“What are you standing there for? Follow me inside.”
“…” Ning Jinyu finished changing and cast a final, reluctant glance at the two gentle maids before following the ferocious-looking woman toward another palace.
This grand hall was spacious, magnificent, and imposing, yet it also held a hint of gloom.
The woman leading the way was likely a high-ranking maid. From the moment she saw Ning Jinyu, she began to snort and mutter, “This is far too good for you lowly humans.”
“Since Lord Yu deems you worthy of serving His Majesty, you’d better behave yourself. Don’t flaunt your favor and act arrogantly. Once His Majesty’s mating season is over, you will take your leave on your own.”
Who was acting arrogantly?
“…Yes.”
After a long walk, they finally arrived at the entrance to a bedchamber. The woman stopped and glared at Ning Jinyu with venomous eyes. “His Majesty is mine. Even if you get his body, don’t you dare have any other delusions.”
After she spoke, without waiting for Ning Jinyu to react, she forcefully stuffed a pill down her throat.
The pill made Ning Jinyu choke and cough violently. Her fair little face turned crimson, and the corners of her eyes became a moist, alluring red. She looked utterly pitiful.
Seeing this pitiable appearance only infuriated Yan Sheng. To think that she, a dignified Demon Princess, had schemed for months just to become a high-ranking maid in the Demon Palace.
With a surge of strength, she shoved Ning Jinyu into the room, slammed the door shut, and turned to leave.
Ning Jinyu scrambled up from the floor, feeling the drug taking effect with astonishing speed. An itch started in her stomach and spread throughout her body, making her tremble in extreme discomfort.
Fortunately, there was no one in the room. She got up, feeling hot and itchy all over. The furnishings around her were mostly black, neat and orderly, exuding a mysterious and cold aura.
The bed was the same.
This must be an aphrodisiac. She desperately wanted to take off her clothes right now.
Was she really going to be a Cauldron here?
No, a tonic. Given the Demon Clan’s ways, she would surely be killed after being used.
Her eyes hazy, she scanned her surroundings before crawling under the bed. The floor beneath the bed was cool and refreshing. As the coldness rose, she pinched her leg and reached a hand up under her skirt.
It still wasn’t enough.
Her eyes were red and her breath was as fragrant as an orchid. That damn maid, what kind of drug did she give me? My hand is sore from trying.
Squeak— The sound of a door opening, then instantly closing again.
Ning Jinyu held her breath. She saw a shadow on the floor—that wasn’t a person!
She trembled involuntarily as she heard the thing get onto the bed.
She had just managed to rub herself in tormented relief when something grabbed her by the leg and dragged her out uncontrollably.
It was a dragon!
A massive, ink-black dragon was coiled on the bed, its cold eyes looking down with majestic authority at the young woman its tail had just swept out from under it.
Her clothes were in disarray, and a rosy flush covered her entire body. From the moment he had entered the room, he had smelled a strange, sweet scent, which must have been coming from her.
Still itching all over, Ning Jinyu’s body was too overwhelmed to feel fear. She couldn’t help but clamp her legs around the tail encircling her and rub against it, whimpering, “It’s so uncomfortable.”
“…” The giant dragon saw her face clearly. He was already in his mating season, his consciousness muddled—otherwise, he would have noticed the person hiding under the bed the moment he entered. Amidst the haze, a hint of anger gradually appeared.
“Audacious human, how dare you disguise yourself to deceive me.”
Endless rage and heat burned within him.
“” Ning Jinyu didn’t have time to react before the giant dragon coiled around her and threw her onto the bed.
What followed was the crushing weight of the dragon, its eyes scarlet and its aura strange. Ning Jinyu sensed that things were about to go terribly wrong. She grabbed the edge of the bed, trying to escape, but the dragon pressed against her, wrapping her in a tight embrace.
They sank into a world of passion, their bodies entwined.
Ning Jinyu had thought her time in the dungeon was the worst, but she never imagined something even more agonizing awaited her. For the first three days, the drug the maid had fed her spared her from the pain of their entanglement. But for the next month, it was the same every day and a party every night. In the end, it was a bolt of heavenly tribulation lightning that saved her.
The black dragon had successfully passed his tribulation, but it had been her ruin. After a month as a Cauldron, she felt as if her body had been completely hollowed out.
The most infuriating part was that as soon as the black dragon finished ascending and transformed into his human form, he left with a look of disgust.
She didn’t even see his face, only a tall, resolute back as he walked away.
[“Ding—Host, how are you adapting to this world? I am System Manman. I have handled your affairs in your original world. I will now initiate the official plot for you.”]
Ning Jinyu’s breath was faint. Hearing the system’s voice in her sea of consciousness, she felt a sense of despair, but even more so, a sense of grievance. “What do you mean? Can I go home? I don’t want to be here.”
Manman said silently: [“Host, your body in the original world has already died from oversleeping. As long as you complete our Female Supporting Character Survival Task, you can be reborn and return home.”]
“…I don’t know how to do anything. And look at that evil dragon! He slept with me and then acted disgusted, boohoo… Once I leave this room, that maid will try to kill me, and there are all those demons and monsters. I can’t do it…”
Manman looked at her beautiful, delicate face and listened to her melodious, soft cries. How could such a beauty not know how to do anything? It didn’t believe it. It comforted her:
[“Rest assured, Host. It’s my fault for being away handling matters. This was not the beginning of the plane. I will now rewind time for you. I believe you will have a chance to turn the tide.”]
“…”
The tearing pain, the soreness in her limbs, the bite marks, all the various star-like, ambiguous marks of abuse—they all vanished.
But the memories remained, impossible to erase. Ning Jinyu sat up, trembling, and looked at her hands. They seemed to have shrunk.
[“Host, everything that happens next is within your memories. You are no longer a confused, drifting outsider, but one of the myriad beings of this world. Our female supporting character system does not require you to be a prodigy of a female lead.
There is no saving the world, no self-sacrifice for others. We only hope that you can live well in this world. Manman has other hosts, so I hope you can succeed. I’m heading to other worlds now. If you need anything, you can call for me in your heart.”]
“Okay.” Ning Jinyu sighed, digesting the memories she had just received.
She was Ning Jinyu, the daughter of an ordinary human farming family. Because she had a talent for cultivation, she was sent to the Sword Sect to become a disciple. Due to her resemblance to the sect master’s daughter, yet possessing no power, status, or strength, she was not well-liked in the Sword Sect and was often targeted after joining.
Later, she blackened, caused trouble, and was expelled from the Sword Sect. She then went to the appearance-obsessed Joyful Union Sect. Relying on her beautiful face, she lived a prosperous life. However, during a sect mission, her fellow disciples were slaughtered by the Demon Clan, and she was captured and offered to the Demon Lord.
Before she could even meet the Demon Lord, she clashed with a Demon Protector and was thrown into the Snake Pit to be dismembered.
…Damn it all. She would rather have argued with Yu Xiao and been dismembered by snakes. The thought of that passionate month with the black dragon infuriated her.
As for the Black Dragon Demon Lord, his name was Song Qingyan. Before becoming the Demon Lord, he was a young man raised by humans. He was a fellow disciple of Holy Maiden Su Qingyue in the Sword Sect. That was all she knew.
In her memories, Ning Jinyu had been expelled from the Sword Sect before she ever met Song Qingyan.
The current timeline was when she was sixteen, just after she had passed the Sword Sect’s entrance selection.
It was a pity she had already passed the Sect Election. Otherwise, she would have immediately quit the sect and hidden away at home. Once you passed the sect’s election, you could not leave for the rest of your life unless you were expelled.