The Heartbeat of the Cruel Elves

"My lady princess, are you kidding me?" He only managed to utter half of the nasal sound of the word "me" before he stopped abruptly. Because beside Du Feiya, a tall dark elf female warrior was walking towards him gracefully, and she was weighing a red mushroom in her large white palm.

This is a fruit unique to the underground world, produced by a special kind of mushroom. It is bright red in appearance, roughly round in shape, and similar in size to tomatoes in the aboveground world.

"Your Excellency, Princess..." Eugenius looked at Dufiya again, his face filled with fear, and his voice trembled noticeably.

"What?" Du Feiya did not answer him. Instead, the female dark elf who was walking towards him swayed and snorted coldly, and said in a rather unfriendly manner, "Do you want to regret it?"

"The princess of the noble Second Family condescended to make an agreement with you, and you, a lowly commoner, are so ungrateful that you dare to go back on your word?"

"No, I dare not!" Eugenius subconsciously defended himself, "But, but, Princess Dufia——"

In a hurry, he shouted at Du Feiya, "Can you please consider the form of our competition?"

"I've thought about it." Du Feiya's face was calm, his eyes were deep, and there was a faint smile on the corners of his mouth. "I think this is the best way to compete."

"Why, do you think I treated you unfairly?"

"Are you kidding me?" Before Eugenius could answer, the tall female dark elf who was walking towards him interrupted him in indignation, "This wretched civilian male only took twenty steps, while you, my lady princess, are going to take twenty-five steps. This is clearly a huge concession you made. How dare he be so shameless as to think that he was treated unfairly?"

"Hey," Du Feiya said softly to stop the female dark elf, and then changed her tone, "You can't say that. The training we nobles and commoners receive is different. If we use the same standards, it will undoubtedly be suspected of bullying. Therefore, we should make a distinction."

"So," she turned to look at Eugenius, her eyes bright and kind, and said with a smile:

"How about thirty steps?"

When Eugenius heard this, he was stunned at first, then his face turned pale and he shook his head repeatedly.

What a joke, he didn't believe that the princess's aim could accurately hit the mushroom on top of his head instead of his head at twenty-five steps, let alone thirty steps?

"That means you agree." Du Feiya's gorgeous violet eyes turned slightly, "Twenty-five steps?"

Eugenius was stunned again, his eyes wide open, not knowing how to explain, he just kept shaking his head anxiously.

During this short conversation, the dark elf female warrior under Du Feiya had already walked in front of him. She held his shaking head with one hand and said with anger in her voice:

"Thirty steps is not okay, twenty-five steps is not okay either, what on earth do you mean?"

"Forget it," she paused, turned to look at Du Feiya, and smiled, "In my opinion, men are like this, they have no opinions at all, so asking them is useless."

"Everyone has seen how tolerant Her Royal Highness is of him. As the saying goes, justice is in the heart of the elves. I think it is better to ask everyone instead of asking this unclear guy."

She turned her head again, and with a powerful gaze, she scanned the surroundings, and asked in a serious tone, "Everyone thinks that twenty-five steps are no problem, right?"

No elves raised any objections, but instead the elves burst into warm cheers and applause. Some praised Princess Dufia for her kindness and courtesy towards the common people, while others righteously denounced Eugenius for going back on his word and being ungrateful...

Li Yin looked carefully and saw that most of the dark elves who were shouting had an expression of watching the fun and not minding the trouble. There were also a few guys who looked depressed and seemed to have different opinions, but they all kept their mouths shut and did not say a word. Li Yin could understand this. After all, really standing up and questioning a princess of the second family in public was an absolute act of folly.

"Very good." The tall dark elf warrior woman waved her other hand holding the red mushroom vigorously and said cheerfully, "It seems that justice is in the hearts of elves. The princess's tolerance has been unanimously recognized by everyone."

"Then," she pressed her large hand down, pressing the bright red mushroom onto Eugenius's head.

Eugenius was still trying to figure out something, his lips trembling, but he saw that twenty-five steps away, Dufia had already taken the flying knife from a dark elf female warrior who had bent down. Her deep violet eyes first glanced over the cold blade, then she turned around, raised her head, and looked at Eugenius with interest.

"Your Highness, Your Highness..." Eugenius felt a chill rising from the soles of his feet and instantly rushed to his forehead.

