Chapter 427: The Girl Is About to Move Into a Cage?

Evening.

Su Nian suddenly sat up from the bed, the blanket sliding down to her waist.

She recalled the events of the day.

‘Study… coffee…’

“Aaaaaah——!”

She grabbed her pillow and pressed it tightly against her face, letting out a muffled scream.

The pillow was stuffed with goose down, soft as a cloud, but it couldn’t block the scalding shame that surged from the soles of her feet all the way up to her head.

What had he said?

Still… he wanted her to drink it every single day?

“Sweet and mellow”?

Su Nian buried her face deeper, wishing she could stuff herself into the pillow’s seam.

Her sky-blue eyes were tightly shut, lashes trembling like butterfly wings, but her mind uncontrollably replayed that scene over and over—

“Thump thump thump.”

Her heartbeat pounded against her ribcage like a war drum.

“Current Humiliation Value Total: 82,350,000. Still 17,650,000 short of 100 million.”

Su Nian froze for a moment.

Even though making coffee using that special method was humiliating…

But, she had at least gained Humiliation Value.

When she thought about it afterward, it wasn’t so bad… not as hard to accept.

Compared to the beginning, when that Horned Demon Bastard had imprisoned and claimed her, this was progress.

Besides she could treat the Demon Master’s demands as a way to earn Humiliation Value.

In this world, it’s hard to make money and even harder to swallow your pride.

Humiliation Value was something far more valuable than money, and at least this wasn’t a humiliating incident in front of outsiders.

It was just her and the Horned Demon—two of them.

Whatever needs arose, she would naturally fulfill them.

Over the next two days, Su Nian calmed down a lot after coming to this realization.

She glanced at her current Humiliation Value.

“Current Humiliation Value Total: 83,150,000. Still 16,850,000 short of 100 million.”

It was still too slow.

Many times, once she got used to something, the sense of humiliation would gradually fade, and the Humiliation Value would plummet.

She understood the system’s rules—any event, once experienced repeatedly…

The special coffee was the perfect example.

From the initial hundreds of thousands, it had dropped to only a hundred thousand now.

In another ten-odd days, once she was fully accustomed, it would probably be less than ten thousand.

A lot had happened outside in the past two days.

After their Saintess was captured, the Allied Forces were in chaos.

Some advocated for rescuing the Saintess first, others thought they should first elect a new leader and spiritual figurehead for the Allied Army.

Factions were fighting for power, a complete mess and the Demon Race obviously wouldn’t miss this opportunity.

According to intelligence Chu Tian had gathered through his network, the Demon Race was already stirring.

They planned to take advantage of the humans losing their Saintess and the internal chaos within the Allied Forces to launch a large-scale offensive again.

At the same time, they were also searching for her, the Saintess.

The Demon Race’s plan had been moved up.

Not half a year from now, but within a month!

Su Nian bit her lower lip.

She had originally thought she had half a year to prepare slowly, but now there was only one month left.

If she did nothing and just mechanically met the Horned Demon Master’s demands, there was no way she could reach 100 million Humiliation Value within a month.

Starting yesterday, the special coffee had only yielded a hundred thousand Humiliation Value.

In another nineteen days, once she was completely used to it, the value would approach zero.

By then, she would have to rely on Daily Quests.

‘Aiya, what am I even thinking!’

Su Nian shook her head violently, her golden hair whipping in an arc.

Daily Quests wouldn’t be fast enough!

She took a deep breath.

Her heart stirred, and a plan appeared before her eyes—one she both loved and hated: the “Efficient Humiliation Value Acquisition Plan.”

But it was too slow.

She had to gather enough Humiliation Value as quickly as possible and become a deity!

She took a deep breath, and with a thought, a list appeared before her.

[Option 1: Specialty Drinks — Already implemented, decent results.]

[Option 2: Pet in a Cage.]

Su Nian’s gaze froze on the second option.

[Description: Deliberately commit a mistake. Estimated Humiliation Value: 500,000-1,000,000.]

‘Five hundred thousand to one million…’

Su Nian bit her lower lip, her cheeks starting to burn.

Just thinking about it made her feel incredibly humiliated and ashamed.

“Voluntarily requesting” to be locked in a cage.

But what mistake should she make?

She frowned and began searching her mind.

It couldn’t be something that would truly anger Chu Tian, like trying to escape or betraying him—the consequences of that would be unthinkable.

Nor could it be something too small, too trivial for him to even care about—then there would be no reason for “punishment.”

It had to be a… just right mistake.

Not too big, not too small.

Enough to catch his attention, but not enough to truly enrage him.

Su Nian hugged her pillow, feeling troubled.

Strangely, she found that she didn’t really want to destroy Chu Tian’s things anymore.

Back at Shadowmoon Manor, she could still steel herself, planning to transfer funds and hire Adventurers to deal with him.

But now those books, magical tools, furniture… it was as if they already belonged to Chu Tian.

She was almost reluctant to damage them.

“Ding! Host favorability increased. Current favorability: 76.”

‘Damn it.’

Su Nian buried her face in her pillow and let out a despairing whimper.

It went up again…

‘No, no, no!’

