“This master always keeps his word.” Chu Tian’s voice was low and resolute, as if swearing an oath.
If he let Su Nian go immediately, with his current strength, he could probably handle a “Demon General” level opponent, but he’d still be no match for the Demon King.
Simply relying on captured Magic Beasts to increase his strength was too slow.
So, his idea was… to keep Su Nian by his side for seven months.
With the hope of being able to leave after seven months, Su Nian wouldn’t fall into despair, nor would she give up on herself.
After seven months, if nothing unexpected happened, his strength would surely rise to a much higher, more terrifying level.
By then, perhaps he could truly try gathering his power to take on the invading Demon Race!
That would be a battle with little hope of survival.
And Su Nian… she had a Giant Dragon and a Space-element Spirit Cat—both were formidable assets and life-saving trump cards.
At that time, he’d leave her some treasures exchanged with Annoyance Value.
Even if—even if he failed in his battle against the Demon Race, Su Nian should be able to survive on her own with those items.
This was the only compensation he could give to his little Nian’er…
“Can… we write it down?” Su Nian cutely raised her small hand, still clad in its armguard.
What if this bastard was just saying things to appease her and refused to admit it later?
Chu Tian snorted, stepped forward, and looked down at her from above, his tone full of domineering authority that brooked no refusal.
“Heh, little wildcat, don’t get ahead of yourself. This master’s word is law—I don’t need that sort of thing!”
The aggressive aura around him once again enveloped Su Nian.
“Umm… fine…” Su Nian shrank her neck in fright at his fierce tone and mumbled softly.
But inwardly, she grumbled: ‘What’s he being so fierce for?’
Then again, given her situation now, this bastard horned demon really had no need to trick her.
After all, if he wanted to do anything to her, he never needed an excuse, nor did he bother with roundabout tricks…
This bastard horned demon always just used brute force directly.
Thinking this way, the promise of being able to leave after seven months did seem somewhat credible.
‘Seven months…’
Su Nian silently calculated in her heart.
If the “punishment” and “training” of the next seven months couldn’t be avoided, at least now she had a clear goal to look forward to.
A hope she could cling to in order to endure.
It was far better than that endless, hopeless darkness from before, when she couldn’t see any end at all.
Moreover, from another perspective, weren’t these seven months a perfect opportunity for her to accumulate Humiliation Value?
Her strength could skyrocket and after seven months, she could leave with a smile—hmph!
Thinking of this, Su Nian inexplicably felt much lighter, even as if a light had appeared at the end of the tunnel.
She quietly cheered herself on.
‘Su Nian, oh Su Nian, grit your teeth and bear the shame for seven months, and you’ll be a true hero—no, a true heroine!’
Just treat this horned demon as your grinding target during these seven months and farm Humiliation Value!
However, while Su Nian was still daydreaming about her “bright (humiliating)” future, Chu Tian didn’t give her much time to let her thoughts wander.
Since he’d agreed to let Su Nian go after seven months, he naturally had to collect some “interest” first.
The next moment, Chu Tian walked forward, and that “tool of crime” Su Nian had cursed countless times in her heart was openly placed right in front of her, as if to flaunt itself.
It was just a few centimeters from the girl’s beautiful eyes.
“…”
The sense of relief and ease Su Nian had felt from the promise of seven months was instantly shattered by this shocking sight.
‘So annoying! This horned demon… a hopeless pervert.’
She knew he couldn’t have any good intentions.
Su Nian’s face, already flushed from earlier events, instantly turned as red as if it were dripping blood.
“Ding dong, Humiliation Value increased by 16,492.”
“Ding dong, absorbing humiliation emotion, Annoyance Value +16,492.”
“Ding dong, absorbing disgust emotion, Annoyance Value +142.”
She instinctively tried to back away but right now, she didn’t even have the strength to stand.
Chu Tian glanced, seemingly by accident, at the system panel where the numbers were leaping.
He nodded to himself in satisfaction.
Now that’s a normal negative emotion.
That familiar feeling had finally returned.
No more despair or giving up.
It seemed giving little Nian’er hope of leaving after seven months was indeed the right decision.
This move had proven very effective.
Now, he could “bully” his precious Nian’er just a little bit.
Chu Tian’s thoughts stirred.
The black metal Collar around Su Nian’s snowy neck, inscribed with strange runes, suddenly tightened.
The feeling wasn’t suffocating—more like a warning.
Then, the runes on the surface of the originally sinister-looking metal Collar began to flow even faster.
The Collar bizarrely extended a pitch-black leash, glinting with a faint, eerie sheen.
