Chapter 16 —

Following her all the way to the dungeon where the live "goods" were being held, all Yin Li saw were the dried corpses lying haphazardly on the ground and the "goods" frantically fleeing out of the black market.

"Tsk, one step behind means another... Looks like I'll have to use some unconventional methods to catch up with her."

The dried corpses on the ground still retained a noticeable warmth, indicating that the vampire who had slaughtered the black market had just left and hadn't gone far.

Yin Li felt that if she continued to follow the steps of each scene filled with corpses like an NPC, by the time she found Crow and Liu Hongyu, those two guys would probably already be dead!

...Instead of passively chasing, it's better to take the initiative!

Realizing this, Yin Li immediately wrote in her mind: "Teleport the vampire who slaughtered the black market, the man with the raven mask 'Crow,' and Liu Hongyu, who has been fused with the earth dragon, to my side!"

After writing, she guided her Xuan power with her fingertips to draw a seemingly extremely simple teleportation array on the ground (a classic circle containing a pentagram)—the next second, the array shone brightly, and four figures of different shapes appeared out of thin air within it.

Yin Li checked the remaining energy of the Heaven-Writing Brush; it had about 70% left. A quick calculation revealed that this teleportation had consumed a full 11% of its energy—the vampire alone accounted for 10%! "As expected, he's a powerful individual. Even a short-distance teleportation within the black market area uses ten percent of his energy. But... why did the array teleport four people?"

As the light from the teleportation array gradually dimmed, Yin Li looked closely and realized that four figures had appeared within the array, not the three she had expected—

The extra one was a girl with pink hair and pink eyes, petite and pale, about 1.45 meters tall, with slightly messy shoulder-length hair. She wore a large white lab coat, as if it had been hastily put on from a laboratory, and looked pitifully thin.

Ya and Liu Hongyu were slumped on the ground, both pierced by several blood crystal longswords, blood gushing from their wounds like a fountain. Crow's suit was tattered, a sword wound each in his chest, abdomen, and shoulder; his face was ashen. Liu Hongyu's dragon horns were broken, two longswords were embedded in his chest, and his left arm had been severed.

The moment they saw Yin Li, they immediately sensed a "familiar" aura emanating from her. At first, they both showed expressions of confusion, as if they couldn't believe that this silver-haired little girl was their "master," but then, the instinct for survival made them simultaneously let out weak cries for help.

"Your Highness...did you complete your transformation ahead of schedule to save us? This woman...she's a monster!" Crow gasped, his voice hoarse, trying to crawl towards Yin Li, but collapsed due to his severe injuries.

"Your Highness...kill this vampire! She...she's going to ruin your plans..." Liu Hongyu's vertical pupils flashed with fanaticism as he barely raised his head, his dragon tail drawing a bloody trail on the ground. Yin Li ignored their pleas for help. Her golden eyes swept over them, a cold smile playing on her lips.

Her attention was now completely focused on the vampire girl—white hair, purple eyes, slightly trembling pointed ears, dressed in classical Hanfu but strangely wearing a mask that obscured half her face.

She extended a sliver of her spiritual power to sense the girl's aura, only to find utter nothingness—meaning the girl's strength far surpassed her own.

With a "whoosh," Yin Li's expression instantly turned grim: "This girl willingly cooperated with the teleportation; otherwise, the Heaven-Summoning Brush would have used fifty percent of its energy to barely pull her here… I thought she was a vampire of equal strength, but she's an old monster I've never seen before! It's over, it's over, I'm probably going to be in big trouble this time…"

Yin Li's palms were slightly sweaty. She had a premonition that she might not be able to avenge herself. Moreover, if she didn't explain her identity as the "Silver Dragon Princess" well, she might also be implicated.

The vampire girl, Yao Qing, seeing Yin Li's clenched fists but her attempt to maintain a nonchalant, comical expression, couldn't help but chuckle and break the silence:

"My name is Yao Qing. Although my body is that of a vampire, I have long since severed ties with vampires and abandoned their filthy habits. I've come to the black market to uphold justice—those scum who sell slaves, experiment on living people, and smuggle evil beasts don't deserve to live in this world."

