Hong Yanzhi’s face was a bit pale.
After all, her cultivation was only at the late Body Tempering stage.
Using this Fan to control Du Niangzi, who was at the mid Condensing Core stage, was really quite taxing.
She forced herself to hold on and said to Lin Xue, “Sister Xue’er, I can’t hold out much longer!”
Lin Xue immediately understood. She stepped forward without delay, picked up the Fan hovering in front of Du Niangzi’s eyes, and took over control.
As the Fan changed hands, Du Niangzi’s eyes flickered, wanting to wake up, but because she was still gazing into the Fan’s eye, she continued to sink into confusion.
Lin Xue felt her own demon power being slowly absorbed by the Fan.
Suddenly, she discovered that with the Fan in her hand, she could actually see Du Niangzi’s current illusion.
As long as she wished, everything Du Niangzi was seeing at that moment would appear in her mind from a first-person perspective:
Lin Xue was shocked to see that in Du Niangzi’s fantasy, she herself was naked, her hands and feet bound, tied to a wooden stake.
The place seemed to be a torture chamber. A ferocious-looking Pig Demon, whose cultivation was at the mid Condensing Core stage, held a Bone Knife in both hands, sharpening it on a Grinding Stone with a “ka ka ka” sound.
Lin Xue realized she could alter and manipulate Du Niangzi’s illusion.
But to avoid alarming Du Niangzi, she didn’t use this ability and chose to observe coldly instead.
She saw Du Niangzi standing to the side, appreciating Lin Xue’s flawless, delicate body with satisfaction, while instructing the Pig Demon, “Make sure that knife is sharp. When you skin her later, do it carefully! There must not be a single unnecessary cut! This skin, the Mountain Lord himself said he would reward it to me.”
The Pig Demon, while sharpening the knife, grinned and said, “Don’t worry, Du Niangzi, don’t you trust my skills? All those Demons in the mountains who broke the rules—I’m the one who skinned them. I guarantee not a single extra cut.”
After a few strokes, he looked up with a fawning smile and said to Du Niangzi, “Du Niangzi, didn’t you mention before you wanted to live with me? Back then I was muddle-headed and said I liked being single, didn’t want a wife. Now I’ve figured it out. Having a woman by my side makes life so much better.”
“Now I’m still unmarried, and you’re not married either. Why don’t we just make do together?”
Du Niangzi snorted, pointed at Lin Xue, and sneered, “An Lao’er, you’re only saying this because you heard the Mountain Lord is going to reward me with this female demon’s skin, and teach me the Changing Skin Technique, so I’ll become as beautiful as her. That’s why you suddenly want to spend your days with me, isn’t it?”
The Pig Demon named An Lao’er looked a little embarrassed, smiling, “Mainly, I just fancy you as a person.”
Du Niangzi spat at him, saying, “Pah! Don’t think I don’t know what you’re plotting. Marrying you? Impossible! If I become as beautiful as a celestial maiden, marrying you, a plague pig, would be like a fresh flower stuck in pig dung!”
“But, if you skin her perfectly, without a single extra cut, I might consider spending one night with you after I become beautiful, as a thank you.”
Saying this, Du Niangzi giggled, tapping An Lao’er’s pig head with her finger. “Well, you scoundrel, isn’t Lady generous?”
An Lao’er was overjoyed. “It’s a deal!”
He immediately started sharpening the knife even harder.
Very soon, An Lao’er finished sharpening the knife, picked up a wine jar from the table, took a big swig, spat the wine onto the coldly gleaming blade, then approached Lin Xue with a sinister grin.
In Du Niangzi’s illusion, the Lin Xue tied to the stake was terrified, struggling with all her might, but unable to move—she could only watch as An Lao’er brought the knife toward her.
Lin Xue quickly stopped watching, feeling like ten thousand alpacas were rampaging in her heart.
Damn it, this venomous spider’s fantasy was to take her skin, become a beauty, and then go flirt with male Demons everywhere.
From Du Niangzi’s perspective, she could clearly sense Du Niangzi’s intense jealousy of her appearance, as well as the even stronger desire to become as beautiful as she was.
Lin Xue originally wanted to press the Blood Fiend Dagger against Du Niangzi’s neck, then remove the Fan to force her back to the courtyard, and compel her to sign a Spirit Pet Contract, making her a demon slave.
But on second thought, Du Niangzi was sly and unpredictable.
If she slipped away when Lin Xue let her guard down, it would be much harder to subdue her with the Fan again.
This Fan, though powerful, could really only be used once or twice on the same target.
Once someone had faced it, they’d be on guard. Seeing the Fan again, they’d be wary, and it would be hard to fool them twice.
It was better to take advantage of Du Niangzi still being under the Fan’s control and find a way to trick her into signing the Spirit Pet Contract.
Having made up her mind, Lin Xue shifted her attention back into Du Niangzi’s illusion.
The scene had changed to Hei Pi Yao Wang’s Palace.
Hei Pi Yao Wang sat atop his couch, with Er Touling Zonglie standing beside him.
Hei Pi Yao Wang held a bloody head in his hand—it was none other than the head of the Hei Feng Head Chief.
Du Niangzi held a skin in her hands, kneeling before Hei Pi Yao Wang, and said, “Du Niangzi congratulates the Mountain Lord on ridding yourself of traitors and returning in triumph.”
Lin Xue saw that the skin in her hands had her own appearance, and she felt a wave of disgust.
She forcibly suppressed her discomfort and continued watching.
Hei Pi Yao Wang, his pig face full of delight, praised, “It was only because you saw through that beast’s ambitions in time that I was able to catch him off guard and behead him. I must reward you handsomely!”
He called Du Niangzi over with a kindly smile, saying, “I promised to teach you the Changing Skin Technique. Come here and do as I say.”
Du Niangzi was overjoyed, holding Lin Xue’s skin as she walked forward.
Lin Xue decided—now was the time!
She manipulated the Fan to alter Du Niangzi’s illusion.
If she wanted to make Du Niangzi her servant, the other party had to truly submit and willingly offer up a drop of Spirit Blood containing a trace of her soul.
Lin Xue would then take a drop of her own Essence Blood, merge it with Du Niangzi’s Spirit Blood, and absorb it into her body.
This simple ritual would make Du Niangzi her demon slave.
She manipulated the illusory Hei Pi Yao Wang to command, “Give up a drop of your Spirit Blood and fuse it into this skin.”
At the same time, she slightly loosened the Fan’s control over Du Niangzi, returning some control of her body.
Du Niangzi, who had been motionless, began to move.
She opened her mouth and spat out a drop of Spirit Blood containing soul power, sending it flying toward the imaginary “skin” before her, a look of anticipation on her face.
Lin Xue had already pricked her own finger with a wooden thorn, squeezing out a drop of Essence Blood and merging it with Du Niangzi’s Spirit Blood.
The instant the two drops of blood fused, Lin Xue immediately sensed a subtle connection binding her and Du Niangzi together.
She reached out and absorbed the fused drop of blood into her body.
From this moment on, she was Du Niangzi’s master.
Du Niangzi, just like Hong Yanzhi, had completely become her servant, her life and death at Lin Xue’s command.
With one more loyal servant under her control, Lin Xue was in an excellent mood.
She put away the Fan and waited for Du Niangzi to awaken from her beautiful dream.