The Villain Saint is my secondary account

"Ah! Yes! ... Cough... The Holy Maiden is right!!" A pool of blood sprayed onto the ground beside her.

Aurora swallowed hard. The rumors about this saintess that Vanessa had just complained about seemed to be more real than gold.

“It might be necessary to trouble the members of the Ocean Sanctuary to treat this gentleman. There are some matters that need to be addressed ahead of time.” Ella bowed slightly in greeting.

"Your Holiness, the journey down the mountain is long. If you need to leave, we can arrange a carriage for you."

"Oh, that's fine too. Thank you, Lady Aurora."

"Yes, Your Grace, please take care." Aurora bowed and waved goodbye to the departing saintess and the two knights in plain clothes beside her.

Then she glanced at Prince Malz, who was still groaning softly on the ground, and looked back at her own bishop, who was lost in thought and praying automatically:

“God… Your devout followers have been blinded by illusions… Ah, I have seen the radiance in the ocean… Praise be to you, beautiful and great goddess…”

Aurora couldn't help but sigh. In the end, she was the one who had to clean up this mess.

On the bright side, however, the count's son probably didn't have time to discuss the holy water incident.

……

Ella and the two knights boarded the carriage and slowly descended the wide, man-made mountain road, returning to the Liancheng Bridge.

The reason she went back to Beicheng was because something had happened on Ye Xiao's side.

The scene shifts back to the chaotic Adventurer's Guild Hall in the North District, where a group of armored mercenaries burst through the main gate.

"Who's in charge?" The group of men came aggressively with weapons in hand. The mercenary captain, stepping over gravel and wood chips, entered the hall. His eyes swept over the adventurers lying on the ground, groaning in pain, and finally settled on Ye Xiao, who stood at the front desk with his arms crossed and an indifferent expression.

"I'm the guild leader. What, do you think the mercenaries here want to get involved in the adventurers' affairs?" Seeing his good brother being targeted, Li Cheng, whose forehead was still bleeding, immediately stepped in front of Ye Xiao and waved for Freya and Greta to stand back.

"Heh," the mercenary captain smirked slightly at the sight of the outsider's bravado. "You seem to be unfamiliar with the situation in this northern city. Don't you know who's in charge here?"

Ye Xiao looked at the wolf head pattern engraved on the mercenary captain's breastplate, and it looked very familiar—the Gray Wolf Mercenary Group.

These people are ostensibly a mercenary group, but in reality, they are a gang that controls the area near Liancheng Bridge in the north of the city.

The Maltz family is the ruling family of Stormport, but as the largest port city in Loren, Stormport is too large in scale and the interests flowing within it are too great.

Even nobles from other fiefdoms, and even foreign nations and races, would find it hard not to consider reaching into this city overflowing with gold and getting a share of the spoils.

Chapter Twenty-One: New Old Friends

However, it was impossible to intervene openly. On the one hand, the legitimate caravans that could be traded openly could only gain very little profit through proper means. On the other hand, the Malz family, the actual controlling family of the fiefdom, also had to be given some face.

Thus, proxy gangs disguised as various forces emerged in this place.

On the surface, they are all just some obscure mercenary groups, fishermen's guilds, orc engineering academic exchange associations and other such random things, but in reality, the forces involved behind the scenes are extremely complex.

Ye Xiao, who had experienced his previous life, knew very well that the Gray Wolf Mercenary Group was backed by the Wind Chaser Fortress.

This is not surprising. Even the Maltz family has its own activities in this region that they don't want to be known—smuggling goods that the Empire or the Holy Temple does not allow, engaging in slave trading, which may damage the family's reputation, or using these activities to acquire treasures that they don't want the royal family to take back, and so on.

These matters are highly profitable, but none of them are convenient to conduct in the name of the noble family.

Therefore, Ye Xiao patted Li Cheng on the shoulder to signal him to be careful, but instead of speaking, he was sending a message to Li Cheng through the system.

