"Countdown initiated… Ninety-nine! Ninety-eight! Ninety-seven…"
Before Shen Zhili could react, an overwhelming alarm pulled her back to her senses. She looked down in shock—a dagger was buried deep in her chest. A blood-soaked hand gripped the hilt and, under her disbelieving gaze, pressed harder, driving the blade deeper.
She tried to seize the dagger, but He Chengyuan gave her no chance. With a sharp tug, he pulled it out, sending crimson blood splattering before their eyes.
Clutching her chest, she felt scalding blood gush between her fingers, staining the stunning wedding gown that flowed like sunset clouds, leaving a breathtaking yet horrifying crimson trail.
"He… Chengyuan…"
Her vision blurred. He sat aloft as always, noble and aloof—half his face merged with darkness, the other half bathed in the cold moonlight. The golden demon mark on his forehead gleamed blindingly. Beneath his cold, profound eyes, a drop of blood splattered across his face slowly trickled from the corner of his eye.
He gazed at her expressionlessly. His meticulously tailored crimson-gold robe bore a slash near the collarbone.
Her vision wavered. The final scene was him twirling the dagger in his hand, its cold glint piercing the night. She tumbled from the high platform, silently plunging into the depths of darkness.
Who was He Chengyuan? Since becoming a demon, no one had been able to harm him in the slightest. The assassination mission was doomed to fail from the start—her actions were nothing more than a clown's performance.
Death was an inescapable end for her, and dying by his hand was no different.
The lifted bridal veil was discarded, drifting down slowly to cover her face.
System: "Memory Erasure complete. Sixty-four! Sixty-five! Sixty-six…"
In that fleeting moment when the blade flashed, she seemed to have seen—He Chengyuan wasn't wearing a mask. The right side of his face, merged with darkness, clearly… bore no scar…
System: "Host Rescue System activated. Please choose whether to modify the mission and bind with the antagonist He Chengyuan."
With her last shred of consciousness, Shen Zhili uttered, "Yes…"
She had no other choice—complete erasure or one more gamble. After ten years of enduring humiliation and hardship, she didn't want… to die here.
"…Ninety-nine!… Two hundred!"
"Mission reset! Time reset! Favorability reset!"
"Host, please form a blood pact to bind with the target character."
"Congratulations, Host. Binding successful. Final mission: unknown. Can be exchanged upon reaching affection points threshold. Current affection points: -200%. Good luck, Host!"
……
Weightlessness engulfed her body as if falling from the clouds. A chilling wind seeped into her bones. Shen Zhili shuddered violently and jolted awake.
She had been reborn.
"Clatter, clatter, clatter"—urgent hoofbeats echoed around her. The carriage rocked, moonlight mingled with cold wind pouring in through the window.
"Young Miss, if the master finds out we sneaked out at night to find Young Master Xie, he'll be furious. We'll surely face the family punishment."
Wait?! Young Master Xie?!
Shen Zhili stared blankly, using the moonlight to scan the interior of the carriage.
The exquisitely carved carriage was crammed full—gold, silver, jewels, food, sweets, and luxurious clothing. Was this a moving-out operation?
The maid sitting to her left lifted the bamboo curtain, anxiously peering outside while occasionally stuffing a osmanthus cake into her mouth to calm her nerves.
Shen Zhili: "…"
This maid was a foodie.
Which Young Master Xie was this?
Bringing so much money and supplies—what were they planning to do, finding him in the middle of the night?
After finishing the osmanthus cake, the maid's voice trembled as she spoke.
"Miss, it won't work. Father will break our legs. You fell into the lake a few days ago and haven't fully recovered from your illness. Why must you insist on snatching someone away for marriage?"
"???"
The Xie family? Snatching someone for marriage? This? What is all this? She has no memory of this whatsoever in her recollection.
Fortunately, the system answered quickly.
Shen Zhili's head throbbed with pain as the system transmitted information into her mind. After sorting through it for a long time, she finally understood the current situation.
