Bai Ye did not know whether the hall master here had arranged it deliberately, but he froze the moment he walked through the door.
The room's furnishings were identical to those in the suite Dai Mubai had booked at the Rose Hotel.
"Well, well. Do I look like that kind of man?"
Bai Ye understood that this was the branch hall master's surprise for him. Then his gaze fell on Ning Rongrong, who lay on the rose-covered bed.
Ning Rongrong was still unconscious. Otherwise, once awake, she would have tried every possible way to kill herself.
But with Bai Ye's arrival, none of that would be a problem.
Wanted to die?
Impossible.
"Time to wake up, Little Demoness." Bai Ye approached Ning Rongrong, revealed his soul rings, and cast Purification on her.
The next moment, Ning Rongrong opened her eyes. Seeing Bai Ye right in front of her, she froze.
When they first met at Shrek, she had thought Bai Ye exceedingly handsome and felt certain impulses. Now, seeing his face even more handsome than before, her heart stirred again, but she remembered the slaughter of her sect all too clearly.
"You're here," Ning Rongrong said flatly, presenting herself as his to take.
She knew full well that she could not resist Bai Ye, and she also understood why she had not been killed like Yu Tianheng.
As a little demoness, once she learned that the room had been arranged this way, she understood what fate awaited her.
So she chose to gamble.
She would bet that Bai Ye, the Spirit Hall Holy Son, would not lay a hand on her if she acted like this.
After all, she understood certain men very well: the more she resisted, the more excited they would become. So she did the exact opposite.
"Do you really misunderstand me that badly?" Bai Ye sighed.
"Stop pretending. Come on. I won't resist." A flicker of delight flashed through Ning Rongrong's eyes, and she redoubled her performance, even pulling open her top with both hands to expose a stretch of snowy white skin.
But it was nowhere near as towering and alluring as Dugu Yan's.
Ning Rongrong knew very well, however, that the more she behaved this way, the less likely Bai Ye was to touch her.
Yet how could her thoughts possibly escape Bai Ye?
Bai Ye's spiritual power was also immense. Back in the Sunset Forest, his first release of the Apocalypse Domain had covered only a fifth of the forest, but now he could cover half of it.
Naturally, Bai Ye caught that fleeting delight in Ning Rongrong's eyes.
Worthy of the Little Demoness, Bai Ye thought. Although he had no intention of touching Ning Rongrong now, he could not let her get him wrapped around her finger either.
Naturally, he could not let Ning Rongrong have her way.
The next moment, he reached out toward Ning Rongrong, slowly moving his hand closer.
"Huh?" Ning Rongrong's expression changed drastically, but she still forced herself to remain calm.
Yet as Bai Ye's hand drew closer and closer, until she could even feel his body heat, she could no longer keep her composure.
"Ah!" Ning Rongrong screamed and hastily tried to push Bai Ye away, but how could she possibly move him? In desperation, she lunged at him and bit down hard, closing her eyes as two trails of hot tears streamed down her face.
"Dad, Grandpa Bone, Grandpa Sword, Rongrong really doesn't want this." Ning Rongrong knew she could not change the outcome, yet she still refused to give up. Her trembling body, however, betrayed her heart.
But the scene she imagined never came to pass. At the last moment, Bai Ye stopped.
"Huh?"
After a long while, Ning Rongrong opened her eyes and looked at Bai Ye in disbelief.
"Isn't it time you let go?" Bai Ye smiled faintly. Ning Rongrong's expression stiffened, and only then did she release her bite.
"To be honest, I'm quite fond of you, and the same goes for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Unfortunately, your father wanted to kill me. I'm sure you knew about the operation in the Sunset Forest. Unfortunately for him, I survived."
"You need to understand that the fault wasn't mine. It was your father's, your Grandpa Sword's, and your Grandpa Bone's. You probably don't know why I spared you. Your performance just now told me as much."
Ning Rongrong looked at Bai Ye, suspicion written all over her face.
"Don't insult my noble character with that suspicious look. As the Holy Son of Spirit Hall, if I wanted women, what woman couldn't I get? Never mind a princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect-even if I wanted the princesses of the two great empires, their emperors would have to obediently deliver them to my room. Don't doubt my influence."
Without giving Ning Rongrong any chance to speak, Bai Ye continued.
"I spared you simply because I want you to atone for Ning Fengzhi's sins, since I didn't kill him myself."
"My dad isn't dead?" Ning Rongrong froze, then looked at Bai Ye with delighted surprise.
Bai Ye shook his head. "Of course he's dead, but not by my hand. He died under the attacks of three Titled Douluo, reduced to dust and ashes. As for your Grandpa Sword and Grandpa Bone, I hammered them both to death. They truly loved you. Even before they died, they kept asking me to spare you. If I had killed Ning Fengzhi myself, I might really have let you go. But as things stand, you're a sinner's daughter, and you must atone."
Ning Rongrong's face turned deathly pale. For a moment, every last hope within her crumbled, and tears flowed involuntarily. She no longer had any desire to live.
But in front of Bai Ye, Ning Rongrong could not kill herself.
His powerful spiritual perception could detect her every movement. If she did anything out of line, he would stop her immediately.
Of course, even if Ning Rongrong harmed herself while he was not paying attention, it would not matter. One cast of Rapid Healing would restore her completely.
"So just settle down and atone. Once you've paid for those sins, I'll release you," Bai Ye said.
"I don't believe you can stop me from killing myself." Ning Rongrong tried to provoke him, but Bai Ye found it rather laughable, because he truly had nothing to fear.
"If you don't believe me, you can try." As Bai Ye spoke, he took a small knife from the Wishful Hundred-Treasure Pouch and handed it to Ning Rongrong.
"Go ahead and slit your throat. See whether I can do it."
Ning Rongrong said nothing. She grabbed it and slashed at her own neck without the slightest hesitation.
Splat!
Blood spurted out, instantly staining her top red. She toppled backward, clear relief showing on her face.
"Dad, Grandpa Sword, Grandpa Bone, I'm coming to find you." Ning Rongrong closed her eyes and smiled. She had not expected Bai Ye to truly let her do it, either. After all, she had thought he was joking.
But she had gotten ahead of herself.
A smile appeared on Bai Ye's face as well. His fourth soul ring lit up, and he cast Rapid Healing on Ning Rongrong. The wound on her neck vanished instantly.
Ning Rongrong had not died on the spot, after all. She was merely grievously injured, with half her body already through the gates of the underworld. An injury like that was nothing to Rapid Healing.
A second after Rapid Healing was cast, Ning Rongrong returned to the world of the living.
Ning Rongrong opened her eyes and instinctively asked, "Is this heaven?"
But as soon as the words left her lips, a voice that made her tremble rang out.
"Of course not. This is the Douluo Continent."
"You..." Ning Rongrong abruptly scrambled upright and looked at Bai Ye, who sat beside the bed. Her face was full of disbelief. She truly felt that she had died just now.
"Do you believe me now?" Bai Ye offered no explanation, only a faint smile.
Yet Ning Rongrong still refused to believe it. She picked up the knife and slit her throat again. This time, through her fading consciousness, she distinctly heard Bai Ye sigh.
"Alas, why put yourself through this? Why make me act again?"
Immediately afterward, her consciousness cleared. She opened her eyes again, and Bai Ye's face came into view.
This time, Ning Rongrong believed what Bai Ye had said. Her face instantly turned deathly pale. She truly could not even decide whether to die.
But after only a moment, she accepted reality and glared viciously at Bai Ye. "Fine. If you won't let me die, then I won't. But don't regret it. I swear I'll kill you!"
Before you continue