Chapter 114 Chapter 115 Devout Demon Believer
Morning.
Miss Jenna commanded several invisible servants to place the gigantic deity on the dewy grass, praying to the deity with a sincere expression.
The demon girl Jima also bowed her head and prayed to the deity of dawn, her face equally devoted.
Jenna glanced to the side, turned her head back, and continued praying, abruptly looking at Jima and asking curiously, “Jima, what’s wrong with you today?”
Jima whispered, “Is it not allowed for a demon to sincerely believe in the deity of dawn?”
“But you weren’t like this before.”
Jima proudly puffed out her chest and declared loudly, “Just because I don’t like praying doesn’t mean I don’t hold the deity in my heart.”
Coincidentally, the mustached butler happened to “walk by” and overheard.
“I was just a bit curious,” Jenna quickly said, “just a little curiosity.”
Jima whispered, “It’s because of your good butler. He sent a little boy to spy on me last night.”
“I’m going to find him right now!”
“Wait, that’s not a solution,” Jima said softly. “He won’t give up until he achieves his goal. By the way, Jenna, did you tell him about my abilities?”
“No, you said it before, extraordinary abilities are like a person’s underwear.”
“Good sister,” Jima said, “I’ll pretend I’m the same kind of extraordinary person as you. That should make him back off, but please don’t tell him.”
“Okay.”
“You swear, in the name of the deity.”
Jenna looked at Jima strangely and said, “You always doubt this and that.”
After speaking, Jenna pressed the divine emblem against her left chest and said, “I swear…”
Jima smiled and said, “Great.”
Seemingly too happy, Jima’s voice got louder, reaching out her hand and saying, “You must help me keep it a secret.”
Jenna also extended her hand: “Okay.”
Jima took the opportunity to pinch Jenna’s fingers, relieving the symptoms of her dizziness.
By noon, during the break.
The mustached butler found Jima, smiling broadly like a wolf eyeing a lamb, and said, “Miss Qiao, how have you been these days? As a guest, are we treating you well?”
The black-haired girl had a pure expression and nodded politely, saying, “Very well, very hospitable. I’m already grateful that you can meet my demands for independent tents.”
“It’s our honor as servants to serve the good friend of the young lady,” the mustached butler replied. “Ah, but there’s something I’m unsure if I should mention.”
Jima looked foolish, like a naive girl, and said, “If you don’t want to talk about it, then don’t.”
The mustached butler awkwardly smiled and patted the back of his head: “Sorry, I almost forgot that in the holy hall, you can speak openly. Hehe, last time the young lady came home, she directly told a guest that she would not accept his proposal, and even told him his zipper was down.”
“Are you going to tell me or not?”
The mustached butler showed a wearisome expression, sighed and said: “Ah, perhaps you don’t know, we merchants run around with goods every day. If we don’t encounter robbers on the road, we celebrate when we return. Every time I go out, my wife spends a whole day praying to the deity for peace of mind. Most who do our line of work are quite young, the older ones are either dead or retired due to injuries. I’m of age now, and it’s impossible for me to always be favored by the goddess of luck.”
“That’s so pitiful,” Jima said with “sympathy.” “Since it’s so dangerous, why don’t you hire mercenaries?”
“You don’t know, many mercenaries are greed-driven. Some collude with robbers, while others raise prices on the spot, leaving us merchants to the mercy of robbers’ blades,” the mustached butler said. “If there were any magical items that could save my life, that would be great.”
“Indeed.”
“Lady Jenna also has a prejudice against us servants. You see, she’s willing to spend a lot of money to buy invisible servants instead of using us.”
“Yes, that’s true. Originally, sister Jenna is very gentle; it’s like she becomes a different person when she sees you all. How unfortunate.”
The mustached butler showed a sad expression on his face and said, “Could you perhaps have a little kindness and give me something that can protect my life?”
“Ah?” Jima instinctively guarded the grass ring on her wrist, saying, “That’s difficult for me, I’m also in danger, okay?”
“I’m not forcing you. I happen to have a retirement fund saved over many years. Although I’m reluctant to part with it, compared to living to return, it’s worth it.”
Jima looked conflicted, saying, “Um, well, I don’t want to. I sincerely serve the deity of dawn, and it was hard-earned for Him to bestow upon me.”
The mustached butler bowed his head, looking pleadingly and said, “I am thirty to forty years older than you. For the sake of my age, you’re still young, and the deity of dawn is benevolent. He will bless you again in the future.”
