Volume 2, Chapter 103 – Actor Training

After delivering instructions to the Blackrose Family, Qiu Mingtong slowly walked to Lady Yumo’s side, the giant iron hammer in her hand gradually being withdrawn into her spatial ring.

As one of the orphans raised by Lady Yumo, Qiu Mingtong naturally had her favorability toward Yumo maxed out. Whenever she stayed by the other’s side, a refreshing sense of comfort would wash over her. However, after approaching Lady Yumo this time, Qiu Mingtong could not help but frown as a hint of displeasure surfaced within her pale gold eyes.

Of course, the source of her displeasure could not be Lady Yumo, but rather the silver-haired girl being sheltered in her embrace…

The Chosen Maiden, or rather, the ‘female lead’…

According to the prophecies of the Ashurmos Church, she was one of the Chosen Ones who would eventually defeat Lady Yumo and destroy the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons. She was the primary target that those of the Blackrose Family needed to eliminate!

If the person in Lady Yumo’s arms had been Li Mo, Li Yu, or any of the other orphans, Qiu Mingtong could have accepted it without any feelings of jealousy. But for Lady Yumo to be holding the Chosen Maiden?!

‘Damn it…’

The girl could not help but curse inwardly. She could never understand why Lady Yumo was so friendly toward an enemy. This person would eventually bring about her destruction! Or was it that Lady Yumo truly wished for death? Judging from her daily attitude, she didn’t seem like someone who had lost the will to live. Or rather, she didn’t seem like that kind of world-weary palace?!

Why would she think of cultivating the Chosen Maiden?

‘She’s clearly someone who will harm Lady Yumo in the future, so what right does she have to stay in Lady Yumo’s arms?!’

At that thought, the expression with which Qiu Mingtong looked at Mengxi became increasingly cold.

In fact, regarding exactly why Lady Yumo sought death, the Blackrose Family and other demon king tier existences had held many meetings to discuss and research the matter. Unfortunately, after many discussions, they always ended without a conclusion. Every member of the Blackrose Family, and even every demon king tier existence, had tried various methods to coax information out of Lady Yumo.

However, Lady Yumo, who was usually very easy to talk to, would inexplicably become exceptionally clever whenever she encountered this specific question. They couldn’t get anything out of her at all. Even when asked with total sincerity, Lady Yumo would not speak, as if she had some unspeakable secret.

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Under normal circumstances, the Blackrose Family and the other demon king tier ancestors should have followed Lady Yumo’s decree to cultivate the Main Character Group and help them destroy Lady Yumo. However, they simply could not bring themselves to do that to such a gentle lady.

Ultimately, they had no choice but to feign compliance while secretly opposing her. They intended to eliminate all those brutes before the Chosen Ones could threaten Lady Yumo’s life! That way, even if Lady Yumo wanted to die, she wouldn’t be able to.

That was their plan. However, as the saying goes, the weather is unpredictable. How did this damned Chosen Maiden end up by Lady Yumo’s side for no apparent reason? This made it far too difficult to take action!!

Qiu Mingtong couldn’t help but clench her hands, roaring inwardly.

“Hmm?”

While Qiu Mingtong was gritting her teeth, her sharp gaze seemed to make Lady Yumo feel slightly uncomfortable. Yumo slowly turned her head, revealing a confused expression. “What is it, Little Tong?”

“No, it’s nothing, Lady Yumo!”

The moment Yumo turned her head, Qiu Mingtong immediately withdrew the coldness and hostility from her eyes, returning to her usual expressionless “kuudere” loli state and responding to Lady Yumo’s gaze with a respectful smile.

As a member of the Blackrose Family, especially one who would have contact with Lady Yumo, she had to undergo a year and a half of hellish training under the Nightingale organization and Mr. Saibok before coming to the Deepwinter Forest to see Lady Yumo!

Acting training.

Indeed, body language, psychological resilience, micro-expressions, changes in gaze, and so on—all of it required extremely rigorous training. Ultimately, only those who passed the training were allowed to see Lady Yumo. After all, the things they did in private must never be known by Lady Yumo! When Lord Saibok went to find Li Mo and Li Yu back then, he also used the excuse of going out to play to train their acting skills frantically.

As a side note, because Lady Li Mo’s acting was somewhat subpar, they didn’t inform her of many of their later actions. They were afraid of a slip-up. If they were exposed, everyone would be finished.

