Chapter 44: Hope of Rescue

In the afternoon.

When Luo Shangyu turned around, Qin Yu was already nowhere to be seen.

‘Qin Yu knows Space Magic, so she shouldn’t be in any danger, right?’

Luo Shangyu thought to herself, yet she still released her Magic to silently monitor Qin Yu’s movements.

The Monster Dragon’s Dragon Crystal was located deep within its body.

Luo Shangyu had to cut open the entire Crystal Dragon to retrieve a Dragon Crystal about the size of a fist.

Space Magic pulsated faintly within the Dragon Crystal, though it did not seem particularly pure.

‘Tch, what a waste of excitement,’ Luo Shangyu muttered to herself as she tucked the Dragon Crystal into her pocket.

At that moment, within Luo Shangyu’s perception, Qin Yu continued moving deeper into the forest.

‘Is this Qin Yu really that restless?’ Luo Shangyu grumbled internally while stepping back two paces to blow the Crystal Dragon to pieces.

She wanted to thoroughly check if there were any Dragon Crystals she had missed.

Suddenly, Qin Yu vanished from Luo Shangyu’s perception.

Luo Shangyu immediately stopped what she was doing.

Losing contact with Qin Yu made her feel a surge of anxiety.

She instantly abandoned her plan to check for missed crystals and rushed toward the last location where she had sensed Qin Yu.

However, when Luo Shangyu arrived, she found herself on a narrow forest path with three fresh sets of footprints.

One of the footprints looked very similar to her own.

Luo Shangyu immediately realized that Qin Yu had been kidnapped!

She knelt down to examine the prints and noticed that Qin Yu’s gait seemed a bit off.

‘Is she injured?’ Luo Shangyu felt her heart burning with worry.

Following the footprints, she jogged along until she reached a clearing in the woods.

Several tree stumps sat in the clearing, their jagged edges weathered and old.

It was clear they had been there for many years.

Leaves were piled high on the ground, and the footprints abruptly vanished.

Seeing that she had lost the trail, Luo Shangyu hurriedly expanded her magic to scan the surroundings.

This area was already at the edge of the core region of the Salem Forest.

Various monsters, ranging in strength, loomed nearby, and there were tents from other adventurers, yet there was no sign of Qin Yu.

Luo Shangyu was shocked.

Her Magic could penetrate almost anything to detect Qin Yu’s trail, so why was it failing now?

Considering the time since Qin Yu left her detection range, the girl couldn’t have traveled more than a few kilometers.

Luo Shangyu had tracked her this far; logically, the distance between her and Qin Yu should be well within her detection range!

Luo Shangyu searched for Qin Yu’s tracks once more, even more carefully this time.

Within her detection range, she didn’t miss a single adventurer’s camp or a single individual, scanning every one of them in detail.

Just then, a tent emitting Space Magic fluctuations caught her attention.

‘Anyone capable of kidnapping Qin Yu wouldn’t be an ordinary person…’ Luo Shangyu mused, lowering her head in thought.

‘Someone using this kind of tent isn’t ordinary either, and the space expansion magic on it is perfect for blocking my detection…’

The realization struck her like a bolt of lightning.

Nine times out of ten, Qin Yu was inside that tent!

The sky had already darkened.

Luo Shangyu had to remain wary of monsters as she slowly approached the tent.

***

“Qin Yu, come here!” Valya commanded.

Qin Yu walked up to Valya, not daring to utter a single word of protest.

“Do you know why I captured you?”

‘What does she mean by that…’ Feeling there was more to Valya’s words than met the eye, Qin Yu chose to remain silent.

“Come here,” Valya said, pointing toward the bed nearby.

Qin Yu hesitated but eventually stood beside Valya.

She still remembered clearly how Valya had previously forbidden her from getting on the bed.

“Do you know why I took you as my personal maid?”

Qin Yu shook her head.

“Because you tried to steal my Dragon Crystal this afternoon, didn’t you?”

Qin Yu recalled the scene from earlier.

She had only wanted to take a closer look; she never had any intention of stealing it.

But now, faced with absolute power, her defense would be meaningless.

The truth was whatever Valya decided it was.

“If it weren’t for your cute face, I wouldn’t have let you become my personal maid to atone for your crimes; I would have killed you long ago.” Valya grabbed Qin Yu’s wrist with one hand and pressed down on her neck with the other, pinning her onto the bed.

“In that case, you should take full responsibility for your actions!”

‘I’m going to get beaten again…’ Qin Yu wanted to cry but had no tears.

Her muscles tensed as she prepared herself for a spanking.

However, Valya didn’t hit her.

Instead, she sat beside her and placed a hand on Qin Yu’s waist.

‘This is…’ Qin Yu didn’t react at first, but then she remembered hearing the sound of Valya clipping her fingernails today, and everything became clear.

“No!” Qin Yu squirmed, trying to break free from Valya’s grip, but it was all in vain.

“Valya!” The door swung open as Lilith marched in.

“Hi…” Valya responded weakly.

“You’ve gone too far!” Lilith walked over and placed a hand on Valya’s shoulder.

“The fact that Qin Yu was there doesn’t prove she was trying to steal our Dragon Crystal! It was already over the line to kidnap her and force her to be your maid, and now you want to do this?”

After being scolded by Lilith, Valya finally abandoned her plan to teach Qin Yu a lesson.

Seeing that she had been saved, Qin Yu quickly covered her bottom and scurried away from Valya.

“I’ll take you to where you’ll be sleeping tonight.” Lilith took Qin Yu’s hand and led her to a guest bedroom.

The guest room was quite spacious, and the mattress on the bed felt soft and comfortable.

“Thank you…” Qin Yu whispered, her head lowered as Lilith held her hand.

“You’re welcome,” Lilith said, gently patting the top of Qin Yu’s head.

“I’ll take you away from here tomorrow. Valya went a bit too far, and I apologize on her behalf.”

“It’s all right…” Despite her immense dissatisfaction, Qin Yu could only accept Lilith’s apology.

After all, she was in a weak position; she had no choice but to silently endure whatever Valya or Lilith decided to do to her.

“Get some sleep,” Lilith said as she closed the door and left the room.

Looking around the bedroom where she was finally alone, Qin Yu’s heart began to settle.

Lilith had shown her a way out, and she finally saw a glimmer of hope.

Qin Yu took off the Maid Outfit, leaving only her undergarments.

No matter how hot the autumn days were, the nights were always filled with a chilly breeze.

Qin Yu couldn’t help but shiver.

Since turning into a girl, she found herself becoming more sensitive to the cold and more sluggish in the heat.

To keep warm, Qin Yu had to put her over-the-knee socks back on.

The floor of the tent was exceptionally clean.

Even though Qin Yu hadn’t been wearing shoes, the soles of her socks remained as clean as new.

After washing up, Qin Yu crawled into bed.

Relieved by the news that she could leave the next day, Qin Yu felt incredibly relaxed and soon fell fast asleep.