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Dai Yueying had completely baffled Lianshan Xin. Because judging by his observations, Dai Yueying... didn't seem to be acting. Could he really have hit the jackpot on something like this? To test it, Lianshan Xin placed his hand around Dai Yueying's neck again and applied a little force. Immediately, Dai Yueying let out a soft whimper. "Brother Xin, harder..." Lianshan Xin: "..." Fuck. It had turned into a reward for her. "Dai Yueying, I just forced your father to his death." Lianshan Xin felt compelled to remind this woman that her current behavior was wildly inappropriate. Dai Yueying calmed down slightly. Then, the look in her eyes turned even more complicated. "Childhood sweethearts who know each other deeply and share mutual love, yet torn apart by the death of a father... Brother Xin, what's happening between us is sounding more and more like those tales of divine couples in the jianghu." Lianshan Xin was rendered speechless. He recalled that in the past, Dai Yueying had indeed spent a lot of time reading storybooks. And the jianghu figures in Great Yu's storybooks were no different from the third-rate wuxia novels in his previous life. The heroine was invariably obsessed with loving the son of her sworn enemy, as though no other man existed under heaven. Or the hero and heroine had to come from opposing factions of righteousness and evil that could never share the same sky, yet both declared love conquered all—even if the entire world opposed them, they would stand together against the world. Reading too many of those storybooks really did rot a person's brain. Dai Yueying was a textbook case. "Your father just died," Lianshan Xin stressed once more. A person couldn't—or at least shouldn't—engage in this sort of thing before their own father's corpse with the very enemy who had just driven him to suicide. Even Lianshan Xin's moral baseline wouldn't permit him to do something like that. Demonic temptresses truly lacked all bottom lines. Yet Dai Yueying had her own logic. "Father's exposure as a Demon Cult mole meant death was his only path. Brother Xin, letting him keep an intact corpse was already an act of extraordinary mercy. I should be thanking you." Lianshan Xin was stunned. "You two, father and daughter... are practically the reincarnations of dish soap." Dai Yongzhen couldn't even draw a salary, yet never forgot to whitewash the Demon Cult's upper ranks. Blood Guanyin couldn't even be bothered to look at him, yet he spun it into Blood Guanyin sparing his eyes from being gouged out. Dai Yueying was hardly any better; her father had just died, yet here she was thanking his killer. As a normal person, Lianshan Xin found this rather hard to stomach. "What is dish soap?" Dai Yueying did not understand the word. Lianshan Xin couldn't be bothered to explain. He slowly eased his grip and released her neck. His gaze was equally complicated as he looked at her. This woman had truly handed him a difficult problem just now. A moment ago, Lianshan Xin had genuinely harbored killing intent. Yet Dai Yueying's "affliction" had snatched her from the jaws of death right before the gates of the underworld. Faced with a choice where death was all but certain, she seemed to have stumbled upon the sole path to survival. This left Lianshan Xin feeling strange, and somewhat hesitant. Slaying an imperial princess did carry rather high risks. At the very least, if his strength surged once more in a short period, he would never be able to hide it from Qi Shiyun. And as for Heaven's Chosen far away in Shenjing, there was no telling if it could be hidden from him either. That Qi Shiyun had shouldered the matter of the Thousand-Year Snow Lotus for him was already an unexpected windfall. He couldn't test Qi Shiyun again with the life of a princess; the consequences were far too unpredictable. Furthermore, Lianshan Xin did not yet know whether Thousand Faces was aware of Dai Yueying's true lineage. Killing Dai Yueying would yield enormous short-term gains, but in the long run, it could bring endless catastrophe. Yet keeping Dai Yueying alive seemed even more dangerous to him, because he had clearly crossed her past the point of return. He could not gamble on her being magnanimous. Gambling on a woman's magnanimity would be utterly irresponsible toward his own life. Yet of all things, Dai Yueying's affliction had flared up. With that thought, Lianshan Xin raised a hand and slapped Dai Yueying across the face. Not because he had any hobby of hitting women, but to observe and experiment. "Did it hurt more, or did it feel good?" Lianshan Xin asked very seriously. Dai Yueying clearly realized this was a life-or-death question. Tears slowly gathered in her enchanting, amorous peach-blossom eyes. She presented a sight that would move anyone to pity. Yet even as her vision blurred with tears, her eyes held a dazed, intoxicating glaze. "About thirty-seventy... Brother Xin, could you hit me again?" Lianshan Xin readily obliged, giving Dai Yueying another slap. Dai Yueying's voice carried a hint of a sob, but beneath it ran even deeper seduction: "It seems... the pleasure really does outweigh the pain. Brother Xin, I'm not lying to you. It must be my physique." At this moment, Lianshan Xin realized this was likely the innate internal charm physique at work. Recalling how Blood Guanyin never showed men a pleasant face, yet said things like "Are you worthy of raising his child?" to Dai Yongzhen... Blood Guanyin truly was Dai Yueying's birth mother. Dai Yueying's innate internal charm physique had clearly been inherited from Blood Guanyin. Blood Guanyin, that world-renowned temptress, was probably just like the Dai Yueying before him: a walking contradiction, total freaks beneath the surface. His Imperial Majesty... what good fortune he had. Lianshan Xin felt a twinge of envy toward the emperor he had never met. Though he wasn't sure if His Majesty even knew Blood Guanyin harbored such an extreme contrast. "You really have given me a difficult problem." Lianshan Xin's fingers lingered against Dai Yueying's neck. Yet his gaze, tone, and touch bore not the slightest hint of intimacy. Dai Yueying strove to seduce Lianshan Xin: "Brother Xin, I felt your reaction." Lianshan Xin did not blush, nor did he look shy. Instead, he said calmly, "Encountering a peerless beauty with such a stark contrast, it would be strange if I didn't react at all. But that is merely a natural physical response." He was naturally lustful. However, he would never let his lower half control his head. "Brother Xin, I... Master said my physique can aid others in their cultivation." Lianshan Xin narrowed his eyes. "If so, why hasn't he used you to aid his own cultivation?" "Master is an expert in the Dharma Idol realm. The gap between us is too vast; I cannot help him. Master said that only if I reach the Grandmaster realm might I be able to assist him a little." Lianshan Xin quietly committed this piece of information to memory. "Brother Xin, you are different. Your cultivation realm is still low. I can definitely help you cultivate. I'm very useful—please don't kill me." Lianshan Xin's hand remained rested beneath Dai Yueying's chin. "You indeed can aid my cultivation." In every respect. Dai Yueying's value was greater than she herself realized. Yet her identity and the trouble she brought were also far greater than she thought. "Brother Xin, let me be your slave girl, all right?" Lianshan Xin: "..." Who the hell could resist this? "Brother Xin, you know my body is untouched. You're the first man I've ever fancied. Don't kill me, and I'll be yours forever." Dai Yueying had completely cast aside every shred of her dignity. This would undoubtedly soften the heart of ninety-nine percent of men under heaven. Yet to Dai Yueying's shock, Lianshan Xin's gaze grew only colder. "Dai Yueying, by putting yourself this low... if you ever turn the tables in the future, where will that leave me?"