The Price of Survival

How truly laughable it all seemed. In my previous life, I had actually given this Composite Pill, bought with my very life, directly to White Snow Jade. It never even crossed my mind to use it as leverage or to extract the maximum benefit. Indeed, a nascent connection had formed between White Snow Jade and me, and our relationship had even grown quite intimate for a time. There was a period of undeniable ambiguity, even a discernible trend towards something more profound. Promises had been exchanged between us. This led Xia Niansheng to profoundly overestimate his standing in her heart. Alas, to a heart devoid of true feeling, promises were never more than fleeting words. Now, however, it seemed that all her words back then might have simply been lies uttered without a second thought.

Xia Niansheng let out a derisive scoff.

This time, if he truly wished to control his own destiny, he knew that acting as a foolishly pure and kind individual would lead to a wretched end. While he need not exhaust himself, he certainly had to make the most of his inherent resources and advantages. At this moment, it wasn’t about Xia Niansheng taking advantage; rather, this was a truly indispensable step in forging the s*ave contract. In his previous life, when he acquired this contract, he had believed he would never have cause to use it. Little did he expect it to become the very first move in his grand scheme after his rebirth.

He lowered his gaze, observing White Snow Jade, who, fraught with terror, averted her face.

“You know,” he began, “if I truly wished to do something to you, it wouldn’t be merely to this extent. I could be far more extreme, but as I’ve stated, this is an integral part of signing the contract.”

White Snow Jade clenched her teeth, her jaw rigid.

‘What kind of jest is this?’

‘What kind of cruel jest!’

‘Even if I agreed to sign the contract, how could I allow myself to be defiled in such a manner…?’

‘Moreover, the one I love is… is Master.’

‘How could I possibly do something like this behind Master’s back?’

‘How could I betray Master?’

“There’s no need for the Saintess to cling to her false modesty now,” Xia Niansheng stated, his voice even. “No third person will ever know. You desire to live, and only I can save you.”

Xia Niansheng continued to guide her, extending a hand to place his palm firmly upon White Snow Jade’s head.

“Signing this contract is a form of assurance from me to you. Of course, the Saintess’s heart will not truly submit. As I said, you may forever harbor the thought of killing me, making it your ultimate goal until death.”

White Snow Jade’s chest heaved erratically, her teeth grinding in fury.

“I will most certainly kill you,” she hissed.

Xia Niansheng merely smiled. “I await the day.”

There was no more time to wait; the poison had already begun its insidious spread.

Xia Niansheng’s hand, resting on the back of White Snow Jade’s head, applied a subtle pressure.

Tears welled at the corners of White Snow Jade’s eyes.

Her hands clenched into tight fists, overwhelmed by such profound humiliation.

‘Master, I am truly sorry…’

‘Xueyao is merely… trying to survive.’

****

She had never once imagined that one day she would… take a man in her mouth.

‘And was this even a normal size for a man…?’

‘It was practically an arm…’

‘Moreover, there was a peculiar taste.’

‘The lewd sounds.’

‘Was saliva really trickling down her chin from the corners of her lips?’

White Snow Jade even feared she might simply lose her mind right then and there. She even considered that perhaps dying from the poison would be a preferable outcome. To think she would one day descend to such a wretched state. The physical discomfort was secondary; it was the psychological torment, the utter revulsion for this sickening man, that truly overwhelmed her. White Snow Jade suppressed a wave of nausea. To make matters worse, when she lifted her gaze, it was Xia Niansheng she saw. She yearned to close her eyes… but Master’s face abruptly materialized in her mind. She truly felt as though she were losing her sanity, utterly breaking apart. All she wanted was for this ordeal to end, for it to pass quickly. What she refused to acknowledge deep within her heart was that, in her desperate desire for it to end swiftly, she couldn’t help but subconsciously… make Xia Niansheng more comfortable. And even more damning, even more unthinkable to admit, was that her body was gradually growing feverish!

After a prolonged silence.

White Snow Jade’s eyes snapped open, wide with shock.

Xia Niansheng reached out, gripping White Snow Jade’s chin, forcing her head back to prevent her from expelling anything.

