Xiao Wu: "Senior, Are You After My Spirit Ring?"

Ning Rongrong's body trembled involuntarily. It was a shudder from the depths of her soul. Over the past few days, she had developed something of a conditioned reflex.

She had originally thought that once her two grandfathers arrived, everything would be over.

Yet she had never expected the final outcome to be that her two grandfathers abandoned her and returned on their own.

"What's wrong? Not saying anything? Cat got your tongue?" Lin Mian was quite curious about what Ning Rongrong would do next.

Plop...

It was the sound of tears falling to the floor.

Tears streamed uncontrollably from Ning Rongrong's eyes, filled with both fear and grievance.

"M-Master, I know I was wrong. I'll never dare do it again. Please, please don't kill me."

Ning Rongrong wept pitifully, and combined with her delicate voice, she made people unable to resist feeling sorry for her.

Her reddened eyes looked at Lin Mian, blinking like a little kitten, tears still clinging to her lashes.

A woman's greatest weapon was her tears.

Seeing Ning Rongrong like this, Lin Mian softened for a moment.

She was only a little girl. Had he gone too far?

"Big Brother, please spare Sister. Don't kill her."

Xiao Xi timidly ran up to Lin Mian as well, pleading for Ning Rongrong. Her large eyes were full of longing.

"Master, Rongrong pleaded for me just now too. You should go a little easier on her."

Zhu Zhuqing spoke up as well. She knew her master would not truly hurt Ning Rongrong, but she still pleaded on her behalf, hoping to lessen the punishment.

Ning Rongrong looked at them with gratitude all over her face. Especially when she looked at Xiao Xi, her eyes were filled with guilt.

She felt guilty for what she had done that day.

Lin Mian kept a stern face and spoke in a stiff tone.

"You think admitting you were wrong means it's over? Let me tell you, this matter won't be so easily brushed aside."

"The previous punishment remains unchanged. If there's even the slightest thing that displeases me, you'll be in serious trouble."

With that, Lin Mian turned and left.

Seeing the three of them pleading for one another today, Lin Mian was actually happy from the bottom of his heart.

Especially Ning Rongrong. Even after learning there was no antidote, she had still pleaded for Zhu Zhuqing. That made him feel this girl could still be saved.

A system mission was a system mission, but steering a lively little girl's wayward thinking back onto the right path also brought a sense of accomplishment.

"That's great, Sister. You're okay."

Xiao Xi threw herself into Ning Rongrong's arms, happy for her.

Ning Rongrong did not push Xiao Xi away just because she was poorly dressed and an ordinary person.

A little girl of eleven or twelve whose thoughts had not yet fully formed could still be taught properly, as long as someone was willing to teach her.

No matter how bad she was, she could not be that bad.

That night, Ning Rongrong obediently carried a basin of foot-washing water into Lin Mian's room.

Looking at this handsome man, Ning Rongrong still could not help feeling afraid, though she also felt a faint sense of admiration.

Her master was actually His Excellency the Arbiter!

It was something she had never even dared to imagine before, yet it had truly become reality.

Even if his personality was somewhat awful, she still found it surreal.

"Here are today's poison and antidote. Take them and swallow them yourself."

After washing his feet, Lin Mian took out the Body Tempering Pill and the Clear Heart Pill and handed them to Ning Rongrong.

Ning Rongrong accepted the pills. She already had a suspicion and cautiously said,

"Master, these aren't poison, are they?"

After learning Lin Mian's identity and considering her own condition, Ning Rongrong had already guessed that these were not poison.

They were pills that benefited her.

"Why are you asking so many pointless questions? They're poison, specially meant to poison you to death."

So what if she had figured it out? Lin Mian could not be bothered to explain.

Ning Rongrong smiled faintly.

"Poison, then. Even if it's poison, I still thank you, Master."

After saying that, she poured out the foot-washing water, returned to her room, and swallowed the pills without hesitation.

It seemed Master did not hate her that much. The main reason was that she had gone too far before.

Ning Rongrong had already figured out why her master had treated her this way.

From now on, she decided to completely change and make her master see her in a new light.

Everything was developing in a better direction.

At the same time, after Ning Rongrong left, a figure entered Lin Mian's room.

She wore a long scorpion braid and radiated energy from head to toe, though her eyes were somewhat dim at the moment.

It was Xiao Wu.

In truth, when she saw Lin Mian fight Chen Xin and Gu Rong, she had wanted to secretly flee.

But in the end, she had not done so, because she knew that before such a powerful person, she could not escape no matter what she did.

So she chose to come here and lay everything bare.

"Xiao Wu? What are you doing here?" Lin Mian asked even though he knew the answer.

"Senior, I assume you already know that I'm a transformed Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. I just don't know why you allowed me to stay here."

As Xiao Wu spoke, her body shook with fear, and even her long scorpion braid trembled slightly.

She feared that he had kept her by his side for her Spirit Ring and Soul Bone.

"Of course I know you're a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. I just don't know what you're afraid of.

"Are you afraid that I kept you here for your Spirit Ring and Soul Bone?"

Lin Mian had guessed her thoughts perfectly.

"Yes. Other than that, I can't think of any other reason." Xiao Wu admitted tremblingly.

"Then why didn't you run? Were you afraid you couldn't escape?"

"Yes." She hid herself in the shadows, not daring to meet his eyes at all.

"So you're that afraid of me. Still, I have to admit that the temptation of a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Ring and Soul Bone is indeed great. Even if I have no use for them, I could leave them for my two disciples."

"But directly coming to confess like this was too foolish. Why didn't you stall for time and look for an opportunity to escape?"

Lin Mian got down from the bed, walked over to Xiao Wu, and examined her carefully, as though he wanted to see through her completely.

Xiao Wu weakly backed up against the wall, having no idea what she should say.

She also felt that what she had done was too foolish. She should not have brought up the matter herself.

Every minute and second Xiao Wu spent here felt incomparably long. It was as though she were awaiting judgment of death.

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Mian had already returned to sit on the bed, and his voice rang out again.

"Don't worry. I have no intention of doing anything to you. I'm not interested in your Spirit Ring or Soul Bone either. If the two of them need them, I can simply make a trip to the Star Dou Great Forest and hunt some down."

"As for why I let you stay here, perhaps it's because I'm kind-hearted."

"If you want to leave, I won't stop you. The choice is entirely yours."

Xiao Wu did not know when she had left that man's room.

She only knew that he seemed to have said he would not do anything to her.

Deep down, she did not quite believe him. She understood that her Spirit Ring and Soul Bone held immense appeal for humans.

But she did not dare gamble on it, afraid that the moment she decided to escape would be the day she died.