Host, do your best to escape the great demon king's grasp. You can do it!

"As you command." Bai Mang had no idea what Feng Moyuan meant by that order, but he obeyed nonetheless. He entered the side hall, tied up Su Ying, who was reclining on the bed and muttering to herself, and dragged her out.

"Who are you?"

"What are you doing?"

"Why are you tying me up?"

When Su Ying got no response, she realized he was one of Feng Moyuan's men, so she borrowed the tiger's might like a fox. "Hey, do you know who I am? I'm your Demon Venerable's personal cook!"

Bai Mang paused, then continued walking.

"Hey, you! If you do anything to me, watch out-the Demon Venerable will come after you!" Su Ying wanted to cry but had no tears. In the time it took her to speak, she had already imagined hundreds of ways she might die.

This man wasn't even afraid when she mentioned Feng Moyuan. Could he be following Feng Moyuan's orders to get rid of her?

Had Feng Moyuan changed his mind?

Her heart pounding with fear, Su Ying could not recall this character at all and could only turn to the system for help. [Who is this guy?]

[Host, this is Bai Mang, Protector Bai, one of the Demon Venerable's nine great protectors.]

The system found the answer after checking its records.

Su Ying let out a snort, unable to hold back her laughter.

Bai Mang?

All that work for nothing?

How funny.

Bai Mang stopped again and looked at Su Ying as though she were an idiot. "What are you laughing at?"

"Protector Bai, how about we talk this over? What would it take for you to let me go? I really am your Demon Venerable's personal cook. Look, you've bound my hands. If they get hurt, how am I supposed to prepare his meals later?" Su Ying put away her smile and looked at him ingratiatingly.

Getting into someone's good graces was her specialty.

"You can't even make up a proper lie. Our Demon Venerable attained grain avoidance long ago. He has no desire for food." Bai Mang kept dragging her forward. "There's no such thing as a cook in the entire Demon Realm palace."

Even the low-ranking guards had long since attained grain avoidance.

Those who wanted to eat either went out for a meal or hunted some demonic beasts themselves.

In any case, no cooking fires were lit in the Demon Realm palace.

"You don't believe me?" Su Ying frowned, then thought it over. Forget it. She wouldn't believe it either.

People like Xiao Muchen and Feng Moyuan had given up eating long ago, so they never took meals at all.

"Protector Bai, can you tell me where you're taking me? At least I'll know where I'm going to die." Su Ying had come to terms with it. If she died, so be it.

But if she died like this and started over, she had no idea whether little Chu Yu would still be there.

If he was, she certainly wouldn't hold back next time. She would make her move right away instead of dawdling like before!

Bai Mang ignored her from then on.

Su Ying was taken to the Court Hall.

[Where is this?] She had no idea, so she kept asking her spectator on the sidelines, Mr. System.

[Host, this is where the Demon Realm's affairs of state are handled.]

The system answered.

For some reason, Su Ying breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn't a place for torture and executions.

Su Ying was brought inside.

She spotted Feng Moyuan sitting in the center at once. She froze, then understood.

No wonder dropping Feng Moyuan's name had done nothing. He was the one who had ordered Bai Mang to bring her here.

Bai Mang knelt, and his words directly confirmed her guess. "Demon Venerable, she has been brought here."

"You may leave." Feng Moyuan frowned at the chains around Su Ying's hands.

Bai Mang really was rough.

And what was wrong with Su Ying? Didn't she have cultivation? Didn't she know how to break free?

"So stupid," Feng Moyuan murmured. With a sweep of his sleeve, the chains in his hand vanished.

Su Ying rubbed her wrists and complained to the system. [When he said "so stupid," he wasn't talking about me, was he?]

[Host, you and the Demon Venerable are the only ones in the hall. He certainly wouldn't be talking about himself...]

Su Ying: ...

What an idiot! Feng Moyuan thought.

Then he put on a stern expression. "Why aren't you paying your respects upon seeing me?"

Su Ying snapped back to her senses. Worried that offending this harbinger of doom would earn her a gruesome death, she obediently bowed. "My respects to the Demon Venerable."

At the same time, she grumbled inwardly. [So much damn fuss.]

Feng Moyuan raised a brow. Talking badly about me in her head, was she?

"Your posture is improper."

Su Ying looked at him in astonishment.

"Do it again," Feng Moyuan demanded.

Su Ying was reluctant, but when she saw the murderous glint in his eyes, she feared the Dragon Roar Sword would slice off her head if she refused.

She corrected her posture and bowed to him. "My respects to the Demon Venerable. May the Demon Venerable live ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years."

"Still not proper enough. Again." Feng Moyuan leaned back casually in his purple-and-gold throne. Watching her kneel and pay her respects again, his mood suddenly brightened.

Teasing her was quite amusing.

Su Ying paid her respects once more.

Feng Moyuan was still dissatisfied and told her to continue.

Su Ying went on to pay her respects more than twenty times, complaining to the system all the while.

Just as she thought she would have to reach thirty, Feng Moyuan said coolly, "Enough."

Su Ying rubbed her knees.

"You can't do it properly no matter how many times you try. Tomorrow, I'll have a maid from my palace teach you. Su Ying, you had better learn well. If I'm still dissatisfied, you know the consequences."

"Yes, Demon Venerable." Su Ying shuddered, then cursed inwardly again. [Is he a pervert? Does he find tormenting me here amusing? Hasn't Ling Xian already been abducted and brought here? Why isn't he off being lovey-dovey with the Female Lead? What's the point of tormenting a miserable supporting character like me?]

[Host, he is a pervert to begin with.]

The system reminded her calmly.

[So if you don't want to restart the quest, you'd better go along with his wishes.]

[Have I still not gotten a Side Quest?] Su Ying asked.

After discussing it with the system earlier, she had concluded that something had gone wrong with the plot. It had not restarted because the Main System was revising it. Presumably, it would issue quests for her to complete later so she could return to the Main Quest.

[Not yet.]

The system replied.

Su Ying felt a little desperate. Every day she spent beside this perverted great demon king, she felt she could die at any moment. If she still couldn't return to the main storyline, she might as well end herself.

[Do you think I could restart the quest if I killed myself?]

[Perhaps. But Host, that isn't a very good choice, because the Main System is already dissatisfied with your abilities. You might not get another chance to start over. And besides...]

The system fell silent.

[Besides what?] Su Ying pressed.

[If you don't get another chance to start over, you'll have to return to the real world. There is no reward for an unfinished quest. Your body in the real world will immediately stop breathing, and you will enter the cycle of reincarnation.]

The system said.

[I don't want to die...] Su Ying said. Feeling the great demon king's gaze settle on her head, she felt her scalp prickle.

[Then, Host, do your best to escape the great demon king's grasp. You can do it!]

The system cheered her on.

Su Ying was speechless. You can do it, my ass! Fuck Feng Moyuan's damned uncle!

After listening to their conversation, Feng Moyuan raised his hand and crooked his index finger at her contemptuously. "Come here."