Though tears still clung to the corners of her eyes, they were overshadowed by a burning hatred.

Xia Niansheng took several deep breaths.

This was indeed a crucial step in formalizing the contract.

After a brief stalemate, White Snow Jade’s slender throat, like a swan’s neck, convulsed.

But in the very next moment, her body inexplicably began to… tremble.

This was not a tremble born of fear, but rather…

Xia Niansheng, utterly unprepared for such a development, stared at White Snow Jade in astonished disbelief.

White Snow Jade gazed back at Xia Niansheng, her eyes wide with fresh horror.

‘Even if I truly sign some contract with him, as long as I live, I will have the chance to exact my revenge.’

‘This damned body of mine is simply too sensitive.’

‘To expose certain truths before this scoundrel, truths I refuse to acknowledge, felt even worse than death itself.’

Xia Niansheng finally grasped the situation.

‘She truly is a heroine from an erotic game… How much had I truly overlooked in my past life?’

“I never would have thought, Saintess… that deep down, you’re quite the *slut*,” he drawled, his voice laced with insinuation.

His words were so brazen, so utterly vulgar, that White Snow Jade frantically shook her head, glaring fiercely at Xia Niansheng, desperate to change the subject.

“This had better be, as you claim, merely a part of signing the contract,” she spat, “otherwise, when I get the chance to take your life, you will suffer a far more agonizing fate!”

Xia Niansheng, offering White Snow Jade a small measure of reprieve, chose not to dwell on her current state.

After all, opportunities to humiliate her… would abound in the future.

He shrugged nonchalantly, recognizing that no matter how wretched his death, it couldn’t possibly compare to being hunted down by righteous cultivators like a rat in the street.

While White Snow Jade might have found some twisted satisfaction, for Xia Niansheng, the sensation had not been particularly pleasurable. Aside from White Snow Jade’s profound revulsion, it was clear this was her first experience, making her movements quite clumsy and unpracticed. Thus, his greater enjoyment came from watching her expressions of humiliation and desperate urgency.

Smiling, he looked at White Snow Jade, then abruptly reached out and tugged at the hem of her robe.

“What are you doing?!”

White Snow Jade instinctively recoiled, uncertain of what action Xia Niansheng might take next.

To her surprise, Xia Niansheng merely pulled at her skirt…

and began to wipe something.

A faint trace of… disdain marred his features.

‘No…’

‘How dare he look at her with such disdain?’

‘Does he even have the right to disdain *this* Saintess?!’

White Snow Jade trembled, almost incandescent with rage.

Xia Niansheng, however, acted as if nothing untoward had happened. Once he finished wiping, he casually dropped her skirt and retracted his hand.

Before White Snow Jade could even utter a word, Xia Niansheng extended his hand and pressed a finger to the center of her collarbone.

White Snow Jade’s eyes widened. Just as she was about to speak, a metallic, rusty taste filled her throat.

A glob of vital essence, mixed with an unknown white liquid, was expelled from her mouth, hovering in the air.

“Do you consent to become my s*ave?” Xia Niansheng inquired once more.

“…I consent,” White Snow Jade articulated, understanding that he was commencing the forging of the so-called special s*ave contract.

The moment the words left her lips, she felt as though something within her very world…

had been irrevocably altered.

A wave of dizziness and disorientation immediately washed over her.

Even as her vision blurred to black, her gaze remained fixed, unwavering, upon Xia Niansheng’s obsidian-like eyes.

‘No matter how long it takes.’

‘No matter how arduous.’

‘I must, I absolutely must, personally slay this scoundrel.’

****

White Snow Jade finally succumbed to unconsciousness.

Xia Niansheng placed the torch he had been holding into the bonfire, the flickering flames casting his face in a stark chiaroscuro of shadow and light.

Having fainted, White Snow Jade at last grew still. Her expressionless face, coupled with her beauty that could topple nations, strangely lent her an air of profound tranquility.

This was the very image White Snow Jade had always presented to the public.

Gentle, serene, dignified, and refined.

These could all be her epithets, yet only Xia Niansheng knew the ugliness lurking beneath the facade.

Xia Niansheng knelt down.

His right hand, fingers pressed together like a sword, moved over White Snow Jade’s body.

