397: Chapter 397 gives you two choices: continue being a bed warmer, or...

When did Xu Ruyu place this soul fixing bead on her?

Could it be... when he helped her heal? Or when he carried her back just now? Or had he placed it there a long time ago?

Xiao Nianyin's heart sank to the bottom in an instant.

So, he had never truly trusted her.

So, he had always been guarding against her.

So, in his eyes, she was always a dangerous person who might turn on him at any moment.

She lowered her head and gave a bitter smile.

It made sense. After how she had treated him back then, it was only right for him to guard against her.

Then, she saw Xu Ruyu make a move—he placed the soul fixing bead on the table and pushed it toward her.

Xiao Nianyin was stunned.

"You..."

She looked up at him in disbelief.

Xu Ruyu looked at her, his tone calm: "I saved you today, not to make you grateful to me.

I just didn't want to see someone by my side being ravaged by those animals.

If it had been any other Disciple, I would have done the same today; I didn't save you because you are Xiao Nianyin.

It is only because you are also a member of my Hehuan Sect. Furthermore, you are still my, Xu Ruyu's, Bed-warming maid, my woman."

He paused, then continued: "I have always kept this soul fixing bead on you.

You know its function—it can lock your Soul, and it can also cause your Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering in a single thought."

Xiao Nianyin's breathing quickened.

Xu Ruyu continued: "Now, I give you two choices."

His voice was very flat, as if he were talking about something insignificant: "First, I take back this soul fixing bead, you continue to be my Bed-warming maid, and everything between us remains the same as before. Second—"

He pointed at the soul fixing bead on the table.

"I will undo your Seal and restore your cultivation. But as a condition, you must personally plant this soul fixing bead into your own Soul."

Xiao Nianyin shuddered!

What?!

Let her plant the soul fixing bead into her own Soul herself?!

This was even more humiliating than Xu Ruyu placing it secretly—it meant she had to personally hand her life into his hands, voluntarily offering up the power over her own life and death!

Xu Ruyu watched her shocked expression, his face devoid of any pity.

"Choose for yourself," he said, "If you choose the first, everything between us remains as it is. If you choose the second—"

He paused, his gaze becoming sharp: "After you plant the soul fixing bead inside, I will undo your Seal.

By then, you will have regained your Saint Realm cultivation, while I... in your eyes, will still just be a piece of trash at the Qi Refinement Stage."

He smiled slightly, the smile carrying a hint of deeper meaning: "By then, you will have a hundred ways to kill me.

But as long as you have planted the soul fixing bead, if you dare to lift a finger against me, I can cause your Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering."

"So—do you want to make a bet?"

Xiao Nianyin stared fixedly at the soul fixing bead on the table, her chest heaving violently.

In this moment, she finally understood Xu Ruyu's intent.

This was not trust.

This was a test.

This was an open scheme.

He used the soul fixing bead as a chain, and the restoration of her cultivation as bait, forcing her to make a choice—to continue being that humiliated Bed-warming maid, or to personally hand her life into his hands in exchange for power.

No matter which choice she made, she was the loser.

Choose the first, and she would continue to be a Bed-warming maid, continuing to serve tea and water every day, making the bed and folding quilts, continuing to live in humiliation.

Choose the second, and she would regain her cultivation and recover her power, but her life and death would be in his hands. So what if she was a Saint Realm Expert? With just a thought from him, she would face Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering.

What was this?

What was this!

Xiao Nianyin's hands were trembling.

The resentment that had been suppressed in her heart for over half a year was, at this moment, nearly bursting out of her chest.

She looked up at Xu Ruyu with hatred.

Xu Ruyu met her gaze, his expression unchanging.

He knew what she was thinking.

She was thinking—Why?

Why must I hand my life over to you?

Why must I be humiliated by you like this?

Why—you, a piece of trash at the Qi Refinement Stage, are you even worthy of treating me this way?

Xu Ruyu sneered inwardly.

As expected.

The debt of saving a life, the feeling of gratitude—in the face of these things, they were not worth mentioning.

This was the real Xiao Nianyin.

That Saint Realm Sect Master who was proud to the bone, that heaven-favored daughter who once viewed all living beings as ants.

She would be grateful for him saving her life today, but this gratitude was not enough to make her set aside her dignity. She would feel guilty for what she had done to him back then, but this guilt was not enough to make her willingly hand her life over to him.

Xu Ruyu waited for a while, and seeing that she did not move, he reached out to take the soul fixing bead on the table.

"It seems you choose the first."

"Wait."

Xiao Nianyin's voice came from behind him, hoarse, trembling, yet carrying a sense of determination.

Xu Ruyu's hand stopped in mid-air.

Xiao Nianyin took a deep breath and reached out to pick up the soul fixing bead on the table.

Her fingers were trembling, but she gripped the bead tightly, her knuckles turning white.

She looked at the crystal-clear bead in her palm, her heart churning with overwhelming emotions—humiliation, unwillingness, anger, resentment, helplessness, despair...

And a trace of something she herself was unwilling to admit... fear.

She knew Xu Ruyu was testing her.

But she had no choice.

Continue to be a Bed-warming maid? Continue to serve him tea and water every day? Continue to kneel on the ground to wash his feet? Continue to be ordered around by him?

She had already lived such days for over half a year.

Over half a year!

Every day, every moment, was agony.

She would rather hand over her life than continue living like that. At least, with her cultivation restored, she would still be that Saint Realm Expert. Even if her life and death were in his hands, at least she would not have to lower her head to live.

She pressed the soul fixing bead to her brow.

Silver light surged from the bead, seeping into her brow and merging with her Soul.

The sensation was like a cold snake slithering into the depths of her Soul, coiling there, ready to crush her Soul at any moment.

Xiao Nianyin shuddered all over, her face turning even paler.

The soul fixing bead had been planted.

She looked up at Xu Ruyu, her eyes devoid of gratitude or submission, only a complex, indescribable emotion—resentment, hatred, unwillingness, helplessness, resignation, and also a trace of... something she herself hadn't noticed... anticipation?

Xu Ruyu looked at her and nodded.

"Good."