Du Feiya did not answer, but slowly stood up, holding the handle of the flying knife with her slender, white and powerful fingers, and her two violet eyes looked at him curiously, as if looking forward to the upcoming result.

Chapter 5: Little Du Flying Knife ()

She raised her hand, and Eugenius' heartstrings tightened as her arm continued to rise.

Suddenly, her hand shook.

Eugenius' heart almost stopped.

But the flying knife did not fly out - it was just a feint.

Eugenius had just breathed a sigh of relief after surviving the disaster, but he saw Du Feiya's hand holding the flying knife shake again.

My heart, which had just relaxed, immediately jumped up into my throat again.

Still a feint...

Du Feiya feinted several times in succession, as if she was getting familiar with the feel of the move, just like Eugenius herself before. But every time she feinted, Eugenius's heartstrings did not dare to relax at all, and they tightened with her movements.

Finally, after another feint, Du Feiya paused for a moment, and then - her arms began to relax freely, drooping, and then in the next moment, they suddenly bounced up!

Eugenius was very familiar with this action. His hair stood on end, his eyes closed, he opened his mouth and shouted subconsciously, his mind went blank.

However, after an unknown amount of time, the imagined pain did not come. Eugenius opened his eyes hesitantly, immediately lowered his head and began to scan his body, but was pleasantly surprised to find that there was no trace of blood on his body.

He was not injured - immediately, this thought came to his mind, making him overjoyed.

In other words, Princess Du Feiya missed? Or did she successfully hit the mushroom?

Eugenius was happy to accept any situation. As long as he survived, it would be fine. He breathed a sigh of relief after surviving the disaster, and then he felt his back was sticky and wet, all sweat. He looked up at Du Feiya with great relief, and the first thing he saw was the flying knife in the other's hand, a bright flying knife.

He was stunned at first, then a surge of anger arose, but the anger was immediately suppressed by fear, and then the anger that had nowhere to vent turned into grievance and helplessness.

Enough, isn't it enough? He thought, instead of playing tricks on himself and humiliating himself like this, it would be better to just... shoot myself to death, he thought in self-abandonment.

However, the next moment, his flushed face filled with anger, grievance, and helplessness was replaced by a hint of joy, because he saw with his own eyes that Du Feiya smiled at him slightly, and then turned away leisurely.

Is it over? Such a thought came to his mind. It turned out that the other party did not intend to hurt him, but just wanted to scare him and teach him a lesson. Maybe he should reflect on whether he was too ostentatious during the gambling fight and disturbed the elegant mood of the noble princess beside him?

As he was thinking this, he focused his gaze again on Princess Du Feiya's back. Her graceful and slender figure looked particularly moving in the joy of surviving the disaster.

Then, in the next moment, his surprised eyes suddenly froze.

He saw Du Feiya, who had her back to him, suddenly raise her slender right arm, and the tips of her slender jade fingers flashed slightly on her shoulder. In an instant, a ray of silver light passed over her shoulder, which seemed to be cut into pieces, and shot towards him.

"Ah!" Eugenius' eyes widened and he let out a shrill scream.

His whole body was shaking like a sieve, twitching from time to time, like a fresh corpse.

But he did not turn into a corpse after all - he was awakened by a "click".

The dark elf female warrior took the bright red mushroom from above Eugenius' head. A throwing knife was stuck in the center of the mushroom. She held the mushroom in one hand and the handle of the throwing knife in the other hand. With a slight twist, the whole mushroom was cut in half.

Then, she put half of it into her mouth and took a light bite. With a "crunch", the delicious and juicy flesh made a crisp sound between her lips and teeth.

"All male elves are like this." She moved her red lips and chewed slowly. After swallowing the small mouthful of mushroom, she smiled coldly and said, "You're just a piece of trash without a uterus."

Listening to her rather "innovative" sarcastic words, Li Yin was speechless for a moment.

However, to be honest, she does seem to be qualified to say so.

Because, although Eugenius was the direct victim, the dark elf warrior had always stood beside him during the process, and one hand was always on the red mushroom. From beginning to end, she and Eugenius took the same risks - of course, there was only a small difference, if something went wrong, Eugenius would only lose a head, but she would lose a hand.

Forget it. After a brief moment of wild thinking, Li Yin put aside all distracting thoughts and thought it was none of his business. Anyway, the female dark elf was talking about male elves, not men, and had nothing to do with him, a human male.

