Chapter 112: Chapter 114: Peeping
The convoy had left White City for three days, traveling along a dirt road. There were two horse-drawn carriages in the convoy, and two of them were cargo carts. Including the coachmen and servants, there were a total of ten people in the convoy, and the weapons were the knives carried by the coachmen and the sword at the waist of the steward.
Originally, they had hired a group of mercenaries when coming to White City, but upon arrival, they were dismissed. According to the steward, “The master has decreed that mercenaries are nothing but crude and lecherous folks. They might disturb the young lady and spoil the journey’s good mood.”
Ji Ma suspected it was to save on the cost of hiring mercenaries.
In these three days, the convoy was robbed once. Upon seeing the bandits, the steward couldn’t keep the name of the holy maiden from helping, and ran to Jenna’s carriage, knocking on the door and begging her to take action.
At that time, it was early morning, and Jenna had just woken up, with her hair not even properly tied. She stretched out her hand from the carriage and blasted out a dazzling light ball that frightened the robbers away.
“I originally wanted to ride back home by myself,” Jenna complained while yawning and tying her hair. “But my father is worried that the people I hired have bad intentions, and might ambush me while I sleep. He insisted on sending a loyal steward along with two cargo carts fully loaded with goods to White City for sale. It must be cloth; I can smell the stench of the paint from the carts.”
Ji Ma listened to complaints like this at least ten times a day, gaining a more intuitive understanding of the tense relationship between the father and daughter.
Every time Jenna complained, Ji Ma would echo her, but she carefully controlled the intensity of her complaints to avoid offending Jenna’s father. She knew very well that as an outsider, no matter how much Jenna disliked her father, their bond was still that of a parent and child. If she went too far and insulted Jenna’s father, any reconciliation would probably leave her disliked.
Ji Ma could deeply relate to this. A senior colleague in her company had a wife who cheated, and everyone knew, but no one told him. Ji Ma remembered how the old colleague had helped her when she first joined, showing her how to use the framework, and so she directly confronted him in front of others, exposing his wife’s lies.
That senior colleague stormed home and had a huge fight with his wife, telling her to get out. After his wife left, she went to stay at her lover’s place for the night. Later, they heard that they reconciled, as they had a four-year-old child.
However, ever since they reconciled, that senior colleague never looked at Ji Ma again with a kind face.
Later, Ji Ma heard that the senior colleague privately said she was “the one who saw the corpse and didn’t mind the stink” and insulted his wife by calling her a “slut” and “whore,” damaging their marital relationship.
From then on, they never spoke again.
Unfortunately, even though Ji Ma carefully engaged with Jenna, she still couldn’t convince Jenna to explore the mysteries of human composition with her.
On the evening of the fourth day, in Ji Ma’s private tent. She had fought for this tent, telling Jenna that she needed a private space.
The black-haired demon girl knelt on the rug, holding a compass in her hands, channeling magical energy into it.
The “compass” was one of the most precious things she brought back from her trip to Shalin City. This extraordinary item could point to what one’s heart was familiar with and desired. The more familiar one was, the better the effect. It was a key left behind when Ji Ma was still the Demon King, used to find the fragments of the Demon King’s crown.
Ji Ma’s long lashes closed together as she visualized the “fragments of the Demon King’s crown.” They were three fingers wide, sharp metal fragments held by a dark mist, with a colorless gem embedded in them. There were five pieces in total, and it was said that if they were collected together, they could automatically transform into one crown.
Crowning the demon world, the person wearing the crown would possess supreme power to rule over it.
Ji Ma firmly believed in this legend because anyone able to collect the fragments of the crown would surely have the strength to eliminate all opponents. The demon clan has always respected the strong, where the strong slay the weak, a process that eliminates the weak and makes the clan stronger.
This legend suddenly became a reality before Ji Ma’s eyes.
Ji Ma was astonished to find herself standing atop the highest peak of the seven peaks on the desolate plain of the demon world. Beneath the peak spread an endless army of demons, with war mastiffs as tall as adult shoulders, giants three stories high, more numerous than trees in the forest, and black dragon wings blotting out the sky above.
Surrounding the base of the peak was a group of chosen ones, their eyes glowing red, towering nearly three meters high, clad in heavy armor with the skulls of heroes hanging from their armor, including dwarves, elves, and humans… all were the warriors who attempted to stop the massacre but ended up being slaughtered.
Only demon warriors who killed enough and strong enemies would be favored by the Blood God and become chosen ones. Now, all of them knelt on one knee before Ji Ma, far exceeding anyone she had seen in her lifetime.
As long as she raised a finger, pointing west, toward the human realm, this countless army of demons would annihilate the royal mountains, the empire, and the kingdom of Bartow, crossing vast oceans to conquer High Elf. Among the earth, grand structures would be erected in her honor. With just a word, all beautiful princesses and queens in the world would be sent to her palace.
Except for the elf queen, she would be whipped until she could no longer utter a single rude word.
Ji Ma almost raised her finger, but then she touched her face plate with the hand she had lifted and scoffed, “The chosen ones of the entire demon world have surrendered to me, how is this possible? It must be false.”
