"Hurry up!" The female dark elf warrior frowned slightly, glared at Li Yin impatiently, and scolded coldly. Li Yin hurriedly quickened his pace. The female dark elf turned around and walked in front of her on her own, seemingly not paying any attention to Li Yin, but Li Yin noticed that her right hand was always on the left hilt of the sword. It seems that he is ready to kill him at any time, Li Yin thought to himself. He paced quickly behind the dark elf, thinking secretly at the same time. The dark elves who could come to greet him could not be of very high level. As soon as he thought of this, he sent out a detective thought. "Princess Cassia, why are you summoning this slave so late at night?" A doubtful thought arose in his mind. There is nothing else besides this. This is the strongest thought on the surface of the female dark elf's consciousness. Similarly, out of caution, Li Yin did not plan to conduct a deep exploration.
"Cassia... why are you summoning me so late?" Li Yin frowned slightly. The dark elf's doubts brought out his own doubts. When he first received the summons, he also had this doubt, but he immediately thought that because the dark elves had dark vision, although they had the means to divide day and night, their work and rest schedules were not as strict as those of the surface world, and they were used to handling various matters even at night. Now it seems that this guess is not accurate. Cassia's behavior of summoning him at night is unreasonable even for the dark elves. A few minutes later, the two came to two opposing carved doors. "Princess Cassia," the female dark elf knocked twice on the door, "No. 527 has been brought here." Number 527? Li Yin was stunned for a moment, then realized that it was him. In the slave market, his number was 18. After he came to the Borgia family, he was assigned to a new slave team and got the number 527... A soft "hmm" sound came from the room. The dark elf turned around and glanced at him coldly. Seeing that he was still a little confused about the situation, he grabbed his shoulder with one hand, opened the door with the other, pushed him in, and pressed him to the ground. Then, she wiped the hand that had just touched Li Yin on her clothes with contempt and disgust, and after saying good night to Cassia, she turned and left. "Princess." Li Yin prostrated himself on the ground and said respectfully. Before he was pushed to his knees by the female dark elf, he hurriedly glanced inside. It was a rather spacious room, and judging from the furnishings in the room, it should be a reception room, with doors on both sides leading to other rooms. On the right side of the room stood an exquisitely crafted round table. The burning candles on the table dispelled the darkness. It was a brightness and warmth that Li Yin had never seen since he was trapped in the dark underground. For a moment he even trembled a little, feeling a sense of excitement like a wanderer returning home. In the bright and dancing light of the candle, on one side of the round table, there was a person sitting leisurely, who was more dazzling than the firelight. Her milky white and delicate skin was soaked in the loose sleeves of Ning Mi's robe, which was as dark as the night. "Get up." Cassia said lightly. Li Yin stood up as he was told, but still kept his head down. He didn't like the etiquette of the dark elves. But if he wanted to survive in their territory, he had to abide by their rules. "What should I call you?" The voice coming from the side of the room was clear and refreshing. "Number 18? 527? Or—your name?" Chapter 33 Your Name (Part 2) "Li Yin, Princess, my name is Li Yin." Li Yin responded hurriedly.
