Duality of Shadows

"I... I..." Ruri, seeing that they remained in complete silence, became even more fearful, lowering her head and unable to speak anything completely.

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Suddenly, a faint wave of Qi hit her incisively. Her head was abruptly lifted forward. She then looked directly into Alm’s steady eyes.

"Why aren’t you speaking? I don’t remember to have taught some scared cat. Why did you do this?!" Alm asked harshly, looking into her eyes.

She swallowed hard. After a few cold seconds, she took a deep breath and began to speak. "I... I didn’t want to be alone again."

"Do you know what you’ve done?" Alm snorted coldly. "My entire plan was destroyed because of your thoughtless act. When you distanced yourself from the clan with us, the seal was completely destroyed. The formation collapsed completely, and the being from the divine world was warned."

Ruri was completely petrified; she hadn’t thought much and had just acted on her childish feelings.

"We had just left the clan when a divine world cultivator appeared in the sky. We survived by a miracle, and you almost buried the entire clan with us. Did you want to kill us by any chance?" Alm concluded harshly.

"No..." She seemed very shaken by those words and bowed with her forehead on the ground. "I’m sorry."

A disturbing silence followed, and she remained bowed there. ’You don’t know how to act according to your real feelings. I can feel your excitement from here, you know?’ Bruno spoke mentally.

’Hmph!’ Alm snorted, pretending to be confused. ’I have no idea what you are talking about.’

Bruno faintly smiled, then took over. "In the end, everything turned out fine. Get up."

She lifted her teary gaze towards him. Seeing that, Bruno nodded and continued. "Didn’t you want to save your people? The clan had quite a few slaves from your country, not to mention the maids that you got along with. Why did you decide to follow us?" Bruno continued.

She took a deep breath, holding back tears. "I want to save them... but just wiping out the clan won’t solve anything."

Bruno and Alm were startled by the response. She interpreted the silence and continued.

"My people, I’ve read everything I could find about them. They weren’t saints... even if I could free them, what future would we have?" Her gaze was steady; the child who seemed like she would cry at any second no longer existed. "Master... I feel like I can get a lot stronger if I follow you. Master has changed, changed so much! I want to change too!"

She continued. "If even master was able to stop being a perverted, good-for-nothing, lazy, boring, ugly and fat... no, you are still ugly and fat, but still..."

A vein popped out on Bruno and Alm’s head. ’Is she trying to buy a fight?’

"Ahem..." Ruri noticed the anger on their faces and stopped adding defects. "If even Master can change like that, Ruri believes she can change together if she follows Master."

"And why do you think you can walk by our side?" Alm cut in abruptly.

’Be more honest, there’s no need to be so harsh,’ Bruno spoke mentally.

She trembled again as she spoke. "I... will do anything."

Alm snorted. "You? You’re still a child. Is it just because you managed to cultivate a bit, and I taught you a few things? I helped you because you would be useful. Now, what use does a child have?"

Ruri heard and almost lost confidence. But she saw Alm’s gaze and remembered his first words, that he doesn’t remember to have trained a scared cat. She gathered her courage and insisted. "I will take responsibility. I will train hard and do everything to be useful."

Alm just stared coldly. Seeing those eyes, Ruri felt something instinctively. She rose from the hole, wiped any trace of tears from her face with her clothes, stood completely firm and erect, and looked directly into his eyes.

Alm remained impassive, observing every move of Ruri intensely. She, in turn, was determined not to yield in the face of that cold gaze.

"I will walk and overcome all obstacles. I won’t rest and will follow Master wherever he goes. I will train hard even if I die to meet expectations," she proclaimed firmly and determinedly.

However, Alm maintained his cold expression, showing no sign of approval. Ruri took a deep breath, feeling the tension in the air, and continued. "I... am still small, but one day..." She stopped abruptly, sensing a sudden furious atmosphere. It wasn’t only Alm, but Bruno too. They were not Denil. They had absolutely no interest in her body.