As she spoke, her gaze swept over Ya and Liu Hongyu, a flash of killing intent crossing her purple eyes: "Like them. One is obsessed with human experimentation, using molten beasts to create dragon-men; the other has been twisted into a puppet that is neither human nor dragon… I will personally end their sins! Just now, I underwent some 'interrogation,' and learned from them..." "A truly extraordinary plan...it seems to be related to you, Princess?"

Upon hearing this, Yin Li inwardly groaned, but outwardly replied calmly, "Oh? It sounds like you're quite righteous, Miss Yao Qing. Let me introduce myself. My name is Yin Li. Don't be fooled by those two calling me 'Princess,' I've long since severed ties with that identity. Now, I am simply Yin Li, nothing more—those so-called plans and ambitions have nothing to do with me. I'm here only to personally avenge myself!"

Yao Qing narrowed her eyes slightly: "Oh? Nothing to do with you? Avenge yourself?"

Yin Li hurriedly nodded and recounted everything from Lin Jiangxing being knocked **** by the orcs after finishing his meal to his soul being shattered by the Silver Dragon Princess, but fortunately merging with her using the Heaven-Creating Brush. ...So, you're now completely driven by your hatred for Lin Jiangxing? No wonder I sensed a familiar aura on you when you first entered the black market... You're quite lucky, managing to activate and use the "Heaven-Writing Brush" to barely achieve your goal of counterattacking. "Otherwise, you'd probably end up like those guys outside, a dried-up corpse—no, perhaps even better, a puppet..."

After hearing Yin Li's story, even Yao Qing couldn't help but sigh, her gaze towards the mark on Yin Li's forehead softening slightly—the special energy she sensed at the hamburger shop that day seemed to be Xuan Power.

Although she was very interested in this energy, the Heaven-Writing Brush was now Yin Li's possession, and being a reasonable person, she felt awkward about taking what belonged to someone else.

Noticing Yao Qing's gaze, Yin Li's slippery nature, typical of Lin Jiangxing, immediately took over, offering a way out:

"Miss Yao Qing, to be honest: these two guys you have are extremely important to me. If I can't deal with them myself, I won't be at peace; that hatred and anger will likely accompany me for the rest of my life!" "However, since these two have become your prey and are half-dead, I'm too embarrassed to ask for them directly... How about, Miss Yaoqing, you give me the power of life and **** over these two? Consider it a favor I owe you, and I'll be at your beck and call from now on, how about that?"

"Hmm, Miss Yinli's suggestion is excellent, very much to my liking." Yaoqing raised an eyebrow, quite satisfied with Yinli's high emotional intelligence, and immediately nodded in agreement. Then, she gestured to introduce the extra green-haired loli:

"This little girl is a superhuman I rescued from this raven-masked man's laboratory, named Lu Miaoyin. She's at the third tier, possessing an S-rank ability called 'Mind Manipulation.'"

Hearing Yaoqing's explanation, Yinli finally noticed the inexplicably extra little girl and asked疑惑地问道, "This little girl looks like she's still in middle school, how did she awaken an ability? And at such a young age, she's already at the third tier?" "I've served Princess Silver Dragon for years, and I have absolutely no recollection of her mentioning such a person..."

At this point, Yin Li glared fiercely at Crow on the ground: "What's going on? I need a reasonable explanation—"

Crow, who had overheard their transaction, had witnessed the entire exchange. This "princess," though possessing fragments of Lin Jiangxing's soul, still retained all of the original's memories.

Now that his life was in Yin Li's hands, he figured if he behaved submissively, perhaps Yin Li would spare him out of consideration for his years of service.

Thinking this, Crow immediately began to speak frankly: "Your Highness, I'll tell you! This, this is actually… I just want to live!"