On a night so dark you couldn’t see your own hand in front of your face, a sneaky figure was hunched over, working hard to dig a pit.
“Short-lived brat. You died after just a few hits. Truly useless.”
“And now I have to dig a hole to bury you. What rotten luck!”
The man digging the pit grumbled and cursed under his breath.
Suddenly, he felt a series of cold drafts behind his ears.
He turned his head, only to come face-to-face with a small face covered in blood.
“Hehe… have you eaten yet?”
The little figure behind him tilted her head, grinning at him with her blood-streaked face.
“Ah—A ghost—!”
The man’s vision went black, and he collapsed in a faint.
Jiu Jiu looked around nervously. “Where? Where’s the ghost?”
“Hmph! Liar! Little Fox was right; humans are all liars who specialize in tricking little spirits.”
As she muttered to herself, Jiu Jiu’s stomach suddenly let out a loud growl.
“Baby’s tummy is thundering… so hungry…”
Jiu Jiu spread her arms and flapped them a few times, but she didn’t take off.
She pursed her small lips. “I almost forgot. I’m a human now. I don’t have wings, so I can’t fly.”
“The elders didn’t lie to me. Tribulation Crossing really isn’t fun at all. You have to go hungry.”
Jiu Jiu was a little Crow Spirit of the Demon Race, and she had been a chatterbox since she was small.
More importantly, she possessed the Power of Word Spirit—Will-Manifesting Speech.
Recently, she had become obsessed with human xuanhuan short dramas, the kind where characters were always talking about destroying the world, overturning the three realms, and claiming supremacy.
The elders of the Demon Race had been tormented by her to the point of misery. They feared that one day she would provoke the Heavenly Dao and be struck dead by Heavenly Thunder.
So, they tricked Jiu Jiu, telling her that to cultivate into a Great Demon, she needed to enter the mortal world for a Tribulation Crossing.
And so, the naive Jiu Jiu was stuffed into this “Fu Bao group pet” novel by the elders using a secret clan treasure.
In this life, Jiu Jiu was a minor cannon fodder, a side character destined for an early grave.
The elders’ original intention was for Jiu Jiu to go through these trials so she would turn over a new leaf and become a well-behaved little spirit.
Unexpectedly, Jiu Jiu saw this as a sign that the elders valued her and were giving her a grand test.
Thinking of this, Jiu Jiu clenched her small fists and said, “Jiu Jiu will not fail the elders’ painstaking efforts!”
“Huh, smells so good!”
Jiu Jiu twitched her small nose and followed the scent.
Gardens, lakes, rockeries…
Why was this ghostly place so big? It was intentionally making things difficult for this spirit.
Jiu Jiu sighed; it was truly inconvenient not being able to fly.
How long would it take for her short legs to get there?
If only she had her wings. A few flaps and she’d be there. Sob sob.
Wait, what was that?
Why did she see someone sitting under the moon, uh… moonbathing?
Under the moonlight, the man’s ink-black hair was like silk, and his black robes seemed to merge with the night.
That face was incredibly handsome. Even with his eyes closed, Jiu Jiu liked it very much.
Most, most, most importantly—he smelled so good!
Slurp… So fragrant, she really wanted to eat him!
Jiu Jiu drooled all over the place.
By the time she realized what was happening, she was already standing in front of the man.
Pant, pant…
The closer she got, the stronger the scent became.
It was the scent of bad things.
This person was practically marinated in it; no wonder he smelled so good.
Jiu Jiu lunged forward, grabbed his finger, and began to suck on it with great relish.
Under the moonlight, the man sitting in the wheelchair slowly opened his eyes.
Within those blood-red pupils, a thick murderous intent swirled.
A voice deep in his heart was roaring and screaming:
“Kill them! Kill them all—”
“They all deserve to die! Every single one of them!”
He had protected them, yet they had failed him and betrayed him.
They all deserved death!
The surging murderous intent continuously eroded his sanity.
It seemed as though the man might lose his mind at any moment and turn into a monster that knew only slaughter.
Suddenly, the man’s eyes lowered slightly.
His gaze fell upon the tiny figure that had appeared before him at some unknown point, sucking on his finger with gusto.
The child was covered in filth and blood. Her clothes were a size too small, revealing half of her thin arms, and her face was too dirty to see clearly.
At that moment, she was like some kind of animal, using both hands and feet to cling to his hand while sucking his finger.
“Mmm… so fragrant, so delicious…”
Jiu Jiu was lost in her sucking.
It wasn’t until the man abruptly jerked his hand back that Jiu Jiu tumbled onto her bottom.
