Who Was Playing a Grand Game of Chess?

"My lady, His Majesty is here!"

As soon as Di Xin reached the entrance to Shouxian Palace, the young palace maid announced his arrival to those inside.

[Negative emotion points from Daji: +166...]

The moment the young palace maid spoke, Di Xin saw a notification flash through the system backend, and the number was quite impressive.

Looks like that breast-pain incident last time left Daji with quite a psychological scar!

Seeing this, Di Xin wore an unfathomable smile, his confidence in this visit immediately growing.

"What does that tyrant want now..."

Daji held her chest with both hands, her brows tightly knitted. Shudders ran through her body as an overwhelming sense of unease seized her.

Her breasts had yet to recover from last time, and the bruised fingerprints were still clearly visible. Yet here that tyrant was again!

Was he planning to stir up another wave before the first had even subsided?!

If he really dares to do that again, I'll bite him hard and let him know that I, Daji, am no easy prey!

"Your consort greets Your Majesty." Seeing that Di Xin had arrived, Daji immediately offered a graceful bow. Then, holding her chest with seductive charm, she cast him a coquettish glance and said, "I haven't even recovered yet, and Your Majesty has come to torment me again. You truly have no idea how to cherish a delicate flower..."

"Hahaha, my beloved consort, what are you saying? I came today because I obtained a fine treasure, and I wanted to admire it with you."

Di Xin laughed heartily and spoke with a mysterious look at Daji.

[Negative emotion points from Daji: +99...]

At his words, Daji immediately contributed more negative emotion points. How could she not know that Di Xin would never be so kind? He was surely hiding some wicked scheme!

"Look, what's this?!"

Seeing the figures in the system backend, Di Xin immediately raised one of the hands he had held behind his back and waved it before Daji.

That's... a chicken drumstick... such a fragrant chicken drumstick...

The instant Daji saw what Di Xin held, saliva spilled uncontrollably from her mouth, practically pouring out.

Come to think of it, she had not eaten chicken for a long time, ever since leaving Xuanyuan Tomb.

For a fox, especially a fox spirit, how tragic it was to have no chicken to eat.

"My beloved consort, what do you think of this drumstick? Does it smell good? Would you like some?"

Di Xin waved the drumstick in his hand and asked with a smile.

"Your Majesty truly cherishes me. You knew this was my favorite food, so you brought it as a gift." Daji stared unblinkingly at the drumstick in Di Xin's hand, speaking with alluring charm. Her pearly teeth, crystalline as snow, lightly bit her lips, so red they seemed ready to drip. The sight truly stirred pity in anyone who beheld her.

"So you like it too, my beloved consort..." Sure enough, foxes love chicken, and fox spirits love it even more, Di Xin thought. Then, smiling, he continued, "In that case, watch me eat. Feast your eyes and satisfy your craving that way..."

With that, Di Xin brought the drumstick to his mouth and tore off a large bite.

[Negative emotion points from Daji: +66... +66... +66...]

A string of figures immediately flashed through the backend, while Daji's face turned livid.

Knowing she loved it, he actually made her watch him eat! Such torment! A tyrant was indeed a tyrant, with a thousand bizarre ways to torture people-no, to torture foxes.

"So fragrant... this chicken is so rich and fatty... mmm..."

What infuriated Daji even more was that he did not simply eat. He kept exclaiming over it, smacking his lips loud enough to shake the heavens.

The sight left Daji so ravenous that her drool threatened to cascade three thousand feet straight down!

[Negative emotion points from Daji: +99... +99... +99... Total: +41754...]

"Grind... grind..."

Daji ground her teeth, both canines lengthening out of her mouth. A vicious gleam flashed in her eyes, and, forgetting Nuwa's instructions, she prepared to teach the tyrant Di Xin a harsh lesson.

