CHAPTER 114: CHAPTER 114: THE DEVIL’S PACT

"Of course not, teacher. Please have a good rest." She smiled and backed away.

Only a bedside lamp remained in the room. Ruan Ying sat up straight, her back stiff, listening to the sound of the door opening and closing.

She kept her posture elegant, even when no one was watching.

But the palm she tightly clenched already seeped with traces of blood.

Someone approached silently, sighed softly, and held Ruan Ying’s injured hand in his palm.

"Don’t treat your body like this; it pains me." The man murmured softly, like the most intimate lover.

Ruan Ying looked at him, her gaze gradually turning cold. She ignored the injury on her palm, single-handedly gripping the man’s neck. In an instant, the snow-white neck showed red marks. However, she was a feeble female, and the man merely choked twice, his face flushed from lack of oxygen.

"Ruan Ying, what is it? Did I do something wrong?" he asked doubtfully.

Ruan Ying’s scrutinizing gaze was cold as an icy lake, making the man feel a momentary retreat, but it vanished quickly, barely discernible.

Ruan Ying loosened her grip, pressing her fingertip heavily on the red marks she made, "Nothing, I just suddenly thought your pretty neck would look good with fingerprint marks."

The man internally breathed a slight sigh of relief and smiled considerately, "Let me carry you to bed."

Ruan Ying remained silent, allowing him to carry her to bed, but as the man climbed onto the bed to lie beside her, she spoke, "I want to rest alone for a while."

The man hesitated momentarily, feeling slightly disappointed, "Alright, I’ll wait for you outside."

The last lamp went out, and Ruan Ying heard his departing footsteps. Her body lay flat, slightly curled to the side.

Why...

Why...

Perhaps from extreme exhaustion, she soon fell into a nightmare.

"Xiao Ying, you kept me waiting for so long again." The beastman spoke with some complaint, but his face was filled with joy upon receiving the female head.

Ruan Ying tiptoed to kiss him on the lips, "Don’t be mad. My experiment finally had a breakthrough; I’ll make it up to you tonight."

"Alright, who’s to blame for making me eternally rank after experiments in Xiao Ying’s heart?"

...

"This is my second child. I can’t lose her again!" Ruan Ying screamed, emotionally distraught, hugging her belly.

Several beast husbands looked at her with reluctance, "But wars are frequent now, and we’re worried we can’t protect you well..."

"It’s okay. Once we get through these three months and the embryo stabilizes, it can go directly into the warming incubator. Just over a month left, it’s definitely possible." Ruan Ying gently touched her flat abdomen with a tender expression. Inside, it nurtured her second child, for whom she even paused her experiments.

Every time she thought about losing her first child, she regretted deeply. If she hadn’t insisted on high-intensity experimentation against advice, that child might have walked by now.

N Star was merely a modest planet of the Empire, its economy and culture very ordinary, far inferior to several central stars. At twenty-six, Ruan Ying was a vice professor in a school and quite a sensation on that planet.

However, this weak planet couldn’t withstand the fierce beast onslaught. Ruan Ying was injured during that ferocious beast tide, nearly losing her child. The doctors even advised her to prepare for the worst, yet the embryo remained unharmed. During subsequent nurturing, it entered the warming incubator successfully, and seven months later, she birthed her first child.

At the end of winter and the beginning of spring, the pear trees in her yard began to bud with white blossoms.

Ruan Li.

Her first child carried all her maternal love and affection, born into this world.

She also brought her good fortune. Ruan Ying was transferred to Capital Star to continue her research, gaining her own research institute and projects.

However, a year later, Ruan Ying suddenly found her healing ability diminishing, her body deteriorating. Her daughter tested with innate Level 5 healing ability, causing a media frenzy and attracting attention from the Royal Family. Even the Ruan Family on Capital Star noticed her potential, extending an olive branch. She was merely a minor branch of the family then, invited repeatedly to join the main family.

As Ruan Ying’s health waned day by day, Ruan Li’s healing ability grew increasingly strong.

She suddenly recalled when she was pregnant with Ruan Li, despite her injuries, the embryo was unperturbed. It clearly was stealing her life force at that time!

Her only blood relative in this world was actually depriving her of her life force!

Ruan Ying doubted herself, never considering this reason. She once doubted herself to the point of mental breakdown.

Ruan Ying held little Ruan Li, who hadn’t learned to walk, seeing her innocent smile, feeling hesitant again...

On the cold experiment table, the grape-like clear eyes stared at her roundly, giggling foolishly.

"Topic: Transfer and Acceleration of Life Force, first experiment..."

She was insane; she truly was insane.

She shed the cold laboratory coat, holding the sleeping child in her arms, drowning in self-doubt, self-denial, self-interest recognition... But some things, once started, have no turning back.

She always maintained a perfect balance between experimenting and caring for Ruan Li’s body, achieving breakthrough progress, gaining some fame then.

However, when the most honorable woman of the Empire appeared before her, everything changed...

"Ms. Ruan Ying, I am very interested in your latest research topic."

Ruan Ying attempted to hide the topic’s existence, yet nothing escaped the woman’s eyes, who used it to coerce her into continuing the experiments, even offering test subjects.

Ruan Ying wanted to refuse without thinking.

"Why deceive yourself? Providing you with test subjects precisely aids you. I can give you anything you desire, including all resources, if you continue the experiment." The woman raised the documents in her hand, "All the data on your first test subject is here. Ruan Ying, do you think the world would allow you to continue if they knew a mother used her child for experiments?"

She languidly spoke, "Not only that, your current status and reputation will be ruined. You’ll become a street rat. Even with female privileges, you’ll be exiled to Deserted Star for humanitarian violations. Can you truly endure that?"

"Such beautiful, clean hands that in the first half of your life only touched instruments and potions, will in the latter half submerge in yellow dust. Ruan Ying, are you willing?"

She saw her twenty-something self trapped in immense hesitation and weighing.

No, don’t—

"Alright, I agree with you."

Forty-seven-year-old Ruan Ying heard twenty-eight-year-old Ruan Ying signing the devil’s contract.