Becoming a wet nurse is not the end of the story.

Lin Xueyin glanced thoughtfully at the tearful girl in front of her, sighed softly, and gently patted her pretty back.

"Alright, you're safe now. Don't worry anymore. I'll make those who bullied you pay the price."

"Thank you, you are such a kind person."

Lin Xueyin felt a slight sense of pleasure after being given a "friend zone" card, and her eyes were filled with a smile. Just as she was about to speak, a familiar yet heart-wrenching voice rang in her ears.

"Yukine, you've sneaked out again."

Hmm... It's Aria again. Lin Xueyin didn't understand why. Ever since she was asked to learn from Pandelina, Aria had completely changed. She used to pamper her so much, but now she was being unusually strict with her.

Why are you here?

"Why am I here? Didn't you tell me you were going to a flower show with the Queen today? Why are you here instead?"

Stepping out from among the passersby, Aria held her sword and looked at the somewhat bewildered girl with a cold smile.

"Well, I'm just... cough cough, I'm just here to take a look, just passing by. I really am just passing by."

She didn't know why, but she felt guilty. Looking at Arya's stern eyes, Lin Xueyin felt a surge of resentment towards Pandelina. This girl was giving back the gentle, doting guardian knight she once knew...

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The following is a note from the author, mainly to thank readers @大喊, 翻滚, and 吃瘪 for their generous donations. This doesn't count as padding.

Volume 9: The Demon Clan's Journey - Chapter Sixteen: The Queen's Decision

Lin Xueyin was nearly captured and sold into slavery by her own soldiers on her own territory. The bizarre nature of this incident horrified even the queen of the tribe. Although she was not completely ignorant of the soldiers in her territory, this blatant favoritism, which even reached the point of lawlessness, made the queen feel alarmed.

If it weren't for Princess Lin Xueyin's incident, she probably wouldn't have known that her soldiers were so lawless, so evil and arrogant.

When Lin Xueyin walked up the palace steps again, the queen was already waiting at the door, anxiously stepping forward to carefully examine Lin Xueyin.

"Girl, are you alright? If that girl Elufina finds out you were wronged here, she'll turn on me like a madwoman."

"I'm fine, it's just those soldiers..."

"Hmph, you don't need to worry about them. Putting aside your identity, their actions are already against the law. Also, I heard that there were people who fought against you before. Who were those people?"

Holding Lin Xueyin's hand, Queen Melo walked into the palace. She also had the idea of ​​purging these scoundrels in her jurisdiction, and this was a good opportunity to get rid of all the rats.

However, Lin Xueyin did not trust the queen. At least, seeing that strange organization here had already made Lin Xueyin dare not have any confidence in this lord whom Elufina trusted so much.

"I...."

"I know you have some thoughts, but there are some things I can't say. But I hope you can understand that in such a big city, isn't it normal to have a few rats?"

"A few rats? Maybe they're not just rats, but some poisonous snakes."

Slightly taken aback by Lin Xueyin's words, Melo smiled faintly. This girl, as expected of the Demon King's favorite, can already help His Majesty in many ways just with this thoughtfulness.

"The venomous snakes hide so well, and with the protection of the forest, it's extremely difficult to find their nests."

"Therefore, we must lure the snake out of its hole and let it show itself. Only when it reveals its presence will it be the least threatening."

Lin Xueyin suddenly understood why Elufina had told her to come to the Eagle Clan. It was likely that the woman had already made arrangements for her before she even left. No wonder Besna had also recommended the Eagle Clan to her.

"With you, the Demon King's queen, here, those people will definitely be eager to make a move. After all, the more the Demon King favors you, the more leverage they will have to negotiate with him."

Speechless, Lin Xueyin pouted, a hint of displeasure in her eyes. Couldn't Nana have just been straightforward with her? Instead, she secretly used her, which made her feel genuinely upset.

"Actually, I think His Majesty probably doesn't want you to come here and take risks, otherwise he wouldn't have arranged so many guards for you, and he would have specifically informed me to let you stay in the palace."

