Although the First Madam had promised Ai Cao that she would sacrifice her eldest son's life, Ai Cao still accepted the system's flattery.

The First Lady raised her hand and summoned another lion pelt, slowly wrapping it around her body. A low growl escaped her throat—and several black birds landed on her raised hand.

The First Madam spoke a few words in a low voice, and the birds fluttered away and flew away again.

They disappeared into the distant sky, turning into several gradually shrinking black dots that eventually vanished.

The First Lady said, "They've gone to call for help. I'll take you to the hot spring in my yard so you can give this cub a soak later."

She turned and slowly led the way for Ai Cao. The lion fur coat she wore left a trail among the grass blades on the ground.

The little fox nestled in the mugwort's embrace looked at the lion's fur and tail, and stretched its paws and yawned eagerly.

The little fox stared at the tail swaying from side to side, ready—

The little fox, who had jumped halfway, was brought back down by the mugwort.

The woman walking ahead lowered her eyes, glanced at the little fox in Ai Cao's arms with a half-smile, and said, "You're having a much harder time taking care of these two cubs than I am."

Ai Cao laughed and pulled her finger out of the little fox's mouth, wiping the saliva back onto its face.

Artemisia said, "It's alright, I'll just keep it for a few days."

And today will also allow the two cubs to grow a bit bigger, so she won't have to hold them all the time.

The woman nodded and said, "I am Hushan, what's your name?"

"Artemisia argyi".

"It sounds like a medicine name."

"yes."

Hu Shan lowered his eyes, smiled, and asked again, "Where are the two cubs?"

“The little fox is named Qingyun, and the little girl is named Leitang,” Ai Cao said.

“The fox is from Qingqiu,” Hu Shan said. As she walked, she lowered her eyes in thought, and asked, “This girl wasn’t named after the former demon king?”

Ai Cao nodded: "When she was named, the former demon king had already died."

Tiger Mountain burst out laughing. Her laughter was deep and rough, startling the birds in the surrounding woods. This place was said to be her residence's courtyard, but it was merely a relatively flat area carved out of the forest, where some spiritual herbs had been planted.

Tiger Mountain took the mugwort into a stone chamber.

In the center of the stone chamber was a huge empty bathing pool carved from a single piece of spirit stone.

Hushan pressed a few times on the stone wall, demonstrating to Ai Cao how to open and close the stone chamber, and said, "I can only call my son outside the stone chamber. Ever since he ate my children, he has become wary of me, afraid that I might kill him one day."

She smiled and said, "Kill him half to death, then throw him into this place isolated from the outside world—you can eat him or refine him, whatever you want. But I have one more request."

After looking around the stone chamber and confirming that the scent here belonged only to Tiger Mountain, Ai Cao asked, "What are your requirements?"

Hu Shan's smile deepened slightly.

She said, "I want to watch from the sidelines."

Hu Shan raised his hand and pointed to the unconscious Lei Tang, saying, "After Lei Tang—the future Demon King—awakens, I want the first person she sees when she opens her eyes to be me."

Ai Cao nodded and readily agreed, "Okay." She paused before reminding Hu Shan, "Her human mother is still alive. Even if she has a chick complex, she probably won't recognize you as her second mother."

Hushan smiled and walked out of the stone chamber. She said, "I still hope her birth mother lives a long life."

Having received her assurance, Ai Cao placed the little fox and Lei Tuo in the bathtub, drew her longsword, and followed Hu Shan out.

As soon as they stepped out of the stone chamber, they saw a few blades of grass on a person's head, who looked like a young man who had rushed over.

His appearance was somewhat similar to Hushan's, with a pair of furry tiger ears on his head that he didn't even try to hide.

Judging by appearance, he is her child, but judging by personality... one can only say that he inherited too much of the former demon king's bad temper.

When the tiger-eared youth saw Tiger Mountain emerge, his expression instantly became more composed.

He asked, "Mother, why did you call me here?"

Hu Shan smiled and said, "Of course..."

In that instant, Ai Cao, standing behind Hu Shan, gripped her longsword. She flashed behind the tiger-eared youth and struck him on the back of the neck with the hilt of her sword. The youth fell limply to the ground without making a sound.

Hushan sighed and said, "Really, how could someone as smart as me raise such an idiot?"

She smoothed the lion's fur and went into the stone chamber with the mugwort the young man was carrying.

Upon seeing the young man, the little fox, who had been impatiently munching on spirit stones, suddenly brightened up. It tried to pounce on him, but was mercilessly blocked by Ai Cao's hand.

Tiger Mountain instructed her, "Drain the blood first, then give him some spiritual power so he doesn't die; let the little fox eat meat while he's alive."

Ai Cao carried the young man to the edge of the pool.

She said, "I have no spiritual power."

Hu Shan frowned slightly and said, "Then I'll do it."

She raised her hand and gently waved it above the young man's body. The unconscious young man seemed to have been electrocuted, trembling violently a few times before falling silent again.

Ai Cao was in charge of the bloodletting. She had already seen how the other women bled the former demon king, so she was quite skilled at it herself. She folded the young man's body up, made a cut on his neck, and found the spot where the most blood would come out.

She turned the young man's head and neck so that his blood could be collected in the pool.

The youth's blood was not the same bright golden blood as the former demon king's; rather, it was a darker golden color. Perhaps because he was not an ordinary mortal, the blood flowing from his body filled the bottom of the small pool, and the level of the liquid rose steadily.

Hushan stood beside Aicao and helped her pick up the little fox that was kicking anxiously.

Looking at the young man's blood, Hu Shan said quietly, "Although he can't become the Demon King, he can still serve as a stepping stone for the next Demon King, which is also a skill of his."

Ai Cao nodded and said, "Indeed."

The blood in the small pool was about to submerge Lei Tuo's chin.

Tiger Mountain waved his hand above the young man's body again, and the bleeding from the young man's neck stopped.

She laughed and tossed the little fox onto the young man, saying gently, "Eat."

The little fox whimpered happily, swishing its tail, and used its claws to tear open the young man's clothes and skin before contentedly taking its first bite of meat.

The light gathered behind it—but after eating half of it, it fell into a deep sleep.

Even Lei Tuo, immersed in blood, unconsciously frowned. A whirlpool formed in the small pool of blood, centered on her—

Hu Shan waved his hand, and a set of living quarters fell from mid-air.

Tiger Mountain lazily lay down on the tatami mat and said, "Alright, let's wait here for a while."