The Villain Saint is my secondary account

After experiencing the Storm Harbor incident, Ye Xiao roughly realized that the struggle between gods was like two venomous snakes eyeing each other.

They will never act rashly unless it is a fatal blow. Otherwise, revealing information that should not be revealed will lead to a result similar to Ella's being tricked by the Moon Goddess and the fake saintess in the Misty Village.

Therefore, before the gods officially take action, all intelligence and strategic maneuvering must be conducted through their followers.

No matter how mysterious Dong Muge is, he should only be a pawn of the Mother of Life.

The two stood in silent confrontation for several seconds until the sound of church bells suddenly rang out in the distance.

At exactly twelve o'clock, the midday sun peeked out from behind the wispy clouds, casting a halo of light onto the river flowing through the alley, and the golden reflection momentarily obscured Ye Xiao's figure.

In that instant, Dong Muge realized that the figure in front of him had disappeared.

She immediately struck the ground with her cane, which was as thin as a withered branch, and black runes like tadpoles appeared on the bricks she touched and swam around.

In the blink of an eye, the dense black incantations turned from nothingness to reality, growing into several towering withered trees around Dong Muge's body.

Upon seeing this scene, Ye Xiao, who had been closing in instantly, immediately stopped. The next second, dozens of sharp branches rained down on him.

"This doesn't look like an ordinary wood-based spell."

Ye Xiao bent over, drew his sword, and with a casual horizontal slash, severed all the withered branches in front of him.

"Your swordsmanship is not something an ordinary player should have."

The withered branches that had been blocking the view broke and scattered, revealing Dong Muge's figure from behind.

The withered branches around him wriggled and tried to surround the gap that had been cleaved open, but Ye Xiao would not give them a chance. He took a step forward and seized the moment to rush towards Dong Muge.

But at that moment, the ground beneath his feet suddenly cracked.

The black wooden stake hidden underground burst out of the ground and suddenly pierced through Ye Xiao's body.

However, the scene of blood splattering did not appear; what was pierced was only a fleeting afterimage of sword energy.

With a soft footstep, Ye Xiao gracefully stepped onto a withered branch that swayed like a snake, leaped into the air, and flicked his sleeve, sending three throwing knives flying from the fingertips of his left hand.

Using the "Precision Throwing" technique inherited from Atoria's Phantom Assassin class, the three throwing knives transformed into three tricky arcs that instantly pierced through the gaps in the dancing withered branches, heading straight for Dong Muge's face.

Just as the flying knife was about to hit, new branches instantly sprouted from the withered tree trunks around Dong Muge, forming a thick, overlapping wooden shield that forcefully blocked the flying knife.

She then immediately raised her cane, the tip pointing at Ye Xiao, whose body was still suspended in mid-air.

This finger gesture seemed like a silent command, and countless withered branches immediately shot towards Ye Xiao from all directions.

But when the withered branches tied the figure in the black trench coat into a basket, it was then discovered that it was actually just an afterimage.

Dong Muge was stunned for a moment, wondering how Ye Xiao, who had nowhere to get a foothold in the air, managed to dodge the attack and leave afterimages.

The next second, a chill ran straight down her neck, making her turn around immediately.

That was also a gleaming throwing knife, which was only inches away from her face.

Before she could react to the throwing knife that suddenly appeared behind her head, the withered branch beside her was faster than she could swing her cane, and at the last second, it blocked the knife.

But the air around the deflected flying knife suddenly distorted like ripples on water.

Ye Xiao's ghostly figure flashed out from the spatial fluctuations in an instant, and with a long sword in hand, he slashed past the astonished Dong Muge.

Ye Xiao left spatial markings on the five throwing knives, allowing him to instantly teleport to their locations by chanting incantations.

With a flash of light, the afterimages left by Ye Xiao earlier also transformed into sword energy, slashing through the withered branches and forming three intersecting crosses that cut through the girl's slender body.

But the broken remains that fell to the ground did not turn into bloody chunks of flesh; instead, they became withered and cracked tree bark.

...Hollow?

Ye Xiao's slightly surprised gaze reflected the shattered limbs, faded to the color of tree bark, and a faint voice suddenly sounded in the back of his mind.

"You're not the only one who can use a stand-in."

He turned his head sharply and saw Dong Muge's body emerge from the thick tree trunk like a melted wax figure, with half of his body still stuck to the dry bark.

Is this a case of the body merging into a withered branch?

Before Ye Xiao could even marvel at the bizarre spell unfolding before him, several swift and sharp withered branches had already fallen from the sky and pierced the ground where he stood.

He dodged backward repeatedly, each time leaving a slightly trembling afterimage as he avoided the piercing branches.

Immediately afterward, Ye Xiao swung his blade, and several afterimages transformed into a semi-circular slash that connected into a storm of cold light, instantly shattering the withered branches caught in it.

But even if a large portion of these ever-growing branches are cleared away in an instant, the tree trunks rooted in the ground will quickly sprout new branches.

However, this was within Ye Xiao's expectations. Taking advantage of the fact that the new branches had not yet sprouted, he pulled out the staff that he had been carrying behind his back with his left hand and pointed it forward.

The crimson flames at the tip of the staff swirled and gathered, accompanied by the incantation he uttered. As the severed branches between Ye Xiao and Dong Muge sprouted again, the raging flames instantly transformed into a torrent that filled the narrow alley.

Flame Spear is a high-level fire spell that can be learned after mastering Fireball.

When Ye Xiao observed the group of players who had fallen into trouble in Gray Gold Town, he noticed that these withered branches, which could grow almost infinitely, were only afraid of fire.

As expected, the raging fire that had condensed into the tip of the spear pierced through the dense, withered branches, and the sparks that flew across the sky engulfed Dong Muge's figure.

Chapter 126 The Kitten's Secret

"Very good... Ye Xiao..."

Amidst the gradually dissipating firelight, Dong Muge's voice rang out once more.

The withered trees surrounding her were burned into glowing charcoal, and her own body was also burning, becoming mostly charred black.

But the burned skin didn't look like a normal person's burns; it looked more like pieces of carbonized tree bark.

Even though he was burned like this, Dong Muge's face did not show the slightest pain or resentment. Instead, a hint of fanaticism shone through his normally calm eyes.

“Master swordsman, miracle mage, elemental magic… I told Zhu Jun long ago…you are the most valuable player to my lord…”

"Come into the embrace of my Lord... Ye Xiao... I promise you will become the one among us most beloved by our mother..."

"I regret to decline." Ye Xiao curled his lips. In fact, he had just considered whether to accept Dong Muge's invitation as an undercover agent.

But seeing how abnormal the other person was, I decided to give up. Who knows what might happen?

This body isn't at the point where it can be sacrificed casually for intelligence gathering.

"Heh, that's a pity... but as long as you're still a child of the World Tree... then sooner or later you will be..."

Dong Muge smiled, and then his entire body turned to ashes in the flames.

Amidst the raging flames, clumps of withered branches fell to the ground.

Hey, at least finish what you have to say before you die.

Ye Xiao's lips twitched.

However, he figured that Dong Muge was unlikely to be really dead.

It seemed to be some kind of clone, which explained its confidence; it remained unfazed even after being burned to ashes.

But was it originally a clone, or was it replaced during the fight?

Ye Xiao scanned the mess with his eyes, but failed to glean any valuable information.

The rats placed in the nearby sewers and the crows on the eaves didn't notice anything strange running out, so it seemed that Dong Muge had really just turned to ashes so simply.

But... where did that cane that guy was always holding go?

Ye Xiao recalled that when Dong Muge was burned away by the flames, he seemed to have lost the withered branch-like cane in his hand.

However, that thing also looked like a tree branch, so it's impossible to tell if it was burned along with these other things...

Ye Xiao kicked a pile of ash on the ground with the tip of his shoe. These things were stuck together, and it was impossible to tell which pile originally belonged to Dong Muge.

Well, I didn't expect this elusive guy to be easy to catch anyway. This exchange was just a mutual probing at most.

Ye Xiao now had a general idea of ​​Dong Muge's strength. He was probably a mage whose profession was unclear, somewhere between an expert and a master. His skills were all very strange, and he could manipulate the withered branches that grew in Gray Gold Town. He wondered if he was using the power of the authority of the "Mother of Life".

