Volume 10: Our Journey Chapter 329 Good Neighbor (End)
The Forest of Elves is located in the majestic mountain range that divides the northern part of the Bloomfield continent into two major blocks. It is located in the small town of Ananas on the southern border near the inland sea.
Hmm... Ananas can no longer be called a small town. The buildings surrounding the Temple Council of Elders in the city center have spread out in all directions and have exceeded the original valley range. There is even a very luxurious and extravagant super-large theater on the relatively gentle hillside on the west side...
At the foot of the Ananas Grand Theater is a large crescent-shaped new community of single-family villas, where the original Ananas citizens have moved in...
As for the original old houses, they were not wasted. They were all arranged and allocated by the Council of Elders to the new immigrants - citizens or villagers who moved from other elven cities.
This wave of migration is unprecedented in the history of the forest elves since written records began. Like Ananas, the eight elven cities in the southern part of the Elven Forest have "enthusiastically" sent more new immigrants to Ananas than the original population of Ananas in just a few years...
Simon, the great elder of Clemens in the "City of Flowers", and Gibson, the elder of Barnett City, two forest elf elders with a combined age of over a thousand years old, were standing in the free market at the junction of the new and old cities of Ananas, wearing simple linen robes with hoods covering most of their faces. One had a gloomy face and the other had a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.
The change in the Ananas Elders' Council did not spread, and naturally did not affect the vitality of this new immigrant city. In the gentle sunlight of the early morning, the new and old immigrants and local citizens were passionately shuttling around in the free market, buying and selling, as well as those adventurers in the southern forests and merchants coming across the sea. The bustling melody of boiling voices deeply hurt the hearts of the two outer city elders...
The population of the Elves' City is not large, and even the Queen's City of Stephen only barely has over 100,000 people. For a small city in the south, a total population of 20,000 is considered prosperous, and the city's residents are generally only a few thousand, and everyone knows each other.
Simon, who has been the great elder of Clemens City for three hundred years, and Gibson, who has been the elder of Barnett City for more than two hundred years, can basically call out the names of all the citizens of their own city, and some of them grew up under their care.
At this moment, they saw with their own eyes that these citizens who had grown up under their watch had immigrated to other cities and were living well in other cities...
What's even more frustrating is that even they themselves understand very well why these migrating citizens can live a better life - whether it's the wide variety of goods appearing in the free market, or the human and sea tribe merchants who shuttle among the crowd and buy things under the protection of three or five guards, they are all telling them an ironclad fact: Ananas, who chose to cooperate with the human kingdom, the sea tribe and the grassland people and open the market, has achieved commercial success that they can't catch up with!
The humans and the sea people came from thousands of miles away across the sea to open up the sea trade routes for Ananas, and the goods of the grassland people allowed Ananas to knock on the door of the Dwarf Kingdom. The vitality brought by the economic circulation was beyond the reach of even Stephen in the hub of the Elf Forest, let alone their small marginal towns!
Simon, the nearly 600-year-old elder of Clemens, was filled with jealousy... Why did Ferdinand, the disciple of the sage Ayun and the king of Saint Bridge, choose Ananas over the more powerful and beautiful Flower City of Clemens? !
Well...if Carlisle knew what Great Elder Simon was thinking, he would probably only smile bitterly: You forest elves never deal with the outside world. Who knows the names of your cities and what the situations are inside? You can only take care of whoever you meet!
When the two elders from the outer city were envious and jealous about why their family did not have the opportunity that Ananas had, in the free market, in front of a stall run by a dozen villagers, two human merchants, each dressed in distinctive clothes and followed by a group of guards, suddenly started quarreling.
"I was the first one to see this batch of bark, and I was the first one to negotiate the price. How can you, a northerner, be so unreasonable?!"
"You, a southern profiteer, are actually trying to lower the price of tree man's shed skin as if it were ordinary tree bark, and you won't allow me to give you a more fair price?"
"What kind of justice is this? You're just trying to steal my money!"
"You're being unreasonable!"
"Bah, who is making trouble?"
"What are you arguing about? Be quiet and don't disrupt the market!"
Several patrol soldiers came over after hearing the noise. The leading sergeant separated the two merchants and shouted, "Stop arguing in front of other people's stalls. Are you going to let people do business?"
