Tang Wutong's abdominal wound did not bleed.
The extreme cold had long since sealed her blood vessels.
Yet the dull agony of the penetrating wound being forcibly withdrawn, along with the deeper emptiness and weakness that followed, nearly made her faint.
Lu Jun casually sheathed the Ice Abyss Sword, his movements smooth and natural, as though he had not just pulled a deadly weapon from someone's body, but merely yanked a dead branch from the ground.
He looked down at Tang Wutong, sprawled limply on the platform with her consciousness already beginning to blur, his voice hard as iron:
"Since you agreed, open your mind."
Every word was like an ice pick crashing into Tang Wutong's ears.
"I am going to place my Ice Golem Mark upon you. Don't worry, you will retain your sense of self. You can think, feel, walk, and move. This mark serves only to guard against one thing: any betrayal from you in the future."
What else could Tang Wutong say?
She did not even have the strength to hate or resent him. The overwhelming despair and terror had long crushed every trace of her pride and any thought of resistance.
Still sobbing uncontrollably, tears mingling with cold sweat as they streaked down her pale cheeks, Tang Wutong followed Lu Jun's instructions. She forcibly gathered what little Spiritual Power remained and, with great difficulty, slowly withdrew the defenses at the very core of her Sea of Consciousness.
It meant baring the most vulnerable part of her soul completely before another person.
She complied with extreme obedience, even carrying a numb sense of self-abandonment.
Her pink-blue eyes were unfocused and lifeless. Only tears continued to roll down, wetting the cold metal beneath her.
Lu Jun held two fingers together like a sword, and a speck of