Did these men claiming to be vagabonds harbor hidden identities? What was their true purpose in coming to the Forest of Elves?
Zhang Yuanqing watched quietly from the sidelines as the Elf Clan Leader interacted with the men. The elves intended to drain the outsiders dry, while the outsiders had entered the Forest of Elves harboring foul intentions.
Neither side had pure motives.
Better to simply let them tear each other apart like dogs while he sat back and reaped the fisherman's spoils.
After a pleasant exchange, the Elf Clan Leader looked around her settlement and called out loudly, "My people, bring out our finest wine and delicious food to entertain our guests from afar!"
The elves cheered in unison and eagerly rushed back to their cabins. They brought out wooden tables and benches, laid out fine wine and fruit, lit bonfires by the lake, and began roasting meat and fish.
The entire tribe bustled with activity in an instant; even the young children hurried back and forth carrying food and fruit.
Alice's mother ladled meat stew into a clean wooden bowl and brought it out with a radiant smile to help the foreign "warriors" line their stomachs.
The elves were not stingy with their food in the slightest. After all, if you wanted the horse to run, you had to give it grass.
Dusk fell, the setting sun blood-red.
The clear lake surface was stained with a magnificent golden glow, and the woods took on a golden-red sheen, harmonizing with the twilight clouds in the sky, beautiful as an oil painting.
Bonfires flared to life. The men sat around the tables, drinking the elves' fruit wine, tearing into roasted meat, and occasionally taking a gulp of the salty, spicy meat soup.
Elves either sat beside them to eat, carried fruit and meat back and forth between the kitchens and the lakeshore, or sat by the bonfires turning meat over the flames.
Acting as servers, Alice and Teliya sat beside a fire roasting meat. The former sliced off a piece to savor from time to time, while the latter skillfully batted her eyelashes at the men, commencing her seduction.
Zhang Yuanqing covertly observed the outsider men. Up close, he realized their physiques were robust and their muscles full; they did not look like starving vagabonds at all.
This was especially true of their leader. The man was burly, stretching his outer tunic taut. His hair was greasy and matted, his face square-jawed, and his pale gray eyes remained gentle and cautious most of the time, putting on a flattered posture.
Yet occasionally, a sharp greed leaked out, especially when he looked over the female elves.
Furthermore, when Zhang Yuanqing attempted to influence the man's emotions, it felt like gripping a branding iron.
This man named Bouvard possessed tremendous mental power, reaching the Dominator level.
*These men appear to be intoxicated by wine and lust, but beneath the surface, their minds are wound tight, retaining a sliver of reason. Their emotions are rife with anticipation and greed—they covet far more than just the women's bodies...*
Zhang Yuanqing analyzed the men's emotions.
By this point, the sun had dipped below the western horizon, and the sky darkened to a dusky gloom. Night would fall in half an hour at most.
The elves grew increasingly enthusiastic. Some had even sat down on the men's laps, and the men did not stay idle either, holding wooden bowls in one hand while the other roamed over graceful waists and voluptuous hips.
Just then, the blue-haired Elf Clan Leader wearing a flower wreath emerged from a wooden cabin once more. Her face bore an enchanting smile, her voice soft and alluring.
"Young warriors, the night approaches. You may choose an elven maiden to share a wonderful evening."
The men cheered, the women giggled, and pairings began.
The elves who were not chosen were in no rush. Come nightfall, all the sisters of the tribe would have their chance to taste these outsider men.
"Oh, beautiful maiden, may I know your name?" a voice spoke from behind.
Zhang Yuanqing looked back and saw a blond young man standing behind him, staring with an infatuated gaze.
"Alice," Zhang Yuanqing replied coolly.
The blond youth glanced at the snow-white cleavage spilling from the animal-skin bandeau, swallowed covertly, and gazed passionately into his eyes.
"My name is Rhodes Lev. Beautiful maiden, you have deeply captivated me. I wonder if I might climb into your bed tonight?"
*Fuck off! Pull mine out and it's bigger than yours!* Zhang Yuanqing looked at him and asked curiously, "Rhodes Lev, there are maidens here prettier than me and women with far more mature charm. Why did you choose me of all people?"
Rhodes Lev said tenderly, "You are different from the other elves. You possess a unique soul, like a firefly in the jungle—so vivid, so dazzling."
*Vivid? Dazzling?* Zhang Yuanqing looked down at himself in bewilderment. Did he have bigger breasts than the others? A perkier ass? Or had he been born with an innate sluttish aura?
He said coldly, "Warrior Rhodes Lev, you might get a better response if you say those words to the other sisters. Please do not disturb me while I'm eating roasted meat."
Rhodes Lev's eyes lit up. "Yes, exactly this feeling! Oh, my dear Alice, you are the most unique! The other elves may be beautiful, but their beauty has no soul. You are different. You are a proud swan. From start to finish, you haven't shown a shred of eagerness, like a solitary winter blossom standing aloof and gorgeous. It is precisely this uniqueness that deeply attracts me, making me drown in your charm, helpless to escape!"
*You're just a fucking masochist!* Zhang Yuanqing muttered inwardly.
Turns out the guy was a shameless simp.
Rhodes Lev stepped forward, gazing down at him imperiously. "I don't care. You are mine tonight. I want to possess you, taste you, just like tasting that delicious fruit wine just now. Alice, I will let you experience the finest pleasures of being a woman."
*Oh, God, what a revolting male gaze!* Zhang Yuanqing thought. Maybe he should just launch a slaughter right now and go in guns blazing!
He had originally planned to watch the drama unfold and let the two sides tear each other apart first. After all, a Grade B dungeon was quite difficult; elite Dominators entered scenarios of this level.
Acting too recklessly might cause both factions to target him together, multiplying the difficulty.
