But Jia Wujie’s fingers paused the moment he pressed down, and then he frowned in confusion.
“Really nothing?” As he spoke, Jia Wujie shifted his fingers slightly and pressed down again.
After pressing a few more times, Jia Wujie finally gave up searching for Xu Baizhou’s Inner Core and said, “Strange, you’re actually not… Never mind.” With that, he raised his head and met Xu Baizhou’s slightly flushed face.
Xu Baizhou’s head was spinning. He knew that Jia Wujie was probably driving his Magical Power through his body in search of the so-called Inner Core, but to tell a rather ill-timed truth, the sensation of those streams of Magical Power coursing through his body was indescribably strange.
It was even… a little bit pleasant?
An Inner Core, Xu Baizhou definitely did not have, but if Jia Wujie kept poking at his belly like this, something else might soon arise.
Seemingly realizing that the person beneath him really was just an ordinary mortal, Jia Wujie finally withdrew his hand.
Xu Baizhou breathed a sigh of relief, but that sensation hadn’t faded faint remnants of Magical Power still ricocheted around inside him, making him uncomfortably twist gently from side to side, suppressing that half-there, half-not feeling.
But the next second, Jia Wujie snuffed that feeling out completely for him.
Accompanied by Xu Baizhou’s cry of agony, he was seized by the shoulder and flung to the ground by Jia Wujie.
Xu Baizhou’s flushed face went white in an instant, but once the momentary sharp pain faded, Xu Baizhou suddenly discovered that his arm had begun to regain feeling.
With that single move, Jia Wujie had actually reattached his arm.
Not understanding Jia Wujie’s intentions, the terror on Xu Baizhou’s face had not yet faded as he looked at the man across from him with a hint of bewilderment.
He saw Jia Wujie looking down at him from above. With a slight tilt of his head, two ghost-masked guards came forward and hauled Xu Baizhou up by both arms.
“Take him to change into clean clothes,” Jia Wujie said.
Xu Baizhou was taken away, given a brief wash, and dressed in a set of black garments of the Demon Race.
Xu Baizhou was already delicate-looking, and the clothes made of fine fabric with an elaborate design, even adorned with subtle embroidered patterns made his already fair complexion stand out all the more against the dark color. He looked gentle and frail, beautiful beyond measure.
Only, it was Xu Baizhou’s first time wearing clothes like these, and he wasn’t quite used to them. And although the chain that had been fastened on him earlier had been removed, the metal collar around his neck still made him very uncomfortable.
Once he had changed, Xu Baizhou was led by the two ghost-masked guards into a great hall. Inside stood a square table laden with all manner of delicacies, and Jia Wujie sat beside it, leisurely savoring a jug of fine wine. Beautiful maids stood all around, and whenever Jia Wujie’s cup ran dry, they flocked around him like songbirds, lifting the jug to refill it.
Seeing Xu Baizhou brought over, Jia Wujie’s drunken eyes brightened slightly, and he smiled with satisfaction. He drained the wine in his cup in one gulp, then said, “Clean enough.”
Jia Wujie waved away the maids around him and gestured for Xu Baizhou to sit at his side.
Xu Baizhou watched the smile on Jia Wujie’s face grow ever more unsettling, but he was simply too hungry, he hadn’t eaten his fill in days. The temptation of good food overpowered his fear of Jia Wujie, and before his mind could catch up, his body had already walked over to the table and sat down.
With a beaming smile, Jia Wujie picked up a piece of glistening braised meat and placed it in Xu Baizhou’s bowl. The extraordinarily savory aroma wafted into Xu Baizhou’s nose, and without a second thought, he put it in his mouth.
Jia Wujie kept serving him one delicacy after another from the table, and Xu Baizhou accepted them all. At this point, he didn’t even wonder why Jia Wujie had suddenly turned so kind to him in fact, that strikingly handsome face of his was starting to look much more agreeable.
“Is it good?” Jia Wujie asked.
Xu Baizhou forced down the food in his mouth and nodded. “Delicious!”
Jia Wujie is actually pretty decent, thought Xu Baizhou, his judgment thoroughly clouded by the feast.
Seeing that Xu Baizhou had tasted every dish on the table, Jia Wujie looked quite satisfied. He clapped his hands, and a line of maids carrying trays emerged from behind the folding screen.
At Jia Wujie’s gesture, the maids stepped forward one by one, setting their trays down in front of Xu Baizhou.
The trays, each covered with a food dome, were opened one after another before him, revealing exquisitely prepared meat dishes. They seemed to come from different parts of some animal leg meat, breast meat, liver, and so on.
Xu Baizhou normally never ate animal organs, but the aroma of the food before him was so enticing that he couldn’t help devouring every last bite.
By now, only one tray remained unopened, and Xu Baizhou was already stuffed, he couldn’t eat another bite.
Jia Wujie seemed to be in an excellent mood, his eyes brimming with smiles as he looked at Xu Baizhou. Seeing him stop eating, he asked gently, “Full?”
