"My patience has its limits. I hope you won't make me lose my patience." Ailinn forcibly suppressed her anger. Being insulted by a lowly Half-Elf—the fact that she could endure it showed quite remarkable emotional control.
Of course, expecting her to have any pleasant expression now was even more impossible.
Grabbing Lin Qingyu's hand, she used the small knife to cut a deep gash across the girl's palm. Although she had said before that she would only take a drop of blood, in reality, the blood taken was far more than just a drop.
The blood flowing from the wound almost dyed red the small knife in Ailinn's hand. Lin Qingyu frowned tightly, her body seeming to tremble constantly from the pain.
"That's definitely not just one drop." Leticia spoke up.
As she spoke, she walked to Lin Qingyu's side and rescued her hand from Ailinn's grasp.
Looking at this wound that almost crossed Lin Qingyu's entire palm and was still bleeding continuously, Leticia glanced at Ailinn with some displeasure. "The elven race really is petty."
"It's just for accuracy." Ailinn retorted, staring intently at the small knife in her hand. If Lin Qingyu was the Half-Elf she was looking for, then this knife would turn green.
But after waiting for a long time, the knife remained as silver and gleaming as before, showing no signs of changing color.
It wasn't her? Ailinn glanced at Lin Qingyu.
Lin Qingyu mustered her courage and glared back.
"Hmph, I hope you can hide here forever." Knowing this Half-Elf wasn't the person she was looking for, Ailinn was too lazy to waste more time here. There would be plenty of opportunities to deal with this Half-Elf later—no need to rush.
What was most important now was to go talk with that Miss Bai. Their deal was that if Lin Qingyu wasn't the Half-Elf Ailinn was looking for, then Bai Ling would do her best to help Ailinn's side search for that Half-Elf.
"Farewell." Ailinn slammed the door as she left with a cold expression.
"Sigh, these Elves." Xue'er shook her head. "Well then, I'll leave this to you two."
She pulled out a roll of bandages from her pocket and placed it on the table.
"Xue'er, you carry this kind of thing with you?" Leticia was somewhat surprised.
"Ehehe." Xue'er squinted her eyes and smiled, not answering Leticia's question. "I still need to watch that elf. I'll be going first."
"Mm, go ahead." Leticia nodded.
"Farewell." Xue'er left the room.
Then Leticia looked toward Lin Qingyu and found this girl was also looking at her.
"What are you looking at me for? Still expecting me to bandage you up?"
Lin Qingyu's face reddened slightly as she stammered, "I... don't know how."
"As if I know how either." Leticia pouted. "Just wrap it up randomly. When Candice has time later, have her apply some medicine for you."
"Oh." Lin Qingyu lowered her head and picked up the bandages, planning to wrap up the wound.
But with only one hand able to move, she tried for a long time without being able to pull out the bandages.
Not only did she fail to pull out the bandages, but the table was also stained with blood dripping from her hand.
Leticia watched for several minutes and really couldn't bear to watch Lin Qingyu's clumsy appearance any longer. "You're way too clumsy."
"Sorry." Lin Qingyu shrank back like a startled rabbit, not daring to speak.
Leticia picked up the bandages and casually wrapped them around Lin Qingyu's hand a few times, managing to stop the bleeding.
"But you were quite spirited when cursing people just now. What, not afraid of Elves anymore?" After finishing the bandaging, Leticia tossed the bandages aside and asked casually.
"It's just... I wanted to make myself less afraid." Lin Qingyu explained in a low voice. "I'm... still very afraid."
But when she cursed those Elves, she became less afraid.
"Actually, you are the Half-Elf they're looking for, aren't you?" Leticia looked at Lin Qingyu and suddenly said. "You might be able to fool others, but you can't fool me. You're afraid, but not of that elf."
"You're afraid of being exposed and then returning to that hell."
"I..."
"Evangelyne, have you heard this name?" Leticia softly spoke a name.
Lin Qingyu's expression showed a moment of panic, but she quickly hid this panic under confusion. "That's... the Elven Empress's name?"
"Mm, like you, she's a Half-Elf. Among the Half-Elves I know, only she would be worth such a big fuss from the elven race." Leticia spoke while staring at Lin Qingyu's face. "I have a bold speculation."
"What?" Lin Qingyu felt her heart was about to jump out of her chest. Leticia's words were like bullets, shattering her psychological defenses one by one.
"You are Evangelyne, the Elven Empress." Leticia said calmly.
"How could I possibly be." Lin Qingyu's panic could no longer be concealed. Drops of cold sweat appeared on her forehead. Just looking at this performance made Leticia feel her speculation was pretty much correct.
So it really was her.
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone else about this." The Miss Demon King said with a smile. "Whether you're Evangelyne or not doesn't actually matter much to me. However, I'd be happy to provide you with some help."
"I... don't understand." Lin Qingyu shook her head.
"You don't like the elven race, and I don't like the elven race either. If you want to cause some trouble for the elven race, I can help you." Leticia patted Lin Qingyu's shoulder, indicating that as long as you dislike the elven race, we're forever good sisters.
The best way to overcome fear was to face it bravely. If Lin Qingyu could make the elven race suffer a few times, wouldn't her psychological shadow naturally dissipate?
Who would be afraid of someone who had suffered several defeats at their own hands?
By that time, Lin Qingyu would probably be eager for Elves to come before her so she could take action.
"Can I... really?" Lin Qingyu swallowed.
Thinking about being able to make those hypocritical, detestable green-haired people lose their composure made her feel incredibly satisfying.
Leticia's idea wasn't wrong. Psychological shadows were hard to eliminate just by talking, but Lin Qingyu was lucky—her psychological shadow was concrete, those elven people.
