Chapter 677: After Binding the Child-Bearing System, Becoming a Winner in Life Chapter 678: Background Board Rabbit Demon (50)

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Protagonist:

Shen Yao

Compared to that previous fake, perfunctory apology, the current begging for mercy appears far more sincere.

However, Shen Yao still wore a smiling, half-lidded expression, neither responding to nor acknowledging Hei Niangzi. Of course, she also did not strike out immediately as she had before.

Hei Niangzi: ……

What does this mean? Dissatisfied with my begging? The other party doesn't seem to truly want my life either.

Her mind involuntarily began to wander, especially since Shen Yao looked harmless, but judging from the ruthlessness of her attack just now, she wasn't truly benevolent either.

"My Lord, My Lord?"

Hei Niangzi felt like crying, vomiting mouthful of blood after mouthful of blood.

"Have you thought through what to say? I was somewhat dissatisfied with your earlier words."

Shen Yao stepped lightly to Hei Niangzi's front, conjuring a stool out of thin air with a technique and sitting down steadily.

Hei Niangzi: ……

"I wonder what My Lord wishes to hear? This little demon truly had eyes but failed to recognize Mount Tai; I will certainly hold nothing back and speak without reserve."

Give me some clear hint quickly — you have to know a spider's brain really isn't large, and it's not a demon famed for cleverness.

Her previous success was entirely thanks to the people of Sha Xi Zhen being easy to fool; those desperate outlaws had even less of a worldview — they only respected whoever was strong, whoever was the Eldest Brother; demon race, human race, none of it mattered.

The person before her now clearly wasn't of the same ilk as the Black Sand Gang, and Hei Niangzi couldn't get a read on her.

"First, tell me how a spider demon came to be running around here.

Then explain how those bandits who live by robbery became willing to collude with you.

Mm

Lastly, you can mention how this obviously abandoned Sha Xi Zhen managed to pass off the fake as real, without arousing any suspicion from us."

Hei Niangzi: …… Hiss, appraisal complete — indeed a High Person!

Since she's a High Person, all the more reason not to treat her with the previous methods.

Not to mention anything else, demons cherish their lives too; if she spouted nonsense, she feared the High Person would simply obliterate her with a single palm — after all, the other party had her completely at her mercy. However arrogant Hei Niangzi had been before, however she had squeezed the Black Sand Gang's survival space, Shen Yao was now repaying her in kind, leaving Hei Niangzi suffering in silence.

It was also fortunate that the Black Sand Gang's leader wasn't here; otherwise he might have sighed that heaven has eyes, that this black widow finally got her comeuppance — who knows how many of his brothers died ignoble deaths.

Hei Niangzi hung her head and earnestly recounted her wandering hardships (eating, drinking, and merrymaking) since gaining sentience.

Simply put, the spider demon had lived quite well — whether before or after gaining sentience, the greatest hardship she'd endured was simply living in the desert, never truly leaving this western region.

As for why she chose to settle in this abandoned Sha Xi Zhen, it could only be put down to luck — the Black Sand Gang happened to be robbing when she witnessed it; Hei Niangzi, a spider demon, lacked human worldviews, felt these people were easier to manipulate and less troublesome than Dao cultivators, so she simply stayed here.

"My Lord, actually this little demon never wanted to eat so many people at first — it was the Black Sand Gang bringing disaster on themselves, delivering tough nuts they couldn't handle right to this little demon.

Though this place is abandoned, the buildings are intact; moreover, this little demon has many usable spiders under her command — the Black Sand Gang was willing to provide food, so this little demon, this little demon just helped a tiny bit.

My Lord, this little demon now knows her wrong; please, for the sake of this little demon's arduous cultivation, spare this little demon."

Shen Yao: ……

Good grief, the way she shifts the blame — wonder if the Black Sand Gang's leader would turn red with rage if he heard.

Compared to humans' paltry skills, the spider demon clearly holds the upper hand.

The Black Sand Gang perhaps initially did harbor unspoken intentions to use the spider demon — human nature is greedy, and with such a powerful helper, it would be hard for the Black Sand Gang not to grow strong.

Only the spider demon's strength was too profound; the Black Sand Gang was destined to end up on the bottom. Once the dominant position shifted, the Black Sand Gang would become the spider demon's vassal, her claws and teeth, and finally a morsel ready to be eaten at any moment.

After all, she's a demon — demon nature accounts for the largest proportion. From the moment the Black Sand Gang encountered her, tragedy was fated; it's only that the spider demon currently exercises some restraint — otherwise, would there be any people left in Sha Xi Zhen? It would long since have become the spider demon clan's hunting paradise.

"The Black Sand Gang burns, kills, loots, and commits every evil — they are wanted criminals pursued by surrounding cities.

