157: Chapter 157 Your Majesty, My Body Hurts So Much

"..."

"You call that a refresh? You little..."

"Switching from automatic to manual is what you call a refresh?"

"Refresh it again!"

[Congratulations, Host.]

[Your identity has been refreshed to: Mortal Cauldron of the Saintess of the Hehuan Sect.]

[Does the Host wish to continue refreshing?]

[Reminder: Refresh attempts have been exhausted. Continued refreshing requires the deposit of extraordinary items.]

Su Chen: "..."

"Fine."

"At least I've gone from being an object to being made of flesh. After three rounds of investment, I'm finally human for once."

"I'll take this identity!"

[Host confirmation complete.]

[Investment world confirming...]

[The Host will body-transmigrate into a world of Immortals and Demons. The investment target is the Saintess of the Hehuan Sect, who is filled with killing intent toward the Host and wishes she could kill you on the spot!]

[Host Identity: Mortal Cauldron of the Saintess of the Hehuan Sect.]

[Reminder: Investment failure occurs if the Host cannot reform the Saintess of the Hehuan Sect and is killed by her, or if the Host fails to find the reason why she hates you, or if the Host fails to cultivate her into a powerhouse of this era to ensure her survival in the chaotic times at the end of the Yin Dynasty.]

[If any of the three conditions above are not met, this round of investment will be treated as a failure!]

"What? Why are there extra conditions?"

Su Chen, whose body had already half-disappeared, grew anxious upon hearing this, his eyes widening.

"Don't screw me over, you damn system!"

"I want to check the cards!!"

[Relax, Host. Even if the investment fails, there won't be any negative impact on you. You'll simply need to pay one extraordinary item to help the Host restart the investment world...]

"You profiteer!"

...

[Age Zero: You were born into the Great Yin Imperial Family.]

[Age Fifteen: Your Imperial Father passed away, and you ascended the throne as the Yin Emperor.]

[Age Twenty-Two...]

[Age Thirty...]

The unimportant parts of the simulated life sped past at eight times speed.

["Ding-dong! System reminder: The Host has arrived at the start of the investment timeline!"]

"Alright, let's see what's going on."

...

"Have you heard? The Great King has taken in another monster..."

"I've heard..."

"Sigh, currently our Great Yin has the Quanrong to the north, Barbarians to the south, and the Ji Dynasty watching us like a tiger from the west. The Great King is obsessed with pleasure and women all day; what are we to do..."

"Do you have a death wish?"

"Last month, someone offered honest advice and ended up having his heart gouged out by the Great King. They say he wanted to see if the man's heart had thousands of holes for schemes..."

Faint sounds of discussion drifted into Su Chen's ears.

He woke up abruptly from a large, soft bed.

Smelling the faint stench of raw meat, he suddenly discovered something.

In his mouth, someone had stuffed a small tangyuan!

Behind the small tangyuan, there was also a large red bean bun.

"Mmph... mmph mmph!"

Such a high-energy start immediately left Su Chen bewildered.

He tried to break free from the large objects in his mouth, but just then, he heard a voice so incredibly seductive that it made every bone in his body feel involuntarily numb.

"Great King... please don't use so much force."

"It... hurts."

Damn it.

What kind of insane development is this?

"Great King~~"

The seductive voice rang out again, and warm breath brushed against his ear.

"Are you awake? Did my foot... bother the Great King?"

"Or perhaps, my tangyuan didn't taste good?"

Su Chen slowly turned his head.

An exquisite face, beautiful enough to topple kingdoms, was right before him.

Her features were like a painting, her skin as white as snow. Seductiveness flowed in her eyes, and the corners of her eyes tilted upward slightly with a natural allure.

She wore only a thin, red gauze robe as light as a cicada's wing, her exquisite curves faintly visible beneath it.

A pair of jade-like feet as white as frost—one was being unconsciously held in his hand, while the other was restlessly rubbing against his calf.

Tangyuan in the mouth, jade foot in the hand.

What a gourmet!

While Su Chen praised his own taste, he simultaneously observed the woman before him.

Su Daji.

The Saintess of the Hehuan Sect mentioned by the system, the 'daughter' of Su Hu, the Marquis of Jizhou, sharing a name with a legendary femme fatale from history.

She was also the investment target who, according to the system's prompt before this round, "wished she could kill you on the spot."

Seeing her acting so clingy now, there was definitely a trap.

Su Chen's heart thudded heavily in his chest.

But the mental fortitude honed from being a long-time player in two lives allowed him to instantly suppress all shock.

He forced himself to pull a lustful smile that fit the 'King Zhou' persona, his tongue lightly grazing the delicate tangyuan in his mouth.

He mumbled indistinctly.

"My beloved concubine's red beans are comparable to nectar. I... cannot get enough."

"Ah~"

A physiological reaction caused Su Daji to let out an unavoidable giggle, her beautiful face turning mostly red.

However.

Su Chen felt that under the action of his tongue, the tangyuan in his mouth did not become soft, but instead grew several degrees stiffer.

It was obvious.

Indeed, she was acting.

While continuing to play the part of a debauched ruler obsessed with beauty and playing with Su Daji, Su Chen mobilized all his senses to observe his surroundings.

A luxurious palace—should this be the Deer Terrace?

Wine pools and meat forests?

Gauze curtains hung low all around, and candlelight flickered. Aside from him and Su Daji, the place seemed empty.

Su Chen could sense that this 'King Zhou' he had transmigrated into for this round of investment was not particularly powerful.

But the key was that he was, after all, someone extremely skilled in spiritual perception.

Even if he couldn't use his traits within the investment, his perception was far sharper than others.

There was killing intent.

Moreover, the hidden location had already been detected by Su Chen.

Not strong.

At least, this body of his could match them.

However, he would stay still for now; he couldn't alert the enemy and let the assassin escape.

His gaze seemingly blurred as it swept across Su Daji's peerless face, passed through her affectionate eyes, and finally landed on her slender jade hand resting casually on the low table beside them.

Her fingers were translucent white, the tips stained with bright red nail polish.

The pads of her index and middle fingers were lightly tapping the tabletop with an extremely rhythmic, almost imperceptible frequency.

Tap, tap, tap...

Three long, one short, a pause, then two more long.

It was a signal.

Almost the instant this thought flashed through Su Chen's mind, the hair on his back stood on end.

Damn it.

This demoness really was preparing to call someone to take him out!

In a flash, a sharp killing intent erupted from the shadow of a golden dragon-coiled pillar to his left rear.

That killing intent was as fast as lightning, stabbing straight toward his heart from behind.

Clearly, the opponent was no ordinary person.

It's here.

In the spark of a moment, Su Chen moved.

He didn't push Su Daji away, nor did he calmly dodge and counterattack.

Since he hadn't fully grasped the situation, he planned to continue maintaining his persona as a debauched ruler caught off guard and drained by wine and women.

Su Chen simply pretended that Su Daji's foot had 'accidentally' kicked him.

Then, with a drunken clumsiness, he let out an "Ouch!" and toppled to the right, narrowly avoiding that lethal thrust.

Pfft!