The situation was a bit awkward.
Judging by how these three had suddenly changed their attitude toward her...
It seemed that female demons held a very high status among their kind.
For a moment, Luo Li wasn't even sure if she should strike.
"Where is this place?"
"To answer... my lady, this is the South Coast of West Island."
West Island?
The Western Demon Emperor?
Connecting these two terms instantly brought a terrifying thought to her mind.
Could this island be connected to an even larger continent?
If that were the case, the situation she had imagined would change completely.
Wait, the South Coast?
When the army retreated, they should have been in the southwest of this island.
That meant she had been carried to the southern tip of the island by the undercurrents.
Was the force of the current really that strong?
The "wild dogs" they mentioned likely referred to those low-intelligence demons.
The Western Demon Emperor... should be Asacreus.
"My lady... we meant no offense. We only came to deliver supplies to the wild dogs. If we have offended you, please forgive us."
My lady?
That term... was used well.
In that instant, Luo Li was almost certain that female demons held a high position among their kind.
But... they probably weren't just ordinary demons.
At the very least, the demonized Martha certainly didn't have such a status.
Could it be... purebred demons?
It was common knowledge that the demon race reproduced by using females of other races as breeding beds.
The history books Luo Li had read didn't seem to offer a detailed explanation on this matter.
However, based on the demon army and the situation she was seeing now...
Female demons seemed to be extremely rare.
Among the countless demons, she had only ever seen the demonized Martha; she had never seen a naturally born female demon.
So, could it be understood this way?
Demons converted from other races remained breeding beds in terms of status, perhaps given a position at most.
But if a female demon was naturally born from a breeding bed, her status would be entirely different?
If this logic held, the reaction of the three demons before her was perfectly reasonable.
Analyzing the situation based on the circumstances was one of Luo Li's strengths.
"Leave the supplies and that creature at the entrance behind. Then, get out."
Luo Li didn't want to kill them. At the very least, killing indiscriminately on demon territory would likely attract the attention of the high-ranking officials.
Though her hair color and attire were vastly different now, her face remained the same.
That meant if she encountered someone familiar with her, like the Demon Emperor, she would surely be recognized at a glance.
Therefore, she couldn't make herself stand out too much. Her best bet was to hide as much as possible and then sneak back.
As for what would happen after her return?
There had been instances of a Saintess going missing in history.
As long as she could prove she could still produce Holy Water and remained pure, she wouldn't have to worry about anything else.
In fact... purity wasn't even that important.
After all, the Saintesses of the Holy Church were allowed to marry.
Producing Holy Water was the true proof of a Saintess.
Of course, this also included the use of a specific Sacred Treasure.
As for purity, there were corresponding detection spells for that, so there was no need to worry.
What she needed to do now was return to the Kingdom of the Moon as quickly as possible within three months.
"My lady, we can leave the supplies, but we really can't leave this ox-horse beast. It is an important transport animal for the army. If it goes missing... we won't be able to account for it when we return."
The demon standing at the cave entrance lowered his posture even further.
It was unclear whether it was because of Luo Li's strength or her identity as a female.
An ox-horse beast?
Luo Li looked up at the outside. That massive body appeared to be at least ten times larger than an elephant.
She didn't recall seeing such a massive creature on the battlefield.
If such a huge creature were used as an offensive tool, it would be devastating to the battlefield.
Had the demon race not exerted their full strength this time?
No, judging by the demons' situation, the other side had indeed gone all out.
Unless... this creature was not suited for the battlefield.
Otherwise, it definitely would have been deployed.
"What levels are the three of you?"
"I am level twenty, and these two are level eighteen and seventeen."
Twenty, eighteen, and seventeen?
If that was the case, she could truly feel at ease.
After a slight hesitation, Luo Li slowly withdrew her hands.
At this moment, all she could do was avoid doing anything too eye-catching.
Killing these three demons would be easy, but it would likely draw the attention of the demon army afterward.
"In that case, the three of you, unload the goods immediately and then get lost."
