After clearing myself out with the water that we found in the storage rings of the fallen cultivators, the time to take the decision finally came. I had my fun getting more attributes, but if I'm not going to kill them, I need to let them go.
"Are you sure you want to take her with us?"
Considering that I still feel that Eve might get jealous over me being close to any other woman, I'm not too sure if bringing even a single one with us is a good idea.
"You can get stronger by absorbing her yin energy, so it would be too much of a waste to just leave her alone. But if we want to make her obedient, we will need to enslave her properly. It's a pity, but I don't have any slave rings on me, so we could do it only after getting back to the sect. I still believe that doing so will be worth the trouble."
Contrary to my expectations, there is no hint of annoyance or jealousy in the voice of my beloved. Even if I understand her pragmatic approach, it's not like I can outright accept it! And what's with those slave rings? If they are commonly available on the market, why didn't I see any slaves before?
"I guess it's settled then. Are we letting the rest of them go?"
Looking back, I can see the sword sect duo still going at it, unbothered by their surroundings at all. While they were trying to kill me, I can understand that they were kinda forced to follow their senior on the mission. Since said expert already paid for attacking us with his life, there is no point in extending my revenge on them as well!
"Yeah, I think that's the best course of action that we can take for now. This stupid shit won't be able to survive on his own anyway, so as long as we release him a bit later than the rest, we won't have to worry about his family taking their revenge on the brethren of our new toy."
Since it was already said that Leila was threatened into her marriage, there is obviously something that this arrogant man could use as leverage against her. If we don't want her to struggle too much in our custody, we need to ensure the safety of her family as well!
"If that's what you think…"
Not willing to waste even a single more second, I turn back and cover the distance that separates me and Eve from our prisoners. Taking out a small knife, I approach the girl still riding on top of her senior with an elated look on her face, and simply cut the rope that was binding her hands in one swift stroke.
"You guys are free to go. I won't even take your storage ring, as a sign of courtesy towards the sect that house some people that were once our seniors back in our sect."
After saying those words, I simply turn around and move toward the girl that was used by me first. From what my peripheral vision noticed, while the man from the sword sect nodded at and tried to say something, his junior used the fact that her hands were now free to grab his head and lock him in a wholehearted kiss!
Youth….
"You are free as well. If you ever dare to attempt to take revenge on me or my kin, you should remember that I could've killed you. I won't even take your storage ring or its content, because travelling through the training grounds without equipment would be just an elaborate death sentence. I hope we will never cross our paths again."
Sending her off with a powerful slap on her shapely bottom, I turn once more, this time to face Leila.
Noticing that I'm sending off everyone, she took a strange expression on her face. Even with all my earthly experience, with all the movies and the adult versions of them that I watched, I can decipher what is going through her head at this moment.
"Are you going to leave me as well?"
Uh, I guess she is one of those sticky ones. It's not wondering, considering how someone closest to being a family with her, treated her like nothing else but asset or even worse, as a tool to realise his ambitions! Considering the reality of this word, if he bothered to threaten her into marriage, there ought to be some profit for him in it. No wonder that even with my rough handling of her, just humiliating this guy was enough to win her over!
"No, you are going with us. While my lovely fiancee wants to turn you into our slave, I don't believe that kind of treatment is just or efficient. While I know that this is me being soft, I will give you a choice. You can either go back to your sect and try to explain how did your fiancee end up like that, while warding any dangers while you will drag him back, or you can swear absolute obedience to me, and just from the scraps that will fall from my hands, I can guarantee that you will experience a growth that you never considered possible. It goes without saying, that we will take our payment with your body since I can sense a rich reservoir of yin energy in you. The choice is yours."
Just as I turn around, I can hear a small growling of the mutilated guy, as he crawled with his broken limbs near Leila.
"Don't listen to h-him… If I don't come back, your family won't see the next morni…"
Stomping my feet on his head, I bury his face in the ground.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. It seems that you still don't know your place here…"
Reaching with my hand, I swiftly deprive him of the storage rings placed on his fingers. In just a second, my consciousness breaks the barrier that locks their content away from me, only to throw it away with a disgusted look on my face.
"His fate lays completely in your hands. Kill him, castrate him, piss on him, I don't really care. But I don't think that he was saying the truth. He could threaten you only with two possibilities. Either he was going to do your family harm, or his own family would do it. If you kill him, or even let him attempt to go back in his current state if you don't want to sully your hands with the blood of this pervert, he won't be able to cause your family any problems himself, while you will be considered dead as well, holding his kin from exacting the vengeance."
"Grhph! Hrkhm rgwyd hplyr!"
Hearing my words, this guy still couldn't give up just like that and tried to say something, even when opening his mouth meant that more earth was finding its way towards his throat.
"I…"
The first moment that she hesitated, I realised how dumb I was. This is the world where the strong prevails! There is no such stupid thing like mercy for the defeated! I guess that's the reason why Eve wanted to force a slave ring on her. Isn't this the only way for her to keep her head straight? Yes, she would show everyone that she was defeated by us and would lose her status as a talented cultivator, but with a master compassionate enough to spare her life by taking her as a slave, according to the common sense of this word, she could count to be treated nicely!
"If you are hesitating if you should betray him, just take a look into his storage ring. I won't dare to say it out loud, because I would kill him right away if I were to spoil my mouth with those words! Anyway, I'm gonna take my leave now, it's your choice what you will do from now on!"
This time, I don't wait for her reaction. Taking my foot off this bastard head, I simply walk away. Picking Eve hand as I approached her, I simply walk away without a single word. While she sent me a puzzled look, my beloved didn't inquire me about where our toy was.
Just as we managed to cover maybe fifty meters, I heard a scream, followed by a small explosion and right after that, Leila came running only to fall on her knees before me.
"Please, let me go with you, Master!"