Reclaiming the Giant Salamander

"So that means I have no choice, right?" Jing Ni spoke, her face still utterly expressionless, but her eyes were icy to the bone.

Yet for some reason, whether his brain was broken or otherwise, the masked assassin continued to provoke her, practically courting death:

"This was destined from the day you were born. It can only end with death."

"For the sake of the objective, fight until one side dies?"

Jing Ni tilted her head back and closed her eyes in pain, allowing the cold rain to batter her delicate, doll-like face without caring in the slightest.

At that moment, she finally made up her mind.

"That's right!" The masked assassin sneered, as though he was certain Jing Ni would not dare betray Web.

Jing Ni did not answer again. The scene suddenly fell silent, and no one spoke. Only the increasingly booming thunder and the ever-heavier icy rain remained.

Suddenly, Jing Ni opened her eyes, killing intent blazing within them.

Just as she was about to make her move, an abrupt voice suddenly rang out:

"No, she still has a choice."

"Killing intent!" Everyone, including Jing Ni, revealed shocked expressions.

As assassins, they were more familiar with killing intent than anyone.

Yet they had never felt such dense killing intent before. It was even more powerful than the assassins of Heaven First-Class, nearly tangible and suffocating.

Everyone's gazes were instantly drawn toward the masked assassin's back. A tall, slender man in a black robe and hood stepped out of the darkness.

The moment the black-robed man appeared, the entire world seemed to be stained blood-red. The air grew increasingly cold and piercing, and even the rain turned into shards of ice.

Yet a scorching aura also emanated from the man's body. Before the rain and ice shards could draw near, they turned into vapor, unable to approach him in the slightest.

"Who are you? Web is conducting business. If you know what's good for you, get lost." The masked assassin abruptly turned around. He could tell that the black-robed man was not someone to provoke, and taking down Jing Ni was the priority.

It was unwise to make another powerful enemy.

The black-robed man did not answer. He merely looked quietly at Jing Ni as five dazzling rings of yellow, yellow, purple, black, and black rose beneath his feet.

The fourth soul ring suddenly lit up. A thumb-sized crimson energy sword materialized before him and was grasped in his right hand.

More than a dozen crimson beams burst from between his fingers. Red light instantly filled the entire forest.

At the same time, the forest was filled with the screams of every Web assassin, including the masked assassin. "Ah!"

When the red light faded, the Web assassins were gone, as was the rain. Within a hundred-meter radius, the forest had been reduced to scorched black earth. Only Jing Ni, her belly swollen with pregnancy, remained, staring warily at the black-robed man.

Qin Xuan looked around in satisfaction and nodded to himself. After his fourth soul ring had been raised to ten thousand years, the Everbright Thrust Formation had clearly grown much stronger.

Not only had its attack power and range increased dramatically, but it could also be cast instantly. In addition, it granted the sword formation greater flexibility, allowing him to soften the blades to trap enemies or thrust them forward, while carrying a passive effect that forcibly stunned opponents.

However, what level of opponent it could stun and for how long still required testing.

"Why did you help me?" Jing Ni asked, still expressionless, with not a trace of emotion in her voice.

Yet she continued to grip the Jing Ni Sword tightly. The thumb holding her sword slowly pushed against the guard, exposing a sliver of blade.

She looked ready to attack at the slightest disagreement.

This black-robed man's killing intent was absurdly powerful. He was very likely an assassin himself.

A mother became strong for her child. Even if she was no match for him, she had to fight for a sliver of hope for the child in her womb and never allow her child to repeat her fate.

"Your body is extremely weak. If you fight now, never mind whether you can kill me—even if you can, once you use your true energy, your body will not be able to hold up. You may very well go into premature labor. Even if you do not consider yourself, you should consider the child in your womb."

Qin Xuan answered a different question in an indifferent tone.

Hearing this, Jing Ni's dark, bright eyes swept over her abdomen. The thumb pressing against the guard slowly loosened, and with a hum, the sliver of exposed blade slid back into its sheath.

Then Qin Xuan continued, "The reason a person is called a person is because she possesses emotions. As a mother, you were willing to resist Web for the child in your womb. That proves you are an assassin with feelings, and I admire that."

"And as I said before, besides continuing to be an assassin or being hunted by Web, living on the run every day until one side dies, you have other choices."

"What must I give?" Jing Ni asked in a deep voice. She knew there was no such thing as a free lunch.

"Become my woman."

Right now, Jing Ni's heart was entirely focused on the child in her womb. Talking to her about love was simply unrealistic. Rather than that, he might as well be direct.

In the original story, she had been willing to marry that ugly bastard Tian Meng for her daughter's sake. Not to mention Qin himself.

Sure enough, Jing Ni agreed, though she still raised a condition. "Fine, but you cannot touch the child in my womb."

"Don't worry. I may not be a good man, but I'm fairly responsible toward my family." Qin Xuan casually tossed out the character recruitment card that belonged exclusively to Jing Ni.

"What is this?" Jing Ni glanced at the golden card. It clearly bore a portrait of herself as well as modern simplified characters she had never seen before. Her beautiful brows could not help but furrow.

Qin Xuan said, "You can think of it as a kind of contract. Drip a drop of your blood onto it, and from then on, Web will never be able to reach you or the child in your womb. In exchange, you will become my woman."

"Of course, I will not force you to do anything. From now on, you only need to fulfill your duties as a wife."

There was one thing Qin Xuan did not say: once she signed this contract, Jing Ni's life and death would also be in his hands. Should she betray him, she would instantly lose the ability to move, and he could take her life in an instant.

"I understand." Jing Ni took a deep breath, cut her fingertip with her nail, and let blood drip onto the card.

For the child in her womb, she had no other choice.

Rather than living in hiding with her child in the future, facing pursuit from Web at every moment, she might as well take a gamble.

And at the moment her blood fell onto the golden card, the two of them formed an invisible connection. It seemed that if Jing Ni ever entertained the thought of harming Qin Xuan, something terrifying would happen.

Only then did Qin Xuan lower his guard. He pulled off his hood and walked before Jing Ni, revealing his true face. "Very good. Congratulations, Jing Ni. You made the right choice."

"I believe you will not regret it in the future."

"You were just drenched in the rain, and your body is very weak right now. If this continues, the child in your womb will be in great danger. Take this pregnancy-preserving pill. It can replenish the energy the child needs."

Looking at his remaining forty thousand-plus emotion points, Qin Xuan gritted his teeth and spent ten thousand emotion points on a top-grade pregnancy-preserving pill.

Then he took out the Thousand-Gold Fur and draped it over her.

P.S.: First update. Please vote and send monthly tickets.

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