"Thank you for your mercy, my lady."
The three demons glanced at each other, all of them feeling a wave of lingering fear.
Intelligent demons feared life and death far more than those without intelligence.
The smarter a creature was, the deeper their understanding of death, and thus, the more they feared it.
It seemed... even for a race as devoid of humanity as the demons, this held true.
"Stop talking and start unloading. Once you're done, get out."
"Yes."
The three demons stopped talking and quickly turned to begin unloading the supplies.
Watching boxes after boxes being taken down from the back of the massive ox-horse beast, Luo Li's brow furrowed.
Such neatly made boxes were definitely not something the demons could produce, not with their reason-crushing desires.
They certainly didn't have the patience to manufacture anything that required intellect.
So these things were likely funneled in from the mainland?
As the three demons moved the supplies, they introduced them to Luo Li.
"My lady, this box is meat. It's all human meat gathered recently. And this, these are clothes. Autumn is coming soon, so these were prepared for the wild dogs. If you need them..."
Luo Li's brow twitched slightly as she glanced at the demon. He immediately shut his mouth and hurried back to continue moving things.
Finally, the level-twenty demon took down a wooden barrel from a large rack.
"My lady, this is the live food from over there. He's about five years old. I was originally thinking of keeping him for myself."
"Exactly. Those wild dogs don't even know how to savor a delicacy. they just rush up and tear everything apart, wasting such good ingredients."
"My lady, please accept this as a token of our respect."
As they spoke, the three demons slowly opened the lid of the barrel.
When those pitch-black eyes met hers, the thought that immediately crossed her mind was... this person is dead.
These were eyes that had lost all focus and vitality.
Judging by the clothes, it was clear he was a child from the Kingdom of the Sun.
His messy black hair was all matted together.
Luo Li took a deep breath and waved them off.
"Leave it here."
"Yes, my lady."
The three demons looked at each other, appearing honored by Luo Li's reaction.
Their faces were full of smiles.
"My lady, please enjoy your meal slowly. We... will be heading back."
"Get out."
"Yes, yes, yes."
The three demons walked out of the cave. When they reached the entrance, they didn't forget to turn back and bow to Luo Li.
Then they climbed onto the massive ox-horse beast and slowly left the area, accompanied by the thumping sound of heavy footsteps.
Luo Li looked down at the child in the barrel; he appeared to be only five or six years old.
What caught her attention the most were those incredibly clear eyes.
It was just a pity that there wasn't a shred of life in those eyes at the moment, as if he were someone who had lost all hope for living.
"What is your name?"
"..."
The child just sat in the barrel, hugging his knees, without saying a word.
A pair of black pupils reflected Luo Li's current appearance.
Subconsciously, Luo Li looked at her reflection in the child's eyes and touched the pair of horns on her head.
She vaguely remembered... Martha only had a single horn back then?
These three demons were able to recognize her as a 'female demon' rather than a 'demonized female' at a glance.
There had to be a huge and obvious distinction.
She didn't need to consider the physical body, as her current form was actually not much different from an ordinary human.
It was very likely the body type.
After all, most demonized creatures grew larger. She remembered Martha's breasts were even two sizes larger than her head.
However, Martha indeed only had a single horn back then, and it grew from her forehead.
But her pair of backward-curving horns extended from the top of her head.
Her fingers lightly brushed against the horns, producing a crisp sound.
But at the same time, a sensation that made her whole body go numb washed over her.
These horns on her head seemed to be exceptionally sensitive; just a single touch made her shudder involuntarily.
"Hiss~ mmm~"
A soft moan escaped her red lips, and her vision blurred for a split second. When it cleared again...
She actually saw the black pupils of the child in front of her staring right at her.
Uh... What the hell?!
That was so embarrassing.
In front of a little brat, she actually couldn't help but let out a moan?
"Ahem!"
She coughed twice to ease her internal embarrassment.
But in reality, the scene was still rather stiff.
"What's your name? Where are you from?"
"..."
"What are your parents' names?"
