Du Niangzi leaned in close to that female Demonic Beast, splitting her mouth wide and sticking out her bloodstained long tongue, licking the trembling girl’s face, and whispered in her ear, “Little worm, breaking the rules means you need a slap on the face. Tell me, are you going to slap yourself, or will you let me do it for you?”
The female Demonic Beast looked at Du Niangzi’s gaping, bloody maw and her thick, long spider legs.
Shivering, she replied in a trembling voice, “I’ll do it myself… No, to answer Lady, I’ll slap myself…”
Du Niangzi laughed, “Hehehe.”
She straightened up, her two front legs transforming into arms crossed over her chest, watching the female Demonic Beast with interest as she said, “Fine by me. Go ahead.”
The female Demonic Beast knelt on the ground, raised her hand, gritted her teeth, and slapped herself hard across the face.
“Pa!” A crisp sound echoed. A clear handprint appeared on her pale cheek.
The pain brought tears to her eyes.
She didn’t dare wipe them, nor dare to stop. She raised her hand and struck the other side of her face.
Another sharp slap rang out, and several more finger marks emerged on her other cheek.
The rest of the female Demonic Beasts curled up on the ground, not daring to make a sound.
In the courtyard, only the echo of “Pa!” “Pa!” “Pa!” was heard.
After several slaps, the female Demonic Beast’s face had swollen up.
Du Niangzi looked at her, snorted coldly, and said discontentedly, “Are you starving, you little worm? After all that, you haven’t even knocked out a tooth? That won’t do! This doesn’t count—take this and start over!”
She flung her hand, and with a clang, tossed a half-foot long Wooden Plank in front of the female Demonic Beast.
“Use this! If you still don’t knock out a tooth, I’ll do it myself!”
The female Demonic Beast trembled all over.
She picked up the Wooden Plank with shaking hands.
She sobbed but didn’t dare to cry aloud.
Female Demonic Beasts were already scarce among the Demonic Beast clan.
Though her family was low-ranked in Xixia Mountain, as a girl, she was pampered like a precious jewel since childhood. When had she ever suffered such humiliation?
But with Du Niangzi crouched nearby, eyeing her like a tiger, she dared not beg for mercy. She gritted her teeth, picked up the Wooden Plank, and swung it hard at her own face.
But before she could hit herself, a fair hand grabbed her.
Hong Yanzhi had caught her arm.
Hong Yanzhi couldn’t bear to watch any longer.
Xixia Mountain had been the Hong Family’s territory for hundreds of years; these female Demonic Beasts were all her people.
Besides, these few were chosen by her father and sent to Erlong Mountain for the Yao Wang to absorb their essence and prolong his life—a sacrifice. They would most likely die here, never to return.
When she was the young mistress in the mountains, Hong Yanzhi had been arrogant and willful, never paying much heed to these lower-ranked little demons.
But now, having suffered a reversal herself, her cultivation plummeted and she too became a little demon, brought to Erlong Mountain together with these others, facing the same miserable fate of being used as the Demon King’s Concubine.
For the first time, she felt a pang of guilt for the six she once overlooked. At the same time, she felt a sense of shared misfortune.
Especially since the six still, as on Xixia Mountain, instinctively regarded her as their leader, making her feel a parental responsibility toward them.
Now, seeing the female Demonic Beast bullied by Du Niangzi—even though Du Niangzi was powerful—she couldn’t help but step forward.
She grabbed the girl’s hand and said to Du Niangzi, “Lady, I am a daughter of the Hong Family of Xixia Mountain. This sister is a member of my Hong Family. I beg Lady, since it’s her first offense, please let her go this once.”
The female Demonic Beast, seeing Hong Yanzhi standing up for her, clung to Hong Yanzhi’s arm like seeing a savior and hid behind her.
Du Niangzi stared, wide-eyed, unable to believe someone dared plead with her.
A mocking smile soon spread across her face. She looked Hong Yanzhi up and down, her eyes pausing on her proud figure, the flames of jealousy burning even stronger.
She’d only planned to scare one unfortunate soul, make an example and assert authority, but now another had stepped forward.
Since you’re offering yourself, I’ll deal with you both.
And Hong Yanzhi’s figure—full where it should be, slender where it should be—only made Du Niangzi, whose transformed body was as burly as a barrel, grind her teeth in envy.
As for the Hong Family, the Green Family, just minor mountain chieftains.
Du Niangzi was one of the Yao Wang’s closest, these mountain lords and cave masters were nothing to her.
She sneered, her face showing a trace of cruelty: “Hehehehe, I don’t care what Hong Family or Green Family you come from. Here at Erlong Mountain, there is only one identity—you are all the Demon King’s Concubine!”
“You dare step out yourself? Seems like if I don’t show a bit of my methods, no one will listen to me. Fine, I’ll let you both see what Du Niangzi is capable of!”
She assumed human form, and with a flick of her hand, shot out two strands of spider silk, each wrapping around Hong Yanzhi and the female Demonic Beast.
Since her fall to the level of a little demon, Hong Yanzhi’s strength had plummeted—she couldn’t dodge, and both she and the other girl were tightly bound by the silk.
Then, the two of them were hoisted into the air.
Hong Yanzhi’s face changed drastically.
Du Niangzi drew a long whip woven from spider silk from her waist and held it in her hand.
She lifted the whip and spat a mouthful of green smoke onto it.
The green quickly spread along the whip, making its surface shimmer with an eerie light.
The tip of the whip touched a patch of grass growing between the tiles, and that patch instantly withered and died.
Du Niangzi swung the whip a few times and sneered, “I was just going to slap your mouths a few times as light punishment. After all, you still need to serve the Yao Wang, and if you’re ruined, I can’t explain that. But since you just won’t listen and break the rules I set, you leave me no choice but to show you some real methods.”
She raised her whip and said, “Do you know why I’m called Du Niangzi? Because I’m best at using poison. The toxin on this whip is called ‘Grasping Beauty’s Face.’ Even a touch will make you itch unbearably—scratching your skin raw won’t help. The itch will drive you mad, making you beg for death, but you won’t die. You’ll kneel and beg me for the antidote.”
She sneered at Hong Yanzhi: “Since this little demon is your Hong Family’s subject, and you, the young mistress, want to plead for her, then I’ll give you her share of punishment as well. I’ll let you itch for two hours. When you figure out how to follow the rules, I’ll stop the itch.”
Hong Yanzhi turned pale at her words, looking at the glowing green whip in Du Niangzi’s hand.
The female Demonic Beast hanging beside her, though trembling all over and ashen with fright, still spoke up: “Lady, please don’t punish our young mistress. The one at fault is me, Huā Yíngyíng. Punish me alone.”
Du Niangzi laughed with scorn: “Hehehe, you two are competing now? Fine, since you’re such loving sisters, one lash each—you can itch together.”
With that, she raised her whip to strike at Hong Yanzhi and Huā Yíngyíng.
But she suddenly noticed—the entire courtyard had, without her realizing, become shrouded in a Blood Mist.
Within this Blood Mist, her movements felt sluggish; every action seemed half a beat slow. She felt weak, unable to muster her strength.
A hand seized her arm, gripping it with immense force, stopping her from whipping Hong Yanzhi.
At the same time, she felt a chill on her neck—a sharp blade was pressed to her throat.
A pleasant female voice sounded coldly at her ear: “Let them go.”
Du Niangzi was shocked.
She turned her head and saw, among the eight Demonic Beasts, the most beautiful one was standing right beside her, those pretty, envy-inducing eyes staring coldly at her.
One hand tightly gripped her wrist, the other holding a red dagger pressed to her throat.
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