[Late Night Snack: These guys are from the Malz family. Let's hold them off for now and wait for backup.]

[The Saintess's Dog 2: No wonder it was so arrogant, turns out it was just a horse in a noble's coat.]

[The Saintess's Dog 2: But who is this support you're talking about?]

Just as Ye Xiao was about to reply, one of the mercenaries stepped forward, his voice sounding somewhat surprised: "Li Cheng, Ye Xiao!?"

Li Cheng was stunned for a moment, then his eyes widened when he saw the face under the helmet. "Haoming?"

Yes, this is another of Ye Xiao's old friends.

Although Li Cheng was the closest friend, Ye Xiao had actually kept in touch with quite a few friends before the Great Transmigration and arranged to go online together. Unfortunately, the world was too vast, and the group of people were scattered randomly, so meeting even one of them was a rare opportunity.

As the place where he made his fortune in his previous life, Ye Xiao had thought he might run into some friends who might still be here, but he never expected to encounter them in the Gray Wolf Mercenary Group.

"Captain, these two are old friends of mine. There's probably some misunderstanding here." The mercenary called Haoming immediately pulled the leading captain aside to smooth things over.

"Hmm?" Hao Ming seemed to have some influence in this team. The mercenary captain immediately changed his arrogant demeanor and patted Ye Xiao and Li Cheng on the shoulder with one hand each. "Not bad, not bad, hahaha, since he's Hao Ming's friend, he's our friend too!"

But this turn of events was beyond Ye Xiao's expectations. He had originally planned to wait for Ella to bring the gang stationed here with Duke Heville's family to come to the rescue—after all, defeating these mercenaries was not the problem; the real challenge was how to prevent the problem from escalating so that the Seven Stars Society could find a place to stay here.

He had already planned to step in and help the Duke's forces when he took action, but things have turned out differently now.

However, since things had come to this point, Ye Xiao couldn't just throw it all away with a punch and let it go. So he and Li Cheng put on smiles and started chatting awkwardly with the mercenary captain in charge.

"Since we're all friends, why don't you come over to our group's base and we can all have a chat?"

[The Saintess's Dog 2: Brother Ye, what do you think? The Saintess instructed us beforehand that she would come to see us again tonight. Should we just push this group away from her? It's better not to let them know about the Saintess's affairs, is it?]

[Midnight Snack: We entered the city with the Holy Temple convoy; we can't hide it anymore. These guys probably already knew and came to test our intentions, even those of the Holy Temple. Let's agree to their request and see how things go. Besides, Haoming is there; we can talk to him.]

【The Saintess's Dog 2: What if the Saintess can't find us at night?】

[Late Night Snack: It's okay, I'll leave a message for Ella, don't worry.]

Although Li Cheng didn't know how Ye Xiao left the message, since Ye Xiao had said so, he naturally felt relieved and hugged the mercenary captain as if they were old friends: "Great, hahaha, big brother mercenary, it seems my brother has been taken care of by you!"

To be honest, Ye Xiao just couldn't pull off the act of glaring at each other and about to fight one second, and then talking like brothers the next.

He felt that this kind of thing really required some talent. Even if he tried to imitate it, it was difficult for him to express that "naturally friendly" manner when he opened his mouth. He had quite a few friends, but his personality was actually somewhat withdrawn.

But Li Cheng did this kind of thing as easily as drinking water. After a few awkward words with the mercenary captain, the two of them could hug each other and laugh heartily.

Ye Xiao then called over the other members of the Seven Stars Society and asked Freya to treat everyone's wounds.

"Ugh, it smells awful." The little maid, surrounded by a group of mercenaries, looked displeased. Ye Xiao quickly used his staff to summon water to wash his hands and then walked over to Greta to pat her shoulder gently to comfort her.

For everyone's safety, we need to take care of this little guy's emotions.

"Ye Xiao, it's been a long time." Because Li Cheng was chatting with the mercenary captain, Hao Ming came over and shook hands with Ye Xiao. "To be honest, if it weren't for you, I probably would have been buried in that little grove outside the city as soon as I arrived."