“Get out!”
“Or die!”
The man’s voice was low and raspy, as if suppressing a torrential wave of killing intent.
Wow, he looks so good even when he’s angry.
Jiu Jiu’s eyes sparkled as she stared at the man with silk-like hair, her drool leaking out again.
“Wow, your eyes are so pretty. Can you give them to Jiu Jiu?”
Crows loved shiny, beautiful beads the most.
This human’s eyes were the most beautiful she had ever seen.
She liked them so much; she wanted them!
“Get out!”
Xiao Jiuyuan flicked his sleeve, his voice cold as frost.
Heh, he’s quite fierce!
The more Jiu Jiu looked, the more satisfied she became.
Her servant ought to have such an aura.
“Good presence, you’re just a bit too weak.”
“But since you’re my first servant, I guess being weak is okay!”
Where did this wild child come from?
What audacity.
Murderous intent surged in the depths of Xiao Jiuyuan’s eyes.
He reached out his hand, grabbing toward Jiu Jiu’s slender neck.
Jiu Jiu was faster, sliding up onto Xiao Jiuyuan’s body like a streak of light.
“Hehe, you can’t catch me.”
“Can’t catch me, can’t catch me, bleh…”
If Xiao Jiuyuan grabbed for the left, she slipped to the right.
She was as slippery as a loach.
No matter how Xiao Jiuyuan tried, he couldn’t catch her.
“Human, I bet you really want to kill all those bad things that bullied you.”
“How about I help you? And then you can repay me!”
“When the time comes, we’ll be master and servant—one of us will lead the Demon Race, and the other will rule the humans.”
The more Jiu Jiu spoke, the more excited she became, to the point that she ignored the Heavenly Thunder gathering above her head.
In an instant, a bolt of Heavenly Thunder crashed down.
Jiu Jiu, who was frolicking on top of Xiao Jiuyuan’s head, was struck directly.
Xiao Jiuyuan was caught in the blast as well.
The Heavenly Thunder had delivered a “buy one, get one free” strike.
The hidden guards were struck with horror:
“The Crown Prince has been struck by lightning—!”
“Quickly, find Old Lion—!”
Where was she?
Jiu Jiu opened her eyes, tilted her head, and looked around blankly.
Ah, she remembered!
She had been struck by lightning!
Wait, where was her newly acquired servant?
Where was her large, fragrant servant with the beautiful eyes?
He hadn’t been struck to death by the lightning, had he?
Creak. The door was pushed open.
A young man dressed in green walked in with a smile.
“This subordinate, Qing Wu, greets the Little County Princess!”
“Little County Princess, the Crown Prince has ordered me to take you to see him.”
The Crown Prince?
Oh, right, he was mentioned in the book, though not very often.
The “short-lived brat” father of this body.
Jiu Jiu’s eyes darted around as she gave Qing Wu an innocent smile. “Okay, but I need to go back first to get the gift I prepared for him.”
“It’s just that I was just hit by lightning, so I’m a bit dizzy when I walk…”
“Then how about I accompany the Little County Princess?” Qing Wu replied with a smile.
Jiu Jiu nodded with satisfaction.
Not bad. She’d let him be a candidate for her number two servant!
A moment later, Jiu Jiu sat on Qing Wu’s shoulder as they returned to the dilapidated courtyard where the original host had grown up.
“Wait for me here.”
Outside the courtyard, Jiu Jiu told Qing Wu to put her down.
Qing Wu hesitated. “Little County Princess, do you really not need me to accompany you inside?”
“I’m going to get revenge. Why are you coming along?” Jiu Jiu waved her hand dismissively.
Hearing that she was going for revenge, Qing Wu hurried to put her down.
He watched as the Little County Princess marched into the courtyard with a stride that suggested she feared no one.
Worried, Qing Wu leaped onto the courtyard wall to keep a close watch on the movements inside, just in case the Little County Princess suffered a loss.
Inside, Jiu Jiu walked toward a room with practiced ease and kicked the door open with force.
“Get out here for this Great King!”
Before her voice had even faded, a stout figure marched to the door in a rage.
The woman was already cursing, reaching out her hand to pinch Jiu Jiu’s ear.
“I was wondering who it was. So it’s you, you jinx! Have you eaten a bear’s heart and a leopard’s gall? How dare you kick my door!”
“If I don’t break those dog legs of yours today, I’ll take your surname.”
“If you don’t want to die, get on your knees and lick my shoes cle— Ah! Rats! So many rats! Don’t bite me…!”