But Zhang Yuanqing was having a hard time tolerating this fellow.
"Kind and magnificent Elf Queen, please forgive me, for I cannot accept your invitation." Bouvard stood up.
The Elf Clan Leader knit her brows, looking at the leader of the human men in confusion. "O human, the elves' territory is fertile and beautiful. You may settle here and raise families; every one of you can have a lovely wife. What reason do you have to refuse?"
Bouvard lifted a bowl of fruit wine, took a leisurely drink, and said, "Respected Elf Queen, I know that no man who enters this forest ever leaves alive. So please, stop trying to deceive us."
The Elf Queen and the surrounding elves shifted pale.
Bouvard continued, "Of course, there is no need to feel ashamed, respected Elf Queen, because... we are deceivers as well. We are not homeless vagabonds. We are bounty hunters!"
With that, he exhaled a heavy gust of alcoholic breath.
A vapor saturated with a potent anesthetic diffused rapidly. One after another, the surrounding elves collapsed to the ground with dull thuds.
The young girls fell first, followed by the maidens. The older elves were of higher level and did not pass out immediately; they turned and sprinted toward the cabins, attempting to retrieve weapons to face the enemy, but within a few steps, they staggered and tumbled over.
Zhang Yuanqing glanced around. Seeing the elves collapse, he followed suit, slumping limply to the ground on his side and pretending to be unconscious.
A drunken flush crept over the Elf Clan Leader's lovely face, as though she could not hold her liquor. Staggering a few steps, she opened her sea-blue eyes wide and glared at the men.
"Wh-what... do you want to do to the elves?"
Bouvard did not answer immediately. He scooped up a young maiden at his feet, his rough, broad hand kneading her full, soft breast, and nodded in satisfaction.
"The beauty of an elf is enough to drive kings and nobles mad. Hiding away in the forest is far too wasteful. Respected Queen, I will sell your people to various kingdoms.
"Of course, before that, we have plenty of time to copulate with you."
As he spoke, the men untied hemp ropes from their waists and bound the girls' hands and feet.
Only now did they dare breathe deeply.
A moment earlier, the instant their leader exhaled the alcoholic mist, the bounty hunters had tacitly held their breath. Because they hadn't inhaled directly, the effect on them was very minor.
"Pl-please, do not treat my people like this..." The Elf Queen seemed on the verge of tears, pitiful and delicate.
Bouvard's eyes turned infatuated and his heart softened, but he soon suppressed his internal desires and chuckled.
"Elf Queen, your seduction doesn't work on me. Long before setting out, I distorted my own preferences from women to men."
That was an effective shield against an elf's feminine charms.
The Elf Queen instantly dropped her act and frowned.
*The Alcoholic's Distortion can be used like that?* Zhang Yuanqing was stunned as he played dead. Ancient practitioners truly lived up to their reputation—their flashy skill applications blew modern Spirit Realm walkers out of the water.
While waiting for his subordinates to finish binding the elves, Bouvard spoke again.
"Elf Queen, the one who hired us is a powerful duke. Word of your seduction of men from nearby villages reached the Duke's ears.
"Commoners are the Duke's property, for they yield grain to him every year. The Duke was furious and hired us to dispose of the elves in the forest.
"If he knew just how beautiful elves are, he would certainly regret it.
"Elf Queen, before my companions take them away, there is one question I wish to ask you, and you must answer it."
Panting softly, her head slightly dizzy, the Elf Clan Leader demanded coldly, "What else do you want?"
Bouvard gazed toward the depths of the forest. "According to our investigation, while elves of the past enjoyed seducing men for pleasure and reproduction, you never harmed men outside the forest. That only changed a year ago.
"A farmer who escaped said that once night falls, you turn completely abnormal, losing your minds in sensual pleasure. In the absence of men, you will even accept stags.
"Respected Elf Queen, may I ask why that is?"
The Elf Queen's expression shifted drastically. Her blue eyes darted frantically, and two streams of tears rolled down her cheeks as she wept sorrowfully.
"Brave bounty hunters, I beg you, spare me! I will satisfy any demand you have, including my body..."
Her fingertips lightly stroked across her beast-skin bandeau. The fine leather instantly sliced open, and two bountiful white mounds sprang free, trembling seductively.
The bounty hunters halted, their eyes glazed with infatuation as a chorus of greedy gulps echoed through the clearing.
The Desire profession possessed almost no offensive power, but its charm was nearly irresistible.
The next second, the bounty hunters' necks cracked in rapid succession as their heads snapped to the left, averting their gaze from the Elf Queen's body.
Having distorted his subordinates' line of sight, Bouvard tore off a corner of his linen tunic, wrapped it over his eyes, seized a wooden bow leaning against a table, and fired an arrow straight at the Elf Queen.
The arrow, with its laws of motion distorted, struck the Elf Queen squarely in the lower abdomen.
She groaned in pain, clutching her belly, and collapsed to a sit.
Taking deep breaths to suppress the stirring fires of lust, Bouvard said, "Elf Queen, you are not on my sales list. Your charm is irresistible; even with my preferences distorted, I cannot withstand your allure. Therefore, I will kill you."
Saying so, he drew the bowstring, aiming at the Elf Queen's chest. "However, if you tell me the forest's secret, I will spare your life."
Looking at the sharp arrowhead, terror seized the Elf Queen. She instinctively bit her lip, attempting to charm her enemy, but Bouvard's eyes were covered; he could not see her beauty.
Relying on voice alone significantly diminished the effect of her charm.
The bowstring was drawn back slowly.
"I-I'll talk! I'll talk!" the Elf Queen cried out loudly. "A relic of the Goddess of Beauty has undergone resurgence... It... it requires us to sacrifice pleasure..."
Chapter 925