Mist Core Zone, second floor of the House of Truth, Ariel was currently pressed tightly against the floor of her room, eavesdropping on the conversation between Little Mist and Wilona downstairs, and remarked:
“Tsk, this Seeker Demon is still putting on an act, what a twisted sense of humor!”
Ariel found that even after she left, “Truth” didn’t show her true colors and continued playing the role of the gentle and kind Ninth Saintess.
Fortunately, Ariel had learned from several adventurers beforehand that a demon had attacked Deya City and that the Ninth Saintess was injured and recuperating in the Cathedral, so she wasn’t fooled by the Seeker Demon’s superb acting.
But listening to the Seeker Demon’s conversation with Wilona, there didn’t seem to be much substance to it.
It was mostly Wilona trying to find a way to escape while the Seeker Demon strongly objected.
And for some reason, just by imagining the scene of the Cat and the Demon having a friendly conversation, Ariel suddenly felt a surge of jealousy…
She was usually so obedient, yet the Seeker Demon always treated her like a tool.
But this Cat could talk about running away the moment she opened her mouth, and the Seeker Demon still patiently played along with her act. How unfair was that!
Wasn’t it just that she’d accidentally blown a huge hole in the Mist? Was there really a need to be so partial?
“Ah! The Beast God sent a message, meow!”
At that moment, Wilona’s excited voice suddenly came from downstairs.
It startled Ariel on the second floor into pressing her ear tightly against the floor again. The Beast God sent a message?!
At the dining table downstairs, Wilona directly began communicating with the Beast God in her mind right in front of Little Mist, her entire body looking dazed.
Little Mist stood nearby, at a loss, not knowing how to stop this.
Please don’t let the communication succeed!
Soon, Wilona returned to normal and looked very calm.
“What did the Beast God say?” Little Mist quickly asked.
“Uh, the Beast God said I don’t need to run away, meow. And He also peered into my fate, saying I’ll receive a great opportunity in the Mist. He also guaranteed that I won’t be in any danger to my life here, saying I can do whatever I want, meow!”
The Beast God didn’t choose to help Wilona escape but instead became her backing, giving her the confidence to do as she pleased in the Mist.
“So if you run into danger, the Beast God will help you get even?” Little Mist asked curiously, her tone slightly excited.
“Yes, that’s right! The Beast God is my biggest backing in the Mist, meow!”
“Then… then if you get bullied by the Mist Lord, will the Beast God come to help you?”
“Of course He will, meow!” Wilona patted her chest in assurance, then she spoke seriously to Little Mist:
“And I will become your biggest backing in the Mist, Truth. From now on, I won’t let anyone else bully you, meow! Not even that fake Saintess!”
“Mm… th-then that’s great!” Little Mist immediately welled up with tears.
Ever since she revived, she had been living under Truth’s tyranny, forced to watch Truth bully others and harm those adventurers, and finally being forced to do things she didn’t like.
But now, with the help of Wilona and the Beast God behind her, she could finally stand a little firmer against Truth’s tyranny!
Thinking of this, Little Mist’s nose tingled again, thinking that the world really was still a wonderful place!
Then Wilona placed both hands on Little Mist’s shoulders and spoke as if taking an oath:
“Since I have the Beast God as my backing, I’m no longer afraid of the rules set by the Mist. So next, I’m going to run straight out of the Mist to confront that fake Saintess and ask what scheme they’re planning… then set you free, meow!”
With that, before Little Mist could speak, Wilona rushed out of the House without stopping and headed straight for the Church of the Goddess of Life in Deya City.
Little Mist could only spin in circles excitedly, barely containing her joy. This was the first time… the first time someone had been this good to her!
Alright, to not let Wilona’s kindness go to waste, she had to trust Wilona.
Following Wilona’s advice, she should go back to the master bedroom and rest while waiting for Wilona’s good news.
Then Little Mist headed for the stairs, but just as she was about to turn around, she seemed to sense a gaze watching her.
She suddenly looked toward the corner of the staircase on the second floor, only to find Ariel’s curious, staring eyes fixed directly on her!
This startled Little Mist. Senior Ariel? Why was she spying on her?!
Ariel was also startled into jumping. Oh no! She’d been so absorbed in watching that she didn’t react when the Seeker Demon suddenly turned around!
The next second, Ariel straightened up immediately, her hands fluttering nervously in front of her chest, stammering:
“Um… th-that… um, I just wanted to go to the… the bathroom… um, then… then go back to rest…”
Although she didn’t mind Ariel’s peeping, for some reason, having her genuine emotions seen felt a bit embarrassing, and it was truly awkward, her heart racing.
