Yang Kai crouched down and regarded her with leisurely ease. "Are you truly obedient now?"
Zi Mo nodded hastily. The torment that had wracked her soul left her in agony so profound it made death seem preferable, yet she had no way to resist it. No one in this world could endure such suffering — it wasn't that her will was weak, but rather that Yang Kai's heart was too ruthless.
"You won't defy me anymore?" Yang Kai extended a hand and lifted her delicate chin, his gaze sweeping across her cheeks.
Zi Mo forced out a smile that looked worse than tears. "I won't defy you!"
Yang Kai let out a low chuckle, extended a finger, and parted her crimson lips. He slipped it inside and began to toy with her tongue.
Zi Mo's eyes went wide, but she dared not show the slightest hint of displeasure. Her gaze was filled with docility and obedience. Her nimble tongue coiled around Yang Kai's finger like a serpent, sucking ceaselessly.
Her technique was quite impressive — otherwise she couldn't have driven Leng Shan to the edge of losing control so many times with nothing but her feminine wiles. Her tongue wrapped around his finger, tightening and loosening in rhythm. Before long, a surge of passion had flooded her eyes, and her stifled breathing and tantalizing moans rose at just the right moment.
Leng Shan quickly turned her head away and cursed in a low voice: "Shameless!"
Yang Kai glanced up at her, let out a cold snort, then withdrew his finger from Zi Mo's mouth and wiped it on her clothes. He gave her cheek a sharp pinch, and Zi Mo let out a shrill cry, her dewy eyes gazing at Yang Kai with wounded grievance.
"Even though I know you're putting on an act, that expression really is something!" Yang Kai smacked his lips.
Zi Mo smiled seductively. "Women of our Heavenly Wolf Nation worship the strong above all else. You're so powerful — I can hardly contain my admiration, let alone put on an act!"
"I'm only at the seventh level of the Separation-Union Realm. Would you call that powerful?" Yang Kai chuckled.
The smile on Zi Mo's face faltered for an instant, but she quickly recovered it. "Cultivation level doesn't mean everything, and you're still so young. Given enough time, you'll surpass anyone!"
"Nice flattery! I like it!" Yang Kai burst into hearty laughter. He straightened up and said: "Get up."
"Yes!" Zi Mo rose obediently and quietly tidied her clothes.
In front of Leng Shan and Jin Hao, she was the mistress. But before Yang Kai, she had been reduced to a submissive servant, not daring to act out in the slightest.
She had no desire to endure that torment again.
Yang Kai turned a cold gaze on Leng Shan, a mocking smile playing on his lips. Leng Shan's expression was thoroughly uncomfortable — a mix of embarrassment and resentment, but more than anything, humiliation and unwillingness.
Setting aside her previous grudge with Yang Kai, the fact that she had just betrayed him was enough to damn her for eternity.
She had sold someone out in one breath, and in the next, that person held her life in his hands.
There was an old saying about how fortunes shifted every thirty years — but this reversal had happened in the snap of a finger.
Zi Mo glanced at Yang Kai, then at Leng Shan, and asked softly: "Do you want her dead? I can put her out of her misery easily!"
She was a perceptive woman, and she had naturally caught the killing intent in Yang Kai's eyes.
Leng Shan's face changed drastically. She stumbled back several steps, watching Yang Kai and Zi Mo with extreme wariness. Her expression was one of grim resolve.
It was easy to imagine that if Yang Kai truly wanted her dead, Leng Shan would fight back with everything she had, going down in a blaze of defiance.
After a moment of silence, Yang Kai slowly shook his head. Leng Shan couldn't help but let out a breath of relief. She fixed her gaze on him and asked: "Why?"
"Why what?" Yang Kai sounded impatient.
"Why would you let me go?" Leng Shan voiced the doubt that gnawed at her. "Our elders share an irreconcilable grudge, and there's bad blood between us too. I don't believe you're kind enough to spare my life — taking it now would be as easy as flipping your hand for you!"
"I'm actually a good person. Is that reason enough?" Yang Kai said with a faint smile.
Zi Mo curled her lips sharply beside him. Leng Shan let out a scornful laugh of her own and said: "If you were really a good person, you'd have her remove that bug from my body! You may not be killing me now, but you still hold my life in your hands. How does that make you a good person?"
"Do you have the right to question me?" Yang Kai sneered. "Your Ghost King Valley is an unorthodox sect — hardly good people either."
Leng Shan replied: "I never claimed to be!"
"Sharp-tongued!" Yang Kai coughed lightly, then looked at Zi Mo. "Remove the bug from her. Let her see what a truly good person is."
Zi Mo's body trembled. She stared at Yang Kai in disbelief, never having expected that the young man would make such a decision.
Was he a fool? Without the Soul-Controlling Insect, how could he possibly keep this woman under control?
Even Leng Shan was stunned for a moment upon hearing this. Then a flash of joy burst forth in her eyes.
"My orders won't be repeated a second time." Yang Kai looked at Zi Mo with a cold gaze. She gave a bitter smile, walked over to Leng Shan, and felt a pang of loss in her heart.
There really was a difference between her and Leng Shan. She and this young man had their own enmity, but they were both warriors of the Great Han — and in times like these, they should be in the same boat.
"Your luck's not bad," Zi Mo said softly, a trace of envy in her voice. Then she reached out and placed one hand on Leng Shan's abdomen, sending her intentions while circulating her Yuan Qi.
Moments later, Leng Shan's face went pale. She retched, and a worm came wriggling out of her mouth.
Zi Mo quickly collected the insect. Leng Shan could hold back no longer — she rushed to the side and vomited repeatedly.
It was a good while before she wiped her mouth and slowly walked back, her expression complicated as she looked at Yang Kai.
To have her freedom restored so inexplicably — it was both a shock and a delight beyond anything she had imagined.