Xue Sha sat dejectedly on Li Xiaoxiao's bed, while Li Xiaoxiao, dressed in Ye Ling's robe, repeatedly bowed and apologized to Xue Sha.
Although Li Xiaoxiao had successfully emerged from the closet thanks to Xue Sha's shameless move, she still dared not look at Ye Ling.
Seeing Li Xiaoxiao constantly bowing and apologizing, Xue Sha sighed slightly and said, "Alright, your strength couldn't hurt me. It's enough that you've come out now, no need to apologize."
"You'll get to know the Emperor better by meeting him slowly."
Li Xiaoxiao suffered from severe social anxiety, typically only interacting with people online. In real life, she only dared to speak to a very small number of people she was familiar with.
When Xue Sha first took control of Dark Night, he hadn't even made a move!
When he found Li Xiaoxiao, she hid in the closet just as she had hidden from Ye Ling, then unconditionally surrendered and handed over the Dark Night organization.
In such a dramatic turn of events, Xue Sha easily acquired a top hacker organization that struck fear into the hearts of many nations.
However, it was precisely because of this that Xue Sha's interactions with the hackers of the Dark Night organization were not like those between a superior and subordinates, but rather like familiar friends.
It was only after a considerable period of adjustment between Xue Sha and Li Xiaoxiao that they slowly became familiar with each other, able to converse somewhat.
Ye Ling looked at his demonic blade, Xue Sha, who was now as gentle as a boy next door, and smiled, teasing, "It seems you're truly suited for this place. I'm even considering whether to bring you back to the East Xuan Continent in the future."
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Xue Sha quickly replied, "What are you saying, Emperor? I will naturally follow you wherever you go. What is there to be suited for or not?"
Ye Ling shook his head and smiled, "Go take care of your own matters. I'll handle Xiaoxiao's situation."
"Yes."
As Ye Ling instructed, Xue Sha did not hesitate, responding swiftly. After a few more words of advice to Li Xiaoxiao, he left the room.
In the room, only Ye Ling and Li Xiaoxiao remained.
As soon as Xue Sha left, Li Xiaoxiao's muscles stiffened again.
She lowered her head, not daring to look at Ye Ling's face, feeling utterly lost and extremely nervous.
Ye Ling did not force Li Xiaoxiao to look up.
After all, Ye Feng's villa was right there, and the equipment was still present. He could investigate it at any time; there was no rush.
Ye Ling pulled over a chair and sat in front of Li Xiaoxiao, speaking gently, "Can I understand your past experiences? Perhaps I can help you."
Xue Sha was originally derived from a demonic blade and might not understand, but Ye Ling knew that Li Xiaoxiao's severe social phobia must stem from a significant psychological barrier.
Perhaps Li Xiaoxiao had suffered a great mental trauma in the past, which ultimately led her to become this way.
Ye Ling did not have much time to spend with Li Xiaoxiao day in and day out to gradually build a connection.
Therefore, all he could do was try to help Li Xiaoxiao overcome her inner demons and conquer her social phobia.
If all else failed, Ye Ling could still find other hackers within the Dark Night organization.
However, Ye Ling had a good impression of Li Xiaoxiao, and if he could help, he wanted to.
Li Xiaoxiao still dared not look up, stammering nervously, "Emperor... I..."
Ye Ling said softly, "You don't need to look at me, nor do you need to force yourself to speak to me. I can directly read your memories, you just need to consent."
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Li Xiaoxiao was taken aback.
She herself knew that her current condition was an illness.
She also wanted to overcome it, but after so many years, she had always been unable to conquer her inner fear.
Now that Ye Ling suddenly said this, Li Xiaoxiao didn't know why, but she suddenly felt an impulse to take a step forward.
She also wanted to see the blue sky outside and have many friends!
"Mhm..."
Li Xiaoxiao nodded earnestly, then clenched her fists, as if waiting for Ye Ling's judgment.
Seeing Li Xiaoxiao's nervous demeanor, Ye Ling smiled gently, then extended his spiritual power to cover Li Xiaoxiao's entire body, entering her soul to read her memories.
Although Ye Ling was using soul-searching, he had minimized his spiritual power as much as possible, employing an extremely gentle method.
Li Xiaoxiao only felt as if she were enveloped in a warm, flowing fluid, without any pain.
In this extremely comfortable environment, Li Xiaoxiao actually leaned onto Ye Ling's arm and fell asleep.
Ye Ling did not move Li Xiaoxiao from his arm, focusing entirely on reading her memories.
To his surprise, he discovered that Li Xiaoxiao's childhood was entirely bleak. Raised by a single mother, her mother died in a severe car accident when Li Xiaoxiao was ten years old, leaving her a substantial inheritance.
This large inheritance was then encroached upon by her various relatives. To those relatives, a child was just a burden.
Eventually, the relatives who had embezzled the inheritance pooled some money and sent Li Xiaoxiao abroad, never to be heard from again.
In Li Xiaoxiao's memories, there were mostly the idle gossip of those relatives, such as her mother being promiscuous, and that she was a burden, that she had dragged her mother down...
Countless negative words lingered in Li Xiaoxiao's mind, forming a terrifying nightmare that ultimately made her afraid to go out and face others.
"This girl... to have such a tragic past."
After reading Li Xiaoxiao's childhood memories, Ye Ling sighed slightly. Looking at Li Xiaoxiao, who was asleep on his arm, a hint of pity flashed in his eyes.
Ye Ling had personally experienced the massacre of the Ye family and, having suffered betrayal from relatives, empathized with Li Xiaoxiao's experience.
Given Li Xiaoxiao's difficult childhood, Ye Ling couldn't help but admire her talent and perseverance for becoming one of the world's top hackers.
"From her memories, the psychological barrier likely stems from her mother's death and her relatives' disdain... She seems to believe her mother's death was caused by her..."
"To solve this problem, we either need to change her perception or deal with her relatives."
Ye Ling pondered for a moment, then abandoned the idea of dealing with her relatives.
Not to mention that Li Xiaoxiao had not been in contact with those relatives for many years. Even if he were to deal with them, Ye Ling couldn't find them all in a short period.
Therefore, the only thing he could do now was to change Li Xiaoxiao's perception of her mother's death.
Ye Ling reviewed Li Xiaoxiao's memories again, preparing to slightly modify them to remove her nightmare.
However, just as Ye Ling was about to act, he suddenly discovered something unusual in Li Xiaoxiao's memories.
"Something's not right..."
Ye Ling's gaze sharpened slightly, his expression becoming serious. "Li Xiaoxiao's memories... have been tampered with!"