Reborn As A Villainous Cannon Fodder

“Really, really?!”

The little girl nodded eagerly like a pecking chicken, eyes shining with intelligence.

Though Erli had been a bit of a drama queen when she first appeared, spending more time with her made Yino feel she was as simple and honest as Wangxue.

Or maybe…

For a little raccoongirl who’d been trafficked to Demon Abyss since childhood, she simply couldn’t understand what Yino meant by cultivation levels or going to the capital.

But that didn’t matter.

After all, she could read the room. As long as she could sense Yino was promising her a future, that alone was enough to make Erli excited and happy.

“Young Master…”

“I… I also have a treasure I want to give you!”

As the atmosphere grew touching, Erli quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and bent down to rummage through her tattered little dress.

Observing from such close range, Yino couldn’t help but feel another pang of sympathy.

This little girl still had bloodstains on her clothes from when she’d been beaten…

“Look, Young Master, it’s this!”

“This is a treasure Erli found in the mining area one day. Even though the overseers all said this broken rock was worthless, I always felt this stone had a special, different kind of attraction!”

“Look Young Master, if you hold this stone up to the light, you can faintly see thin red lines on it, like some kind of ancient totem!”

Talking about her little treasure, Erli was excited and couldn’t bear to let it go, actively showing it to Yino and explaining every detail.

The young man and little girl crouched in the desert under the sun, studying it for quite a while.

Finally, listening to Erli’s analysis, Yino felt a spark of familiarity:

“This really does… it looks like wings… might be some kind of ancient phoenix clan totem…”

Yino muttered unconsciously.

When his words fell, Erli beside him immediately widened her eyes and beamed with a brilliant smile: “Right, right! Erli thought this stone had to be something special too! Erli found quite a few stones like this back then!”

“There are more?” Yino looked up, sensing something fishy about this situation.

But when his words fell, the little girl looked like she’d remembered something embarrassing and pouted:

“There are quite a few more…”

“But Erli couldn’t usually carry them all, so she found a forest outside Demon Abyss, dug a hole, buried them, then peed on the spot as a marker…”

“I was in such a hurry to leave this time, so only brought this one stone with me.”

Talking about her little treasure hoard, Erli felt both proud and somewhat ashamed.

She’d be lying if she said she didn’t feel bad about it – after all, it was years of collecting, and now the stuff was still in Demon Abyss City. She definitely didn’t have the guts to go back for it.

But what’s done is done. Erli didn’t regret it – freedom was more important than anything!

“Really? Then next time I go back to the Demon Abyss, I’ll take you along to go treasure hunting in the forest, okay?”

Yino thought of something and jokingly pinched the little girl’s cheek.

At these words, Erli instinctively recoiled, but soon she thought of Yino’s identity, and her original fear was gradually replaced by curiosity and excitement about treasure hunting.

“Really?!”

If it was just Erli alone, she’d never want to go back no matter what.

But if Yino was with her, then she wouldn’t be scared at all!

“Of course it’s real. This stone might be hiding some earth-shattering secret, so we’ll definitely need to investigate it properly in the future.”

Yino smiled gently, still coaxing the little girl.

Erli nodded repeatedly, her reluctance to part with Yino gradually being replaced by new anticipation.

Seeing that it was about time, Yino stood up and sighed:

“Alright, now that the demon tide outside Western Province City has receded, let’s part ways.”

“Mm!”

Erli nodded obediently.

But after her acknowledgment, she actively threw herself into Yino’s arms.

The little raccoon wagged her big tail behind her and somewhat awkwardly stood on her tiptoes to kiss Yino’s cheek.

After that, she nimbly escaped from Yino’s embrace, then grinned mischievously and took two steps back, waving goodbye to Yino with a thief-like expression:

“Young Master, until we meet again~”

Her voice wasn’t loud, but her smile was incredibly sweet – probably because she was afraid of waking the fierce little fox sleeping on Yino’s shoulder.

Infected by this whispering atmosphere, Yino couldn’t help but wave back, making a shushing gesture:

“Until we meet again~”

He kept his voice as low as possible.

But just then, Yino noticed the little fox’s ears on his shoulder twitch.

It was actually pretty amazing.

Earlier when Yino and Yuyan were talking at normal volume, Jinyue had slept like the dead the whole time.

But the moment Yino started whispering with Erli, the sleeping fox immediately perked up her pointy ears.

Yino tried to help Jinyue fold her ears down, but every time he pressed them down, those little pointy ears would boing right back up.

After playing with the little fox’s ears for a while, Yino thought of an experiment:

“Senior Sister, shall we go?”

He first spoke to Yuyan in a normal voice.

But before Yuyan could respond, Yino experimentally whispered to her: “Senior Sister, let’s hurry back while Jinyue is sleeping”

“——!!!”

Instantly, the little fox’s pointy ears shot up again.

She drowsily raised her head, but before she could fully boot up, Yino pressed her back down to lie obediently.

“Alright, alright, keep sleeping. We’re not going to do anything behind your back.”

“…”

…

…

…

…

“Your Majesty, the National Teacher has ordered that you absolutely cannot set foot in the Western Region again!”

“Yes, Your Highness! Please don’t make things difficult for us!”

At the gates of Western Province City, numerous guards blocked the entrance, almost ready to kneel and plead with the white dragon girl who was storming over, demanding they open the gates.

They were all border soldiers stationed at Western Province City, eating imperial grain and military pay. Naturally, they should obey the new empress who held the dragon throne.

But the problem was…

The internal power structure of the Great Dragon Dynasty was very complicated right now.

The old Dragon Emperor had died early with no sons, and several princesses had competed for the throne. On his deathbed, the old emperor had surprisingly chosen the youngest princess with the least pure bloodline – the White Dragon Princess – to inherit the throne.

With such a young princess taking power, the court naturally saw the other princesses and their respective ministers rebel against her authority.

The old Dragon Emperor had anticipated this.

Because Nina was young and had no power base in court, for the past two years since her ascension, almost all government affairs of the Great Dragon Dynasty had been managed by a National Teacher whom the old emperor had entrusted before his death.

This National Teacher was also Nina’s mentor.

Now, Empress Nina insisted on ordering the gates opened, but the National Teacher far away in the capital had sent word forbidding the empress from leaving the city.

This was a mess.

The soldiers of Western Province City were caught between loyalty and filial duty – they dared not offend Nina, but they even less dared to disobey the National Teacher who truly held power.

“Princess, the National Teacher’s imperial decree is here. Now that you’ve ascended as Great Dragon Empress, don’t make things difficult for those soldiers and embarrass the royal family.”

From behind the crowd, several old ministers in imperial robes strolled over leisurely.

Nina had inherited the empress title for two years, but many old ministers still bluntly called her Princess, showing the indescribable atmosphere of internal strife within the Great Dragon Dynasty.

“If you won’t let me go out, then send people out to find him!”

Nina stomped her feet in anger. She was supposedly the empress, but not only did she have no power or influence, she was even being lectured by these old geezers like a child.

“Your Majesty, the National Teacher orders you to return to the palace immediately.”

The old ministers remained unmoved, speaking coldly.

The more they ignored Nina’s pleas, the more rebellious she became—

“I won’t go back!”

“Yino is my future trusted minister! Now that my minister’s whereabouts are unknown, I need to see him alive or see his body if he’s dead!”

“Today you treacherous officials are defying my imperial decree – when I return to the palace, you’ll all pay for this!!!”

The white dragon girl wasn’t good at cursing, but this seemed to be the harshest threat she could think of.

When her words fell, the old ministers exchanged glances, all silently sneering and treating her as if she were invisible.