Chapter 68: Continuation
In the noble district, beside the special dock.
The poet Disha stood on the edge of the small boat, gazing at the flower boat far out in the sea.
Two three-masted warships circled the flower boat, while the small boat rowed around; from time to time, someone jumped into the water searching for something.
The sunlight shone on him, casting a very faint shadow behind him.
Suddenly, the shadow’s darkness thickened, turning as black as ink; it twisted slightly before gradually settling down.
A smile appeared on his face:
“Brave George?”
“My lord, we’ve arrived at the dock.” The boatman peeked his head out and said to him.
The poet Disha casually grabbed a handful of gold coins from his pocket and pressed them into the boatman’s hands.
The boatman received them with both hands, his eyes wide, looking at the coins in his hand, which were interspersed with silver.
“My… my lord, you are really generous.”
“I’m in a good mood today,” the poet Disha replied with a smile. “By the way, my luggage is in the hold; I’ll be back to pick it up in half an hour.”
“Okay, alright!”
An hour later.
The boatman, having not seen anyone for a long while, curiously walked into the hold. He was shocked to find a cold male corpse that looked exactly like the poet Disha.
The boatman was instantly frightened, his legs weak. He calmed down, took out a burlap bag, and stuffed the body inside, preparing to dispose of it.
He knew of a place where there were plenty of rats.
…
…
On the flower boat.
As the investigation deepened, everyone noticed that one invited guest was missing; as expected by Ji Ma, it was the poet Disha.
Akanis Disha, the poet Disha, directly used his surname as an alias. The Shadow King’s audacity shocked everyone once more.
Someone remembered the incident at the prisoner carnival a few days prior. A noble official responsible for the trial had been swapped for a prisoner and was publicly disemboweled by a horde of frenzied rats on the execution platform, dying despite rescue efforts.
The great benefactor Blanshi sternly ordered everyone not to reveal the investigation results.
Initially, everyone thought Akanis Disha was a pervert hired at a high price by Deepwater City to disrupt the highly anticipated Rainbow Festival.
But now, given his crazy actions, everyone unanimously agreed he might just be a simple pervert.
In the afternoon, George and Ji Ma left the flower boat.
This time, they were not on a leaking, shabby boat but a luxuriously decorated vessel. George discarded his drenched robe and changed into another.
The boat carried the two along with the heavenly warhorse down the river. George steadied himself against the railing, watching the flower boat drift farther away.
Ji Ma, meanwhile, fell into deep thought.
Damn, I’ve only been here for a couple of weeks. The virgin is already tying up loose ends with the great benefactor; I estimate in a few days, he’ll find New Delhi, dissolve his contract, restore his powers, and return to the Sanctum. And I, will continue to rot in prison.
The progress is too fast. I can’t pull off any tricks.
Furrowing her brows, Ji Ma’s expression grew serious.
The plan to deceive the virgin’s emotions needed to be executed immediately.
Someone like him, with no emotional experience, can be easily manipulated; if I trick him into his first love, he will surely do everything to favor me.
As for the difficulty of the deception.
Ji Ma had no confidence. Her time with George made her realize that he was a true steel straight man. Growing up in the Sanctum where honesty was paramount, his nerves were as hardened as stone.
He couldn’t even understand what ambiguity or insinuation meant. As long as it was the truth, he would unconsciously believe it.
In that case.
As long as I overcome my psychological barriers and say openly, “I want to sleep with you.” Ah no, that’s too straightforward; I should say it more subtly, “I want to wake up in the morning and see you first.”
No, someone with his stone-like brain wouldn’t understand insinuations.
Ji Ma stared at George’s profile, imagining herself bluntly proposing something inappropriate between a man and a woman.
She felt discomfort and humiliation, her face flushed.
After all, I used to be a Demon King, and here I am, reduced to this.
Just as she was hesitating, George turned his head and asked:
“Ji Ma.”
“Ah?!” Ji Ma panicked, feeling as if she were planning a bank heist when the police suddenly kicked in the door.
“You’ve been looking at me this whole time, haven’t you?”
“Uh, yes, yes.”
George’s expression was serious as he said, “I’ve had a question for a long time.”
“Let’s skip it; remember you can only say 140 words a day.”
Ji Ma looked around but found no one else; there was just the far-off boatman. And when George spoke, his lips hadn’t moved.
George nodded, reached into his pocket and pulled out some paper and a pen, writing:
“Jenna told me that asking this question to girls is not good, so please be mentally prepared.”
“What question?” Ji Ma asked.
The paper read, “Do you like me?”
In that moment, Ji Ma’s heart stopped; her tail wrapped tightly around her thigh.
She looked into George’s blue eyes; his handsome face bore a serious expression, devoid of any lewdness.
She doubted she had heard wrong; George should have been asking something very serious instead.
She glanced back at the note, the black words on the white paper clear and unavoidable.
Could it be she had misjudged George? On the surface, he seemed like a puritanical steel straight man, wholly devoted to promoting the path of good.
But underneath, he was in fact a closet pervert, secretly harboring a wild interest in someone like her with the long tail. He would wish for her to intertwine tails with him.
Otherwise, it wouldn’t explain why he had a busty blonde childhood friend beside him, yet they hadn’t become intimate.
George waved his hand in front of Ji Ma’s face, bringing her back to reality after she had been dazed for a while.
At this moment, Ji Ma’s mind split into two arguing voices. One shouted:
“Damn it! Bad guy, remember how he stabbed you?”