Answering this question made him feel very comfortable. He didn't want to be called No. 18, 527 or something like that all the time. "Li--Yin." The female dark elf imitated his pronunciation. "Yes, Princess." Li Yin indicated that there was no problem with her pronunciation by waiting for instructions. "Very good." A smile gradually appeared in the ethereal voice, "This way, I don't have to give you an extra name." "So, Li Yin, can you tell me where you are from?" Cassia's voice suddenly changed, "Humans are rare in the underground world." It can be seen... Li Yin thought to himself. From the fact that the other party could understand his language ability as the spirituality of animals when they first met, he judged that these dark elves should rarely have contact with humans. "You're right," Li Yin nodded - this action was a little difficult as he had his head lowered. "I am indeed not a resident of the Underdark. I come from the surface world." "Surface world?" Cassia's voice rose slightly, but not too much. It was obvious that she was not surprised, but just curious. "Yes." Cassia was silent for a while. From the rustling sound of her hair rubbing against the fabric, Li Yin guessed that she nodded. "Then," she asked in a calm and cautious tone, as if she was thinking about something, "Can you tell me why you, a surface dweller, are here, and why you know our language?" "Yes, Princess." Li Yin replied respectfully, then he paused and sorted out his thoughts, "Please allow me to start with the second question." Cassia didn't say anything, so Li Yin took her silence as permission. "When I was on the surface, I was a scholar." "Scholar?" Cassia's originally calm voice was obviously disturbed. "But, you, your body—" "I know, my body doesn't look like that of a scholar, it looks more like a warrior, right?" Li Yin smiled slightly. "But, as you can see - I believe you have already realized this fact from the test I conducted on me this morning. Although I have a relatively strong physique, I do not have the skills that a warrior should have." There was a rustling sound of hair rubbing against clothes, and Cassia seemed to nod again. "——Look up." Then, Li Yin suddenly heard her say this so abruptly. Li Yin was stunned for a moment, not knowing how the topic suddenly switched to another unrelated field. However, he still followed the dark elf's command and raised his head. The beautiful face appeared in his sight again, but this time, Li Yin did not have any tendency to be distracted, because the female dark elf's scarlet eyes were staring straight into his eyes, and her sharp eyebrows were like two sharp swords. Her face showed a serious thinking expression, as if she was looking for loopholes in Li Yin's words, and once she found a loophole, Li Yin had no doubt that there would really be two swords as sharp as her bright and slender eyebrows stabbing at him. The cold and majestic gaze pierced deeply into his eyes, then turned away and began to wander over every part of his face. Li Yin tried hard to control himself so as not to show any abnormality under her scrutiny. It must be difficult to maintain a lie under such a gaze. Especially since Li Yin was not good at lying. Fortunately, he did not lie, so he just had to face it with a calm attitude. He certainly wasn't lying—he just wasn't telling the whole story. Every mage considers himself a scholar, and the most focused and research-minded scholar at that - because their learning results are directly related to their power, status, and wealth, this has an immediate effect, and there is no stronger driving force for learning than this. "Scholar?" Cassia murmured these two words softly.
Li Yin hummed and nodded. "Don't bow your head," Cassia ordered, "Look at me." Li Yin looked up blankly and met Cassia's bright and sharp gaze again, not knowing what to do. Was he really exposed? However, Qi Yuhan ｑＵＮ：８⌒⒌.⒎liu熘③④私◇(２怪, what was there to expose? He hadn't even told a lie!!! At this moment, Cassia's rosy lips suddenly curled up slightly - she looked like a hunter who had discovered the traces of her prey. Although Li Yin thought there was no problem, his body couldn't help but shudder at the impending difficulties. However, the imagined attack did not follow. Cassia's eyes were still fixed on his eyes, and the smile on her lips became more and more obvious, but she remained silent. After a while, she opened her red lips and asked: "You said you are not a warrior, but a scholar. But since you have such outstanding fighting talent, why did you choose to be a scholar instead of a warrior?" Her tone was calm, with a hint of curiosity, not the kind of pressing questioning that was eager to find loopholes. At the same time, her eyes were still fixed on him, but there was no sharpness in her eyes, only a deep exploration. Li Yin even felt that her increasingly bright smile did not have the malice he had imagined before, but a very kind smile. "Kindness" - these two words flashed through Li Yin's mind again. Suddenly, it dawned on him. Yes, charm! He actually forgot - he raised his head and looked at the female dark elf's gentle smile, bright face, and shining eyes again - he forgot everything when he was looked into the eyes of this woman. As long as the charm exists, and as long as he does not do something extreme first, the female dark elf in front of him will not have any ill will towards him. In other words, the other party would not have any malicious speculation about her at this moment, and she would not interrogate her as a potential enemy. Therefore, her questions were really just pure curiosity and a desire to understand. And the bright smile she showed at this moment was really just a friendly expression, not the "smile of a hunter who has caught the trace of prey" that he had imagined before. Li Yin breathed a sigh of relief. I scared myself... He blamed himself unhappily. But... he looked at the dark elf who was staring at him, and wondered in his heart, this woman also has problems... If you have no hostility, why are you staring at my face and eyes so seriously... The thought of complaining flashed through his mind, and Li Yin refocused his attention on the current situation and prepared to answer the questions raised by the female dark elf. Ready to tell the first lie he ever told. “Our country is very peaceful,” he said. Thank you to my book friend Yao Yueshen for the reward, and thank you all for your monthly tickets and recommendations. Chapter 34: Your World (Part 1) "So, the demand for fighters is not high." "Moreover," he said with a slightly embarrassed expression, "I must be frank. Compared to the bloody life of a warrior, I think the peaceful and comfortable life of a scholar is more suitable for me." "Plus," he pointed to his head, "my intellectual talent is quite outstanding among my race."
