[Negative emotions from Daji, +100.]
As soon as he spoke, just as Di Xin had expected, the system's icy mechanical voice rang out in his mind.
[Negative emotions from Su Hu, +500.] [Negative emotions from Bi Gan, +50.] [Negative emotions from Huang Feihu, +100.]
Immediately afterward, the LCD screen scrolled rapidly, a string of negative emotion values dancing across it.
Holy shit! Di Xin cried inwardly. What a haul! One sentence, and so many people had contributed negative emotion points to him. Su Hu, in particular, had given him a straight +500.
It seemed this father-in-law he had acquired on the cheap would be very useful indeed.
Di Xin was delighted.
With this turncoat around, why would he worry about failing to become a sage? Why would he worry about Great Shang failing to flourish? Why would he, Di Xin, worry about failing to become a Human Emperor praised by everyone for countless generations?
"Your Majesty..."
Just then, Daji gazed at Di Xin with a coquettish expression, her pearly teeth gently biting her red lip. Her eyes were so moist they could almost drip, and a burning desire shone within them, like a little girl spotting her favorite hair clip, or a porn viewer catching sight of big sister Yui.
"Daji, you really are rank. Even that heavy perfume can't cover the funk on you..."
Di Xin lowered his head with a smile and looked at Daji as he spoke slowly.
[Negative emotions from Daji, +500.] [Negative emotions from Su Hu, +500.] [Negative emotions from Bi Gan, +50.] [Negative emotions from Huang Feihu, +50.]
At those words, the LCD screen began scrolling rapidly again.
This time, however, a trace of unease and bewilderment appeared in the depths of Daji's eyes.
Di Xin's reference to her "funk" unnerved her. She kept feeling that this smiling fellow's eyes had pierced straight through her body into her innermost heart, and that he meant the unmistakable fox stink she carried in her fox form.
But she could not understand it. The mission Empress Nuwa had given her was highly secret, known to no one, and she had been equally discreet in carrying it out. Throughout the journey, even Su Hu, who spent every day with her and shared a deep father-daughter bond with her, had noticed nothing. Di Xin might be a king, but he was still only mortal flesh. How had he discovered it?!
"A man may be killed, but never humiliated! I know that my rebellion against Shang deserves death by a thousand cuts and the punishment of the Pao Luo, but I beg Your Majesty not to insult my daughter!"
Just then, Su Hu thrust out his chest and stared straight at Di Xin, fury pouring from his eyes as he spoke.
Oh, father-in-law, father-in-law. Your Daji is no longer Daji. She's a fox spirit now!
At those words, Di Xin shook his head, then looked at Su Hu and kindly reminded him, "Only I know just how rank she is."
[Negative emotion points from Su Hu, +500.]
Su Hu glared directly at Di Xin, as though raging flames burned in the depths of his eyes.
Di Xin, meanwhile, beamed at the five hundred negative emotion points he had just earned. At this rate, another couple of rounds would put the second level within reach!
"Your Majesty, I bathed just before coming here. I smell lovely. How could I possibly stink? If you don't believe me, smell for yourself..."
Daji was Daji, after all. At those words, she immediately raised a hand and smoothed the dark hair at her temple. Her long, snow-white fingers slid from her cheek to her neck, then down to her chest, where she tugged aside a corner of her robe, offering a half-hidden glimpse of the snow-covered Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon as she spoke with an alluring smile.
"Her clothes are so big... no, wait, the seam of her clothes is so white..."
Though Di Xin had watched countless videos, how could he withstand such real, tangible temptation? Especially when it came from this most famous of fox spirits. One glance, and his eyes nearly fell into that grand canyon, never to climb out again.
Then Di Xin felt waves of faint dizziness wash over his head. The fragrance floating through the air kept burrowing into his nose. His body felt light and drifting, his bones soft and his sinews limp, his ears hot and his eyes twitching.
[Host detected under mental attack from the Fox Charm Art. Spend 2,000 negative emotion points to activate the Anti-Fox Charm Art? Option one: decline. The host's mind will fall under Daji's control. Option two: activate the Anti-Fox Charm Art. The host will have a chance of winning Daji's favor and her heart...]
In an instant, the system's icy voice sounded in Di Xin's mind.
Right, so that was it! I knew there was something unusual about this Daji!
