his family had once been a prominent clan, but they were ruined by villains, their family declining as their assets were confiscated.
The previous head of the family, in order to prevent the total downfall of the clan, had taken his own life to bear the sole responsibility for a massive case of “embezzlement and bribery.”
He left his father, a seventeen or eighteen-year-old youth, to shoulder the weight of a great family.
People fled and scattered.
His father had led a dozen or so people back to the ancestral home, developing it step by step until they finally gained a foothold in the remote backwater of Aoki City.
Ling Huan’s mother hadn’t been picky, either.
She had worked alongside his father for half their lives.
The two had long since engraved “resilience” into their souls.
They were honorable, courageous, and hardworking.
Many followed them, placing the livelihoods and futures of the entire family — and even all of Aoki City — on their shoulders.
Ling Huan was their child, but weren’t the people of Aoki City and those who struggled alongside them their children too?
Thus, in the ten years of Ling Huan’s life, the number of times he saw his parents was rare.
To put it bluntly, he was a “left-behind” child.
It wasn’t hard to guess that if he died, the burden and resilience his parents carried would never allow them to be “destroyed by emotion.”
If something happened to Ling Huan, they wouldn’t point their suspicions at Yin Luoling.
First, Yin Luoling would likely put on an act of being “well-behaved, sensible, and incredibly talented” to deceive them.
Second, if they indulged in grief or obsessed over the mystery of “who killed my son,” the entire family’s operations would fall into chaos.
Therefore, they would subconsciously avoid suspicion that could lead to internal strife.
Instead, they would pour their memories and hopes for him into Yin Luoling.
This was both an emotional anchor — only by watching Luoling grow well could they temporarily suppress the pain in their hearts and avoid being crushed by sorrow — and a way to fulfill the family’s long-standing wish.
Revitalizing the Ling family was their lifelong obsession.
In her past life, the reason Yin Luoling could endure the abuse of that beast Ling Huan, besides his mental control over her, was because she had spent a year traveling for business with his parents.
She fully understood their character and ideals.
She had endured in silence, not wanting to distract them, as a way to repay their kindness.
So, now that she had been reborn and knew these things, why hadn’t Yin Luoling chosen to kill him yet?
She was restricted.
If she killed him, it would lead to a problem so troublesome that even this unscrupulous woman found it a headache — perhaps even a problem she feared.
Only this could explain why she hadn’t made a move until now and why she had only given him a warning.
Ling Huan hadn’t known why she hadn’t acted before, but now he had a clue.
She had one more reason not to act.
The Tower.
The Tower he had obtained from Zeng Ge.
Before, when he didn’t understand the situation and saw how much Yin Luoling desired it, he thought she was just envious that he had become Zeng Ge’s successor, capable of learning ultimate techniques and gaining the strength for revenge.
But looking at it now, she wanted the Tower itself.
“Cough, cough, cough…”
Ling Huan coughed dryly, clearing the vomit and blood from his throat before shakily trying to crawl up.
“If you mention the ‘System’ again, your life — “
“No, it’s not with me.”
Ling Huan laughed with all his strength, trying to look as composed as possible.
“What?”
“The Tower. You want that Tower, right?”
Yin Luoling’s slender body trembled.
Although the shiver was nearly imperceptible, Ling Huan had practiced many things in the [Simulation Space].
He could catch even her slightest movements.
Though he still couldn’t react in time occasionally, this was just a negotiation.
In a negotiation, being able to perceive such things gave him the advantage and allowed him to interpret a lot.
On the Blue Star, Ling Huan had specifically learned how to interpret people’s psychology through micro-expressions.
Although it had been to pick up girls — and he hadn’t succeeded in the end — he never expected it would come in handy here.
“Tower? What tower?” Yin Luoling reacted quickly, feigning ignorance.
Had he not sparred with her in the [Simulation Space], Ling Huan would have been fooled.
“You think you’re hiding it well? You were staring longingly at the Tower I got from Uncle Zeng. But back then, you didn’t try to snatch it or steal it, nor did you take the chance to kill me. My dear sister, you’re restricted by something so you can’t kill me, right? Based on what you said before, you probably can’t kill me until I’ve done something beastly, right?”
Such meticulous reasoning instantly filled Yin Luoling’s heart with horror.
A hair-raising sensation welled up inside her.
Yin Luoling knew she was poor at hiding her emotions, but she hadn’t expected that he could deduce so much just from that and the mentions of her past life.
He should have no way of knowing what happened after she killed that beast Ling Huan.
If this guy was seduced by the “System” again and fell into the demonic path…
Yin Luoling would be doomed…
She thought she could use sincerity to keep him away from the System… She was still too naive… no, it was her past self’s influence that affected her judgment.
“Heh, you don’t actually think I’m out of options just because you pointed these things out, do you? I can’t kill you, but I have plenty of ways to torture you.”
Yin Luoling sneered.
“Have you ever thought that I — “
Ling Huan suddenly lunged from the floor, pouncing like a leopard!
The moment his feet kicked off, spiderweb-like cracks appeared in the ground!
His entire body tore through the air, heading straight for her!
Yin Luoling’s eyes turned cold.
Spiritual energy swirled around the hairpin in her hand, gathering at the tip.
A cold light aimed straight for Ling Huan’s throat!
Counterattacking had become a subconscious action for her body.
This was an instinct honed through countless life-and-death battles.
Without thinking, every move she made targeted a vital point with ruthless efficiency.
However —
Yin Luoling forced her stabbing wrist to stop.
With a forceful twist of her wrist, she changed the direction of the hairpin, letting its piercing, cold aura stab into Ling Huan’s arm instead!
Pfft!
A dull sound rang out.