The other yelled: “Don’t forget, you have to trick him emotionally.”
“What about the dignity of the Demon King?”
“Now you’re a succubus!”
“Does being a succubus mean selling my body? A person’s face matters! It’s not enough to be stabbed by the Holy Sword; now I have to be stabbed by that weapon below as well?”
Ji Ma shook her head, dispelling the arguing voices in her mind, and said:
“There’s absolutely nothing!”
George showed no sign of disappointment; instead, he breathed a sigh of relief and wrote:
“Good. I don’t dislike your demonic identity. I was just worried that our relationship might be problematic. But now it seems our relationship should be quite healthy.”
Ji Ma was unhappy and asked:
“What do you think of the Saintess Jenna?”
“Reliable, kind, holy, and beautiful.”
“If your future wife must be her, would you resent that?”
“Why would I?”
“Then why haven’t you had children yet?”
This stunned George; he felt completely unable to keep up with Ji Ma’s train of thought.
He slowly wrote a “?” on the paper.
“You have known each other since childhood; Jenna has a big chest, is attractive, and is a suitable match. Isn’t it perfectly normal for you two to be together?” Ji Ma said defiantly.
“Your behavior is very reminiscent of what books call jealousy.”
“Answer my question!”
Ji Ma raised her voice, determined to strip away George’s hypocritical mask today and reveal his true self.
George shook his head in confusion and wrote:
“I once asked her the same question as just now, and her answer was quite similar to yours, but she was very angry. I think, from a certain perspective, I have sullied our friendship.”
Ji Ma: . . .
“You just asked her directly?”
George nodded and continued writing:
“I remember once, when I was fighting for the title of rookie champion on the arena, she was cheering for me below, watching me with a slightly flushed face.”
“Teacher Gregory told me this is a sign that a girl likes you. So, I asked her directly, ‘You kept staring at me today in the arena, your face was red, do you like me?’ She got very angry and hit me on the head with her staff.”
“She said she was just happy for her playmate’s victory out of friendship, and that was the truth. From then on, I meditated in my room for a day, reflecting on myself.”
“I thought I had sullied the purity of our friendship. That’s why she was so angry. Since she was telling the truth, I decided to maintain the purity of our friendship.”
“After that, she seemed very happy, personally made me some bread to eat, which was terrible. But it was her kindness, so I told her about my reflections, and for some reason, she got angry again and smashed the bread on my head.”
“How strange.”
Ji Ma couldn’t help but ask, “How old were you then?”
“I was thirteen, she was twelve.”
Ji Ma felt a sense of superiority wash over her.
Although in her past life she was deceived by women, losing both wealth and credibility, and hadn’t had any romantic relationships in this world, relying on purchasing and seizing. Compared to George, she was a true love guru.
Ji Ma asked in a tone of teaching: “Though I am just a young succubus, I know what women think.”
George wrote: “What do they think?”
Ji Ma was about to spill the secret but suddenly recalled. If that were the case, the virgin’s first love was none other than Saintess Jenna?
That was pushing a busty blonde into George’s arms! The thought of George being with a woman even more beautiful than her maid made Ji Ma very displeased.
Moreover, if George and Jenna got together, how would she deceive George’s affections?
“That’s because girls don’t like hearing topics like that; it implies you have intentions towards them.” Ji Ma said seriously, “The physiological outcomes for women mean they find it very difficult to bear the costs of intercourse; getting pregnant is too tough.”
George nodded, signaling her to continue.
“Therefore, when she hears your reflections that imply you have intentions toward her, of course she won’t be happy… that should be it.”
George suddenly realized, writing on the paper: “Thank you, you’ve resolved my doubts from years past.”
Another truth deceiving the virgin, and cutting off his chances of getting out of his single life.
Ji Ma’s tail happily tightened around her leg.
Alright, the next step is to start the deception plan.
Ji Ma stared at George, contemplating how to initiate the scheme.
She hesitantly spoke:
“Um… George, I have a question too. Do you think I’m old enough to date now?”
George appraised Ji Ma, who was a head shorter than him.
The succubus girl had matured beautifully, her calves elegantly curved beneath her dress, charmingly long. She wore a captivating smile, less innocent and more womanly.
She was no longer a small girl.
George wrote to Ji Ma, who was a head shorter than him:
“If you use your beauty to seduce and hunt men, I will stop you.”
Ji Ma’s smile faltered as she replied:
“I have no interest in other men at all!”
George nodded and wrote: “Then it’s good.”
“Can we be friends?”
Ji Ma asked directly, planning to establish a solid friendship first before escalating it to something more than friends, yet less than lovers.
George wrote:
“Based on my experience, you must have ulterior motives.”
“Hey, didn’t you say you wouldn’t discriminate?”
“That’s normal reasoning.” George continued writing, “Answer my question; do you have ulterior motives? No? If I offended you, silence would count as an admission.”
Ji Ma found herself in a bind, unsure how to respond. She crossed her arms and said:
“Of course… yes, fine! I’m really angry right now, just consider it me lashing out.”
“Your honesty is commendable.” George continued writing, “Can you tell me what your ulterior motives are? I won’t punish you; on the contrary, I’ll reward you with five conduct points.”
Her ulterior motive was to seduce you.
Ji Ma felt her face flush with embarrassment, realizing she had lost her ground. She jumped up, stomping on George’s foot in anger, and huffed as she walked away.
