“Have you forgotten the precepts of the Sacred Church?” Miya pulled Hati up and scolded her.
“Ugh.” Hati shook her head, suppressing that primal, instinctive urge.
How did this happen?
After getting close to Lin Shu and being surrounded by that favorite scent of hers, she had lost control.
Hati also felt that her actions were a bit offensive, so she hurriedly said, “I’m sorry, Lin Shu. I crossed the line.”
Although she said that, a voice deep within her heart was screaming:
‘I want to lick her entire body so badly!!!’
No! Hati pinched her arm hard, forcing her sanity to return.
She could usually endure it when there was no meat to eat, but why was it so difficult to suppress this strange urge when facing Lin Shu?
During her career hunting the Nightmare Race, she had saved countless humans, but only Lin Shu made her feel different.
“Hati, I have something to say to you. Come out for a moment.” Miya looked serious.
Hati noticed the gravity in Miya’s voice and realized it was related to Lin Shu.
She turned to Lin Shu and said, “Lin Shu, you rest first.”
“Okay.” Lin Shu did not lie down right away. Instead, she sat with her back against the cave wall, her legs pulled in close.
Hati turned and followed Miya out to the entrance of the cave.
At this distance, Lin Shu would not be able to hear their conversation.
Hati got straight to the point. “What’s wrong, Miya? I’ve wanted to ask since earlier. Your attitude toward Lin Shu is strange.”
“I wanted to say the same to you, Hati. You’ve only met her a few times. Why are you so good to her?”
“Why? Because she is good, she’s special, and I want to protect her,” Hati answered without hesitation, sounding perfectly justified. “Why do you all love asking for a reason?”
Miya was choked up by her words, and after recovering, she said angrily, “Didn’t you see? Her skills are exactly the same as that vampire’s!”
“I saw it, and I have the same doubts as you. However, I asked her just now. It’s because she is a Familiar.”
“A Familiar?!” Miya’s eyes widened in shock. “Then isn’t she just a subordinate of that vampire?”
“No. Aside from the fact that her contract hasn’t been dissolved, she no longer has anything to do with that vampire.”
“Why do you believe her? Is what she says necessarily true? Maybe she’s still working with that vampire right now, leading us out just to make us take the bait!”
“What are you saying? She just saved me in battle.” Hati’s voice rose slightly. “Without her, I would have been strangled to death by that old vampire hag in the manor.”
“What if she was just acting for you to see, just to trick you?”
“Humans unconsciously emit a tense aura when they lie. When Lin Shu explained, her aura was very steady, and she wasn’t flustered. My nose won’t lie to me.”
Hati scratched her head. “Even then, she is the holder of the key and the target of our mission!”
Miya’s tone remained anxious. “Then how did she get her key? Maybe she stole it from someone else?”
Hati countered, “Then you tell me, who could she have stolen it from? The Demonic Race? Would the holder of something so important to the Sacred Race be a member of the Demonic Race?”
She sighed, her tail drooping in disappointment. “Miya, do you not trust my judgment?”
Miya fell silent.
Her silence was equivalent to a negative answer.
Hati’s behavior toward Lin Shu felt both foreign and abnormal to her. She could not understand why Hati had suddenly lost control and engaged in such overly intimate behavior.
‘Did Lin Shu do something to Hati? Did the Demonic Race teach her some strange trick?’
“I know I was impulsive just now, but Lin Shu isn’t the kind of person you think she is,” Hati said seriously. “Doesn’t the Sacred Church teach us that humans are lost lambs who need our guidance and protection?”
“But she isn’t an ordinary human; she’s a Familiar of the Demonic Race!” Miya lowered her voice.
Hati suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness. It seemed that no matter how much she said, Miya would not listen.
“Miya, if you don’t believe it, you can talk to her yourself.”
Hati pulled Miya along without giving her a choice and walked back into the cave.
“Wait — ” Miya wanted to refuse, but Hati was very strong and pulled her in front of Lin Shu first.
Inside the cave, Lin Shu was still awake.
Seeing Miya return, Lin Shu handed the wrapped cookies to her. “This portion is for you.”
Hati had mentioned earlier that there were only two cookies left, so Lin Shu had not touched them, leaving them for Miya.
Seeming to perceive that Miya still had a wall up against her, Lin Shu took the initiative to ask, “Miya, do you also have something you want to ask me?”
“…” Miya took the cookies, looked at her, and asked hesitantly, “Lin Shu, can you let me see your key?”
“Sure.”
Lin Shu reached into her inner pocket.
“Um… I wanted to ask, how can you prove this key is yours? I just want to confirm.”
Lin Shu blinked, appearing to be deep in thought.
She finally replied, “I can only say that during an accident, when I was about to be devoured by a monster, the key emitted a white light and protected me.”
“When was that? Where were you?” Hati asked from the side.
“In the underground jungle, to the west of the Demonic Race’s kingdom.”
It matched.
Hati and Miya were both startled.
That place was exactly where the Lady Saint said the key had first shown a reaction.
Lin Shu placed the key in her palm and held it up for Miya to see.
Miya’s breathing grew ragged. “This pattern is… how can it be? The Creator God?!”
That was a symbol she had seen a few times in books after joining the Sacred Church, something she had longed to witness and worship with her own eyes one day. Her hand trembled uncontrollably as she reached out toward the key. After touching the pattern, she gripped it tightly in her palm.
It was what she had always yearned for…
“Miya?” Hati’s voice pulled her back from her fantasy.
Miya was startled and immediately let go, pulling her hand back.
“Fine… okay… I understand,” Miya replied in a low voice, ending the conversation.
She turned and walked to a corner a bit further from the campfire, clutching the cross on her chest tightly.
‘Why? Why would such a thing be in this person’s hands?’
Miya’s heart was filled with mixed emotions.
She still could not trust Lin Shu, and a layer of jealousy had been added to her defensive heart.
‘If that key were in my hands—if I were the one who found it and presented it to the Bishop—would I be one step closer to the gods?’
‘I am a nun of the Sacred Church, after all. Compared to a human living among the Demonic Race, aren’t I more qualified?’
*Thump, thump!* In the dark corner, Miya could clearly hear her own violent heartbeat.
A lost lamb? No, Lin Shu was not.
Her master was a member of the Demonic Race, a vampire, the murderer who had killed Miya’s teammates on that rainy night!
Miya remembered the expressions of her companions when they were controlled by vines and then pierced by a Puppet’s blades.
Lin Shu had the same vines and skills identical to the Blood Clan.
She was not a kind soul in need of guidance.
Miya squeezed the cross on her chest, silently staring at Lin Shu’s silhouette.
Hostility coiled around her heart.