The Beast God’s fortune began to flow through Truth’s mental projection across over a thousand kilometers, pouring continuously into the tip of the Lucky Feather, causing the pure white feather to gradually take on a silver sheen, looking even more spirited and matching Truth’s hair color even better.
After the infusion was complete, the Beast God, looking somewhat nervous and careful, returned the Lucky Feather to Truth.
The moment she touched it, Truth discovered that the feather’s quality had been elevated directly to the Excellence rank, and the affix had also changed, now reading clearly:
[The wing feather of an adult Rui Beast, containing a decade of good luck within. Wearing it seems to increase one’s fortune in certain areas.]
Truth looked at the affix on the feather in her hand, then glanced at the Beast God who wore a tense expression, and asked:
“Why only 10 years?”
The Beast God almost lost composure. Wait, why can she tell that I only infused 10 years of luck into it?! Can demons sense good fortune too? The Chat Bar earlier was one thing, and now my prized fortune as well—how does this Blood Demon know everything I know?!
“Um… well, uh… that…”
The Beast God suddenly felt guilty. As a natural Rui Beast and a Twelfth-Rank Deity, the proud being normally wouldn’t stoop to lying.
But this situation was special—if He didn’t tell a small lie, His future might be forfeit.
First, Wilona the Cat would definitely suffer brutal revenge from the Blood Demon.
Then, after being driven out of the Northern Region by her, the North would surely fall into decades of civil war once again.
Because if a benevolent Beast God left the Northern Region, no one would be able to suppress the Beastmen’s bloodthirsty and warlike nature.
The Northern Family could at most hold the Northern Region together for 10 years; beyond that, the other families would join forces to overthrow their superiors.
Moreover, the Northern Region’s civil war would certainly trigger chaos in the surrounding areas—like the Demon Race that had long wanted to attack Tataka again, and the Lizardfolk who harbored resentment toward Humans.
A racial war breaking out once more was entirely possible…
So for the sake of stability and minimizing various impacts, the Beast God ultimately decided to tell Truth a small lie:
“It’s like this—the energy this feather can carry is simply too limited. At most, it can hold 10 years. If I wanted to infuse a century’s worth of fortune all at once, I’d need a feather bigger than you! That wouldn’t be portable at all. So why don’t you come see me every 10 years to replenish your luck?”
The Beast God nodded while speaking, quite satisfied with His first lie.
The logic was clear, and He also began planning in His mind how to curse this Blood Demon to death within 10 years; otherwise, after 10 years—
“Oh, so that’s how it is! Why didn’t you say so earlier!” Truth reinserted the new feather into her hair, covering it with her locks, and tidied her hairstyle:
“I initially thought you were trying to use the fact that I can’t sense fortune as a condition to trick me into accepting just 10 years of luck and weaseling out of the remaining 90. Sorry about that—I almost gouged out one of your eyes to teach you a lesson.”
“Ahahaha…” After Truth spoke, the Beast God let out an awkward laugh:
“I am a deity after all. Scheming and cheating are beneath me. By the way, may I ask your name?”
“Truth. Currently serving as the Ninth Saintess under the Seat of the Goddess of Life.”
Truth replied bluntly. For someone of the Beast God’s caliber, she couldn’t be bothered to lie.
After all, with the Beast God’s fortune ability, if He wanted to investigate, He would inevitably and “luckily” stumble upon her background.So
it was better to just say it outright… then issue a small intimidation.
Seizing the moment when the Beast God was stunned by the word “Saintess,” Truth planted one hand on her hip and pointed the other at the Beast God, warning seriously:
“Fair warning—if you dare reveal the fact that I’m a Demon to the Goddess of Life or anyone else…”
With that, Truth’s right hand, still pointing at the Beast God, slowly slid across her own neck, the killing intent obvious. She continued:
“Don’t try any clever tricks. I know that you Rui Beasts have three hearts, and I know that to kill you, all three hearts must be destroyed simultaneously. And conveniently, I happen to know exactly where those three hearts are located, and how to destroy all of them at once.”
“Wh-what?!”
This time, the Beast God was truly panicked. Just who exactly was this Blood Demon?!
She even knew that Rui Beasts possessed three hearts! This was a secret that had almost never been shared outside their species!
If only one heart was destroyed, the Rui Beast wouldn’t die. Instead, it would enter a state of false death and escape…
In the past, when Adventurers killed Rui Beasts in false death, they discovered that no items dropped and no corpse remained. Gradually, Adventurers stopped hunting Rui Beasts—this was one of the methods that allowed Rui Beasts to survive into the present day in a chaotic world.