This was not merely an act of impropriety; injecting his aura from his Qi points into her body was a crucial component of the contract’s formation. A person’s body instinctively rejects foreign elements when conscious, thus rendering White Snow Jade unconscious was the optimal choice.

In his previous life, during his escape, Xia Niansheng had inadvertently stumbled upon an ancient text titled [Record of Cultivation Esoterica], which detailed many unheard-of practices. Regrettably, he’d never had the opportunity to utilize it, yet in this new life, it proved to be profoundly useful. Chief among its contents was this peculiar contract. This contract was indeed strange. The act of making White Snow Jade consume it just now… was undeniably an essential part of it. And now, it seemed that to solidify the “master-servant bond” between them, he would even need to continue feeding her… in the future.

‘He wondered what the game developers had been thinking.’

‘Was this truly the world of an erotic game? Such abnormal elements certainly existed within it.’

Before long, White Snow Jade unconsciously began to draw her thighs together, rubbing them against each other.

Soft moans, utterly alluring and seductive, escaped the crevices of her throat, unburdened by any conscious pretense.

****

This was the darkest hour in White Snow Jade’s eighteen years of existence. As the Sect Master’s direct disciple, she possessed top-tier talent and resources in cultivation, her beauty even surpassing all others. The phrase “life was effortless” perfectly encapsulated her first two decades. She was also the undisputed Saintess of the Heavenly Spirit Sect. Furthermore, a tacit understanding, a subtle affection, had blossomed between her and her Master. Despite being the Sect Master’s direct disciple and the Saintess, she could not enjoy special privileges regarding the sect’s assigned tasks; she still had to handle them personally. This particular mission was straightforward: its location was a remote town named Chunshen within the Great Kang Kingdom. However, a male cultivator had been assigned as her partner.

Xia Niansheng—she recognized him.

He was Duan Xi Shen’s direct disciple from Blood Sword Mountain, ranking among the top ten of the Heavenly Spirit Sect’s new generation. His strength was considerable, and thanks to his warm-hearted nature, his reputation within the sect was exceptionally good. Most notably, his handsome features were such that even some women felt a pang of envy. Yet, he was still a man, and men were, ultimately, disgusting creatures who only thought with their lower halves. White Snow Jade recoiled with an instinctive revulsion. Fortunately, he was tolerable to look at, so White Snow Jade could grudgingly accept him.

But…

But!

It was all Xia Niansheng’s fault for his carelessness, allowing that evil cultivator to activate a formation and launch a sneak attack, leaving her poisoned. ‘That damned scoundrel!’ ‘Not reacting immediately to shield her from the attack was one thing…’ ‘But to then, disgustingly, take advantage of her vulnerability!’ She refused to admit she had betrayed her Master; she was merely, she insisted, making a compromise to survive… White Snow Jade wished more than anyone that this was merely a dream, yet these memories were etched deeper than anything else.

White Snow Jade opened her eyes.

This was not her room; it was still that same stone cave, and even the viscous sensation between her thighs persisted.

None of it was a dream.

The first thing she did upon waking was to retrieve a pouch of water from her Qiankun bag. She gargled frantically, then drank deeply. Even when injured, a cultivator would not feel such intense thirst; this act was solely to cleanse her mouth. Only after consuming the water did the discomfort in her mouth and heart begin to abate significantly.

White Snow Jade gasped for air, then began to examine her internal body.

She discovered that the toxins within her body had been temporarily suppressed.

While a full recovery was impossible, it had indeed preserved her life, and residual medicinal power from the Composite Pill still lingered in her meridians.

He had, undeniably, saved her.

Yet, that would not deter her from personally slaying him.

Suddenly, White Snow Jade seemed to sense something amiss. With a jolt of horror, she pulled up the skirt covering her thigh.

On the inner side of her thigh, prominently engraved, was a single character:

[夏]

At that moment, a figure appeared, carrying a plucked wild chicken skewered on a wooden stick.

A radiant smile graced his handsome face, his pupils as deep as obsidian. White Snow Jade, however, felt a surge of pure nausea at the sight.

He spoke:

“What… no welcome home for your master?”

****