Jian Lin stood beside the Demon Lord, initially filled with joy at the thought of surprising him. Upon hearing his words, she froze in disbelief, not daring to make a sound.
What did this scoundrel mean? He brought her in only to push her away?
Then why had he refused her offer to wait for him outside the demon city in the first place???
Anger flared within Jian Lin, and she clenched her fists, throwing a series of air punches at the Demon Lord.
She thought it was just a one-sided outburst, but unexpectedly, the Demon Lord suddenly turned his head, his sharp gaze fixed in Jian Lin's direction. Startled, she retracted her hands, thinking her invisibility had failed.
Jian Lin's heart pounded. She weakly asked the system, "Didn't you say that as long as I used invisibility, I wouldn't be discovered? What's happening now?"
The system explained helplessly, "Host, you are only invisible, not vanished. Rapid movements create air currents that sensitive individuals can detect."
Jian Lin understood the key point and stood perfectly still, as if carved from stone.
Indeed, the Demon Lord found nothing further.
Across from them, Tao Niang stared intently at the Demon Lord and asked with concern, "Young Master, what's wrong?"
Jian Lin immediately sensed something was amiss. The address "Young Master" was soft and intimate, and Tao Niang made no effort to hide the admiration in her eyes. Unfortunately, she had encountered the unfeeling, stubborn Demon Lord.
The Demon Lord withdrew his gaze and replied coldly, "You don't need to call me Young Master. We are not that kind of relationship."
"Then what should I call you?" Tao Niang pressed on.
"It's not important. Just relay my message. Farewell." With that, the Demon Lord gave Tao Niang no chance to speak and swiftly disappeared into the night.
Tao Niang gazed dreamily at the Demon Lord's retreating figure. Jian Lin quickly seized the opportunity and dashed back to Tao Niang's boudoir on the top floor.
She opened and closed the door, deactivated her invisibility, and knelt by the small table by the window. She downed half a pot of wine in one go, feigning a slightly tipsy state.
After a while, the sound of the door opening came from behind her. Tao Niang walked in slowly, bringing with her a refreshing floral scent, "Girl A Pei, are you still awake?"
Jian Lin pretended to awaken with a start, smiling as she replied, "I'm awake. This wine isn't strong, I was just a bit bored and spacing out."
"Then I've come at the right time. I'll keep Girl A Pei company," Tao Niang seized the opportunity to steer the conversation toward the Demon Lord, "Girl A Pei, I just met your Young Master."
Jian Lin put on a surprised expression and asked excitedly, "He's finally here! Where is he?"
"Girl A Pei, please don't get too excited. He has already left and left a message for you," Tao Niang said with a look of pity, softly adding, "He said if you want to help, then help. If you don't want to help, then stay put and cultivate diligently to seek a breakthrough. And one last thing, take care of yourself. He will appear at the right time."
Jian Lin had actually been mentally prepared and was unfazed by the Demon Lord's words. Instead, her good impression of Tao Niang grew exponentially. She even felt sympathy for her, truly a likable little demon.
"Oh, I understand," Jian Lin calmed down and thanked Tao Niang, "Thank you for relaying the message for me."
Tao Niang kept her eyes on Jian Lin's face and asked gently, "Girl A Pei, are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Jian Lin replied with a smile, "It's just my Young Master's temper. What he says goes, I'm used to it."
"That's good then," Tao Niang chuckled behind her hand, a hint of shyness in her voice, "Girl A Pei, please don't mind me saying this, but your Young Master does have a bad temper. He wouldn't even tell me what to call him when I asked."
"It's normal. I apologize on behalf of my Young Master, please don't take offense, Tao Niang," Jian Lin reached out and poured Tao Niang a cup of wine, "Come, come, I'll toast you."
Tao Niang did not refuse. She picked up the wine cup with her slender fingers and drank with Jian Lin. After a few more cups, their relationship quickly deepened.
During a lull in their conversation, Jian Lin pondered the Demon Lord's words. "If you want to help, then help" must mean that if she wanted to help find the Dragon Pill, she should help gather information.
Was there anything to consider? Help, she would definitely help. How could she dare not? She might as well start by finding a way to help from within the Cloud Pavilion.
As they drank and chatted, the atmosphere was just right. Jian Lin took the opportunity to ask Tao Niang if she could help her find a job at the Cloud Pavilion.
Tao Niang's bright eyes flickered as she looked at Jian Lin and asked, "Then what can Girl A Pei do?"
"Dancing, I can dance," Jian Lin immediately stood up, lifted the hem of her skirt, and twirled gracefully, "I'll dance a bit for you."
Her tipsiness was evident, and Jian Lin's dance was unrestrained and spirited. In her white dress and red attire, with her black hair cascading like a waterfall, her dance was captivating.
Tao Niang applauded her, agreeing immediately to arrange something for her.
Soon, Jian Lin had a job dancing. She changed into the demons' bold and vibrant sheer skirts and accompanied the top performer every day.
Coincidentally, the top performer was also a fox demon, a cold, fiery, and intensely beautiful fire fox.
Her personality was both cold and fiery, and her every move exuded a queenly aura. Countless male demons were captivated by her, wishing only to hear their queen utter a word like "scram" or "die."
Jian Lin concluded that she was simply a "S-type queen," and a whip would have been more fitting.
The Fire Fox Queen was generally fine with the lesser demons like them, as long as they didn't provoke her. Her attitude was one of complete disregard.
The Fire Fox Queen was popular and attended five to six gatherings every night. Jian Lin benefited from this, overhearing a lot of significant internal news among the demons.
