"A lot of people want to harm me." Cheng Huang smiled again, speaking sweetly, "Do you know what happens to them?"
"That's not what I meant..." Qin Yi was sweating profusely. "I just meant to say, don't bully my sister..."
Cheng Huang waved at Ye Ling, "Little Snake, come here."
Ye Ling cautiously walked over.
Cheng Huang picked up a shiny, translucent fruit from the table. "This is a Snake Saliva Fruit, something snakes love to eat. It’s also good for cultivation."
Ye Ling's eyes lit up as she stared at the fruit, almost drooling.
"Do you want to eat it?"
"Yes."
"Not giving it to you." Cheng Huang stuffed the fruit into her own mouth.
Ye Ling pouted, almost crying.
Cheng Huang then put her hands on Ye Ling's face, rubbing it and making silly faces.
"Alright, I've bullied her now," Cheng Huang said sweetly.
Qin Yi was speechless. "How can you cheat like this? How am I supposed to respond? It’s like starting the game and losing three towers right away; it’s just too passive..."
But thinking about it, if it’s just this kind of bullying, he wouldn’t mind doing it too.
Cheng Huang asked Eagle Li, "Eagle Commander, what should be done to someone who disrespects this king?"
Eagle Li twitched his mouth, helplessly saying, "Execution."
Ye Ling's eyes widened, and she suddenly dashed back, grabbing Qin Yi and trying to run.
Qin Yi stood still, thinking, where could they run in the king's palace? He sighed, "It's about actions, not intentions, Your Majesty. With the rumor that eating from you can extend life by two thousand years, if we’re talking about wanting to ride you, I’m afraid that out of a hundred thousand monsters under your command, ninety-nine thousand would want to. Are you really going to kill them all?"
"They didn’t say it; you did."
"I didn’t say it; the mirror did."
Cheng Huang stared at him for a while, then suddenly burst into laughter, filling the room with joy. "Then consider it half a crime. Just send me the head of the person responsible to serve me in the palace."
Ye Ling didn’t understand. "Brother, if they’re going to be executed, let’s just make Cheng Huang sister happy first..."
Qin Yi was sweating again. "You foolish child!"
"You don’t want to execute anyone, which puts me in a difficult position..." Cheng Huang said sweetly. "Why don’t you suggest a punishment instead?"
She was a demon king who liked to tease people. Don’t think she was just joking; behind her cheerful words was a sense of superiority. One wrong answer could really get someone killed.
Qin Yi’s mind raced, and he suddenly thought of something: "I have a gift for the king; maybe it could make up for my mistakes."
"Oh?" Cheng Huang smiled happily. "You, a mere human at the third level of the Phoenix stage, have something that would impress me?"
Qin Yi took out the white bone token he got from the wizard.
Cheng Huang, who had been lying down, suddenly sat up straight, her gaze sharp as she stared at the token. Eagle Li, who had been standing by, suddenly released a terrifying aura that made it hard to breathe.
"Where did you get this token?" Eagle Li asked sternly, grabbing Qin Yi.
"I found it on the wizard outside the city," Qin Yi replied slowly. "I thought it might be useful to the king."
Cheng Huang waved her hand, and the token slipped from Qin Yi's grasp, flying into her hand.
She weighed the token thoughtfully for a long time, then sighed, "Actually, I saw you a few days ago."
Qin Yi and Ye Ling were both taken aback.
"In the Demon City, only my White Kingdom borders that wizard. All the monsters born in that area should have become my subjects. Ever since that wizard took over, refining monsters and alchemy, he’s been competing with my White Kingdom for population. I’ve wanted to kill him for a long time." Cheng Huang continued, "But in recent years, I’ve been stuck at a bottleneck and couldn’t break through. I didn’t want to act rashly, and Eagle Commander and the others might not be able to deal with the wizard’s various formations, so I’ve delayed until now."
Qin Yi blurted out, "So it was really you who attacked the wizard a few days ago?"
Cheng Huang leaned back lazily. "That wizard was planning a blood sacrifice of ten thousand monsters, focusing his energy on a large formation, leaving him vulnerable. He had been living too comfortably for too long and forgot that I was always looking for such an opportunity. I was worried he could summon ten thousand monsters and the blood dragon to come to his aid, so I was still observing... until I saw him send monsters to chase after you."
Qin Yi was speechless.
"So you could say you unintentionally helped me."
Qin Yi humbly replied, "I don’t deserve such praise."
"His various formations and sorcery are indeed quite tricky, and his magical tools are endless, making it quite troublesome." Cheng Huang’s expression was serious. "But that alone wouldn’t be a problem for me. What I didn’t expect was that a powerful being was secretly helping him. During the fiercest part of the battle, a peach suddenly flew in, and its soul-attracting power pulled a bit of my attention, leading to a mutual defeat. I was worried about a hidden danger, so I left quickly."
Qin Yi was shocked.
Ye Ling covered her mouth, her eyes darting to Qin Yi, not daring to speak.
What powerful being? That was Qin Yi’s home run.
It wasn’t helping her; it was clearly putting her in a tough spot... She must not find out.
"However, even if I killed him, I wouldn’t have the heart to search through his belongings because I never thought there would be anything worth finding on him. So it doesn’t count as you stealing what I should have, but rather you helped me fill in the gaps." Cheng Huang kept looking at the token with a cold smile. "I never expected this. Very good, very good."
Seeing her reaction, it seemed this token wasn’t just an identity token but held some other secret. Qin Yi, feeling guilty about the peach, didn’t dare to ask more and simply said, "As long as it’s useful to the king."
Cheng Huang stared at the token for a while, then slowly said, "I have never accepted a disciple. Ye Ling, would you like to be my first disciple?"
Ye Ling looked at Qin Yi in confusion, and he subtly nodded.
Cheng Huang’s cultivation surpassed all the strong ones he had seen. Before Liu Su spoke up, he couldn’t even judge what level she was at. Though her personality was unpredictable, she didn’t seem overly cruel, and being a woman made her quite suitable to be Ye Ling’s master.
Ye Ling obediently performed a bow. "I’m willing."
"Do you need to listen to your brother’s opinion even for accepting a master?" Cheng Huang smiled. "From today on, you’ll stay in the palace. Eagle Commander, find a residence for me and settle Mr. Qin."
Qin Yi wanted to refuse the residence at first but then thought about how he needed time to ask Eagle Li for a way to break the curse. He didn’t know how many days they would need to stay, so he didn’t refuse.
Ye Ling looked at Qin Yi with puppy eyes, tugging at his sleeve. "Can’t brother stay in the palace too?"
Qin Yi squatted down in front of her, painfully rubbing her cheek. "Staying in the palace is precious, but keeping your head is worth more."
Cheng Huang lazily said, "It’s not just one way."
Qin Yi turned in surprise, only to see her smiling mischievously, her beautiful eyes filled with charm. "There’s another way. Our palace currently has no master. Do you have any intentions, sir?"
(End of Chapter)