Lin Mo frowned, his tone turning a bit sharp. “Old man, are you trying to fool me?”

The Devouring Clan chief’s expression changed. He hurriedly grabbed Qu Ruyan and said, “Yanyan, you’ve met the young clan leader of the Lihu Tiger Clan several times. How can you say you don’t know him?”

“He’s that brat with a face full of whiskers!”

Qu Ruyan shook her head, her ponytail swaying.

Clearly, the person the Devouring Clan chief mentioned had left no impression on her at all.

The chief kept adding details. “Also, every time that kid visits, he’s followed by a bunch of girls. He’s quite the—does that ring a bell?”

Hearing this, Lin Mo’s brows furrowed even more.

Qu Ruyan still shook her head, sucking on her lollipop as she mumbled indistinctly, “Grandpa Tun, I don’t know him.”

“Meat, that’s right, the meat.”

The Devouring Clan chief seemed to think of something and added, “Every time he comes, he brings a hundred thousand jin of demonic beast meat. You always eat to your heart’s content.”

“Oh, it’s that Meaty Tiger!”

Qu Ruyan suddenly saw the light. “I know, I know. The meat Meaty Tiger sends is really delicious.”

As expected, she only remembered people when food was involved.

The Devouring Clan chief broke into a cold sweat. His already aged face seemed to grow even older.

“As long as you remember.”

“Yanyan, you promised the young clan leader of the Lihu Tiger Clan that you’d marry him.”

“All that meat was his betrothal gift. Just two more times and it’ll reach a million jin.”

This time it was Lin Mo’s turn to be stunned. “So in the days since we came to the Demon Realm, you’ve eaten over a million jin of meat?”

The Devouring Clan chief corrected him. “Not just since we came to the Demon Realm—this started half a year ago.”

“And that’s not even counting the meat sent by the Lihu Tiger Clan.”

“Just from our Devouring Clan’s own stores, Yanyan goes through nearly a hundred thousand jin a month.”

At this point, even the chief felt a stab of pain.

Their Devouring Clan also relied on eating to cultivate.

The demonic beast meat needed to feed Qu Ruyan each month was equal to half of what the entire clan consumed.

Right now, all he wanted was for Qu Ruyan to get married as soon as possible.

Otherwise, once the Lihu Tiger Clan’s betrothal gifts were used up, at the rate Qu Ruyan ate, their clan would be destitute within half a year. She might even start eyeing their bodies as snacks.

That was also why he hadn’t stopped Qu Ruyan from going to hunt the Calamity-Serpent Clan.

Lin Mo smacked Qu Ruyan on the head while she was still eating her lollipop. “You already have so much meat, and you still went to hunt the Calamity-Serpent Clan?”

Qu Ruyan rubbed her little head where he’d hit her. “Senior Brother, that hurts, my head’s going to get a bump!”

“I was just greedy.”

“After I started cultivating the technique Six-Tails taught me, I always feel like I haven’t eaten enough. I just can’t control my hunger at all.”

Lin Mo reached out to examine Qu Ruyan’s condition.

The demonic qi in her body was already solidified; she could break through to the Divine Transformation stage at any time.

Her rapid improvement was probably thanks to the inheritance from that six-tailed demon fox, the master of the Yao-clan secret realm.

Just as Lin Mo was about to withdraw his hand, his eyes narrowed. “What’s this?”

Inside Qu Ruyan’s body, there was actually a black aura he had never seen or even heard of before.

That black aura gave him an extremely dangerous feeling.

Right then, the system popped out obediently to explain.

[Dear host, that aura is the innate ferocious gluttony qi of a Taotie.]

[The Taotie is one of the four great ferocious beasts of ancient times, a vicious, gluttonous monster.]

[Qu Ruyan is a descendant who inherited the Taotie’s legacy, so she’s also inherited that vicious gluttony.]

[So her increased appetite and inability to control her mouth are related to this ferocious gluttony qi.]

Lin Mo glanced at Qu Ruyan, who was staring fixatedly at her lollipop. He could see the gluttony, sure.

But vicious? Where, exactly, did she look vicious?

[She doesn’t look vicious now, but once the ferocious gluttony qi in her body is triggered, she’ll be affected by its power and become extremely brutal. And this ferocious power will only grow stronger as her cultivation rises.]

Lin Mo asked curiously, “How brutal?”

[She might, probably, end up not recognizing friend or family and go on a mad hunt for food.]

“Then can my master–servant contract suppress this ferocious gluttony power?”

[Uh… probably not. But dear host can just suppress her with brute force!]

[If Qu Ruyan goes berserk right now, dear host can just give her a good beating.]

Lin Mo: “…”

“Is there no gentler way?”

She was his own spirit pet, after all, and he wasn’t some naturally violent brute. How was he supposed to bring himself to beat her up?

[A gentler way… there isn’t one for now…]

“Aren’t you supposed to be an all-powerful system?”

The system sounded aggrieved. [Dear host, I don’t want to scam you out of regret value either…]

Lin Mo’s tone softened. “Good baby, regret points aren’t a big deal. You can at least give me a discount.”

“I’m not asking for much, just thirty to fifty percent off.”

[Dear host, you’d have to draw it from the lottery. And if you specify what you want, the drop rate will be extremely low.]

You can’t give me a discount on the lottery, but some behind-the-scenes tweaking to adjust the odds should be fine, right?

[Um… I don’t have that authority…]

Lin Mo pretended to be disappointed. “I thought my system baby was really capable and could do that…”

“But it’s fine. I’ve already accepted your good intentions in my heart.”

Seeing this, the system hurriedly said, [Dear host, I can definitely help you. I can go apply to the higher-ups for more authority!]

Higher-ups?

Lin Mo had never really looked into where the system came from.

After all, systems were practically standard equipment for protagonists in novels, but they couldn’t just appear out of thin air, could they?

More importantly, what the system had just said clearly implied there was some force behind it controlling everything.

The system grew nervous. [That question exceeds the limit. I don’t have permission to answer it, dear host.]

Lin Mo didn’t press the issue. He was just curious.

“Then system baby, I’ll trouble you to apply for any permissions that can help me.”

[For dear host, I’ll do my best!]

The Devouring Clan chief said, “Counting the days, the people from the Lihu Tiger Clan should be arriving soon.”

Right on cue, a clansman came to report, “Chief, the people from the Lihu Tiger Clan are here.”

In a short while, more than a dozen figures walked over. At their head was a young man with dark skin, surrounded by many beautiful women of the Yao clan.

Before he even arrived, a booming voice rang out. “Yan’er, your husband has come to see you!”

Off to the side, Kun drooled enviously. “We’re both young clan leaders—so why don’t I have any pretty girls around me?”

The Devouring Clan chief was about to step forward to greet them, but the young man had already spread his arms, reaching to hug Qu Ruyan, who was still eating her lollipop.

A sharp pain shot through his wrist, and the young man hastily pulled his hand back, cursing, “Who was that? Which little brat dared to sneak attack this lord?”

“Oh? You sound unconvinced?”

The clear, melodious voice made the young man’s expression freeze for a moment.

Following the sound, his gaze finally landed on Lin Mo.

In an instant, his eyes were filled with amazement.

As that amazement slowly faded, it was replaced by naked greed.

This peerless beauty—he had to have her.