Jima turned her face away in “embarrassment,” stammering, “I’m sorry, but I can’t help you. I… I really don’t have any good… life-saving items.”
The mustached butler’s mustache twitched in delight and said, “I’m thinking of trading my retirement fund for the grass ring on your wrist.”
Jima was startled and covered the “valuable” grass ring, saying, “How do you know? Did Sister Jenna say something? Did you have the boy spy on me last night?”
“It’s a misunderstanding, all misunderstandings,” the mustached butler laughed and said, “He just wanted to catch some crickets and happened to see. He didn’t want to say anything, but when he saw how old I was and worried about my life, he told me out of kindness.”
Jima’s vigilance eased slightly, asking, “Really?”
The mustached butler patted his chest, saying, “Really! I swear to the deity of dawn.”
So how much is your retirement fund?
If it weren’t for the need to maintain her innocent image, Jima would have almost blurted it out. Therefore, she showed an embarrassed expression.
The mustached butler only saw the other party as a money-blushing little rabbit. He smiled and said, “Fifty gold coins; that’s all my retirement fund, saved over a full ten years.”
Jima almost couldn’t maintain her composure.
Only fifty gold coins? What a waste of my expression.
She really wanted to give the mustached butler the finger with an expression of disdain.
Jima then said, “I’m sorry, I don’t want to use the grass ring to exchange for mundane gold coins.”
“I’ll add a silver coin,” the mustached butler put on a difficult “expression” and said, “This isn’t a dirty deal; I want to donate the gold coins to your deity, and in the future, you can use the money to do good deeds.”
Heh. It’s likely my little rabbit act was too over the top, making him think he could just throw some money to buy an extraordinary item. Fifty gold coins? I should be starting at at least three hundred gold coins.
Jima’s face flushed as she turned her head and said, “I’m sorry, I can’t help you. Actually, this… the grass ring is definitely useless…”
After speaking, like a frightened little deer, she turned and ran away.
Naturally, this performance was seen by the mustached butler as a naïve little rabbit who didn’t know how to lie.
The entire day passed without the mustached butler finding a chance to talk to Jima again.
In Jima’s independent tent.
The demon girl hesitated about whether to simply sell the grass ring for fifty gold coins.
But she felt unwilling.
She didn’t believe that the mustached butler’s retirement fund was only fifty gold coins. Jenna’s family was very rich; she told herself that a butler for a wealthy family wouldn’t just have a retirement fund of fifty gold coins. Only a naive kid would believe that.
Moreover, the so-called retirement fund was most likely made up to evoke sympathy.
However, since the other party had a firm belief that she was a naive little rabbit, they wouldn’t raise the price much.
Moreover, he hadn’t even seen the power of the “blessing ring,” most likely just hoping to try his luck at deceiving this “naive” girl.
But Jima wasn’t willing to accept that.
After all, this grass ring was made by herself, and it took a lot of effort to ensure that the grass would not come loose and fall off her wrist.
Moreover, this grass ring was crafted by the noble Lord Demon King herself; fifty gold coins were an insult.
Jima sighed, shook her head, and temporarily set the matter aside. She lightly tapped the water surface with her fingertip, thinking: Will I encounter any danger tomorrow?
The surface of the water rippled, and an image gradually became clear.
In a remote wilderness, a group of goblins was huddled around a campfire, wearing tattered armor stripped from the dead.
After holding the image for ten seconds, it gradually dissipated, and Jima’s face reappeared on the water’s surface.
Jima recalled that the paths she’d been taking lately had been quite off the beaten track, and she hadn’t seen anyone for two days. It seems the butler, relying on Jenna’s protection, took the shortcut through those dangerous routes.
According to the prophecy, tomorrow this caravan would be ambushed by a group of goblins.
Jima liked goblins because they might be the only monsters she felt she could handle in a direct confrontation.
She suddenly had a good idea, and after tying her tent door securely, Jima took off her clothes, lay down on a thin blanket, and drifted off to sleep.
The next day, at noon.
The weather was nice; it was overcast.
The caravan was traveling along a dirt road, with the trees gradually closing in on both sides.
Jima looked into the distance, seeing the dense woods ahead — a perfect place for an ambush. She proclaimed herself bored, donned a hooded cloak, and took a light crossbow, walking in front of the caravan.
The coachman, driving the horses, said to Jima, “Miss Qiao, you should return to the carriage; if you meet any robbers, it’ll be over.”