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Oh, right. Actually, after Lady Yumo took human form, Lord Saibok also gave her an ‘Encyclopedia of Acting’. However, Saibok had secretly left some loopholes inside that book to make it easier for them to read information from Lady Yumo’s expressions in the future…

To be honest, Qiu Mingtong felt that if he were ever discovered, Mr. Saibok probably wouldn’t escape a “caring” session with a feather duster.

In any case, because she had passed professional training, Qiu Mingtong’s expression was flawless. Lady Yumo didn’t notice anything amiss and continued using the Tears of Nature to help treat some of the Chosen Maiden’s serious wounds. This made Qiu Mingtong quite unhappy, but she naturally would not show it.

“Speaking of which, Lady Yumo.”

“What is it?”

“Miss Mengxi… that golden light she released earlier, the light that originally repelled Wilt, what exactly was it?”

“That? It’s protective divine power. It seems to be a power the Goddess deposited within the Chosen Ones to ensure their safety. However, by the look of it, it can probably only be used once in the short term.”

Recalling that dazzling golden light from before, Yumo spoke truthfully. Regarding a trustworthy child like Qiu Mingtong, Lady Yumo did not intend to hide anything.

“Oh, oh, I see.”

After receiving Yumo’s answer, Qiu Mingtong raised her hand to her chin thoughtfully, a trace of gravity flashing imperceptibly through her cute pale gold eyes.

Protective divine power? The Chosen Son from thirteen years ago didn’t have such a thing. Was it unique to the Chosen Maiden? Regardless, that golden light was extremely powerful, enough to instantly wound an eighth tier existence. She had to inform the Duke as soon as possible. The plan would need some adjustments…

While Qiu Mingtong was deep in thought, something happened that suddenly filled her with ecstasy!

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‘?! This, this was?!’

“Mengxi?!”

Accompanied by Yumo’s startled cry, the silver-haired girl in her arms suddenly trembled violently. In the next instant, a mouthful of fresh blood sprayed from her mouth, splashing onto Lady Yumo’s black dress. Golden cracks appeared on Mengxi’s skin, and as the cracks spread, bright red blood continuously burst forth from them…

In an instant, Mengxi, whom Lady Yumo had just wiped clean, was once again turned into a bloody mess.

“Wh-what’s happening?! Mengxi?!”

A look of intense unease and worry surfaced in Yumo’s crimson eyes. “Wh-what’s going on? Is this… is this backlash? Divine power backlash?!”

Looking at the poor girl who was continuously letting out muffled cries of pain, Lady Yumo couldn’t help but bite her lip hard.

Beside her, Qiu Mingtong also immediately wore an expression of shock and panic. “Divine power backlash?! Th-then what should we do?!”

‘Great! Just like that! Let the backlash kill her directly, take her life!!’ Qiu Mingtong roared again in her heart.

Of course, as a professional actor trained by the Nightingale organization, although Qiu Mingtong was ecstatic inside, she still maintained a worried appearance on the surface. One couldn’t tell at all that this girl had the urge to run out and set off fireworks…

Faking anxiety, Qiu Mingtong hurriedly took various potions out of her spatial ring. “Lady Yumo, can these potions be used?!”

“No, these potions are useless against this kind of backlash.”

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“Th-then what should we do? Divine power backlash is nothing compared to magic power backlash! If magic power backlash is severe, it can take a life! Let alone divine power…” ‘Hurry up and die already!’

As she spoke, Qiu Mingtong lowered her head “helplessly”.

“This… unless there is a large amount of power from the same source to supplement her, it will be very hard to resist. But none of us know holy magic, and those Heroes from the Ashurmos Church… who knows where they’ve died off to now.”

Watching the silver-haired girl who was constantly trembling from the intense pain, Qiu Mingtong shook her head helplessly. “Without power from the same source, this state of bleeding all over is basically hopeless. Moreover, the process is extremely painful. Lady Yumo, why don’t you help her end-“

However, just as the thought of opening champagne popped into Qiu Mingtong’s mind, Yumo directly interrupted her words.

“No, there is a way.”

“Eh? A way?” Qiu Mingtong was slightly stunned by Yumo’s reply and looked at the black-haired girl in front of her with a bit of confusion. “Lady Yumo, but we don’t have power from the same source. If we go looking for it now, I’m afraid it will be too late?”

“No need to look, there’s a ready-made source right here.”

“Huh??”

In the next moment, under Qiu Mingtong’s bewildered gaze, Lady Yumo slowly extended her index finger. A powerful and dense, yet extremely stable Shadow Essence slowly gathered at her fingertip! Subsequently, Yumo pressed her finger against the silver-haired girl’s forehead…

Qiu Mingtong: Th-this is?

Sh*t!