Chapter 871: Chapter 40 Are You a Succubus?

On the spacious road, a robust donkey pulled a fully laden cart, creaking over the frozen hard ground, steadily advancing against the setting sun.

The middle-aged man with a thinning hairline and scruffy beard sat on the cart’s shaft, generously stuffing two carrots into the donkey’s mouth from the bag slung over his shoulder, ensuring the beast of burden was well-fed and could hasten its pace.

As the sights around them gradually faded and the familiar homeland completely sunk below the horizon, the middle-aged man looked at his daughter nestled by his side and felt not a trace of nostalgia for his birthplace but rather a sense of relief at having escaped a cage.

All thanks to a few reliable and kind-hearted Demon Hunters from Heather Island; otherwise, his daughter, and even his own life, would have been forfeited in the village today.

Meanwhile, inside the carriage.

Xili pushed aside the surrounding eggs, fruit, and dried meat–rural specialties–and repeatedly counted the nearly full carriage of gold, silver, and copper coins, along with some shiny gemstone jewelry, her pretty face flushed with excitement.

As the Princess of Sintra Kingdom, she wasn’t short on money, but earning a considerable amount through her skills was quite fulfilling.

A pity that the origin of the money wasn’t exactly legitimate.

Xili, putting down a handful of gold, silver, and copper coins, hesitantly asked Luo En:

“Isn’t it a bit excessive to rob the entire village when we’re supposed to be removing demons?”

“Isn’t what I’m doing exactly that–removing demons?”

Luo En, biting into an apple, casually countered,

“You don’t think that only non-human creatures are demons, do you?”

Xili, catching the implication, suddenly understood.

That’s right.

Demons kill people; people kill people. Aren’t those villagers who’ve lost their sense of right and wrong, who dare not resist the Fog Demon, and instead turn their knives against the weaker, just another kind of demon in human skin?

With this realization, any remaining pity Xili felt for the villagers evaporated.

She glanced down at the gold, silver, and copper coins nearly reaching up to her calves in the carriage and still found it hard to agree with some of Luo En’s actions:

“But isn’t it too harsh? Claiming we were passing merchants and using the excuse that our goods were damaged by the Witch Demon to extort 30,000 Gold Coin from them.”

“We might not be merchants, but there were quite a few merchants and travelers who got dragged into caves as food for that Fog Demon. If you think about it, if it weren’t for these stupid villagers’ years of wicked rituals, that small Fog Demon wouldn’t have caused such chaos, tormenting everyone.”

Luo En casually replied, while still nibbling on the apple,

“We solved their problem, only asked them for a bit of labor and mental compensation. The fact that we didn’t set their houses on fire as well makes us merciful.”

“That’s what you call merciful?”

Glancing at the carriage filled with gold and jewels and recalling the villagers’ tears and their gazes as if sending off a plague god, Xili started to question if someone was boasting.

Although they hadn’t managed to collect the full 30,000 Gold Coin, and they hadn’t driven the entire village to death, after Luo En’s “friendly persuasion” to donate and turning the place upside down, Xili estimated they had taken at least eighty percent of the village’s wealth, instantly turning a previously well-off village into a struggling group hovering on the edge of poverty.

Hearing the questioning, Luo En picked up some exquisitely made, elegantly styled jewelry from the miscellaneous pile and tossed them to Xili:

“Look carefully, how could so many precious pieces of jewelry appear in such an impoverished hamlet? Those villagers might not dare to fight the Fog Demon, but they had probably profited nicely under its shadow. This stuff wasn’t rightfully theirs, so what’s the problem with me taking it? Plus, it’s for their own good; they should be thanking me!”

“How do you figure?”

Xili, having learned from past lessons, didn’t retort but instead adopted an attitude eager to learn.

Luo En, throwing away the apple core, said with a cold snort:

“Using human sacrifices for the Fog Demon can be seen as minor or major. Minor, as in being deceived by the monster, the ignorant are innocent; major, as in conducting wicked rituals, plotting to steal wealth and lives, and defiling the gods, a crime unforgivable. This time it’s Demon Hunters who’ve come, solvable with money; but if it gets too big and Temple warriors come, killing their entire families wouldn’t be too much!”

“Shhh~~”

Xili imagined such a possibility and couldn’t help but gasp.

Yes, this World has True Gods.

And a lot of them!

Moreover, they take faith very seriously and loathe heretical worship.

If the Temple warriors were indeed to come upon receiving news, simply on the charge of heretical worship, they could slaughter the whole village.

In some sense, the fellow in front of her really did save the lives of the entire village.

At this moment, Luo En presented facts and reasoned:

“See, they just spent a little money to buy back their lives. Plus, we helped them erase all traces of the Fog Demon and took away the wealth that could lead to more problems. Considering they learned a lesson from this, they surely wouldn’t dare associate with that Fog Demon again, and the last of the troubles are gone. Compared to this service, this investment-to-return ratio, are 30,000 Gold Coin too much to ask for?”

“Not at all!”

Xili nodded vigorously, sincerely exclaiming,

“Even 100,000 Gold Coin would be worth it!”

Hearing this and seeing Xili’s gaze, which seemed somewhat admiring, Rose who was at the side silently gave her new boss a thumbs up.

The man sold out others and made them help count the money, and feel grateful for it!

Truly someone more vicious, shameless, and cunning than she–a genuine Evil God.

Meanwhile, Celebrian couldn’t help but put her hand to her forehead, somewhat unable to bear the sight of a bamboozled Xili.

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