“I’m not afraid,” Jima shook the light crossbow in her hand and said, “It’s so boring in the carriage.”
Jima continued walking in her long boots.
As the seconds passed, she felt the friction between her feet and the soles of her boots heating up. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she stopped, looking left and right but not seeing a single goblin in sight.
Hurry up and come out; I feel like my black stockings are wearing thin.
Just as Jima began to doubt the accuracy of her “water surface divination,” she turned a corner and found a dead tree fallen in the middle of the road.
The coachman instinctively pulled the reins, and a cacophony of sharp chirps and chattering emerged from the bushes by the road, as a group of goblins rushed out, brandishing short spears.
Jima stood frozen in place; being at the front of the caravan and also the shortest, she naturally became the primary target of the goblins’ focused fire.
Several goblins pulled back their short bows, and seven or eight arrows shot towards Jima, but miraculously, all missed her, failing to hit their mark.
Jima raised her light crossbow and shot at one of the goblins. The bolt accurately struck the tree behind the goblin. It turned around, grinned, and erupted in laughter.
Jima, “frustrated,” ignored the rushing goblins and reloaded her crossbow.
The mustached butler got out of the carriage and rushed towards Jenna’s carriage to seek help, just in time to see a group of goblins surrounding Jima, stabbing at her with their short spears.
An amazing thing happened: it seemed as though invisible hands were pushing aside the short spears in the goblins’ hands.
The mustached butler was stunned, rubbing his eyes in disbelief as he witnessed Jima surrounded by five goblins, who were angrily thrusting their short spears, none able to hit her.
After Jima had loaded her crossbow, she aimed it at the face of the goblin in front and pulled the trigger, the bolt piercing into the goblin’s eye, causing it to collapse.
One furious goblin dropped its spear and lunged at Jima but fell flat on its face. The mustached butler watched with wide eyes as he personally witnessed a white light radiating from the grass ring on Jima’s wrist.
This ambush lasted less than a minute.
Hearing the commotion, Jenna got out of the carriage, casting a curious glance at the mustached butler, who was frozen in place. She raised her hand and cast a light shield over Jima, then pulled back her hand to throw a light spear that pierced one of the distant goblin archers in the chest, causing an explosion that took out the nearby goblins.
The goblins that had been attacking Jima immediately turned and fled, shouting, “The glowing long-legged person! The glowing long-legged person!”
Jima secretly glanced back and saw the mustached butler staring in shock. To promote her “grass ring,” she pretended to be angry and chased after them, shouting, “If you have the guts, don’t run!”
The chased goblin helplessly jabbed at Jima with its short spear, but naturally, these feeble jabs were easily avoided by her “extraordinary charm.”
Jima pursued the goblin, leaping over grass and chasing deep into the woods.
“Qiao, come back!”
Jenna’s voice called out from behind.
Jima pretended not to hear, continuing to chase the goblin that she hadn’t managed to hit, which had laughed at her.
But its figure mysteriously vanished.
Jima stopped, looking around to find that she had chased into a goblin camp.
At this moment, a sharp, ear-piercing laugh rang out from the side.
A goblin jumped and gave Jima the middle finger, saying, “Come hit me if you dare.”
After saying that, it turned around, showing its backside, which had cracked marks of excrement.
Jima looked down and discovered a tripwire among the grass, evidently indicating that there was a trap between her and the goblin.
Jima strode forward, she stepped on the tripwire, her muscles tensed and ready to dodge at any moment. A bent tree branch suddenly swooped down towards Jima. The branch was as thick as two arms and looked like it could crush the petite Jima, eliciting a gasp from a distance.
The trajectory of the branch was suddenly yanked up by an invisible hand. Jima merely lowered her head, allowing the branch to whiz over her, striking against a nearby tree.
“Hehe.”
The goblin thought it had succeeded in its scheme, turning around to find itself face-to-face with Jima’s light crossbow. The sharp tip of the bolt poked painfully at its eye.
“I won’t miss this time,” Jima said as she pulled the trigger.
The bolt pierced into the goblin’s eye, and the goblin fell backward.
The surviving goblins didn’t know where to hide. Jenna and the mustached butler chased after them. Jenna said, “Qiao, this is too dangerous for you. If you step on a trap, you might get hurt.”
“I’m fine; I’m blessed by the deity.”
As she spoke, she glanced back at the approaching mustached butler. His eyes were fixed greedily on the grass ring on Jima’s wrist, his face flushed, breathing heavily.
It was as if he had seen a seductive beauty draped in black veil.
