Wanting to Remember the Humiliation

Qian Renxue took a deep breath, set that question aside for the time being, and stopped thinking about it.

She carefully shifted her body, doing her best to ignore the coolness below. Barefoot, she stepped onto the soft carpet and moved toward the door, one step at a time.

She reached out and pressed her hand against the door, pushing hard.

It didn't budge.

An invisible domain covered the entire door, solidifying it and its frame into a state where nothing could move them.

Time had stopped.

The domain had frozen the door in the instant it closed. No outside force could make it budge.

Though she had expected as much, Qian Renxue's heart still sank.

No matter what she was thinking, what plans she had, or what contingencies she'd prepared, it was all pointless if she couldn't get out.

She stood before the door for a while, her fingers gripping the hem of her clothes, then loosening, then gripping it again.

At last, she took a deep breath. One hand clutched the front of her robe to keep the obviously oversized garment from slipping any farther, while the other hung at her side. Barefoot on the carpet, she walked step by step toward Jiang Ci'an.

She studied the unfamiliar young man before her. The indignation had vanished from her blue eyes, replaced by a note of composure.

"What are your terms?"

Jiang Ci'an had just fitted another piece of the Angel Divine Set onto himself and was thinking about how to fuse the last Torso Bone. He paused and turned to look at Qian Renxue.

"What terms?"

Qian Renxue looked at him and spoke earnestly.

"What would it take for you to let me go? Wealth? Status? Something else? As long as you let me go, I'll give you whatever you want.

"You know the Angel Divine Set is on me, so you must know who I am. I have the means to deliver on my promise. I'm not making an empty offer."

Qian Renxue's tone was firm.

If the man before her had come only for the Angel Divine Set, he could have simply killed her. It would have been quicker and easier. Since he had dared to do this even knowing her identity, he was clearly confident he could face her grandfather.

But he hadn't killed her. He'd spared her life, which meant he must have some ulterior motive.

As long as he still wanted something, she had a chance to survive.

Wealth, power, resources, connections—as the Saintess of Spirit Hall, she possessed more than enough to satisfy the appetites of most people.

She wasn't afraid to negotiate. What she feared was that he wanted nothing at all.

Hearing this, Jiang Ci'an understood what Angel Lady meant. He turned his attention back to the Torso Bone before him and shook his head.

"Don't worry. I don't need anything in return. I'll stay here for a bit, then leave. Once I'm gone, everything will return to normal."

Qian Renxue paused.

He meant he would leave without silencing her or doing anything too extreme to her, but...

"What do you mean, 'return to normal'? And what about me? Are you planning to just walk away and leave me like this?"

Jiang Ci'an gave Qian Renxue a puzzled look.

Why did that make him sound like some scumbag who'd had his way with her and then abandoned her?

He shook his head and explained.

"After I leave, the Angel Divine Set will return to you, and you'll go back to the way you were. You'll continue your plan to infiltrate Heaven Dou and usurp the throne without anything affecting it."

After all, once he left the Virtual World, everything in it would reset. Naturally, everything would return to normal.

Qian Renxue paused.

Instinctively, she didn't trust his explanation. "Everything will go back to normal after I leave" sounded utterly unbelievable.

But looking at the young man's calm demeanor, she wasn't sure what to think.

After a moment's hesitation, she asked cautiously,

"Really?"

"Of course."

Jiang Ci'an nodded. "You won't even remember anything that happened today. It'll be as if I was never here."

Qian Renxue's pupils contracted slightly.

She stared at Jiang Ci'an, suddenly wary and guarded, like a cat hissing at him.

"You're going to tamper with my mind? Erase my memories?"

Soul Masters with the mental abilities to alter other people's memories were rare in the Soul Master World, but they did exist.

She knew of some mental-type Soul Masters who enjoyed tampering with people's minds at will, turning them into living puppets to toy with as they pleased.

Most of them would be hunted by Spirit Hall and branded as Fallen Ones, but those turned into living puppets could rarely be restored. They would spend the rest of their lives in a daze.

If the man before her really had that ability and implanted something unsavory in her mind, wouldn't she become his plaything?

The thought of being handled at will again, just as she had been moments ago, made her recoil in revulsion.

Those sensations, that helplessness, that feeling of being watched as though she'd been stripped bare...

If her memories were altered too, she wouldn't even know someone had tampered with her. She might not even have the will to resist.

If that really happened, she might as well be dead.

Looking at Angel Lady as she stepped back two paces, instantly on guard, Jiang Ci'an shook his head.

"Relax. I won't do anything to you. There's just something unusual about me.

"Once I leave, you won't remember what happened today. It won't be altered or erased. You'll simply forget."

"Isn't that still tampering with my memories?"

Qian Renxue couldn't help raising her voice slightly.

Jiang Ci'an blinked, his gaze turning more curious.

He studied the Angel Lady standing barefoot on the carpet, one hand gripping her robe, her blue eyes full of wariness and stubbornness. After a moment of silence, he asked,

"Don't you want to forget everything that happened today?"

Qian Renxue paused.

She didn't answer immediately.

She had to admit, everything that had happened today had been utterly awful.

She'd been frozen in time, had her disguise torn away, had been seen completely naked by this man, had his hand roam over her body at will, had her Soul Bone taken, and then had been left in this state...

Humiliation.

Utter, complete humiliation.

But—

"I don't."

Qian Renxue looked at Jiang Ci'an. Her voice was quiet, but firm.

Though these memories were unbearably humiliating, they were still part of her experience.

She didn't want to forget them. In fact, she felt she ought to remember them all the more clearly, to etch that helplessness, that utter inability to fight back, into her mind.

Only by remembering it would her future self avoid making the same mistake.

Jiang Ci'an looked at Qian Renxue. His golden eyes flickered slightly, and his previously casual gaze grew interested.

The corner of his mouth lifted as he nodded.

"You said it yourself."

His tone was light, touched with amusement.

"I'll make sure you remember everything that happened today."

"..."

Qian Renxue blinked.

She watched the faint smile on Jiang Ci'an's face. Her throat bobbed, and she suddenly felt that something was off. She couldn't help taking another step back.

Why did she have a...

Bad feeling?