"Sir, it was this Yankee who started the trouble. I was negotiating the price with the seller, but he suddenly interrupted and messed up!"
"What are you talking about? I can't stand seeing profiteers like you from the south bullying the market!"
“That’s enough!” The sergeant on duty impatiently stopped the two merchants who were about to quarrel again, and turned to glare at the anxious villagers and stall owners behind their stalls, “Don’t mark the tree man’s shed skin at such a price that will damage the market. If you do it again, your stall license will be revoked!”
The stall owners quickly apologized, saying that they had never expected that the skin of their own tree people could be sold at such a high price...
The sergeant on duty ordered the seller to change the price on the sign to the market price, then turned around and criticized the two merchants who were making a scene in public, and then asked the two to bid for the tree man's shed skin, and the highest bidder would win...
The two outer city elders who were standing on the opposite street and listening couldn't bear to listen any more, so they ran away - which villager's family doesn't keep a group of tree people to help take care of the fields? It's unreasonable that the shed skin of tree people, which are not rare commodities, can be sold for more than the output of the fields!
When they were about to leave the market, the two outer city elders saw a local man from Ananas standing on a high place with a rosy face, selling scarves and handkerchiefs woven with fallen fairy feathers. A group of adventurers and traveling merchants were scrambling to grab them. They were so angry that their mouths were almost crooked... Aren't the shed feathers of domestic fairies used to fill pillows? If this thing can be used to make money, both the seller and the buyer must be crazy!
Elder Simon strode away with his back to the free market. Hearing the sound of people counting coins behind him, it was as if he could hear his heart bleeding...
"We can't let Ananas be so... so reckless (eat all by himself) any longer!" Elder Simon said with distorted features.
"That's right!" Elder Gibson nodded vigorously and gritted his teeth. We are all small towns in the south, but you are fat and powerful while we are plain and simple. What's going on?
The Temple of Elders built on the island in the lake was still as peaceful as before. The long corridor in the center of the lake and the spacious square courtyard were still staffed with Ananas’ guards on duty. But when the elders of foreign tribes passed by with open eyes, the local guards seemed not to see anything at all.
In the temple library which served as the parliament hall, General Hewlett, one of the two great generals of Ananas, who was sitting at the side of the long table drinking tea alongside General Crest, turned around and nodded slightly to Simon and Gibson who entered the library.
Sitting opposite the Elf General Hewlett... was the Great Elder Ananas, Meli, who had been under house arrest for half a month.
In order to cover up the truth, the coalition forces of the four cities that jointly "invaded" Ananas still stayed outside the city. The elders of the four cities "took turns" to enter the city in pairs and guard Merry together with the traitor Hewlett.
Forest elves are particular about style... er, taste. The imprisoned Elder Meli did not look embarrassed at all. In front of her was an exquisite white porcelain tea set from the grassland. The delicate plate with hand-painted indigo patterns was filled with flower-shaped snacks.
"Are you two satisfied with Ananas' new look?" Simon and Gibson sat down at one side of the long table, and Elder Meli looked over with a smile, her expression reserved and proud.
Well... investing the extra money Ananas earned over the years into city construction is not because Elder Meli is selfless, but because Elder Meli, who has witnessed the development of Fire City with her own eyes, cannot tolerate the fact that the City of Elves is not as good as the City of Orcs on the Grassland... But no matter what the motive is, Elder Meli's performance since taking over from Gwendolyn has been impeccable. Even General Hewlett, who was full of dissatisfaction, could not be criticized in this regard and just lowered his head and drank tea in silence.
However, there is really nothing good to brag about this to Elder Simon and Elder Gibson. If it weren't for the fact that everyone cares about decency, Simon would have wanted to mock them directly: Who wouldn't use the city's money to gain credit for one's own political achievements? Is it worth your bragging?
Naturally, these elders would not say anything that would bring down their status. Elder Simon nodded to thank the guard who served him refreshments, and after the guard left, he looked at Meili with a cold face: "Ananas is indeed full of vitality nowadays, but the prosperity of this city is built on the deserted cities like us in the south. I think Elder Meili should have an explanation for this?"
Elder Meili chuckled and raised her chin elegantly: "What does Elder Simon want to hear? Should Ananas always remain mediocre to avoid highlighting the... incompetence of some people?"
Elder Simon had a blank expression on his face, while Elder Gibson, who was silent beside him, had veins bulging on his forehead.
