“Bishop-sama! You’re finally back!”
Su Lihua saw the door open and immediately bowed as Ling Xiaoyou had instructed, calling out to the burly middle-aged man behind the door.
This sudden situation seemed to leave the Bishop bewildered.
He stepped back a few paces, looking at the Office sign hanging on the wall as if to confirm whether this was really his own Office.
After confirming, he finally entered the Office and looked at Su Lihua, disguised as Danny.
“Are you Danny? Why are you here?”
Seeing that the Demon Bishop hadn’t noticed her disguise, Su Lihua secretly breathed a sigh of relief and put on a look of grief and indignation.
“It’s like this, Bishop-sama.”
“Today, Huo En and I were busy all day, and when I came back, I just wanted to return to my warm home and rest comfortably.”
“But I never expected that despicable Yanu would throw Guardian Duty onto me just for his own selfish desire to go home and play games. He even threatened me, saying that if I didn’t do as he said, he’d take me to Chengdu to mess around!”
As she spoke, Su Lihua clenched her fists, her face full of sorrow, as if she had suffered some great grievance.
“How humiliating is that, Bishop-sama? Please stand up for me!”
Listening to ‘Danny’s’ aggrieved complaints, the Bishop felt he’d truly seen little of the world.
He never imagined Yanu had such a side.
He looked at ‘Danny’s’ scruffy, bearded face, fell silent for a moment, then patted ‘Danny’s’ shoulder with a sigh.
“I understand. Don’t worry, I’ll see justice done for you! At the very least, you should take him to Chengdu yourself!”
“Thank you, Bishop-sama!”
One had to say, Su Lihua was quite talented in acting.
Even without Ling Xiaoyou’s guidance, she managed to make a grateful, tearful expression at just the right moment.
“Alright, alright, you go back first. I still have work to do.”
The Bishop patted her shoulder and pointed to the door.
“Yes! Bishop-sama!”
Su Lihua immediately adopted a look of obedience and respect, though she couldn’t quite hide the joy and schadenfreude beneath it.
Then, she left the Office, closing the door behind her, and quickly fled the scene.
I’m out, I’m out!
But in her rush, Su Lihua failed to notice that after she left, the Bishop narrowed his eyes at the closed door.
He then checked the Office layout, confirming whether it matched what he remembered before leaving.
He also checked the computer, browsing through files to see if anything had changed, but everything was exactly as it had been.
“Am I just being paranoid?”
The Bishop frowned, placing his hand on the computer case but feeling none of the warmth from a machine left running for a long time.
Still uneasy, he performed a magical scan but found nothing out of place.
Only then did he finally relax, returning to the computer to handle his tasks.
***
“He probably didn’t notice our actions, right?”
On a distant rooftop, Ling Xiaoyou watched the Bishop for signs of suspicion, then turned to Bai Shuanglian with a question.
“No, I think he sensed something.”
Bai Shuanglian shook her head, making Ling Xiaoyou a bit surprised.
“Eh? But didn’t he chase after Su Lihua?”
Ling Xiaoyou blinked, puzzled.
“He might just be in the stage of suspicion.”
Bai Shuanglian hugged Ling Xiaoyou around the waist and, with the still-bewildered Ling Xiaoyou in a princess carry, continued.
“But who knows if suspicion alone will make him act? We should hurry and regroup with Su Lihua.”
“Oh… But why are you carrying me?”
Ling Xiaoyou’s face reddened, and she averted her gaze, mumbling the question.
“If you floated down, you’d be too slow. It’s faster if I just jump with you.”
Bai Shuanglian answered seriously, leaving Ling Xiaoyou uncertain whether she really believed it.
Still, Bai Shuanglian’s reasoning wasn’t wrong.
Floating, while convenient, did slow down ghostly beings, especially going downstairs.
So Ling Xiaoyou wrapped her arms around Bai Shuanglian’s neck, burying her face in her embrace.
“Then hurry, okay? I don’t like the feeling of weightlessness.”
“Don’t worry, it’ll be quick.”
Bai Shuanglian smiled softly, then leaped off the edge of the rooftop.
***
“Gululu… If I hide here, they shouldn’t find me, right?”
Su Lihua crouched in the shadow of a building, glancing at the path she had taken.
She figured the Bishop hadn’t chased after her, which gave her some relief.
“Wait, where did I run off to?”
Since the Bishop hadn’t given chase, Su Lihua relaxed a bit more and decided to look around and see where she was.
But she had never been to the docks before, nor had she checked a map, so she had no idea where she was.
“Hey, are you still there?”
She wanted to consult her two ‘think tanks’ for advice on what to do next.
But then she heard footsteps approaching, growing closer.
Was the Bishop following after all?!
Su Lihua froze, unable to move.
“Eh? Danny, you got here pretty fast. Right on time, too.”
She recognized the voice—it wasn’t the Bishop’s, but the man in the suit she’d seen earlier in the office building.
Su Lihua sighed in relief and turned to see the suited man standing nearby, looking at her in mild surprise.
“Haha… yeah, punctuality is my thing.”
Su Lihua scratched her head, forcing a laugh while frantically messaging her two ‘external brains’ on the Channel for advice.
But whether they’d gone offline or for some other reason, no matter how she called, there was no reply.
“Punctual? You?”
The suited man looked at her strangely, as if finding her statement odd.
“I remember you were always late for work before.”
“Ah, this…”
Su Lihua’s expression stiffened.
With Ling Xiaoyou and Bai Shuanglian unreliable now, she could only make up an excuse herself.
But what kind of excuse should she use?
Su Lihua’s rarely-used mind raced, and perhaps under pressure, her potential finally exploded.
She quickly thought of a plausible lie.
She put on a sad face.
“I used to be late a lot, but then one day, because I was late, I missed her. Since then, I never wanted to be late again.”
She didn’t have an elaborate excuse.
Sometimes, the simplest stories are the ones that let others fill in the blanks themselves.
Su Lihua looked at the suited man.
He, too, seemed to fill in the details in his mind, then patted her shoulder.
“No need to say more. I understand.”
“Sigh, lateness is truly unforgivable.”
Su Lihua matched his mood, sighing softly.
“I know you’re sad, Danny, but don’t worry. Under the Lord’s light, that sadness will soon fade.”
The suited man comforted her.
“Yeah, yeah… The Lord’s light?”
Su Lihua started to reply, then froze, feeling something was off.
“Of course. You came to the Cathedral so early—wasn’t it to bathe in the Lord’s light?”
The suited man pointed to the nearby building.
Only then did Su Lihua notice it—a Cathedral, styled like any other, but painted a deep crimson.
Her expression stiffened.
She had run straight into the site of the upcoming Sacrificial Ritual!
“What are you standing around for? Go inside.”
The suited man smiled.
To Su Lihua, that smile was the invitation of a demon.
Wait, maybe it really was a demon’s invitation!
“Um…”
Su Lihua forced a smile.
“Is it okay if I don’t go in?”