On the other side, Eugenius, who was overly frightened, finally woke up completely amidst the sneers of the dark elf warriors and the laughter of the onlookers, and realized what had happened. He first pulled the corners of his mouth, and a smile of relief for surviving the disaster appeared on his sweaty pale cheeks again. Then, a trace of blood gradually climbed up his cheeks. The huge sense of shame and the ridicule of the elves made him at a loss, and he stood there awkwardly.

The dark elf warrior pushed the poor fellow's shoulder and motioned him to leave: "It's over, loser."

Eugenius staggered to the side. To his surprise, the elves moved slightly in the direction he was heading, and spontaneously made some space for him. For a moment, he felt a little bit of the glory of the previous winner. Maybe they still remembered his wonderful performance, he thought. With this little glory, he suppressed his shame and uneasiness and walked to the nearest table. The hall was originally full, but the original guests at this table were as tactful as the other onlookers, and they all stood up and gave way before he arrived.

Holding the edge of the table, he sat down dejectedly, and then suddenly, he felt a damp and cold feeling. He lowered his head and looked at his trousers, which were soaked and shining with water.

Only then did he understand why the elves, who had previously ridiculed him mercilessly, would now give in to him with courtesy.

The dark elves closest to him all pinched their noses and retreated as far as possible, but the elves farther away, who were eager to create chaos, were deliberately making trouble and pushing from behind, trying to push these unlucky guys in front towards Eugenis. The elves were in a mess amidst the pushing and shoving, and the air was filled with a happy atmosphere.

The dark elf female warrior who had just held down Eugenius walked to the table where the gambling money was placed, picked up the brocade bag that the princess of the Denitya family had thrown to her, and collected the gems scattered on the obsidian table into it.

Then, she turned around and looked at Du Feiya, as if confirming something.

Chapter 6: Little Du Flying Knife ()

Du Feiya had returned to her seat at this moment, lying leisurely and comfortably on the chair surrounded by many family warriors. She smiled slightly and nodded to the female warrior.

So the female warrior turned around, looked at the bar, and said loudly: "Use the money left on the table to buy a drink for every elf in the hall, and the rest will be considered as a reward."

"Everyone," she turned around, opened her arms, beaming with joy, and shouted to the dark elves with a big laugh, "Thank Her Royal Highness the Princess for her generosity!"

"Du Feiya!"

"Dinitya!"

Suddenly, there was a warm cheer like a tide among the elves.

Deep in the crowd of elves who were dancing and making loud noises, where no one was paying attention, Li Yin noticed that Eugenius was sitting alone at a table, his face turning pale and red, becoming even more embarrassed.

"Look at the bright side," he silently comforted his unfortunate buddy in his heart, "you didn't lose everything - at least you still have a glass of wine."

However, whether he is willing to drink this glass of wine and what mood he will be in when drinking this glass of wine is his own business - Li Yin thought with some irony.

Then, he turned around and cast his gaze on the princess of the Denitya family again. This time, because her behavior just now attracted the attention of all the elves, almost every dark elf in the tavern was staring at her at this moment, so Li Yin did not have to worry about her noticing his overly direct gaze.

She was seen lying slightly on the chair in a relaxed manner, her pretty face white and rosy with a light and indifferent look. She turned a deaf ear to the shouts and gazes of the elves, and just leisurely reached out to take the wine glass handed to her by a waiter, sipping it in small sips, her violet eyes slightly closed, as if immersed in the wonderful taste brought by the wine itself - as for everything that had just happened, it seemed not worth mentioning at all, and she had already forgotten it far behind.

But Li Yin could not forget, or even any bystander in the hall could forget, the wonderful scene just now. The princess of the Denitya family, with her back to her target, casually drew her sword from a distance of 25 steps and accurately hit the fist-sized red mushroom, not her competitor under the mushroom, or the female warrior on top of the mushroom.

"How amazing!" he couldn't help but exclaim.

"It's just a trifle." Unexpectedly, Mircella beside him suddenly sneered and said nonchalantly.

Li Yin turned his head when he heard the voice, opened his eyes wide in surprise, and looked down at Mircella who had a look of disdain on her face.

"Master Myrcella," he said, surprised and curious, "I didn't know you had this skill."

"--teach me," he pleaded without hesitation.

