After leaving the arena, Xing Yue’s footsteps were somewhat heavy.
It was not from exhaustion.
It was a tight, suffocating feeling in her chest.
The deaths of those fang wolves had, in the end, stirred something in her.
They were clearly just monsters.
Clearly neither kin nor foe to her.
Clearly, at the very beginning, she had even wanted to kill them.
But the way they looked at her in that final moment, those wet, loyal eyes, lingered stubbornly in her mind.
-Please, Lord Demon King—avenge us—!
That howl seemed to still echo in her ears.
Xing Yue lowered her head and walked out in silence, as if doing so could let her escape those sounds and avoid thinking about that scene.
But what trapped her now was not those sounds, but her own heart.
The doubts in her mind had not faded.
Instead, they kept rising, piling up more and more.
How had those fang wolves ended up in this arena?
Had they been captured?
And what exactly was the relationship between the fang wolf clan and Phyllis?
What had Phyllis done to deserve such loyalty, to make them protect their king so faithfully?
Xing Yue could not figure it out, and what tangled her even more was this…
Those fang wolves were monsters, yes, but they could think, could speak, could look at her with those eyes…
That meant they were no longer mere beasts.
They were beings with minds of their own.
She herself was not the real Demon King Phyllis, but she was still the Demon Princess.
Xing Yue could not treat them as random monsters, nor could she ignore their deaths.
Go kill people?
Just to avenge them…
On one side were her former kind; on the other, her kind now.
No matter which side she chose to stand with, her heart would feel the injustice done to the other.
That was exactly what left Xing Yue so conflicted and torn now.
Xing Yue felt her head starting to hurt again.
Unconsciously, she stopped and reached up to clutch her head.
There, two voices had started arguing again.
And this time, the conflict was even fiercer than before.
The two voices no longer seemed satisfied with arguing.
They seemed ready to fight it out directly inside her head.
Though in fact, that was exactly what was happening.
Xing Yue did not notice that her scarlet pupil, embedded with a star shape, was now giving off a faint, eerily bewitching red glow.
But this time, the other blue eye refused to be outdone and also bloomed with pure, flawless azure light.
Just then—
“Miss Phyllis?”
A voice came from behind.
Xing Yue was startled.
The abnormality occurring in her body was interrupted in that instant, receding and returning to normal.
She turned around in confusion.
A staff member had hurried over, holding a bulging cloth bag in his hands.
He came to a stop in front of Xing Yue, slightly panting, looking at her with eyes full of envy.
“You walked too fast.”
“I chased you for quite a while!”
He caught his breath and held out the money pouch.
“This is your prize for tonight, after taxes and commission have been deducted.”
“The audience tips are all in there too.”
Xing Yue was taken aback and instinctively took the pouch.
It was quite heavy.
The staff member paused, as if he still wanted to say something, but seeing her absentminded look, he tactfully shut his mouth.
Xing Yue casually thanked him and turned to leave.
“Thank you…”
Only after Xing Yue left with the money pouch did the staff member look away and mutter quietly.
“Meeting a little moneybag in her debut match, this luck… really is unmatched…”
Outside the arena, the night wind brushed her face, carrying a trace of coolness.
Xing Yue stood at the entrance, and in her heart, she had finally made her decision.
Those fang wolves were indeed monsters, but they had never shown her any ill intent from beginning to end.
It was those staff members instead who, to keep the match running normally, had wanted to forcibly control the wolves into attacking her.
Even if they were only following the rules, it still left her a little annoyed.
Xing Yue looked down at the money pouch in her hand.
Heavy and solid.
‘What do these people take lives for…’
Xing Yue could not help but curse inwardly, then opened the pouch and took a look inside.
And froze.
Inside were not only silver coins.
There were also several golden, shining things.
Gold coins?
She blinked, thinking she had seen wrong.
She looked again carefully.
No mistake.
They really were gold coins.
Several of them.
Xing Yue’s mind could not quite catch up.
One match could earn this much money?
In this duel of hers, there had been almost no intense, blood-pumping battle at all.
She had not even lifted a hand before those three fang wolves voluntarily departed this world.
In the end, the host had improvised and practically made up an excuse about a “beast tamer instantly killing monsters” to give her an out.
And even so, she could still get this much money?
Xing Yue instinctively weighed the pouch in her hand.
Although she had little sense of this world’s currency, the weight of the money in her hand was probably enough to let her drink freely in a tavern.
So then the question was—
Just which kind-hearted person, or rather, which sucker, had tipped her this much money?
After all, her prize for winning the match was only twenty silver coins.
The extra money had clearly come from someone’s tip.
At that moment, a thought suddenly flashed through Xing Yue’s mind, and she immediately felt a chill of disgust.
She stopped at once and looked around, checking whether anyone was sneaking after her.
Could it be that someone had taken a fancy to her body and tipped her for that reason?
After a look around, she saw no suspicious figure.
Xing Yue could not help but frown.
If not that, then could it be…
That Imperials just liked watching weird matches?
She could not understand it.
But the money was already in her hands.
If she could not understand it, then she would stop trying.
Xing Yue put the money pouch away and walked off in the direction she had come from.
The bulky man at the entrance was still there.
Seeing Xing Yue approach, a flicker of surprise passed through his eyes.
But this time, he did not reach out to stop her.
Because Xing Yue was holding a silver coin between her fingers.
“One, right?”
She handed over the silver coin.
The bulky man took it and nodded.
“Go on in.”
Xing Yue stepped into the tavern.
What hit her in the face was a wave of heat mixed with the smell of alcohol, sweat, and roasting meat.
The noise of voices was deafening.
The clink of cups, rough laughter, and an off-key song from some corner all blended into a chaotic racket.
Xing Yue stood at the entrance, her gaze sweeping across the whole hall.
Then she walked to the bar, ordered the cheapest mug of ale, and found an inconspicuous corner to sit down.
Although it was only the cheapest drink, after a small sip, Xing Yue felt it had a flavor all its own.
Mm, as expected of the Empire’s largest tavern.
This kind of high-end establishment really had something to it.
She sipped her drink while looking at the menu in her hand and occasionally observing the people and surroundings.
Tomorrow, she was going to have a “chance encounter” here with Fulan Yong, so she needed to get a bit familiar with this place first.
As for those fang wolves…
Xing Yue’s hand tightened slightly around her cup.
She would find a way.
But not now.