The moment Shen Minyao entered the office, Mu Qing and the rest sensed great demonic power being unleashed from the inside. They all knew that the fight between the two demons had commenced, and there was no way they could meddle to stop it and help Shen Minyao.

If she truly wanted to subdue the Gu demon and turn it into her shikigami, she would need to force it into submission. However, if she failed, Qin Zhi and Mu Qing would be forced to enter the Gu demon's dimension to kill it themselves.

Back to the fox woman..

Shen Minyao held her breath as thick black miasma permeated around her. As a demon that lived for several centuries, she had built resistance against certain types of toxins and demons. She might not be as resistant as her brother was, but at least, common poisons wouldn't easily affect her.

However, from what she could see, the white snake possessed such a potent kind of toxin that it could kill a human with a single drop of it or upon direct contact. Such a powerful demon although very young compared to her. Still, Shen Minyao felt that it wouldn't hurt to have the snake as her shikigami.

Her mind was trying to think of ways she could protect herself from the white snake's attacks. She could conveniently avoid the miasma if she kept a safe distance, but it was obvious that if she dared to launch an attack, venom would surely await her.

Shen Minyao watched as the white snake's venom fell on the bones on the ground when it hissed at her. The skull of another demon melted upon the contact. She narrowed her eyes and enchanted her whole body, her red demonic energy slowly morphing into a thick armor that covered her torso and arms. Her Hellreaver's blade color even turned into a bloody red.

The miasma that tried to reach her was immediately repelled by her wind spell, forbidding it from touching her body. However, she could not fully make another barrier to protect herself. Such a thing would limit her actions, and she wouldn't be able to take an offensive stance against the Gu demon.

Seeing that she wasn't making an effort to launch another attack soon, the Gu demon realized that it had already overpowered the fox demon that entered its lair.

Shen Minyao's eyes widened upon witnessing how fast this hatchling snake demon could move. It could easily follow her movements and speed without a problem, making it look like she was dancing to a tune the white snake demon had set for the two of them.

Instead of getting annoyed, the fox woman's lips curled in amusement. How could she be upset when this white snake demon proved that it was worthy enough to become her shikigami?

Suddenly, Shen Minyao stopped and stood straight, her eyes meeting the cold gaze of the blue-eyed white snake demon. She then flicked her fingers together, immediately summoning wisps of that inextinguishable fox fire of hers which wildly spread around them.

Due to the poison and venom shrouding the air all over, it only served as fuel for her fox fire. The white snake demon had then recoiled itself in an attempt to protect itself from being caught in the fire. It looked distressed as it couldn't find a way to save itself.

Shen Minyao was thinking earlier. The Gu demon was strong enough to lure and consume other demons and spirits here, but the young demon itself couldn't get out of this dimension on its own.

'Pitiful being,' she thought.

As long as the Gu demon remained inside the vase, it was still bound to reward the human who owned it. High demons like Shen Minyao abhorred the idea of serving a human, despite the compensation the service could give in return.

"Little Gu, I have a proposition for you," she said after the long silence between them, while her fox fire continued to burn the carcasses of dead demons around them.

The white snake demon stared at her blankly, which made Shen Minyao wonder about the progress of its mental growth in human terms.

The fox woman herself was already at least nine centuries old by now, but in human terms, her mind and maturity could be compared to a twenty-year-old young woman. As for the hatchling snake in front of her, it could be said that it was only at least three months old. Its mental age was still young, and it didn't have the willpower to withstand high-ranking demons.

A bright light covered the huge white snake demon, and for a split second, it took on its humanoid form. It turned into a young boy with snow-white hair and skin, with a pair of icy-blue eyes with slit pupils on them. He wasn't wearing anything, which meant that he didn't know propriety yet and was too innocent to know the ways of the humans and demons alike.

"Who are you?" The young boy asked. If Shen Minyao was to compare him to other human kids, he looked like he was around the age of ten, with a hint of shyness and innocence on his face.

"Oh? You are asking for my real name? Sorry, I can't give that to you, but my human host is called Shen Minyao," the fox woman replied with an amused smile on her lips. At least this hatchling snake demon knew how to speak.

"S-Shen Minyao?" He uttered her name, testing it on his tongue.

"How about you? Do you have a name?" She asked in return.

"Name? My name?" The young boy furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Yes. What do they call you?" Shen Minyao replied.

"Nothing.."

As expected, while the white snake demon had immense demonic power, its mind hadn't matured enough to form an identity of its own.

The boy just dropped the complicated matter, his blue eyes never leaving Shen Minyao. "What is this proposition you have?"

The fox woman lowered her defenses by dispelling the demonic armor protecting her body. Her long silvery-white hair was thrown behind her back, while her nine tails moved in sync.

"Swear your allegiance to me, and I will show you the world beyond this darkness," she said without batting an eyelid.

"You do not own me. I cannot go out with you," the boy replied with a face void of any expression.

From the looks of it, this snake demon was only following his instincts as a Gu demon. In his mind, he was bound to a contract with a human.

"I can be your new owner," Shen Minyao offered.

"How?" The boy challenged her.

"Does it matter how? Don't you want to see the world outside? Do you really want to be with a human?" She retorted.

"But I'm just a Gu demon now.."

"You are you before anything else. You are a white snake demon that came out victorious over other venomous demons that challenged you in this world."

"..you aren't planning to kill me?" His sudden question surprised Shen Minyao.

"Did you really think I came here to kill you? When you first lured me into this dimension, I could have killed you right then and there if I wanted your life."

The white snake demon fell silent. He never considered the kind of life other demons had outside this confining, dark world he was trapped in.

"I can really go out? I can eat anything I want?" He asked after a long silence between them.

"Of course not." The fox woman chuckled, knowing that the young demon had already fallen for her trap. Young demons like him were naturally too curious and reckless for their own good.

"You can't eat anything you want without my permission, but I will feed you with demons to your heart's content."

Ah, thinking about it, didn't her Hellreaver already have such a huge appetite for demons? If she was to take this young snake demon under her wing, it only meant she needed to work hard to continuously feed these two. That or they would devour her themselves.

Shen Minyao sighed inwardly and wondered how many demons Xuan Yanrui deployed to go after her. She planned to use those demons as feed for these two demons that seemed to have bottomless pits.

The young boy tilted his head to one side as he thought about it. Would that mean that he wouldn't need to hunt food for himself?

"So, what do you think? I will only ask you once. There are no second chances." historical

"What if I decline?" He asked, his icy blue eyes not leaving those of hers.

"Obviously, you would need to die here in this pathetic, dark world you are in. I can't let you go on a rampage and kill humans around you." The fox woman didn't dare to lie to him.. It may sound that she was giving him a choice, but whatever he picked, Shen Minyao would gain something from it.