It felt like a trap, but what kind of trap? The crucial knowledge seemed to have been deliberately extracted from her mind, and she couldn’t think of it for the time being.
Just as she was pondering, a heart-stirring female voice sounded behind her:
“Your Majesty.”
Ji Ma turned around to see a beautiful woman with black dragon horns adorning her head, a sexy and captivating figure, dressed in a pitch-black bikini armor that exposed large areas of her white chest and thighs. She was a black dragon, showing Ji Ma a respectful and admiring smile: “Your generals have assembled.”
As soon as she finished speaking, behind the black dragon girl appeared tall, distinctively styled beauties—succubi, dragon maidens, and others in maid attire holding staves.
This is my harem.
Ji Ma put aside her thoughts and walked toward her harem, saying: “That’s enough for today, let’s go warm up first, and disperse the army.”
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
As Ji Ma walked, she suddenly asked, “Where’s George?”
“Is he the lucky mortal who managed to leave a scratch on your chest?” the black dragon girl said. “He’s gone mad; his fiancée has become your worshipper.”
“Wow, I didn’t know I was that impressive.”
“Your Majesty, you truly have a great sense of humor.”
“Bring me a mirror,” Ji Ma lifted her face plate. “I want to see my face.”
When the mirror was brought, it reflected a blurry male face.
It shouldn’t be like this.
The face in the mirror cleared, transforming into that of a girl, who smiled slightly, revealing small canine teeth beneath her cherry lips.
This is unreasonable; as a Demon King, why, with such a powerful and capable harem, do I still have a female form? At this level, there are a thousand ways to revert to being male.
A crack appeared in the mirror, extending from her harem to the endless demon army below the peak.
The world before her shattered like a smashed mirror.
Suddenly, she returned to the dimly lit tent, with a compass lying quietly in her palm.
Ji Ma felt a sharp headache, a cold sweat trickling down her cheek onto the compass, which was firmly pointing east, the direction of the empire.
Nearly half her magical power was spent; she loosened her grip, and the compass fell onto her lap, the needle swinging erratically.
At that moment, the memories that had been deliberately removed returned to Ji Ma’s mind. She remembered that using the compass to point toward the “fragments of the Demon King’s crown” would lead to the previous illusion.
The fragments of the Demon King’s crown promised power, beauty, and other desires. The more one understood it, the more susceptible one became to its disturbance.
When Ji Ma pointed the compass toward the fragments of the Demon King’s crown, it also “saw” her, thus being influenced by her.
Ji Ma self-deprecatingly smiled: “I didn’t expect to realize it was an illusion because I felt inferior, thinking I didn’t have that capability.”
She put away the compass, feeling an even stronger desire for power. Being gold, using the compass once depleted half of her magical power; at this stage, she wasn’t suitable for searching for the fragments of the Demon King’s crown. Moreover, such a powerful item would never simply lie on some riverbank, waiting for her to walk over and pick it up while everything becomes perfect.
She needed to become stronger, yet in these few days, she had not found a way for a “witch” to grow stronger.
During these days, she had been experimenting with her divination abilities.
Ji Ma opened her personal information system, and the information bar had not been refreshed for a long time.
At least divination wasn’t a way to level up.
Ji Ma sighed and put away the compass.
Who knows what a witch should do? Do I have to ride a broom through dark gatherings, adopt a black cat, or concoct a pile of strange potions?
At this moment, the tent on Ji Ma’s left moved slightly, as if someone outside was eavesdropping.
Ji Ma remained composed, moving towards a basin of washing water, closing her eyes to perceive her surroundings.
Ji Ma heard countless winds blowing towards her; using her intuition, she reached out and grasped a wisp of wind, tossing it into the basin, her fingertip touching the water’s surface.
Ripples spread from her fingertip, and the water’s surface suddenly became clear, revealing an image.
Outside Ji Ma’s tent squatted a servant, shadows obscuring his small body. Ji Ma recognized him; he was the steward’s lackey, obediently doing whatever the steward commanded, even more compliant than a dog.
Ji Ma also knew that the steward had sent him to find out about her extraordinary abilities. She had entered the steward’s dreams and knew he had asked Jenna, who remained tight-lipped and hadn’t mentioned Ji Ma’s extraordinary abilities at all.
She also knew that Jenna’s father had given him a strict order to investigate the extraordinary abilities of Jenna’s friends.
To put forth “appropriate” requests for repayment.
However, Ji Ma didn’t expect that under her continued silence, the steward would actually send someone to spy.
Ji Ma felt a wave of nausea, followed by a sense of panic.
She didn’t know if he had quietly cut a hole in the tent to peek when she took out the compass, which was her biggest secret.
Although to a mortal, it would mean nothing, once he leaked the news, those with intentions would surely be able to deduce something.
Perhaps it’s better to just kill him.
Ji Ma’s face darkened but then felt it was inappropriate. She couldn’t disregard Jenna’s face, and besides, she still needed the power of Jenna’s family.
She lightly tapped the water basin with her fingers, pondering a good way.
A way to confirm whether the other side had spied on the previous scene and a means to prevent being spied upon.
