After browsing through the items in the Points mall, Chu Xuan’s face darkened.
“Is this what you call generous rewards?”
The mall was filled with everyday necessities—various condiments used in the kitchen.
System: [Host, don’t be impatient. The more Points you earn, the higher-level mall you can unlock. The good rewards are all in the advanced mall. So, host, you must work hard to complete tasks and strive to earn more Points.]
Chu Xuan listened to the system’s coaxing voice and couldn’t even be bothered to respond.
Since she was already bound to this ticking time bomb, she had to obediently complete the tasks even without rewards.
But she had just saved a snake’s life! Shouldn’t such a life-saving grace be repaid abundantly? Why did the Beast Husbands’ favorability toward her only increase by one point? That was way too stingy.
Especially the one she had saved—there wasn’t even a single fluctuation in his favorability.
It seemed that winning over these five Beast Husbands would be a long and arduous journey!
Meanwhile, Xie Xingwen had already woken up and was arguing with the system.
[Was it you who brought me to this godforsaken place? Send me back immediately, or else, believe me, I’ll kill you.]
When this male beast’s body fainted due to severe injuries, Xie Xingwen’s soul remained conscious. However, trapped within this body, he could do nothing.
This feeling of being controlled was truly unbearable. How could he, the esteemed Demon Lord of Tianmo Palace, be manipulated like this?
The system was exhausted from arguing with this stubborn mule, Xie Xingwen, and rolled its eyes: [Host, don’t waste your energy. You can’t find me, and you can’t kill me. If the host fails to complete the tasks issued by the Main Brain, the system will eliminate you.]
Xie Xingwen: “Are you threatening me?”
Ever since he woke up in this world, the system’s voice had been echoing in his mind. Xie Xingwen focused his energy and began using his spiritual sense to probe the system’s location within his consciousness.
This thing must have entered his mind while he was injured and unconscious. He had to find it and destroy it.
However, after searching for a long time, he still couldn’t locate the system.
The system said lazily: [Host, don’t waste your effort. You can’t find me, and I’m not in your mind.]
“What tasks has the Main Brain issued?”
Unable to locate the system, Xie Xingwen gave up and decided to see what the tasks were first.
System: [Help the female lead, Chu Xuan, overcome obstacles and advance, paving her way to become a great female lead and successfully ascend to the position of Empress.]
“Is that all?” Xie Xingwen snorted coldly. “Then I’ll just storm the imperial city now, kill the Empress, and put Chu Xuan on the throne. Problem solved.”
System: …
It felt like this batch of hosts had some issues with their brains.
Was the imperial city so easy to storm? Did they really think the imperial guards were just for show?
The system rolled its eyes hard and said: [Host, this is a story about a strong female lead. You can’t steal her spotlight. You can only help her ascend to the throne behind the scenes. The female lead must walk her own path, and you are merely an assistant.]
Xie Xingwen: “What does ‘assistant’ mean?”
System: [Ensure she doesn’t die on her journey to storm the imperial city and claim the throne.]
In other words, he was just a bodyguard!
The system’s words weren’t hard to understand, but Xie Xingwen felt that putting them into practice might be somewhat challenging.
Chu Xuan’s path to becoming an empress was bound to be fraught with dangers. Recalling today’s kidnapping incident, Xie Xingwen thought that with her weak physique, she could easily die halfway along this journey.
To ensure she didn’t die, he really needed to plan carefully.
.
Jian Ze finished preparing the food and went to call Chu Xuan for the meal.
Chu Xuan hadn’t eaten anything since waking up, and she had expended considerable energy rescuing her snake Beast Husband in between. She was already starving.
She eagerly came to the main hall, where all her Beast Husbands except Xie Xingwen were waiting.
Seeing them all standing by the table, Chu Xuan said, “Why are you standing? Sit down and eat!”
Mo Jingxing glanced at her, thinking to himself whether this female was plotting something against them again.
“Has our female master forgotten? We cannot eat until you are full,” he said sarcastically.
Chu Xuan, who had just sat down at the table, was taken aback. “Did I… really set such a rule?”
Yu Jinglan snorted disdainfully and turned his head away, completely unwilling to engage with her.
They had all been forcibly taken by this female through coercion. Since being with her, they had never had good days—let alone eating their fill, most of the time they didn’t even get to eat at all.
Whenever this female was unhappy, she would withhold their meals. Following her, going hungry twice a day was common, and they had long grown accustomed to it.
Seeing that Yu Jinglan was ignoring her, Chu Xuan turned her gaze to Jian Ze and Shen Lingjun.
Shen Lingjun responded with a murderous glare, while Jian Ze, relatively calm, simply said, “Female master, please eat.”
Chu Xuan said, “All of you, sit down and eat. Since I am your female master, you should all listen to me. The old rules were set by me, and now I declare them abolished. From now on, we are one loving family.”
Chu Xuan forced a very friendly smile, but none of her Beast Husbands bought it.
Watching their expressions—some filled with disgust, others with murderous intent—Chu Xuan’s smile gradually crumbled.
Before coming here, she had been the pampered Young Palace Master of Hehuan Palace, adored by all. Never had anyone given her such cold treatment.
She had shown them such sincere goodwill, yet none of them appreciated it.
Hmph, if they don’t want to eat, then so be it! They deserve to starve!
Chu Xuan couldn’t be bothered with them anymore and started eating by herself. She picked up a piece of pale meat. Truth be told, having been accustomed to delicacies from land and sea in Hehuan Palace, she was somewhat disdainful of this unappetizing-looking meat.
But her stomach growled rebelliously, so she decided to fill it first.
However, the moment she put the meat in her mouth, her brows furrowed deeply, and she spat it out immediately.
Jian Ze frowned, suppressing the impatience in his tone, and asked her, “Is today’s meal not to your liking?”
The other Beast Husbands all looked at her, their eyes filled with impatience. Based on past experience, this female would surely fly into a rage next, overturn the table, and curse them vehemently.
Chu Xuan wanted to say, “Is this even fit for human consumption? The meat is coarse, bland, and worst of all, half-raw. How can anyone eat this?”
But sensing the suddenly tense atmosphere around her, she changed her tone and asked Jian Ze, “Are there any ingredients left at home?”
She had realized that these Beast Husbands all wished her dead, except for Jian Ze, who treated her slightly better.
Although Jian Ze didn’t know why she was asking this, he still answered honestly: “We just hunted this beast yesterday, and half of it remains in the kitchen.”
“Where is the kitchen?”
Jian Ze raised his hand and pointed in a direction.
Chu Xuan stood up and headed straight for the kitchen, leaving behind only these words: “Wait here, I’ll treat you all to a feast later.”
After saying this, her figure turned into the kitchen and disappeared from their sight, leaving several Male Beasts exchanging bewildered glances.