Please Touch Me, Master

[Half A Month Later]

"Mhm…" 

Ash felt her consciousness slowly stir, her eyes slowly opening as she awoke from a very deep sleep. It felt like she had just been lifted out of very deep waters after being submerged there for an eternity.

Her pale, silvery body glistened ominously, and the darkness that clung to her body danced with grace. Her lustrous white hair danced like flames, and her petite but elegant body gave off a serene feeling. She was like a siren, a muse, beautiful in every sense of the word.

The moment she woke up, her last memories replayed in her mind and she remembered what had happened to her—what Bi Chen had done.

Instinctively, Ash touched her neck and broke into a cold sweat.

Her body trembled, and she remembered the myriad of sensations she felt at the time. Bi Chen's cruelty was a display of his resolve, but she had been on the receiving end of it. She didn't even know that she would survive at the time.

Such a heartless move… it could cause many to grow distant and develop fear in their heart.

But Ash's expression was different.

A trace of reddish hue formed on her face as she squealed loudly. Even when she tried to suppress the sound, it was impossible to.

It simply showed the depths of her excitement.

"He truly is one of the Sovereign… using me like that for his goals. He must have known I would revive and decided to use me to trigger the condition within the Labyrinth Stone…" Ash nodded slowly, fully grasping what had happened on her own.

As for why Bi Chen hadn't given her a warning before acting, it simply didn't matter.

'I already pledged my body to him, so he is free to use me as he wishes. The fact that he did so in such a straightforward manner… it's amazing!' She couldn't stop gushing, once again replaying the incident in her head. 'The way he grabbed my hair, and buckled my feet under his powerful legs. I could hear him grunt as he wrapped his arms around me while my blood flowed out…'

The more she thought about it, the more her eyes gleamed with her delight as her cheeks turned even redder than before. Her tongue dripped with saliva, and her lips were moist due to constantly licking them.

Those weren't the only lips that were moist as well.

Ash felt like she was in a blissful dream, feeling Bi Chen's coldness as a sign of love and a symbol of their close relationship. 

To her, she was an essential part of his journey and he wasn't done.

'I hope he was able to Craft the Artifact…' It was only at this point that Ash began to properly notice her surroundings.

She was in a rather small cave, shrouded by darkness through and through.

There was no one present, and she was tempted to leave the cave but also wondered why she had revived in that exact location. In her mind, "Lord Bi" had to have control over her revival and where she would wake up in.

If that was the case, then there was a reason he chose this cave.

'Does he want me to stay here for him… or should I go out?' Ash snapped out of her reverie and began to ask herself serious questions, not wanting to displease Bi Chen.

A part of her wondered if she had "Leveled Up" as Bi Chen put it to her, but since she didn't have access to the System, she couldn't tell. Only Bi Chen could see her Level, and he was the one who also controlled which Stat to invest in, among other things.

She didn't feel any different from how she was before her death, so Ash assumed she hadn't lost a Level. 

Then, she began to squint, looking and feeling all around her for any sort of clue that could allow her to decipher Bi Chen's intentions.

Thankfully, she didn't have to look around for very long before she found something.

'T-this is… ah, and another one!' Ash's eyes widened as she quickly began to notice items scattered all around the cave. She was familiar with these items as well—they were things that she had brought out of her [Pocket World] for Bi Chen to use in Artifact Crafting.

So why were they in this cave with her?

'I see…. So that's what it is.' Ash couldn't have guessed that Bi Chen failed in his Artifact Crafting, but she still deduced Bi Chen's intentions rather quickly. 'He brought me here so I could return these items to [Pocket World]. It must have been very inconvenient for him to be carrying them all around, so he probably left them in a spot and let me revive here so I could return these items and meet up with him.'

Ash didn't feel like she had been abandoned, or she was being exploited by Bi Chen.

No—she actually liked this arrangement.

It showed that Bi Chen was relying on her, and he not only believed in her ability to comprehend his motives, but also that she could successfully carry out his silent wishes.

"I won't disappoint you, Lord Bi!" She hurriedly arranged the items and placed them in her [Pocket World]. 

This Geist could only contain ten entries, so there were some items that were packaged in a single box, hence counting as one slot. These weren't particularly large—for example, several arrows in a quiver were still classified as one item.

As long as they had a container for them and didn't pass the size and weight limit of the slot, they would be counted as single items.

Ash also noticed that a Crafting Stone was also in the cave, causing her to puff up her chest with pride while smiling happily.

'I knew it! Master Bi's hidden method succeeded!'

She placed the Crafting Stone in her last slot and figured it was time to leave the cave.

'I could wait for him, but I'm guessing I should follow after his steps. Considering how he intentionally brought me here, it's likely that this place isn't that far from his current position. After all, I probably won't be able to survive if we're too far apart and I'm cornered by Abominations.'

Even if Ash knew Bi Chen was ruthless with her life, she also recognized that he needed her. He also needed the items in her [Pocket World].

He wouldn't revive her, just so she could die again.

Her desire to see Bi Chen also influenced her thinking process, so Ash jumped on her feet and hurriedly left the cave. She quickly found out that it was located at the upper region of a vast space resembling a huge cavern.

Bi Chen had hurriedly chosen a location close to the ceiling so that the items could be preserved.

However, for Ash, this became an inconvenience, since she had to go through a rigorous process to get down from the cave. She had never hiked before, so there were many instances when she nearly slipped and fell.

If that happened, with the distance from the ground being dozens of meters, it was very likely that she would lose her life again.

However, she never slipped.

This was not due to her skill or anything of the sort, but because of the determination she had not to let down her Sovereign Lord. Bi Chen would be very disappointed in her if she died, so why would she allow that?

Even though it took extra time, Ash was able to minimize the mistakes made until she finally reached the bottom of the cavern.

She was still clearly within the Labyrinth, as made evident by the jagged ceiling and walls. The pitch-black stone that glowed eerily added a feeling of unease in her heart, but the thought of her Lord kept her going.

'Lord Bi can't be that far ahead… I should hurry and get back to him!'