So, if this kind of opportunity comes to you, anyone can do it well, so what are you so proud of?
Elder Meili felt very happy when she saw their surprised expressions... Jealous of Ananas' luck? Luck is also a kind of strength!
After letting out a sigh of anger and turning her gaze to General Hewlett, Elder Meli's expression finally became serious.
Xiao Yun's guess was correct. Elder Meili was not the kind of person who was completely defenseless and could be easily controlled.
And the reason why Elder Meli suffered a setback this time was all because of... the betrayal of this local general of Ananas.
The two generals of Ananas have always been equal and independent, neither subordinate to nor interfering with each other. After Elder Merry replaced Gwendolyn, she did not interfere with the generals' powers and still respected their right to command their own little piece of land.
The positions of the two generals began to become subtle, and it did not happen overnight. Instead, it began to show signs when General Crest became the prototype character of "Journey of the Elf Ranger" - the entire Elf Forest, no, the entire Bloomfield continent knew the name of General Crest, while Hewlett was still unknown.
Fame has always been linked to interests. Crest, one of the two generals, is popular throughout the continent, which inevitably leads to a shift in resources... Foreign organizations such as the Adventurer's Association, the Sea People, and Human Merchants prefer to cooperate with General Crest. Crest's guarantee is more reliable than the decree officially issued by the Ananas Elder Council. The younger generation of warriors trust this continent-famous general more and are proud to be his subordinates. Even Stephen's special envoy from the palace who came down for procurement is keen to meet with Crest. Under various objective conditions, even if Elder Meli believes that she has no selfish motives, she will inevitably pay more attention to General Crest.
This accumulated contradiction reached its peak this year. Young non-commissioned officers who returned from the Stephens Non-commissioned Officer Academy almost flocked to Crest. The city's calls for General Crest to expand the army and recruit more soldiers became louder and louder. Elder Meili was worried about how to balance the situation. Hewlett took advantage of Crest's rotation at the port to make trouble...
Hewlett, who was sitting across the long table, chose to avoid the gaze cast by Elder Meli.
Hewlett and Crest were both elves who graduated from the same juvenile academy and were also assigned to study at the Royal City Officer Academy. They had a certain emotional foundation. However, no matter how deep the relationship was, it could not withstand the long-term comparison and flattery.
What made him angry was not only that the soldiers under Crest had expanded to 1,500, while he still only had 500 soldiers. Hewlett also felt resentful at the cold and hot treatment he and Crest had received during their respective rotations at the port, and at Elder Meli's partiality in the inevitable competition between the two generals. As they were all generals of Ananas and had the same life trajectory, Hewlett could accept other people's admiration for Crest, but he could not tolerate Meli, as the great elder, who could not be fair and just.
Elder Meili looked at Hewlett's stubborn profile and sighed softly.
Simon, Gibson and others' clumsy and despicable means of threatening the grassland people. Mary didn't think that Ayun, who dared to put a collar around the neck of the demigod, would surrender. Her obedience during this period of time was partly to test the grassland people's bottom line, but more importantly, she didn't want the current situation of Ananas to be broken.
It's not that she was reluctant to part with General Hewlett, but...if a general position in Ananas became vacant at this critical moment, Elder Meli was very worried that someone in Stephen's position would be tempted to intervene - the queen herself disdains such an ugly act of picking peaches, but it's hard to say about others.
No matter from which perspective, Elder Meli hopes that Ananas will maintain the existing balance, even if this balance requires some people to make sacrifices.
More than ten days had passed since the letter was sent. Simon and the others were already getting restless, and Elder Meli didn't want to wait any longer.
"The grassland people have been silent for so long, I believe Elder Simon should understand... the grassland people will not agree to such harsh conditions." Turning her eyes away from Hewlett who disappointed her, Elder Meili looked at Simon, the initiator of this farce, the great elder of Clemens, and said firmly, "You hope to force the grassland people to surrender and then apologize to the queen, thinking that the queen will not care about your actions with her kindness and tolerance. I have no comment on this. But I must tell you clearly that the grassland people can resist the covetousness of the Beast King not because of the protection of us forest elves. Ananas has never interfered in the contest between the grassland kingdom and the Far East. Hewlett knows this best."