"My beloved consort, what are you trying to do?" Seeing Daji pounce, Di Xin showed not the slightest fear. With a faint smile, he brought out his other hand from behind his back, revealing the Pinewood Juque Sword. "My beloved consort, this is the fine treasure I truly wished to share with you."

Clang!

Almost the instant Di Xin finished speaking, ringing cries rose from the Pinewood Juque Sword, spreading in every direction like a dragon's roar. A powerful sword intent locked down the surroundings, making it feel as though they had been trapped in a cage of swords, with keen blades pointed at them from every side.

At that terrifying ring, Daji felt as though thousands upon thousands of densely packed swords had instantly been aimed at her fair, slender neck. Her sweet, bashful face drained of color, turning as white as paper, and her aura churned chaotically.

Clang!

Just then, the Pinewood Juque Sword let out a second clear, resonant cry.

Thud...

Feeling the sword's might, Daji shuddered and collapsed onto the floor. Her entire body trembled, and her three ethereal souls and seven corporeal souls felt as though they were about to be scoured away and scattered by its sword intent. Her teeth chattered incessantly, and her face was so pale that she seemed one breath away from fading out of the mortal world.

"My beloved consort, why are you sitting on the floor? Get up quickly and enjoy this sword with me."

Seeing Daji trembling from head to toe in terror, Di Xin felt waves of amusement and made as if to step forward and help her up.

[Negative emotion points from Daji: +520...]

"Your Majesty, don't... don't come any closer..."

At those words, Daji shuddered violently and shook her head again and again.

She felt that this was the closest she had ever come to death since her birth. If she could not survive this calamity, she would be a dead fox from this day onward.

What puzzled her, however, was how Di Xin had obtained such a precious object. From what she could sense, the Dao resonance emanating from this Wooden Sword seemed to carry the aura of a Chan Sect disciple!

Yet that only deepened her confusion. As far as she knew, the Chan Sect had been awaiting the advent of this calamity, and she was its catalyst. Why, then, would a Chan Sect disciple give Di Xin this sword to slay her?

Moreover, the other party's cultivation was so profound that they could obscure heaven's secrets, leaving her completely unaware of their arrival. Such strength was easy to imagine: they had to be a second-generation disciple of the Chan Sect, and an outstanding one at that!

Could those mighty lords still disagree over the Investiture of the Gods Calamity? Had some dispute arisen, leading them to obstruct Empress Nuwa's decree, slay a little fox like me, and uphold Great Shang's rule?

At that moment, beyond her terror and bewilderment, a profound desolation welled up in Daji's heart.

What was an ant?

She was an ant through and through!

She had been living perfectly well in Xuanyuan Tomb, where she could have eaten chicken every day. Yet with a single promise, Empress Nuwa had sent her here to suffer this tyrant's torment, with no one to pity her and no one to stand up for her...

To think that once upon a time, their demon race had also been mighty lords seated high above all others...

"Daji! Reveal your true form at once!"

Just as the Pinewood Juque Sword's suppression left Daji dazed, Di Xin's stern shout suddenly thundered in her ears.

Clang!

Almost simultaneously, the Pinewood Juque Sword rang out again, and its sword intent crashed heavily onto Daji like a mountain.

"Yow, yow..."

In an instant, Daji let out a cry. Her body crumpled, and her clothes fell away... revealing a snow-white fox with nine fluffy, snow-white tails swaying behind her!

"One, two, three... nine. You really are a nine-tailed fox!"

Di Xin stared at Daji's tails, counting them one by one before speaking with a chuckle.

"Yow, yow..." Daji trembled all over, her large, ruby-like eyes gazing fearfully at Di Xin, her face filled with intense unease.

At that moment, she became utterly certain that Di Xin had known her true form from the very beginning!

But she did not know how Di Xin had learned all this.

Could the Sage of the Chan Sect have told Di Xin?!

If that were true, then a grand game of chess must be unfolding behind all this. As for a little fox like her, she was merely an insignificant pawn upon that board...