Ye Liusu had been expecting this, but Ye Liubo’s expression changed. She was afraid of defying the matriarch’s orders, so she glanced at Li Qingshan before kneeling down in the hall.
“Do you understand your crimes?”
“I understand my crimes.” Ye Liusu bent over. All Ye Liubo could do was lower her head too.
“Elder Mingjing, how should they be punished for their crimes?”
“They’ve lost the territory. They should be punished in the snake cavern,” the old woman said coldly.
“Yes.” Ye Liusu did not object at all.
Ye Liubo trembled as fear filled her face. She felt a hand land on her head, and Li Qingshan said, “Liubo has already accepted me as her master. She’s no longer bound to your rules.” Only then did she ease up.
“Traitors of the clan should be put to death by slow slicing!”
“Matriarch Ye.”
Ye Liubo looked at Li Qingshan, like a person in despair desperately reaching for her last ray of hope. Li Qingshan looked at Ye Mingzhu. Do you really still want to put on your airs as a matriarch at a time like this?
“Sir Northmoon, you’re making this difficult for me. The rules of the clan cannot be defied. There is no room for discussion here! However, in consideration of our friendship, I’m willing to compensate you. Liushui, Liuyun.”
“What are your orders, matriarch?” Two girls who originally sat further down from Ye Liubo walked over. They were both rare beauties too.
“From today onwards, you are sir Northmoon’s servants. You’ll do whatever sir Northmoon wants you to do.”
“Yes!” The two of them answered together.
“One for two. That’s not a bad deal.” Li Qingshan smiled.
“Master!” Ye Liubo turned ashen as she wailed out.
“However, that won’t work.”
“Are you dissatisfied with this compensation, sir Northmoon? If that’s the case, let me know what you want. The Night Roaming folk might be lacking in various aspects, but the number of beauties we have is not one of them. If there’s any of my daughters who’ve caught your eyes, just let me know.”
“Really?” Li Qingshan looked at Ye Liusu on the ground before glancing at Ye Liuxing, which made her heart tighten.
Throughout this process, Ye Liubo felt like her heart had sunken into a cavern of ice, filled with coldness. In the underground world, betrayal was commonplace. This was not the first place she had tasted betrayal. However, it was the first time she felt so despaired and furious. She could not help but mock herself. Did she really just believe him? Believe that he would protect her?
Li Qingshan scanned past Ye Mingzhu’s daughters before returning his gaze to Ye Mingzhu. He said slowly, “Respect, respect.”
“What do you mean?”
“As my servant, there’s nothing wrong even if she has to die for me. However, she’s a servant, not goods. Even if I’m the master, I must respect that. I can’t just betray her like this. So, even if you offer me a higher price, I still won’t accept.”
“Master.” Ye Liubo raised her head in disbelief, gazing at his face. She felt like her heart had risen from hell to heaven. She actually could not help but tear up slightly.
Ye Liusu was touched too. She stopped worrying. As it seems, Liubo hasn’t chosen the wrong person this time.
Ye Mingzhu frowned. “I find this to be quite a pity. For the sake of an insignificant bitch, you’re damaging the long-term relationship between us. Don’t you find it to be quite unworthwhile?”
“To be honest, none of your daughters are worth more than her. Liubo, I never told you to kneel.”
“Yes, master.” Ye Liubo glanced at Ye Mingzhi before standing up slowly, holding her chest high. She felt extremely proud to be able to look down on someone who had once made her bow and scrape.
“If you find this unacceptable, I can go make deals with the other matriarchs. I think they’ll be very willing too.” With that, the atmosphere in the room immediately became tense once more.
“Since you’re so persistent, fine!” Ye Mingzhu let out a sigh. All she could do was hold back her fury. Her face coldened. “Ye Liusu, since you know your crimes already, then you can be punished immediately. Take her away!”
“Sister!” Ye Liubo could not help but call out. The punishment of the snake cavern involved sealing all their strength and being bitten at by thousands of snakes. The venom of the snakes might not be fatal, but it was extremely painful.
“Hold on.”
“Sir Northmoon, what else do you have to say?” Ye Mingzhu squinted her eyes, searching for an opportunity she could make use of.
“I’m not your servant.” Ye Liusu’s eyes flickered, remaining cold.
“You will be very soon. Matriarch, I have another question. Do you still want to make use of this piece of territory?”
“Of course.” Ye Mingzhu’s eyes immediately lit up. The importance of the territory went without saying, but she had never been bold enough to mention something like sharing the territory to Li Qingshan. Daemons were extremely territorial, so something like that was no different from a naked insult. It was like asking a man to lend his wife. A request like that could make short-tempered Daemon Generals immediately turn hostile.
“I’ve always had a great dislike for trivial matters, so I want a servant to take care of them for me.” Li Qingshan actually had no interest in the territory. All he wanted were the underground resources. He had no plans to remain underground, guarding his territory. He still had someone waiting for him in the human world.
