"Stop crying."
Lu Jun lowered his voice. It was still calm, but the piercing chill had faded from it.
"Most of what I said earlier... was just to scare you. I won't really do that."
Tang Wutong's sobbing abruptly stopped.
Yet her delicate body trembled even more violently.
She seemed to want to raise her head, but did not dare. She merely buried her face deeper in the crook of her arms.
Her crying had stopped, but her extreme fear still showed clearly through her faint tremors.
Lu Jun: "..."
He was suddenly at a loss for words.
Wasn't that reaction... a little too immediate?
Because of the Ice Golem Mark, he could vaguely sense the torrent of violently surging emotions within Tang Wutong.
Fear, humiliation, lingering dread, a faint and incredulous sense of relief, and something deeper—an almost instinctive obedience to and fear of his words.
She could sense part of his will, but only if Lu Jun allowed it.
Yet Lu Jun could unilaterally peer into the fluctuations of her thoughts and emotions.
Even if Tang Wutong guarded against him, it was useless.
Did this count as... an initial success, in a sense?
Lu Jun stood up, rubbed his brow, and turned to the three women by the door.
"I've finished playing the bad guy. Now it's your turn to play the good guys."
He pointed at Tang Wutong, who was slumped on the platform, still shivering beneath her coat.
"Take care of her. Help her clean up, change clothes, and treat her external injuries."
"And please clean up this basement as well."
Gu Yue Na nodded lightly.
"Don't worry. Leave it to us."
Lu Jun left the secret chamber and returned to the first-floor hall of the villa through the dim, deep corridor.
Soft light spilled