However, not everyone in Sha Xi Zhen is a Black Sand Gang subordinate; some are commoners you seized, some are merchant caravans left behind after being robbed — they cannot leave Sha Xi Zhen without your permission. Am I correct?"

"My Lord is wise."

Shen Yao looked at the spider demon fawning before her, smiled faintly, and waved her hand. "I'll give you a chance — restore Sha Xi Zhen to its original state.

Tomorrow morning, I want to see results. You should understand — playing tricks won't let you escape."

Spider Demon: ……

Hei Niangzi didn't want to understand, but her faintly aching five viscera and six bowels reminded her that her little life was pinched in the other's hand — one light lift and she'd be done for.

Nodding with deep grievance, Hei Niangzi forced a smile, stood, and took her leave.

System: ……

"Host, aren't you afraid she'll play along on the surface but scheme behind your back, ultimately joining forces with the Black Sand Gang to trip us up?"

"What do you take me for? Besides, she's a demon, not a human — she doesn't have so many messy thoughts of vertical and horizontal alliances. Losing is losing; submitting to a stronger enemy has always been normal among demons."

Shen Yao told the System not to constantly analyze demon behavior with human thinking, because demons truly aren't united, and they even trip each other up.

Just like now — the spider demon not only won't go ally with the Black Sand Gang to make things hard for Shen Yao, whom she can't beat; on the contrary, she'll rush frantically to the Black Sand Gang's leader to claim lives.

Since even she can't beat Shen Yao, how could the Black Sand Gang's trash possibly win? Better to first carry out Shen Yao's orders properly, then send Shen Yao off her territory at the fastest speed.

As long as the green mountains remain, there's no fear of lacking firewood.

The spider demon figures as long as she survives, what's the Black Sand Gang and Sha Xi Zhen? At worst, she'll prop up a Yellow Sand Gang and build a Sha Tu Zhen after a while.

Given the System has long had certain fixed programs embedded in its brain, changing its logic is impossible — but the System can choose objective monitoring.

Just remotely monitor the spider demon from all angles with no blind spots; then whatever she does will be clear at a glance, and it can also indirectly verify the truth of the Host's words.

The faraway spider demon, unaware that one person and one System were discussing her next moves, was currently suppressing her internal injuries while cursing her way toward the Black Sand Gang leader's territory.

The man, frightened by the spider demon in the daytime, had lost his evening interest in pleasure-seeking, and was now lying alone on the bed, sleeping soundly.

Spider Demon: ……

The spider demon appeared in the room, and seeing the man like this, its nose crooked with even greater anger. Hmph!

Crash-clatter——

Roughly yanking the bedding off the man, and simultaneously slapping the man awake with a single palm strike.

Man: ……? ！

His face inexplicably swollen, the man who had been sleeping soundly was just about to curse, but upon looking up he saw the Black Widow Venerable herself, the one who struck fear into his heart.

Aiyo

How did this killing star come in the middle of the night? Could it be she ate a loss at the inn?

The man's displeasure had long since dispersed like smoke; he rose and moved to Hei Niangzi's side, carefully inquiring whether her trip had gone smoothly.

The spider demon, whose trip had gone extremely poorly and who had lost her entire net worth in the process: ……

The sky was pitch black, visibility in the room was poor, the man couldn't see the spider demon's ugly expression, and simply trotted out his tried-and-true flattery.

The result was completely counterproductive this time; the spider demon's killing intent grew thicker and thicker.

Man: ……

Before the man could speak, a pair of slender yet not-at-all-weak hands clamped onto his chin.

!!!

"Spare, spare my life."

The spider demon's eyes turned dark red, its mouth splitting wider and wider, and fine threads shot from its mouth, heading straight for the man's face.

In mere moments, the tall, sturdy man became a light, fluttering human skin.

The spider demon, its internal injuries effectively suppressed by absorbing the flesh and blood, let out cackling laughter; indeed, eating people is the most nourishing.

"Tsk, this spider demon is quite fierce," even though the Black Sand Gang deserved it, the commoners and merchant caravans abducted by them did not; the spider demon eats people without distinguishing three ranks and nine grades — in its eyes, humans are all food, at most differing in flavor.

"Watch it; we'll check the results tomorrow morning," Shen Yao raised a hand and yawned several times, took off her outer robe, lay back on the bed, closed her eyes, and went to sleep.

Mm

Fighting this battle with the spider demon consumed time and effort; she truly hoped the other party wouldn't be too cute and obedient, otherwise how would she make her final move to eliminate the scourge?

Borrowing strength to strike strength is the proper way to handle this matter.

After a night's sleep, Shen Yao opened her eyes; before she could get out of bed to wash up, she heard the system, which had watched the liveliness all night, impatiently report that the spider demon had gone on a killing spree, directly eating the entire Black Sand Gang into sheets of human skin.

"Good fellow, truly ruthless, not a single one left," if not for concern for its own Host, those commoners and merchant caravans would likely have become the spider demon's belly-filling food as well.