Under these circumstances, Milliped could not even make the daemons below submit out of fear with his current strength, and the territory could easily be annexed by other Daemon Generals. He required a suitable person to take charge. Unfortunately, Ye Liubo had yet to undergo the heavenly tribulation, so by taking a step back, Ye Liusu became the most optimal choice. Of course, he would never accept something like sharing the territory. He would only accept a master-servant relationship for this territory.
“Ye Liusu, from today onwards, you are sir Northmoon’s servant. You will obey all of his orders. You are no longer bound to the Spider Shadow clan,” Ye Mingzhu said immediately, as if she was afraid Li Qingshan would change his mind. She might become a servant, but this was just decided on a whim. There was no one more loyal to the Spider Shadow clan than Ye Liusu.
“Matriarch!” Ye Liusu, who had always accepted everything, finally could not help but object. Under Ye Mingzhu’s gaze, all she could do was grit her teeth and lower her head. “Yes, mother!”
Li Qingshan suddenly connected the dots. So they really were a mother and daughter pair, but he did not dwell on the matter for too long either. So what if the night roamers wanted to make use of this territory? He did not care at all. Moreover, loyalty could change with time.
“This servant, Ye Liusu, greets her master.” Ye Liusu arrived before Li Qingshan and bowed. She was hugged by Ye Liubo, who smiled. “Sister, we’re both master’s servants from now on.”
Ye Liusu smiled bitterly inside. Never had she seen someone accept her position as a servant so happily. However, a night roamer, her own mother for god’s sake, actually paled in comparison to a daemon in terms of the respect she could show?
In the end, Ye Mingzhu realised she had lost nothing at all and gained a powerful ally instead. If she returned this piece of territory to the daemons, the Spider Shadow clan could ease up. They would no longer be a target of the other clans, which would instead be good news. Once they had built up sufficient strength, it would be time for them to claim their debts of blood. She was extremely satisfied with this result, and she felt glad she had not chosen mutual annihilation.
“This Northmoon really is different, and he’s extremely handsome too. She actually doesn’t have anyone who can rival him within her harem.” Ye Mingzhu curled her lips and let out a charming smile.
Afterwards, the atmosphere became harmonious once more. Ye Liubo sat down beside Li Qingshan, pouring him alcohol and feeding him while making a lot of intimate contact. Ye Liusu was helpless, so she just stood beside him with her hand on her dagger like a guard.
Ye Mingzhu even invited him enthusiastically to a deeper conversation in her room. Li Qingshan glanced at the pale Ye Liusu before glancing at the mature, charming Ye Mingzhu. In the end, he turned her down reluctantly.
Being in arms reach but unable to eat them was tantalizing. However, he believed everything he went through for her would be worth it. He wondered if she had emerged from secluded cultivation yet.
After the banquet, Li Qingshan returned to the raging underground river under Ye Mingzhu’s personal lead. They travelled along the flow, heading to Cobweb city to see Spider Queen Lolth.
Li Qingshan demonstrated his ability to control water again, which left Ye Mingzhu secretly amazed. Even water element Daemon Generals could not achieve that unless they possessed the bloodline of a spiritual or exotic beast!
Everything made sense now. There was a reason why a Daemon General who had just emerged from a heavenly tribulation recently could defeat Ye Liusu so easily. She valued Li Qingshan even more now. Daemons with special bloodlines could all become impressive figures as long as they could keep cultivating.
One day, perhaps he would be able to keep pace with the three beside ma’am Lolth.
Li Qingshan controlled the flow and shot off like a flying horse. They reached Cobweb city within fifteen minutes.
The river turned and fell again, but the sound of the waterfall was extremely soft. It originated from very far below.
Li Qingshan was stunned. An unbelievably large space unfurled before him. The raging river twisted and flowed through the vast space, splitting into countless streams.
An imposing, majestic, black castle rose up from the ground, standing several hundred meters tall.
It had actually been sculpted from an entire mountain. The innumerable turrets and spires stood straight and sharp, like countless huge swords of different lengths. They gathered together, pointing towards the sky.
Li Qingshan had never imagined that there would be such a grand structure underground. For a moment, he was actually unable to think of a single structure from his past life that could compare to it.
This was Cobweb city. The Spider Queen reigned over the web-like underground world from here.
It was raining. Only now did Li Qingshan notice that the air was very moist, and it was filled with the smell of sulphur. To the other side of the city, a red-hot river of lava flowed vigorously, also splitting into multiple streams.
Water and fire wove a bizarre web, producing great clouds of steam that rose to the ceiling as dark clouds that never dispersed. They enveloped Cobweb city and constantly drizzled with rain. It made the city seem even more imposing. It actually gave Li Qingshan a false impression that he was unable to tell how tall it stood, even though he could clearly see that the city was connected to the ceiling, supporting this unbelievably large cavern.
“This is the perfect work of art we night roamers have created for the Spider Queen over several centuries!” Ye Mingzhu said proudly.
