Resuming his new identity as a servant, Mu Zixin no longer had the privilege to sleep in and be served like a young master. At the crack of dawn,he woke up to join other servants to clean. By the time he was done,his master was up ,so he rushed to serve him breakfast. Over the few days he had stayed there ,he learnt that the demon king was quite fastidious - it was very hard to please him especially when it came to his preferences. Mu Zixin had witnessed him throwing away food, punishing servants from time to time if the service offered didn't suit his standards.
"Overlord,how is the tea?" Mu Zixin asked curiously when he saw the unreadable expression on the demon's face.
"Not bad," Tiao Ge replied with a hint of indifference.
"I'm glad you like it."
"Get my attire ready we're going out."
After breakfast,Tiao Ge freshened up and Mu Zixin helped him dress up. Mu Zixin thought he would throw a tantrum about the choice of clothing but to his surprise,he didn't. What he didn't know was that it was one of the demon king's favourite attire.
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Tiao Ge,Mu Zixin and Hei Yin headed first to the market. It was the market day in the demon realm and Mu Zixin expected to see a bustling crowd of buyers and sellers but the market was almost empty with scattered people.
"Hei Yin, what's going on?" Tiao Ge asked in an agitated voice,puzzled by what he was witnessing.
"Overlord,you might not know but demons have been suffering much nowadays. Weak demons contract illnesses everyday and can merely afford for the cost of treatment. Most of them can barely fend for themselves. Also most demons are unable to cultivate and gain energy so they can't defend themselves. On top of that Overlord demons are mostly active at night,"Hei Yin spoke the last part in a lower register.
"Got it."
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Darkness was approaching soon and the three were still touring around the demon realm. In a day they had covered most parts of the demon realm. Over the past few days,the demon king had received memorials sneaked in by common demons raising issues and today he thought of going to the actual ground to assess the damages.
Right now they had entered one of the prominent villages in the demon realm. Tiao Ge with his two subordinates led the way to the Chief's house. It didn't take long before they appeared in front of the Chief's residence. When they walked in, servants were moving around in groups with heads hung low carrying lanterns . They didn't seem to recognize his identity so they didn't make a fuss about it. One of the butlers ushered them in to the main room and served them tea as they awaited the master of the house.
"What's taking him so long?" Hei Yin wondered out loud.
Tiao Ge being in usual cautious mode, sensed something was wrong. He didn't value much about etiquette so immediately he felt something was odd he acted on his instincts and scoured around the large mansion. They navigated the dimly lit hallways of the mansion checking every room till they reached the furthest end where the dungeons were. Tiao Ge became more alert sensing he was about to reach the crime scene and to his expectations,the dungeons were full of helpless and injured demons and the Chief was there torturing them.
Tiao Ge moved swiftly and delivered a blow by just a wave of his hand filled with demonic energy. Immediately the blow landed on the Chief,the guy was flung across the cell and hit the wall hard before he fell with a thud on the ground. The Chief looked up meekly to see the identity of the assaulter and immediately his eyes met the demon king's dark ones he quickly looked down.
"Overlord please spare me,"the Chief kowtowed continuously.
"What are all these demons doing here?"
"My Lord I'm just disciplining them."
"Du Yuan,you really think I don't know about your filthy deeds? You embezzle funds meant to help and maintain the villagers' lives. Also I've heard of your constant little trips to Guisha Forest." The demon king said all these while crouching down and grabbed the Chief's chin harshly.
Tiao Ge knew he was a bloodthirsty demon himself but most who had died in his hands were those who had committed crimes. He didn't just kill indiscriminately neither did he torture weak innocent demons. Without listening to further explanation,he delivered the final blow and killed the traitorous demon chief.
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The warm, rich and woody scent of sandalwood coming from the incense burner filled the room. Tiao Ge sat on his bed with his pants rolled up while he soaked his feet in warm water. Mu Zixin came back a few minutes later with a piece of cloth and dried his legs before he went to discard the used water. Meanwhile Tiao Ge let himself relax under the influence of the soothing sandalwood scent.
"Overlord I have a suggestion,"Mu Zixin spoke up.
Tiao Ge shifted his gaze to him with a blank expression. He didn't reply but Mu Zixin chose to go on.
"None of those demon chiefs seem to care about the lives of the demons. Also, I think demons weren't born just to kill. They can become civilized too. Maybe you can build up schools like in the immortal and mortal realm to educate and strengthen weak demons and that way you can appoint some of them to become demon chiefs. "
At the mention of the immortal realm,Tiao Ge's rage was triggered. That was almost considered a taboo for him.
And the next minute Mu Zixin was pressed hardly against the wall with Tiao Ge strangling his neck.
"Who asked for your advice? Don't you dare bring those antiquated ideas from the Immortal realm!We don't need to cope with life the same way you do. You're a demon now so stop dreaming about that life,"Tiao Ge snarled in a low threatening voice.
Mu Zixin didn't fight back. Instead he let Tiao Ge squeeze his neck . At this point he wasn't afraid of death. When he thought the demon king was going to finish him off,Tiao Ge suddenly loosened his grip and slowly withdrew his hand from the other's neck leaving red marks.
Mu Zixin coughed violently with heavy breaths taking in as much oxygen as he could.
"Overlord,"Mu Zixin called out looking into the other's eyes,"I know you can't bear to kill me. Also, if I wanted to finish you off back then you wouldn't have survived,"he added provocatively, anticipating the demon king's reaction.