As long as they appear, I will not be safe even in the palace. Lin Xueyin understands very well that since the Eagle Clan has been targeted by Nana, the strength of the temple here must not be underestimated.

She sent him here for two reasons: first, to lure the cult out of its hole, and second, to use her own power to help her wipe out the cult forces here.

"Hmph, you don't need to speak up for her. I'll settle the score with her when I get back."

This time, she'd make sure she was bedridden for three days straight, no, a whole week. Gritting her teeth, Lin Xueyin had already figured out how to punish the woman who dared to take advantage of her.

"Alright, I'll take this little girl away now. You should go back and get some rest too."

As he spoke, he reached out to pull the girl Lin Xueyin had brought away, but just as the guards approached and before they could make any other move, the girl let out a terrified cry.

"No...don't touch me, don't touch me...I won't...I won't do anything..."

After exchanging glances with Queen Melo, Lin Xueyin asked the guards to temporarily withdraw. Only after the guards withdrew did the girl calm down a little, but her worried eyes followed Lin Xueyin closely.

He looked pitiful, as if he was worried about being abandoned by Lin Xueyin and the others, but he didn't dare to take a step forward, for fear that his actions would anger the girl who saved him.

"Come on, come back with me. They won't do anything to you."

He reached out, took the girl's hand, and gently wrapped her small, soft hand in his own. After bidding farewell to Queen Melo, he led his friends toward the side hall where he had always lived.

Queen Melo watched Lin Xueyin's retreating figure, a cold smile playing on her lips, though it didn't reach her eyes; it was icy cold.

"You all keep a close watch on the side shrine where Pastor Lin is staying. If there is any unusual activity, notify me immediately."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Several guards bowed and hurried towards the side hall.

The hurried figure from behind brought a strange smile to the Queen of the Eagle Clan's face, her dreamy eyes revealing a cryptic expression of her thoughts.

Lin Xueyin, along with her friends, returned to the side hall. The hall, which had been noisy because of her departure, suddenly became quiet upon her return.

"Your Majesty...Your Highness...You only went out for a short while and bought a slave. If you do this, His Majesty the Demon King will punish you again."

Besna was one of the few who knew exactly what this punishment was all about. She hadn't understood at first, but gradually came to realize that the Demon King wished he could punish the queen hundreds of times a day. He wanted an endless supply of punishments.

And this reason is probably the most justifiable one His Majesty the Demon King can use now: the Queen secretly bought someone outside, which is basically stealing someone, isn't it? Wouldn't the Demon King be furious?

One can imagine what kind of storms she will face after returning this time, and Besna suddenly felt a little bit of anticipation in her heart.

I eagerly anticipate the scene of this powerful priestess being imprisoned by the Demon King's dark power, and then subjected to his wanton abuse. It feels as if someone has used their strongest power to defile a pure treasure.

It made her feel a strong, destructive urge welling up inside her.

"Besna, you seem to be thinking about something very bad." Narrowing her eyes, Lin Xueyin felt uneasy about the strangely smiling female guard, as if she were thinking about something terrible.

"No, absolutely not. I have enough respect for the Princess Consort to even think of such things. Haha, impossible, absolutely impossible."

Volume 9: The Demon Clan's Journey - Chapter 17: The Mysterious Basement (Two chapters published together)

The Queen acted swiftly. Lin Xueyin had barely returned to her bedroom to rest when someone came to inform her that all the soldiers who had dared to offend her had been executed, and their bodies had even been hung on the execution cliff.

Lin Xueyin didn't feel much about whether this was a bit too cruel; she just focused her attention on the girl who had come back with her.

"You said you were bought as slaves by those people, and then many of you were taken to a very strange place, is that right?"

He looked at the stern-faced woman in front of him with a mixture of timidity and fear. Even in the bedroom, she was dressed in leather armor and carried a thin sword at her waist, looking every bit the part of a soldier.

"Yes, after they took us there, we were kept there. Every day people were taken away and never came back. We were so afraid that one day this misfortune would befall us."

"Hmm, since they've already locked you up, how did you escape?"