"..."
The child remained silent, just quietly watching Luo Li.
Was it because he knew he was going to die that his mind had broken?
Or had something else happened to him before?
Or was he a mute who couldn't speak?
Luo Li stared at the child for a long time, but the boy still didn't say a word.
There was no fear in his eyes, but no life either.
If it weren't for the fact that the boy was still breathing, Luo Li would have thought he was already a corpse.
Fine, since the boy wouldn't talk, she would just leave him there for now; he couldn't run away anyway.
If she could return successfully, she would take this child back with her.
Luo Li stared at the child for a long time, but still, nothing changed.
In that case, she would focus on other things first.
She glanced at the box of human meat.
A faint scent of blood wafted from it.
Luo Li stepped forward and reached out to open the lid.
What appeared inside was a large pile of scattered pieces of meat, mixed with some hands and feet.
They were clearly human.
Luo Li's brow furrowed as she closed the lid and threw the box outside with one hand.
With a splash, the box fell into the sea and sank in an instant.
It disappeared into the surging waves.
Eating human meat?
You must be joking.
Even if she was truly demonized, her reason still held absolute dominance.
At the very least, she wouldn't eat such things.
It no longer mattered who the owners of those limbs were.
Given how many people had died in the Kingdom of the Sun, one could imagine where these corpses had been shipped from.
This child likely was too.
She looked back at the little boy.
Without her noticing, the child had already stood up from the barrel.
He just stared at Luo Li, his eyes unblinking, as if he were afraid he wouldn't be able to see anything the next second.
Or... was he trying to remember what Luo Li looked like at this moment?
Luo Li frowned slightly and ignored the child, turning instead to another box nearby.
After opening the box, what appeared inside was not so-called clothes.
Rather, it was the fur of some creatures.
Though they had been processed, they still emitted a faint fishy smell.
It made sense; even if they were showing care to these "wild dogs," the actual purpose was simply to keep some cannon fodder around.
There was no need to use anything good.
It was enough if they had something to wear.
Aside from that, there were some vegetables. These vegetables were clearly grown by humans.
They were things like cabbage and corn.
In total, they took up six or seven large boxes.
One of the boxes also contained some daily necessities and simple weapons.
After rummaging through the dozen or so large boxes, she didn't find anything particularly useful.
However, these vegetables could solve her hunger for a short while.
She turned back to the iron pot, picked up a pile of hay, and stuffed it into the pile of ashes that hadn't completely gone out.
After blowing on it a few times, a flicker of fire reignited inside the cave.
She casually grabbed some coarse salt and threw it into the pot, then took some cabbage.
She sliced the cabbage with her fingers and threw it into the pot after cleaning it.
At the very least, it was edible.
Watching the large pot gradually begin to give off steam, Luo Li looked back at the child.
"Are you hungry? Let's eat."
The child just stood in the barrel, watching Luo Li.
After a long while, the child stepped out of the wooden barrel and walked toward Luo Li step by step.
It was only then that Luo Li noticed his little thing that had not yet sprouted.
The child's clothes were already tattered, and his little thing was just swaying in the wind.
It was a boy.
Looking at the child's gaze, Luo Li felt a bit awkward.
"Uh... eat?"
The child lowered his head in thought, then nodded and turned around.
Under Luo Li's stunned gaze, he directly stepped out... and walked into the pot.
Then he continued to hug his knees and slowly sank down.
The bubbles escaping the boy's mouth mirrored the cabbage leaves.
Luo Li blinked, her mind going blank for a moment... until she saw the boy's face becoming increasingly flushed.
She suddenly realized what was happening!
"What the hell?!"
She didn't use her hands to grab him; she knew all too well how sharp her claws were.
If she really used her hands to grab him, she really would be boiling a child tonight.
She abruptly lifted the iron pot and flipped it over to the side.
With a crash, the iron pot overturned on the ground.
The boy also rolled out from the water.
His skin was already turning slightly red from the hot water.
"Are you trying to die?!"
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