37: You can leave now.

Yan Qingning stood still and only asked one question: "Do you hate me that much?"

Jiang Xun was at a loss for words.

Did he hate her?

No one could feel hatred toward someone so beautiful and powerful.

Unless they were her enemy.

Jiang Xun looked at Yan Qingning's flawless face; it was clearly so pure, yet her eyes were incredibly sharp.

At this moment, her eyes were misty.

As if waiting for someone to comfort her.

But what he felt was suffocation and control; her love was like an airtight net, wrapping around him layer by layer, impossible to break free from or escape.

He didn't answer, not wanting to get entangled in this topic.

He simply pointed at his own neck.

"Am I your pet?" He changed the subject, his voice as steady as possible. "You even have to put a collar on me?"

Yan Qingning seemed to have an explanation ready.

She took a step closer, her fingertips lightly touching the ribbon around his neck with very slow movements.

"This neck collar is to suppress the Demonic Technique inside your body."

Jiang Xun's body stiffened slightly.

"That Demonic Technique," her fingertips stopped at the edge of the ribbon, "you found it in the Blood Prison Nether Spider's Immortal Cave, didn't you?"

Jiang Xun remained silent.

Yan Qingning was slightly taller than Jiang Xun. At this moment, the two were very close. She lowered her head, and Jiang Xun could smell a familiar sweetness.

"Demons Born from the Sea of Sin." She looked at him. "The number one Demonic Technique in the Cultivation World. It can allow a small demon with mediocre Bloodline and mediocre Aptitude to Cultivate to Void Tempering in just a few hundred years; its power cannot be understated."

"Everyone thought this Cultivation Technique had vanished forever along with the Blood Prison Nether Spider."

"I didn't expect it to be taken by you."

She paused, her fingertips pressing lightly. "Although this Cultivation Technique is powerful, its drawbacks are also great. The deeper you Cultivate, the more spirituality you lose. In the end, you will become a Devil Head who only knows slaughter."

"Just like that Blood Prison Nether Spider, completely sinking into the endless Sea of Sin."

Her voice contained a trace of worry:

"Once this Cultivation Technique is Cultivated, you will be affected by it for the rest of your life. It cannot be extracted or purified."

Jiang Xun listened, his heart sinking.

He knew there was something wrong with this technique, but he hadn't expected that once it started, it couldn't be stopped.

Even if he didn't practice it, the Blood Mist would slowly erode his spirituality.

The neck collar grew slightly warm.

"This ribbon," Yan Qingning withdrew her hand, "can suppress the Blood Mist inside you. By wearing it, the technique will no longer continue to erode you."

Jiang Xun fell silent.

So he was supposed to be grateful to her?

He feared this ribbon had more than just that one function.

Seeing Jiang Xun remain silent, she turned slightly.

"You are always like this." Yan Qingning looked at him. "Whenever you encounter a difficult question, you stop talking."

Jiang Xun twitched the corner of his mouth.

That was true.

He remembered those dialogue options in the game; as long as the question didn't affect the favorability too much, he always chose the last one, the "..." ellipsis.

Jiang Xun said helplessly:

"Then do you plan to lock me up here for the rest of my life?"

Yan Qingning didn't answer immediately. She turned and walked to the bedside, sat down, and looked out the window.

"I won't bind you," she said. "If you want to leave, you can leave now."

Jiang Xun's heart skipped a beat.

Was there such a good thing?

He stared at her back, trying to see through something.

But she just sat there quietly.

"You're not lying to me?" he tested.

"If you want to leave, then leave." Yan Qingning didn't look back.

Jiang Xun took a breath.

He walked to the door and placed his hand on the doorframe.

This time, there was no blocking force. The door pushed open slightly, revealing a hallway outside. In the distance, there was light and the sound of people.

Freedom was right there.

He prepared to push the door open.

"It's just a pity for your sister," Yan Qingning's voice came from behind, very soft, "she will be all alone from now on."

Jiang Xun paused.

Sister? Jiang Wanxing?

He almost wanted to laugh.

Yan Qingning couldn't possibly think his relationship with Jiang Wanxing was that good, could she? He couldn't wait to find her a good place and then leave himself.

Using Jiang Wanxing to threaten him was truly playing the wrong card.

Heh! Goodbye, Yan Qingning.

I hope you can keep your word.

He continued to push the door.

When the gap in the door was a palm's width wide—

[Ding!]

A soft sound echoed in his consciousness.

A pale blue interface popped up, with bright red warning words flashing:

[Triggered Scenario: A Three-Thousand-Year-Old Girl on the Verge of Collapse.]

[Warning, Warning: Intense emotional fluctuations detected]

[Target: Yan Qingning]

[Status: High Risk · Critical Point]

[Suggestion: Please soothe immediately.]

Three options immediately jumped out:

[Option 1: Close the door, walk to her side, and say: "Did you think I could really leave you?" Kiss her; please kiss her intensely.]

[Option 2: Close the door, kneel at her feet, and say: "I am your dog; how can a dog leave its master?" Please discard all useless things like dignity.]

[Option 3: Close the door, consciously put a leash on the collar around your neck, hand it to Yan Qingning, and say: "If you tell me to leave, I'll leave?" Please maintain the last bit of decency before completely losing your dignity.]

[Time: 10... 9... 8...]

Jiang Xun froze.

Three options. Not a single one let him open the door.

He slowly turned his head.

Yan Qingning was still sitting by the bed, looking out the window like a resentful young wife.

The hem of her palace dress spread out, looking like a patch of dying embers in the gloom.

The System would not lie.

High Risk. Critical Point.

Beneath Yan Qingning's calm face was a violent storm.

Flashing with thunder and howling with hurricanes.

Jiang Xun's back was instantly drenched.

Yan Qingning, why do you like to toy with me so much?

He suddenly understood that this door was not an exit at all.

She was still testing him.

She was waiting, waiting for him to choose.

Waiting for him to prove whether he would really leave.

The light and the voices outside the door now seemed like a mockery.

Jiang Xun's hand was still on the door, his fingertips cold.

He could no longer hope for freedom.

Otherwise, what awaited him would be even more terrifying control.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Then, he let go.

The door slowly closed.

No matter how low Jiang Xun's integrity was, he would never choose to bow down and be a dog. His mind directly locked onto Option 1.

Yan Qingning didn't look back.

As if she had long expected this.

Jiang Xun stood by the door, looked at her back for a while, then walked over, knelt down, and looked up at her.

"Did you think I could really leave you?"

Yan Qingning lowered her eyes and looked at him. Her eyes were a bit red, and her face was expressionless.

Jiang Xun reached out and took her hand.

Her hand was very cold, and her fingertips trembled slightly.

"If I left, wouldn't you have to cry again?" he said softly.

Yan Qingning's eyelashes trembled.

"If you want to leave, I can't stop you. Didn't you leave without a word back then!"

Jiang Xun thought back carefully; at that time, Yan Qingning no longer had any resources or value worth his time.

So he had simply found an excuse to disappear and go conquer the next character.

He brought out the greatest acting skills of his life.

"I thought you would ask me to stay."

He first shifted the blame to Yan Qingning, placing himself on the moral high ground.

Jiang Xun leaned toward her lips. "Is it my turn to take the initiative?"

Jiang Xun no longer wanted to consider the future of facing other target characters.

The most important thing now was to stabilize this one.

Jiang Xun went straight forward and kissed her.

Yan Qingning hadn't expected Jiang Xun to take the initiative.

But she could see that in Jiang Xun's eyes, there wasn't much affection; mostly, there was guilt, confusion, and evasion.

Jiang Xun only kissed her and didn't do anything extra.

Only when he saw something in Yan Qingning's eyes soften did he slowly pull away.

Yan Qingning said, "Is this charity?"

Her tone carried a bit of sadness.

"You don't need to comfort me this way; I'm not that pathetic."

She didn't say this very open-mindedly.

It was even dry.

Because it didn't come from her heart.

She felt her heart didn't belong to her; like a child who had been silent for thousands of years and suddenly tasted honey, it became lively in an instant.

She couldn't catch it or control it; she could only let it have its way.

If Jiang Xun really left, she didn't know what crazy things she would do.

Even if there were things she didn't want to do.

But the heart has its own thoughts; it won't stop beating just because you suppress it.

"I just..." Jiang Xun paused. "I need some time."

Yan Qingning was silent for a long time.

Then, she tightened her grip on his hand.

She held it very tightly.

"Okay," she said, her voice a bit hoarse. "I'll give you time."