The words "I want to marry you" still echoed in the air like a thunderclap, their weight crashing down on his stunned mind. For a mont, the luxurious surroundings, the silken bed, the carved jade walls, the faint scent of incense drifting through the air—all of it faded into the background.
His mind was blank.
No—it wasn’t blank. It was boiling.
What the hell is wrong with this girl?
The rage swelled up in him like a tide, pounding against the walls of his restraint. Fuck her! Who the hell does she think she is, saying sothing like that with a smile, like she’s talking about buying a dress?!
His fingers twitched, his jaw clenched.
But he didn’t let it show.
He took a deep breath.
He suppressed it.
No matter how strong the urge to snap back at her, he couldn’t afford to. Not now. Especially not now.
Because ng Hao was no fool. Even if his pride was bruised, even if his heart burned with confusion and fury, he understood one truth very clearly:
His life hung by a thread. And that thread was wrapped around this girl’s fingers.
He forced the anger down, locked it in a dark corner of his heart, and put on a composed face.
Even his voice was calm when he finally spoke. "Your Highness... so that’s the reason," he said lightly, even offering a small, asured smile. "Why didn’t you say so from the beginning?"
Mo Zhou blinked once in surprise, as though she hadn’t expected such a smooth response.
Her crimson eyes sparkled with amusent as she tilted her head. "Accepted so easily?" she said, her voice carrying a tinge of curiosity. "You seem like soone who knows how to survive. I like that."
She laughed softly, the sound echoing lodiously through the chamber like silver chis swaying in a cold breeze.
ng Hao didn’t smile this ti.
He couldn’t.
That laugh, to him, was anything but comforting. It was the kind of laugh a predator might make after toying with its prey.
Still, he knew he had to play along. He had to understand what was going on, and more importantly, how to survive it.
"If that was your only intention," he said smoothly, "then there was no need for your... subordinate to attack . If you had sent word, I would have co willingly."
Mo Zhou raised an eyebrow and gave a delicate shrug.
"Oh? Is that so?" she said lazily. "But I didn’t know who you were at the ti. I rely sent my puppet to bring back so Golden Core cultivators. I needed them for a ritual I’ve been experinting with—an ancient demonic technique."
She said it with such calm nonchalance that ng Hao felt a chill run down his spine.
To her, hunting Golden Core cultivators was no different than fishing in a lake.
"But by coincidence," she went on, "you were one of the ones brought to my attention. I saw you through her eyes... and I changed my mind."
Her lips curled slightly. "Instead of sacrificing you, I decided to keep you."
ng Hao’s stomach twisted.
So it was just dumb luck. I happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong ti.
He forced himself to remain composed.
Damn it... ng Hao cursed internally, his expression calm but his heart burning with helpless fury. Of all the paths I could’ve chosen... of all the damned tis to leave the sect... it had to be now!
His thoughts spiraled.
Why now—just when this lunatic demoness decided to send out her subordinates like fishern casting nets, hunting Golden Core cultivators like they were nothing more than livestock?
He clenched his fists under the silk bed sheets, his knuckles whitening beneath the fabric. Though his face remained serene, his mind was a battlefield of self-recrimination.
No... I can’t bla fate alone.
A bitter realization sank in like a blade.
It was my fault. My arrogance. I didn’t even bother to suppress my cultivation while traveling. I strutted about like I was invincible, thinking no one in this region would dare make a move against —not with the system behind .
But I was wrong. Dead wrong.
He glanced at Mo Zhou again, watching her as she leaned with graceful indifference against a pillar wrapped in dark vines etched into jade. Her presence didn’t need to be loud—she radiated danger simply by existing. Her aura was calm, subdued even, but beneath that calm lay an overwhelming sense of control.
A spider that didn’t need to rush, because her web had already been woven.
This girl... she’s not just powerful. She’s from the Heavenly Demon Sect... One of the top demonic sects in the continent. Who knows how many terrifying thods she has at her disposal?
And now, here he was—in a private chamber deep within their territory, under the gaze of a young lady who held both his life and death in the palm of her hand.
I thought I was clever. I thought I could ga the system, rise with charm, manipulate won, avoid battles...
He almost laughed.
But this? This is a completely different level.
Still, he wasn’t one to be paralyzed by fear. The modern part of his soul—the part that had once faced a different kind of jungle, one of cutthroat ambition and survival—sharpened under pressure.
His panic gave way to calculation.
His eyes narrowed slightly as a thought occurred to him.
He lifted his gaze toward her and, in a calm tone that belied the rapid thudding of his heart, asked, "So... you were watching from afar the entire ti?"
Mo Zhou shook her head, her black robes swaying with the movent like shadows cast by flickering firelight.
"No. I wasn’t there," she said. "The one you t—the woman in green—wasn’t human. She was a puppet."
ng Hao’s breath caught.
"A puppet?" he repeated.
Mo Zhou nodded. "A Divine Transformation realm puppet, to be exact. A gift from my mother. Bound to my soul. I can see what she sees, hear what she hears. She’s my eyes and ears in the outside world... and completely under my control."
There was pride in her voice, but more than that—a sense of invulnerability.
ng Hao stared at her.
Divine Transformation realm? That puppet... was that powerful?
It finally made sense. The suffocating pressure. The effortless strength. The feeling of helplessness in her grip.
It hadn’t been human strength.
It had been sothing... beyond.
And more importantly—
That explains it, he thought, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
That day in the forest... when I was nearly strangled to death by that puppet... I didn’t get any system notification. Not a single favorability update. I thought my charm had failed. I thought I had finally t soone immune to .
He almost laughed bitterly.
Turns out... I was trying to seduce a puppet.
That wasn’t failure—it was bad luck.
Still, that realization didn’t bring comfort.
If anything, it deepened his sense of danger.
This girl... Mo Zhou. She controls puppets stronger than most sect elders. She treats life like a toy. And now... she says she wants to marry .
His smile returned, faint but polite. "I see. So that’s what happened."
Mo Zhou crossed her arms and leaned slightly against a pillar near the window, watching him closely.
"You don’t seem too angry," she noted.
"I’m alive," he said simply. "And I know how to read the room."
A flicker of amusent crossed her eyes. "A wise response."
ng Hao gave a small bow from where he sat. "But Your Highness... may I ask why you’ve taken such an interest in ?"
Mo Zhou didn’t answer right away. Instead, she turned her gaze toward the balcony, where morning light spilled into the chamber, casting golden rays on the floor. Her black hair shimred like ink in the sun.
"You interest ," she said at last. "Your charm is strange. It isn’t like a normal allure. It tugs at the heart, clouds the mind... and yet you still act like prey, not predator."
ng Hao’s eyes darkened.
She had seen through him more than he expected.
He quickly masked his emotions and smiled faintly. "Your Highness flatters ."
But deep inside, he was calculating.
If she’s this interested, that ans I have leverage. Charm stat aside, if I play this carefully, I might gain power, knowledge, even access to this sect. But I need to know more... especially how much she already feels for .
At that mont, a thought crossed his mind.
He ntally activated the system.
"System," he whispered in his consciousness. "Show any new favorability notification."
If she truly desired him, if her feelings had already taken root—even slightly—he needed to know the depth of her attachnt.
Because every star of favorability... was a thread of control.
And if he wanted to survive in this hellish world filled with monsters like her, he’d need to beco a monster too—one with charm, wit, and no hesitation to use both.
As the system’s familiar golden interface began to flash quietly in his mind’s eye, ng Hao exhaled slowly and prepared himself.
Ti to see just how much control I really have.
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