"She escaped," Kayal chuckled, saying calmly, with no hint of regret on his face.
"Kay, did you catch her?" Artoria and Kayal had known each other for over ten years; how could she not know what this fox, Kayal, was planning? she asked.
"Mhm," Kayal nodded slightly, stroking C.C.'s long green hair. Because she had just been tied up by the villagers, her long green hair was a mess, but Kayal's touch was warm and comforting. Like a cat being scratched, C.C. showed an expression of enjoyment, her eyes even narrowed.
Kayal looked at the knights continuously gathering and the five knights whose faces showed guilt. He raised his hand and said loudly, "It's nothing, we found a Vampire. Sherlock and the others suffered minor injuries while covering His Majesty."
"Sir!" The five men's faces showed expressions of gratitude, guilt, and shame, but Kayal waved his hand, turned his head, and stopped talking to them.
Artoria looked at Kayal, probing him with an inquiring gaze. Evidently, she wasn't asking about these five knights, as that was irrelevant. What was important was whether Kayal had truly caught the Vampire's little tail.
Artoria didn't know about other things, but she was very aware of how powerful and disdainful of ordinary people the tsundere mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion was.
Especially a delicious bait like Kayal, who could only be looked at but not eaten... Kayal was poisonous bait... For demons and monsters, Kayal was like Tang Monk's flesh; eating a piece would increase one's cultivation for many years! But Kayal was also poisonous; his conflicting attributes meant he had almost integrated light into his body. When Kayal went all out, his entire body was as transparent as white jade. Faced with such a Kayal, many Youkai in Gensokyo wanted to eat him but hesitated and did not advance... Among those who most wanted to eat him were two: Yuyuko and Remilia... Yuyuko was a bit scatterbrained, finding Kayal delicious at first glance... While Remilia was very purposeful... she even asked "Librarian" Patchouli to check if there was a way to drink Kayal's blood without harming herself... It must be said that Kayal's survival was closely related to his extensive knowledge and his good relationship with Patchouli.
And the head of the Scarlet Devil Mansion couldn't be defeated. This little Vampire doesn't seem very strong?
Artoria's fighting spirit was instantly aroused. she just felt that since she couldn't defeat the tsundere mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion back then, bullying her junior now might be a way to satisfy her craving, right?
Just as Artoria's fighting spirit soared, the more than a hundred knights accompanying her, guided by Kayal, slowly arrived outside a small house.
This was an exquisite small house, whose owner's refined taste could be seen from the outside. The house had two floors, with a chimney leading directly to the roof. A small row of flower pots was placed on the second-floor balcony, making it somewhat cozy. However, it was clear that this small house had been uninhabited for a very long time. The balcony was covered in dust, the flowers in the pots had all withered, and weeds grew everywhere. It was clearly where some unknown individual lived as a hermit, but they hadn't been there for a long time... "Lodging...?" Kayal stroked his chin, waving his hand at the knights who had quietly drawn their swords and looked fierce. The knights stepped back two paces, allowing Kayal to step forward two paces, and he gently knocked on the door.
The door creaked open, and a chilling atmosphere rushed out from inside.
"Human, take one more step and I'll chop you to death!" Kayal lowered his head in surprise, looking at the incredibly arrogant little doll brandishing a cleaver and shouting. A surprised smile appeared on Kayal's face. As one of the three shut-ins in Gensokyo (the other two being Kaguya and Patchouli), Kayal had once visited Alice. Using his unfailing charm, he easily gained the favor of the naive Alice. Kayal had also studied puppetry a bit. This little fellow... Kayal smiled slightly, extended his large hand, bypassed the little doll's cleaver, and grabbed her by the neck.
"You damned human! Put me down quickly! Otherwise, I'll chop you into meat paste!" she shrieked, flailing her limbs. This doll seemed to have no concept of death.
"Let go of Cha Cha Zero!" a little girl who darted out from behind the door cried out. The two small fangs on her upper jaw clearly and distinctly told the knights her identity: Vampire!
Kayal smiled and said, "No need to pretend. Although it was just a glimpse, I saw it clearly. It must be very inconvenient for you to live here, right? Do you have to walk so far just to drink blood? And you have to avoid the villagers. Most importantly... it must be very lonely here, right?"
Each of Kayal's words felt like a heavy hammer striking the Vampire loli's heart. She just lowered her head and remained silent.
"I know your kind..." Kayal's words made her look up: "And we have a pretty good relationship... Do you want to come with me? I promise you'll have new friends." Kayal then felt like a strange uncle holding a lollipop, luring a little loli to see goldfish.
Speaking of which, why did he say "again"...?
"..." The flickering gaze of the Vampire loli sufficiently showed the wavering in her heart.
Conversely, the doll in Kayal's hand waved its large cleaver and loudly shouted, "Master, quickly kill him! Master, eat this guy and feed his bones to the dogs!"
Kayal smiled slightly, his composure impeccably good, not getting angry. He merely looked leisurely at the blonde girl. The girl was wearing a black dress, standing barefoot on the ground. The interior of the house was extremely messy, appearing dirty and disorderly.
With just a glance, Kayal had a clear understanding of her psychological state and current environment, and he thoroughly grasped her weaknesses. The living environment influences psychology; a person's clean and orderly home indicates that they are capable and decisive, whereas a messy and dirty home indicates a very poor mental state. These aspects are interdependent in psychology.
Kayal had already decided that he could take this little girl back, but the little girl looked up and stubbornly said, "The answer is! No!"
Rebellious psychology, huh...? Kayal sighed inwardly, these kids nowadays are so troublesome... "Then don't blame me for using force." Kayal smiled slightly, waved his hand, and countless optical fibers suddenly emerged from the ground, instantly tying the Vampire loli securely. It was the [Light Binding] he had prepared for a long time...