Also, in Ariel’s eyes, she was Truth. If she didn’t do something now, she’d definitely be suspected…
What to do? Should she punish Senior Ariel like Truth would?
But then she thought again, maybe Senior Ariel had just been going to the bathroom and accidentally saw this scene?
Punishing Senior Ariel like Truth would was too much…
With that in mind, Little Mist decided to give Senior Ariel what she thought was a moderate punishment:
“You go back to sleep right now!”
Little Mist frowned, pointed at Ariel with a bit of a pretentious air, and shouted.
The effect was remarkable.
The latter was so frightened her legs went weak, and she scrambled back into her room:
“Yes, yes, yes! I’m going to rest now…”
That’s right, Little Mist’s punishment for Ariel was issuing a direct order!
And after giving that order, Little Mist’s heart rate shot up again.
She never thought she’d one day force someone like Truth did. That was a bit bad…
But for some reason, Little Mist also felt that this feeling of ordering others around… was strangely thrilling?
…
5 minutes later, Fog Gate Plaza.
Di Lisha, who was calmly waiting for her father’s arrival, didn’t get Di Lun and the others first.
Instead, the Ninth Saintess Truth, who had returned to the Fog Gate Plaza, arrived.
“Over here!”
Di Lisha immediately waved to Truth in the distance.
The latter also leisurely walked toward Di Lisha’s position.
But the moment she saw Truth, Di Lisha suddenly remembered the things she and Truth had done in the Mist, and her whole body instantly turned shy…
Meanwhile, in a corner of the Fog Gate Plaza, upon seeing Truth walk out of the Mist safe and sound, the two Saint’s Shadow Guards finally let out a long breath, then slowly hid their figures…
Soon, Truth sat down beside Di Lisha, but Di Lisha deliberately kept some distance from Truth, as if avoiding something, her face slightly flushed.
Truth just smiled and asked: “What’s wrong? Are you deliberately keeping your distance from me?”
“No, I’m not! It’s just that… seeing you makes me think of some things I can’t bring myself to say…”
“Is it about walking naked in the Mist?” Truth asked loudly without any hesitation, which frightened Di Lisha into frantically trying to cover Truth’s mouth:
“Don’t say it, don’t say it so loudly!”
But unfortunately, she didn’t manage to cover it, as Truth dodged with a swift movement;
“Alright, no more teasing. Where’s your father?”
“Uh… I don’t know. I’ve been waiting here for almost 20 minutes, but they haven’t come back. I don’t know what they’re doing…” Di Lisha replied.
“Is that so?” Truth immediately activated God’s Perspective to search for Di Lun and the others’ whereabouts.
It turned out that Di Lun and his party had all scattered and gotten lost in the Mist, and it seemed they were hiding from something?
After scouting a bit more, Truth noticed that a group of Radical Blasphemers wanted to take action directly in the Mist to eliminate Di Lun’s people!
Truth just felt a bit disgusted by this.
Thinking that her Mist would become a perfect place for murderers to kill and silence their victims, she felt like her own home was being used as a trash can where strangers could casually dump garbage.
Oh! Truth suddenly thought of a solution. It was time to introduce the “red name” mechanic…
To not waste time, Truth directly guided Di Lun and the others back into the Fog Gate Plaza, successfully reuniting Di Lisha with her father.
“Father!” Di Lisha quickly stood up to greet him.
Di Lun and the others were panting, looking like they had narrowly escaped death, and after confirming that all their companions were safe, they nervously surveyed their surroundings.
But they didn’t deliberately show it in front of Di Lisha and Truth.
Because they needed to hide the fact that they had just been hunted by the Radical Blasphemers.
After all, this matter was related to the negotiation with Deya City.
Di Lun believed that if the Ninth Saintess learned that the Wangsheng City cooperation would still be targeted by the Radical Blasphemers, then this cooperation would definitely not go as hoped.
So Di Lun pretended to look very relaxed, signaling Di Lisha to stand beside him, then said to the petite Ninth Saintess before him:
“Holy Maiden, we just seriously toured the Mist and unanimously agreed that this Mist has very high long-term investment value. We are very willing to cooperate! But…”
Di Lun suddenly changed his tone and continued:
“Even so, this Mist still can’t be measured against the value of a Legendary Weapon. Think about it. To develop the Mist, our Wangsheng City would still have to come to your Deya City, rapidly developing ourselves from a fallen town into a city that can attract High-Rank adventurers. If we really do that, the investment cost alone would already equal half the value of a Legendary Weapon!