She had used the Fox Charm Art to bewitch King Zhou and turn him into a lunatic.
Hearing this, Di Xin immediately shed another sympathetic tear for King Zhou. The fellow truly was the most wretched man under heaven. Because of a single poem, he had lost both his realm and his beauty. Then he had picked up a gorgeous woman and thought himself blessed, only for her to toy with him until his family was ruined and he was driven insane.
"I choose option two!"
Without hesitation, Di Xin made his decision.
[Spending 2,000 negative emotion points to activate the Anti-Fox Charm Art once for the host. Due to the host's limited negative emotion points, this activation of the Fox Charm Art is single-use and lasts one incense stick, or five minutes. Four minutes and twenty seconds remain. Spending 20,000 negative emotion points will permanently unlock the Fox Charm Art option for the host.]
As the icy voice faded, Di Xin immediately felt his heart give a slight throb. A strange force raced through his meridians to his eyes. Then he blinked, and a streak of cold lightning seemed to shoot straight toward Daji.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty..."
In an instant, Daji felt a slight sting in her eyes. Then, suddenly, Di Xin seemed to have become a magnet, making it impossible for her to look away.
Di Xin's looks could only be called somewhat handsome. Among fox spirits, where beautiful men and women abounded, his appearance was mediocre. Yet at this very moment, in Daji's eyes, he was Marilyn Monroe holding down her skirt, a giant honey-glazed chicken drumstick, radiant beyond measure!
His physique was robust as a bear's, his masculine vigor rushing toward her. His eyes shone, his spirit whole and his vitality abundant, exuding a fatal attraction for females.
Perfect!
A man like a holy spirit!
No, how can I think of him this way? I bear the great mission entrusted to me by Empress Nuwa. I must plunge Great Shang into chaos! But he really is so handsome... I really want him to...
But to Daji, all of this was like a thunderbolt from a clear sky. She was clearly the one bewitching Di Xin, so why did she find him irresistible instead? Had the exhausting journey depleted her strength? Or was there something strange about Di Xin?
She did not understand what was happening. She was frightened and uneasy, yet she could no longer bear to do anything to Di Xin, just as she could not bear to damage a priceless treasure.
In that instant, Daji grew lost and dazed.
[Negative emotion points from Daji, +200.]
The LCD screen in Di Xin's mind flashed, the text flickering across it, and he could not help drawing in a sharp breath.
This toxic motivational soup and troll system really is powerful!
Even a Nine-Tailed Fox spirit like Daji, practically an ancestral master of seduction, could be won over with ease.
[Fox Charm Art duration remaining: two minutes... one minute and fifty-nine seconds...]
Just then, the system notification sounded.
"Escort Lady Su to Shouxian Palace and have her await my return."
Hearing it, Di Xin immediately turned and spoke to the palace maids in a low voice.
At his command, palace maids immediately supported Daji, whose head was now swimming and whose bones and sinews had gone soft, and led her toward the inner palace.
[Negative emotion points from Su Hu, +1,000.]
Su Hu stared at Di Xin in towering fury, his clenched teeth grinding audibly and the taste of blood filling his mouth. He wanted to rise and stop them, but he could not move. He could only watch helplessly as the palace maids helped his "daughter" into the inner palace.
"Your Majesty, Su Hu has rendered a service by presenting his daughter, and this further demonstrates his wholehearted sincerity. He should be pardoned, restored to his former office, and allowed to return home in glory as a newly honored royal relation."
Bi Gan stepped forward, bowed with his hands clasped, and spoke respectfully to Di Xin.
Restored to his former office? Return home in glory?
At those words, Di Xin looked at Bi Gan and sneered twice.
Restore Su Hu to his former office and send him home in glory? Was he afraid Su Hu wouldn't defect to Ji Chang quickly enough?
The grudge of having his daughter taken was one that could not coexist beneath the same heavens. If Bi Gan couldn't even grasp that, it truly made Di Xin want to cut open his chest and see whether he really possessed a wondrous seven-apertured heart.
Since Bi Gan could not be relied upon, he would do it himself.
Wasn't it just being a tyrant? Then he would be a tyrant to the bitter end!
With that thought, Di Xin reached out and pulled a thorn switch from Su Hu's back. Tapping it lightly against his palm, he said, "Su Hu, tell me, are you guilty?!"
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