Little Pink Starfish

The captives were soon escorted to a certain place.

It was a shimmering lake, surrounded by emerald trees casting heavy shade, many vines hanging down and weaving together into a picturesque scene adorned like green jade.

And in this forest, many verdant branches intertwined, forming in midair a throne-like vine chair. Upon that throne, there sat a slender youth, both hands clasped under his chin.

He sat still, but was extraordinarily elegant.

The youth’s features were exquisitely delicate, with a green marking on his brow. His skin was pale to the point of being translucent, his hair pitch black, as if crafted by the gods — possessing an indescribable beauty.

At this moment, he looked down at everyone from on high. His golden eyes held a mechanical coldness, yet his smile was so gentle, it felt like a spring breeze brushing the face.

Among the giant trees surrounding him, on each branch stood a graceful elf. There were males and females, adults and adolescents, but without exception, each one looked like a gift from the heavens, radiant under the pale golden sunlight.

Some of them held bows, some wore light armor, all forming tight clusters, sealing off every exit and protecting the one at the center.

The captives were dumbfounded.

Damn! Was this the prince those elves mentioned earlier?!

He was stunning beyond compare!

Even surrounded by hundreds of elves, he was still the most dazzling jewel!

Then, that dazzling jewel spoke, and his voice was just as clear: “My beloved people, are these the captives caught this time?”

The captives all trembled.

Clearly such a pleasant voice — why did it make them feel cold to the bone…

Next came a string of crisp voices:

“Yes, Your Highness! These are the captives we caught!”

“Do you think they’re strong enough?”

“I think they’re good for mining. Can we skip the ransom this time?”

“No way, Lina! With ransom, we can buy lots of nice stuff!”

“Human things… hmph.”

“Oh come on, humans can be useful sometimes…”

“Right! Why don’t we trade them for some humans who know how to make snacks — to be cooks, how about that?”

“Sigh, too bad we can’t go outside to catch people ourselves…”

“Yeah, human slaves are really useful…”

Captives =口=！！！！！

Elves were this terrifying?!
This terrifying?!
THIS terrifying?!?!

They were really that terrifying, TAT
↑
As every captive felt a bow aimed at their forehead, ready to pierce through them at any moment, they thought like this.

This is seriously terrifying…

The one sitting high above, of course, was Qiguan Rui.

At this moment, he lightly raised a hand, and the elves immediately fell silent, obediently and quietly.

Next, he asked gently, “I’ve heard all your suggestions. Now, you may display your captives, interrogate their background and value. Then, I will make arrangements.”

The elves were even more excited, their laughter like flutes and silver bells, drifting across the vast elven forest.

“Okay!”

“His Highness the Prince is the best!”

“We’ll all follow His Highness the Prince’s word!”

What followed… was a nightmare for the captives.

All of them were tied up like livestock, bound by the neck to the surrounding trees. More elves quickly leapt off into the distance, and when they returned, they brought with them more pitiful, ragged captives, equally bound and equally disheveled.

Regardless of whether they were men or women, beautiful or ugly — they were all treated the same.

They felt like slaves on the auction block, expected only to obey and behave, or else the vine whips would immediately lash across their backs.

More terrifying was that the elves whipping them still wore pure, innocent smiles — as if they saw it as completely normal, with no trace of guilt or cruelty, pity or enjoyment.

To them, this was simply natural.

It was exactly this kind of elf that made the captives’ hearts tremble.

Something was definitely not right here…

What made them feel even stranger was, though they weren’t from the same group, and even though they all had “experience,” at this moment, they all had the same thought — and at the same time, they couldn’t help but look toward that… um, charmingly evil, arrogant young elf prince.

Right.

Damn it, this was charmingly evil and arrogant!

That smile — it just didn’t match. Didn’t it give off big villain energy?!

Gradually, the number of captives increased. A rough count showed—
One group was still trembling with fright; another looked haggard, as if starved for days, utterly lifeless.

The new captives couldn’t help but guess: were these ones from previous captures?

—Yes, someone soon confirmed their suspicion.

A voluptuous female elf with the aura of a seductive queen but the face of an innocent loli leapt forward and knelt before the vine throne: “Honored Prince, the captives caught over the past seven days have all been delivered. Please take a look.”