So, Holy Maiden, I sincerely suggest you reconsider and lower your terms. After all, a Legendary Weapon is simply too outrageous a price! If you don’t accept… then we’ll have no choice but to reluctantly decline.”
Di Lun used a very classic bargaining tactic on Truth. He did see the potential value of the Mist.
If the Mist could really be elevated to eight-level or even nine-rank, then a Legendary Weapon wouldn’t be a loss.
But the core issue was that, as a merchant, reducing costs was something he had to do.
Trading a Legendary Weapon for a large eight-level or even nine-rank Dungeon was indeed worth it, but if he could get the Dungeon without needing a Legendary Weapon, then it would be even more worth it!
Besides, he had already phrased things nicely. All the Ninth Saintess needed to do was lower her demands a little, drop the Legendary Weapon requirement, and the deal would be done!
However, Truth only said calmly:
“Alright then, what a shame. I hope we get a chance to cooperate next time. This way, please. I’ll take everyone back to the Cathedral to rest.”
“Huh?! What?!”
Upon hearing Truth’s words, Di Lun’s expression darkened, but he quickly regained his composure and said to the others:
“Fine, let’s head back.”
So under Truth’s lead, Di Lun and the others followed her out of the Mist in silence. But just as everyone arrived at the carriage that had been prepared, Di Lun suddenly said to Truth:
“Um, Holy Maiden, could you please head back first? We need to take a slight detour to inform our supply team of the current situation, so my people don’t worry about our safety.”
Di Lun needed to notify his own people that the Radical Blasphemers had discovered their important intelligence.
“Sure, then I’ll wait for you at the Cathedral,” Truth said, then suddenly pulled a letter from her pocket and handed it to Di Lisha:
“Oh, right! Here’s this! Here, as good friends, this is a secret between you and me!”
“Huh?” Di Lisha took the Envelope of Truth in confusion.
Meanwhile, Di Lun beside her nodded in satisfaction.
He didn’t expect his daughter’s friendship with the Ninth Saintess to have developed to the point of sharing secrets already? How wonderful!
Soon, Truth’s carriage slowly drove toward the Cathedral, while Di Lun and the others’ carriage drove toward the convoy camped not far from Deya City.
Inside the carriage, Di Lun kept staring at the Envelope of Truth and asked Di Lisha:
“Well? Aren’t you going to open it and take a look?”
Di Lisha turned her face away, shifting her body to the side, as if not wanting her father to see the contents of the letter:
“Didn’t I already say this is a secret between me and the Ninth Saintess? You’re not allowed to look!”
“Haha, alright, I won’t look, I won’t look!”
So Di Lisha opened the envelope while asking Di Lun:
“By the way, Father, why didn’t you argue back when Saintess Truth rejected our cooperation?”
“Ah, that…” Di Lun only let out a cold laugh:
“Because I know the Holy Maiden is just putting up a front. Think about it.
Besides Wangsheng City, which other city would choose deep cooperation with Deya City?
She basically has no choice but us. Temporarily rejecting us was just to test our attitude and gain as much negotiation leverage as possible.
Trust me, Di Lisha, in a few days, the Holy Maiden will definitely come looking for us on her own!”
“I see…” Di Lisha nodded, then successfully opened the envelope.
But the moment part of the contents were revealed, her entire body froze instantly, her pupils rapidly contracting, as if she had seen something extremely terrifying!
Di Lun also noticed his daughter’s distress and asked what was wrong.
“N-nothing!” Di Lisha trembled all over, then clutched the Envelope of Truth even tighter.
Then she turned her whole body away, not letting her father see any of the contents.
Di Lun didn’t ask further. Girls’ secrets, that was fine.
Then Di Lisha began to carefully examine the photos of herself naked in the Mist, while her mind kept questioning:
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why did Truth have photos of her walking in the Mist?!
When did she take them? And she had heard the sound of her taking photos. Also, why did she take these things?!
Di Lisha flipped through several extremely embarrassing, revealing photos, and soon found the main content of the letter beneath them.
The handwriting of the main content in the Envelope of Truth was very elegant, and it faintly exuded a sacred aura.
It was clearly written by some auspicious being…
But despite being a note exuding an auspicious and holy aura, its content was truly evil:
【Di Lisha, you wouldn’t want these photos of yours to be spread around, would you? I have many more here. If you don’t want these photos to get out, then you must do something for me from now on:
Find out how many Legendary Weapons your Wangsheng City has, and tell me the types and effects of those Legendary Weapons.
—The Ninth Saintess who loves you】