The tip of the hairpin pierced the flesh, going straight through Ling Huan’s entire right arm!
Blood sprayed out instantly!
It splashed everywhere, blooming like dots of red plum blossoms.
But Ling Huan didn’t even knit his brows!
As if he couldn’t feel the pain in his arm, he continued to charge forward with all his might, his movements simple and direct.
Yin Luoling understood deeply that the killing techniques that once helped her escape death had now become a burden.
But she wasn’t stubborn.
She immediately threw out both fists!
What shocked her even more followed.
Ling Huan wasn’t just blindly ignoring her attacks; he was deliberately avoiding his heart, throat, and all other vitals that could instantly disable him.
He was tanking all the other feints!
Yin Luoling’s heart skipped a beat.
The chill of being completely seen through crept up her neck again, making her scalp tingle!
Even more terrifying was that even when her spiritual energy hit his weak spots and acupoints — spots that would normally cause a cultivator to lose combat effectiveness — Ling Huan’s muscles only twitched for a moment.
He continued on like a beast that knew no pain, his pace never faltering!
‘How is this possible?!’
Stormy waves crashed against the shores of Yin Luoling’s heart.
She fought as she retreated, entirely unaware that her hips had already brushed against the edge of the bed.
‘Oh no!’
Her center of gravity shifted instantly, and she fell backward.
How could Ling Huan miss such a weakness?
Like a tiger pouncing on its prey, he threw himself over Yin Luoling, immediately pinning her wrists down against the bed!
The massive impact caused the bed frame to let out a slight creak, as if it couldn’t handle the load.
Ling Huan used his knees to pin down her thighs.
His hands were like rivets, pinning Yin Luoling’s wrists firmly to the mattress.
Despite the injury to his arm, it seemed to have no effect on him.
No matter how much Yin Luoling struggled, it was to no avail.
“If you wanted to kill me, I wouldn’t be able to beat you. But since you won’t kill me, the situation is different.”
Ling Huan smiled, looking very composed.
Yin Luoling couldn’t move at all.
She could only stare into his eyes, showing the last of her defiance.
“Hmph, you win this time. As long as I’m alive, I’ll win eventually.”
Ling Huan believed that.
The reason he won this time was mainly due to the element of surprise and the fact that Yin Luoling had no killing intent toward him.
On any other day, the outcome would be hard to say.
“I won’t give up. I’ll continue to use it.”
“Heh, it’s good that you won’t give up.”
Yin Luoling responded with a cold sneer.
“It just gives me more reason to kill you.”
Yin Luoling turned her head away, her indignation beyond words.
Ling Huan wasn’t annoyed.
He continued, “That’s a pity. You couldn’t kill me this time, so you’ll never have the chance again.”
“Starting to have delusions of grandeur?”
Yin Luoling said dismissively.
“Because you’re going to fall for me. Do you believe it?”
It was as if Yin Luoling had heard the biggest joke in the world.
Her cold little face couldn’t help but crack into a mocking grin.
“Me? Fall for you? That’s the funniest joke I’ve ever heard.”
“Dare to bet?”
“Why should I bet with you?”
“Because I have the Tower.”
“If I kill you, I can still get the Tower. By relying on that ‘System,’ you’re destined to become a beast. It’s only a matter of time.”
Ling Huan climbed off Yin Luoling and began to take off his clothes.
Soon, he had stripped down to only his underwear and an undershirt.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
Just as Yin Luoling was about to explode, a ring was tossed toward her.
A storage ring?
“You can take a look. See if the Tower is in here.”
Yin Luoling checked it on the spot.
Inside the storage ring, there was everything — various miscellaneous items.
After a quick scan, she found nothing.
“It’s nothing more than hiding it somewhere. Even if I can’t find it now, as long as I dig three feet into the ground, I will eventually — “
Ling Huan seemed to have developed an addiction to interrupting others.
He actually conjured the Tower Yin Luoling had been dreaming of out of thin air!
Where did it come from?
Yin Luoling scanned Ling Huan’s entire body but couldn’t find any place where he could have hidden a storage ring.
However, Yin Luoling wasn’t stupid.
That thought lasted only a fleeting moment before her body reacted instantly — snatch!
Yin Luoling pounced forward as fast as lightning, her target set directly on the Tower in Ling Huan’s hand.
Before Ling Huan could react, she snatched it into her hand.
“Hmph, see? Didn’t I just snatch it?”
Passing behind Ling Huan, Yin Luoling held the Tower between two fingers, laughing triumphantly.
But just as she was about to mock him, she felt her hand go empty!
Her fingertips were suddenly holding nothing.
She whipped her head around and found… the Tower was gone?!
She immediately looked at Ling Huan and discovered that the Tower had somehow returned to his hand.
No matter how many times Yin Luoling tried afterward, the result was the same.
“Want to try again?” Ling Huan smiled.
“If you kill me, you’ll never find your Tower again.”
Thanks to the System’s storage space, anything marked as an “important item” could be recalled from a distance, although there was a distance limit.
But for now, it was more than enough to bluff Yin Luoling.
Yin Luoling gritted her teeth.
She couldn’t see what kind of technique Ling Huan was using at all.
That method of storing items was unheard of!
It was almost as if he were storing items directly in the void.
Now, she truly didn’t dare to act.
The Tower was vital to her.
“…Bet on what?”
“I’ve changed my mind. I was going to be reasonable, but this Tower is very important to you, right? Since I’m your dear brother, I think I’ll change it to a leasing system.”
Ling Huan summoned the Tower again, gripping it with his injured hand.
“Lease?”
“Do one thing for me, and I’ll lend you the Tower for a few days.”
“…What thing?”
“Sleep with me tonight.”
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