Ye Xiao pondered for a moment. Could this be referring to the simple guide he sent before his transmigration? "Great, haha, as long as it's useful, let's be friends? ID: Night Snack, like the Night Snack in the 'night snack' category."

"Okay, I've sent the request. Hmm, I feel like I've seen your nickname somewhere before."

"What a coincidence! That must be the unspoken understanding between brothers."

[“Spring and Summer That Never Endure Their Cycle” requests to add you as a friend]

……Wait.

This name?

"Hey bro, you're shaking hands a bit too hard."

"You..." Ye Xiao's lips twitched slightly, "...Have you been browsing forums a lot lately?"

"Why are you suddenly bringing this up?" Haoming rubbed his slightly red hands, a little puzzled. "I don't browse it often, but there's a lot of important information on it, so I check it out from time to time."

"It's nothing." Ye Xiao patted the other person's shoulder. "Sorry, it's probably because I mainly maxed out my strength in the skills, so sometimes I couldn't control them very well."

Well, after all, there are some things we don't know the inside story about, so we can't blame others. I'm sure we can clear up this misunderstanding by getting to know each other better in the future.

"Oh, so it seems you're going for the warrior route?"

"That's it."

"No wonder, hahaha, I'm on the mage path, my physique can't compare to yours." Haoming said, feeling a little confused. His old friend, who had been so enthusiastic just moments before, seemed to have suddenly undergone a subtle change in attitude.

But Ye Xiao kept responding to his words, so he wasn't sure if it was true or not.

The group left the Adventurers' Guild, which was in a mess, seemingly "amicably," and slowly made their way to the vicinity of the bridge, until they reached the Gray Wolf Mercenary Group's base.

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Gray Wolf's Base

As the sun set, Ye Xiao and his companions witnessed their first sunset in Storm Harbor.

Even in the upper part of the North City Cliff, the Grey Wolf Mercenary Group's base was considered luxurious. It was a three-story mansion with a vast training ground in the prime location next to the Western Bridge, which was quite impressive.

As night fell, the night watchmen lit their oil lamps, and the sounds of clinking glasses and exchanging toasts gradually filled the ground floor of the residence.

In the brightly lit hall, members of the Seven Stars Society and the Gray Wolf Mercenary Group clinked glasses and made merry. Who could have guessed that just a few minutes earlier, these two groups were at each other's throats?

Ye Xiao pretended to be unwell and did not participate in the drinking party, instead sitting at the corner of the long table with Greta and Freya.

Unlike the revelry of their own people, the two girls didn't like this kind of pretentious, uncomfortable occasion.

After all, despite the fact that Li Cheng and the mercenary captain with women on either side of them seemed to be drinking happily not far away, neither of them was actually that drunk. Instead, they were taking the opportunity to try and get information out of each other.

"Hahaha, Brother Li Cheng and his gang look incredibly skilled. They'll be a force to be reckoned with in our little harbor!" "Brother Wolf, you flatter me. Everyone knows you're a hidden force, but we're only here to make a living for our brothers. Otherwise, we wouldn't dare bother you big shots, hahaha!" "Hahaha, I think I've really had too much to drink. Even this fish looks like it's grown two tails..."

However, to the ears, it was indeed this kind of meaningless exchange.

Ye Xiao had initially considered having the two girls stay in the guild hall, but the little maid insisted on following them, and it wouldn't be good to leave Freya alone in the guild hall, so he simply brought them both over.

As Ye Xiao pondered, she saw Hao Ming come over with a wooden cup in one hand and place it in front of her.

"Is it okay to drink grapefruit juice?"

"It's amazing you managed to find grapefruit juice in the mercenary group." Ye Xiao picked up the glass and took a sip.

"Look at that table, there are quite a few girls in the mercenary group too, hahaha. We can't just drink all the time," Haoming waved to Greta and Freya. "But we stinky men aren't very interesting. Maybe you two beauties would feel more comfortable chatting with them?"

