Acting!

"Who I am doesn't matter. Are you Karen?" "Yes." "Come in. Everyone is waiting for you." "All right." Mr. Bede turned, making a perfunctory "after you" gesture. Then, without waiting for Karen to step up the porch stairs, he walked inside ahead of him. Karen stepped in with Alfred. In the ground-floor living room, three candles were lit. Their limited glow illuminated only a small area, leaving vast swaths of darkness in the background. An old man in a white robe leaned back on the sofa, eyes closed as if dozing off. Behind the sofa stood a man in a trench coat, while a young woman in an overcoat sat on the side of the sofa. After entering, Mr. Bede sat on the sofa opposite the old man. "Karen, coffee." Piaget's voice drifted over from the kitchen. A moment later, he walked out carrying a pot of coffee. Karen accepted the coffee and took a sip. It had far too much sugar—sweet enough to kill someone. Yet Karen quickly took a second sip. "Care for some cake? I can cut you a slice." "No need, I came after dinner." "Oh, what a pity." "Did you make it yourself? If so, I could try some." "I bought it with my own hands." "Then forget it." Elder Doke opened his eyes at that moment. His gaze swept over Karen, an invisible pressure bearing down directly on him. Karen asked with feigned ease: "What a solemn gathering. Did you really have to skip the lights and burn candles?" Sitting on the side of the sofa holding a staff, Helen stuck out her tongue and said rather sheepishly, "Sorry, I accidentally torched the electrical wiring when I burned the bodies." "Oh." Karen let his gaze wander. Sofas on three sides: he certainly couldn't sit next to the old man, and in front of his prospective father-in-law he still had to pretend they didn't know each other. Yet he didn't want to keep standing there. When everyone else is seated and you remain standing, an invisible psychological pressure builds up on you while those sitting down feel all the more at ease. In the end, Karen walked over to Piaget, sat down on the armrest of the sofa, and continued: "So the people I was originally supposed to deal with were incinerated along with the wiring?" "Torching the wiring was an accident, an accident!" Helen immediately cried out in explanation. "Enough." Elder Doke placated Helen. "Your trouble has been taken care of." "Does 'your' refer to me?" Karen pointed to himself and asked. "Who else?" Elder Doke countered. "Heh." Karen let out a laugh. "I only came to go through the motions and put on an act—treat it as an after-dinner stroll. I didn't do anything in the first place, so naturally I had nothing to worry about. "So, what do you mean by my trouble? "Where did I get trouble that required you to solve it for me? "Most importantly, did you really think destroying the corpses and erasing traces leaves no clues behind? "Are you sure no one in their family knew where this group was heading today? "Between leaving the clinic and arriving here, did no one among them call home to report their itinerary? "For all their family knows, this group went to see a psychological therapist named Karen, and then the entire group vanished." Karen held out his half-finished cup of coffee toward Piaget, who reached out to take it for him. Then, Karen spread his hands, looked at Elder Doke, and his tone suddenly hardened, bordering on an interrogation: "Is this what you call solving my trouble?" Helen shrank her head back silently, thinking Karen made a lot of sense. Vernon's gaze settled on Karen, studying him closely. Elder Doke's face darkened. Mr. Bede spoke up with a smile: "I know them. Just a bunch from the Raphael family. Mr. Karen can rest assured that after suffering such a huge loss, they won't dare seek revenge." Karen turned to Mr. Bede and retorted: "Do you think I care about those foolish family bedbugs?" Mr. Bede looked somewhat embarrassed. "Is Mr. Karen calling us to account?" Elder Doke's hand had already come to rest on his knee. "No, I'm just curious. Curious why a group of people who clearly can't stand the light of day act so thoughtlessly. At the same time, I'm beginning to doubt whether the choice to reach a tacit understanding and cooperate with you in the first place was the right one." "Heh heh." Elder Doke stood up, glaring at Karen. "Do you know who you're talking to, boy?" Karen reached out, took the coffee cup back from Piaget, and took a sip. "And do you know who you are talking to right now, old fart?" Elder Doke raised an arm, and a wand appeared in his hand. Karen gently swirled the coffee cup in his hand, a smile playing across his lips. Alfred, standing behind him, pleaded in an eager tone: "Master, this subordinate's teeth have been itching for so long. Though these few fellows' strength is only so-so, I smell the purity of their blood. The taste is sure to be exquisite. "I beg Master's permission to strike!" Elder Doke froze for a second. Vernon also turned solemn as he looked at Alfred. Helen covered her mouth and let out a gasp: "A bloodthirsty aberrant demon!" Bloodthirsty aberrant demons were a type of aberrant demon, and a relatively powerful one at that. Their image was similar to vampires. However, solitary wanderers rarely appeared; they generally passed down their heritage in the form of families. Among them were bloodthirsty