X
Join our Discord server and get release updates for every novel you follow.
Join the ServerBai Jiujiu robotically lowered her head, a stiff, dry laugh escaping her lips.
“You’re finally awake, and these herbs… wait, don’t pass out again!”
Tong Qiu was about to toss the remaining carrots into the pot when Bai Jiujiu’s eyes rolled back. In an instant, she reverted from her human form to her true snake body, silently submerging into the medicinal broth.
Eh?
Eh!!!
“Hey! You still owe me over ten million gold ingots! If you’re going to die, at least pay up first!”
Tong Qiu frantically snatched a large slotted spoon from the nearby table, fishing the sunken snake out of the pot. She even gave it a shake, sloshing off the excess broth.
Freshly stewed!
Looking at the snake’s pale, glistening form, it seemed thoroughly cooked.
The snake had gone cold. A generation’s demon king met its end, boiled in soup.
Tong Qiu sprinkled a handful of chopped scallions into her own bowl. The clear, glistening turtle stew, now adorned with green, looked even more enticing.
“No, no, no, no, no, no, no!”
Huddled beneath the covers, Bai Jiujiu shook her head like a rattle-drum, eyes tightly shut in terror.
“This isn’t medicinal broth; it’s my own turtle stew. I even made extra for you. You don’t have to eat it, but remember to pay. That’s four hundred silver coins. And for the soul and body nourishing herbs I bought you, that’s one gold ingot. Here’s the shop receipt. My labor fee is twelve silver coins. In total, that’s one gold ingot and four hundred twelve silver coins.”
Tong Qiu rolled her eyes at Bai Jiujiu, then took a sip of her turtle stew, closing her eyes in pleasure as the rich umami flavor filled her mouth.
She casually handed Bai Jiujiu the receipts for all the items she had purchased on the street.
Regardless of whether Bai Jiujiu’s timid demeanor was an act or her true nature, Tong Qiu’s attitude towards her had shifted from cautious vigilance to that of an ordinary friend.
After all, for some unknown reason, Tong Qiu had committed such an indecent act upon Bai Jiujiu’s body last night. It was difficult for their relationship not to deepen.
As long as the other party paid the ten million and five gold ingots, plus the four hundred twelve silver coins, everything would be fine.
Indeed, once the body is obtained, the heart is not far behind.
“Are you really not going to eat it?”
“No, no, no, no, no, no, no!”
The little rattle-drum began shaking again, her hair scattering and swaying with her head like a small fan.
Seeing such strong resistance, Tong Qiu couldn’t force-feed Bai Jiujiu, especially since she couldn’t defeat the demon.
Yet, Tong Qiu was also curious. A Great Demon of the Demon Mansion realm, a notorious fugitive with a fifty-million gold ingot bounty on her head, was terrified by a simple medicinal bath and turtle stew.
She wondered if the rumors about her being too severely injured to use demonic arts were true. Even if they were…
Tong Qiu chewed on a piece of turtle meat, watching the white-haired fan still spinning by the bed, and couldn’t help but shake her head.
She would never forget the scene she witnessed last night.
At that moment, the young Long Zhi, whom Tong Qiu was fighting, gradually vanished. Tong Qiu, quicker than the other officers, immediately began searching.
Finally, she pushed aside some leaves, revealing Zhang Feng lying unconscious on the ground, and Bai Jiujiu suspended in mid-air, seated on a throne conjured from nothingness, toying with a resentful spirit in her hand with a look of utter disdain.
Tong Qiu would never forget that gaze.
It was a condescending stare, like a god looking down upon an ant, and those golden vertical pupils were completely unlike Bai Jiujiu’s usual eyes.
Under the sheer pressure, she had instinctively drawn her sword and pointed it at Bai Jiujiu.
However, the other party merely pouted and blew a breath, and the magical artifact in her hand, which had slain countless demons, turned to dust.
That sword was worth one gold ingot, a reward from the Demon Suppression Department when she was promoted to a third-rank constable.
She decided to add that debt to Bai Jiujiu’s tab.
Tong Qiu had expected to die at her hands, but then Bai Jiujiu closed her eyes, fell from the sky, and lay unconscious on the ground. The oppressive aura vanished with her.
At the same time, the other officers arrived and discovered Bai Jiujiu’s identity as a snake demon.
Left with no choice, Tong Qiu had to lie, explaining to everyone that this was her contracted demon sealed within a magical artifact, and that Long Zhi had knocked out Zhang Feng before escaping by sacrificing her essence.
She ordered the officers to search within Chongxi Town. Later, Tong Qiu, citing Master Zhang Feng’s unconsciousness and her temporary assumption of his third-rank constable duties, openly carried Bai Jiujiu out of the Town-Suppressing Banner.
The sky was dark, and the officers hadn’t clearly seen Bai Jiujiu’s face. Moreover, while Tong Qiu was now a first-rank constable, she had genuinely been a third-rank constable before. A higher rank meant undeniable authority, and these banner-carrying officers dared not provoke her, so they let the two — one human, one demon — leave.
Tong Qiu roughly recounted these events to Bai Jiujiu, casually scooping another bowl of turtle stew from the pot and savoring it.
However, when it came to the part about the golden-eyed Bai Jiujiu, Tong Qiu found her throat inexplicably blocked as she tried to speak, unable to utter a single word about it.
She could only angrily shovel a few mouthfuls of turtle stew, concealing that detail, under Bai Jiujiu’s dead-fish stare, which looked as if she were watching an idiot.
“I see.”
Bai Jiujiu, wrapped in her blanket, happily rolled around on the bed, listening to Tong Qiu recount the events of last night. Yet, she still frowned, posing her question to Tong Qiu.
“What’s a contracted demon sealed by a magical artifact?”
It felt somewhat like a beast-taming ability, touching upon commonalities between humans and demons, and Bai Jiujiu wanted a clear explanation.
“It’s a cultivation method used by some human cultivators. They use special cultivation techniques and magical artifacts to seal defeated demons within specialized artifacts, thereby allowing them to command demons in battle. We generally refer to these cultivators as Demon Tamers, one of the three unorthodox arts outside of orthodox cultivation.”
“The three unorthodox arts?”
Another unfamiliar term. Bai Jiujiu asked again, full of curiosity.
She couldn’t help it; her understanding of humans was far too limited.
“Generally, orthodox cultivators rely on magical artifacts and cultivation techniques for combat. However, five thousand years ago, a genius cultivator, exceptionally intelligent, invented three great unorthodox techniques: the Demon Taming Art, which allows one to command demons in battle; the Wandering Art, which involves cultivating the soul and body; and the Array Art, which focuses on deploying formations.”
Tong Qiu kindly provided this explanatory knowledge to Bai Jiujiu, knowing that all this information could be found in a cultivation guide if the other party bought one.
‘Oh, right. Why don’t I just buy a cultivation guide and toss it to her?’
‘She’ll reimburse me anyway. It would save me the trouble of talking so much.’
“Then why did you use that excuse to bring me out?”
“Because contracted demons are not subject to inspection by the Town-Suppressing Banner guards. I used spiritual energy to feign the aura of you being sealed by my contract, which allowed me to bring you out.”
“Eh! Then why didn’t you use this method before?”
Bai Jiujiu raised her head, complaining bitterly.
Tong Qiu was simply awful for not using a better method when one was available!
“Senior, what are you thinking? Not only would everyone have clearly seen your face in broad daylight, but Zhang Feng was still there. My strength is weaker than his; there’s no way I could have hidden it from him.”
“Oh, oh, but why did you drag me?”
Even though her pristine back bore no marks or pain thanks to the medicinal broth, Bai Jiujiu still frowned as she questioned. After all, she was an eight-thousand-year-old Great Demon! Did she have no dignity, being dragged away?
Stare~
“Ahahaha…”
Tong Qiu laughed dryly, averting her gaze. She would never explain that it was purely an act of revenge, born from a resentment deeper than any vengeful spirit, for Bai Jiujiu having increased her workload.
Embarrassed, she instinctively scooped a spoonful from the broth Bai Jiujiu had been soaked in, pouring it over her unfinished turtle stew.
“What did you just pour on that?”
Your next favorite story awaits! Don't miss out on How to Avoid Regression – click to dive in!
Read : How to Avoid Regression
If You Notice any translation issues or inconsistency in names, genders, or POV etc? Let us know here in the comments or on our Discord server, and we’ll fix it in current and future chapters. Thanks for helping us to improve! 🙂