Back then, even the Demon God couldn’t kill the Beast God because He didn’t know about the three hearts.
This led to the rumor that the Beast God was an immortal being that persisted to this day… But now, this massive secret had just been casually revealed by this Blood Demon right in front of the Beast God, scaring Him half to death.
…
He completely forgot the question He had been planning to ask—”How did you, a Demon, deceive the Goddess of Life into serving as a Saintess under her seat?”—and instead hurriedly asked:
“Where did you learn about the three hearts inside Rui Beasts?”
“Forum Guide, of course.” Truth answered without hesitation:
“I was a bit short on Gold Coins back then. After reading a guide that said killing Rui Beasts dropped tons of Gold Coins, I farmed them for two or three days straight. By now, the moment you Rui Beasts lift your tails, I can tell exactly what move you’re about to pull.”
“You’ve hunted Rui Beasts before?!”
“Oh, that was all in the past. Things are different now.” Truth waved her hand, looking somewhat modest.
But things were indeed different now.
Before she transmigrated, Rui Beasts could respawn anytime, and she could kill as many as she wanted.
Now, Rui Beasts seemed few and far between. If Truth found one, she wouldn’t actually want to kill it—she’d rather capture it and beat up one male and one female…
Then breed them. Maybe she could even build an industry chain out of it.
“What kind of place is the Forum Guide?” The Beast God’s massive head pressed right up against Truth’s face, his huge and urgent breath blowing her hair in every direction.
Truth shoved the Beast God’s enormous head away with a single palm:
“Don’t poke your nose at me!”
The Beast God was pushed aside by Truth, the brutal force snapping Him back to calm:
“My apologies, I was too impatient…”
The Beast God apologized to Truth for the third time, while Truth’s threat level continued to climb in His mind.
As long as Truth lived another day, the Beast God wouldn’t be able to sleep well at night.
“And you? What’s your name?” Truth asked, but the Beast God shook His head:
“I don’t have a name. How should I put it… For centuries, Humans have always called me Rui Beast. It wasn’t until I obtained the Divine Authority that people started calling me Lord Beast God. If it’s all right with you, just call me Beast God.”
“Fine. From now on, I’ll call you Little Rui.” Truth nodded.
“Um… Little, Little what?”
“Little Rui. Aren’t you a Rui Beast? The name fits perfectly. Alright, no need to thank me. Congratulations on having your very own name today!
Now that we’ve taken care of that, I still have a bunch of questions to ask you…” Truth narrowed her eyes and spoke word by word:
“I ask. You answer.”
“But I still have many questions I want to ask…”
“I ask. You answer!”
…
“Stop asking, stop asking! I really don’t know what’s going on either, meow!”
Inside Truth’s cabin, unable to summon Lord Beast God no matter how hard she tried, the most anxious person there—Ariel—kept grabbing Wilona’s arm and shaking it violently, demanding to know what was happening.
Just moments ago, Wilona had pulled out the Bone Flute and given Ariel hope of freedom.
But now, that hope had been doused in an instant, sending Ariel’s emotions on a roller coaster ride.
“Try the first melody you played again! The first time you played it, didn’t it unleash that Summoning Power?”
Ariel said urgently. At this moment, she didn’t dare look at Little Mist beside her at all.
Wilona also replied somewhat frantically:
“We already tried the first melody three times, didn’t we? The last two times, there was no Summoning Power. Maybe Lord Beast God has taken back the soul-summoning power, meow!”
“What?! Has Lord Beast God simply abandoned you?”
“Don’t… don’t say nonsense like that, meow! Lord Beast God would never abandon me. He must just be busy. Maybe if we wait a little longer, He’ll respond, meow!”
“Wait a little longer…” Ariel’s voice began to tremble, and she slowly took two steps back.
If she waited any longer, she might just drop dead right here… So she’d been played after all. Hah, Ariel let out a cold laugh.
What was she thinking, actually believing that this little cat could directly summon a deity to save her from the depths of despair?
Looking at it now, she felt so stupid. This was obviously just an excuse that Blood Demon made up to toy with her.
Sure enough, she’d been played again. The Demon probably wanted to watch her emotions swing from hope to despair just to enjoy the look of collapse on her face…
Ariel took a deep breath, then walked over to Little Mist, who wore a slightly relieved expression, and knelt down without the slightest hesitation! She sobbed:
“If I could make one small request… please don’t torment me. Just let me die quick and clean…”
“Lady Ariel?!”