families composed of aberrant demons, as well as family faith systems. What Purr once said about there being no clear boundary between priests and aberrant demons found its finest illustration here in the bloodthirsty aberrant demons. Alfred looked at Helen with a hint of covetous craving, sticking out his tongue to lick his lips. At the same time, a crimson gleam surfaced in his eyes, swirling with a soul-stealing luster. Helen gasped again: "Succubus Eye!" "This is just a toy Master casually tossed to me last time—a rather amusing pair of eyeballs." Alfred pointed at Helen. "If Master is willing to favor you with his grace, and you can serve Master well, I could give this pair of little toys to you too. After all, I have plenty of little toys like this back where I stay." Helen panicked immediately: "No, that's impossible, that's impossible!" Simultaneously, almost by instinct, she shouted: "Light—Eternal Guardian!" A mirror radiating a sacred aura appeared before Helen, and she promptly ducked behind it. One could sense that the aura of this mirror was extraordinarily powerful. Yet Alfred merely pointed at Helen and laughed: "Hahaha, Master, she's too funny! Truly too funny!" Karen laughed as well, downing the rest of the coffee in his cup. Then, he casually tossed the coffee cup to Piaget, who caught it with both hands. Immediately afterward, Karen stood up, walked right up to Elder Doke, and stared at him: "Listen, old fart. If Miss Bertha were standing here, I'd still have the interest and patience to say a few more words to her, because I consider her to have a brain. But with you lot, I've completely lost any desire to talk." "That's because Miss Bertha is a divine envoy," Helen took the initiative to explain at that moment. Karen pointed at Piaget sitting there. "Originally, I was willing to share Piaget with you remnants of the Light." "..." Piaget. "Now, however, I believe I must reconsider that decision. Because the decline of the Light truly didn't happen without reason. It's plainly obvious from looking at you." "You are defiling my faith," Elder Doke said in a deep voice. "Since when is it the Berry religion's place to desecrate and mock the Light?" "Mm, heh heh heh." Karen raised a hand. "If you know anyone from the Berry religion, feel free to ask them whether they know me. Oh, they definitely won't know me. "Because what I praise is nature, not the Berry religion." The Berry religion originated from the Church of the Goddess of Nature. To a certain degree, the Berry religion was the Church of the Goddess of Nature, but the former grew larger and larger in the secular world and took on several distinctive label images, while the latter grew more and more niche. One could understand it as: the primitive faith of the Church of the Goddess of Nature was like the Temple of Order to the Church of Order, while the Berry religion was equivalent to the Church of Order itself. This was a piece of esoteric lore known by very few, but Mr. Hoffen's notes contained a specific description of it. While secretly learning someone's formations and spells, it was only natural to pick up some gossip along the way. Having said that, Karen gently patted Elder Doke's cheek with his palm. Elder Doke's face remained stiff; he made no further move. Meanwhile, Vernon, who had been standing behind the sofa, stepped forward toward Karen on his own initiative. Karen's gaze immediately snapped to him, and he said: "If you continue cultivating along this path, you won't live long." Hearing those words, Vernon's steps froze on the spot. Karen turned around, walked back, and sat down in his previous spot. Piaget poured him another cup of coffee, and Karen reached out to take it. What he had just said to Vernon wasn't something he saw in Mr. Hoffen's notes; he had made it up on the spot. Piaget cleared his throat and said: "It seems everything started because of me. Bertha is my secretary and my assistant at work, and Karen is my best, closest friend. "From my perspective, I don't want everyone to clash with one another. "Besides, "now that I've met Mr. Bede, this proves my premonition was correct. Wouldn't you say?" Bede spoke up as well at this moment: "All of this must be the arrangement of the God of the Wall. "In this room, "the declined Allen family, the declined Church of Light, the declined Church of the Mural God, the declined Berry religion... "Doesn't anyone feel all of this is simply too much of a coincidence?" "Heheheh." Karen chuckled. "A league of losers?" "Pfft!" Helen couldn't help laughing along. With a wave of her hand, she dissipated the mirror. Her level of control over this spell caused Karen's eyelids to twitch slightly. In truth, Mr. Bede was quite envious of Karen right now. Karen hadn't exposed his true identity and could still pose as a follower of the "Berry religion" or a "believer of the Goddess of Nature," whereas he himself had already been exposed. Though it sounded a bit callous to think so, it was indeed the family driver who had sacrificed himself to protect him—especially the dying shout of "Patriarch, get back in the car!"