"Even the might of the Beast King has never made the grassland people retreat. How can you, who are threatening the grassland people in the name of the Queen, have the confidence to think that the grassland people will remain silent and terrified?!"
Elder Meili stood up suddenly and pointed at Simon: "If the grassland people resist fiercely, if this matter gets out and the queen knows that you have done such a despicable thing in her name and made a big joke, you, especially you, Simon, can't think that the queen never gets angry!"
"Gwendolyn's current situation is the best outcome you, Simon, could expect, as she set a precedent of doing what she wanted in the name of the Queen!"
Simon's expression suddenly changed, and he stood up: "Shut up! How can you have the nerve to overstep the queen's authority and judge others?!"
"Oh? Who dares to overstep the Queen's authority?"
Simon, Gibson, Hewlett and Mary looked in the direction of the sound at the same time. When they saw who it was, their faces changed drastically.
"Lady Gina?!" Elder Meli was both surprised and delighted, with the surprise greater than the delight. She quickly walked around her seat, lifted her skirt, and squatted to salute.
Simon and Gibson, the two elders from the outer city, turned pale, and Hewlett, the general who betrayed Ananas, was so shocked that he couldn't even speak.
Lady Gina, wearing a white gauze cloak, entered the museum from the main entrance accompanied by General Crest and Evelyn. Outside the open door, the guards belonging to General Hewlett had been captured by the members of the Royal City Knights and General Crest's soldiers.
Lady Gina took off her hood and glanced at the people at the long table with a cold smile. She sneered and said, "I saw the coalition forces of Clemens, Barnett, Qin City, and Hines City outside the city. I was wondering why Stephen knew nothing about the war in the south that required the joint efforts of the five cities. Who would have thought... it would be such a despicable and embarrassing act of infighting!!"
Gina shouted the last words. She raised her hand angrily and pointed at the most powerful elder Simon, "Simon! You are the elder of Clemens, the largest city in the south, and a formal member of the Kingdom's Council of Elders. Is this how you repay the Queen's trust?!"
Simon looked embarrassed. He really didn't know why Gina, who represented the Queen's will, would show up with the Knights in Ananas when nothing major happened. But to give up so easily was really a shame for his efforts over the past few days. When Gina finished speaking, he bowed slightly, then stood up, looked directly at the angry lady-in-waiting, and defended himself:
"Please allow me to explain my behavior, Your Excellency Gina. We came to Ananas not to harbor hostility towards anyone. In fact, we have only been discussing with Elder Meili these days about the possibility of cooperating with the Prairie Kingdom to mint coins... You know, the Prairie Kingdom was established only a few years ago, and the coins it uses are mixed. There are both exquisite coins minted by our forest elves and crude gold and silver coins. Our tribe is adjacent to the Prairie Kingdom and has close exchanges with it. The coins they use and the coins used by our tribe are circulated mutually. If both sides can unify the coinage, it will be a very convenient thing for both of us..."
Evelyn, who was quietly following Lady Gina, took a deep breath... It's really amazing that Great Elder Simon could talk about such a shameless thing so openly!
Gina knew exactly what it meant for the strong party to ask the weak party to jointly mint coins, but... in front of a big business involving 500,000 gold coins, this kind of petty calculation of making a few small gains was really not acceptable. Before Simon could completely whitewash his behavior, Gina interrupted him angrily: "Simon, do you think that the people of the Prairie Kingdom that our king and queen both agree on are all idiots, or do you think I am an idiot?"
Simon said with a stiff face: "But this is indeed for the convenience of trade between our tribe and the grassland kingdom-"
"That's enough." Gina raised her hand to stop him, impatiently saying, "The sage Ayun of the Prairie Kingdom invited the Queen, my King (the Elf King), the Mistress, the Dwarf King, and the Beast King to jointly invest in the establishment of an international joint-stock commercial bank. The Queen ordered me to bring 500,000 gold coins for this very purpose. At this critical moment, what kind of ridicule do you want my people to bear?"
The forest elves invited the grassland people to jointly mint coins. Was it because they thought the dark elf mistress couldn't find a reason to laugh at the queen, or because they thought the queen had too much face in front of the elf king and the dwarf king? !
Simon was speechless for a moment.
Elder Meili could hardly hold back the expression of surprise on her face.
Wait - we just want to scrape some money from the fat grassland people, there's no need to make such a big scene to scare people!
