Who is Leng Yulai?
She is Leng Yaozhu's younger sister, once a little princess.
With the Dark Phoenix Martial Soul, she developed an obsessive personality.
Once she sets her mind on something, not even ten oxen can pull her back.
On top of that, she is extremely proud and cannot tolerate grievances.
If not for that, she wouldn't have so easily fallen into becoming an evil soul master.
Not to mention her attitude towards Xia Yi—even towards Leng Yaozhu, she would never easily lower her head.
Yet now, seeing her voluntarily kneeling before him, Xia Yi couldn't say he wasn't flustered.
A woman like this was terrifying.
Even if she willingly placed her life in his hands, Xia Yi wouldn't dare accept it.
He had no intention of being locked in a life-or-death struggle with this madwoman.
"Master, my legs are going numb. Can I stand up first?" Leng Yulai looked at Xia Yi pitifully, her expression like a little girl's, making his scalp tingle.
This woman was once a powerhouse on par with Leng Yaozhu, Yun Ming, and Ya Li.
"Get up," Xia Yi said, forcing himself to respond.
His scalp was truly tingling.
Speaking to Leng Yulai in this way already felt like exercising a master's authority.
It meant he had acknowledged Leng Yulai as his maid.
But seeing her like this, he had no other choice but to agree. He couldn't just let her kneel there forever.
The moment Xia Yi agreed, Leng Yulai immediately leaped up with excitement, like a pet delighted by its master's praise.
As soon as she stood up, she hugged Xia Yi's head and planted a big kiss on his right cheek.
"Master is the best! Mwah!"
"What are you doing?!" Xia Yi quickly pushed her away.
Damn it!
Wasn't Leng Yulai supposed to be madly in love with Yun Ming?
Didn't she kill any man who even dared to look at her?
Then what was all this?
And just moments ago, she was still gritting her teeth—how had she so quickly adjusted to her role as a maid?
What was going on here?
"Hehe, Master, are you still a virgin? You're so shy," Leng Yulai giggled at Xia Yi's reaction.
"What exactly do you want?" Xia Yi asked again.
He really didn't know what to do with her.
Not to mention dealing with Leng Yulai—he couldn't even handle Leng Yaozhu.
If Leng Yaozhu found out that he had taken her sister as a maid, she would definitely demand a proper explanation.
Xia Yi was starting to get a headache.
"I only beg for Master's forgiveness. How would I dare make demands of Master?" Leng Yulai put on a pitiful look, lowering her head and idly touching her navel with her fingertips.
Xia Yi kept reminding himself that she was just pretending, trying to lower his guard.
But seeing her act like this, he still found it difficult to accept.
"Forget it." Xia Yi shook his head. He knew that with Leng Yulai's obsessive personality, he wouldn't be able to change her mind.
So he stopped paying attention to her and instead examined his surroundings.
The space around them was enclosed by bronze walls. It was as if he and Leng Yulai were trapped inside a giant bronze container.
The walls were solid metal, two meters high, with no doors or windows.
Above them was a sky full of stars.
Xia Yi attempted to jump over the bronze wall, but as he leaped, the walls rose with him, altering his landing point.
Seeing him fail, Leng Yulai laughed again.
When Xia Yi looked at her, she quickly switched back to a pitiful expression and explained, "Master, these bronze walls are strange. I already tried before—even if you fly up ten thousand meters, you still can't escape."
"Then how do I leave?" Xia Yi asked.
"I don't know. If I did, I would have already left to find Master." Leng Yulai's voice grew softer.
"More like to kill me," Xia Yi muttered under his breath.
"So what do I do? Am I just stuck here forever?"
"I'm not sure, but Master can try recalling how you got here. Maybe using the same method can help you leave."
"I'll give it a shot," Xia Yi nodded.
He sat cross-legged and focused his mental energy, attempting to connect with the golden vortex that had appeared in his spiritual world after breaking through to the Lingyuan Realm.
Previously, it was by touching this vortex that he had been transported to Leng Yulai's presence.
Sure enough, the moment his consciousness made contact with it, his body vanished instantly.
The next moment, he reappeared inside the cultivation chamber of the Spirit Transmission Tower.
Gu Yue was still there, standing guard for him.
The moment she saw Xia Yi, she threw herself into his arms, holding him tightly and refusing to let go.
"Sob… You scared me to death! I was so afraid! I thought I was going to lose you!" Gu Yue cried.
Only she knew just how terrified she had been.
Her intuition had been correct.
She had almost lost Xia Yi forever.
Thankfully, he had resisted the temptation and did not merge with his past memories.
Otherwise, they would have truly become strangers.
"Don't worry, I'm fine." Xia Yi hugged her tightly. Feeling the warmth of her soft body, he was relieved that he had not merged with his past life's memories.
He kissed Gu Yue's hair, inhaling her fragrance, and suddenly felt at peace.
Yes, he was Xia Yi.
He was a little fox from the Star Dou Forest.
As for his past life?
It had nothing to do with him now.
His current life was his true self.
If he couldn't even live this life well, what right did he have to think about a past one?
Xia Yi made up his mind.
Merging with past memories was fine—but only after he fully lived and understood this life.
"I will never again think of leaving you or the Star Dou Forest," Xia Yi said solemnly as he held Gu Yue.
This was his real self, his true self in this life.
As for his past self? It could wait.
"Mm! Mm!" Gu Yue nodded vigorously through her tears.
Wait.
Something wasn't right.
Gu Yue looked up at Xia Yi in confusion.
What had he just said?
Xia Yi did not hide anything from her.
He told Gu Yue everything that had happened, including his encounter with Leng Yulai.
He had promised her earlier that once he understood the situation, he would tell her everything.
Hearing Xia Yi's explanation, Gu Yue was completely stunned.
"You gave up the chance to merge with your past memories?" she asked in disbelief.
She had always known that Xia Yi had an extraordinary origin. She also knew that he had been searching for his lost memories.
But she never expected that, for her, he would give up the opportunity to restore them.
"Yes. Right now, I feel that being a little fox in the Star Dou Forest is pretty nice." Xia Yi playfully tapped her nose and grinned.
He seemed completely at ease.
Gu Yue's beautiful eyes filled with tears.
Though Xia Yi made it sound casual, she understood the weight of his decision.
Unknowingly, her face was already covered in tears—tears she could not hold back.
She gazed at him, then leaned in to kiss him.
Her lips trembled, as did her arms as she hugged Xia Yi's head.
Like a nervous beginner, she didn't seem to know how to kiss.
Yet in reality, apart from that final step, they had already done everything else before.
Even so, at this moment, she was more inexperienced than ever—even more than during their first kiss.
—
Author's Note: Stop asking for Gu Yuena to be the only female lead in the comments. I've already said that's impossible.
It's not that I don't respect readers—it's just not feasible.
Think about it: is anyone writing a Douluo fanfic a proper person?
I'm certainly not.
And an improper person would never write a single-female-lead story.
(End of Chapter)