"Who are you?"
The girl's voice was sweet and ethereal, like the sound of guzheng, the melodious voice tugging on Li Changsheng's heartstring.
Li Changsheng smiled tenderly and said, "I'm your benefactor."
"Benefactor?" The girl tilted her head slightly sideways; her puzzled expression was adorable.
To which Li Changsheng replied with a nod in affirmation. "Yes. I'm the one who woke you up."
The girl went silent, as if pondering about something, a trace of confusion in her eyes.
While the girl was still deep in thought, Li Changsheng took out one of the clothes from the spatial ring, which was his spoil of war from two previous assassins, and handed it over to the girl.
"Put this on first."
The girl looked alternately at the cloth in her hands, Li Changsheng, then herself, before starting to dress herself.
Li Changsheng thought that she would be embarrassed, but she simply put on the clothes indifferently, making him greatly puzzled.
Her aloofness couldn't be faked, as if it didn't matter for her if an opposite gender looked at her naked body. But from her top-notch appearance and grace, she should've been coming at least from a prestigious lineage, and yet she didn't seem to bother acting like an eldest lady.
Her existence was so contradictory, it seemed as if she was covered by a layer of fog, making Li Changsheng unable to see through her.
Li Changsheng couldn't restrain his curiosity and voiced the questions in his mind. "Who are you? What are you doing here? Why did you end up inside a coffin?"
The girl's delicate eyebrows furrow slightly, as if trying to find something from her memory but to no avail.
Looking at the small frown on her flawless face, any man would feel distressed and would willingly do anything to ease her worry.
Shaking her head, she replied weakly, "I don't know."
"You don't know?"
Li Changsheng was taken aback by her answer, not expecting such a response from the girl.
She might be pretending to be losing her memories to make him lower his guard out of pity for a beauty, but his intuition told him that the girl spoke no lies.
"Then, what do you know about yourself, or rather, what do you remember?"
The girl once again shook her head weakly and lowered her head. "I don't know. I don't remember anything."
"Is that so…"
Li Changsheng tapped his chin, a thought suddenly emerging in his mind.
As he recalled the previous conversation about the legend of the Eternal Emperor, a seed of doubt germinated in his heart about the veracity of the existing legend about the extremely elusive Emperor.
Due to the fact that most of the widely known Emperors, from ancient times until the most recent era, were men, the majority of the public instantly assumed that this person was also of the same gender.
In fact, no one was truly certain about the exact appearance of this mysterious emperor.
So, it wasn't impossible that the Eternal Emperor was actually a woman!
Li Changsheng had some guesses in his mind, but he couldn't confirm them for now and could only wait for the time to reveal the truth.
His guts told him that this girl might be the so-called Eternal Emperor, but for various reasons, she ended up in this kind of sealed state, or even if she wasn't the emperor herself, she might be closely related to the mysterious Emperor.
If her words were true, then this beautiful, mysterious girl in front of him was like a blank sheet of canvas that he could paint with his own color.
If he did his job well, he could even make her forgo her past and be loyal and dedicated to him only, thus adding another expert as one of his loyal subordinates.
How could he not be excited knowing that he might be able to get an emperor as one of his followers?
Even if it turned out that he was just overthinking things, just the prospect of making such a beauty submit to him and willingly be at his beck and call made Li Changsheng feel giddy in anticipation.
Another reason he wanted to make her truly his own was because he truly longed to have someone that he could trust wholeheartedly.
Being born as a good-for-nothing crown prince, he grew up without any support from his family and was surrounded by two-faced allies and treacherous enemies in all directions. He was truly lonely.
Although Song Yuxuang had sworn his allegiance to him, Li Changsheng wouldn't be able to trust him completely.
After all, compared to this innocent girl, Song Yuxuang's mind had already matured, and he definitely had his own thoughts.
Climbing his way from a commoner into what he had become today and creating such a ruthless method to assist his cultivation, Li Changsheng wouldn't believe that he was able to accomplish such a feat if he wasn't a cunning and ruthless guy.
The moment he showed any weakness, Song Yuxuang would definitely bite back and never let him go easily. Li Changsheng was sure of this, as this was the nature of the cultivation world.
So, if he could cultivate his own people from scratch, he would be able to minimize the risk of betrayal in the future.
This was what he learned in his twenty-five years of living as a member of the royal family.
So, this time, he wanted to bet his future on this mysterious girl, and hopefully he would be able to reap good fruit in the future.
Li Changsheng patted the girl's head and caressed her hair gently. "You can follow me from now on."
The girl didn't reject his touch, closing her eyes and enjoying his gentle caress.
When Li Changsheng withdrew his hand, the girl opened her eyes and stared intently at him.
"You know who I am?"
Li Changsheng shook his head but then added, "But I can give you a name. Do you want to?"
The girl was initially disappointed, but when she heard Li Changsheng's next words, she eagerly nodded.
"There's a legend in my hometown about the most beautiful fairy in heaven called Chang'e, so I'll call you Chang'e from now on."
"Chang'e… Chang'e…" She murmured to herself several times, as if trying to engrave this name into her soul. "My name is Chang'e."
Li Changsheng nodded in satisfaction and then chuckled. "From today onward, you, Chang'e, are my own person."
"Your own person?" Chang'e tilted her head innocently and asked in doubt, "What do you mean?"
Li Changsheng lifted her chin with his hand, his face inched closed toward her until they could feel each other breath brushed on their skin, staring straight into her silver eyes full of curiosity.
"It's exactly what I mean." His voice was deep and husky, and his eyes were dark as if inviting her to look deep within. "From now on, you'll listen to me, follow my order, and never betray me. I own all of you—your body, your mind, and your heart. Do you understand?"
Chang'e didn't shy away from Li Changsheng's obsessive gaze and asked back, not out of deviance but curiosity, "Why should I?"
"Because without my power, you should've been dead by now," Li Changsheng answered unhurriedly, his tone absolute and domineering, without any room for refusal. "I gave you new life, so you should make it up for the rest of your life."
"I'm going to die?"
"That's right." Li Changsheng released his grasp on Chang'e's face and took a step back before once again silently activating the Life Scripture, which was connected to the lifespan he had granted before. "Feel the vitality inside your body, and you'll know that I spoke the truth."
Chang'e nodded and closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them once again and murmuring in a small voice, "I understand."
Then she lowered her head to Li Changsheng and said, "Chang'e greet my lord."
"Raise your head."
Chang'e followed Li Changsheng's instruction like an obedient child and raised her head, on which Li Changsheng then placed his hand, rubbing her hair as gentle as a lover's caress while showing a satisfied smile on his face.
"You don't need to call me Lord in the future. I allow you to call me by name."
"Um."
Chang'e nodded lightly; her plump, pink lips curled up slightly into a faint smile like a plum blossom flower blooming in the early spring, adding a unique charm to her already enchanting appearance.
At this alluring sight, a flash of desire flitted across Li Changsheng's eyes as he remembered how tempting the exquisite figure hidden under the clothes was, but he then forcefully suppressed his unbridled desires by clenching his teeth.
Now was not the time for such things.
He didn't want to let his libido get on his head and made a reckless move on Chang'e just because he was lusting on her body. After all, the identity of this girl was too mysterious, and he would only suffer a loss if he acted rashly.
No rush, no rush.
This kind of thing needed to proceed step by step. It's better to deepen their relationship first and slowly make her fall for him voluntarily. It would be even better if she willingly offered herself in her own volition.
With that thought in mind, he forcibly suppressed his boiling desire and decided to continue his exploration, with Chang'e following closely from behind.