The spacious living room was stiflingly tense.
Everyone's eyes fell on the petite figure.
Na Nali felt as if she were about to suffocate.
Cold sweat poured from her forehead, and her legs trembled uncontrollably.
I'm done for, I'm done for, I'm done for!
They'd seen right through me!
That detestable guy had completely exposed me!
That angel was glaring at me from the side, and that Limit Douluo could crush me to death at any moment. Was this where I'd meet my end?!
Her mind screamed in panic as her thoughts raced faster than ever before.
Threaten them? What a joke. She was the fish on the chopping board now.
Beg for mercy? Maybe that would work, but it was far too humiliating. She was one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Holy Spirit Cult, after all!
Run? There were two people outside who could kill her in an instant. There was no way she'd get away.
At this critical moment—
She took a deep breath, her chest heaving.
Then the panic, fear, and despair on her face receded like the tide.
In their place came a long-lost pride and swagger—that of one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Holy Spirit Cult.
She might lose, but she wouldn't lose face!
Even in this desperate situation, she was still Dark Bell! A figure who struck fear into the hearts of countless Soul Masters!
"I admit it—"
She jerked her head up, planted her hands on her hips, and lifted her chin high, trying to look down on everyone from above:
"The one standing before you is none other than Lady Na Nali, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Holy Spirit Cult, renowned across the continent and feared by all, a woman of both beauty and brains!"
Her tone and bearing made it seem as if she were the one in control.
The room fell silent for one second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
You've got some nerve...
Luo Yang's mouth twitched.
Has she been scared out of her mind...? Yuanen Yehui's eyes widened.
Ye Guyi's face remained expressionless, but a subtle hint of...disdain flickered through her clear eyes.
Leng Yaozhu still showed no expression. She even raised an eyebrow slightly, as if to say, "Is that it?"
Na Nali held her pose, hands on her hips and chin raised, her heart pounding so hard it almost burst from her chest.
She had no idea whether this desperate, "nothing left to lose" act would fool them, but at least—
At least she couldn't lose her nerve! This was the last shred of her dignity!
However.
Leng Yaozhu looked at her as if she were a little mouse fluffing up its fur in front of a cat. Her gaze was utterly unruffled, and she even seemed a little amused.
Luo Yang smiled as he spoke. In Na Nali's eyes, that smile was more terrifying than a demon's.
"Since Lady Na Nali is so courageous, I can't be too polite either. Aunt Leng, what do you think about locking her in a pitch-black basement? We could put in a pile of little bugs and let them crawl all over her every day..."
Na Nali's face went visibly pale in an instant.
"...Then, every few days, we can have Sister Guyi come 'visit' her and use her holy light to 'drive out the bugs' and 'purify' her. Sister Guyi, I'm sure you'd be happy to do this 'good deed,' right?"
Ye Guyi obligingly took a small step forward. A golden light flickered around her.
Na Nali went completely white. Her lips began to tremble.
Against her will, the scene played out in her mind.
A pitch-black basement, countless wriggling bugs crawling all over her, and that angelic girl's icy gaze as she slowly approached with a sword of light in hand...
Waaah—!!!
She couldn't hold it together anymore. Her hands dropped from her hips, and tears burst from her eyes. She cried like a real six-year-old, completely forgetting to keep up appearances.
"Waaah! You're an utterly rotten bastard!!!"
"Not putting on an act anymore? Weren't you so imposing just now?" Luo Yang raised an eyebrow.
"It's not like I wanted to kill you!"
Na Nali wiped her tears as she protested.
"It was that idiot Qiangu Zhangting! He came to me and offered three hundred Soul Beasts to kill you! I—I was just doing a job for money! I have no grudge against you! I didn't even know who you were!"
She was so choked up that she could barely breathe, protesting with such heartfelt conviction that she seemed like the victim:
"It's all Qiangu Zhangting's fault! All his fault! Go after him, not me! I'm still a child! I'm only... Anyway, I'm still young!"
Luo Yang: "..."
Yuanen Yehui silently looked away, unable to bear the sight.
Ye Guyi silently took that small step back and leaned against the window again.
