391: Chapter 391 You just said I'm your woman?

Now, only three members of the Taihu Clan remained alive in the cave—two lackeys collapsing on the ground and trembling, and Mo Ran, who had been cowering in the corner the entire time.

Those two lackeys were shaking all over, their crotches already wet.

They looked at Xu Ruyu, their eyes filled with terror and pleading.

"Spare... spare our lives..."

"Please, spare us... we didn't do anything... we really didn't do anything..."

Xu Ruyu looked at them, his gaze icy.

"You didn't do anything?" He said coldly, "Who said those filthy words just now? Who let out those lewd laughs? Who was shouting that she should pay with her life?"

The two lackeys opened their mouths but couldn't say a word.

Xu Ruyu didn't waste any more breath and pointed a finger.

"Pfft! Pfft!"

With two muffled thuds, blood holes appeared on both of their foreheads simultaneously, and they slumped to the ground.

Now, only one member of the Taihu Clan remained alive in the cave—Mo Ran.

Mo Ran pressed himself tightly against the stone wall, his face as pale as paper, his whole body trembling.

He looked at Xu Ruyu, his eyes filled with terror and disbelief.

"You... you are not at the Qi Refinement Stage..." His voice trembled, his teeth chattering, "You have been hiding your cultivation all along! What... what Realm are you actually at?"

Xu Ruyu looked at him without speaking.

Mo Ran's fear grew even deeper.

He recalled everything he had done before—provoking Xu Ruyu, mocking Xu Ruyu, and following Zhou Jingxing and the others to bully Xiao Nianyin.

He had thought Xu Ruyu was just a piece of trash at the Qi Refinement Stage who could be easily manipulated.

But now...

His legs went weak, and with a "thud," he knelt on the ground.

"Holy Master Xu! Grandpa Xu! I was wrong! I was really wrong!"

He kowtowed like a pestle, his forehead striking the hard rock and emitting "thudding" sounds.

"It was Zhou Jingxing! All of this was Zhou Jingxing's idea! I just followed along! I didn't do anything! I really didn't do anything!"

Xu Ruyu looked at him, his gaze as cold as if he were looking at a dead man.

"You didn't do anything?" He said slowly, "Just now outside, who recognized Xiao Nianyin? Who told those people her identity? Who kidnapped her and brought her here?"

Mo Ran's kowtowing movement suddenly stiffened.

Xu Ruyu continued, "When those people were spouting filthy words just now, you were laughing quite happily on the side. I heard those lewd laughs, too."

Mo Ran's face instantly turned from pale to ash-gray.

He knew he was finished.

"Holy Master Xu... Grandpa Xu..." He prostrated himself on the ground, his voice trembling, "Please spare my life... my... my granduncle is Elder Mo Feng... If you kill me, he will not let this rest..."

Xu Ruyu sneered, "Mo Feng? I will settle the score with him sooner or later. As for you—"

He paused, his gaze becoming even colder, "Do you think you can scare me by using Mo Feng?"

Mo Ran trembled all over, not daring to speak anymore.

Xu Ruyu walked up to him and looked down at him.

"I will not kill you."

Mo Ran looked up abruptly, a flash of surprise in his eyes.

But Xu Ruyu's next sentence made him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

"I want you to go back and tell Mo Feng—tell him that I killed his people. Tell him that I will settle this score with him sooner or later. Tell him that from now on, whoever dares to touch anyone from my Hehuan Sect will end up just like these people."

Xu Ruyu pointed at the corpses strewn across the ground, the corners of his mouth curling into an icy smile.

"Get lost."

Mo Ran felt as if he had been granted amnesty and scrambled toward the cave entrance, crawling and stumbling.

He was in such a rush that he tripped over a corpse and fell, his face covered in blood, but he didn't care about the pain and scrambled up to keep running.

In the blink of an eye, his figure disappeared at the cave entrance.

In the cave, only Xu Ruyu and Xiao Nianyin remained, along with the corpses all over the floor.

The torch crackled, and the smell of blood permeated the air.

Xu Ruyu turned around, walked back to Xiao Nianyin's side, crouched down, and looked at her.

Xiao Nianyin was curled up in the corner, her whole body still trembling slightly.

She looked up at Xu Ruyu, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

There was fear—the scene just now was too bloody, too shocking.

There was disbelief—this youth, who usually always wore a slightly teasing smile, was actually this terrifying.

There was shock—his strength far exceeded her imagination.

And there was an indescribable emotion churning in her heart.

Xu Ruyu looked at her, the coldness in his eyes gradually fading, replaced by a trace of heartache.

"It's alright now," he said softly, reaching out to help her up.

Xiao Nianyin suddenly grabbed his hand, tears streaming from her eyes once again.

"You... what did you just say?" Her voice trembled, "You said... I am your... your woman?"

Xu Ruyu was stunned for a moment, then nodded, "Yes, I said it."

Xiao Nianyin stared at him blankly, tears flowing uncontrollably.

She thought back to everything she had done to him before—scheming against him, harming him, almost causing him to die.

She thought he hated her and that he wished for her to suffer.

Yet he had killed so many people for her sake.

He said she was his woman.

So... so she wasn't nothing in his eyes after all.

She suddenly threw herself into his arms and burst into tears.

In that crying, there was endless grievance, the relief of surviving a disaster, and also an indescribable... feeling of being moved.

Xu Ruyu held her, gently patting her back, without speaking.

Outside the cave entrance, a figure stood quietly.

Taihao Clan stood there with her arms crossed, watching everything in the cave with cold eyes.

She had seen the entire process of Xu Ruyu killing those people, seen the transformation of those Taihu Clan members from arrogant to kneeling and begging for mercy, and also seen the scene of Xiao Nianyin throwing herself into Xu Ruyu's arms.

She did not intervene, did not make a sound, just watched quietly.

In her eyes, these clansmen deserved to die.

Anyone who dared to touch someone under Taihao Clan's protection deserved to die.