"Yao Niang, get up quickly; we still need to leave this place as soon as possible."

Lin Xingzhi stepped in from outside the door, expression grave, brows tightly furrowed.

Shen Yao hurriedly stretched out her hand to support his arm, indicating what matter had him so panicked, and besides, they had only arrived at Sha Xi Zhen yesterday — leave today?

Lin Xingzhi: ……

Lin Xingzhi helplessly raised a hand and flicked Shen Yao's delicate nose. "Mischievous."

He didn't believe Yao Niang was unaware of the changes outside; although Lin Xingzhi would not connect every single occurrence to his own wife, his wife's abilities were beyond doubt.

"Alright, things have come to this; Xingzhi need not worry," since they were unharmed last night, nothing could go wrong this morning.

Letting the servants attend to her washing and dressing, Shen Yao changed clothes and went out the door with Lin Xingzhi.

The Imperial Guards and attendants lined both sides, guarding the entire inn; everyone else, including the three children, were in the hall; several Dao Guan disciples had cold expressions, and talisman paper was pinched in their hands.

"Wangye, Wang Fei Niangniang"

"Mm, how is the situation outside?"

"Same as before; the streets are desolate with no human habitation, the buildings on both sides have completely collapsed overnight; this is very likely one of the former abandoned sites of Sha Xi Zhen."

Lin An, who was speaking, felt his heart pounding, and resented himself even more for having acted too boldly yesterday, nearly causing disaster for his masters.

"Where are the people?"

Shen Yao asked the system in her mind, feeling that the spider demon had eaten so many people its strength had grown by leaps and bounds compared to when it fought her.

Demons know to submit quickly, and swell with arrogance just as fast.

The spider demon is this gluttonous and greedy; the commoners and merchant caravans of Sha Xi Zhen were probably gathered and hidden in one place by it; if it truly released them to their original places as Shen Yao instructed, that wouldn't be the spider demon's nature.

"All tied up and bound to its residence by the spider demon," the system's answer confirmed Shen Yao's speculation, "It's betting you won't pursue it; if you do, at worst it'll just shift the blame and release them again."

Anyway the spider demon is very good at kneeling and begging for mercy, and isn't worried Shen Yao will actually kill it.

Shen Yao: ……

She was still too confident in herself.

Raising a hand to rub her forehead, Lin Xingzhi saw and asked with concern if she was unwell; Shen Yao smiled and waved her hand, then asked when they would leave.

Such a dilapidated place — they surely couldn't intend to stay, right?

"Depart immediately, at the fastest speed to the true Sha Xi Zhen," staying any longer holds no significance; this place has become a true empty city.

But to overturn everything in a single night — just what demon is responsible?

"Great King, the people have already left," a lesser demon ran in to report the situation to the spider demon.

"All left? Especially that beautiful woman?" The spider demon, lying sprawled on the couch, rose and pressed the question.

"Left, left; this little demon saw it with my own eyes; per Great King's orders, guaranteed they won't find this place again," the roads in the desert are conjured from nothing; as long as yellow sand covers the trampled paths, unless one has heaven-defying talent, all will lose their way in the sky-full of dust.

Coincidentally, Shen Yao, who possesses heaven-defying talent (comes with her own cheat), pursed her lips and smiled.

Truly wonderful~

"You you you" — how are you back again? Weren't you sent away by me? And the return path was sealed; ordinary people/demons can't find it at all.

Shen Yao innocently tilted her head, looking at the pot-bellied spider demon and marveling at just how many people this demon had eaten.

Good thing she returned in time; otherwise those innocently bound commoners and merchants would have become the spider demon's plate-food again.

"My Lord, this little demon originally planned to send them back when conditions improved; how could I eat them without cause?"

The spider demon can bend and stretch; discovering that no matter how much it ate it couldn't beat Shen Yao, it immediately reverted to its kneeling-licking attribute.

It was a pity that Shen Yao had come over this time precisely to resolve the trouble left behind, therefore she did not listen to the spider demon's nonsense and directly took action, killing the other party on the spot.

One must say this place is truly not bad; without the system's positioning she really would definitely not have been able to find it.

Likewise, this also proved that other people could not reach here to deliver their heads.

The round trip was merely hurried; Shen Yao returned to the carriage compartment in a good mood, Lin Xingzhi had not yet rested at this time, and upon seeing Shen Yao appear his eyes shone bright.

"Done?"

"Done."

Lin Xingzhi let out a breath of relief, laughing as he pulled Shen Yao into his embrace and patted her.

"Hard work, Yao Niang."

"Merely a convenient effort, what hardship is there to speak of?"

A roomful of tender affection washed away the fatigue on Shen Yao's body, the carriage and horses continued forward on their journey, and this time, the authentic Sha Xi Zhen unfolded before them.