Looking closely at Alm, her mind was racing. So she decided to change her approach: "I will never complain... I also swear not to lie and always follow your orders. I will never do something like this again," she promised, and soon noticed a subtle change in his eyes.

In her mind, an idea quickly formed. Her determined expression changed into a sweet smile as she said, "Sorry, Master. But... I want to stay by your side forever!"

’First obedient, then sweet... nailed it.’ Ruri thought as she observed attentively the changes in Denil.

Meanwhile, Bruno commented mentally with a playful tone: ’You were clearly read and won over by her... especially because you know what she tried just now, and it made you very satisfied. She showed she can be naughty, which is something that pleases you very much. Hahahaha!’

’Quiet! I just wanted to make her admit the mistake,’ Alm replied, although even he seemed hesitant about his own words.

Bruno then took over, shifting the focus of the conversation. "We won’t stay in this small pond for long. We will go to the divine realm and beyond. How will you follow us? Not even the most talented youth in the Three Extremes Sect dare claim they can go to the divine realm."

’Now it changed...’ Ruri observed clearly, then fixed her gaze and said, "Master taught me that talent is not necessary to be one with the Dao. You need to have a firm and tireless heart, combined with pure karma and a solid destiny."

Bruno nodded in agreement, and Ruri continued, "I won’t miss a day of training and will never slack off. I will do everything within Master says."

In the middle of her words, she noticed a subtle gleam in Bruno’s eyes. Then she delivered the final blow: "Also... I won’t forget... my duties as a maid." She said, lowering her gaze shyly.

’Even she understands your peculiar interests.’ Alm couldn’t possibly lose the chance to get back at Bruno.

’Shut up! I don’t have those interests!’ Bruno fervently cut off Alm.

Ruri noticed that change in his gaze, interpreting something new. ’Now... determined, and then submissive. Nailed it again.’ Ruri thought radiantly, confident in her reading.

Bruno sighed heavily and relaxed his body.

’It seems like it’s you who got read and won over,’ commented Alm, not feeling the least bit of shame.

’Well... I admit I don’t intend to push her away. I can be honest with myself.’ Bruno said lightly. ’What do you think in the end? We’ve always been alone. She’s going to be our weak point.’

Alm and Bruno thought seriously. Ruri saw that strange and lost look and realized he was ’in that moment,’ lost in his own thoughts. It had happened so many times since Denil’s change that she could pick it up at a glance. Soon, she smiled subtly, now like a mischievous child having fun.

’I’ll be honest. She’s more likely to hinder than help,’ Bruno finally stopped to have fun with Alm and spoke seriously.

’I know, but there have always been moments when, if we had more hands, we could do more. That’s why, for a moment, we sought companions in the past.’ Surprisingly, it was Alm who was trying to convince Bruno now.

Bruno continued, ’Well, we’ve been betrayed more than once... but she also seems quite attached to us.’

Alm then remembered something. "Let’s go to the Eastern Mountains. That’s where various corrupt path sects and clans hide; it will be good to settle there for a while."

"Well, that was the plan..." Bruno was confused, not understanding why Alm brought up such a topic while they discussed what to do with Ruri. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"The first techniques created by living beings in all universes are enslavement techniques. Having power over others is always a priority, but the second primitive technique created leaves no doubt: it’s dual cultivation techniques," Alm spoke without much emotion.

Bruno still didn’t understand. "Yes, there are some mutual benefits to Yang cultivation techniques. But the Yin ones, where only one side greatly benefits and even drains the opposite life, are the most powerful and common."

Alm then continued slowly. "Due to the nature of this type of technique and the power it can bring, the largest corrupt clan will certainly be one of dual cultivation." Bruno still didn’t get it, so Alm elaborated.

"Well, she will be useful in that place. She’s new, but she will grow. We can take her and just say she’ll be our furnace."

A click resonated in Bruno’s mind, and then Alm concluded. "There must be people with similar tastes to yours. There won’t be any problems. You can even create your own Lolicons United if you want. It’s perfect!"