Ye Xiao waved his staff, summoning a whirlwind that swept away the dust that filled the alleyway.

As for the damaged walls and the scattered floor tiles, he couldn't do anything about them; he'd leave that to the city hall in the capital to deal with.

……

A quiet afternoon.

In the academy's lounge, Princess Skadi, sitting on a soft chair and flipping through documents, frowned, seemingly deep in thought.

There was a knock on the door, then it suddenly opened. Skadi looked up and, sure enough, a familiar figure appeared in her sight.

After all, among her entire guard, only one dared to open the door and barge into the room without waiting for her response.

"Hmph, you finally decided to come back!"

"Oh dear, I've been busy." Ye Xiao shrugged, took off his trench coat and hung it on a hanger. "How did your chat with the Duke go?"

"Of course, victory is assured. Don't you know who I am?" Skadi raised her long neck, like a proud little swan.

"Oh, wasn't that the little crybaby who was whining and complaining to me yesterday?"

"Ye Xiao! If you bring that up again, I won't talk to you again!" Skadi stomped her feet in anger.

“My problem, my problem,” Ye Xiaole said. “Your Highness is mature and composed, which makes this old minister very gratified.”

“Why does what you said sound so strange?” Skadi pouted. “To be honest, without that stinky woman Ella Hayville interfering, I feel like Raymond’s level is just so-so.”

"Grand Duke Albert is, after all, the leader of the conservatives, so I guess His Highness the Fourth Prince doesn't have much hope of winning him over..."

"Hey! Can't it be because I'm good at it?!"

"Of course, it is mainly because of the foresight and wisdom of our beautiful princess that Raymond's crudeness and stupidity are revealed."

"Pfft, you're making fun of members of the royal family. You'll be in big trouble if someone hears you."

"It's alright, my noble princess is beautiful and kind-hearted, she will protect me."

"Hahaha, then I'll try my best to get you a life sentence."

"No way, at least offer to bail me out." Ye Xiao feigned sorrow. "I'm a knight personally appointed by you."

"You actually know that?" Skadi crossed her arms and grinned mischievously. "If you know that, why don't you come and serve me tonight!"

"Hey, this is way beyond a knight's job scope, isn't it!?"

"I said yes!"

"Wow, this is really domineering."

“How can you be a king if you’re not domineering?” Skadi twitched her pink little nose. “Alright, enough joking around. I need to get back to working on the proposal.”

"Good luck, Your Highness." Ye Xiao smiled, then reached for his collar, only to find it empty.

Ok?

Ye Xiao was stunned for a moment, and only then did she notice that her chest no longer had that full feeling of being stuffed with something furry.

"What's wrong? Did you lose something?" Skadi asked, slightly surprised to see this.

"Um... I guess it can't be considered lost..." Ye Xiao scratched his head. "That's strange, where's my cat?"

……

Surprised, Ye Xiao originally planned to get up and return to the West District to see if he had accidentally left Greta there after his battle with Brother Dong Mu.

Theoretically speaking, it's unlikely. Greta isn't really a dull-witted cat; there's no reason she would get lost.

But this sudden disappearance was still a bit hard to ignore. Just as Ye Xiao was about to grab his clothes and go out, the little guy suddenly reappeared in his field of vision.

But it didn't happen here...

At this moment, in the bedroom of a detached villa located in the manor area.

Ella looked at the round, golden kitten on the windowsill with some surprise.

"Miss Greta, is there something you need from me?"

"Miss Ella, are you busy..." the kitten peeked out, sounding a little hesitant. "Although it's a bit sudden, I wanted to... talk to you about something."

"What is it? Please tell me." Ella looked at the kitten, her eyes involuntarily filled with affection.

“Something about…about Ye Xiao.” Although the kitten didn’t blush, Ella could still see the embarrassment on its round little face. “But you have to promise me first, what I’m about to tell you…you can’t tell Ye Xiao!”

Chapter 127 Confusion

Ella was stunned; it was the first time she had ever seen Greta so conflicted.