“It was a combination of all these factors that ultimately made me a scholar.” He was not lying about his intelligence. That was why Li Yin became a mage, and even among his fellow mages, he was the one who was most often praised by the teacher for his intelligence. And... although Li Yin didn't want to recall this experience - his brain power had also been professionally certified by the mind flayers. The mind flayers were very picky about choosing hosts. Ordinary brains would only be eaten by adult mind flayers as food, and only the best brains would be used to hatch their young. "Oh?" The female dark elf looked at him curiously, her gaze passing over his eyes and seeming to wander on his forehead. "Of course," Li Yin added hastily, "My so-called superior intelligence is only compared to my own kind. It is nothing compared to the elves." The female dark elf raised her lips slightly and remained noncommittal. "So, you learned our language on the surface?" After a while, she continued the previous topic. Li Yin nodded. "Why?" Cassia's question still hadn't been fully answered. "Why would a scholar from the surface world specifically learn the language of the dark elves?" "I am a scholar of history, geography, and archaeology," Li Yin gave the answer he had prepared long ago, "and I have participated in the excavation of several underground ruins." "During the process of excavating underground, we will inevitably encounter races from the Underdark. "Moreover, the underground world itself is a rich and vast world, which is very worth studying." "Whether for communication or academic purposes, it is very necessary for us to master the language of underground intelligent creatures." "Among them, I and my colleagues generally believe that the language of the most intelligent dark elves is the most valuable to master." The female dark elf nodded thoughtfully. After a while, she raised her head and looked at Li Yin again with sharp and clear eyes: "So, scholar, can you tell me how you got here?" "I'm sure," she suddenly smiled playfully, "it's not for any academic reason." Nonsense... Li Yin thought, don’t you know how I got here? However, he knew that what Cassia really wanted to ask was not how he got to this dark elf city, but how he got to the underground world. "Indeed, it's not an academic need," he repeated Cassia's words and paused, "but a need for survival." "Necessary for survival?" Cassia's ruby eyes suddenly shone with more curiosity, and her upper body couldn't help but lean forward in the chair. "We dug a well." Li Yin said concisely. There is no need to lie completely, he only needs to omit the unnecessary parts, modify the parts that must be mentioned but should not be exposed, and narrate the rest directly. Because the more lies you tell, the more flaws you may reveal. "A well?" Cassia's curiosity grew stronger. "There was a severe drought where we live." Li Yin further explained. At the same time, he spread his hands, and a shadow passed across his face, as if the bitterness brought by the drought was still lingering in his heart. "As a geographer, I was assigned to follow the drilling team to explore water sources, dig wells, and find the source of life for our people." "But," he paused, frowning slightly, "an accident occurred during the drilling process. Perhaps it was because we drilled too deep - because we had not been able to successfully dig out water, we kept drilling down, and then, at some point, a geological collapse occurred." "When we woke up, we found ourselves in a completely different world. My companions and I spent some time trying to find a way out, but to no avail. On the contrary, the underground world was too dangerous for strange intruders like us, and we soon lost each other... Then, I was found by your people and brought here." He tried to narrate his experience as closely as possible, though of course he didn't mention everything: for example, it was a magic drilling machine and he was its operator.
Li Yin did not mention the mind flayer either - it was too stupid to do so. Even for the cruel dark elves, the mind flayer was a terrifying creature that made people turn pale at the mention of it. If he accidentally revealed that he had been a captive of the mind flayer, Li Yin doubted that even with the effect of the charm, the female dark elf in front of him would cut open his head to make sure he was not parasitized by the mind flayer. Charm can allow the caster to gain and maintain the target's favor, but the premise is that the caster itself does not pose any threat to the target after that. And a potential mind flayer is obviously enough to be regarded as a threat to the target's life safety. "Incredible." Cassia's pupils dilated slightly. "Indeed," Li Yin echoed, feeling sympathetic. Who would have thought that digging a well would lead them to the dark world? But it might be because they dug too deep - but there was nothing they could do about it. According to Li Yin's judgment, that was the place where they were most likely to find water.