For instance, the Grand Priest was ill, the Demon Emperor was enraged, whether the Dragon Pill existed, and the matter of "Zhan San Dao."
When "Zhan San Dao" was mentioned, Jian Lin was holding a wine pot, acting as a pouring machine.
Those old demons with profound cultivation and significant power scoffed at "Zhan San Dao." "He's only carried out two secret missions for the Demon Emperor. I really can't stand that arrogant and conceited 'Zhan San Dao.' Who does he think he is? Aren't all of us here who fought our way through life and death with the Demon Emperor?"
Another old demon chimed in, beginning to curse "Zhan San Dao" as despicable and cunning, vowing that he would surely die a gruesome death one day.
Jian Lin understood. This was a power struggle between the old and new factions around the Demon Emperor. "Zhan San Dao" represented the rising new faction, enjoying great success, and many people behind him couldn't stand to see him prosper.
These old demons were also secretly plotting to use a tactic of "praise to kill" against "Zhan San Dao." They would say "Zhan San Dao" was too amazing, that they were all inferior to him, and that "Zhan San Dao" would definitely find the Dragon Pill for the Demon Emperor.
After hearing all this, Jian Lin began to understand why there was such a significant difference between the outside and inside of the demon city.
Outside the demon city was a simple, direct, and brutal world of the law of the jungle.
Inside the demon city was a more complex version of the brutal world, filled with factions, scheming, and infighting.
Jian Lin increasingly suspected that the Dragon Pill might be a fabricated piece of news, secretly orchestrated by one faction to bring down another.
For several days, Jian Lin gained a lot of insights, but there was no news of the Demon Lord. She didn't know where he had gotten to.
Jian Lin was both angry and worried, which eventually turned into a sigh.
As her anxiety gradually subsided, on the day she decided to consider the Demon Lord dead, he suddenly appeared.
In a private room on the second floor, a group of old demons had been drinking all night. As dawn broke, the old demons, with their chosen female companions, went upstairs to rest.
Jian Lin had been sitting there without moving until she was the only one left in the private room. She raised her wine pot and poured wine into her mouth from a distance, processing the information she had just gathered in her mind.
As she was enjoying her drink, a hand suddenly reached out and snatched the wine pot from her.
Jian Lin was startled. She hadn't swallowed the wine and nearly choked to death. Coughing violently, she cursed, "Who, cough cough, is so boring, cough cough cough!"
Upon closer inspection, it could only be the Demon Lord.
He had changed into black casual wear, his jade crown removed and replaced with a black hairband, giving him the appearance of a reclusive master.
At this moment, his long, slender fingers held the wine pot, and he imitated Jian Lin, pouring wine into his mouth from a distance.
With old and new grievances, Jian Lin's teeth itched with anger. She sprang up and lunged at him, wanting to make the Demon Lord experience the sensation of choking to death.
The Demon Lord sidestepped, easily evading her attack without spilling a drop of wine.
His expression was infuriating. He swayed the wine cup in his hand and provocatively said, "Want some wine? Come and get it."
That scoundrel! She would definitely make him pay!
Jian Lin's demeanor changed, and she swept her palm horizontally. The Demon Lord extended a finger, blocking Jian Lin's attack, and mockingly taunted, "The martial arts of the Guanlan Sect truly lack any lethality."
Jian Lin remained silent. Her technique changed from palm strikes to fist fighting, her aura sharp and fierce, unwilling to be looked down upon by the Demon Lord.
Unfortunately, her meager skills were of no consequence to the Demon Lord. He only used one finger to tease her, occasionally taking sips of wine.
Seeing Jian Lin panting and her strength failing, the Demon Lord began to relax, becoming careless.
Jian Lin swept her leg out. The Demon Lord ducked to avoid it, but this was the moment!
Jian Lin seized the opportunity, waved her hand, and sprinkled powder from her sleeve. The air immediately turned pink.
The Demon Lord hadn't expected Jian Lin to resort to trickery. Even though he closed his breath urgently, he still inhaled some, and his body immediately froze, unable to move.
"What is this?" the Demon Lord asked in a deep voice.
Jian Lin placed her hands on her hips and laughed arrogantly, "Young Master, oh Young Master, so this is what it's like for you."
What had she sprinkled? It was one of the life-saving talismans she had exchanged from the system, the Feng Ding Dan.
As the name suggested, the Feng Ding Dan could freeze even the wind. The system had said it could freeze any living creature in the human realm. The duration of the freeze depended on the opponent's cultivation level. Those with higher cultivation could break free faster, but it would still have an effect.
Jian Lin had been mingling in the Cloud Pavilion, surrounded by old demons with high cultivation. She could only use some tricks for self-preservation. In case of any accidents, she could buy herself some time to escape.
It cost only 100 points for a small pill. Jian Lin carefully divided it into four portions, ground it, mixed it with a little flour, and made a diluted version of Feng Ding Powder.
However, she had been in the Cloud Pavilion for such a long time, and thanks to Tao Niang's care, she had narrowly escaped danger several times without the chance to use this item.
Who would have thought the first one to fall into the trap would be the Demon Lord? He deserved it!
It wasn't that the Feng Ding Dan wasn't effective. Even the diluted version could immobilize the Demon Lord. If she had given him a whole pill, he would have been at her mercy, Jian Lin's.
The Demon Lord's eyes darkened with suppressed anger. He directly called her by her full name, "Jian Mu Sheng, you have great courage!"
Jian Lin was not intimidated at all. She reached out, hugged the Demon Lord, and pushed him onto a soft cushion, making him sit down. Her words were full of teasing, "Oh dear, Young Master, don't get angry. I won't do anything to you. Don't be scared."