787 Are You a Man or a Woman?
In the western region of Rodu, in a s.p.a.cious courtyard, a golden teleportation formation appeared, and Irina slowly emerged from within.
A few lamps were immediately lit in the inky-black room, following which a few elves emerged with wary expressions. Upon seeing Irina, all of them were rather surprised as they hurriedly extended respectful salutes. “We pay our respects to you, Your Highness!”
Irina turned toward an elderly elf with white hair and beard as she said, “I have to use the teleportation formation to return to the Wind Forest.”
…
The battle outside the Wind Forest was drawing to a conclusion. A ma.s.sive icy spike had been driven into the chest of the tall and burly demon, pinning him firmly to a tree.
At the same time, Sally had copped a blow to the lower abdomen from a stray flying s.h.i.+eld, and she fell from her perch up on a tree like a bird with broken wings, landing on the ground with a dull thump.
Meanwhile, Blour had a sword protruding from his chest as he stumbled toward Sally, supporting himself using the tree trunks along the way. Blood was pouring out of his chest incessantly, and he was in an extremely feeble state, looking as if he could fall at any moment. However, he still continued to make his way toward Sally in a determined manner.
A dozen or so demon and orc bodies were littered all over the ground while their elven captives were huddled together on the ground with their hands and feet bound. All of them wore horrified expressions as they leaned against each other for support, and the children among them were howling with sobs.
These elves had endured horrendous torture ever since they had been captured. However, they knew that worse had yet to come.
The torment that would be inflicted on them by their own brethren would be much more painful than that inflicted by demons and orcs.
However, their group had already reached outskirts of the Wind Forest; how had they been ambushed all of a sudden?
They were being detained by none other than their own brethren, so they had given up hope long ago, thinking that no one would come to save them.
“Th… They’re all dead!”
One of the elves had somehow managed to pluck out the rag in his mouth as he looked around with an astonished expression.
All of the elves looked up on hearing this. All of those accursed demons and orcs were lying dead on the ground, and their eyes immediately lit up.
“Could it be… that they’re here to save us?”
All of the elves wore perplexed expressions as they turned their attention to Sally and Blour, one of whom was lying motionlessly on the ground, while the other was moving with great difficulty.
If they were elves responsible for facilitating the exchange, then they definitely wouldn’t have engaged these demons and orcs in battle, and there was certainly no way that they would’ve risked their lives to save them with just a party of two.
“You still alive?” Blour panted heavily as he supported himself against a tree, looking down at Sally, who was lying on the ground.
“Cough… Cough, cough!”
Sally suddenly began to cough violently before abruptly sitting up and throwing up a mouthful of blood. Only then did she turn her gaze toward Blour in a feeble manner, and asked, “Are you a man or a woman?”
“Is that important right now?” Blour rolled his eyes. However, he was quite relieved to see that Sally seemed to be in a stable condition. As the wave of relief washed over him, his legs refused to hold his weight any longer, and his knees buckled as he sat down on the ground. In doing so, he tweaked the wound on his chest, and even more blood began to flow down his body, causing him to grimace with pain.
A ray of green light appeared on Sally’s fingertip as she gently rubbed her lower abdomen. The wound inflicted by the s.h.i.+eld had stopped bleeding, but her internal injuries wouldn’t be healing anytime soon. However, she could still move around as normal.
Sally slowly rose to her feet and made her way toward Blour as she said, “If you were a woman, then I wouldn’t have to worry about finding a way to cancel our marriage agreement.”
Blour forced a smile onto his face as he looked up at Sally, and said, “You don’t need to worry about that; I don’t have any feelings for you.”
“Good.” Sally nodded before closing her fingers around the hilt of the sword protruding from Blour’s chest.
“What are you doing?!” Blour’s voice instantly rose a few octaves.
“I’m helping you pull it out,” Sally replied calmly.
“You’re going to kill me like this!” A hint of horror flashed through Blour’s eyes. Could it be that his words had hurt her and she was taking revenge?
“Hey, uh, I actually think you’re really a fine woman, it’s just that I’m not looking for anyone at the moment, and— Argh!!!”
Before Blour had a chance to finish his sentence, a sharp cry escaped his mouth, scaring away all of the nearby birds.
He then looked down to discover that the wound in his chest had been sealed with ice, and was being treated with wisps of green light.
Is she the devil?!
Blour’s heart fluttered like the wings of a hummingbird as he looked up at the expressionless Sally. Even though he had been saved, he was still struck by a subconscious urge to get far away from her. Not only did she possess brilliant swordsmans.h.i.+p and powerful magic, she was a completely merciless, cold-blooded killer!
Sally tossed the bloodstained sword aside and washed her hands by conjuring up a gentle stream of water. She then pulled out a small green box and poured out a green pill, which she handed over to Blour. “If you don’t want to be detained like this, then eat this pill and let’s go.”
“Alright.” Blour accepted the pill and swallowed it before rising to his feet.
Even though they had intercepted this group of elven captives just outside the Wind Forest, the battle earlier had caused a ma.s.sive commotion, and someone would definitely come here to investigate soon. If he were to be detained in female attire, his father would most likely beat him to death!
Sally made her way over to elven captives, conjuring up a small blade of ice as she traversed through their ranks, slicing through the vines and ropes that they had been bound with. As she did so, she used a gentle voice to console them, saying, “Don’t be scared; we’re here to save you all.”
All of the freed elves pulled the rags out of their mouths and looked down at their wrists, where the residual gashes left behind by the restrictive vines and ropes could still be seen.
After a brief period of silence, an elf suddenly burst into sobs, which then quickly set off a widespread chorus of sobs, until almost all of the elves were bawling with all their might.
The smile on Sally’s face gradually disappeared. As she looked at the sobbing elves, she felt as if her heartstrings were being tugged on violently.
She had once thought that the Wind Forest was the most perfect place in this entire world, and that all elves there lived carefree and happy lives. She allowed herself to be served by her family’s elven servants, thinking that they were just as happy as she was.
Yet now, that image of suns.h.i.+ne and roses had been completely shattered, revealing a hideous and disgusting underbelly.
Blour also stood beside Sally with a complex expression, but he still loudly announced, “Get away from here. We have to go as well.”
The sobs from the elves gradually subsided as they extended grateful bows toward Blour and Sally. They took a glance at the Wind Forest, which they had once regarded as their holy land yet now avoided like the plague, and they began to walk away in the opposite direction.
Right at this moment, a sharp voice sounded. “Stop right there!”