This leash was all too familiar to Su Nian.
Throughout countless days and nights at Shadowmoon Manor, this leash had, most of the time, been tightly held in the hands of that bastard horned demon.
Seeing the horned demon’s sudden action and feeling the change in her Collar and the appearance of the leash, Su Nian resignedly closed her eyes.
Her long, butterfly-like lashes trembled violently with suppressed shame and anger.
Revealing her inner turmoil.
She didn’t even need to guess.
Next, this perverted horned demon would almost certainly take her by the leash, parading her around the desolate canyon like a pet.
He might even go further, pulling her by the leash to do something even more humiliating.
How shameful.
An indescribable sense of shame and humiliation drowned her.
But this time, Su Nian did not struggle or resist pointlessly as she had in the past.
Her heart no longer harbored the resolve to fight to the bitter end.
Since there was now hope to leave this devil in seven months, she had to behave more “obediently” and be more compliant, so this perverted horned demon wouldn’t have an excuse to revoke his promise.
The situation was stronger than the person.
Right now, other than enduring it, what else could she do?
After all… this wasn’t the first time she’d been bullied by this bastard horned demon.
Su Nian numbed herself with such thoughts.
However, the expected tugging sensation didn’t come.
She kept her eyes tightly shut, waiting for a while.
Aside from that initial tightening, the Collar on her neck stayed motionless.
Huh?
Could it be…
This perverted horned demon didn’t intend to lead her around this time?
A hint of confusion rose in Su Nian’s heart.
On the other side—
Chu Tian looked at the girl’s humiliated posture, head bared and at his mercy, and his inner fire burned even fiercer but he hesitated for a moment.
He decided to do things differently this time.
Before, he always took an absolutely forceful approach, overwhelming her with power and aggression.
But this time he wanted Su Nian to take the initiative herself.
“Nian’er, since you’ve already accepted your master’s ‘favor’, it’s only right that you do something in return.”
A wicked, playful smile curled at Chu Tian’s lips.
“Still standing there in a daze? Are you waiting for your master to do it for you?” His voice was not loud, but carried an irrefutable authority.
Su Nian’s body trembled slightly at his words.
Blushing furiously, she secretly opened one pretty sky-blue eye, peeking anxiously at the man before her.
What did he mean?
What was she supposed to do first?
Before, hadn’t she just endured everything passively, taking all the humiliation he inflicted?
Chu Tian seemed to see through her thoughts.
“Looks like my little Nian’er still doesn’t quite understand.”
“In that case, this master will make it clearer.”
Chu Tian stepped forward, looming over her.
“First, use both hands to respectfully offer up the leash attached to your Collar to this master.”
Chu Tian enunciated his demand word by word, leaving no room for confusion.
Since he’d promised to let Su Nian, this little wildcat, go after seven months, he would keep his word.
But during these seven months of “punishment” and “training”, he fully intended to “enjoy” this rare time.
Of course, there was another, even more enticing possibility: He might completely tame this wild little cat in seven months, until she could never leave him again.
Thinking of this, a strange, inexpressible excitement and heat surged in Chu Tian’s heart.
At the same time, when Su Nian heard this bastard horned demon actually demand that she present the Collar’s leash with both hands, her heart, already hanging by a thread, almost stopped.
‘Heavens.’
How could this perverted horned demon come up with something so… so base, so deeply humiliating?
To make her voluntarily offer up the leash.
As if she willingly wanted to be led by him, as if she craved to be trained and shamelessly bullied by this horned demon.
‘Uuuu…’
“What, you’re unwilling?”
Chu Tian’s handsome brows rose slightly, his voice tinged with danger.
“This master remembers—the promise to let you go after seven months is on the condition you obediently accept your master’s punishment and training for these seven months.”
“If you’re regretting it already, then the previous promise will come naturally…”
Chu Tian didn’t finish the sentence, but the threat was obvious.
The look of utter confidence and total control on his face deeply stung Su Nian’s eyes.
Su Nian’s body could no longer hold out.
Resigned, she stretched out both hands, still clad in their armguards.
She cradled the leather loop at the end of the Collar’s leash.
Then, her knees buckled and she collapsed heavily before the horned demon.
Raising both hands high, she offered the leash with utmost deference, a posture of utter submission.
‘How humiliating…’
In this moment, she felt as if she’d truly surrendered everything—her body, her freedom, even her last scrap of dignity—to the horned demon master before her.
‘Uuuu…’
Just then in Su Nian’s mind, the system’s voice rang out abruptly, “Ding dong, host’s current Spirit Road at 49%↓, officially entering the [Path of Depravity].”
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