As the relationship between the two improved, and as he deliberately continued to display his "steadily improving" swordsmanship, not long ago, Myrcella had responded to his request and began to teach him the art of dual swords.

At this moment, Li Yin suddenly saw another new technology that amazed him, and unexpectedly learned that his instructor was also proficient in this field, and was even better than the other. Of course, he began to ask for advice without hesitation.

The familiar Mircella immediately coughed lightly, her face flushed slightly, and she seemed a little embarrassed.

"What I'm saying is," she said sternly, "In front of our princess, this mere flying knife technique is nothing but a trifle."

Her tone was a little unfriendly, but Li Yin didn't care. He just grasped the main point of her words and immediately turned his excited gaze to Princess Cassia beside him.

"Your Highness..." He didn't dare to be as bold and direct with Cassia as he was with Myrcella, but spoke shyly.

Cassia suddenly met his bright, eager eyes and was stunned for a moment. Then she tilted her head slightly, looked at Myrcella with her deep scarlet eyes, and the corners of her mouth slowly and slightly raised.

After spending a long time with Cassia, Li Yin knew that although the princess always had a faint smile on her face, different smiles had different meanings. It was obvious that her slow and somewhat deliberate smile just now did not convey any friendly meaning.

Myrcella immediately tensed herself.

"It's my fault. I didn't make myself clear, Princess." She straightened her face and admitted her mistake very firmly.

Then she turned around and looked at Li Yin with some annoyance.

"Foolish fellow," she gritted her teeth, "I was talking about 'just the flying knife technique'. In front of our princess, it's nothing but a trifle!"

"Oh?" Li Yin was not annoyed by her reprimand. Instead, he was interested in the new content of Mircella's words. "In other words, the princess has mastered a skill that is more powerful than the flying knife technique?"

"Isn't this nonsense?" Mircella rolled her eyes at him.

She suddenly noticed that the human slave's golden eyes were filled with doubt again, and his head was tilted. Before he could irritate the princess again with his silly questions, Myrcella wisely spoke up in time to stop him:

"Think carefully with your stupid human brain. For a princess of a noble family of dark elves, what skill is most important?"

Li Yin rolled his eyes. His understanding of the dark elf society and his natural inclination as a wizard made him give his answer almost immediately. However, he still paused, trying to make his wording slightly more tactful and in line with the norm: "The art of serving the Spider Queen, that is to say... the divine arts."

"Yes," Myrcella nodded proudly, as if the "princess of a noble family" they were discussing was herself.

This female elf was quick to put herself into the situation. Li Yin thought that in a short period of time, she was able to think from her master's perspective and feel genuinely proud of her master's glory. Her "loyalty" was so fast and so strong that it was probably unique among the dark elves... But there was nothing she could do about it. With the soul contract, she had no choice but to be loyal...

Li Yin put aside this trivial thought. Following Mircella's certain answer, another doubt arose in his heart.

"But," he asked thoughtfully, "shouldn't the princess of the Dinitia family... also be able to use divine magic?"

Myrcella's face immediately showed a proud look again, as if she had expected him to ask this question. "Your shallow and foolish opinions make the elves laugh." The corners of her mouth slightly raised, "But it's not your fault. As a human slave at the bottom of society, it's normal for you to lack understanding of our upper class society in Nevre."

"This time, I will forgive your rash judgment and be kind enough to talk to you in a good way."

Chapter 1 The Unlearned Princess ()

"Generally speaking, indeed, every noble woman of the Dark Elf regards serving the Spider Queen and practicing the divine arts bestowed by the supreme and noble Spider Queen as the highest goal of her life."

Li Yin listened to her narration attentively.

"But," she paused and lowered her voice slightly, "there are always exceptions, and Princess Dufiya is that exception."

"She did not devote all her loyalty to the Spider Queen, but instead wasted her energy on many idle and irrelevant things, such as the flying knife technique you just saw."

"To be fair, if a low-ranking warrior had such excellent knife-throwing skills, it would certainly be beautiful, but she is not an ordinary person. She is a princess, and the second-born princess of the Denitya family of Nevre. She was born to rule, to understand the supreme will of the Spider Queen, and to convey it to other dark elves... She abandoned her noble mission, but in return she got such a vulgar trick."

"Now," Myrcella raised her chin slightly, her eyes looking at him with disdain, "do you still think her knife-throwing skills are amazing?"