The so-called Young Master Xie was originally Shen Zhili's childhood friend and white moonlight in the book, the graceful and elegant Young Master Bai—Xie Gubai, who resembled spring willow.
He must be the person mentioned by the woman in black. However, she had no knowledge of any memories related to him from her previous life. She only knew that when she first entered the book, Xie Gubai was already rumored to be dead.
Now it seems that He Chengyuan had hidden him away and tortured him relentlessly, though the reasons behind it were unknown to her.
But now Xie Gubai is still alive, so this means… she has returned to five years earlier than her first time entering the book?
Five years ago, Xie Gubai's death had not yet been announced.
That means He Chengyuan hasn't turned dark yet!
System: "Host, please note that there are ten days left until He Chengyuan's major fate turning point. Please locate the target person as soon as possible."
Last time she arrived too late. He Chengyuan had already turned dark, becoming a demon lord feared by everyone. His disposition was already fixed, and she couldn't change him.
As a child, He Chengyuan was sold to an underground gambling den, becoming a Slayer for nobles to gamble and seek pleasure. His life was as insignificant as an ant. He grew up in one killing fight after another, licking blood from blades every day, confined in a dark, sunless cage struggling to survive, relying on unwavering determination to live through each life-threatening severe injury.
She hadn't even asked where he was before the system disappeared.
Such a vast place—how could she find an underground black den!
He Chengyuan had three major fate turning points that drove him forever toward the abyss, never touching light again. Five years ago was the first one. If she could save him and lead him toward the righteous path, then everything afterward would not happen, and she could also save Xie Gubai!
Ningxiang: "Miss, Father has long forbidden us from associating with the Xie family. Sneaking letters in the past was fine, but snatching someone for marriage… let's forget it. Moreover…"
She hesitated, then discontentedly muttered softly: "You even said that if you couldn't be his wife, you'd be his concubine. The Xie family is different now. Given your status, how could you say such things?"
These words passed through Shen Zhili's ears, entering and exiting without her paying attention. Her mind was entirely focused on where He Chengyuan might be now.
She heard that at this time, He Chengyuan was highly sought after. He would be locked in cages and taken to various places to serve as a life-selling Slayer.
"Ningxiang, change direction."
Ningxiang thought her young lady had finally reconsidered and decided to return home, happily saying: "Miss, are you planning to go home?"
"Go to the nearest gambling den."
"Gambling den?!"
…
At a black stronghold in the outskirts of You Shui City, Shen Zhili spent ten days traveling to multiple places, exhausting all her efforts, finally finding this most hidden location.
Amidst the sounds of fighting and shouting, they squeezed through the crowd toward the Fighting Arena.
The damp, gloomy environment made Ningxiang uncomfortable. She hunched her shoulders and tugged Shen Zhili's already dirty sleeve: "Miss…"
Normally, nobles would pay large sums of silver before entering the stronghold. They could wear masks to conceal their identities, receive preferential treatment, and be arranged in rooms hidden on the second floor.
Every time Shen Zhili stepped into the muddy arena, she stood among ordinary gamblers because she knew she had to save the remaining money to take He Chengyuan away.
So these past few days, even when targeted by malicious individuals, even when her clothes were soiled, even when sleeping outdoors, she stubbornly guarded the small amount of gold and silver she had brought from home.
Inside the iron cage fighting arena, blood stains were everywhere. The winner of the previous match had already emerged—a dark-skinned, nine-foot tall, muscle-bound giant. The loser's head had been severed and was being dragged away, leaving a fresh crimson trail on the already blood-soaked muddy ground.
The surrounding crowd was already numb to the bloody scene, only shouting for victory in the gambling match.
"Today! The final match! Starting bet: three million!"
"What!"
"Three million!!"
The surroundings erupted into chaos.
This was a number never seen in the gambling arena. The three million came from bets placed on one person, with additional bets allowed after the match began.
The enormous bet meant this was a death match for the Slayer.
The Slayer's win rate was too high, making him an unbeatable general. The gambling match lost its excitement, and he was about to be Erased. Whether he won or lost, he would die here.