Pandelina looked at the girl in front of her with a strange expression, her hand already on the hilt of her sword. If her answer was even slightly wrong, then she wouldn't hesitate to take action. She couldn't allow Lin Xueyin to be threatened in any way, not for her own safety, but for the future of humanity.

"I...I..." Seeing the other person's actions, the girl immediately understood her situation. However, at this moment, she had become the fish on the chopping block.

"Speak, or else..."

The blade had already revealed a sliver of its edge, but most of it remained hidden within its sheath. However, the killing intent had already poured out, terrifying the girl so much that she dared not utter a single word. She could only whimper for help, looking at the girl who had rescued her.

"Alright, Your Excellency, look how frightened they've become. We can just ask them about these things slowly."

His palm covered the hand gripping the sword hilt, and his voice, as gentle as a spring breeze, soothed the pale-faced girl opposite him. Unconsciously, it calmed her emotions once more.

"Actually, it was because some strange things happened inside that we had the opportunity to escape."

"Anomaly? What anomaly?" Lin Xueyin looked at the girl in front of her with some surprise, seemingly very interested in the anomaly she was talking about.

"I don't know, all their people ran over there, and many of us took the opportunity to escape. But a lot of people were caught and brought back, only me... only me..."

Lin Xueyin and Pandelina looked at each other, unsure of what to say. However, Aria seemed to have thought of something and spoke up.

"Was it the mountain tremors we felt when we went out earlier?"

Previously, when Lin Xueyin and Queen Merlo went out for a stroll together, they suddenly noticed a strange shaking of the mountain. Therefore, Queen Merlo stopped Lin Xueyin from going out and forced her to sneak out.

"That's possible, but we need to investigate the specifics carefully."

"So how do you plan to investigate?" Pandelina seemed a little interested at this point. She glanced briefly at the girl standing to the side, unsure of what to do with her hands and feet, before paying no further attention to her.

Lin Xueyin shook her head gently, indicating that she had no clue either. She then looked at the girl she had brought with her and asked, "What's your name?"

"Me? My name is Konno."

"Kono? Are you human?" Weiwei glanced at the girl named Kono. She seemed to be a pure human. Is the status of humans so low among the demons?

The other party nodded timidly, which made Lin Xueyin somewhat unhappy. Nana treated humans as slaves, which seemed to make her very uncomfortable. She wondered if she should have a serious talk with her today.

The existence of slavery inherently exacerbates conflicts between different races. Of course, this is also because Lin Xueyin has always been educated with socialist values, and naturally has a sense of sympathy for the weak when it comes to the slave class.

Are you a human native to the Demon Clan?

"No...no...I am a human from the Xima Empire. When we were defeated, many of our people were captured by the demons, either used as food or enslaved. We...we..."

One could imagine the bleakness of that scene. Lin Xueyin slammed her fist on the table, her face deathly pale. Although Ailiya desperately wanted to help her friend, Pandelina grabbed her arm.

"Elufina, is this what you did...?" Her tightly clenched cherry lips were already faintly tinged with red.

"Um, you..."

"You can just call me Xueyin. Tell me the truth, what exactly did those demons do?"

"I...."

Looking at the frightening-looking girl with some worry, he was told to call her Xueyin, but how could he dare? He could only timidly say it.

"My benefactor, I dare not say more. Please take care of yourself."

Take care of yourself. This body doesn't need taking care of itself anymore. He looked at his friends with a wry smile. Who were they? They didn't know what was wrong with his body.

"Tell me, what exactly did the demons do after their invasion?"

"I don't know much, but I do know that a place called Yorktown was massacred by them. It is said that all living things were slaughtered."

Slaughtering the city, Nana, you really are ruthless. You destroyed the only place where I left a trace. Suddenly, I feel a sense of utter despair.

The living and the dead, in the end, will all weigh on us? Things really are a headache.

"Sigh, I never thought it would end like this. I really never thought it would end like this. The major mercenary groups back then are probably all history now."

Lin Xueyin muttered to herself, her eyes filled with sorrow and resentment, which momentarily confused her.