Yaqing said in a deep voice: “Your Highness, many low-level devils are eager to enter a large clan or sect, even as a bought servant.”
The thirteen sects of the Devil Realm used open recruitment to procure new disciples, with different criteria for the inner sect and the outer sect. Candidates who failed to enter the outer sect could only be recruited as handymen, but even these had limited numbers, so the ones left behind could only seek other chances, such as becoming servants in a powerful clan.
Even if they were essentially selling themselves, the servants who belonged to a clan would be protected by their masters, making their survival easier. The harsh nature of the Devil Realm made it difficult for devils without power or backing to survive. Most of the resources were controlled by either the sects or the influential clans, making life even harder for those at the bottom of the food chain.
Even if their lives were no longer their own, even if they could be killed anytime by their master’s whim, life as a servant was much better than a solitary one. If, by chance, they were lucky enough to enter the palace, they would become the winner of life.
For this reason, even knowing that the Devil Venerable was not easy to get along with, countless low-ranking devils still yearned to enter the palace.
Lu Yaoyao listened to Yaqing’s explanation and felt very uncomfortable inside. But this was the way of life others had chosen, and she had no right to interfere. If she wanted to make a change, she could only start by changing the environment first.
Lu Yaoyao didn’t want to watch people being sold, so she turned around and was about to leave when the noisy commotion behind her grew louder and closer. Lu Yaoyao looked back and first heard the sound of clanking chains, followed by the figure of a young teen with red eyes, devil markings on his face, and shackles on his limbs, running away from a group of towering devils who were chasing after him.
“Stop right there, you bastard!”
Both the boy’s handsome face and the skin exposed from between his torn clothes were covered with scars. He passed Lu Yaoyao and just ran ten meters away when he was overtaken by his pursuers, who immediately began to hit him with the big clubs in their hands.
“Dare to escape!”
“Beat him! Beat until he begs for mercy!”
Seeing that he couldn’t escape, the boy gave up struggling and curled up on the ground, rolling around with his hands covering his head and his feet tucked in, trying to dodge the blows from the clubs. If he couldn’t dodge them, he tried to take the hit on his back. Before long, several new wounds appeared on his body. The thick wooden clubs made loud sounds each time they hit his body, but the boy remained silent.
Lu Yaoyao couldn’t bear it anymore and shouted, “Stop!”
As soon as Lu Yaoyao’s words fell, Yaqing’s figure flashed, and before those devils could react, they were knocked away by Yaqing’s attack.
“Who dares to meddle in our business? We are members of First Grand Elder Shentu’s sect!”
Lu Yaoyao paid them no attention and ran to the boy, “Are you alright?” She then looked at the enraged devils and furrowed her brows, “Do you want to kill him?”
When the group saw that the little girl was accompanied by such a powerful, clearly high-ranking devil, they started boasting their backing again, trying to scare off the two busybodies, “We are members of First Grand Elder Shentu’s sect.”
Lu Yaoyao blinked and asked Yaqing, “Is Elder Shentu more powerful than my Daddy?”
“Absolutely not, Your Highness. You and His Venerable surpass anyone else in the Devil Realm,” Yaqing replied in a straightforward manner.
When the devils heard this, they were all stunned. They had heard of the rumor circulating from a time ago. This girl was the rumored Little Princess?! The leader of the group hurriedly smiled flatteringly and tried to dissuade, “It’s all misunderstanding! Your Highness, please rest assured, we aren’t trying to kill anyone. We just want to teach this fugitive slave a lesson…”
The boy suddenly raised his voice: “I’m not a fugitive slave. I was kidnapped!”
Upon hearing this, Lu Yaoyao looked at Yaqing with a puzzled expression.
Yaqing: “…”
Not all devils became slave servants voluntarily. Some of them were unlucky enough to be caught by unscrupulous merchants. Once they were at the hands of the slave dealers, their end was to be sold against their will.
This was common knowledge, but Yaqing had a hunch that he shouldn’t have said these things to Her Highness, so he didn’t bring it up when he gave her the explanation earlier. Unexpectedly, they encountered this situation later.
After Yaqing explained it, Lu Yaoyao looked at the boy, who stared back at her with his fierce red eyes. Even though he was beaten all over, he refused to bow his head.
The leader said confidently, “Your Highness, we properly bought this brat.” Once the product was bought, who would care if they were sold voluntarily or involuntarily?
Lu Yaoyao tilted her head, “I want him.”
The leader’s eyes glinted with greed, and as he was about to make up a price, Lu Yaoyao saw his thoughts and squinted her eyes in warning, “You better be honest.”
Yaqing released his aura, directly suffocating the group of devils.
The leader no longer dared to play a trick, “This humble one spent three middle-grade devil stones to buy him.”
Lu Yaoyao signaled Yaqing to pay.
With the money in hand, they no longer paid attention to the boy and quickly left in a hurry.
Lu Yaoyao’s gaze fell upon the shackles on the boy’s hands and feet. Yaqing’s blade came out of its sheath and cut twice, reducing the shackles into small pieces of broken iron.
Lu Yaoyao said: “You can go.”
The boy stood motionlessly. Although he was covered in injuries, his back was straight. He rubbed his bloody wrist and looked at Lu Yaoyao, “You bought me, so I am yours.”
What? Lu Yaoyao tilted her head in confusion. Wasn’t he kidnapped against his will and would rather be beaten to death rather than submit?
“I have enough servants and don’t need more,” Lu Yaoyao replied calmly, “I just want to help you.” She didn’t want to buy him, but this was the easiest solution.
The boy lowered his eyes, unwilling. He then raised his chin and said again, “Since you saved me, I will repay you.”
“No need. It’s just a little effort.” Lu Yaoyao waved her hands dismissively. She then glanced at Yaqing, and the two quickly left the scene.
When the boy came to his sense, the two figures had disappeared in a blink of an eye. He looked around, but was not discouraged.
Your Highness… huh? He remembered.
…
Lu Yaoyao, unaware that someone had targeted her, was still glad to have escaped the scene.
It was too dangerous, ah. Someone almost promised himself to her!
After this encounter, Lu Yaoyao was no longer in the mood for shopping, so she and Yaqing returned to the palace. As she walked the corridor, Lu Yaoyao patted the jade pendant that she had tied to her small pouch. She wanted to test if the jade’s concealment effect could really work against her Great Ascension daddy.
With this in mind, Lu Yaoyao tiptoed in. Her eyes poked around, preparing to sneak back to the retreat area. If even Daddy failed to catch her, wouldn’t it mean no one could?
Lu Yaoyao quietly peeped into the crack of the door.
Dressed in red, Lu Qingyu stood by the black pond; his blood-red eyes were full of icy killing intent. He held a woman by the neck and tossed her aside with a flick of his wrist. His lips curled into a cruel smile as the woman’s body hit the wall and rolled to the ground, lifeless.
Lu Yaoyao’s eyes widened suddenly, and her pupils trembled.
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what? want to steal the Dad while the Baby is away?