After hearing Xueyue's words, Yang Kai couldn't help but burst into laughter. "You're not really that naive, are you? If you think I'm some three-year-old, you're going to be badly disappointed. I've already done all this to you — you really think you can swallow your pride and pretend nothing happened? You're the daughter of the president of the Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce, and I'm just a nobody. If I actually let you walk away from this alive, my days afterward aren't going to be pleasant, are they? I'd rather take you right now and then have my cultivation crippled and be beaten to death than fall for your sweet talk!"
"Sweet talk?" Xueyue cried out. "I'm a woman — how would I be any good at sweet talk? That's a man's specialty, isn't it?"
"Either way, I don't believe you. Everything you say is just garbage to me!" Yang Kai snorted.
"Can you stop being so unreasonable?!" Xueyue was so angry she actually laughed. "If I'm making this proposal, I'll naturally offer some sincerity to guarantee that I won't settle the score with you later!"
Yang Kai's expression shifted, and he gazed at her deeply.
Truth be told, the two of them were in a stalemate now — each wary of the other, neither able to do anything decisive.
Xueyue's cultivation was far higher than his, but she was more seriously injured and her recovery ability was worse than his, which was the only reason he could maintain this standoff.
But this couldn't go on forever. In the end, it would only result in mutual destruction, and that was something neither of them wanted.
Yang Kai wasn't about to give up all his cultivation just to take a woman's virginity, and Xueyue certainly didn't want to be defiled by someone like him.
He suddenly felt that maybe he should hear what Xueyue had to say.
"Talk. I'm listening." Yang Kai nodded at her, his hands still firmly gripping her jade peaks, unwilling to relax his hold even slightly.
"There's no deep enmity between us. When it all comes down to it, you just happened to witness my deal in the valley."
"Right, and for that, you killed over two thousand people!" Yang Kai sneered. "You're a venomous, ruthless woman. How could I ever trust you?"
"Weren't you perfectly fine?" Xueyue shot back. "Were any of those two thousand people someone you cared about? Did any of them have any connection to you?"
"Well… no."
"Then shut your mouth!" Xueyue snorted coldly. "My proposal is this: you let me go. I won't cause you any trouble, but you can't reveal anything about that deal to anyone — and you can't tell anyone what happened here!"
As she spoke, her cheeks flushed red. Just moments ago, she and Yang Kai had been fighting to the death, and she'd managed to set aside the humiliation she'd suffered. But now, negotiating terms with him, it seemed to have awakened her sense of shame as a woman.
The warmth radiating from Yang Kai's palms, seeping through those two peaks and flooding her body, produced an unfamiliar, never-before-felt sensation. She quickly drove away the bashfulness in her heart, refusing to let herself be put on the defensive.
"How can you guarantee that?" Yang Kai asked calmly.
"I'll give you a proper guarantee — and it won't just be words. You probably wouldn't believe my word alone anyway!"
"Good. At least you know that much!"
Xueyue took a deep breath. Her full chest swelled against Yang Kai's palms, and her beautiful eyes flickered. She said helplessly, "I have an Artifact. It was crafted by a master in the Chamber of Commerce, originally prepared for emergencies. Now you'll get to benefit from it."
"What Artifact?" Yang Kai grew curious.
"Soul Chain!" Xueyue said through gritted teeth. "This Artifact can bind our divine souls and life essences together. If either one of us dies, the other will die too! Is that guarantee enough?"
"Live together, die together?" Yang Kai's eyes lit up, and he said with a strange grin, "Beauty, we're not exactly close enough for that, are we? I mean, sure, we've been open with each other and skin to skin, but isn't this moving a little fast? Besides — I've got wives. Two of them, actually."
"Can you be serious for once instead of being so glib? Do you have any idea how annoying you are?" Xueyue scolded. "You think I want to bind my life to yours? You're just a two-layered Entry to Saint realm warrior — one wrong move and you could end up dead. If we do this, I'd have to protect you every single moment from now on!"
Yang Kai's expression turned solemn. He focused, carefully sensing her breathing, her soul fluctuations.
After a long moment, he spoke: "Should I trust you?"
"I've already conceded this much. If you still don't believe me, then we'll just have to fight until one of us dies! That's not the ending you want, is it? Both of us have bright futures and wonderful tomorrows — who wants to die on this lifeless dead star?"
Yang Kai grinned. "How come I get the feeling your will to survive is way stronger than mine…"
Xueyue's lovely face darkened, and she fell silent.
"One more question — that Artifact's effect can be undone, right? I don't want to be tied to you for life."
Even with Xueyue's generally even temperament, she nearly went mad from Yang Kai's remark.
Who exactly didn't want to be bound to whom? As if she was shamelessly forcing herself on him — being bound to her should be his lucky break!
Xueyue fumed internally but said aloud: "It can be undone, but both parties have to be willing. If even one person refuses, the Artifact's effect cannot be removed!"
"Good enough." Yang Kai smiled, thought for a moment, then said in a low voice: "I believe you."