Chapter 369
From Chapter 369 onwards, you'll be following me.
Looking at the trembling figure, at the helpless cat ears and stiff tail, Zhu Zhuqing seemed to see herself many years ago, locked in the cold courtyard of the Xingluo Zhu family, silently cultivating under the moonlight.
A violent ripple spread across her cold heart, a murderous intent intertwined with a deep, almost empathetic grief and indignation, causing her to instinctively grip the cat claw dagger she had just acquired, her knuckles turning white.
If Lin Xia hadn't been there, she might not have been able to control herself.
Lin Xia stood up and slowly walked towards the iron cage.
His footsteps were exceptionally clear in the quiet private room.
The girl in the cage trembled violently, like a frightened cat, almost curling up into a ball and burying her head even deeper, with only the tip of her white cat tail trembling helplessly and very slightly.
Lin Xia stood in front of the iron cage, her gaze calmly fixed on the cage lock.
It was a heavy lock made of refined gold and reinforced with simple soul power restrictions, enough to trap a Soul Master at the Soul Venerable level.
He didn't speak, nor did he look at the girl in the cage. He simply extended his right index finger, and a layer of soul power, extremely restrained yet containing a terrifyingly sharp aura, emanated from the fingertip.
Ding!
A soft sound, like jade beads falling onto a plate, so crisp it was almost imperceptible.
The seemingly sturdy adamantium lock, along with the weak soul power restriction attached to it, was as fragile as rotten wood in front of Lin Xia, and was instantly split in two, the cut as smooth as a mirror.
The broken lock fell onto the thick carpet with a dull thud.
The cage door opened silently, leaving a crack.
The girl's body trembled violently. She looked up in astonishment, her heterochromatic eyes, brimming with tears and like those of a frightened fawn, staring in disbelief at the open cage door, then suddenly at Lin Xia standing outside.
free?
So easily?
Her mind went blank; the immense shock made her forget even her fear, leaving only bewilderment.
Lin Xia neither urged him nor stepped into the cage.
The storage device on his wrist flashed slightly, and a large, thick, plain white cotton robe without any decoration appeared in his hand.
The robe was made of soft material, carrying the clean, sun-dried scent of washing and sun-drying, and a hint of the unique, cold smell of Gengjin City, a mixture of metal and soul energy. It was his everyday clothing worn in the workshop.
He stretched out his arm and gently tossed the robe through the crack in the cage door.
The robe, like unfolded wings, gently covered the girl's naked skin, which was covered with red marks of humiliation, enveloping most of her body, leaving only her dusty bare feet and her still stiff, upright white cat tail exposed.
The moment the warm fabric touched her cold skin, the girl shuddered again, as if she had been burned.
She instinctively grabbed the robe covering her body and wrapped it tightly around herself. The warm yet unfamiliar touch, carrying a clean feeling, instantly dispelled the coldness of the iron cage and the sticky feeling left by countless gazes, as if a warm current had been injected into her numb heart.
She gripped the edge of her robe tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force, as if she had grasped at the only straw that could save her.
Lin Xia then took a half step back, her gaze calmly falling on the girl's heterochromatic eyes, which were filled with fear, confusion, and a faint glimmer of hope.
His voice wasn't loud, but it reached her ears clearly. There was no condescending condescension, nor any deliberate gentleness, only a plain statement, as if he were asking about something extremely ordinary.
"The cage is open. I've given you your clothes. Now, are you willing to come with me?" The private room was completely silent.
Ning Rongrong held her breath, while Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling looked on with curiosity, and Yu Tianheng and the others had different expressions.
Zhu Zhuqing loosened her grip on the dagger slightly, her cold cat-like eyes fixed on the girl in the cage, awaiting her answer.
She understood all too well what this seemingly simple question meant to the person in the cage.
Is it better to continue relying on the strong and drift in the unknown fate?
still is……
The girl was wrapped in a large white robe, and her body was still trembling slightly.
She looked at Lin Xia, at those deep, calm eyes, devoid of any lust or greed, only an almost cold indifference, yet those eyes that had showered her with millions of gold soul coins and offered her warm robes when she was at her most desperate.
She remembered the cold metal rod on the auction stage, the countless greedy eyes below the stage that seemed to strip her naked, and the boundless fear of being tossed around in a dark cage during transport…
Then, she remembered the shout of "one million," the fingers that easily snapped the chains, and the warm robe that smelled of sunshine...
The immense fear and prolonged torment nearly robbed her of her ability to think, but a survival instinct, an instinctive dependence on the only glimmer of safety before her, overwhelmed everything.
She was incapable of thinking about what following meant or what the future would hold. All she knew was that leaving this cage meant entering an even more terrifying abyss.
The person in front of her, though indifferent, did not harm her, and even gave her shelter and... the freedom to choose?
After a brief, suffocating silence.
The girl wrapped herself tightly in her white robe, and with all her might, she supported her numb and sore body, which had been curled up for a long time, and struggled and stumbled out of the open cage door.
She kept her head down, not daring to look at anyone, her long, dusty white hair hanging down, covering most of her face.
Her bare feet stepped onto the thick, soft carpet in the private room. The interplay of coolness and softness made her feel a dizzying sense of unreality.
She stopped a step away from Lin Xia, still with her head down, her body trembling like a leaf in the wind.
Then, she did something that surprised everyone—instead of standing, she slowly, with an almost humble submission, buckled her knees and knelt on the cold ground in front of Lin Xia.
The wide white robe spread out, covering her curled-up body, with only her white cat tail still stiffly standing upright, its tip trembling slightly.
She pressed her forehead against the soft carpet, and with all her might, forced out three words from deep within her throat. Her voice was hoarse and weak, yet carried a resolute determination, like burning one's boats:
"I...I do."
These three simple words seemed to drain all her strength. After she finished speaking, her body went completely limp, and she lay there, with only faint, suppressed sobs coming from beneath her disheveled white hair.
Lin Xia's gaze swept calmly over the crowd, finally settling on the white figure curled up on the ground.
He didn't immediately help her up, nor did he offer any words of comfort. He simply maintained that almost cold calm, as if the person who had just thrown out a million gold soul coins, severed the fine gold chains, and handed over the warm robe was not the same person.
"A wise choice."
Lin Xia's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly pierced through the silence of the private room, carrying an unquestionable certainty, as if stating an established rule.
"From now on, you'll come with me." (End of Chapter)