—that had practically nailed his identity down. Otherwise, Mr. Bede could have made up a temporary identity just like Karen. He knew that because of a special purification, outsiders couldn't detect Karen's cultivation boundary, allowing Karen to perform to his heart's content. In fact, Bede could have done the same originally; he didn't even need anyone to look, since he didn't possess a cultivation boundary to begin with—the Church of the Mural God's boundaries produced no fluctuations in aura or power. It was just... could they not see through this servant's boundary either? Mr. Bede had seen with his own eyes Elder Doke and this young man and woman make their moves; they had slaughtered the Raphael family members like chopping vegetables. It could be said that their strength was terrifying. After all, the Church of Light was the most powerful church of the previous era. Even if it had perished today, its remnants still could not be underestimated. While certainly incomparable to Ancestor Count Rekar summoned by the "Young Master," here at least, the three of them could easily wipe out everyone else present. Yet clearly, the "Young Master" had bluffed all of them. Where on earth did a bloodthirsty aberrant demon come from? Back at Allen Manor, he had never seen that manservant drink even a single spoonful of raw blood. However, Mr. Bede naturally wouldn't expose Karen. After all, this was his family's prospective son-in-law. Of course, for Bede, the greatest agony was that because he couldn't manufacture a fake identity, he had to interact with these remnants of the Light in his capacity as the Patriarch of the Allen family, which was tantamount to dragging the Allen family right to the edge of a volcano crater. Yet the greatest stroke of luck was that after confirming the Karen they had been waiting for was truly his prospective son-in-law, he wasn't nearly as panicked. It was as if no matter what crisis Allen Manor encountered—even a destiny determined in a certain sense—this prospective son-in-law of his could resolve it. "We need time." Mr. Bede pointed to Piaget, then to himself. "We need time to co-create a mural." Piaget nodded and said, "I've been teaching myself painting again lately. Heh, back when I was with my wife, I learned some basics." Bede continued: "I believe that in the mural we will create together next, a true revelation will be granted to us. It will guide everyone seated here, as well as the families, churches, and factions behind us, on our next move. "I suspect this must be the turning point for a revival." Miss Helen spoke up and asked, "But if the scene in the mural is bound to happen, what difference does it make whether we look at it or not, or whether we act or not?" Bede frowned slightly. He badly wanted to say: *The prophecies of the mural aren't impossible to change.* The problem was, in this setting, saying such things in front of these remnants of the Light was too inappropriate. Karen spoke up: "That is because 'you looked at the mural' is itself an inevitable precondition. Just like you must first place your faith in the Light before the Light will shelter you." Only by looking at the mural would you be subtly influenced by it, and then unconsciously guide the changes in everything around you toward the outcome presented in that scene. Therefore, the mural still had to be painted, and even more so, viewed. "So that's how it is. Thank you, Mr. Karen, you're really amazing." Karen offered a reserved smile. He could expound on such vacuous metaphysical nonsense back and forth all day just to support his predetermined conclusion. One thing was certain, however: this girl named Helen was indeed somewhat naive. Elder Doke said, "Then we will continue to protect you so that you can complete this work." Mr. Bede said, "I need to go home to make arrangements for family matters." "You may," Karen said. Elder Doke glanced at Karen and did not object to his decision. "Then I need to take some time off for myself as well. I can finally immerse myself entirely in the joy of painting, just like Linda did back then." "You may," Karen continued to decide. "As for the clinic's affairs, hand them over to Miss Bertha to manage. I will also continue going to work." "All right, thank you." Karen continued: "To be safe, this villa will serve as the venue for their creation. Both of our sides are only permitted to send one person to enter and check on the situation. "On my side, it will be me. On your side, it will be Miss Bertha. "No one else may enter this villa at will, nor spy on it." Elder Doke's lips moved slightly, but in the end he nodded. "Agreed." "Very well." Karen stood up and walked toward the entrance hall, Alfred following behind him. Reaching the entryway, Karen stopped, turned back, and said: "There is one more thing I must remind everyone present. Just as the deepest treasures are guarded by the most powerful monsters, the closer we get to the turning point, the nearer danger draws. "This is an oracle granted to me by the Goddess of Nature." "You can actually still receive oracles?!" Helen cried out in shock. *Oh, so the remnants of the Light can't even receive oracles anymore? They've completely lost contact with their god.