Abyssal Chronicles

Chapter 206 - 207: Nightingale

As the leader of the robed figures put down the huge hammer and half-kneeled before the pink-haired girl, the ghostly figures around them also removed their disguises, revealing their envious figures under their black cloaks.

Then, these assassin ladies gathered around the outside of the prison carriage and kneeled down in unison before the pink-haired girl.

The murderous aura and chill around these people dissipated as they came before the pink-haired girl, replaced by a strong feeling of goodwill and a hint of... cuteness?

Regardless,

This sudden scene, as expected, made Dora and the other maids show astonished expressions, staring at each other with five puzzled faces.

What’s going on?

Huh?!

’Am... am I hallucinating?’

Seeing the group of murderous figures who had effortlessly defeated the royal knights now kneeling before their young lady, Dora couldn’t help but pinch her thigh hard. The intense pain made her realize she wasn’t dreaming.

These people were genuinely kneeling before their young lady? And with such respect?

The question was,

Who were they? Were they reinforcements sent by other nobles from the City of Wind? But, so many female assassins? There didn’t seem to be such a group in the City of Wind. And these female assassins had easily defeated the royal knights!

Who were they?

For a moment, countless doubts flooded Dora’s mind, almost causing her brain to short-circuit. However, among all the questions, what puzzled Dora the most was the robed figure’s address to her young lady.

’Lady Yumo?’

Was this her young lady’s name during her drifting life? Were these people her young lady’s acquaintances?

With her confusion,

Dora slowly turned her head, looking at the pink-haired girl she ’protected’ behind her with an utterly shocked and astonished gaze.

"Miss Xia, what’s going on?"

Dora couldn’t help but ask her inner questions,

And the other maids also did the same, casting their puzzled gazes at Yumo.

In response, Yumo smiled slightly,

Apologizing, she gently rubbed Dora’s head,

"Sorry, hahh…, I’ll explain it to you later. I can’t really explain it now."

"Young... young lady?"

Seeing the pink-haired girl, whose expression was completely different from her usual demeanor, Dora couldn’t help but be surprised. However, before Dora could think or ask more questions, several bloody-red butterflies somehow appeared before her.

"Huh?"

Accompanied by the girl’s gasp, pale golden powder slowly sprinkled down from the blood butterflies.

As the ’sleeping powder’ made contact, an intense drowsiness suddenly overwhelmed Dora, causing her consciousness to blur.

"Young... young lady... What’s happening to me?"

After struggling for a moment, Dora fell into a deep sleep under Yumo’s slightly guilt-ridden gaze.

The other maids beside her also quickly fell into sweet dreams...

After taking care of the maids around her,

A crimson light rippled around Yumo’s body,

Surrounded by countless bloody-red butterflies, Yumo’s body disintegrated and reassembled, transforming her into the stunning black-haired girl she used to be. The black dress, made of memory fibers, was directly attached to Yumo’s delicate body.

With her disguise removed, Yumo smiled at the petite figure kneeling in front of her,

"little tong, how many times have I told you? You don’t have to be so respectful in front of me. Get up quickly..."

Upon hearing this,

The robed figure hesitated for a moment before finally standing up and removing the hood that concealed her face, revealing her delicate, carved features.

With charming, gradient pink-white hair, strands of hair hanging down the sides of her face added a gentle touch. Her eyebrows were like crescent moons, and her clear, golden eyes were as bright as stars. Combined with her somewhat soft and chubby face, she was incredibly adorable.

This enchanting little girl was none other than Qiu Mingtong, who had been instructed by the Black Rose Duke to come here and ’rescue’ them.

In front of Yumo,

The murderous aura on Qiu Mingtong’s face vanished instantly. The decisive killer from the past was no longer present. Qiu Mingtong transformed into a cute little girl, guiltily lowering her head:

"I’m sorry, Lady Yumo, we were late, and you had to suffer..."

Saying this,

Qiu Mingtong fiercely glanced at Abike, who was lying on the ground and being stepped on by a female assassin.

At this, Yumo laughed nonchalantly and gently rubbed Qiu Mingtong’s head,

"Ah, what are you thinking? What could they do to me? Even if you hadn’t come, I was planning to teach these knights a lesson myself. But your arrival did save me quite a bit of trouble. Oh, by the way..."

Seemingly sensing something, Yumo looked up happily toward the dense forest not far away,

"Xizhi is here too? Long time no see~"

Yumo cheerfully waved at the forest,

And the next moment,

Accompanied by the ripple of orange-red light, a black-haired girl with dragon horns on her head slowly stepped into everyone’s sight,

It was the leader of the ’Nightingale’ organization, known as Xizhi.

At this moment, Xizhi was dragging three royal knights who had been knocked unconscious by her.

Having been influenced by Xiao for many years,

Xizhi had always been cautious in her actions. To ensure the successful completion of the mission,

When the assassins of the ’Nightingale’ organization and Qiu Mingtong attacked the royal knights, Xizhi was responsible for guarding the nearby situation and preventing any of the knights from escaping or using communication magic stones for help.

The three people in her hands were the ones she had caught while they were retreating and seeking help.