“Full.” Xu Baizhou nodded. In truth, he hadn’t had such a fine meal in a long time not even before he’d transmigrated into this world.
In the past, his body had been frail and sickly, so he always ate with restraint. Besides, he’d needed every coin for medical treatment, so he could hardly afford to feast. Though Jia Wujie had previously come across as brutal and terrifying, he now seemed far more normal, quite unlike the impression Xu Baizhou had formed of him.
Thinking it over carefully, Xu Baizhou realized Jia Wujie hadn’t actually done him any real harm, aside from ordering his arm twisted off, and then setting it back in place afterward.
And unlike the capricious, deranged manner he’d displayed at the birthday banquet, Jia Wujie’s mood now seemed much more stable, which allowed Xu Baizhou’s constantly taut vigilance to loosen considerably.
“Full already? There’s still one more dish,” Jia Wujie remarked, as if in passing.
Xu Baizhou had never been a big eater; only because he’d been so starved today had he eaten more than usual. He wiped his mouth. “I can’t eat any more…”
Jia Wujie didn’t press the matter. Seeing that Xu Baizhou truly had no intention of continuing, he nodded and smiled. “Very well, if you won’t eat it, then just have a look.”
With that, Jia Wujie lifted the food dome, revealing what lay on the plate.
The moment Xu Baizhou saw what was served on the plate, it was as if someone had struck him hard on the back of the head. His mind exploded with a buzzing roar, and he froze in place. The heart that had just relaxed was seized tight once more; the warmth in his palms from eating vanished in an instant, and his ten fingers clutched the edge of the table, cold and stiff.
“This… this is…”
Xu Baizhou’s scalp went numb, because what lay on that plate was unmistakably the head of the three-headed dog he had seen before!
At this moment, the black dog’s six eyes were staring fixedly at Xu Baizhou, and on its three grotesque necks were collars identical to the one around Xu Baizhou’s own neck.
Xu Baizhou’s neck instinctively tightened, and in an instant he understood something. Then his stomach churned violently; bracing himself against the table’s edge, he bent over and vomited.
Watching Xu Baizhou’s thin, trembling back, the protruding shoulder blades faintly visible beneath the thin, soft fabric Jia Wujie saw how badly he was retching and gently patted his back, the gesture exquisitely tender, as if to soothe him.
But Jia Wujie’s sudden movement made Xu Baizhou spring away like a reflex. Propping himself up with his hands, he sat down on the floor and looked up at Jia Wujie in terror.
Jia Wujie’s hand still hung in midair. Seeing this reaction, he silently withdrew it and clicked his tongue in displeasure. “Why such a big reaction?”
Xu Baizhou looked at Jia Wujie with utter wariness.
He had been far too careless, far too quick to trust others. Just moments ago, he had actually believed the person before him posed no danger, had actually thought he was a good man.
And this scene now was like a slap across the face, waking him up.
Before him stood a demon who killed without blinking. And in Jia Wujie’s presence, Xu Baizhou was laughably weak. If Jia Wujie wished it, he could take his life without so much as lifting a finger.
The metal collar around Xu Baizhou’s neck seemed to grow heavier and more present. He looked again at the three-headed dog on the plate; its bloodstained collars were like blades, reminding him of his situation at this very moment.
Seeing that Xu Baizhou only stared at him without speaking, Jia Wujie finally wiped his hands and rose from his chair.
Jia Wujie was very tall, and his wide, elaborate robes made him seem all the more imposing like a mountain, casting his shadow over Xu Baizhou entirely, pressing down on him until he could barely breathe.
He took a step toward Xu Baizhou, and Xu Baizhou instinctively backed away. But the next second, Jia Wujie suddenly strode forward and crouched down before him, gripping Xu Baizhou’s chin tightly with that powerful hand.
For an instant, Xu Baizhou thought he heard a creaking sound from the bones of his own jaw.
“Gan Xin guessed right, this venerable one does like dogs. But this venerable one likes them pretty and obedient.” The hand gripping Xu Baizhou’s chin slowly loosened, then gently caressed his clean, fair cheek.
“Someone like you, I quite like. So, if you behave and become my pet obediently, if you’re willing to listen to me and let me keep liking you for a long, long time, you’ll get to live a little longer. But if one day, you bore me…” Jia Wujie looked at Xu Baizhou, a flash of ruthlessness passing through those eyes full of tender affection. He gently patted Xu Baizhou’s increasingly pale face with his palm and continued, “You know the consequences.”
Xu Baizhou pressed his lips tightly together, his fearful eyes fixed unblinkingly on Jia Wujie. His stiff, frail body trembled continuously at Jia Wujie’s words, like a small beast that had been terrified out of its wits.
Jia Wujie seemed very pleased with Xu Baizhou’s reaction. “So, you’d better…” He stood up, looking down at Xu Baizhou sitting on the ground, the corner of his mouth curling into a smile.
“Please me.”