Leng Yaozhu's brows drew together slightly, though a strange glint flashed in her eyes.
Qiangu Zhangting.
The name made the temperature in the room drop several degrees.
Luo Yang gave a soft laugh, but there was no warmth in his eyes.
It really was him.
Ever since the day he'd tried to seize the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff, Luo Yang had known that petty-minded fellow wouldn't let it go. But he hadn't expected Qiangu Zhangting to collude with the Holy Spirit Cult and hire someone to kill him.
With that kind of character and such narrow horizons, the Qiangu Family had no one fit to inherit it.
A bone-chilling glint passed through Leng Yaozhu's eyes.
If Ye Guyi hadn't been here today as his trump card, if Luo Yang had been an ordinary talented young man, then no matter how gifted he was, there would have been no chance of surviving against Na Nali.
She didn't dare think any further.
"Qiangu Zhangting..." she repeated softly, her tone frighteningly calm, like the stillness before a storm.
Luo Yang put the thought aside and turned his gaze back to Na Nali, who was still sobbing.
"Enough, stop crying. You'll ruin your makeup."
Na Nali looked up at him with tearful eyes, tears still clinging to her lashes. She looked rather pitiful.
"Let me ask you," Luo Yang said. "Do you want to die, or do you want to live?"
"I want to live!"
Na Nali answered without hesitation, her voice loud and clear.
"Good. I'll give you a chance. From now on, leave the Holy Spirit Cult, swear allegiance to the Spirit Pagoda, and work for me. What do you say?"
Na Nali blinked as she tried to process his words. A complicated expression crossed her face.
Then—
"I'm in!"
She dropped to her knees almost instantly, raising both hands above her head in a textbook gesture of surrender.
"I swear allegiance to the Spirit Pagoda! I'll serve you! If you tell me to go east, I won't go west. If you tell me to catch dogs, I won't chase chickens!"
The more she spoke, the more enthusiastic she became. Her expression was so sincere that she was almost starting to believe herself.
"What Holy Spirit Cult? I'm not even close with them! Really! They kidnapped me when I was little and forced me to do bad things. I'm a victim too!"
"Every day, I prayed that someone would save me from this living hell! Now that you can lead me toward the light, this is wonderful! Wonderful! Thank you for giving me this chance! I'll mend my ways and start anew!"
As she spoke, her eyes grew moist again, and she looked like someone who had finally been given a new lease on life. Her acting was good enough to win an Oscar.
"I liked you better when you were all cocky, hands on your hips and chest puffed out. Go back to that," Luo Yang said.
Na Nali's sobs stopped. She glared at him resentfully.
If there weren't two Limit Douluos glaring at me, and that angel wasn't ready to purify me at any moment, I'd stomp all over your face!
I'd let you find out whether my feet stink! I'd teach you what happens when you offend Dark Bell!
But that was what she thought. Out loud, she said in a pitiful voice:
"That was... I only did that to save my skin... When you're under someone else's roof, you have to bow your head..."
Luo Yang looked at her face, which practically spelled out "desperate to survive" and "I'm timid, but I'm cursing you in my head," and suddenly felt like laughing.
The Four Heavenly Kings of the Holy Spirit Cult?
More like the Four Clowns.
But then again, she might be very useful alive.
After all, she knew the Holy Spirit Cult inside and out. She knew their hideouts, their people, and their plans.
The Holy Spirit Cult would be impossible to avoid in the conflicts to come. Rather than kill her, he might as well put her to work. She could come in handy someday.
"Fine."
Luo Yang waved a hand. "Since you seem so sincere, I'll reluctantly take you in. But let me make one thing clear—if I catch you up to anything..."
He didn't finish. Ye Guyi took another small step forward at just the right moment.
Her golden holy light flickered, and the whole room seemed to grow several degrees warmer.
Na Nali shook her head furiously, like a rattle-drum. "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare! I swear! I swear on my Martial Soul! I'll be absolutely loyal from now on, without the slightest disloyalty! Whoever you want me to bite, I'll bite!"
Luo Yang nodded in satisfaction.
Leng Yaozhu watched the scene, a hint of amusement in her eyes. This young man certainly had a knack for winning people over.