Song Jia calmed her racing heart and controlled her voice so that it wouldn't tremble.
"It's Jiajia."
Fear was something that all demons thrive on. The more she behaved like prey, the more these two demon lords would act like predators.
Yanluo looked at the small demon he was holding in his hand. Short limbs and a small face, her hair that had been tied into braids swinging as she moved around, trying to avoid the hand that was pinching her cheek.
Her clear and large eyes blinked at him, appearing to be confused. Yanluo leaned closer to look at her, while a curious Songdi also took a few steps towards the bed.
"Jiajia, how old are you?" asked Yanluo.
Song Jia blinked and thought fast. Making a decision, her eyes bent like bows as she held up five fingers.
Songdi frowned. "Five hundred years? So young."
Song Jia did not correct him. She actually meant five thousand years. A demon's appearance did not depend on their age, but their amount of power. A newly born demon would have an appearance of a baby only because it didn't accumulate much power yet.
Jiajia's real age was around fifty thousand years, her peers having the appearance of a teenager. But the original host had been a slacker, more like a member of the fourth court 『Acedia』than a greed demon. Because she did not accumulate much power, she still had the appearance of a small child.
Even a demon born with a crippled dantian [1] would still look like a pre-pubescent teen. One had to say, the level of laziness the original host had, not many could compare to.
Song Jia felt that the two demon lords liked her cute appearance, so she decided to lie to them and shave off fourty-five thousand years. Who knew that Songdi would make it even more extreme and give her an age of only five hundred years.
"Five hundred years?" Yanluo frowned.
Song Jia's heart skipped a beat. If he wanted to, he could use his powers to discover her real age.
Yanluo squeezed her cheek again.
"What a talented child. Only five hundred years old and already practicing body strengthening techniques."
Song Jia, "..."
Surprisingly, the lazy original host became a prodigy in the eyes of these two demon lords.
Songdi nodded his head. "This child is a good seed. Yanluo, you should cultivate her."
The two demon lords have completely forgotten about their fight and were both studying Song Jia.
"Yes." Yanluo agreed, his golden eyes studying Song Jia from head to toe. She did her best not to tremble like a leaf. "A demon as greedy as her should make for a good minion."
And thus, Song Jia's life as Yanluo's 'little minion' began.
...
"Jiajia, you failed yet again."
Song Jia wiped her sweat away, looking at the high-ranked demon that was training her, Bao Qingtian. He was the lieutenant general of Yanluo's best corps, and also the second most powerful demon under Yanluo's army.
She had been thrown under his care by Yanluo, who ordered him to cultivate her. Unfortunately, Bao Qingtian found Song Jia to be a rather unsatisfactory student.
"Just what did Lord Yanluo see in her...?"
In terms of greed, this young demon was not greedy enough. Greed was an abyss in the soul, an insatiable pit that could not be filled up. He had given her several opportunities to absorb greed, but this young demon kept rejecting him.
"Wuwuwu..."
Song Jia looked at the crying rabbit demon who had collapsed on the ground in fear, her fluffy ears twitching. She was a random demon that Bao Qingtian had captured to be Song Jia's target practice for the day.
According to him, Song Jia should have stolen everything from the rabbit demon without hesitation and then take her life.
That was the very definition of their court, 『Avaritia』.
To unhesitatingly take and take, even to the extent of taking someone's life.
"I guess this ends our lesson for today."
In contempt, Bao Qingtian flicked his fingers. Before Song Jia could protest, the rabbit demon directly burst into flames.
"Ahhh!"
Along with the smoke rising in the air, came the terrible smell of burnt flesh. Bao Qingtian took a step towards Song Jia and wrapped his hands around her throat. He lifted her up in the air, watching in fascination as her complexion turned red, then blue. The astounding power coming off him also served to make Song Jia suffocate even faster.
"Just how did you manage to make the lord take an interest in you, hmm?"
His grip slowly tightened around her throat.
"Liuetenant general Bao!"
Chen Hui appeared from behind them, her voice raised into a shout.
"If you kill that child, the demon lord will get angry at you!"
Song Jia moved her already blurry gaze towards Chen Hui. Her little lie about her age, Chen Hui had immediately found out after the news spread that a lower demon had been granted to become Yanluo's personal disciple.
To Song Jia's surprise, instead of being unhappy, Chen Hui was more than eager for Song Jia to continue her lie.
"Jiajia, you have to call me 'mother' from now on. Since the demon lord favors you, you can only work hard to get more of his affection. This way, as your 'beloved mother,' I can also take part in the glory, kekeke!"
Song Jia quickly cemented the fact in her mind that in the demon world, there was no such thing as a 'good' person. The people here can only be categorized into three things: 'bad,' 'worse,' and 'worst.'
For example, the demon that was killing her right now, he was one of the 'worst.' During her training, he had ordered her to take the food of a demon about to starve to death, and to harvest the organs of sick demons that were unable to fight back.
His latest lesson, for her to take the life of a rabbit demon, was the one Song Jia had failed just now.
Bao Qingtian clicked his tongue, "Tsk."
He loosened his grip on Song Jia and watched as she collapsed on the ground and gasped for air. With only a flick of his fingers, he could immediately kill her. Weak preys like her and the demon maid behind him made him feel sick to his stomach.
They were weak demons that only brought shame to the fifth court. Lacking power meant they were not greedy enough. With such weak determination, they would only become a burden to their demon lord and slow him down.
Greed was to take everything, pursue everything, faster and stronger than anyone else. For those who didn't bring them any benefits, it was better to cut off their losses early on.
As soon as Bao Qingtian left, Chen Hui stood in front of Song Jia in obvious disapproval.
"Such good opportunities, why did you waste them? Pei, really a useless child."
She crossed her arms and told her, "Lord Yanluo was looking for you. He said he wanted you to serve him during their annual meeting with the Great Demon King. Keke, our lord really favors you a lot, no wonder even the lieutenant general became like that. A meeting with the Great Demon King, that's a once in a lifetime opportunity."
She leaned down and firmly gripped Song Jia's chin, forcing her to look up.
"Jiajia, don't think that I don't know what you're planning. Me joining your little lie, it's actually beneficial to you, isn't it? Since if your secret gets discovered, I'll be pulled along to die. That's why, I need to do my best to help you keep Lord Yanluo's favor."
Chen Hui's grip on her chin tightened, causing Song Jia to wince in pain.
"So this opportunity given to you, don't waste it and be as greedy as you can be. Because otherwise...Jiajia, I'll definitely be the one to kill you first."
Chen Hui's eyes were cold, so cold that it chilled Song Jia to the bone.
Song Jia's white throat had been marked by Bao Qingtian's fingerprints, and Chen Hui had just left a huge bruise on her chin.
Right in front of her was the burnt corpse of what had been, only a few minutes ago, a living and breathing rabbit demon.
Song Jia's eyelashes slightly trembled.
Nova, just what kind of world did you make this grandma transmigrate into?
[1] Ch. term for seat of life force energy in the body, often used in cultivation novels.