“This human has a Water Spiritual Root, what a pleasant surprise. You two, hurry up and take her to the Demon Lord as an offering.”
After Yan Lang gave the order, the two Wolf Demons obeyed, their gazes falling upon the disheveled girl lying on the ground with her eyes closed, her hands and feet bound by ropes. Subtle, lewd expressions appeared on their faces.
Such a beautiful human, and just in time for the great Dragon Lord’s mating season. A Water Spiritual Root could even aid the Demon Lord in dual cultivation, hehe. This was much better than the Human Saintess he was so fixated on.
“Commander, we’ll go at once.”
The Wolf Demons found a stretcher, placed the delicate girl on it, and the two of them easily lifted it, heading toward the Demon Palace to present their treasure.
The world spun. It was dizzying, stuffy, and utterly uncomfortable.
Ning Jinyu’s eyes fluttered open. She turned her head to the side and caught a glimpse of the blue sky, but the next second, she saw a burly beast with the head of a wolf and the body of a man. Her face went pale with fright.
“WTF! Did I wake up too fast?”
Ning Jinyu took a deep breath and tried to pinch the philtrum below her nose, but she couldn’t muster the strength. With some effort, she looked down and realized she was tied up like a mummy, dressed in a beige brocade dress she had never seen before. It was stained with blood and smeared with dirt in several places.
The surrounding forest was dense, and even in broad daylight, it exuded a bloody and sinister feeling.
Could this be a prank by her drama club roommates?
“Hey, you two students, stop messing around and let me down. I’m not an actor, let me go!”
…Up ahead, Lin Ye, one of the Wolf Demons carrying the stretcher, heard the commotion and glanced at the girl. Now awake, she was even more delicate and captivating. Even with dirt smudging her face, her beauty was still breathtaking, rivaling even that of the fox clan.
Unfortunately, she was spouting nonsense. Her brain must be addled.
“So noisy. His Majesty Demon Lord probably doesn’t like loud people. Lin Xun, make her shut up.”
Ning Jinyu blinked, watching in terror as the Wolf Demon chopped at her with the side of his hand. The next moment, everything went white again.
Great, passed out again.
“Tsk, go easy on her. This woman might become His Majesty’s Cauldron in the future.”
Lin Xun clenched his fist and cursed, “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
…
It hurt. Everything hurt. It felt as if she had been beaten and then thrown violently to the ground.
Ning Jinyu opened her eyes and instinctively scanned her surroundings. Thankfully, she didn’t see those two monsters with wolf heads and human bodies.
Before she could feel relieved, she heard the sound of soft sobbing nearby. It was a dark place, devoid of sunlight. She had already seen wolf-headed monsters; could there be female ghosts as well?
She subconsciously tried to curl up and hug herself. As she moved, the crisp sound of a chain dragging and scraping against the ground echoed. It seemed the ropes on her hands were gone, replaced by a chain on her ankle.
She took a deep breath. The crying around her didn’t sound fake. Could this be a dungeon?
“Who’s crying? Excuse me, where is this?”
“Miss Cui, stop crying. The newcomer who arrived today is awake. Be strong, the Saintess will come to save us soon.”
What the hell?
Ning Jinyu’s fear subsided, replaced by a flicker of curiosity. She rubbed the sore spots on her body while trying to squint and see her surroundings, but it was still too dark to make anything out.
“Miss, don’t be afraid. We are female cultivators from the Heavenly Revelation Sword Sect. The demon lord captured us only because of our Saintess. Once Saintess Su comes and kills the demon lord, we will be saved.”
Sword Sect? Saintess? Demon lord?
Transmigrating was bad enough…
Generally, in this kind of situation, the Saintess should be the main female lead. As a small fry like her, she should be fine as long as she lay low until the end of the book, right?
“Miss, could you tell me about this demon lord and the Saintess?”
Just as Ning Jinyu spoke, a blinding light shone in as the main gate was pushed open, illuminating the dim prison. The woman who had just spoken to her was imprisoned a few meters away. Unlike her, they were all clean and kept together in one cell, while she was locked up alone with a chain.
“…” Why! Such differential treatment.
The women were quite good-looking, dressed in uniform white Daoist robes. They fell silent in fear, looking at Ning Jinyu with strange expressions.
Ning Jinyu curled up, hugging her legs as she watched the three guards enter. At least they didn’t have animal heads on human bodies. The leader was a man with a decent figure, but his face was marred by ugly, pitted scars that were quite unsettling.
“Lord Yu, this is the Water Spiritual Root Woman captured from the human realm, brought by the Wolf Demon King’s men.”
A plain-looking guard pointed at Ning Jinyu with a fawning expression.
Yu Xiao glanced at the dirty, huddled girl. Her face was uncommonly beautiful; on closer inspection, she bore an eighty-percent resemblance to Su Qingyue. He licked his lips, his interest piqued. “Well done. Find some maids to wash and dress her up, then send her to His Majesty’s bedchamber. Be smart about it, don’t let her escape.”
“!!!” Ning Jinyu’s eyes widened and her ears turned red. Anyone would know what that meant. Could it be that she had gotten the script for the second female lead?
The two guards came over to unlock her chain and gestured for her to follow them.
It was terrifying. She didn’t dare to resist at all. They were holding blades, and upon closer look, that man called Lord Yu had a spider crawling on his neck. It was so disgusting.
Her scalp tingling with fear, Ning Jinyu tiptoed after the two guards.
After watching them walk away, Yu Xiao approached the remaining women and selected one with superior looks to take away.
The guards opened the cell door without a word. This was the Left Guardian, after all.
They were all cultivators from the same sect. They could watch a stranger be taken away, but not one of their own.
Besides, that other woman looked so much like Saintess Su; the great demon lord wouldn’t kill her.
But this demon lord was different. He often captured human cultivators to refine poisons.
They shouted and struggled, but could only watch in despair as their chosen sect sister was dragged away.
Yu Xiao didn’t get angry at the noise. He said cheerfully, “For every day your Saintess is late, one more of you will die, hahahaha.”
“Demon lord! Our Sword Sect and you are irreconcilable!”
…
In her 21 years of life, this was the first time Ning Jinyu had been waited on, bathed, dressed, and had ointments and fragrant balms applied to her.
The pain in her body eased considerably, and she was changed into a beautiful set of clothes.
“Miss, we still don’t know your esteemed name.”
The men in this place were all flesh-eating beasts, but the maids were exceptionally gentle.
“My name is Ning Jinyu. Sisters, that Lord Yu just now said he was sending me to His Majesty. May I ask who His Majesty is? The leader of the Demon Clan?”
“Hahaha, Miss Ning, our Majesty is the Supreme of the Demonic Realm, ruler of both the demon and demonic realms.”
Ning Jinyu was led from the bath to a bronze mirror in an inner chamber. One maid combed her hair while another applied rouge to her face.
She looked at her own face in the bronze mirror, still surprised. No wonder she had no memories of this body; this was her own face from her modern life.
A mix of delicacy and purity, bright yet demure. A small, light-colored mole on the tip of her nose made her look utterly fetching.
“Sister, may I ask, what is His Majesty’s name?”
“Miss Ning, His Majesty’s name is not something we servants can speak of casually.”
“…” Alright then.