Su Nian, snap out of it!

‘He is your enemy!’

‘He is that Horned Demon Bastard who defeated, humiliated, and trained you for so long! You can’t… you can’t actually fall for him!’

But involuntarily, that ridiculously handsome face appeared in her mind and the reassuring warmth of his embrace when he held her.

And the courtesy and care he showed toward her parents.

And the way he would carry her to the bath when she was weak, and then back to bed.

“…And…”

Su Nian shook her head hard, trying to shake off these messy thoughts.

‘Forget it. First, observe for a few days. Pick the right time to “accidentally” make a mistake and then. Then voluntarily request to be locked in a cage.’

At the thought of that scene, Su Nian’s face burned again.

She grabbed the blanket and wrapped herself up entirely, like a frightened little animal.

Her golden hair spilled out from the gap in the blanket, glowing softly in the moonlight.

Over the next few days.

Although the kingdom’s raid on Shadowmoon Manor had yielded no core technology, the nobles weren’t willing to give up.

They began an even larger manhunt for the wanted criminal “Mo Yuan.”

At the same time, information about the Demon Race and the Human Allied Army needed processing.

Chu Tian often stayed in his study until late at night.

Sometimes when Su Nian brought him a late-night snack, she would see him frowning, staring at the dense text on the magic scrolls.

As for Su Nian… she acted like a mistress of the household, taking care of the Horned Demon Master’s daily life, preparing his food and drinks, and serving him herself when necessary.

Before she knew it.

Whenever Su Nian had free time, she stayed close to the Horned Demon Master.

Apart from gaining Humiliation Value by being with her Master, she found that staying by Chu Tian’s side was actually quite interesting.

Being alone, on the other hand, felt boring.

“Ding! Host favorability increased. Current favorability: 77.”

The next day.

While wandering around the castle, Su Nian accidentally pushed open a heavy iron door and passed through a defensive array.

Behind the door was a spiral staircase extending downward.

Magic stones embedded in the stone walls emitted a faint glow, lighting the path to the underground.

She hesitated for a moment, then walked down anyway.

Since she was trying to find a way to “make a mistake,” wandering around and discovering some secrets would actually work in her favor.

The staircase was long.

Su Nian counted the steps as she went—over two hundred steps before she finally reached the bottom.

Before her stretched an eerily vast underground space.

The dome was a full ten meters high.

The walls were built from pitch-black rocks, covered densely with magical array patterns that glowed with a dark red light.

And in this enormous space were rows of iron cages.

Each cage was as large as a room, and inside were all kinds of Magic Beasts—

A Hell Hound shrouded in black smoke, sleeping soundly in a corner.

A three-headed Chimera gnawing on raw meat, producing a grating chewing sound.

And a massive Wyvern, curled up in its cage, its feathers drooping, its eyes hollow.

Roughly counting there were at least a hundred.

Su Nian sucked in a cold breath, ‘This… is this a Magic Beast farm?!’

She suddenly remembered what Chu Tian had once said—

He could absorb negative emotions to grow stronger.

Especially the anger, fear, and despair produced by imprisoned and abused Magic Beasts.

‘So this was Chu Tian’s secret to power?’ Su Nian’s heart sank.

No wonder that guy was so strong.

No wonder she could never beat him.

His strength was probably still growing.

Su Nian bit her lower lip, her eyes complex as she looked at the Magic Beasts locked in their cages.

Some were growling lowly.

Some were clawing at the ground.

Others had already given up struggling, lying on the floor, waiting for death.

And at that moment—

An idea struck her mind.

What if… she “accidentally” damaged the cages and defensive arrays here, causing some of the Magic Beasts to escape… but not to the point of irreversible consequences—after all, these Magic Beasts were inside the castle, and as long as he acted quickly, he could probably suppress them?

Wouldn’t that make Chu Tian very angry?

Then, while he was angry, she could “voluntarily request” to be locked in a cage as punishment.

[Pet in a Cage: Deliberately commit a mistake… Estimated Humiliation Value: 500,000-1,000,000.]

Su Nian’s breathing quickened.

This… this was the perfect opportunity to “make a mistake,” wasn’t it?

She looked around, her eyes settling on the complex magical array patterns on the walls.

Those patterns wove into a massive web that enveloped the entire underground space, suppressing the Magic Beasts’ power.

All she had to do was destroy one of the key nodes…

Su Nian raised her hand, a wisp of Holy Light condensing at her fingertips.

The golden light was dazzling in the darkness, illuminating her stunning face.

If she made a mistake…

Perhaps the Horned Demon Master would lock her in a cage just like these…

Her sky-blue eyes flickered with complex emotions.

Nervousness.

Anticipation.

And a trace of… excitement?

‘No, no, no!’

Su Nian shook her head violently, her golden hair carving a beautiful arc in the air.

She was doing this only for Humiliation Value!

Only to gather 100 million as quickly as possible and become a deity!

It definitely wasn’t because… she wanted to be locked in a cage!

Absolutely not!

She aimed at a node on the wall glowing with dark red light—it should be one of the array’s cores.

If she destroyed it…

“Niannian, what are you doing here?” A deep male voice suddenly came from behind her.