The sound of iron chains scraping against the floor gradually approached, especially piercing amidst the shouts of "fight" and "kill."
There was only one narrow window in the fighting arena. Cold white light broke through, sparingly casting a single ray at the arena entrance.
The sound of chains stopped at the light's opening.
Shen Zhili found him.
He Chengyuan, seventeen years old.
Unlike the later arrogant and unrivaled demon king, the current youth was in a pitiful state, with almost no intact parts on his body.
He hung his head low, barely clinging to life, clearly having narrowly escaped death in his previous fight.
The youth's wet, blood-stained black hair hung in messy strands over his shoulders. Ugly, filthy plain clothes wrapped around him, covered in blood stains. His hands and feet were bound, with heavy chains dragging behind him.
The guard kicked his chains, roughly pushing him into the arena. His injured foot was bleeding, and this push made him unstable, causing him to stumble forward. As everyone waited to see the joke, a cold glint flashed.
Bang—
The guard was killed by his blade.
The sound of the fall was deafening. The youth steadied his steps, curled his thin lips, and raised his head. The faint white light reflected on his fearless face, with dirty white cloth wrapped around his eyes, his face covered in blood.
Shen Zhili was shaken.
He Chengyuan's eyes!
This continuously flowing blood was from a recent injury!
She hadn't known the demon king's eyes had been injured.No wonder he despised colors, but… she hadn't understood him much either.
Strange… why did she feel a momentary tremor in her heart.
Probably because she still harbored a trace of fear toward him.
The youth held a dagger—more accurately, it was a Double-Headed Blade rather than a knife. The hand gripping the blade was dripping with blood, yet he seemed unaware of the pain.
Suddenly, as if discovering something interesting, his gaze passed through the crowd and inexplicably "fixed" on Shen Zhili's direction.
Shen Zhili was "stared" into a shiver, feeling goosebumps all over, involuntarily retreating half a step.
Soon, He Chengyuan withdrew his gaze, allowing Shen Zhili to exhale the breath she had been holding.
The guard died from bleeding out. He Chengyuan's unexpected move made the gamblers even more excited. Bets increased from three million to three hundred twenty million, continuing to rise.
His opponent's bets were only ten million. If bets already placed couldn't be changed, they would likely plummet now.
The opponent's face was grim, glaring hatefully at He Chengyuan.
All Slayers believed that once they saved enough silver, they could redeem themselves. How could they know that a soaring price meant their death was imminent? After all, they had never seen the sun outside, nor could they comprehend the ugliness of human hearts.
"Three hundred fifty taels!!"
"Will anyone add more?"
"Any bids added before the start can be doubled!"
"Add or not! Add or not!"
The gamblers around emptied their pockets to raise the stakes. Why? Because this youth, who was neither as tall nor as robust as a grown man, had killed the guard who had accompanied him for over ten years—the only person close to him in the endless darkness.
He was a madman!
Each Slayer was assigned a guard, and He Chengyuan's guard had been with him since he entered the Fighting Arena at age five, a figure akin to a father.
Slayers had no names, only a string of numbers. He Chengyuan was different; he had a name, bestowed upon him by his guard.
"Final moments! Ten! Nine! Eight!"
"Three hundred sixty taels!"
"Three hundred eighty taels!"
"Seven! Six!"
"I add one coin."
He Chengyuan's voice was hoarse as he stood in the cold moonlight.
"Clang—"
A copper coin rolled onto the Fighting Arena.
The gambling hall suddenly fell silent.
Then laughter erupted everywhere.
The money Slayers earned after winning was minimal, almost entirely controlled by their guards. Whether it ever reached the Slayers' hands, the arena cared little for their worthless lives.
Moreover, He Chengyuan had been controlled since childhood; this single coin likely came from killing his guard and taking it on the spot.
Shen Zhili gazed at him through the rusted iron cage. In the faint light, he stood straight, his blood-stained lips curved upward, calm and confident, as if merging with the image of a demon king in her mind.
He had become a gambler.
He Chengyuan: "Bet on me to win."