* Elder Doke looked at Karen with utmost gravity: "Is that true?" Clearly, he placed great importance on oracles, because they had none... "So, do you understand now why I am being so cautious? "Even though I could crush those family bedbugs with a single finger, I still came in person to put on an act for them. "Because the closer we are to this stage, the less room there is for even the slightest carelessness, and the crisis born of destiny will only become clearer. "The Church of the Mural God, the Church of Light, the Berry religion... heh. "I have a premonition that next, we may face the tentacles of the Church of Order, for it is the common enemy of all of us seated here—if we even still qualify to be seen as enemies by them." Hearing the words "Church of Order," the expressions of Doke, Vernon, and Helen all turned solemn. Elder Doke asked: "Is the Berry religion being targeted by the Church of Order as well?" "The mastermind behind the Berry religion decoupling from the Church of the Goddess of Nature is the Church of Order. The Church of Order naturally loathes the resurgence of any fallen or suppressed gods." Karen hadn't made this up himself. It was recorded in Mr. Hoffen's notes, though Mr. Hoffen had added an annotation after that sentence: *I heard this from someone.* As for who that someone was, it was easy to guess. "In short, everyone, be prepared. If we wish to rise again, we must inevitably face the greatest rule in this world today... Order. "If you detect the Church of Order drawing near, notify me in good time, and we will deal with it together. "The same goes for my side." Having said his piece, Karen opened the front door and walked out. Leaving the courtyard, they got into the car. After driving a considerable distance, they pulled over by the curb. "Phew..." "Phew..." Karen and Alfred leaned back against their seats in unison, letting out long sighs of relief. "Young Master, the remnants of the Light are far more formidable than imagined. I even wonder whether I could defeat that seemingly foolish young lady right now. "That guardian mirror she summoned at will without chanting was a very high-tier spell. "Thanks to Young Master's excellent direction, this subordinate was able to keep pace with you." Karen shook his head and said: "No, it was their cues that were well-given. "Mr. Bede usually acts like an ordinary person even in front of his father and elder brother, yet when he came out to welcome us in earlier, his walk carried tremendous presence. "He was actually hinting to me that the people inside didn't know my true identity. "Piaget put a huge amount of sugar in my coffee, knowing full well I dislike sweets. That was his way of telling me I was in danger. "You saw it too. That old man harbored killing intent toward me from the very start. Though both he and Bertha belong to the Church of Light, they don't seem to be on the same path. What did that woman call Bertha again?" "A divine envoy, Young Master." "Yes, exactly. A parachute commissioner sent from above is bound to have friction with the local faction. "Furthermore, Piaget asked if I wanted cake and offered to share a slice. That meant the upcoming conversation would involve dividing up the cake." "Mr. Piaget is that clever?" "Because before we arrived, they must have already held a round of meetings. Though Piaget is a layman who didn't understand the technicalities, he certainly grasped the gist of the meeting and knew what kind of discussion this was. "Compared to that old man or his secretary Bertha—no matter how much Bertha resembles Linda, he actually has no feelings for her—Piaget still trusts me more." "So there were that many details beneath the surface." "You didn't notice any of them?" Karen asked Alfred curiously. Alfred shook his head. "I only knew I had to keep my eyes on Young Master at all times and coordinate with you." "Very good." "Young Master, not only did that old man fail to see through you, he didn't see through me either. I feel my faith has elevated again; now there seems to be no aberrant demon aura on me at all." An aberrant demon stripped of aberrant demon aura. Alfred felt that ever since that day when Kevin urinated on him and Young Master personally smeared the wound with his bare hands regardless of how dirty it was, his faith in Young Master had reached a new height of sublimation. "Though the difficulty increased, we put on quite a good show." Originally, they had planned to act for the Raphael family, but who knew that group from the Raphael family had already dispersed into the air of Wien mingled with the smell of burnt plastic wiring. "It was because Young Master commanded the rhythm so well." "In short, it was well worth it. At least we secured the standing to sit as equals with these powerful remnants of the Light. Remnants... such powerful remnants. Is this the heritage of an orthodox church? "Just like a millipede—even when chopped in pieces and dead, it can still wriggle." Alfred immediately memorized this metaphor in his mind. "In comparison, we're far poorer: me, you, plus a talking cat and a dog that can't even speak." "Young Master, what should we do next? Wait for that painting to be finished?" "Wait for what? It's not like we have any religion to revive." Alfred blinked. "The warning shot has already been fired. Next, we will continue investigating the case left behind by Mr. Pavaro." With that, Karen stretched lazily, a faint smile spreading across his face. "Even if it stirs up a reaction from certain people within the Church of Order, now, at long last, someone else can take the fall."