Volume 3, Chapter 22 – Home Field Advantage

When it came down to it, what Xingyu Muxi meant was simply that Eden City’s information had already been leaked.

“How could this happen…?”

Even knowing it was true, Tianyin still found it hard to accept all of this so suddenly.

That half-beast girl she met yesterday, the one named Yeluo?

She was actually a spy gathering intelligence?

This kind of thing…

It left Tianyin surprised, shocked, and with an increasingly complicated feeling in her chest.

“It’s alright, Xiaoyin, this is something I should have predicted. I was the one who overlooked it…”

Seeing Tianyin’s cute little face twist into a complex expression, Xingyu Muxi gently cupped her cheek and spoke softly.

“Wuu, but Sister Xiaomu… if I had realized it yesterday, maybe I could have stopped her…”

“Yes yes, I know. If Xiaoyin had discovered it, you definitely would have stopped her. I believe that. But well, things are already like this~”

“Eeh… wuu…”

Feeling the warmth of the girl’s hand stroking her long hair, Tianyin’s feelings were still tangled, but she couldn’t stop herself from letting out a soft, catlike sound.

“Pfft, Xiaoyin is really too cute~”

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Watching Tianyin react like this, Xingyu Muxi couldn’t help laughing as she continued gently stroking Tianyin’s head.

And that soft laugh swept away much of the heavy atmosphere from earlier.

Even though the mood had lightened, Tianyin still couldn’t avoid feeling embarrassed.

Her little face flushed faintly, and she instinctively bit her tiny lips with her small white teeth.

“Sister Xiaomu, don’t laugh… this… this kind of thing isn’t something I can control…”

Even as she said this, Tianyin’s shy appearance only made her look even cuter in Xingyu Muxi’s eyes.

“Xiaoyin, seeing you like this, I suddenly understand something~”

While looking at her, Xingyu Muxi suddenly murmured.

“Eh?”

Tianyin tilted her small face in confusion.

“Why does Xiaomengyao like to bully… Well, never mind. This isn’t the time to talk about that~”

But halfway through speaking, Xingyu Muxi smiled and covered up the rest of the sentence.

“Like what? So what were you going to say?”

Tianyin might be slow in some areas, but in others, she was exceptionally sharp.

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Although Xingyu Muxi glossed over the topic, Tianyin had instantly caught the word “bully.”

“Bullying? Don’t tell me… Sister Xiaomu also wants to bully me?”

“Pfft~”

Seeing Tianyin’s serious expression, Xingyu Muxi burst out laughing again.

“Alright alright, where has the topic even gone? Xiaoyin, I came to talk to you about something serious this time~”

“Wuu… but you were the one who started that topic…”

Tianyin puffed her cheeks in slight displeasure.

“Yes, that’s true. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for being too cute… Okay, let’s stop here. Time for the real issue~”

Even though she wanted to keep arguing with Sister Xiaomu, Tianyin knew this wasn’t the time for being difficult~

“Well, as I was saying, Eden’s information has already been leaked. If my guess is correct, and the half-beast girl really was a spy, then without a doubt… the ones who are targeting us are the Stronghold’s beastmen.”

“Beastmen? The Stronghold?”

Tianyin still didn’t understand Xingyu Muxi’s point.

“Why do you say that? Sister Xiaomu, isn’t this area still the Undead’s territory?”

What Tianyin said wasn’t wrong. Even though the Graveyard had been defeated, plenty of Undead troops were still in the Main World. Combined with the massive losses suffered by both the Kingdom and the Stronghold during the previous war, neither side had a clear way to deal with the Graveyard for now.

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And under these circumstances, instead of steadily reclaiming the frontlines, the Stronghold would suddenly send people deep into Undead territory to target Eden?

Wasn’t that… too foolish?

Tianyin might have been a bit slow, but she understood at least that much.

“Well, yes, this is Undead territory~”

Xingyu Muxi nodded in agreement.

“But Xiaoyin, you’re forgetting something. Before the Undead invaded the Main World, this entire land… originally belonged to the Stronghold.”

“Eh? That is true, but what does that have to do with my question?”

“It definitely has something to do with it. Think about it, Xiaoyin. The beastmen of the Stronghold have ruled their own territory for over a million years. With such a long history, their understanding of this land is far greater than the Undead, who only occupied it for a few months.”

“And remember, in everything, timing, location, and people matter. And here, the Stronghold is fighting on their home turf, which means they have the advantage of location~”

Xingyu Muxi’s explanation brought clarity dawn on Tianyin.

She had not considered this at all before.

Eden City was built not far from the Northern Fortress, more precisely, just north of it, which was indeed part of the Stronghold’s former territory.

After the Graveyard’s defeat, the remaining Undead forces could still fight the Stronghold on the main battlefront. But for a faction that was originally fighting a home-field war, sending troops deeper into Undead territory was an easy task.

If the Undead needed supply lines, the Stronghold might have already cut them off long ago.

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And because this was their home ground, it was no surprise that beastmen soldiers could secretly appear near Eden.

Seeing Tianyin’s eyes widen in sudden understanding, Xingyu Muxi showed an extraordinarily gentle smile.

“Hey, Xiaoyin, so that’s why our current enemy is most likely the beastmen of the Stronghold~”

“Beastmen? But why would they want to gather intel on us, Sister Xiaomu? We don’t even have any conflict with them.”

“Um, that’s true, there’s no conflict. But Xiaoyin, you have to remember, Eden is now built on their original territory~”

She really did view things very thoroughly.

And this explanation was indeed reasonable.

After all, this land used to belong to them. You take someone’s land, they’ll obviously want it back.

And if you explain it this way, it makes perfect sense why the Stronghold would send a half-beast spy to gather information.

“Well, of course, there is also another reason~”

At this moment, Xingyu Muxi continued.

“The other reason is that inside Eden… we actually have way too many half-beasts~”