This statement, seemingly an invitation to the maid and Freya at the next table, was actually a hint that Ye Xiao and his friends had something to discuss privately.

Freya, the once aloof beauty of the Holy Temple, didn't quite understand these troublesome intricacies, but Greta, who was well-versed in the characteristics of the human race, understood them perfectly. With a pout on her soft cheeks, Greta took Freya's hand and stood up.

"It's fine if you don't want to." Ye Xiao took the opportunity to smile and pat the little maid's head. "You don't need to be so considerate of my feelings."

Greta slapped Ye Xiao's hand away and tidied her fluffy pink hair. "Hmph, you know that's good. You'll have to come shopping with me later."

"Good, good, deal done." Ye Xiao gave a thumbs up.

"Oops." The little maid stuck out her tongue and made a face, then pulled Freya to another table where most of the people were female mercenaries.

"What's up, buddy?" Ye Xiao smiled and then looked at Haoming.

"I envy you. You've had quite the luck with women since you came to this world." Haoming nodded to the little maid and Freya in the distance. "Judging from their looks and demeanor, those two girls are definitely not born adventurers. They probably joined the team because of you."

"Sigh." Ye Xiao waved his hand. That's why people tend to talk less after experiencing too much. It's because there are some things you really don't know how to say. If you keep them bottled up, you'll naturally become a riddle-maker.

"How's it going in the capital? Is everything alright?"

"Just so-so."

"I heard you arrived at Stormport with the Loren Sanctuary's convoy?"

"You're pretty well-informed," Ye Xiao chuckled, giving Hao Ming's shoulder a light punch. "It's one thing for those two over there to be scheming against each other, but are you going to try and get information out of me too?"

"No, that's not what I meant." Haoming scratched the back of his head and gave a sheepish smile. "You know I'm a bit blunt, unlike Li Cheng who's more eloquent. I just genuinely wanted to ask."

"What's the point of knowing this?"

“I heard… that the Holy Maiden of Light, Ella Heville, was also in that caravan.”

“Really? I don’t know,” Ye Xiao shrugged. “The highest-ranking member of that caravan I could contact was just a few grumpy Templar Knights.”

"Brother Ye," Haoming immediately grabbed Ye Xiao's shoulder, "I'm serious, is Ella Hayville really in that car?"

Ye Xiao was completely confused, not knowing what the other party wanted to do. "I don't know."

It's not fair to blame Ye Xiao for lying on purpose; he simply couldn't figure out the other party's intentions.

Although they are old friends, the other party's current stance is with the Gray Wolf Mercenary Group, and their nickname is different from the one Ye Xiao knew in his previous life. Not revealing information easily is the safest choice.

Haoming swallowed hard, glanced around, and whispered furtively, "I can help you, Brother Ye."

"Help with what?" Ye Xiao raised an eyebrow. "I feel like I'm doing pretty well."

He couldn't understand what was going on with this guy's face, looking like he was trying to sell him pirated DVDs.

"I'll help you get rid of Ella Hevie!" Haoming said seriously. "Brother Ye, let me be frank with you, the Gray Wolf Mercenary Group is backed by Count Malz, the de facto noble here. If you join now, and she dares to touch you, you'll be facing the entire Stormport!"

"Leaving aside whether the Earl would even bother with someone as insignificant as us," Ye Xiao rubbed her chin, "Haoming, why are you so resistant to the Holy Maiden of Light?"

"Huh?" Haoming was stunned, his expression showing a hint of shock. "Of course, it's because that guy is an evil god!"

"No, isn't that just a rumor? You actually believe such baseless speculation?"

"It's not just a rumor, you told me yourself!?"

"When did I ever tell you that..."

As Ye Xiao spoke, her dead memories suddenly resurfaced—oh no, it seems she really did tell him.

He suddenly remembered the message he had typed out and sent to a group chat an hour before he transmigrated after his rebirth: