81: When her pride and dignity were shattered

By the time Gu Yuan arrived at the small courtyard, it was dead silent.

Hmm...?

Gu Yuan felt a bit puzzled; why was there no sound at all?

When Gu Yuan pushed open the door, Tian Mei was still lying on the floor.

However, her body was trembling uncontrollably, as if she were enduring something.

"Hey, you..."

As soon as Gu Yuan spoke, he saw Tian Mei's hollow eyes.

"Ask whatever you want to ask, just don't torture me anymore. I... I'll tell you everything."

At this moment, Tian Mei no longer referred to herself as 'This One'.

The humiliation this man had brought her throughout the day had nearly destroyed her inner defenses.

In particular, the strange changes occurring in her body were continuously ravaging her will and psyche.

Under that strange sensation, Tian Mei felt as though her brain could no longer function at all.

Her only thought was to end this as soon as possible; no matter the cost, she would agree to anything, as long as it could end.

At the same time, Tian Mei felt a sense of pathos.

As the representative of the Heavenly Dao walking the earth, she who had once prided herself on her arrogance was now uttering words that bordered on total submission.

This undoubtedly crushed all of her previous pride and dignity.

But... it didn't matter anymore, did it? Anything was fine, just let it end.

This was why Tian Mei was currently in such a... state.

As for Gu Yuan, after seeing this scene, he couldn't help but admire the power of the System once again.

How proud Tian Mei had been before.

Yet under the [deng ding pill] produced by the System, she was simply defenseless.

Gu Yuan shook his head, crouched down in front of Tian Mei, and tilted her chin up to make her look at him.

Unlike her previous resistance, Tian Mei offered no reaction now, appearing extremely submissive.

"Then tell me, what kind of existences are you heavenly dao incarnations exactly?"

Hearing Gu Yuan's words, a flicker of struggle appeared on Tian Mei's face, but in the end, she spoke obediently:

"The Great Dao has three thousand paths, the Heavenly Calculation forty-nine, and humanity escapes through the one. To ensure that the origin of the great dao no longer encounters uncontrollable variables, we were brought into existence."

Tian Mei's eyes remained hollow, answering Gu Yuan's questions like a machine.

"The origin of the great dao must never go wrong. Once any self-awareness emerges, we intervene to annihilate that Awakening consciousness and return it to the Origin."

So that's how it is... Gu Yuan nodded in understanding; it was close to what he had guessed.

"How do you communicate with the Heavenly Dao? Does the Heavenly Dao give you direct orders every time?"

Having finally caught a heavenly dao incarnation, Gu Yuan intended to interrogate her thoroughly.

"We have power bestowed by the Heavenly Dao within us, through which we can establish contact. When entering your world, the Heavenly Dao's ability to intervene drops significantly, so we can only use this to maintain contact."

Oh?

Gu Yuan raised an eyebrow at this and asked curiously:

"Intervened by what? Why can't the will of the Heavenly Dao intervene in our world?"

Hearing Gu Yuan's question, the previously vacant Tian Mei...

...seemed to recall something terrifying. In an instant, her expression became one of extreme horror.

Even her voice trembled, and it took a long while before she spoke:

"That is a taboo, a name that no one can mention. I don't know... only this, I don't know, I cannot say..."

Eh...?

Seeing her reaction, Gu Yuan became even more confused.

This woman could now even speak of the Heavenly Dao's affairs, yet she was so terrified of that so-called taboo name.

Could it be that in her heart, that existence was even more terrifying than the Heavenly Dao?

Good grief, what kind of existence could that be?

Gu Yuan shook his head, putting the question aside for now.

He then continued to ask Tian Mei many more questions.

And Tian Mei answered basically all of them.

As for the veracity of her answers, Gu Yuan felt they were mostly credible.

After all, her current state was such that even Gu Yuan felt a tiny bit of pity.

Gu Yuan sighed and retracted the ropes from Tian Mei's body.

"You'll have to stay by my side for the time being, understood? As for what I'll have you do later, I have my own plans. The effects of that Medicinal Pill have already worn off, so you can rest easy."

Saying this, Gu Yuan tapped Tian Mei's forehead with a finger.

The next moment, a faint character for 'Yuan' appeared on her forehead before vanishing.

"Our positions are different. Until I can fully trust you, I can only control you through these means. Don't even think about resisting, because the only outcome would be your Divine Soul being utterly extinguished."

This was something akin to a slave contract, also provided by the System.

Tian Mei's mental defenses had been almost entirely ravaged by Gu Yuan.

Thus, Gu Yuan encountered almost no resistance when establishing the contract with her.

After listening to Gu Yuan, Tian Mei looked up at him, but said nothing, only lowering her head.

This man was right; the strange sensation that had tortured her all day had vanished.

And vanishing along with it were her dignity and pride.

Heh... "My name is Gu Yuan. Now, put on some clothes and come out with me. I'll take you to get something to eat."

Gu Yuan took a set of clothes out of his storage ring, tossed them onto Tian Mei, and spoke in a somewhat gentle voice before leaving the room.

Tian Mei stared at his departing figure, her expression dazed.

She had originally thought this man would watch her get dressed.

After all, she had entered into a contract with him; no matter how excessive his actions toward her might be, it wouldn't be out of line, and she couldn't possibly resist him.

But... why give me respect now?

Tian Mei gripped the clothes tightly, biting her lip.

Why, why are you... suddenly being so gentle to me now?

Even though... you humiliated me so much before, crushing my dignity and pride.

Even though... you could have kept humiliating me, so that I could just continue to give up on myself.

But... but what is this supposed to be now!

Tian Mei stared blankly at the clothes in her hands, remaining silent for a long time.

Two lines of clear tears flowed from her beautiful eyes, which had been hollow and vacant.

Then, she buried her head in her knees and let out a few soft sobs.

Sigh, I guess I'm not a bad person after all.

Listening to the faint sound of crying from inside, Gu Yuan shook his head and sighed softly outside the room.

Whether it was his future plans for Tian Mei or her own identity...

...both prevented Gu Yuan from simply killing her.

But he couldn't fully trust her either, so he had no choice but to do this.

Furthermore... after signing the contract with Tian Mei, he could do anything to her.

However, Gu Yuan didn't do that. Compared to a female slave, what Gu Yuan wanted more was Tian Mei's complete submission.