Especially those Elves who considered their bloodlines noble and never looked at others properly.
If she could make them suffer at Lin Qingyu's hands, Leticia believed Lin Qingyu would quickly emerge from her psychological shadow.
Convenient, quick—the methods were just a bit extreme, but it didn't matter. Leticia felt Lin Qingyu would definitely like this approach.
...
"It seems Lin Qingyu isn't the Half-Elf you're looking for." Bai Ling, who had been waiting not far from the room, saw Ailinn's displeased expression and roughly guessed the outcome.
"Mm, it's not her." Ailinn replied. "Let's discuss how we should cooperate from now on."
"Alright." Bai Ling nodded, pointing to an empty room nearby. "Come here..."
Before she could finish speaking, a violent explosion sound came from outside the manor.
Then Bai Ling's phone also rang.
"What happened?" Bai Ling calmly took out her phone and answered the call, as if the explosion sound just now didn't exist at all.
This composure of remaining unchanged even if Mount Tai collapsed before her made Ailinn inwardly sigh with admiration. This Miss Bai was indeed no ordinary person. Even she had panicked for a moment just now, thinking the explosion was a signal to keep them Elves here.
But now it seemed this matter wasn't arranged by Miss Bai.
Then who could it be?
"Someone threw a magic bomb at the manor's main gate. It should be similar to the type from the last attack." The person on the phone reported. "But this time it didn't cause any damage, though we also couldn't catch that person."
"Don't you know what they looked like?"
"Only know it was a short person who moved very agilely. After placing the bomb at the main gate, they left."
"Mm, stay alert. Don't let even a fly get in." Bai Ling hung up the phone and showed Ailinn an apologetic smile. "Sorry, this place has been quite lively recently."
"It's fine. But Miss Bai, do you know why someone would attack this place?" Ailinn was somewhat curious. This place had been attacked just a few days ago. If Xue'er didn't have their contact information, that girl who was affected by the attack would probably be a corpse by now.
Very strange—was there something here worth attacking?
Bai Ling thought for a moment. "If I had to say, the other side's target might be the same as yours. They're also looking for Half-Elves, and the fact that I have a Half-Elf here isn't a secret."
"Another faction is also looking for Half-Elves?" Ailinn's expression worsened.
What faction was it? The mission she received was classified at the highest level. Even she didn't know exactly who she was looking for.
The Council of Elders' messenger had given her a small knife and told her to go to the human world to find a Half-Elf whose blood could make this knife change color, then bring that Half-Elf back to the elven race.
The requirement was not to kill the Half-Elf, but breaking limbs to eliminate resistance was acceptable.
The Council of Elders' official line was that this Half-Elf had infiltrated the royal treasury one day and stolen an item extremely important to the elven race.
"And that faction probably doesn't belong to the elven race." Leticia emerged from the side and added. "My people saw more clearly—the attacker was human, not an elf."
"Your people?" Bai Ling was stunned.
Leticia rolled her eyes. "What, I can't be afraid of death?"
"It's nothing. You're saying the one who threw the bomb was human?" Bai Ling didn't think much of it. She really thought Leticia had arranged some people nearby to protect her own safety.
Miss Sword Saint completely didn't realize that Leticia's so-called arrangement of 'some people' meant how many people exactly.
Two of the Four Heavenly Kings, leading their direct elite forces, were already hidden near this small manor. Currently, they were indeed protecting Leticia's safety, but what they would do next depended on Leticia's decision.
They might continue protecting Leticia, or they might do something big one day.
"I think we should cooperate now. The matters between us can be resolved peacefully, but the other side has already used such methods, so there's probably no possibility of peaceful resolution." Leticia showed a harmless smile. "Everyone is after that Half-Elf. How about we first eliminate those guys who don't follow the rules?"
"Why are you interested in getting involved?" Bai Ling was curious why Leticia would actively get involved. Shouldn't she be the one who most feared trouble?
Leticia covered her mouth and giggled. "Because I just got some interesting information. This information makes me feel this matter has potential for profit."
"Oh?"
"As for what information, you'll have to figure that out yourselves. Oh wait, Miss Ailinn should know what I'm talking about, right?"
Ailinn's expression couldn't hold up anymore. She felt like a fake elf. Why didn't she know about interesting information?
She was clearly the specialist sent by the Council of Elders, so why did this black-haired person seem to know more than her?
Leticia watched Ailinn's expression change like a face-changing performance and roughly guessed what was going on. It seemed this Miss Ailinn didn't know much either.
Perhaps she and those attackers were the ones who best understood the truth of the matter.
"Cough cough, anyway, the few of us are currently on the same side." Leticia cleared her throat. "Didn't you promise this Miss Ailinn that you'd help them find that Half-Elf?"
"Mm, but just help them find." Bai Ling nodded. She didn't think she needed to get involved in this troublesome matter.
Finding? She could just have people she knew help her search. If they turned Central City upside down and still couldn't find anything, then Bai Ling could only apologize to Ailinn.
She had done her best, but that Half-Elf really wasn't here.
"Are you stupid? The other side won't listen to your explanations. What if they think our Lin Qingyu here is that Half-Elf? This time it was Xi Mengyao, but what about next time? Do you think they might target Little Ya?" Leticia crossed her arms and stated a reason Bai Ling absolutely couldn't ignore. "There's a saying: you can be a thief for a thousand days, but you can't guard against thieves for a thousand days. If you don't take the initiative, they'll take the initiative against you."
"Of course, there's another solution. You give Lin Qingyu to me, and I guarantee I'll draw the firepower away for you."
This choice, Bai Ling naturally wouldn't accept. Her intuition told her that Leticia's little schemes were clicking away in her mind. If she agreed, Leticia would probably jump for joy.
So she refused!