Little Mist was startled by Ariel’s sudden action. She had just been relieved that Wilona hadn’t actually summoned a deity, but then suddenly Ariel was kneeling before her?
Wilona was also completely stunned on the side. Then Ariel faced Little Mist directly and said:
“Are you still going to keep up the act? Enough. It’s not needed anymore… I did have thoughts of running away, so do whatever you want with me…”
Huh? What was Ariel thinking? Little Mist felt at a loss… Oh! Ariel still believed she was Truth!
And earlier, she had said right in front of her that she wanted to escape with her.
That meant Ariel thought she’d admitted her escape plan right in front of Truth and was afraid Truth would retaliate harshly?
Once she roughly understood Ariel’s little concerns, Little Mist glanced at Wilona, who also looked at Little Mist with confusion.
Both of their eyes were filled with bewilderment, neither knowing what to do now.
“What’s wrong with Lady Ariel…” Wilona quietly whispered to Little Mist. What did Ariel mean by “acting” just now?
Little Mist quickly came up with an excuse:
“Ma-maybe because her escape plan fell through, the shock was too great, so she’s a bit mentally unstable… maybe?”
“What?! It’s that serious, meow?!”
Wilona was alarmed. Though it made sense—Mother once said that if you don’t get sunlight for a long time, mental problems can develop. And Ariel had been stuck in the Mist for so long…
With that thought, Wilona immediately crouched down, grabbed Ariel by the shoulders, shook her, and shouted loudly:
“Lady Ariel, pull yourself together! Don’t worry, I will definitely get you out of here. Whatever you do, don’t lose your mind right now, meow!”
But Ariel ignored Wilona’s words. Instead, she peacefully closed her eyes and continued speaking to Little Mist:
“If possible, please don’t hurt the Cat. Punish only me for this… Hermit.”
“What?! Meow?!”
Wilona was startled again. Lady Ariel had gone so insane that she was mistaking Truth for the Hermit! What were they supposed to do now?!
Little Mist didn’t know what to do either, just spinning in circles, thinking frantically:
“I… I’ve got it. How about we just let Lady Ariel go rest in her room? Maybe she’ll be fine after sleeping it off.”
“Really?” Wilona then said seriously to Ariel:
“Lady Ariel, let me take you to your room to rest, meow!”
With that, she tried to pull Ariel up, but no matter what, the latter didn’t budge, still kneeling before Little Mist:
“I only listen to the Hermit robot…”
Only listen to the Hermit robot? Wilona was stunned for a moment, then quickly devised a solution:
“Truth, give her an order quickly! She’s treating you as the Hermit right now, meow!”
“Oh, oh!” Little Mist quickly nodded and commanded:
“Ariel, I command you to go rest in your room right now!”
“Really?!” Ariel’s face lit up with shock:
“Then the Hermit robot won’t punish me for trying to escape?”
“No, I promise there will be no blame!”
“Wonderful!” Ariel nearly wept with joy upon hearing those words.
Then she shuffled forward on her knees, hugged Little Mist’s legs, and shouted with a tearful voice:
“Hermit, I will remember your kindness forever!”
“Al-alright, hurry to your room and rest. Wilona and I will… will think more about the Bone Flute!”
“Mm…”
Only then did Ariel nod, turn around, and head upstairs. The corners of her mouth couldn’t help but curl up slightly…
No, I can’t laugh yet. I have to hold it in!
Just as she reached the top of the stairs and disappeared from Little Mist and Wilona’s view, Ariel’s body gave a sudden jolt.The
The smile she’d been suppressing finally broke free. She stomped her foot excitedly and whispered:
“Finally, finally I’ve bluffed my way through! Just as I thought, that Seeker Demon can’t read minds. It can’t read what’s in my head. If it could, I’d have been dead long ago.”
“Good thing I knew that in times like this, I had to act with total sincerity. Hah, even a Demon was moved by my performance, right? Wonderful, I’ve survived one more day!”
At that moment, while Ariel stood at the second-floor stairwell gloating to herself, worried as they were, Little Mist and Wilona poked their little heads up from the bottom of the stairs, watching Ariel acting deranged.Little
Little Mist tilted her head and whispered in confusion:
“What is Lady Ariel saying? Something about ‘performance’ and ‘survived one more day’? And those weird movements… She hasn’t actually gone crazy, has she?!”
In response, Ariel merely let out a light cough, then showed the two downstairs a pitiful, wronged expression.
She then returned to her room and slammed the door shut with a bang…