After hearing the words "500,000 gold coins", Gibson, the elder of Barnett City, almost slipped under the table... The queen paid such a large sum of money to do business with the grassland people, and here they were thinking about how to eat the grassland people's meat...
Simon's face was gloomy. He was unable to convince Lady Gina with the benefits of coinage. This time, it was really irreversible...
Sure enough, Gina's next question was an angry one: "To discuss matters with Elder Meili, we need to deploy the troops of the four cities to the doorstep of Ananas's house. You are really putting on a big show... If you have any requests to the queen, do you have to do the same?!"
Simon had nothing to say and lowered his head.
Ever since Lady Gina came in, Hewlett, with a pale face, had been staring at Crest who was standing beside Lady Gina.
Elder Meli pretended to be extremely surprised, but her eyes never left the general who had left the port without permission and was walking with Lady Gina.
Before Lady Gina, who had begun the reckoning, could question Hewlett's position, Elder Meili blurted out, "Lady Gina, it was Hewlett who protected me and the peace of Ananas."
Hewlett himself, and Evelyn and Kleist, who came in with Lady Gina, looked at Mary in surprise.
"Oh?" The furious Lady Gina did not lose her composure. She turned suspiciously to Hewlett who was standing quite close to Simon and Gibson.
"Yes, Simon deceived the soldiers of Clemens and the other three cities and launched an unjust invasion of Ananas. In order to protect me and the peace of Ananas, Hewlett had to pretend to make peace with them and take over the task of guarding me." Elder Meili resisted the urge to observe Lady Gina's reaction and turned her gaze to Hewlett who was staring at her blankly. She showed relief and touched on her face at the right time. "If not for this, the city would never be like it is now, completely unaffected... Chaos and panic are what Hewlett and I don't want to see. I understand his painstaking efforts."
No one present is stupid.
The eyes of Gibson, the shaky elder of Barnett City, lit up, and his weak legs regained the strength to stand up straight.
Simon turned his head sharply and stared at Mary.
Lady Gina remained silent.
Elder Meili is...openly proposing a deal with Hewlett, Simon, Gibson, the elders of the other two cities, and Lady Gina!
She originally planned to abandon Hewlett, but after Lady Gina suddenly appeared and seemed to have some connection with Kleist, she decided to save Hewlett, the betrayer of Ananas, and at the same time, save the other three cities that were "incited" by Simon!
If Simon tried to break the jar and insisted that Hewlett was not just pretending to be loyal, but really betrayed Ananas, then he would offend the other three cities! He himself ran into the gun of Lady Gina and was doomed to die, but he still had his family!
At the same time... Lady Gina had no reason to reject this deal. After all... if the elders of the four cities had different ideas at the same time, it would be too damaging to the dignity of Her Majesty the Queen and the reputation of the forest elves!
"...Very good." Gina, who had been in the center for a long time, quickly judged the pros and cons. She smiled and glanced at Meili, then her eyes fell on Hewlett. "Very good, it won't be too disappointing... When despicable people try to tarnish the thousand-year glory of our clan, there will always be brave people who stand up and resolutely defend it."
Great Elder Simon watched helplessly as Lady Gina, who represented the Queen's will, instantly decided to make him the only "despicable man". His facial muscles twitched, and he finally chose to remain silent.
The "Four Cities Alliance" has been dismantled by Mary, and it is a "politically correct" thing for everyone for him to take all the blame. If he is not sensible, then he may not be able to maintain his final dignity.
General Crest and Evelyn, who had remained silent since they entered the room, watched a great show... They were not allowed to leave until Lady Gina, who had dealt with everything quickly, talked with Elder Meli about their experience of cooperating with the grassland people. They walked out of the Elders' Temple together, which dazzled them.
"Evelyn, you said... Ayun specially asked me to come back from the port, could it be..." Although handsome and well-educated in art, General Kleist's style is actually very hard-line and very naive. At this moment, his tone is changed. Too many things happened in this day...
"It should be for... General Hewlett." Evelyn's face was stiff. "Well... I can roughly guess what the teacher is thinking... He thinks that the current Ananas is very good. If some people are cleared out and outsiders have loopholes to exploit, it will be very troublesome for him who directly cooperates with Ananas... The teacher is a person who is very afraid of trouble ."
