The Great Demon King's Back Was So Hard...

Feng Moyuan's expression turned icy. "Keep moving."

"Yes." Bai Mang scouted ahead.

Su Ying followed behind them, fanning herself with both hands and looking as though she was about to die from the heat.

[If I turned around and ran right now, what would my chances of escaping be?] she silently asked the system, her steps unconsciously slowing.

Feng Moyuan raised an eyebrow and crooked a finger.

"Aaaaah!" Su Ying's body lurched forward several steps against her will, and her entire face slammed into his back. It was no gentle brush-she collided with him head-on.

Pain shot through Su Ying.

The Great Demon King's back was so hard...

[Host, your chances are zero. You are under the Step-Separation Curse.]

The system answered at just the right moment.

Su Ying rolled her eyes, only then remembering that he had placed the Step-Separation Curse on her.

[How do I break this Step-Separation Curse?] she asked. She had thought it only worked once.

Who knew it could work over and over?

What was she supposed to do now?

[Host, you can only break the Step-Separation Curse if your cultivation surpasses the Demon Venerable's, or if someone whose cultivation surpasses his helps you.]

The system answered.

Su Ying thought she was done for.

[If I remember correctly, even the Male Lead's cultivation wasn't much higher than this Great Demon King's early on, right? Only after Ling Xian hurt the Great Demon King badly did his cultivation keep dropping, and that was when the Male Lead became the strongest man in this book...]

Recalling the plot, she rubbed her aching nose.

Now, every time Feng Moyuan took a step, she was forced to take one too.

Su Ying felt as though she was about to die.

[Yes, Host. Unless the Demon Venerable removes it for you, forget about it.]

The system spoke.

Su Ying: "..."

What kind of lousy setup was this?!

The four of them walked for another two hours or more before the main peak of Flame Mountain came into view.

Before they could make out the scene ahead, a beast's cry rang into the sky. "Quack, quack, quack, quack."

Several more identical beast cries followed.

"Demon Venerable, those are the beasts that have been terrorizing the people of the Demon Realm." Bai Mang watched the beasts continually taking flight from the summit of Flame Mountain, his expression tense.

Apparently, quite a few people had had their hair burned off just by approaching them.

Moreover, once their hair was burned off by the strange flames the beasts spat out, it never grew back.

More terrifying still, those strange flames could scorch a cultivator's Spiritual Root and soul.

Su Ying was utterly exasperated as the endless quacking filled her ears.

[Did I stir up a nest of ducks?]

[Ahem, Host, please take this seriously. These beasts are aggressive.]

Seeing how carelessly and unreliably Su Ying was handling her mission, the system reminded her.

Su Ying protested her innocence. [Don't you think we're playing a game called Counting Ducks right now?]

[...]

[Don't tell me a system like you doesn't know the Catching Ducks game?] Su Ying challenged.

[Of course I do! Catch some ducks!]

Feeling looked down on, the system immediately answered.

[How many?] Su Ying picked up the next line.

[Catch three!]

[Quack, quack, quack! Listen, doesn't that sound exactly like these Zhitu?] Su Ying insisted. One look at these beasts had told her they were unmistakably Zhitu.

They looked exactly like the illustrations she had seen in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

Suddenly, Feng Moyuan burst out laughing.

Although he felt that Su Ying and her system really should not be playing such a silly game here, their conversation was too funny.

Black Shadow and Bai Mang hastily turned around, staring at their Demon Venerable in astonishment.

"Demon Venerable?" Black Shadow looked completely baffled. Their Demon Venerable might possess immense magical power, but there were so many beasts before them, and only four of them-no, only three. One wrong move could leave them injured by these beasts.

This was clearly a critical, dangerous moment, yet their Demon Venerable had actually laughed-

It was simply unbelievable!

Feng Moyuan reined in his smile and looked at Su Ying with a perfectly serious expression.

Su Ying was dumbstruck. [Damn, this Great Demon King looks way too good when he smiles.]

[He is the most handsome man, after all. How could he not look good? If he'd smiled yesterday, I wouldn't have been so scared that I crashed.]

The system chimed in.

[With how cowardly you are, if he smiled, you'd think he was going to eat me. You'd crash even faster.] Su Ying exposed it with a single remark.

What was the system supposed to do when its host looked down on it? It was depressed.

Su Ying continued, [He looks so good when he smiles. If he smiled more often, I wouldn't have to be this scared. Boo-hoo.]

Listening to them, Feng Moyuan wanted to ask who she thought was better-looking: him or Xiao Muchen.

But this was not the time to think about such things. "Su Ying."

"Lord Demon Venerable, what are your orders?" Su Ying collected herself, treading carefully for fear of offending the man before her, who could kill without blinking.

"Do you recognize these beasts?" Feng Moyuan asked.

Su Ying froze for a moment before answering honestly, "Lord Demon Venerable, I think they're Zhitu."

"They're Zhitu just because you say so?" Black Shadow sneered, looking unconvinced.

Su Ying was baffled. This person really did seize every opportunity to pick on her.

"Then let's say I'm wrong. Why don't you tell us what they are?"

Black Shadow said, "They're..."

He did not know either.

[Why is this character so annoying?] While waiting for his answer, Su Ying complained to the system in her mind.

Feng Moyuan nodded. Sometimes Black Shadow's temperament really was quite irritating.

Still, this guardian of his was not a bad person.

[Host, that's how Black Shadow's character was written. But fortunately, he isn't a bad person. At least he never betrayed the Demon Venerable.]

The system's words put Feng Moyuan on his guard. Did that mean someone would betray him in the future?

Who?

[True.] Thinking of the guardian who betrayed Feng Moyuan, Su Ying suddenly felt that an annoying personality hardly counted for anything.

The guardian who betrayed Feng Moyuan was the one who was loathsome beyond all tolerance.

Su Ying still remembered how, when that guardian first appeared, wave after wave of readers had cursed him in the comments.

Feng Moyuan listened for quite a while, but never heard Su Ying say who would betray him.

He silently made up his mind. Once he had dealt with matters here, he would give her another Truth-Telling Pill and find out who that traitor was.

Of all things in this life, Feng Moyuan could least tolerate betrayal.

Su Ying looked at Black Shadow. His lips had worked for ages, but he still could not get a single sentence out.

She said coolly, "A Zhitu's fire can burn anything. If any part of you gets burned, it probably won't recover. If your hair burns off, you'll be bald. If your skin burns, it'll leave a hole. Also, its fire can penetrate deep into your bones and blood. If you don't deal with it in time, your Spiritual Root and soul will be affected too."

Su Ying's words made Black Shadow shudder violently, and he looked at Bai Mang.

Bai Mang nodded, admiration flashing in his eyes. "According to the villagers' earlier reports, that's exactly how these beasts injure people. It seems they're definitely Zhitu. Miss Su, you're amazing-you know so much! It looks like we'll all have to be careful!"