Captives =口=

Seven days!
So those people were practically starved to death, damn it!

Was this… prisoner abuse?
It was already unscientific for elves to take prisoners, and now they were abusing them?!

#Once again shocked by a whole new worldview#

After that, the elf prince lightly opened his red lips—ah no, he manfully opened his mouth and said one line: “Search them. Anyone with no money or proof — straight to the mines.”

The elves nimbly: “Yes, Your Highness!”

Captives: “……”

Damn it, that was way too simple and crude! What was the point of all that build-up earlier?! Was it just to make us feel our dignity being trampled, huh?!

However, aside from two young noble boys who had snuck out of the academy for “adventure,” the rest were penniless adventurers and mercenaries. After being stripped of anything valuable, there was nothing left to squeeze out of them.

So the two young nobles were forced to write letters with their magic signatures, delivered by well-disguised elves to extort—ah no, to negotiate safely and collect service fees. As for the rest, with a wave of the elf prince’s hand, they were directly sent to the mines.

That’s right — near the elven forest, in the fog-covered mountains, lay a series of rich mines. If the ore inside were extracted, it would bring massive wealth.

In these five hundred years, all that wealth had been used by the elf prince to build a massive treasure trove for the elves.

Simply put…

The elves were now filthy rich!

Mom would never think dragons were the richest again!

The title of wealthiest had been stolen by the elves!

Though… for now, they were keeping a low profile.

After settling the new batch of captives, our elf prince left the scene in high spirits. The elves, knowing well his deep attachment to the queen, naturally did not stop him.

They merely looked at his departing back and quietly said…

“The Queen and the Prince…”

“…Such deep mother-son love~!”

·

The slender youth happily arrived at the temple doors. Along the way, he greeted many elves and received all sorts of respectful greetings. He himself acted like a lively little bird and darted straight inside.

【Pervert-brand lightweight birdie — yours to keep.】

Upon entering the temple, the slender youth blinked and instantly reverted to a fluffy-haired elf cub, but his steps never slowed, darting forward like a tiny cannonball into the arms of the stunning young man ahead.

“Gege~”

Today’s pervert — his tone was still so spine-chilling!

Gu Bai caught him with a blank face: “Looks stupid.”

He really didn’t want to be this blunt, but what could he do — this damn pervert was getting more and more perverted. What was with this hyper little bird act? Damn it, he had never seen him this innocent before!

His thunder points were all triggered…

Qiguan Rui once again used his short arms to wrap around Gu Bai’s neck and rubbed against him affectionately: “Gege doesn’t like Xiaoshan like this? But Xiaoshan likes gege… what should I do…”

Gu Bai curled a finger and knocked on his head: “Speak human language.”

Qiguan Rui pouted, full of affection: “This is human language.”

Gu Bai shivered.

Even more thunderous, ah ah ah!

This honestly wasn’t Gu Bai being weak-willed — just think about it. His own pervert, so ruthless for so many years, suddenly shrank into a fluffy cub. Fine, he shrank, but after shrinking the whole aura changed! Even if it was just a little kid, once Gu Bai remembered this kid had the soul of a thousand-year pervert, he was utterly overwhelmed, okay!

Worst of all, the damn pervert kept circling him, circling… absolutely trying to strike him dead with thunder!

Five hundred years — Gu Bai had lived in hell. Not only ambushed from morning to night by a flirtatious little cub, but also bombarded by his occasional acting bursts — sending chills all over his body. Then somehow, as the cub grew, he started switching between teenage and baby form — big one moment, small the next, leaving him dizzy. Honestly, over these five hundred years, the pervert had just gotten even more perverted!

The pervert had ranked up again. If not for Gu Bai’s occasional emotional vents (secretly grumbling, squatting in corners drawing circles, etc.), even he wouldn’t have been able to handle it.

Gu Bai stared expressionlessly into Qiguan Rui’s eyes.

One second…
Two seconds…
One minute…
Five minutes…

It wasn’t until five whole minutes passed that Qiguan Rui finally stopped his creepy behavior.

In the next moment, Gu Bai’s arms wrapped around a slender waist, soft and smooth to the touch — and his lips were gently bitten.

Well then, the beautiful elf pretty-boy had entered the stage!

And that beautiful flirt softly said: “Gege, I’m about to come of age…”