For those who dared to insult Lady Yumo, Xizhi wished she could grind them to dust and scatter them to the wind! However, this operation was a covert one, and it was best not to alert the forces outside the canyon. So, Xizhi suppressed her murderous intent. After all, if these royal knights died, their soul orbs would be destroyed, and the seventh-stage experts in front would notice the anomaly here.

Although Lady Yumo was more than capable of dealing with those seventh-stage cultivators, Xizhi didn’t want Yumo to have to step in. That would be too humiliating.

However, upon hearing Yumo’s call, Xizhi immediately stopped thinking about these issues and tossed the unconscious knights to the side. With a flash, she rushed to Yumo’s side!

"Lady Yumo, it’s been so long!"

Xizhi said excitedly, bowing her head obediently, enjoying Yumo’s affection. In fact, Xizhi now wished she were decades younger, so she could have the chance to continue acting spoiled in Lady Yumo’s arms~

’The human form of Lady Yumo~’

’It feels so good to snuggle~’

Although her thoughts were running wild, Xizhi remained serious on the surface.

"Lady Yumo, are you alright? Did those damned knights do anything to you?"

"Ah, what am I thinking..."

Yumo shook her head, amused by Xizhi’s repeated question.

She felt that sometimes these children treated her like a child or a fragile treasure that needed to be protected. It was true, they all knew her strength.

Even if she lay down and let the royal knights attack her, they wouldn’t be able to break through her defenses.

"Ah, I’m fine, really. Let’s... forget about that topic."

As she spoke, Yumo’s gaze slowly moved to the dozens of beautiful young women half-kneeling near the prison cart. Looking at the bird-shaped emblem outlined in red on their belts, Yumo couldn’t help but show a hint of curiosity.

"By the way, who are these cute ones?"

"Oh! They are..."

Hearing Yumo’s question, Xizhi ’s face lit up with excitement, beaming like a proud child.

"They are members of the Nightingale Organization! They’re supported by the duke, and about ten or so years of... Huh?!"

However, mid-sentence, Qiu Mingtong suddenly looked anxious, hinting at Xizhi behind Yumo.

In fact, Xizhi had already realized her slip of the tongue. She had been too excited after not seeing Lady Yumo for so long and almost revealed too much.

But fortunately, the experienced Xizhi quickly pretended she had bitten her tongue out of excitement. After stuttering for a moment, she continued:

"It’s the organization that Sebastian and Lady Yumo mentioned before, established a few years ago, responsible for gathering intelligence!"

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, Yumo looked with interest at the young ladies around her. Taking a closer look, she was surprised to find that some of the girls were indeed the children she had met in the Winter Forest. However, because of the changes that come with growing up, and the veils they wore, Yumo hadn’t recognized them at first.

"But in just a few years, they’ve become so well-trained? They even easily defeated the royal knights. Impressive!"

And,

Intelligence agents?

Are they really that capable in martial arts?

Yumo couldn’t help but complain internally.

"Hehe (?????)"

Hearing Yumo’s praise, Xizhi immediately laughed with joy, a wave of excitement rising within her.

However, alongside her happiness,

Xizhi felt more relief in her heart, even taking a long breath.

’Phew! That was close, almost blew our cover...’

You see,

It was only in the past few years that the Black Rose family informed Lady Yumo about their intention to establish an intelligence network. Before that? In order to have a legitimate reason to hide the ’protagonist group’ intelligence from Yumo, Duke had kept the existence of the ’Nightingale’ organization a secret.

After the organization was established, they hadn’t achieved any results for a long time, which might have disappointed Yumo. So, they had been using the unrest in the southeastern part of the Sadiq Empire as an excuse to ’delay’ the establishment of the intelligence network.

It was only in recent years that Duke changed the plan and informed Yumo about the existence of the Nightingale organization.

However,

No matter what, the fact that they had established the organization more than a decade ago and kept it a secret from Yumo while secretly gathering intelligence, causing trouble in various countries, undermining the unity of the human race, and assassinating ’protagonists’ was something Yumo must never know!

They could never let Yumo realize they had been deceiving her!

And so,

Xizhi feigned pride and showed a smug smile.

"Yes, Lady Yumo! Everyone is working hard to become top-notch intelligence agents!"

"Is that so? Not bad, not bad. Hmm, it must be hard on everyone. But, Xizhi, didn’t Qiu Mingtong say you were on a mission in the Red Lotus Leaf Empire? How come you suddenly came back? No, you didn’t come just to ’rescue’ me, did you?"

"Ah, not really. I mainly wanted to see you, Lady Yumo, hehe~ Also, we received new instructions from Duke."

"Instructions? What did they say?"

"Well, it’s a bit complicated. Anyway..."

Glancing at the unconscious royal knights around and the chaotic campsite, Xizhi spoke slowly: "Lady Yumo, let’s talk about this later. We should leave first, and I’ll explain everything later. If that nearby knight captain notices us, it could be troublesome."

"Alright."

Yumo nodded slightly.

"Oh, right, Lady Yumo, how do you plan to deal with these people?"

Xizhi looked at the unconscious maids beside Yumo and asked curiously.

"As for them..."

Looking at the unconscious Dora and others, Yumo sighed helplessly, thinking about how these maids had protected her, their fake mistress:

"Take them back with us and take good care of them."

"Understood, Lady Yumo."