As for what Xiao Yun said, such as "It is better to use it than to work hard, and Elder Meli will make her own choices", Evelyn did not bring it up. She did not want General Crest to have a worse impression of the teacher.
"In other words... in order to avoid his trouble, he let me be feared by Elder Meli..." General Crest's mouth twitched slightly.
Evelin was silent for a moment, with a complicated expression, "General, I'll tell you the truth, it doesn't matter whether you make Elder Meili afraid or not... We can't understand what those people who play politics are thinking."
General Kleist sighed, "Evelyn, don't become like them. Elizabeth will lose a good friend, and I will also lose an excellent and trustworthy junior."
"Of course not." Evelyn affirmed.
Lady Gina stayed in Ananas for two days. She summoned the elders and generals of the three cities, reprimanded them, and strictly ordered the cities to maintain friendly alliances with the grassland people before letting them leave. As for the "culprit" Simon... he should not expect to go back to be the chief elder. He was taken to the royal city of Stephen by members of the Knights Templar on the same day to be judged by the queen.
When Evelyn returned to Fire City with Lady Gina and the members of the Knights, the envoy from the Dwarf Kingdom, who had set out two days later than Lady Gina, had already arrived, and the dark elf envoy, who traveled even faster from the underground world, had already lived in the city for a few days.
The envoy of the Dwarf Kingdom is the Minister of the Interior who advocates cooperation with the grassland people (making money by clinging to the grassland people), and the dark elf envoy is the mistress's loyal dog and an old friend of the grassland people, Don Angelo, the Scythe of the Abyss.
As for the elf king's messenger... well, because she has lived in Fire City for a long time, second only to Evelyn, everyone has already regarded Selina as one of their own. When Selina returned from the Ice and Snow King City and poured the gold coins out of her space bracelet, Dahe even showed an expression of "Ah, you are also a messenger"...
A welcome banquet was held in the city for the envoys. The Grassroots Chief and Hongye personally entertained these "pro-grassland" guests and introduced the White Bear General Wood, the Lion General Gloria, the Tea Bear Elder Kuku, the Fox Elder Aloi, the Winged Elder and other friendly representatives of various tribes to the Dwarf Kingdom's Minister of the Interior and the Queen's confidant Gina. (Angelo and Selina had already met them)
At the banquet, a troupe composed of cats, snakes and humans performed on stage, performing popular and catchy new pieces such as "Great Unity of People of All Nationalities" (adapted from "Fifty-six Flowers of Fifty-six Nationalities") and "Ode to the Grassland" (adapted from "My Motherland"), which made the envoys deeply understand the grassland people's love for their homeland and their yearning for peace...
When the banquet with the theme of "Great Unity of Races" was held in the square, Xiao Yun summoned Evelyn, who had completed her mission perfectly, to the activity room. He patted her on the shoulder and said to the elf disciple earnestly, "Evelyn, you must be prepared to succeed Elder Meili."
Evelyn: "Meow?!"
"Don't worry, we have no intention of harming this elder who is friendly with our grassland. After all, we are allies who have walked hand in hand with each other. How can we have bad intentions towards others?" Xiao Yun gestured upward with his other hand and said gently, "We want to help Elder Meili climb higher ... Going to Stephen to develop is definitely better than staying in a remote place like Ananas, right?"
Evelin glared with dead fish eyes: “Teacher, if you go out now and say that Ananas is a poor country girl, you will be beaten.”
"That's not important..." Xiao Yun waved his hand. "What's important is that if Elder Meili stays in the position of Great Elder Ananas any longer, our relationship will be in trouble. Ambition will quickly grow once the conditions for germination are met. You don't want the forest elves to confront us, do you?"
Evelin had no doubt that the teacher could send Elder Meili up. Over the years, she had personally seen Xiao Yun accomplish too many things that seemed impossible to succeed. She was just very conflicted: "But, teacher... he is only over 200 years old!"
Xiao Yun had a blank expression on his face: "Are you trying to tell me, a 29-year-old, that you are still a baby when you are over 200 years old?"
"Well……"
"Carlisle is only in his thirties and not even forty yet he's already become king. Can you be more ambitious?"
"this……"
"How old was Laura when she became a lord? Oh, 14! Tsk tsk tsk tsk ..."
“…”
Under Xiao Yun's "YIN" power, Evelyn, who had just patted General Crest's chest, could only say "It smells so good" with tears streaming down her face...
