Two months after the Rose Royal Capital massacre, Deepwood District.
As a subordinate district of the Rose Kingdom, Deepwood District was no longer the forbidden zone to outsiders that it once was.
Not only elves, but humans, dwarves, and halflings had also begun to settle here one after another.
After a long period of fleeing, Lin Qiyou and Xiao Ya had arrived here with a merchant caravan. After bidding farewell to the caravan manager, they stood in the center of Deepwood District, lost in thought.
A strange forest, towering ancient trees—it could be called a city lush with greenery, and Lin Qiyou and Xiao Ya were a little dazed by the sight.
“Where do we look now?”
To be honest, Xiao Ya didn’t even know why she and Lin Qiyou were running anymore. It was as if they were fleeing simply for the sake of fleeing, because if she didn’t stick with Lin Qiyou, sooner or later, she’d be caught by the Rose Kingdom and the Church. When that happened, she would surely be judged, with no place to bury her body.
Her faith remained unshaken. She only wanted to clear her name, not be branded as a blasphemer and an accomplice to massacre and conspiracy.
“Hmm—let’s go check out the blacksmith!”
After hiding in the merchant caravan’s cargo boxes for so long, Lin Qiyou’s bones needed stretching. She arched her back in a lazy stretch, rolling her shoulders.
Strolling casually, she harbored some extraordinary secrets in her heart.
The more Xiao Ya spent time with her, the more bewildering Lin Qiyou became.
Lin Qiyou’s nonchalant demeanor surprised and exasperated Xiao Ya. She thought that someone who had once participated in the slaughter of the Rose Royal Capital should at least show some discomfort or guilt, right?
Not to mention mental preparation beforehand—Xiao Ya herself would feel rattled for a long while even after killing a chicken.
The dying squawk and the look in the chicken’s eyes always echoed in her mind.
But on second thought, Lin Qiyou truly was exceptional.
Cloaked in black, face concealed by a mask, both Xiao Ya and Lin Qiyou had disguised themselves, but the story of the white-robed swordswoman and the halfling priest slaughtering the Rose Royal Capital had already spread across the continent. The search squads would even pluck a chicken on the roadside just to check thoroughly.
Xiao Ya had once asked Lin Qiyou: What would you do if you ran into enemies again?
Lin Qiyou’s answer: “If soldiers come, use generals to block; if water floods, use earth to stop it.”
Whenever she heard that, Xiao Ya pictured blood and carnage, questioning why she was with this person.
She regretted it!
But Xiao Ya had forbidden her from using force unless absolutely necessary, on the grounds that killing brings bad karma.
Lin Qiyou actually agreed with her on that point.
Walking down the main street of Deepwood District, Lin Qiyou and Xiao Ya looked around. Aside from the architectural style, there wasn’t much difference from a normal human settlement—perhaps the immigrants from other races had softened those differences. However, from the way the wood elves kept together, seemingly distant from the other races, it was clear they were still quite xenophobic.
But Lin Qiyou hadn’t come to study ethnic integration. After hitting a wall at a wood elf’s stall, she turned to a human merchant’s stall.
“Do you know where the blacksmith is around here?”
Lin Qiyou asked the stall owner.
“The blacksmith? Of course! See over there? That’s the best blacksmith around!”
The stall owner pointed to one side. A burly man was swinging his hammer before a smithy, sweat pouring down.
Best or not, at least he was certainly the hardest working.
“I want a wood elf blacksmith, not a human one.”
“Uh, what’s so great about wood elf blacksmiths? The stuff they make, we’re not used to it anyway,” the stall owner muttered, clearly dissatisfied.
“Save the nonsense.”
Lin Qiyou raised her index finger, flicking up her hood to reveal sharp, scathing eyes at the stall owner.
There was a power in that gaze beyond this world, yet it was enough to shake the soul. The stall owner inexplicably felt a chill, shrinking his neck and saying, “Ah, then you’ll want to go over there. That’s the only wood elf blacksmith in Deepwood District.”
“Thank you very much.”
Lin Qiyou tapped the counter and led Xiao Ya toward the wood elf blacksmith.
“Dr. Maxie, you’re here.”
After Lin Qiyou and Xiao Ya left, the stall owner spotted a wood elf, waving cheerfully.
Not long after, in the wood elf blacksmith’s shop, Lin Qiyou and Xiao Ya were rebuffed. Like the other wood elf merchants, these people were extremely xenophobic. A kind-hearted female wood elf in the shop said to them, “Without a local to vouch for you, you won’t get anything done here.”
Hearing this, Lin Qiyou gave up—for now—on threatening the wood elves by force. Xiao Ya, patting her chest, sighed with relief.
“We can just grab a wood elf somewhere quiet.”
“No way!”
Xiao Ya crossed her arms in an X, but Lin Qiyou had already picked a target.
A short-haired wood elf passed by in front of them, hard to tell if it was a man or woman, but prettier than most from the side.
Lin Qiyou rubbed her fists together. She thought the more attractive a person was, the easier they were to “persuade.” Of course, that didn’t apply to herself.
“Don’t!”
“Out of the way!”
Lin Qiyou gave Xiao Ya a knuckle rap and strode straight toward the wood elf.
Despite the commotion behind, the wood elf in front didn’t notice a thing.
“Hey, Cuihua, where’ve you been?”
Hearing other wood elves greet the person ahead, Lin Qiyou muttered silently in her heart:
Cuihua? What a terrible name!
Following the crowd, Lin Qiyou and Xiao Ya tailed Cuihua all the way. Cuihua’s destination was a medicinal field at the foot of the mountain. Lin Qiyou and Xiao Ya hid behind a rock.
On the way, Xiao Ya did her best to stop Lin Qiyou, but at this point, she could only obediently shut up—saying anything now would ruin the plan.
“All right, go.”
Seeing the other wood elves leave the medicinal field, Lin Qiyou walked out with her hands behind her back, Xiao Ya by her side. She called out to Cuihua, who was squatting and picking herbs, “Hey!”
Cuihua looked up, seeing the tall and short figures approach, her eyes narrowed. Realizing their disguised appearance was suspicious, she stood up, glancing around.
“Who?”
Cuihua’s face was full of wariness. She knew she was alone, and the two before her approached menacingly.
“She’s—”
“Bang!”
Just as Xiao Ya was about to speak, Lin Qiyou rapped her on the head.
“I wasn’t going to say her real name!”
“I have a request for you, miss.”
Ignoring Xiao Ya’s protests, Lin Qiyou walked up to Cuihua.
With the mountain path behind her, there was nowhere for Cuihua to retreat. She glanced at her shoes, then at Lin Qiyou and Xiao Ya’s outfits. She realized she had no chance of escaping these two.
“W-what is it?”
Cuihua started to speak, then froze, “You? How did you know I—”
“That’s not important. I need you to act as my guide. I have some matters to discuss with the wood elf blacksmiths.
That’s all. There’s nothing else I want, and I have no intention of hurting you.”
Lin Qiyou spread her hands to show she meant no harm, but both Xiao Ya and Cuihua just felt awkward.
“Well…all right, if it’s just talking to the locals.”
For some reason, Cuihua felt a sense of unease around these two.
As if something terrible was about to happen.